Downloads and Resources from Forest Lake Elementary

Science themes, especially space, permeate Forest Lake Elementary, which partners with NASA as one of 50 NASA Explorer Schools nationwide. Student Matthew, right, participates in a webquest in the school's multimedia lab.

Credit: Grace Rubenstein

Resources On This Page:

• Professional Development
• Teaching Strategies
• Lesson Plans and Rubrics
• Example Project: Landforms
• Reading List

Professional development

• Walk-through observation form ( 428K)

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Teaching strategies

• A write-up of best practices from the first-grade team ( 424K)

• Smart ways to use a SMART Board ( 844K)

• Example weekly plan for differentiated lessons - Grade 2 language arts ( 960K)

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Lesson plans and rubrics

• Collaborative unit plan - Blank form ( 448K)

• Collaborative unit plan - Kindergarten seasons unit ( 628K)

• Subject integration wheel for kindergarten seasons unit ( 220K)

• Forest Lake writing rubric ( 560K)

• Forest Lake group PowerPoint presentation rubric ( 440K)

• Example lesson - Grade 2 fantasy writing ( 1.7MB)

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Example Project: Landforms

• Collaborative unit plan - Grade 5 landforms ( 652K)

• Landforms: Rubric for building a structure ( 244K)

• Landforms: Diorama rubric ( 248K)

• Landforms: Individual project assignment ( 220K)

• Landforms: Webquest ( 656K)

• Landforms: Rubric for making a brochure ( 248K)

• Landforms: Multimedia rubric ( 248K)

• Landforms: Storytelling rubric ( 244K)

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Reading List:

Suggested Reading on Differentiated Instruction

• A Culture of Quality: A Reflection on Practice. Ron Berger (1996) Annenberg Institute for School Reform.
• Shouting Won't Grow Dendrites. Marsha L. Tate (2007) Corwin Press.
• Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites. Marsha L. Tate (2010) Corwin Press.
• Brain-Based Learning: The New Paradigm of Teaching, 2nd Edition. Eric Jensen (2005) Corwin Press.
• How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed Ability Classrooms, 2nd Edition. Carol Ann Tomlinson (2001) Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).
• The Differentiated Classroom - Responding to the Needs of All Learners. Carol Ann Tomlinson (1999) Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).
• Integrating Differentiated Instructions & Understanding by Design. Carol Ann Tomlinson (2006) Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).

Suggested Reading on Other Topics

• A Framework for Understanding Poverty. Ruby K. Payne (2005) aha Process, Inc. 4th edition.
• Explaining Reading. Gerald G. Duffy (2009) Guilford Press.
• Reading Essentials. Regie Routman (2002) Heinemann.
• Wondrous Words. Katie Wood Ray (1999) National Council of Teachers of English.
• What a Writer Needs. Ralph Fletcher (1992) Heinemann.

Suggested Web Resources from Forest Lake

Here are some of Forest Lake staff members' favorite websites for finding videos, graphics, sound clips, and other assets for lessons.

• YouTube

• TeacherTube

• Discovery Education

• NetTrekker

• DISCUS

• StreamlineSC - South Carolina ETV

• SMART Technologies

• BrainPOP

• EducationCity

• Study Island

• ReadWriteThink

• Super Teacher Tools

• IXL Math

• Teachnet.com

• Cute Colors

• Teacher Created Resources

• Storybird - Collaborative Storytelling

• EPals Global Community

• Education Place

• tuxpi.com Photo Effects and Picture Frames

• fodey.com - The Newspaper Clipping Image Generator

• Audacity: Free Audio Editor and Recorder

• American Memory from the Library of Congress

• Blackboard

• History Detectives from PBS

• Library of Congress

• NASA Global Research in Climate Modeling

• Smithsonian Education

• Storyline Online

• NASA Kids' Club

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