Are you smarter than an eighth grader ....in 1912?

1912 Eighth Grade Examination for Bullitt County Schools

LearnZillion: High quality lessons you can use today for free!

Amazing teachers, amazing Common Core lessons Created by teachers.   High quality lessons you can use today - for free in Math and  ELA .  Just Sign up for a free account.

• Lesson videos for teachers and students to watch online and on mobile devices
• Lesson slides that teachers can download for projectors or interactive whiteboards
• Lesson commentary that provides insights for teachers about each lesson and aTeacher calendar to schedule your lessons

Word Puzzles for Students and Teachers

ArmoredPenguin.com. This site contains a number of resources that various people (including educators and students) can use to make puzzles of various types.

The Solution to Reading Comprehension

ReadWorks provides over 1,000 non-fiction reading passages with question sets to support reading activities. It is free to register.  ReadWorks is searchable by grade level,  shows the lexile level of the passages and is aligned o the Common Core.

Book Reviews for Kids, By Kids

Scholastic has a great service called Share What You Read that students can use to create and read book reviews online. Scholastic provides a simple form on which students can write and submit their book reviews. Students do not have to create an account to use the book review service.

Scholastic's Share What You Read service is very easy for students to use and for teachers to incorporate into the classroom. The advantage of using the Scholastic service over a creating a wiki for the class is that the Scholastic service saves teachers time. The Scholastic service does not require users to create an account prior to writing a review. In fact, the only information they ever ask for is the student's first name, grade, and state.
This post originally appeared on Free Technology for Teachers

Your Next Read - Book Recommendations

Your Next Read is a neat little site that provides you with a web of book recommendations based on the authors and books you already like. Here's how it works; type in the title of a book you like or author you like and Your Next Read will provide you with a web of books that might also enjoy. Click on any of the books appearing the web to create another new web.

Applications for Education: Your Next Read could be a great resource for teachers that are trying to locate fiction works that their students might enjoy. Rather than having to rely on your own list of books, you can have students name books they've enjoyed in the past and instantly find some other appealing titles.

The Comics Lab

The Comics Lab is a non-traditional (also called FUN) exercise in which students can develop and refine their creative writing skills, while learning how to develop storylines or plots. Comic strips contain similar attributes to short stories, with a beginning, middle and end. The Comics Lab aligns with the standards for the Language Arts. These standards can be found here.

There are 5 main components to the Comics Lab site:
The Interactive Comic Creator
Comic Strip Templates, where students can draw their own comic strips by hand
Video instructions on writing
Video art instruction
Written instructions

Most students tend to start out creating a comic strip without adequate preparation and let the plot develop in a haphazard manner. It is important for the instructor to have the child think through the plot development in a structured manner. Do you write the punch line first…and then backup two frames to make a creative statement? Some of these questions and techniques are covered in the instructional videos.

PBS Martha Speaks for grades K-2

Based on the best-selling children's book series by Susan Meddaugh, "Martha Speaks" follows the adventures of Martha, a loveable dog whose appetite for alphabet soup gives her the ability to speak. The Martha Speaks Web site has lots of stuff kids can do on their own. The games, videos, and activities are fun, and they help kids learn new words, too!.The new series premieres September 1 and is designed to bolster the vocabulary of 4- to 7-year-olds within the context of great stories in engaging, comical ways. For more information, including interactive games and lesson plans, visit the Martha Speaks site at PBS KIDS.http://www.pbs.org/teachers/newsletter/redir/http:/pbskids.org/martha/ The show helps kids learn what new words mean. This will help them when they learn to read

New York Times Classroom Edition Free Subscription

The New York Times Electronic Edition is a digital replica of the complete New York Times newspaper exactly as it appears in print, including every section, article, photograph and advertisement. Take advantage of our other free curriculum guides and activities for a wealth of lessons using any daily issue of The Times, in nearly every subject.
Try it now! Click here and enter the following on the log-in screen:
User Name: 234567890 Password: 234567890
Then click OK. On the next page that opens, click on the image of The Times or the link. The front page of today's New York Times will be launched in a separate window.

Create Your Own Comix Strip

Created by Bill Zimmerman, Author of the book “Make Beliefs”Art by Tom Bloom
Teachers can use this comic strip game to encourage youngsters to improve language, reading, and creative skills. By writing dialogue for comic strips, students can practice using new vocabulary words, engage in make-believe conversations, practice writing sentences, hone storytelling skills, and work independently or collaboratively.