The provided source material details an extensive collection of free educational resources, tools, and materials available to educators, students, and parents. These resources cover a wide range of subjects and needs, from printable worksheets and lesson plans to online tutorials, mapping tools, and digital organizational aids. The information highlights a significant volume of no-cost content designed to support teaching, learning, and classroom management.
Educational Worksheets, Lesson Plans, and Teaching Materials
A variety of websites offer free instructional content to support classroom activities and home learning. These platforms provide ready-to-use materials across multiple subjects and grade levels.
- Scholastic: The global children's publishing and media company offers a dedicated section for educators at
teacher.scholastic.com. This site provides "Ready to use lessons for grades 1-6" and is described as having "tons of free stuff for educators to use in their classrooms," including information related to popular topics like Harry Potter. - Clickteaching.com: This website offers "Free worksheets, lesson plans, teaching resources and activity ideas for schools and for primary teachers."
- LearningPage.com: Provides "Free worksheets and lesson plans for teachers and parents."
- Free-Ed.net: Offers "Free online tutorials and courses for educator and others."
- Federal Resources for Educational Excellence: Located at
www.ed.gov/free/, this initiative involves more than 30 federal agencies working to make "hundreds of federally supported education resources available." - TeachWeb: Provides "Lesson plans, classes, newsletters, and resources for math, English, science, social studies" for K-12 teachers.
- Teaching Ideas: A UK-based site at
www.teachingideas.co.ukthat offers "a collection of hundreds of teaching ideas, which can be used in the primary classroom. Also includes worksheets, which can be printed and photocopied." - Yourhomework.com: Lists "Free homework listings for students, teachers, and parents."
- Discover Writing with Barry Lane: Offers "Free Lesson Plans for Teachers" at
www.discoverwriting.com/lessons.html. - Mineral Information Institute: Provides K-12 teachers with "free geological, mineralogical, earth science, lesson plans classroom materials about the Earth's ecology and natural resources."
- StudentsOnTheNet.com: Provides "Free educational and leisure resources for students, teachers, parents and home tutors."
Digital Tools for Classroom Management and Organization
Several web-based tools are available to help educators and students organize information, manage classroom tasks, and create certificates.
- Certificate Creation: Several sites offer tools to create and print certificates for students.
- Certificate Creator: Located at
www.certificatecreator.com, this tool allows users to "Create online certificates to print and distribute to students." - Certificate Templates:
www.hayespub.com/templates.htmloffers certificate templates, including a "free Nursery School Diploma."
- Certificate Creator: Located at
- Bookmark and Resource Organization:
- Blink:
www.blink.comallows users to "Organize your bookmarks online and never lose them and access them from any computer." - Portaportal: Described as "Like Blink," this tool at
www.portaportal.comalso facilitates online bookmark organization.
- Blink:
- School-to-Community Communication:
- SchoolNotes.com: This service at
www.schoolnotes.com/enables educators to "Create Notes for homework and class information and post them on the web in seconds." It is a free community service that allows parents and students to view notes by zip code.
- SchoolNotes.com: This service at
Online Tutorials and Subject-Specific Resources
A number of platforms provide focused learning materials and tutorials for specific subjects.
- Language Learning:
- LearnTeachKidsSchools:
www.ToLearnEnglish.comoffers "Free materials to learn/teach English. For ESL/EFL learners/teachers." - Learn Spanish A Free Online Tutorial:
www.studyspanish.com/provides a "Free Online Tutorial" with "Grammar explanations Written exercises Oral exercises Written tests."
- LearnTeachKidsSchools:
- Mathematics:
- MathGoodies:
www.mathgoodies.com/is a "free educational web site featuring interactive math lessons, homework help, worksheets, puzzles, message boards, and more!" The site contains over 400 pages of free math activities.
- MathGoodies:
- Writing and Language Arts:
- Dictionary Plus:
school.discovery.com/dictionaryplus/is a dictionary tool where users can "Enter a word and find everything you would expect from a standard dictionary similar words, synonyms, and much more."
- Dictionary Plus:
- Science and Social Studies:
- MarcoPolo:
www.wcom.com/marcopoloprovides "Internet Content for the Classroom." It is described as a free site that "every social studies teacher should see," offering "Great lessons, teachers guides, and much more." - Filamentality:
www.filamentality.com/wired/fil/index.htmlis an "interactive Web site that guides you through picking a topic, searching the Web, gathering good Internet sites, and turning Web resources into learning activities." It is designed to combine the "filaments" of the Web with a learner's "mentality."
- MarcoPolo:
Maps, Geography, and Visual Learning Aids
Visual resources, particularly maps and graphic organizers, are highlighted as valuable tools for instruction.
