Web-Sightings is a monthly resource for the teachers at Leesville Road High School. The Media Specialists send each department a "web-sighting". This "web-sighting" contains at least one link to a web site that has been evaluated, annotated, and judged to contain above-average information. The Media Specialists will try to find web sites that are valuable for each department. Due to the diversity in departments, it is possible that not every web site will apply to your specific subject.

Arts
Career & Technical Education
English
Foreign Language
Math
Physical Education
Science
Social Studies
Special Programs

The Incredible Art Department
A Visual Site for students, parents, and teachers. It offers news, art lessons, and thousands of links.
Author: The Educators Association of Indiana

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum: For Teachers
The recently opened Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum has a terrific web site, full of images, sounds, and information on past and present rock and roll figures. Their site also offers 78 individual lesson plans that span the 20th century music scene. Some of the lessons covered are "Popular Music and the Civil Rights Movement", "Pink Floyd and the Carpe Diem Theme", "Woodie Guthrie and the Grapes of Wrath", "Slices of American Pie: The 1960s through Music", and "What's the Problem...Why are You Crying' Alanis Morissette." There are lots of possible lessons to explore, both as a teacher and a student. Don't forget to visit the museum's exhibits while you are online.
Webmaster: Not listed

The National Public Radio's 100 Most Important Musical Works of the 20th Century Anyone who listens to NPR on Mondays may be familiar with their 100 most important musical works series. NPR has chosen a wide variety of music including classical, jazz, rock, grunge, and showtunes to represent the best music of the 20th century. Their selections have been posted to this web site and one may listen to their choices. Listeners will need the RealPlayer plug-in to hear the broadcasts. The Media Center has RealPlayer on its computers. The process of selecting the 100 most important works is also detailed on the web site. This might be a fascinating place to start discussing with your classes what music is selected as "important" and why. As of this 10/10/00, 53 of the 100 musical works are listed. This number will continue to increase as NPR continues to broadcast their selections.
Webmaster: NPR

Mythweb
Mythweb is designed for middle and high school instruction. Online Educator has called it "an excellent site to begin with before designing a mythology unit." The web site graphics are enticing and the content is useful. Mythweb include an encyclopedia of mythological figures, places, and objects. The site also has lesson plans, teaching tips, and online literature such as long and short versions of Homer's Odyssey.
Author: Joel Skidmore

Bartleby: Great Books Online
Bartleby touts itself as "the preeminent Internet publisher of literature, reference, and verse". Although Bartleby is a commercial site, it offers resources to teachers and students free of charge. The best resources are the online full-text versions of many books include Roget's Thesaurus, Bartlett Quotations, Gray's Anatomy, The Art of Writing, Simpson's Contemporary Quotations, and more. The site also has online full-text poetry, including verse from well known poets like Frost, Eliot, Poe, and others. Bartleby's features an author monthly, by showcasing their work and biographical information. Former featured authors include, Gertrude Stein, HG Wells, and other prominent writers. While the editions of the full-text books aren't always the most current, this site provides some relief to book budgets that are otherwise strained.
Author: No author listed.

The Internet Public Library's Online Literary Criticism Collection
This web site takes some of the pain out of searching for literary criticism. The collection contains and links to almost 4,000 web sites that are of critical or biographical literary worth. The collection may be searched by author's last name, by title of literary work, or by literary period. The simple organization of the collection makes for easy navigation and searching. Samples of sites include: English Literature and Religion, The Birth of the History Play, Edith Wharton, African American Voices in Young Adult Literature and many more. As the Internet Public Library claims "The collection is not inclusive of all the work on the web, nor does it plan to be. The sites are selected with some thought to their overall usefulness". The most valuable sites to Leesville students may be the biographical sites, of which there are many.
Webmaster: The Internet Public Library

Foreign
Languages

Foreign Language Lesson Plans and Resources
This web site presents an annotated list of foreign language lesson plans, resources, and links to online exhibits. It is a great place to begin, if you are looking for internet links. Links include online tutorials, dictionaries, games, and e-mail partnership programs. Don't be fooled by the Spanish icon, all languages taught at Leesville are included in the resource list.
Author: Marty Levine

French Web Cams
Discussing the weather in France, or just need a good look at the Eifel Tower? This web site has collected live web cams (live video shots) of notable locations throughout Paris and France. Some of the Paris cams include views of L'Arc de Triomphe, the 16th arrondissement, as well as multiple views of the Seine. Other web cams views feature cities throughout France, and you may search for them by geographic region. Warning: some of the cams show areas so beautiful, you may wish you were there!
Author: tf1

