Creating a useful links page helps you organize your links in an easy to access format. SchoolCenter has directions for creating a Useful Links Page. Login into the SchoolCenter web site and follow the directions below.

1. Add a Useful Links Page to your web site.

2. Set up categories to organize your links into short lists.

• Click on Add Category. A new window will appear.
• Highlight (New category) under Title and type in the name of your category.
• You can add a short description, but you can leave it blank.
• Make sure the Catergory says Top Level.
• Click on Done.
  

3. Adding a link.

• Click on Add Link. A new window will appear.
• Add the name of the web site under the Title.
• Place the address of the web site under the Url field.
• Under Category select where you would like the link to be listed.
• Click on Done.
  

Passwords for Online Resources is located under District Resources Help off of the IT Directory. Ask your instructor for the the password.

Teachers First:

Using TeachersFirst.com:

• Please go to the TeachersFirst.com web site.
  
• Click on the Log in button.
• Sign up for your free membership.
• Click on the Search Tab.

• Note that the resources are listed by subject and grade level.
• Select a subject and grade level and look at the resources available.
• Conduct a keyword search.
  

Your task - Add a TeachersFirst.com link your Useful Links page.

SAILOn

Using SAILOn:

• Please go to the SAIL web site.
  
• Select a grade level by hovering over a grade level and select a grade level from the drop down menu.

• Once you have selected a grade level, you can choose a subject from the menu under the banner.

• Click on the links to take you to sites that correlated to that TEK. 

Your task - Add a SAILOn link your Useful Links page. 

Blue Web'N 

Using Blue Web'N: 

• Please go to the Blue Web'N web site.
• Review the blue tabs.

• Click on the Search tab.  

Your task - Add a Blue Web'N link your Useful Links page. 

Using Discovery Education streaming (formly known as unitedstreaming): 

• Please go to the Discovery Education streaming/unitedstreaming web site.
• Once at the website, login. If you don't know your campus login you can go to District Resources Help.
• If you have not created a password, you must create your own user name and password.
  

• Search for video title(s) by subject, by grade level and by TEKS. The results of your search will be displayed in a list.
• Click on the blue, underlined title of the video you wish to view.
• Before downloading, you must select your Media Type. Windows Media(PC) or QuickTime(Mac)

• Notice the blue tabs Full Video, Video Segments, Citations and Related Materials.

• Curriculum Standards, Blackline Masters, Teacher's Guide and Quizzes.
• The Teacher's Guide under related materials is especially helpful in setting up a curriculum focus for the video.
  • Discussion questions
  • Lesson Plan
  • Materials (web site)
  • Group activities
  • Vocabulary
  
  
• Many sites have Blackline masters and quizes.
• Due to the Copyright agreement with Discovery Education streaming, it is prohibited to upload content and video to the web.

Thinkfinity is a consortium of sponsors that provide FREE Educational content for all areas of the curriculum. This free, comprehensive digital learning platform is built upon the merger of two acclaimed programs Verizon MarcoPolo and the Thinkfinity Literacy Network. It has been updated to reflect content for Educators, Students, Parents, and Afterschool Activities, which would be great for tutoring!

The site offers content for the following areas:

The site can be searched in multiple ways such as Keyword, subject, grade level, type of resource wanted, or sponsor partner.

There are multiple types of resources offered by Thinkfinity  
 

All of the lessons and activities are based on the following Standards:

Thinkfinity Highlights lessons each month:

The site also specific lessons that teach 21st Century skills which involve more critical thinking and reasoning skills. 

Let's look at a few searches and see what Thinkfinity has to offer. Let's take a look at the Thinkfinity web site.

Let's begin with Language Arts:

Let's look at Math:

Let's look at Science:

Now let's look at History:

Be sure to look at the format of each of the lesson plans. Everything you need to complete the lesson is available for you.

Now for your task:

• Find a lesson within your content area
• On your SchoolCenter web page add a Useful Links Page
• Create the following categories: Students, Teachers, Parents
• Add your link to the appropriate category

This is a great place to add specific resources that you want students, parents, or other teachers to access!

Using K12 Databases (EBSCO/Britannica) 

• Please go to the K-12 Databases Home or the EBSCO web site. 
  

*The K-12 login gives you access to EBSCO and Britannica.

• Once at the website, login. If you don't know your campus login you can go to District Resources Help.
• Review different databases. What do these resources have in common? How you conduct an advanced search?

The databases for general reference are:

Searchasaurus for K-3
Kids Search for 3-6
Student Research Center for upper elementary through secondary
EBSCOhost Web contains all the databases

• Each Resource has a video tutorial under the Help menu.

 

• Each of the resources have a subject, keyword, or advanced search.
• Take a look at Britannica Encyclopedia. The encyclopedia comes in English and Spanish versions.

 

Lexile Rankings

Some databases may include Lexile Rankings in citation information. The Lexile Rankings assigned to a result give an educator an estimate of the reading difficulty of the result, and the approximate grade level reading ability required for comprehension. The grade level does not necessarily reflect the student's actual grade. The relationship between grades and Lexile Rankings are seen here:

For more information about the Lexile Framework, visit the MetaMetrics website at www.lexile.com

Grade	Text Measures (from the Lexile Map)
Grade 1	200 to 400
Grade 2	300 to 500
Grade 3	500 to 700
Grade 4	650 to 850
Grade 5	750 to 950
Grade 6	850 to 1050
Grade 7	950 to 1075
Grade 8	1000 to 1100
Grade 9	1050 to 1150
Grade 10	1100 to 1200
Grade 11 & Grade 12	1100 to 1300

 

• Please go to the netTrekker web site.
  
• Once at the website, login.

• Look at the different grade level tabs.
• Click on the Standards button.

 

• Select Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
• Then select a subject area.
  

 

• Click on a TEKS and keep burrowing down until you see WEB RESOURCES.

• Put in a keyword and search.
• Use the Read Aloud  and Dictionary Hot Keys Feature
  
• Look at the different tabs Subject, Learning Aids, Multimedia, Readability, Languages and Collections.

• Notice how these different types of tabs narrow your search to certain types of sites.

Advanced Search

• Click on Advanced Search.
• Discuss Boolen Searches (with, without, and).
• Look at the different fields you can use to narrow your search.