TeachersFirst: Week of November 23, 2008

Featured Sites - Week of November 23, 2008

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Here are this week's features. Clicking the "more resources like this" link below each listing will present a list of our most recent additions for the same subject area and grade level .

United States District Court - Grades 2 - 8
This social studies/government site is simply amazing! Numerous topics abound: current events, monthly highlights, lessons, interactives, and more. Learn the story of America, the branches of the US government, about the FBI, The Great US Seal, and much more. Try some of the interactives like the Native American Quiz, Constitution Jeopardy, Million Dollar Citizen, Presidential Word Search, and several others. Some of the activities and printables require Adobe Acrobat and/or Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page. 7188

In the Classroom:
Use this site to excite your students about U.S. government! If you are teaching anything about the government, constitution, presidents, or various other social studies topics - you are likely to find some lesson ideas at this site. Share the information and activities on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Use this site for research projects. Have students create fictitious blogs “by” the presidents they learn about (written from the president's perspective). Culminate your unit on the US government with a visit to your county court house!

DogEared Book Blog - Grades 2 - 10
This well-moderated site features regular "kid" writers reviewing timely and exciting books. This blog differs from many in that the book reviews are extensive and very well done, good models for classroom book reports. The books are on timely topics such as current political, ecological, or social issues as well as holidays. Another advantage to this site is that it is indexed; each review has keywords listed after the review. You can search for books using keywords or authors. You can also put this site in your RSS reader. Finally, site readers can sign up or register if they want to make their own comments about the reviews. Registration requires an email. Check your school’s Acceptable Use policy regarding student email accounts before allowing students to join on their own. Why not consider using a free Gmail account to use for student memberships. If you plan to have students register individually, you may want to create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes. Here is a blog post that tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service. 9649

In the Classroom:
Use this site as a way to promote independent reading or as a model for student blogging. Encourage students to model their own book review and/or report writing on selected portions of these reviews. Show students how to search with popular keywords or by review writer to find more books to their liking. Other book-related activities change with the changes in book reviews.

For similar resources, click the appropriate keyword: book reviews | independent reading |

Using a Calculator - Grades 4 - 7
Use this site to introduce, practice, and review intermediate calculator skills. There are three options at this site: Revision Bite offers a great introduction (or review) of the skills, there is also an interactive calculator with several questions to challenge your students, and finally an online quiz. Most of the questions are designed for middle school math classes. The interactive provides sound clips and motivation (a skateboarder). This site requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page. 9648

In the Classroom:
Share this site with your students on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Use the Revision Bite as an anticipatory set for a lesson about using the calculator. Then use the activities and online quiz as additions to your lesson (or even AS the lesson). The site is ready to go, easy to follow, educational, and simple for both teachers and students to use. Provide this link in your class newsletter or embed it right into your class web site or wiki so students can practice with this interactive calculator at home.

The Apostrophe Protection Society - Grades 5 - 10
While on its surface this may seem a humorous site, it is a seriously needed one! For those interested in preserving the English language and its subtle distinctions, this site (created in the United Kingdom) gives students practical example of how misusing apostrophes hinders real communication. The Examples pages offer a variety of pictures of actual signs, cards, and even gravestones with missing or misplaced apostrophes. This site should only be used with supervision since one of its main links is to a message board. The More Problems link only talks about less vs. fewer, so that has limited use. 9663

In the Classroom:
Because of the message board, this site is best used within the class. Some of the sign examples are hilarious and might spur students to find their own signs and published work that is missing apostrophes (or has misplaced ones). Why not share this site on an interactive whiteboard or projector. You might even create a bulletin board or wiki with apostrophe errors students can find in your own community. Give points to students who add a digital picture or document scan and caption explaining the misuse and correction for the apostrophe error.

For similar resources, click the appropriate keyword: apostrophes | punctuation |

The Karaoke Channel - Grades 1 - 10

Registration requires an email address. Tip: rather than using your personal or work email, create a free Gmail account to use for membership. If you plan to have students register individually (which isn’t necessarily recommended), you may want to create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes. Here is a blog post that tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service. This site requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page. 9654

In the Classroom:
Don't allow students to browse this site, since some songs may not be appropriate for school use. Songs are mostly in English, but there are also selections in Spanish, German, and other European languages. Use for cultural enrichment when studying other cultures and also for pronunciation practice for other languages. Encourage students to bring in other folk songs to share from their background cultures. Share these songs on your interactive whiteboard or projector – turn up the volume!

Modern Languages - Grades 8 - 12
This site offers free courses with a great deal of depth on topics featuring modern European languages and English. It is a not a site for beginning language learners or low-level ESL and ELL students. Courses explore language topics, mostly with textual readings. Some of the featured units follow language textbooks. In addition to language topics, there are several offerings in business English. Students can choose what to study in a variety of ways: by topic, time of course, and course number or code.