RETAnet: Resources for Teaching about the Americas
As we approach Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 - October 15), this site should get one in the mood to celebrate it! The most useful section of RETAnet is its database of lesson plans; there are 65 in total. Lesson plans cover topics such as Mexican stereotypes, Chiapas, Urbanization in the Americas, Mayan Myths, and many more. This web site also offers a database of classroom materials for teaching about the Americas. The photo archive is limited to a Guatemalan market, but the site also includes links to embassies across the Americas. The Internet links section of RETAnet links to interesting sites such as bilingual books, and the Americas Award for children's literature. (P.S. This year's Americas Award winner, CrashBoomLove by Juan Fellipe Herrera is written in poetic verse, and is a fantastic read for high school students).
Author: Latin American & Iberian Institute, University of New Mexico

Exploratorium Magazine: Where Do Languages Come From? The Evolution of Language The Exploratorium Museum in San Francisco has an excellent web site. This exhibit is just one example of the fabulous resources available at the Exploratorium. The site gives students and teachers a brief linguistic history, without being too wordy or confusing. There are RealAudio clips from leading linguists on language evolution. Students can also try their hat at being "Word Historians" and learning how to research word etymologies. They can use the web site to figure out which languages are related.
Webmaster: The Internet Public Library

Exploratorium Magazine: Where Do Languages Come From? The Evolution of Language The Exploratorium Museum in San Francisco has an excellent web site. This exhibit is just one example of the fabulous resources available at the Exploratorium. The site gives students and teachers a brief linguistic history, without being too wordy or confusing. There are RealAudio clips from leading linguists on language evolution. Students can also try their hat at being "Word Historians" and learning how to research word etymologies. They can use the web site to figure out which languages are related.
Webmaster: The Internet Public Library

Math and Science Gateway
The Math and Science Gateway is an excellent starting place for math resources on the WWW. Developed by Cornell University, the Math and Science Gateway provides links to web sites on general math topics, the history of math, geometry, gractals, constants, and math software.
Authors: C.Hecht, K.Barbieri, H.Doerr, T.Gonzalez-Walker

Statistics / Polls: What do the Numbers Tell Us
Polls fill the media during election years, and this web site aims to analyze the mathematical methods behind them. When one goes to this web site, you are greeted with an online poll. The site uses a fake election to examine the effects of polling. Mathematically, the site looks at the randomness of polls, their margin of error, pitfalls of statistics. An interesting site in this election period.
Author: Annenberg/CPB

Dave's Math Tables
Are your students looking for a nice reference or study guide to Algebra or Geometry? How about Trigonometry or Calculus? Dave Manura, a math teacher, has put together a wonderful selection of easily printable math tables. Tables are available for General Math, Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Linear Algebra, Discrete Math, Statistics, Calculus, and Odds and Ends. Within the Algebra section users can find tables on Basic Identities, Algebraic graphing, Conic sections, Polynomials, and Exponents. These would be excellent for students as they review and prepare for quizzes and tests. The web site also includes an interactive "white-board" where users can post questions and problems, as well as links to other sites.
Webmaster: David Manura

Physical Education Center
The ultimate web site designed specifically for physical education teachers. It contains lesson plans for both physical education and health, as well as assessment ideas, weekly activities, and web sites for different sports.
Editor: Mark Manross

Math and Science Gateway
The Math and Science Gateway is an excellent starting place for science resources on the WWW. Developed by Cornell University, the Math and Science Gateway provides links to web sites on general science topics, as well as Astronomy, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, and Earth and Environmental Science.
Authors: C.Hecht, K.Barbieri, H.Doerr, T.Gonzalez-Walker

The Why Files: Science Behind the News
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the Why Files is a superior science site. It ties together recent news phenomena with the scientific background on that phenomenon (or the reason why). The information is excellent, the graphics are terrific. Features include mini-sections on Global Warming and Temp. increases, Alzheimers, Mad Cow Disease, the Science of Love, Hurricanes, and so much more. The site also offers "cool science images" which are explained thoroughly. There truly is a wealth of information on this site, and one would be remiss to not visit it.
University of Wisconsin, NSF

Visual Interpretation of the Periodic Table of Elements
Developed by Chemsoc, the Chemistry Societies Network, this web site is a visual scientific feast. For each element, its origin, discoverer, appearance, source, uses, biological role, physical info, isotope info, and general info is listed. The site also displays a "visual interpretation" of each element created by an artist and explained within the text. The Flash (plug-in) version of this page is most interesting, but the HTML version is also satisfactory. Because of the images, the site takes a while to load. The site also has a historical essay on the periodic table.
Webmaster: Chemistry Societies Network

