Educational Portals and Starting Points

Where can I find the "best of the web" for educators?

What's the best place to start looking for educational websites?

Where can I find the best websites in my content area?

door Have you ever felt like you just go from one "links site" to another and never reach any quality information? If so, you need to locate a quality education portal that will take you directly to good informational and instructional materials.

Use the following links on this page to explore educational web resources:

Starting Points and Portals
Subject Directories and Thematic Starters for Educators
Subject Specific Resources

The star indicates a great website.

Starting Points and Portals

The following resources are the best for educational information and resources.

A to Z Teacher Stuff
http://atozteacherstuff.com/
Resources for teachers on themes, lesson plans, printables, tips, and articles.

ABC Teach
http://www.abcteach.com/
Printable pages and worksheets

BBC Learning
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learning/index.shtml
Great subject areas resources and materials for teachers and children.

Cable in the Classrom
http://www.ciconline.org/default.htm
Lots of great resources for education including articles and resources to go with cable television.

Class Brain
http://classbrain.com/
Sections for parents and teachers, kids, teen. Also games, reports and project ideas. Optional membership.

Discovery School from Discovery Channel
http://school.discovery.com/
Lessons, teaching tools, curriculum center, and homework helpers.

Eduscapes
http://eduscapes.com/
Lots of great resources including 42explore, Teacher Tap, Literature Ladders, Activate, and Naturescapes.

Education World
http://www.educationworld.com/
Resources for different areas of education. Lots of articles and features. Areas including lesson planning, administrator's desk, technology, school Issues, and more.

E-Pals
http://www.epals.com/
Resources and tools for collaboration.

Enchanted Learning
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Home.html
Resources for children on a wide variety of topics.

GigglePotz
http://www.gigglepotz.com/
Materials by grade level. Also materials for teachers and parents. Optional membership.

Global Schoolhouse
http://www.gsn.org/
Links to resources and ideas for collaborative learning.

High School Hub
http://highschoolhub.org/hub/hub.cfm
Online learning center including homework help, learning activities, and resources.

Homework Spot
http://www.homeworkspot.com/
Sections for elementary, middle, and high school.

Kid's Hub
http://kidshub.org/kids/kids.cfm
Resources by subject area.

Kid's Point
http://www.kidspoint.org/
Public library kid's section.

Links 2 Learning 4 Educators
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Column/9885/
Links for teachers

Marcopolo
http://www.marcopolo-education.org/
Be sure to check out ArtsEdge, EconEdLink, EdSiteMent, Illuminations, ReadWriteThink, Science NetLinks, Xpeditions.

Middle School Hub
http://middleschoolhub.org/school/school.cfm
Resources by subject area.

New York Public Library
http://nypl.org/
Resources for children and parents including On-Lion for Kids.

PBS Teacher Sources
http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/
Resources for teachers including lessons and activities.

PLCMC
http://www.plcmc.lib.nc.us/forKids/default.htm
Links to Storyplace and many other grade resources for kids and teens.

Proteacher
http://www.proteacher.com/
Lots of resources for K-6.

Scholastic
http://www.scholastic.com/
Student, teacher and parent sections.

SCORE CyberGuides
http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/cyberguide.html
Supplementary, standards-based, and web-delivered units of instruction.

SchoolNet from Canada
http://www.schoolnet.ca/
Lots of articles, projects and resources.

Teaching Ideas for Primary Teachers
http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/
Resources for young children.

Teacher Resources Center
http://www.glc.k12.ga.us/trc/
Great resources for teachers.

Teachers First
http://www.teachersfirst.com/
Classroom resources, professional resources, and other information.

Teachers.Net
http://www.teachers.net/
Teachers resources and links.

Teacher's Guide
http://www.theteachersguide.com/
Lesson plans, thematic units, and more.

Teacher Vision
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/
Lesson planning and activities across subject areas.

Teach-nology
http://www.teach-nology.com/
Some free, some membership.

Thirteen Ed Online
http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/
Lesson plans, educator resources, and links.

Subscription Portals - must subscribe

Alfy - some without subscription
Classroom Connect
EdGate
Headbone - some without subscription
Learning Planet - some without subscription
LightSpan

Higher Education Resources

Academic Info
http://www.academicinfo.net/
Links to resources.

ERIC Higher Education
http://www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/res.cgi/Educational_Levels/Higher_Education
Resource guides, lesson plans, and question archives.

MERLOT
http://www.merlot.org/Home.po
Resources for faculty and students.

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Subject Directories and Thematic Starters for Educators

The following links are great for subject area exploration.

General Guides

42explore
http://42explore.com
Resources for nearly 300 topics

Afterschool.gov
http://www.afterschool.gov/kidsnteens.html
Website for kids and teens.

ALA's 700
http://www.ala.org/greatsites
Starting points for kids.

Awesome Library
http://www.awesomelibrary.org/
A K-12 resource with over 24,000 reviewed resources.

A to Z Themes and Thematic Units
http://atozteacherstuff.com/themes/
Lots of themes and resources

BJ Pinchbeck's Homework Helper
http://school.discovery.com/homeworkhelp/bjpinchbeck/index.html
Great homework help and links to for kids.

