Free
Things for Your Students and Classroom
This information was compiled from information
gathered by the National Education Association, the U.S. Department
of Education and WEAC. It was last updated June 2, 2006.
For another list of free resources, visit the U.S. Department of Education's Federal Resources for Education Excellence (FREE) Web site.
- The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace offers a free online resource, globalization101.org, to teach high school students about policy aspects of globalization related to civics, economics, geography and history. Globalization101.org provides easily understandable information and related lesson plans to teach about cross-disciplinary subjects such as international trade, world-wide health and environmental issues and global technological changes. The site includes 11 in-depth issue briefs, more than 70 news analyses, and teachers' resource section with lesson plans and alignments to Wisconsin standards.
- The Operation FitKids™ Youth Fitness Curriculum (a $99.95 value)
is provided at no cost to health and fitness educators as a public
service of the American Council on Exercise (ACE). The Operation FitKids
Curriculum is designed for educators looking to integrate health and
fitness into classroom learning. This seven-lesson module was developed
to teach the extreme dangers of being overweight and the importance
of a healthy and active lifestyle. It is designed for 3rd, 4th and
5th graders. For more details, visit the ACE
Web site.
- Ocean Explorer provides
educators with a free CD-ROM of its Web site for use in the classroom
when an Internet connection is not available. The CD-ROM also includes
more than 130 lesson plan ideas.
- Building Homes of Our Own is an interactive teaching tool
for the middle school classroom. The game presents a the entire home
building process from site selection to final sale. Players collect
information, solve problems and make choices as they build a 3D home
on a budget. Players then review credit applications and sell to the
buyer of their choice. The program is part of the National Association
of Home Builders (NAHB) ongoing educational outreach initiative, in
partnership with the National Housing Endowment, Freddie Mac, and
the Fannie Mae Foundation. Visit www.homesofourown.org.
- Order a free education kit, which includes a 30-page Teacher Resource
Guide, plus a 19 1/4" x 31" full-color museum quality poster
reproduction of the “Lansdowne” portrait of George Washington
by Gilbert Stuart for your classroom. Visit www.georgewashington.si.edu.
- The U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing is offering a free interactive
CD-ROM and a poster about U.S. currency and the $20 bill. Go to MoneyFactory.com.
- TheTeachersGuide.com
offers free educational software printable worksheets and education-themed
clip art. The site also contains lesson plans, thematic units and
other classroom activity ideas.
- Your students can participate in a virtual frog dissection, tour
the solar system, visit the Eiffel Tower and other famous landmarks,
take a dinosaur safari and learn more about The Holocaust by visiting
the Online Exhibits Hotlist.
- Cabela's provides 5,000 educational posters annually for use in
classrooms about the Iditarod. Visit Cabela's
Web site to request a poster for your classroom.
- The Fund for
Animals offers a variety of teaching and classroom aides about
animal issues. Elementary teachers can request a free subscription
to a quarterly newsletter, Animal Crusader. Each issue focuses on
a different animal-related topic, and includes games and learning
activities. Middle and high school teachers can receive a class set
of 35 copies of another quarterly newsletter, Animal Free Press. The
fund also offers free pamphlets, books, songbooks and posters.
- The U.S. Geological Society offers free or low-cost education materials
to educators through its Web
site. The USGA has maps, informational booklets, CD-ROMs, teaching
packets and fact sheets available.
- Office supplies, building materials, software, children's clothing,
and much more are available through Gifts
In Kind International. Schools can receive donations through their
PTA. For an application and brochure, send a self-addressed, stamped
envelope to Gifts In Kind International, 333 North Fairfax, Alexandria,
VA 22314. For details, call 703/836-2121.
- The IRS provides high schools with tax-education materials that
walk students through completing tax forms. Visit the IRS
Web site.
- The United Nations offers a kit that details the inner workings
of the UN-and describes how to get other educational materials on
world issues. Send a postcard to United Nations Public Inquiries Unit,
Room GA-57, United Nations, New York, NY 10017. You may also request
the materials online by visiting the UN's
Web site.
- "The
American Jury: Bulwark of Democracy" is an online resource
guide for teachers, students, and citizens devoted to explaining the
American jury system and its role in American legal, social, and political
life. It features lessons, information, and resources developed by
the Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago with high school teachers
from California, Colorado, North Carolina, Washington, Wisconsin,
and Illinois in cooperation with national experts and scholars on
the jury system.
- A&E Television
Networks has several free teacher resources including a bi-annual
magazine, The Idea Book for Educators, which includes teachers'
guides for programs featured in A&E Classroom programming.