- Mapping Tools:
- National Geographic Map Machine:
www.nationalgeographic.com/maps/index.htmlis cited multiple times as a "great site for maps." - MapQuest:
www.mapquest.com/is a frequently mentioned mapping resource. - Outline Maps: The
www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/Map_collection/map_sites/outline_sites.htmlsite provides "All kinds of outline maps. Organized alphabetically." - Harcourt Atlas:
go.hcw.com/atlas/offers an atlas and "other free teaching material for reading, and more." - David Rumsey Map Collection:
www.davidrumsey.com/view.htmlis a "Large collection" of maps. - Military Maps:
library.nps.navy.mil/home/mapcollection.htmprovides links to a "wide variety of maps" from a list compiled by the US Navy. - Freemap.com:
www.freemap.com/free.htmoffers "Maps in the mail," though the site is described as not being the easiest to navigate.
- National Geographic Map Machine:
- Graphic Organizers:
- Freeology:
www.freeology.com/graphicorgs/provides graphic organizers. - Enchanted Learning:
www.enchantedlearning.com/graphicorganizersoffers printable graphic organizers. - Teachervision:
teachervision.com/tv/curriculum/printables/graphics.htmlprovides printables for graphic organizers. - SCORE:
www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/actbank/torganiz.htmis another source for graphic organizers.
- Freeology:
Puzzles, Games, and Interactive Activities
Educational puzzles and games are available to make learning more engaging.
- Jigsaw Puzzles:
- JigZone:
www.jigzone.com/offers a "48 piece USA map. Free! Fun!" - Puzzle Factory:
www.thepuzzlefactory.com/provides "Fun sounds when you get the pieces in the right spot. 3 levels of difficulty." - Puzzle House:
www.puzzlehouse.com/_onlinepuzzles/onlinepuzzlesmain.htmoffers online puzzles, though users are advised to "look for what is free" as the site also encourages purchases.
- JigZone:
- Word Search and Other Puzzles:
- Freebies About.com:
freebies.about.com/shopping/freebies/library/words/blwsearch.htmprovides "a list of free word search Puzzles you can print and do yourself or use them in your classroom, club or other gathering." - Puzzlemaker:
puzzlemaker.school.discovery.com/is hosted at Discovery School and allows for the creation of puzzles.
- Freebies About.com:
- Jigsaw Puzzle Software:
freebies.about.com/shopping/freebies/library/weekly/aa070900a.htmoffers "a series of free and fun jigsaw puzzle games... The software works with Windows 95/98/NT4/2000."
General Freebies and Information Aggregators
Some websites serve as hubs or directories for various free educational materials and information.
- FreeClutter.com:
freeclutter.nbci.com/school.htmlis a source for "Free Stuff for Schools, Teachers, and Students!" with an offer to "Get free stuff sent to you every week!" - Teachers Free Stuff:
www.freakyfreddies.com/teacher.htmis described as "About.coms list of free teacher stuff." - Teachers Freebies:
www.coolfreebielinks.com/Teachers_Freebies/index.htmlis another directory of freebies for teachers. - Teacher Freebies:
www.teacherfreebies.com/is a site that helps educators find "high-quality educational resources," offering a "large selection of FREE and TRIAL offers from leading educational publishers." - Debbies Virtual Library:
www.techtrekers.com/virtuallibrary/acts as a virtual library of resources. - Crayon:
www.crayon.netprovides "Links to all newspapers and many magazines available on the Net." - Consumer Information Center:
www.pueblo.gsa.gov/is a government resource for consumer information.
Miscellaneous Tools and Services
The source material also lists a few miscellaneous free tools that may be of use.
- Free Drive:
www.freedrive.com/offers "A free drive on the Internet, you can store up to 20 megs for free." - Gas Price Watch:
www.gaspricewatch.com/is a tool for monitoring gas prices. - Phone Hog:
www.phonehog.com/default.aspis a site where users can "Earn free long distance by clicking on sites," though it is noted to have "LOTS of pop-ups." - Printable Checklists:
www.printablechecklists.com/provides printable checklists. - National Geographic:
www.nationalgeographic.com/offers a wealth of information, including its main website and the Map Machine. - New York Times Learning:
www.nytimes.com/learningprovides a "wealth of info for educators" and allows users to "register (FREE) to have lesson plan emailed to you daily." - Medical Journals:
www.freemedicaljournals.com/provides access to online medical journals. - Online News Hour:
www.pbs.org/newshour/newshour_index.htmloffers "Full text transcripts back to 1996."
Conclusion
The provided data reveals a vast ecosystem of free educational resources available to U.S. teachers, students, and parents. From comprehensive lesson plans and worksheets provided by major publishers like Scholastic to specialized tools for creating certificates and organizing digital bookmarks, the options are diverse. Key resources for mapping and geography, such as the National Geographic Map Machine and the University of Texas Outline Maps site, are prominently featured. While many of these resources are hosted on dedicated educational domains, others are part of broader freebie or content aggregator sites. The information collectively points to a robust set of no-cost tools designed to support a wide array of academic and classroom management needs.