|
| ESL Holidays Lessons - Sean Banville Grades 1
to 8
|
|
Look no further for holiday activities for your ESL and ELL students (or for reading/listening comprehension activities you can use with all learners! This site lists conventional and unusual holidays by month. Click the holiday you would like to feature to find a complete lesson including a tape script, an oral recording of the script, and a variety of review exercises. The printable activities include matching, several varieties of fill-in-the-blank, word choices, spelling, reordering events and sentences from the holiday information, and writing activities. An online clickable reading activity presents parts of sentences, so students must select which sentence part comes first. The screen changes when the correct part comes up, and students select the next part.
10409
In the Classroom:
Use this site to help ESL/ELL students improve listening, reading, writing, and cultural knowledge. Invite an ESL/ELL student to present a holiday from their home country to the class using an interactive whiteboard or projector. Many of the review activities would also work well as reading comprehension practice on interactive whiteboard, especially if students use highlighters and pens to mark up the text passage to locate key terms, etc.
Have students create online holiday posters on paper or do it together as a class using a tool such as Project Poster (reviewed here or PicLits (reviewed here. Share this site with families of your ESL/ELL students to learn more about American holidays. |
|
| TeachersFirst's Vancouver Olympics 2010 Resources - TeachersFirst Grades 0
to 12
|
|
Whether you have a few minutes or a few days to light the Olympic torch in your classroom, TeachersFirst offers these resources to guide the way to medal-winning lessons. This collection of reviewed resources from TeachersFirst is selected to help teachers and students learn more about the Vancouver Olympics, 2010, and to plan curriculum-related projects and classroom activities around the Olympic winter games in Vancouver. These links may also be helpful to compare the Vancouver games with other years.
10411
In the Classroom:
Use these resources to plan a special lesson or unit within your curriculum during the Olympics or share the link on your class web page for students to access both in and out of class for enrichment or individual projects. |
|
| Vancouver 2010: With Glowing Hearts - The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic Grades 0
to 12
|
|
This eclectic site has something for everyone about the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. For younger students, be sure to meet the mascots of the site, view the interactives, and more. Students of all ages can use this site to learn about the schedule, view photos and videos, learn about each sport in the winter 2010 Olympics, trace the torch relay, view a spectator guide, meet the athletes, view the interactive map, and more.
10390
In the Classroom:
Share the video clips on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Introduce the mascots to your students and discuss their relevance. Have students research various athletes or sports and create a multimedia presentation. Use the Olympics as the theme for your study of world geography. Have students create online posters on paper or do it together as a class using a tool such as Project Poster (reviewed here or PicLits (reviewed here. Have cooperative learning groups create online books using a tool such as Bookemon, reviewed here. |
|
| NBC Vancouver 2010 - NBC Grades 3
to 12
|
|
If you are looking for a general informational site about the 2010 Olympics, this is the site for you! Learn about the sports (alpine skiing, curling, freestyle skiing, snowboarding, and more), view video clips, watch a countdown (with days, hours, minutes and seconds), and more. Be aware this site does include unobtrusive advertisements.
10391
In the Classroom:
This is a great site to use for research about the 2010 Olympics. Share the video clips on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Have individual students view different video clips and then write about what they learned on your class Olympic Wiki. Not comfortable with wikis? Check out the Teacher’s First Wiki Walk-Through reviewed here. |
|
| Olympic Crafts and Fun - Kaboose Grades 0
to 5
|
|
Although this site isn't highly interactive, it does offer some theme based printables, crafts, and more. The three main links include: Olympic Crafts (Bingo Cards, Olympic Torch, and others), Sports Printables, and Q & A with Julie Foudy. This site is geared more towards families (and moms in general), but many of the activities would be ideal in the elementary classroom.
10392
In the Classroom:
List this link on your class website for families to explore at home. Take advantage of the free craft ideas and printables. |
|
| The Olympic Games - Enchanted Learning Grades 0
to 5
|
|
Although some of the printables are available to members only, this site does includes some excellent FREE information on the history of the Olympics, maps, flags, Greek alphabet, writing activities, graphic organizers, "Invent a New Olympic Sport" challenge, and more. If nothing else, the printables offer some great ideas to implement in your classroom (for example, "Write a Sentence for Each Sports-Related Word").
