Links and Other Cool Stuff
General/Favorite Sites
PUSD Parent Guide (a new resource for parents provided by the Poway Unified School District)
Six Traits Writing Site (the basis for our writing instruction here at Morning Creek)
Lexile Site (includes a link to a list of thousands of titles of books arranged by lexile)
Dance Mat Typing (I HIGHLY recommend this kid-friendly site for teaching your child how to type. Special thanks to my former teaching partner, Karen O'Connor, 2000 California State Teacher of the Year, for sharing this link with me.)
Free Typing Tutorial Practice Link (generously submitted by our former computer lab aide, Mrs. Terri Goodin)
Science Field Day Link (site for all the rules and guidelines for all Science Field Day events in which our school will be participating.)
www.starfall.com (a language translation site)
http://babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_txt (another language translation site)
Weather Site (since weather is part of the water cycle)
Dr. Wilderness (This site was given out by guest speaker/performer Khevin Barnes at our December 5, 2003 Water/Science Assembly.)
CA Mission (For information on California's 21 missions)
Mission Trails Regional Park (Great place to visit to study Kumeyaay history or Riparian Habitats and one of my favorite spots in San Diego)
Cabrillo National Monument (Another great place to study San Diego's history from the days of explorers to it's most recent military history)
San Diego County Parks and Recreation (includes information about several of the sites we have studied or visited, such as the Mission San Diego de Alcala, Mission San Luis Rey, the Rancho de los Penasquitos Adobe, and Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, as well as many others such as the Presidio and Serra Museum, San Pasqual Battlefield Site, and the Rancho de Guajome Adobe)
San Dieguito River Park (Great place to hike and learn about the Sikes Adobe or the Kumeyaay Interpretive Trails and petroglyphs)
Kidnetic (Includes healthy eating tips and exercise activity suggestions for kids--also a dance move creator!)
Fitness Fundamentals (President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports maintains this site--includes a list of books on fitness for children at the bottom of page)
Class Brain (Great research tool for reports of almost any kind.)
Scholastic News (We occasionally get this news magazine for kids--there's more cool stuff at the web site, including stuff we may have missed.)
National Geographic (main site)
National Geographic Great Maps
Sports Illustrated (main site)
Smart Parent (Internet safeguard)
Pediatric Neurology (If you think your child might have a learning disability)
Baby Names and Baby Center (in case a new addition to the family is on the way!)
PBS for Kids (scroll down to the second half of this site for the most utility)
Math.com (Self-explanatory here)
Great Games and Puzzles Site (self-explanatory--these games are very mild and many were downloaded to the computer in the classroom by the previous teacher, but parental supervision/preview might still be a good idea)
Funbrain (This one's on a lot of teacher web sites, so I'm not sure who to credit here, but maybe I better give props to Mrs. Schmidt on this one too--just so she won't complain or anything!)
Prints Plus (site where students can see and acquire large size prints of some of the art pieces and artists that we study in class--parental supervision, however, is recommended in order to ensure that students don't try to find artists and pieces that we definitely DIDN'T study, and for good reason)
Vintage International Classics (where I've gotten some of the books listed on my "recommended Reading" page for adults--also puts out a significant number of more advanced, pre-teen types of books appropriate for some students entering middle school soon)
Claremont (LA County) Folk Music Center (One of my favorite places in the whole world; in fact, I'd live there if they'd let me--lots of great children's puppets, gadgets, and beginning instruments from around the world; for adults, it is a great place to sample and even acquire many world and ethnic instruments, for in addition to a store, it is also a certified museum, the largest such of ethnic instruments in Southern California--it is also where recording star Ben Harper got his start--it was his grandfather who owned the store.) (Directions: Take I-15 North to the I-10 interchange in Fontana, then take I-10 West to the Indian Hill Exit, going north until Bonita, make a right on Bonita and another right on Yale--it's at 220 Yale Ave. (909) 624-2928)
Math-Related Links
AAA Math (good for basic skills)
Dr. Math (ask questions about math)
Brain Bashers (good for mind-expanding brainteasers)
Eduplace (another good brainteaser site)
Math Stories (word problems/problem-solving)
Ricks Math (good for basic skills)
Animals and Science-Related Links
Science Monster (from the makers of Cool Math)
Art and Music-Related Links
Gary Harbo (learning how to draw)
Mark Kistler (a humorous series of art lessons)
Play Music (instruments, etc.)