- Drillmasters gives away one free pair of its shoes to marching band
directors with no obligations to buy. Call 800/233-6737.
- The Center for Digital Education's Converge Online is an
e-mail magazine with feature articles and news about education policy
and technology. To subscribe, visit http://www.centerdigitaled.com/converge/.
- NASA's Central Operation of Resources for Educators (CORE) was
established for the national and international distribution of NASA-produced
audiovisual education materials. Catalogs are available at http://core.nasa.gov/.
- NASA "Why?" Files
is a series of 60-minute broadcasts, problem-based activities, an
educator's guide, and web resources designed students in Grades 3-5.
- NASAexplores presents
new lessons each week -- including articles, learning activities,
and background information for teachers and students -- on topics
related to space. Airport efficiency, motion sickness, housekeeping
in space, the international space station, prevention of human error,
seeing what can't be seen, asteroids, and use of light to speed recovery
from illnesses are among the more than 30 topics.
- The Foundation Center
home page on the Internet is packed with information on foundation
and corporate grantmakers. Also included are listings of publications
and training opportunities for novice grantseekers. Write to the Foundation
Center at 79 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10003-3076, 212/620-4230.
- Booklets (maximum of 25 per order) on health topics, including asthma, chronic bronchitis,
emphysema, tuberculosis, stress, and nutrition & fitness are available
free from the Will Rogers Institute,
10045 Riverside Drive, 3rd Fl., Toluca Lake CA, 91602, 1-888-755-7575.
- The U.S. Tennis Association provides free equipment, technical
assistance, and teacher training workshops in an effort to introduce
students to tennis. For more information, send an e-mail to jamison@usta.com.
- The Time of the
Lincolns, a companion Web site to the film Abraham and Mary Lincoln:
A House Divided, examines the context and conflicts surrounding the
Civil War. Topics include the partisan politics of the time, the battle
for abolition, the Underground Railroad, African American troops,
and women's rights. The site offers soldiers' letters, newspaper articles,
and other primary sources, along with a teacher's guide. (supported
by the National Endowment for the Humanities)
- Visit the American
Heart Association's Web site for teaching guides and classroom
activity ideas on nutrition, the importance of physical activity,
living tobacco-free, and maintaining a healthy heart.
- Adopt-A-Class. Teachers Jean Wasson and Amy Young ask family members
at Forest Heights Elementary School in Harrison, Arkansas, to adopt
a class for as little as $10 a month. "I've received $200 already
within the first three months of school," says Wasson, who used the
money to buy books and supplies. For details, contact them at 501/741-5837.
- The Yes I Can Foundation For Exceptional Children awards minigrants
of up to $500 each to teachers or related service providers who have
a great idea for teaching children with special learning needs. Each
year the foundation awards five to ten minigrants. For more information,
visit the foundation's
Web site.
- Reading Planet
is designed to help families and children explore the world of books.
It features an annotated list of 1,000 children's books that can be
browsed by age group, author, or category (e.g., popular, classic,
award winning). Children can post reviews of their favorite books
and read reviews by others. The site, offered by Reading Is Fundamental,
Inc., also provides learning activities, articles for adults, and
interviews with authors. (Department of Education)
- The Educator's Guide to Smithsonian Publications ($5) lists
lesson plans, posters, videos, teaching packets, and other materials
available for free or little cost from the Smithsonian Institution's
many museums. Contact Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum
Studies, Arts & Industries Bldg., MRC 402, P.O. Box 37012, Washington,
D.C. 20013-7012. The guide can be ordered online by visiting
http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/.
- The Smithsonian Museum offers guides that suggest ways teachers
can use museums to teach writing, art, design, science, technology,
history and culture. The guides provide background essays, lesson
plans, handouts, and student writing samples. They are available online
at the Smithsonian
Web site.
- The National Museum of Natural History's teaching packet for anthropology
includes suggestions for in-class and field activities such as mother-infant
observation and exploring historic cemeteries. Contact Anthropology
Outreach and Public Information Office, National Museum of Natural
History, Room 363, MRC 112, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
20560, 202/357-1592, or visit the
Anthropology Outreach Office Web site.
- The Edison Teaching Kit contains how-to instructions for 82 science
experiments appropriate for students in grades 4-8. Each hands-on
experiment includes simple directions and requires inexpensive materials.
Download the kit at The
Charles Edison Fund Web site.
- For a free guide on forming a student earth/animal protection club
in your school, along with a sample copy of the student newsletter
KIND (Kids in Nature's Defense) News, contact NAHEE, Dept.
FF, P.O. Box 362, East Haddam, CT 06423, or visit the KIND
News Web site.