10393
In the Classroom:
Take advantage of the ideas presented at this site (if you are a member or not). Share certain maps or handouts on your interactive whiteboard. Use this site to teach your students more about the history of the games. |
|
| Going for the Gold - 2009 United States Olympic Committee Grades 2
to 12
|
|
Follow the United States Olympic athletes at this interactive website. Find out current news about the athletes, read biographical information, read the athlete's blogs, watch video clips, explore the articles, and more. Click on "Resources" and then "U.S. Olympic Education" to find some lesson ideas to use in your classroom. There are some minor advertisements at this website.
4908
In the Classroom:
Use this site to research American athletes. Share the video clips, read the blogs, and view the pictures on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Don't miss the lesson ideas (in the "Resources" section). Share this site on your class website, so families can follow the U.S. Olympians. |
|
| Equal Exchange's Fair Trade Curriculum & Educational Resources - Equal Exchange Grades 4
to 10
|
|
This collection of pdf lesson plans centers around 3 main topics: how we get our food, what the Fair Trade movement is doing for farmers and eaters, and what coops are. The complete curriculum is downloadable and printable, and the daily lessons at this site offer support and extra activities. One lesson, translated for Spanish teachers, offers students an activity so they can understand "What's Fair?" One of the most exciting parts of the website is a collection of videos of Dominican children talking in Spanish about cocoa production! The lesson plans include a variety of activities for students and include projects in math, writing, civics, research, geography, art, music, and international culture.
10293
In the Classroom:
Use these lessons as part of a unit in social studies, Family and Consumer Science, or several other subjects. Take your students on a visit to a local food coop or invite one of their members to speak to your class live or via Skype (explained here.). Have students do a project comparing coop grocery sales with the more commercial establishments. Maybe even have student groups create an online Venn Diagram comparing the two using a site such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram (reviewed here). If you have international students from the Dominican Republic or other cocoa producing countries, share this site with them and allow them to compare what the students say on the video to their own experiences. Create your own videotaped interviews with food growers or their families. Share the videos using a tool such as Teachers.TV reviewed here. |
|
| Pandemic Panic - The New York Times Grades 3
to 12
|
|
This site offers an extremely detailed and well written lesson plan about the H1N1 (Swine Flu) virus. The lesson plan provides a wealth of background information for teachers, class activities for a variety of subject areas (podcasts, KWL charts, etc..), articles of interests, thinking questions, video clips, interactive graphics, blogs, and much more. This site is truly a web 2.0 lesson plan that is READY TO GO! Standards are provided. Although this lesson plan recommends 3-5 class periods, you could easily pick and choose what is best for your class.
*There is a link to a lesson plan specifically for younger students (grades 3-5). Specific activities and standards are provided for the younger grades at that link. This website requires Adobe Acrobat (pdf). You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
10195
In the Classroom:
Use this interdisciplinary lesson plan to encourage your class or school to maintain healthy habits, dispel incorrect information, and avoid spread of Swine flu. The activities, printables, and interactives are ready to go. Share the videos, podcasts, and other graphics on your interactive whiteboard or projector.
|
|
| Tween Tribune - Alan Jacobson Grades 3
to 9
|
|
This site is jam packed with current news stories that are chosen by site coordinators for the "tween" (age 8-14) audience. Middle school audiences will find the article easy to read, relate to, and understand. The site is easy to navigate with a subject indexed toolbar and it is searchable. There is even a "your town" section for local news stories. All stories are current because the creators scour the internet weekly for age appropriate material. It greatly reduces the pressure of searching by giving an article research tool that is much more specific than simply using a search engine.
If you want to allow your students to post a comment on a blog, they do need to register with the site. Registration requires a username and password (no email address). Visit the “For Teachers” link to learn more about the site and how to use and customize (free) for use with your classes safely and in compliance with federal laws.
10239
In the Classroom:
The sky is the limit for potential and possibilities with this website. There are some minor warnings. If you want to allow your students to post to a blog, you will need to create a class and then have them enroll. The great news is that is free. As the teacher, you can moderate or delete posts before they are public.
