Vary your list and assignments to disperse students to several sites. Historical Sound Clips - download famous speeches etc. Conduct a lesson on verifying source and reliable information. This is one advantage over Internet resources over conventional research - you can find the most current information. Publish - use the Internet to publish your student's research, writings, and accomplishments.
Students writing to real audiences write more.
Some sites will display your work for free leaving you free of learning web page construction until a later date. Check out the library - using telnet, search local libraries for current status of books. Have students locate a book through telnet, record information and then take a field trip to the library to locate the book on the shelf. Students may also reserve books to avoid unnecessary trips or have books transferred to a neighborhood library for easy pick up. Don't forget to search college campus libraries, a nice extension to a higher academic exploration field trip.