Project Vote Smart
Comparing Candidates? Instructing on Interest Groups? Resources on this site profile state and national House and Senate member, including their positions on major issues, their voting records, as well as information concerning their campaign funds. Links to other sites related to politics and Congress are provided.
Author: Vote Smart.org

C-Span's Campaign 2000
Maded specifically for educators, C-Span has put together a web site with extensive resources on the 2000 campaign. There are lesson plans on conventions, debates, and election day. There are also printable calendars of political events, quizzes for students, and links to other election web sites.
Author: C-span.org

American Memory: Historical Collections for the National Digital Library
American Memory, published by the Library of Congress, is an unbelievable source for primary documents and historical materials. The Library of Congress has digitized some of the collections, made available through this web site. Some of the collections include motion pictures on the Spanish American War, essays on First Ladies, sources on Immigration, documents from the Continental Congress, Civil War Maps, as well as photographs from nearly every era in U.S. History. There are hundreds of collections which deserve one's time and research to grasp the enormity of what is available. The web site also offers a "learning page" section which has web quests, activities and lessons plans all structured around the collections that are available through American Memory.
Webmaster: The Library of Congress

Web Chron: The Web Chronology Project
David Koeller from North Park University is using the Internet to complete interactive historical timelines. For example, the timeline for Islam starts with basic beliefs and moves on the to "The Life of the Prophet" to "Mecca and Medina" and so on. The information contained on the time lines are brief, as they were designed to accompany survey courses on World Civilization, nevertheless they may be good for introductory purposes. Timelines available on the site include: Africa South of the Sahara, China and East Asia, Christianity, India and Souther Asia, Central and South America, Technology, Russia and Eastern Europe, Islam, Middle East and West Asia, North America, Buddhism, Western and Central Europe, United States of America, and a Western Civilization Chronology. Webmaster: David Koeller and Students

The Awesome Library - Special Education
A great reference tool for anyone in Special Programs. This site has links to resources for teachers, parents, and students. Information on IEPs, legal information, specific disabilities, and adaptive equipment is included.
Author: EDI and Dr. R. Jerry Adams

You Can Handle Them All: Behavior Management
This web site offers solutions to 117 "misbehaviors" that it has classified. Sample behaviors include: "The Complainer", "The Hyperactive", "The Con Artist", "The Late Arriver", and "The Troublemaker". For each identified behavior, the web site offers a description of the behavior, the effects of the behavior on the classroom, action a teacher may take to manage the behavior, mistakes teachers make in managing the behavior, and other related behaviors. "You Can Handle Them All" offers teachers concrete solutions for dealing with problem behaviors, and the site also offers teachers and parents online discussion rooms to debate specific behavior issues.
Webmaster: The MASTER Teacher, Inc.

SERI: Special Education Resources on the Internet
Seri stands for special education resources on the Internet, and that is exactly what this web site delivers. Is is a massive "meta-site"(a web site linking to other web sites). It classifies topics into these categories; general disabilites, disability products, legal resources, discussion groups, physical and health disorders, learning disabilities, ADD, speech impairment, special needs and technology, inclusion resources, associations and national organization, parent and educator resources, medicine and health, hearing impairment, behavior disorders, vision impairment, autism, gifted and talents, psychology, and transition resources.
Webmaster: Seri Web Coordinator

The Awesome Library - Woodworking
This web site list dozen of woodworking resources from antique restoration to woodworking calculators.
Author: EDI and Dr. R. Jerry Adams

Great Ideas for Teaching Marketing
Need an idea for a marketing lesson? This web site has literally hundreds of lesson plans and activities for major areas of marketing such as product information, promotion, consumer behavior, international marketing, distribution, planning and strategy ,and market research. Each major area has lesson plans or ideas submitted from teachers and professors across the country. The ideas are fun and educational. Some of the plans include: "Taking Tootsie Roll to Market", "Welcome to Wholesale Jeopardy", "The Use of Music in Advertising", "How to Compete Against Wal-Mart", "The Product Life Cycle - Coca Cola and Marketing Research", and "Marketing a Lipstick."
Webmaster: South Western College Publishing

The Computer Museum History Center
As the timeline of computer use grows, so does the need for historical understanding. This web site is based on the exhibits and collections at the Computer Museum History Center in California. The site offers searchable year by year timeline, as well as images and artifacts to accompany the timeline. Some sections covered include Internet history, the history of the microprocessor, and a timeline of the computer chip. Some posters with timelines are available for purchase. The "This Day in History" link is a bit of a misnomer, as they are requested submission for "this day in history". Overall, this is a better than average web site. As the history of computing continues, it will be interesting to watch this web site expand.
Webmaster: The Computer Museum