I found specific curriculum materials for my existing units, including strategies for learning about different authors and using student portfolios as a method of evaluating comprehension, a reading workshop unit, and more. My first venture into finding lesson plans online was well worth the time. All of the plans I retrieved were written by distant colleagues at roughly the same grade level. Since I'm fortunate to have access from home and school, I've been able to do quite a bit on the Net. I've retrieved lesson plans from many databases, exchanged email with educators around the world, given my students the chance to dissect a frog via the Net, and joined mailing list discussions about cutting-edge science education topics.
Mailing lists are forums for discussion that operate via email.
My favorite mailing list is Kidsphere. Once you subscribe, you'll receive about 15 email messages a day containing the discussions. Still, I haven't really steeped my students in an Internet experience that ties in with what they're learning. Within 48 hours I received more than 20 replies. A teacher in Texas wrote several sentences.