Sports-Related Links
The Science of Hockey (and a related site for Sports in General and even one for The Science of Skateboarding)
My Personal Hobby Links
As you might know, music and electronics items are a serious hobby for me. Following are some other Music-Related Sites that have supplied some of my equipment and might be of interest to any other serious musicians/music fans out there. I have a great deal of experience with and/or knowledge about this stuff, so I would be happy to engage anyone in conversation about any of them some time.
Christmas Carols at Friday Flag Ceremony, December 17, 2004: (From left to Right) Yours Truly in Santa cap and on 5-string electric bass; former volunteer extraordinaire Henry Brown on acoustic guitar and vocals; and Henry's friend Ed Spain on acoustic guitar. After 12 years of volunteering his artistic and musical skills in second through fifth grade classes at Morning Creek, Henry and his wife moved to Florida in February 2005. All of us at Morning Creek will surely miss him.
E-mu (some of the most professional-sounding and highest quality synth modules ever made, but quite expensive, thus so many discontinued models--makes up about half of my studio's sound base, but would be all of it if discontinued models still existed)
Yamaha (good for department store or beginner keyboards for fourth or fifth graders--also maker of the best studio powered monitor speakers ever made--the MSP-5--classics--still in use in stores and studios everywhere, even after 9 years on the market)
KRK Systems (the second best studio powered monitor speakers ever made--the Rokit 5--sure to become classics--highly versatile--can be used with a surround sound system--have a lot of tight low-end oomph and kick)
Korg (Home of the N5, my trusty old tried and true synthesizer, as well as the new Triton Extreme Workstation, my prized newest addition to my studio, with 88 weighted keys like a real grand piano and thousands of cutting-edge sounds--the crown jewel of professional keyboard makers)
Alesis (My first synth module and reverberation machine--better on effects than on synths)
Roland (the leader in synths and synth modules)
DOD Electronics (great special effects/sound effects pedals for guitars and other instruments)
Boss (the cutting edge in special effects/sound effects pedals and devices for guitars and other instruments, as well as a great line of samplers, drum machines, and other studio equipment)
Behringer (the unmistakable leader in straight mixers)
Ibanez (by far, the sweetest sounding electric guitars, with great depth and range)
Tascam (the unmistakable leader in recording equipment)
Rode Microphones (by far, the best digital condenser mics made, but costly)
McSpadden Dulcimers (home of the Appalachian Mountain Dulcimer, the same instrument demonstrated to us a few years ago on our field trip to the Los Penasquitos Rancho Adobe)
Dusty Strings (very informative site about forgotten folk instruments, such as the hammered dulcimer and the harp)
Deering Banjos (locally located in Spring Valley--can you guess what they make?)
Alvarez Guitars (nylon string classical guitars--very sweet sound)
Mitchell (acoustic guitars--a little sweeter sound)
Gibson (acoustic guitars--awesome 12-strings)
Dean (fretless four and five string bass guitars)
Line 6 Amplification (No better clarity--using Celestion speakers helps)
Remo (also sells beginning ethnic drums for children)
Speakercraft (Riverside-based speaker manufacturers--check them out if considering in-wall or in-ceiling speakers in your home)
NAD (Still the best in the entry level of upscale audiophile CD players, especially HDCD format, as in the C542; also makers of the finest dual-deck CD dubbing/burning machine, the C660)
Marantz (Makers of the first consumer audiophile CD burners; although outdated, the DR700 is still a classic in its own right; also makers of the CD63SE, still considered a classic audiophile CD player, even after more than a dozen years on the market)
Denon (great old school CD players, as in the DCD-615, and the new audiophile quality DVD/Super Audio CD player, the DVD-757, which contains the legendary Burr Brown 1738 PCM DAC)
Onkyo (still the best receivers and DVD players for the money on the market, in my opinion; unrivaled "bang for your buck")
Harman Kardon (great analog tape machines)
PSB (The Image 4Ts, Image 8C, Image 1Bs, and Subsonic 6 Powered Subwoofer are the best and most efficient music or home theater speakers on the planet for the money, in my opinion)
Cambridge Audio (makers of one of the finest audiophile entry-level upscaling CD players)
LSA (The LSA 2 floorstanding speaker with a second rear-firing tweeter is the best audiophile class speaker under $2,500)
Brian S. Lees
Morning Creek
Elementary School
Poway Unified School District
10925 Morning Creek Drive South
San Diego CA 92128
(858)748-4334 (ext. 2121)