You can put this in your RSS reader. Some of the activities require Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page. 9659

In the Classroom:
Introduce your AP language and world culture students to the materials on this site. Gifted students or those seeking independent language study could also use these courses.Older ESL and ELL students interested in business careers may also find it useful.

For similar resources, click the appropriate keyword: language learning | business English | world cultural studies |

This Day in History - Grades 5 - 12
This historical site features short videos (1 minute in length) that highlight "This Day in History." Topics include a mix of everything: government, world geography, world history, health history, discoveries, and much more. The video clips highlight several events from each day. They span the past few centuries and include various subjects and topics. Be aware with the videos, if you stay on the site and do not click "pause" or click on another link, you will automatically go to the video for the following day. So if you don't want your students to "peek ahead," be sure to click "pause." There is a short advertisement when you arrive at this site, so you may want to click on the site before you use it with your students and then click "pause" at the start of the video clip.

Although the videos are the highlight of this site, there is much more to explore! On the right side bar you will find text boxes to enter ANY date and choose the category. Some examples of categories include Civil War, Cold War, Presidential, Sports, Old West, World War I and II, Entertainment, and several others. On the left side bar there are even more topics and links to explore. Once you click on the subject area, specific "story topics" are provided under the subject. Both of the features on the right and left side of the site display text information, not video clips. This site does require Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page. 279

In the Classroom:
You can add this in your RSS reader. Why not use the RSS feature to remind you of the day’s events? Share the site on an interactive whiteboard or projector. The topics on the left and right side bars make excellent research references.

For a classroom-ready activity each day to build understanding of historical events in the context of your students' prior knowledge, also try TeachersFirst's Dates That Matter. Include both links on your teacher web page for instant access by students both in and out of class. Maybe start a class wiki for your own "This Day" collection and assign student groups a day of their own. Add to it from year to year. Or have students write blog responses on class or individual blogs as they choose an event for the day from several sources and react to it.

For similar resources, click the appropriate keyword: presidents | American culture | world history |

Dabbleboard - Grades 0 - 12
TeachersFirst Edge entry: for ANY technology user. Dabbleboard (still in beta) allows you to make whiteboard drawings and graphic organizers in an online space you can share with others. Since more than one computer can "work on" the whiteboard at a time, students in multiple locations can add to the board at the same time -- or come back to a saved board to add to it later. The whiteboard includes freehand drawing, basic shapes (some that even pop in when you come close to drawing that shape), text tools, and simple colors. You can also upload images, drag and resize anything you draw or type, etc. If used as a whole-class activity, such as on an interactive whiteboard, you can save it by clicking SHARE, copying the URL so you can put the link on a class wiki, teacher web page, or blog so students or the class can revisit and change it later. The tool requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.

See an example created by the Edge team here . Note that you can change it, too! 9627

In the Classroom:
Skills needed: Join the site (free), but only if you wish to be able to SAVE dabbleboards. You can share them in real time without joining, but they are lost once you quit. Joining requires an email address. Use your memberships email or check school policies before allowing students to sign up using email. Another option is to create a free Gmail account to use for memberships. If you plan to have students register individually, you may want to create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes. Here is a blog post that tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service.

Once you join, watch the quick video tour or play with the tools. Be sure you can locate tools to draw, resize, delete, drag, and group/ungroup items. Try uploading an image (make sure you have the RIGHTS to use it!). Your uploaded items remain in your library for later use. Note that to add text you simply click in the whitespace and start typing. It is easier to change text size and color BEFORE typing. To keep a board, simply click NEW. The old board will become part of your library at the left of the screen.

Safety concerns: Once shared, any dabbleboard can be seen and altered by others who know the URL. You will not have any record of who makes changes, so student-to-student "vandalism" is possible. Do not make student drawings "public" unless this is within school policies. Clicking "Make public" will add that dabble board to the public library. Others can copy any "public" work. Note that sharing by URL does NOT make a board public unless you click "make public."

Ideas for using this tool: Assess prior knowledge as you start a unit by generating a class dabbleboard. Save it under your class/teacher account to re-access throughout the unit, adding new topics and content. Make the URL available from your class web page for students to use as review or for learning support teachers to reinforce what has happened in class. Have student groups map out the content of projects. Encourage visual prewriting for the students who "think in pictures." Have students create review organizers or drag and drop activities to share with classmates. Brainstorm together over time or distance by letting students add ideas from home or collaborating from another school. Save your visual notes from a faculty meeting to reopen next time. Allow students to use a dabbleboard as their visual during speeches. Map the sequence of steps in a chemical reaction. Then share the URL for absent students to "see" what happened in class. Annotate design principles directly on top of an uploaded image or have students submit their own analysis of an image by sending you the URL for their dabbleboard. Have young students use a dabbleboard to draw out ideas before they can even write entire sentences. This one has endless possibilities!

For similar resources, click the appropriate keyword: graphic organizer | online tool | mind map |

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