TeachersFirst: Resources for K-12 Teachers

Spin and spell Grades 0 - 6

This site offers spelling practice through an engaging interactive! Choose a category (In and Around Home, What We Wear, What We Eat, How We Get There, or The Animal Kingdom) and then click on a picture. Choose the first letter of the word and watch the wheel spin. Click "submit" when done spelling for a spelling check. Choose "Pick a word for me" to receive random words to spell.

IN THE CLASSROOM: Use this activity with an interactive whiteboard or projector for class spelling. Students can work on spelling as individuals, groups, or whole class activities. Use specific pictures to practice spelling and learn spelling rules that can be applied to other words. Use this site as a language arts learning center to practice spelling. Speech and language teachers and ESL/ELL teachers can use the categories of common vocabulary to teach both words and spelling. Share this link on your class website for students to practice spelling at home.

Case studies in science Grades 9 - 16

Looking for a way to introduce inquiry into your science classes? Use case studies to introduce relevant and real-life problems that require students to question and search for information that sheds light on the answer to the questions. Each case study is an interrupted one. Each case study is divided into sections with guiding questions to help ask questions and find pertinent information. Example case studies include: "Driving Can Be Dangerous To Your Health" or "Sweet Indigestion: A Directed Case Study on Carbohydrates." The general topics of the cases include everything from Anatomy & Physiology to Geology to Psychology (and about 20+ other topics).

IN THE CLASSROOM: Use a case study to introduce a unit and set the tone for what will be learned. As students ask questions, use them to introduce or make sense of the content. For example, the "Sweet Indigestion" case study introduces a type of diet and raises questions about the role of different biomolecules in the structure and functioning of the body. Investigate fuel for body cells, respiration, nutrition, foods around the world, and even cultures and customs. Have access to experts in related fields? Use skype or other technologies to connect students with the outside world. Learn more about skype (reviewed here).

Watch Know Grades 0 - 12

What is Watch Know? Short for "You Watch, You Know," it provides explanations for students. Finding bits of information to help students can be frustrating as resources are disorganized on the web and may be hard to find. Watch Know is a free site that organizes small video clips to help with the understanding of a variety of topics in subject areas. Search by age (3-18+). You can click and drag the age filter to the youngest and oldest ages to include. Videos are also organized by sequence of topics taught. The site is an ongoing project with input from educators and organizations interested in education of children. Registration is not required to view the videos. Creating and saving videos to the site, as well as commenting, require registration. You can monitor site recent changes and additions using the Change Log.

IN THE CLASSROOM: Search for videos relevant to your upcoming units or share the link with older students to search on their own. Use clips as engaging openings to units or as a review at the end. Have students identify the main points in the video and relate it back to class information. Students can use the examples on the site to create their own videos about a topic they have studied that could be beneficial to others. If you do join the site to submit videos (for more adventurous technology users), we recommend uploading, commenting, and participating in the project (the creation and growth of WatchKnow) as a whole-class collaborative activity. If your students create videos, critique them locally before submitting them to the site as the bests from your class.

CSI: Web Adventures Grades 4 - 12

Bring CSI to your classroom! Use this entertaining and interactive website to learn science concepts using forensic studies. Follow one of three adventures: Rookie Training (Beginner,) Canine Caper (Intermediate,) or Burning Star (Advanced.) Collect evidence, ask questions, and use the evidence to act as a forensic scientist while using scientific inquiry. Create a conclusion and form theories by using evidence to solve problems. Registration is not required, but doing so allows students to save their work. Registration does NOT require an email, just a username and password. You might want to save the students usernames and passwords somewhere safe! Students not registering can enter as a guest. Teachers can view additional activities, links, and materials by clicking on "Fun Stuff." Click on "Game Features" to find information on roles of different forensics investigators, a walk through to assist in the adventures, and FAQ's. This site requires Adobe Reader. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.

IN THE CLASSROOM: Bring CSI to your classroom! Use this interactive site when discussing the scientific method, inquiry, or the tools of scientists. Students can report on uses of lab equipment and follow up work on this site with additional in class or web simulation activities such as viewing cheek cells in the lab or online DNA simulations as reviewed here. This site is engaging and also sheds light on the various science and technical careers students may be interested in pursuing. Challenge gifted students to create their own forensic science unsolved cases for others to try! Use a wiki to share the casebooks.

DreamBox Learning Grades 0 - 2

This colorful, engaging website will help students practice elementary math, and develop greater number competency. Name and email address are required to use the free tools online. Rather than using your personal email, try Gmail. Use up to 20 subaccounts of that Gmail account to create student accounts and passwords to be used by each student or 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. The online programs can be used in the classroom, but the free trial is only a thirty day plan, so it may not be worth the effort. A limited selection within site can be used effectively for student practice without the trial (for free). It would be a great idea to check out the tutorials of the games so that you can provide easy instructions for your young students to follow.