There are lessons available on the site as well as a "Teacher's Lounge" where lesson ideas can be exchanged.
In a language arts classroom, students could be assigned to read and blog as a weekly writing assignment. The teacher can assign a specific article or have students choose. Have students read their articles on a podcast using PodOmatic (reviewed here).
In science, articles from this site could be used to supplement science textbook reading with current articles that better interest students.
Articles are short and provide quick practice pieces for non-fiction reading comprehension. Project a story and ask students to write their own sentence for the main idea or to summarize. These quick pieces would fit well on your interactive whiteboard. |
|
| Refdesk - Refdesk Grades 2
to 12
|
|
Use this free site for finding the best information on the Internet. Enter the search term directly into the fields you wish. Refdesk provides many search engines to choose from. Use the dictionary and thesaurus, search literature, scan news, or read about articles, pictures, or headlines of the day. Refdesk provides one place to find an abundant amount of information at your fingertips. Students should be cautioned to not click on ads which are scattered throughout the site.
10104
In the Classroom:
Use this link in the resources section of your wiki, blog, or website for students to quickly find or use information from the Internet. Build information literacy as your students do research. As a beginning activity, have students use the same search term but use different search engines and identify the differences in the top results. Use Refdesk to find interesting information for writing prompts or discussions/blog posts for the day. Use this site for research projects, homework help, and more. |
|
| Understanding H1N1, the Swine Flu: TeachersFirst Editors' Choices - TeachersFirst Grades 0
to 12
|
|
The potential spread of Swine Flu in schools and among young people is a major concern. TeachersFirst's editors have collected this helpful information for teachers, students, and parents to better understand the virus, how it is spread, and what YOU can do to stay healthy. This collection of resources has been hand-picked for accuracy and for age-appropriateness with students and so we may all participate in healthy prevention of the swine flu.
10215
In the Classroom:
Share these resources with your colleagues and school parents by emailing the page or sharing the link from your school web page and in your school newsletter. |
|
| Teaching Tolerance - Southern Poverty Law Center Grades 0
to 12
|
|
Teaching Tolerance is a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center and seeks to provide educators with tools to reduce prejudice of all kinds. You might already be familiar with this group's "Mix it Up" initiative which seeks to get middle school and high school students to sit with someone new for one day during lunch at the cafeteria. This site contains lesson plans, links for teachers, parents, teens, and kids, current topics related to prejudice, an on-line version of the Teaching Tolerance magazine, an order form for free curriculum materials, and links to other resources.
The teacher’s link offers classroom activities (many interactive) that tie in with the lesson plans. There is also a link to receive FREE kits and handbooks! The “Parents” link offers activities and ideas for ages 2-17! There are online activities, recommended books, “talking points” for parents, and more. The “For Teens” link includes a wealth of resources: video clips, lessons, 10 steps to take action, downloadable posters, essays, and true stories. The Kid’s link offers “read,” “Explore,” and “Play” options for elementary (and younger middle school) students. A “sign up” box appears when you first enter the site, click on the X to remove the box.
10124
In the Classroom:
Of course, the obvious uses for this site include preparing for Black History Month or Women's History Month, consult this site for more than that! Don’t just visit the Teacher’s link, but check out the kids and teens links for videos and interactive that you can share on your projector or interactive whiteboard. If you are unsure of how to approach a touchy subject with your students--either a subject from the news like the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" rules, or something that is happening in your school or community, this site can provide resources for you and your students. Subscribe to Tolerance.org's emailed newsletter, or order one of the curriculum kits; the newest one is Viva la Causa about Cesar Chavez and the struggle for justice for farmworkers in the 1960s. This is a great addition to your school’s bully program! Take advantage of the free lesson plans, class activities, interactive, and book recommendations. This is definitely one to list on your class website! |
|
| DimDim - DimDim, Inc. Grades 0
to 12
|
|
TeachersFirst Edge entry: for slightly adventurous technology users. So you want to meet with other teachers around the globe and your school can’t afford for you and your students to fly there? No problem. Sign up for free video conferencing through DimDim. For the free version of this web conferencing site, up to 20 conference attendees can communicate with each other. No downloads are needed. Power point presentations, graphs, pdf documents, plus more, can be shared via DimDim conferencing.
