Elementary Websites

Another webiste I found and really like is
http://www.quia.com/jg/513044.html
This site has topics such as inventions, zodiac, proverbs, food and clothing.
This would be a great site to use in cooperative groups.
They could create a presentation for their group topic.

Here's a great place for help with our unit planning:

If you go to timeforkids.com/china you will find a page that focuses on China and is based on the most current issue of Time for Kids Around the World, a Time for Kids publication that is put out only 2 or 3 times a year.

The web version of the magazine has the following topics that you click on for more activities and information:
Sightseeing Guide- a map where you click on different sections to learn more about regions and monuments
History Timeline- a tsimplified timeline from 1600 BC to present
Native Lingo- words with icons to click on to hear pronunciation
Postcard- send a postcard via email to a friend (though you can't write a message)
Challenge- an 8 question quiz
Fact File- important facts such as size, population, capital city, language, and currency

Students could use this page for research purposes as well as to get a general overview of China.

I recently explored the kids' National Geographic website at

kidsnationalgeographic.com/places/find/china

I found this to be a great resource for kids wanting to research China. There are tabs at the top for : facts, photos, a video of how China is trying to fight the desert's encroachment (fits in with our 3rd grade standards of how people affect their environment and vice versa), map, E-card and print (to print a hard copy of the article for your students if you want to do a whole group reading of it.)

There is also a link to some panda articles. One of them is about how scientists are helping panda moms with their twins. 3rd grades could read this with some support.

There was another link to a fun game called "Panda Chow" where the students read an article about pandas then have to answer questions to get the panda's food truck to the zoo.

http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer/0111/games/panda_chow.cgi

Every correct answer gets the truck closer. The article would be good to print out to use for teaching expository reading at the 3rd grade level. A higher level reader could read the article independently. Some of the harder words can be clicked on for their definitions. I would consider making this either a whole group read with the game as a follow up, or using it as an extension for my more able readers.

Overall I found this website to be a good resource for both teachers and students.

Here's another useful website for lesson planning.

http://onestop.nationalgeographic.com/onestop/results.tmpl

If you click on the "printer friendly list with URLs" you can either use the list to go directly to helpful websites or you may print it out for future reference. The topics include maps, photos and art, articles and info, games and features, audio and video, and lesson plans. The lesson plan feature allows you to select topics and grade level, though I found the one for gr. 3-5 a bit difficult for 3rd grade. It was geared more toward the 5th grade standards.

Shannon, thanks for the idea to go to Quia.com. I perused the website and found a section called "shared activities", where teachers post quizzes and games they have made themselves. There is one in the Chinese section that is about Chinese numbers 1-10. Since our school does Chinese language at 3rd grade, I'm going to rotate students onto the computer to play the game. It is a matching game where they match the word with the character.

Although this website is not focused on just East Asia, it has some very authentic narratives from Peace Corps volunteers stationed in various parts of the world. I found 3 articles/entries/links by volunteers from areas that would relate to Asian studies. These include S.E. China, Kazakhstan, and Sri Lanka. There are lesson plans, slide shows, and narratives of individual experiences. Some relate to cultural differences. Others relate to change or family values. They are very authentic accounts of life in each of these areas and provide a lot of content for further discussion. The lesson plans correlate with both Language Arts and Social Studies standards in upper grades. Another great part of this website is that you can sign up to have a Peace Corp volunteer correspond with your class. It sounds like a great class project or activity for middle and high school students, maybe even elementary students depending on the volunteer.

The website is: http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/educators

I looked at the virtual website suggested by sbogart. It has wonderful photographs and really captures student attention. In our school, we have implemented a Chinese P.E. program that alternates with simple language exercises. Sometimes it is difficult for my 3rd graders to appreciate the Chinese culture and language because it is so far away from their familiar world. This website gave them an opportunity to experience the culture and it extended their interest in understanding and learning more about China. I plan to use this as a study tool as we approach our International Day Celebration.