LESSON PLANS, TOOLS, AND CROSS-SUBJECT AREA REFERENCES

Here we break from the 'link directly to what you need' approach -- the basis for the Busy Teacher site. We have culled the following sites carefully and, hopefully, have provided you with the 'best of the best' database lesson plans and other useful references. We have tried to minimize the linking wherever possible.

Collaborative Lesson Archive ('E' 'M' 'H')
Preschool through high school, contributed by teachers. Subjects vary widely, so you will need to hunt around this site by grade level. Sponsored by the University of Illinois - NCSA
Teacher resources: faldo.atmos.uiuc.edu/CLA/

Digital Imaging Lesson Plans ('E' 'M' 'H')
From Kodak, quite a few lesson plans/activities for incorporating digital imaging into many subject areas.
Teacher resources: www.kodak.com/US/en/digital/dlc/plus/chapter5/lessonPlans.shtml

Discovery School Lesson Plans ('E' 'M' 'H')
One of the (other) better sites for lesson plans. Easy search and the layout is clean and neat, which makes it more of a pleasure to use. By the Discovery Channel.
Teacher resources: school.discovery.com/lessonplans/

Educator's Reference Desk ('E' 'M' 'H')
This had been the AskERIC service until September 2004 when it was no longer funded by the federal government. It is still a highly useful database for teachers and easy to use. It contains over 2,000 lesson plans. By the Information Institute of Syracuse.
Teacher resources: www.eduref.org/Virtual/Lessons/index.shtml

Educator Resource Center ('E' 'M' 'H') 
As the site explains, "The Museum of Science's Educator Resource Center (ERC) is both an on-site learning space and an online application, providing educators with recommended and institutional Museum materials, all mapped to national and state standards, in order to increase the quality of science, technology, and engineering education. The collection is one of the nation's first to focus on engineering and technology education and includes an extensive knowledge base for curriculum materials and science project resources."
Teacher resources: www.mos.org/doc/1369

Encarta Online ('E' 'M' 'H')
A tremendous amount of reference material is available to anybody just breezing through this site (Dictionary, Thesaurus, World Atlas, etc.). You don't have to be a paid subscriber to use many parts of the site.
Teacher resources: encarta.msn.com/

KidSpace@the Internet Public Library ('E' 'M' 'H')
This site is a departure from the 'direct link' premise of the Busy Teacher site, but we think it will be worth it to you to  'click a bit.'  The KidSpace culled resources and the efficient site organization provides incredible materials and activities in multiple areas with substantial references for teachers.
www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/
Parent resources: www.ipl.org/kidspace/browse/tcn0000

Merriam-Webster Dictionary ('E' 'M' 'H')
Searchable index.
Teacher resources: www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm

Plagiarism--What I Learned About Being a Copy-Cat: A True Story ('E' 'M' 'H')
This charming tale of cat-napping, confusion, and ultimate redemption also serves a serious purpose: to illustrate the principles of citing credit where credit is due. Includes links to plagiarism-related sites. Shamelessly, the author of the Copy-Cat story also wrote the annotation you're reading here; but he stands by the integrity of his work, sincerely recommends it to you, and assures you it wasn't stolen from anyone anywhere.
www.peachstar.gatech.edu/ga_stories/stu/copycat.htm

Puzzlemaker - Online ('E' 'M' 'H')
It's just what the title says. "Puzzlemaker is a (free) puzzle generation tool for teachers, students and parents. Create and print customized word search, crossword and math puzzles using your word lists." By the Discovery Channel. Have fun!
Teacher resources: humanities.uchicago.edu/forms_unrest/ROGET.html

Roget's Thesaurus ('E' 'M' 'H')
A searchable Gopher index by keywords.
Teacher resources: humanities.uchicago.edu/forms_unrest/ROGET.html

RubiStar: Rubric Maker for Project-Based Learning Activities ('E' 'M' 'H')
"RubiStar is a free tool to help a teacher make quality rubrics. RubiStar is a tool to help the teacher who wants to use rubrics but does not have the time to develop them from scratch."
Teacher resources: rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php
Guía del Maestro: rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?&skin=es&lang=es&

Science Education at the National Academy of Sciences ('E' 'M' 'H')
Wide ranging discussion of the issues associated with the role of technology in the nation's K-12 educational system. Worth looking over.
Teacher resources: www4.nas.edu/nas/nashome.nsf/b57ef1bf2404952b852566dd00671bfd/
b0f2873b03f52f1b852566de00504bb6?OpenDocument

Teacher Talk ('E' 'M' 'H')
Published by the Center for Adolescent Studies at the School of Education, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. It is bulled as an electronic publication for preservice secondary teachers, but has many contributions from seasoned teachers. Worth checking out.
Teacher resources: education.indiana.edu/cas/tt/tthmpg.html

Tools for Teachers ('E' 'M' 'H')
Incredible sets of tools for teachers and some for your students to use as well. Sift through the column listing for your needs. You will surely find some parts of this site to be valuable with return trips worthwhile.
Teacher resources: 4teachers.org/
Guía del Maestro: 4teachers.org/sp/

Teachers Scholastic ('E' 'M' 'H')
Many free lesson plans(search by grade and subject),  featured online activities, teaching strategies and tools/aids on this site.
Teacher resources: teacher.scholastic.com/

Virtual Reference Desk ('E' 'M' 'H')
TEN STAR RATING!!! All-purpose great general reference which includes multiple valuable reference volumes. Thanks to Purdue University Library. A rather incredible find!
Teacher resources: thorplus.lib.purdue.edu/reference/index.html