Warning—this is a commercial site, so upgrades on services are offered prominently. As with most high-tech sites, these upgrades to the premium levels are offered for a cost (DimDim Pro). DimDim Free is free. This site requires Adobe Acrobat and Flash. You can get both from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
9802
In the Classroom:
Skills needed: You should be comfortable exploring this website to see which features are free versus which features are offered for a fee. A fast connection for your computer is advantageous as you watch the various videos to learn about the site. After viewing the tutorials, why not experiment with friends or colleagues before embarking on a prestigious seminar. It is easy to use, however, the more you get acquainted with it, the easier it will be. You will need to impart knowledge of how to use this tool when setting up a conference with parents or colleagues.
To get started, a quick registration is necessary. We suggest that you watch the tutorial videos after signing up to learn how to use the various features. If at any point you need to talk to a DimDim service employee, click on "Talk to Us." Type in your question and you will receive instant feedback. To host a web meeting, simply click on "Host Meeting." Create a name for your “Room” (that’s the place you and your attendees will meet). Next, create a Meeting Name (that’s the name of your seminar or meeting). Type in a description of the agenda so that others will know what information will be shared. Type in the email addresses of your invited attendees and an invitation will be sent to those people. Type in the Room Key (that’s basically the password your attendees will need to enter your web conference. Now, you’re ready to talk to a group of friends or colleagues. At the appointed time, your attendees will click on a link (sent to them via email) that will send them directly into your web conference. The free version lets attendees listen to each other.
Safety/security concerns: While this site may mainly be for teacher usage, there may be occasions when older students will be using this site to conference with peers in other schools or countries. The content shared by others during the conference will need to be monitored closely.
Possible uses: Applications for this site extend through all subject areas, as you connect with classrooms all over the world, exploring a vast array of subjects, languages, and social connections. World language learners will appreciate this site to talk in real-time to other language learners. Professional development is easy when the presenter invites up to 20 attendees to learn more about various educational subjects. Offer web conferencing through DimDim for students’ parents when you need to discuss details of upcoming projects or field trips. Save time and travel expenses, by chatting via DimDim! Have students “host” a DimDim session to “teach” others at another school about local history, news, or a current unit of study. Invite parents to learn from the students, too! |
|
| Swine Flu: What you Need to Know - Nemours Grades 0
to 12
|
|
Nemours' balanced approach makes this explanation of swine flu very helpful for parents, teachers, and kids alike. Not only does the article share the basic facts and simple strategies fo staying healthy. Included are links to related articles for kids and for teens. In the lower area of the page (just below the clickable page numbers), look for "More on this topic" and click on the tab "For Kids" or "For Teens." The common-sense approach will help prevent spread of the disease and reassure frightened students in terms they can understand.
10039
In the Classroom:
Share this resource with your building principal and with parents to help control any panic about a possible pandemic. |
|
| Live News Cameras - livenewscameras.com Grades 3
to 12
|
|
This beta site allows viewers to select a type of news (U.S., world, C-span, China, selected spots) or search a specific news topic and see multiple TV stations that currently feature news stories for the location or topic. Students then pick which station they'd like to see and hear. Viewing the streaming video requires the MIME type “application/x-mplayer2” available from the website. There is also a U.S. weather map; students click on whatever part of the country they choose to see and hear about current weather. The map actually shows the entire world, so weather news is available from anywhere. Another feature is a world news map available at a click. The site also includes an ongoing chat on the right side. Most of the content appeared appropriate, but even if you preview, you can never be 100% sure what the current content may include. Technical note: the map view sometimes causes an error messag: "An error occurred." The text and image view appears more consistently reliable.