Blue Web 'N
http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/bluewebn/
An online library of 1800+ outstanding Internet sites categorized by subject, grade level, and format.

Busy Teacher's Website
http://www.ceismc.gatech.edu/busyt/homepg.htm
Resources by subjct area.

Community Learning Network
http://www.cln.org/index.html
Access nearly 6000 annotated links to educational sites.

Educational Hotlists from Franklin Institute
http://www.fi.edu/tfi/hotlists/index.html
Lots of hotlists on science topics

Education Index
http://www.educationindex.com/
Annotated websites for education.

Education Links from Alberta Canada
http://www.gyrd.ab.ca/EducationLinks/
Links in by topic and subject area.

Eduhound
http://www.eduhound.com/
Resources by subject area.

Emints
http://emints.more.net/ethemes/resources/by-title.shtml
Hundreds of standards-based thematic lists

The Gateway
http://www.thegateway.org/
Search engine for lesson plans and educational resources.

Homework Center from Multnomah County Library
http://www.multcolib.org/homework/index.html
Many pathfinders (Internet resources only)

Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators from Discovery School
http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/
Resources by subject area as well as related topics for educators.

KidsKonnect
http://www.kidskonnect.com/AlphabetizedList.html
Themes in alphabetical order

Learning Page Pathfinders from Library of Congress
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/start/gs_src_path.html
Pathfinders by events, people, places, time, and topics for digital library collection

Library in the Sky
http://www.nwrel.org/sky/
Great databased by subject area.

Library Link from Eduplace
http://www.eduplace.com/linklibrary/index.html
Search for topics by key words.

Library Portals for Children and Young Adults
http://www.eduscapes.com/earth/libportal1.html
Links to libraries with good links.

Library Spot
http://www.libraryspot.com/
Links to all kinds of resources.

Skewl Sites
http://www.skewlsites.com/siteind.htm
Categorized educational sites

Surfing the Net with Kids
http://www.surfnetkids.com/
Great links for kids.

TALON from SCRTEC
http://www.southcentralrtec.org/talon/
Subject srea resources.

Thematic Units from North Attleborough
http://www.naschools.net/teachers/
Organized by grade level, K-5, 6-8, and 9-12

Virtual Reference Desk Learning Center
http://vrd.askvrd.org/index.asp?
Links by category.

Webfinders from Columbus Metropolitan Library
http://www.cml.lib.oh.us/webwebfinder/category1.cfm
Notice their webfinders

Web Information Resources from Exploratorium
http://www.exploratorium.edu/ls/infosources/ResGuides.html

World Lecture Hall
http://www.utexas.edu/world/lecture/index.html
Free online course materials.

Focus on Children

Education Place from Houghton Mifflin
http://www.eduplace.com/rdg/itl/index.html
Materials for grades K-6

Elementary Weblists
http://www.nynetresources.org/Future%20Grant%20Projects/elhotlists.htm
Lots of K-5 topics

Grades 3-5 Themes
http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/web/3-5.htm
Resources on many themes (updated recently)

Grades 3-5 Thematic Units
http://www.okaloosa.k12.fl.us/technology/training/tools/elem/3-5.htm
Many resources on themes

Theme Pages from Gander Academy
http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/CITE/themes.html
Many theme resources and content

K-3 Themes from Enchanted Learning
http://www.EnchantedLearning.com/themes/
Lots of primary grade themes

Monthly Units
http://www.kinderkorner.com/themes.html
Designed for K-1

Perpetual Preschool Themes
http://www.perpetualpreschool.com/
Popular preschool themes

Reading Themes
http://home.att.net/~etonn/themes.html
Resources for young children

Thematic Resources from Electric Teacher
http://www.electricteacher.com/resources.htm
Tons of science and social studies thematic resources

Focus on Young Adults

Middle School Pathfinders from Centennial
http://www.centennial.k12.mn.us/vmc/pathfindersms/
Web links for many subject areas. They also have a few for elementary.

Middle School Themes
http://www.utexas.edu/depts/wstudies/publications/msrl/themes/index.html
Themes for middle school

Pathfinders from Cary Academy Library
http://web1.caryacademy.org/library/pathfinders/default.htm
Explore social studies topic web pathfinders

Pathfinders from Tolland High School
http://www.tolland.k12.ct.us/ths/library/pathfinders.html
Web subject guides

Pathfinders from Valley View Middle School
http://www.edina.k12.mn.us/valleyview/media/media/path.htm
Assignment pathfinders using online resources.

Web Sites from Lawrence High School Library
http://library.lhs.usd497.org/web.htm
Many great starting points for lots of topics.

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Subject Specific Resources

ENC Online
http://enc.org/
A k12 math and science teacher center.

Eserver
http://eserver.org/
Writing resources.

From Lang to Lang
http://www.langtolang.com/
Resources for language.

Journalism Resources
http://bailiwick.lib.uiowa.edu/journalism/
Journalism links

Literary Resources on the Net
http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/%7Ejlynch/Lit/
Links to literary resources.

Science Spot
http://sciencespot.net/
Science resources.

Web English Teacher
http://www.webenglishteacher.com/
Great starting points for English and Language Arts

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Choose a Portal

You'll find that many of the education portals provide contain similar links. Rather than keeping all these links, consider those specific pages that might be useful.