- "Triggering Positive Health Choices," a free videotape and teacher's
guide to help kids learn about peer pressure and decision-making,
is available from Met Life, Health and Safety Education, One Madison
Ave., New York, NY 10010-3690.
- The National Postal Museum offers a postal pack for elementary
and middle school students. It includes illustrated activity sheets
that promote letter writing and details on stamps and historic letters.
Download the postal pack in printer-friendly PDF format from the National
Postal Museum Web site.
- At the Miami
Museum of Science Web site elementary students can learn to make
3D glasses to view Web images of Hurricane Andrew, and follow directions
to make a diagram of a hurricane.
- Microsoft provides educators with lesson plan ideas and
clip art through its Web site, www.microsoft.com/education/schools/aspx.com.
- The U.S. Department of Education's Web page contains a wealth of
information on grants
available to educators. The Catalog
of Federal Domestic Assistance is the official directory of federal
grant programs, with a listing of more than 1,500.
- Polaris, a grants assistance program, will contract with schools
to design and write grant proposals. For information on writing grant
proposals or Polaris' services, visit http://polarisgrantscentral.net/.
- School districts located near a Boeing Company office in Alabama,
California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Oregon, Pennsylvania, or Washington
can apply for a grant to receive free equipment, technical assistance,
or funding for a special project. For more information, visit the
Boeing
Web site.
- Many book publishers provide book samples -- often from publisher
overruns and returns -- to economically disadvantaged schools. Check
your library for a directory of book publishers, or visit the Sabre
Foundation's directory of book donation organizations.
- The U.S. Chess Federation offers informational booklets and promotional
materials to help school chess programs get started. Write to Scholastic
Department, 3054 N.Y.S. Route 9W, New Windsor, NY 12553, (845) 561-2437,
or visit the USCF
Web site.
- The Children's Book Council offers 75 Authors & Illustrators
Kids Should Know and 13 Exciting Reading Activities for Children.
The materials, plus many other resources, are available on the CBC
Web site.
- For tips on starting newspapers for students in grades 1-6, contact
the National Elementary Schools Press Association, Mark Levin, Carolina
Day School, 1345 Hendersonville Rd., Asheville, NC 28803, (828) 274-0758
ext. 385, or visit www.nespa.org.
- "Grants for School Districts," a biweekly newsletter, reports on
public and private grants specifically for schools. Cost: $187 year.
E-mail updates and access to a Web version of the newsletter are included
in the price. For a free trial subscription (two issues), contact
Quinlan Publishing at 800/229-2084.
- Education Grants Alert, a weekly newsletter on funding opportunities
for K-12 schools, features early notice of federal and private grants,
detailed program descriptions, and tips on grant seeking. Cost: $486/year.
Call LRP Publications at 800/341-7874.
- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency offers curriculum
resources on recycling and conservation, grant opportunities and ideas
for community service projects. Visit www.epa.gov/teachers.
- National Gallery of Art loans slides, audio cassettes, CD-ROMs,
DVDs, videos and teaching packets to educators to facilitate art education
in the classroom. To search a listing of available resources, visit
the NGA
Web site.
- The University of Florida Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants
offers free posters to K-12 teachers. Visit its Web
site to learn how to request your posters.
- Many local public television stations offer free education services
to educators, including a National Teacher Training Institute. Station
trainers help teachers and media specialists integrate quality television
and other technologies into the curriculum. To learn more, visit
PBS on the Web or contact PBS at 1330 Braddock Pl., Alexandria,
VA 22314, 703/739-5000.
- Order your free National Wildlife Week poster from the National
Wildlife Foundation by visiting the organization's Web
site.
- Aplusmath.com has an online
tool that lets teachers and parents create and print math flashcards,
and other resources to help students with basic math.
- Grants for Schools: How To Find and Win Funds for K-12 Programs
by Jacqueline Ferguson details more than 100 grants available specifically
for schools. Included are checklists, charts, and step-by-step tips
on reaching out to grantors and developing proposals. The book is
available on Amazon.com.
- The Grantseeker's Handbook of Essential Internet Sites is
a map to finding grant information on the Internet. The book includes
addresses of more than 750 sites. $99. Order from Amazon.com.
- Unbelievably Good Deals That You Absolutely Can't Get Unless
You're a Teacher by Barry Harrington and Beth Christensen.
$12.95 from Contemporary Books, Inc., Two Prudential Plaza, Chicago,
IL, 60601-6970. Or, order online from the McGraw-Hill
Professional Bookstore.
- Children's book author Jan Brett has a special free packet for teachers
and librarians. Request your packet by writing to Jan Brett, P.O.
Box 366, Norwell, MA 02061.
Updated June 2, 2006