10009
In the Classroom:
Use this in the classroom to check on current news issues, compare different points of view from different parts of the country, or note differences in weather conditions in different climactic regions. Have students work in cooperative learning groups to create their own “current events” videos about news in your local area or even topics being discussed in class. Share the videos using a site such as Teachers.tv (reviewed here). Share the video clips on your interactive whiteboard or projector. If you have students view independently, you may want to use your own computer too – so you can see the group chat. |
|
| Kidscoop - Kid Scoop Grades 1
to 6
|
|
This website accompanies Kidscoop, a feature in many local newspapers, but it is not necessary to have this section in your paper to enjoy the benefits of the site. Find activities for kids, parents, and teachers that focus on the real news of the day. Interactive activities for kids include news summaries with pictures, word searches, book reviews, quizzes and polls of the week among many other activities. Teacher offerings include links to Newspapers in Education materials already familiar to many educators. Also, there are lesson plan banks, coupons, activity ideas to use with newspapers, weblinks, etc. Take some time to explore this great resource! Other offerings include a free subscription to a weekly newsletter and weekly writing prompts. Although many resources are available for purchase, there is plenty of free content that will be useful. Some features require Adobe Acrobat Reader. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
10003
In the Classroom:
Find classroom follow-ups for leading news stories. Have your children write their own stories and create their own activities using these as models. Use the writing prompts to help children better grasp important news issues. Why not create an online newspaper for your class on a wiki? Learn more about wikis at TeachersFirst's Wiki Walk-Through |
|
| Immigration Explorer - NY Times Grades 3
to 12
|
|
This site offers an interactive map that displays the population and ethnicity of the counties of the United States. Readers can select various ethnic groups and find out where they settled. A drop down menu has lists of immigrant groups. The color coded map of the U.S. displays settlement locations for specified groups. Separate countries available include many Asian and European countries. African countries are not listed separately, unfortunately. Another feature allows students to move the timeline marker to show immigration in different years. The timeline includes the 1880s through the 2000s. This interactive map does require Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
10004
In the Classroom:
Share this map on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Use with your ESL/ELL students to show the class where most settlers from their specific countries go. Talk about your American students' origins and check to see where their ancestors may have settled. Use this interactive map to teach about various kinds of map making and map keys. Use this site to reinforce your students’ understanding of timelines. Have cooperative learning groups investigate a specific decade. Challenge the groups to create multimedia presentations to share with the class: blog post from a settler during their “decade” or maybe an interactive timeline of a fictitious settler family using a tool such as TimeRime (explained here). |
|
| Banned Books Week - American Library Association Grades 3
to 12
|
|
To celebrate America's history of the freedom to read, the American Library Association sets aside one week every year to celebrate that freedom by bringing the most important banned books to the attention of everyone. Traditionally the last week of September, in 2009 it is being held September 26 - October 3rd. Go to the website and vote for your favorite banned book and have your older students do the same! Find out what books have been most frequently challenged. Find out about the history of book burning, print out posters for your classroom, and find out how support of this week adds to the intellectual freedom of all readers: students, teachers, librarians, and other adults.
6915
In the Classroom:
Compare the banned book list with your curriculum. Find out how many of your students' favorite books (like To Kill a Mockingbird) have been on the list. |
|
| Pixcetera - AOL Grades 2
to 12
|
|
This is a great source for a massive number of pictures on the web, especially recent pictures. Students and teachers can search for pictures, video, news photos, a specific topic etc. and have many pictures to choose from. The pictures are well organized and easy to search. They are displayed in Flash, however, so you cannot download them or use them elsewhere. You CAN link to a gallery of images or display it on a projector or computer screen. To get the link for a gallery, click share, choose “email” and copy the link that appears in the email that pops open.
Be aware: this site does include some unobtrusive advertisements. Some of the slideshows and videos require Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
9953
In the Classroom:
Include this site in assignments students have to prepare for presentations. Look for photos of any recent news event, even events obscure enough not to be included in American newspapers. Share an image or gallery of images on your projector or interactive whiteboard in a world language class as you discuss it in the language and learn about the culture and news in far off places. Link to certain galleries from your class web page or from student presentations to show examples of concepts and life in other places. Save this site in your favorites, for students to easily access during research projects. Use the photos as a writing prompt in current events or writing classes. Or create a visual current events “quiz” by displaying a gallery of mages and asking students to explain the background of the story. Speech or ESL/ELL teachers can also share images and ask student to talk about or describe them. Let the students select the image they wish to discuss! |
|
|
Records 1
to 20 of 89
previous
20 - next
20 - New Search |
