Concerns in using authentic content Websites

• Level of English may be too hard
• Need to incorporate all four skills, plus vocabulary and grammar
• WebQuests offer a new approach to teaching/learning: students are on their own more
• Time spent planning may be greater--however, WebQuests are reusable learning objects (RLOs)
  

Research tools

Wiki or blog to take notes as students work online (too many to list here--use your favorite)

Furl  to clip notes, make comments and save URLS - http://www.furl.net

Vocabulary aids

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary or Online Thesaurus for quick look up English-English - also has a version for kids - http://www.merriam-webster.com/home.htm

Babelfish - instant online translation - http://babelfish.yahoo.com/

Voycabulary - Makes the words on a Web page into links so that a click will send you to the dictionary you select (tell your students which dictionary you want them to use) -  http://www.voycabulary.com/

The Compleat Lexical Tutor (Lextutor) - students can search in an academic concordance for words or expressions they intend to use - provides inductive information about grammar and vocabulary usage (you will need to practice with it yourself first, and help students use it) - http://132.208.224.131/

Hot Potatoes - a free software application to let you prepare six different types of grammar, vocabulary, reading, etc., quizzes to help students master content - http://hotpot.uvic.ca/

Assessment tools

Project-based Learning Checklists - sorted by grade level and also in Spanish language - http://pblchecklist.4teachers.org/checklist.shtml

MakeWorksheets.com - has examples of ready-made rubrics - http://makeworksheets.com/rubrics.html

Rubistar - online rubric maker - http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php

Further resources online for creating WebQuests and managing project-based learning

Bernie Dodge's page about WebQuests includes links to complete public WebQuests that may not yet be on the WebQuest index - http://webquest.org/index.php

PBL Web Ring - the Web Ring takes you through 8 sites that all deal with various aspects of project-based learning (PBL) - http://pblmm.k12.ca.us/webringinfo.htm

ISTE: Explore Resources for Reinventing Project-Based Learning - a good set of PBL resource links

Project, Problem, and Inquiry-based Learning - an article in Edutopia about using inquiry-based approaches to teaching and learning, and how to choose the best one for your classes - http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic43.htm

BrowseAloud - A small, free, downloadable application (PC) that provides a text reader for browsers (Macs will read any page when set to show Speech from the System Preferences) - some students do better when a text is read aloud to them - http://www.browsealoud.com/