Technology Review #2

The second website I chose to review is called EDSITEment. This website offers free resources for teachers, students, and parents. And it does not require any kind of subscription or account to access! It was selected as one of the top 25 websites for 2010 by the American Association of School Librarians and has been accepted into the Smithsonian Institution’s Permanent Research Collection for Information Technology. Although the majority of EDSITEment’s resources are designed for grades 9-12, I believe many of the resources can be adapted to suit a middle school classroom. 

My favorite feature of this website is the interactive calendar. On any given day of the year, the calendar lists significant events in American history. Every event listed on the calendar is hyperlinked and directs you to a page with websites and lesson plans about that particular event or time period. Each lesson plan follows the same format: introduction, guiding questions, learning objective, preparation instructions, lesson activities, assessment, and extension. The lessons are well thought out and generally very thorough. Additionally, each lesson plan includes the targeted grade level range, time required, and skills addressed. This calendar is a great feature for social studies teachers who are wanting to do an “on this day” theme. Teachers can also browse lesson plans by grade level or subtopic. There are over 400 lesson plan in the “history and social studies” category. 

My only concern with this website is that some of the resources may not be suited for a middle school classroom. Although the content is appropriate, some of the lesson plans may be too complex for 6-8 graders. However, I think it is good to set high expectations for your students and I like the incorporation of higher order thinking into these lessons.