Where can I find online educational interactive tools?

There are many great places to find educational online interactive tools, yet a few stand out above the rest.

First, there is Shambles.net. This amazingly stocked and searchable site is filled with the most current, most dynamic resources.  “Supporting school communities worldwide over 30,000 links to moderated teaching and learning resources.” That’s the statement from author Chris Smith in regards to Shambles.net.

Three more interconnected sites also stand out:

ReadWriteThink is produced by the International Reading Association with the National Council of Teachers of English, with support from Thinkfinity (which is mentioned below) and the Verizon Foundation. Their  focus is to provide free tools to teachers, students, and parents with reading and language arts materials. ReadWriteThink offers great organizational tools, concept maps, and literary interactives.

Thinkfinity is sponsored by the Verizon Foundation. On Thinkfinity there are an array of different interactive games and tools to choose from. For students learning about simple machines, try using Power Play; for geography lessons take advantage of the National Geographic Atlas;  and for support with essay writing, the Essay Map is sure to help organize students’ thoughts. Searching this resource is easy; plus when you search on Thinkfinity, you may also access ReadWriteThink and Science Netlinks in your search. They are all connected!

Finally Science Netlinks has a long list of resources to incorporate with science units. This list is simple to search by its curricular entry point, yet the list is also categorized by grade level making it even easier to search. The American Association for the Advancement of Science hosts this site in corporation with the Verizon Foundation–which also sponsors Thinkfinity.  This list of resources is sure to supplement any science lesson, K-12.