IN THE CLASSROOM: Share how to use this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Demonstrate new concepts using these interactives. This could be used in a computer lab as practice for students. Also, you may want to try incorporating a learning station with a laptop for a student or a small group of students to use as part varied learning station laboratory. If you have an interactive whiteboard, why not offer a "tactile" center using one of these activities? List this link on your class website for students to access at home.

Books for Young People Book Lists Archive Grades 0 - 12

This site has archives of lists of books, organized by theme and displayed pictorially. Specific subjects feature books divided into two or three levels, including picture books, books for independent readers, and YA books. Featured books are not annotated, but bibliographic information is included. There are many widely varied themes, from the classical to the offbeat (Something from Nothing, and In Praise of Bad Books). The themes are too numerous to mention them all: Adventures on the High Seas Booklist, Africa Booklist, American Military Stories Booklist, Building Things Booklist, Children Putting on Plays Booklist, Exploration Booklist, First Day of School Booklist, Inventors and Inventions Booklist, Mother Goose Booklist, and countless others. A search feature allows teachers and students to search by many different criteria: Type of Child, Title, Author/Illustrator, ISBN, Genre, Subject, Series, Format, Fiction or Non-Fiction, Reading Level, Grade Level, Lexile, Setting, Author and Illustrator Demographics, Personal issues, and other categories. A free login allows users to submit reviews, tag books, or create wishlists (suggest other themes). Registration does require an email address, but it is free. You do not need to register to access the booklists.

IN THE CLASSROOM: Turn to this comprehensive list if you are searching for books on a certain theme. These books are a perfect addition to units on the various topics presented. Share the link with your students if they want other books about subjects that have interested them. Keep these booklists handy for students seeking independent reading. If you use a list in conjunction with a curriculum unit, be sure to invite students to "review" the books by putting the list on a class wiki or in a spreadsheet where they can enter comments and indicate that which books they have read. This will allow other students to choose books based on what a fellow student with similar taste recommends. Google Docs Spreadsheets reviewed hereare an easy online tool for students to collaborate and comment. The teacher can create one that is editable publicly and link to it from the class web page. You may want to provide this link on your class website for families to access at home.

Great Debates in American History Grades 9 - 12

This collection of downloadable pdf documents provides lesson plans, handouts, and text readings to accompany the twelve units in Daniel Boorstin's A History of the United States Daniel (Needham: Prentice-Hall, 1989). Though the materials are very traditional (paper, pencil), the concepts demand a more thoughtful, sophisticated approach to U.S. history via essential questions. The units are intended to serve as support materials for debates in one of several formats explained in the Overview document.

IN THE CLASSROOM: Teachers do not need to start from scratch to develop the themes, nor do they need to be using Boorstin's book to use these activities. Use these handouts and themes to prompt traditional debates or challenge student teams to prepare position videos or multimedia presentations using resource images and texts both from these files and from public domain files and other resources from the (Library of Congress). Invite your students to choose from the many multimedia tools on the web to present their position. See the TeachersFirst Edge for reviewed suggestions including Voicethread, SchoolTube. or TeacherTube for videos, or (Podomatic for audio-only arguments. Embed the products on your class blog or wiki and let classes vote on the debate "winners."

Bookemon Grades 0 - 12

Teacher's First Edge Review: for slightly adventurous technology users and their students. Students and teachers can write their own original books, add your own images and artwork as illustrations, and read your published books in interactive, online form. For a fee, you can also have printed copies made, but there is no fee for the online publication and sharing. This is the ultimate in "digital storytelling." Here is an example of a book created by the TeachersFirst Edge editors. Once you set up free membership in this site, students (or teachers) can select to create from a blank start or using templates provided. You can also create a book starter of your own as an example so students can follow the prompts you have created. The book creator allows you to upload your own images and to create books from a Word document or PowerPoint file you have already made. There is no provision for multiple users to collaborate on the same book. After you save and publish the work, share the URL so people can read the entire thing online, either among an audience of just my friends or publicly. They also offer the embed code to place your books in a class or school web page, wiki, or blog, but at the time of this review, this code was not working properly. The BEST option is to copy the address of the new window displaying the interactive book. There is an option to have the book printed for a fee, but this is not required. You can also read books created by others (if they make them public). Use the fully-public option to create learning materials for classes to access year to year for at-home review or reading practice. This site requires a simple registration. Members must be at least 13 years old. Teachers using this tool with younger students should use a whole-class account WITH parent permission and in accordance with school policies. See more detailed suggestions In the Classroom below and in our sample book!

IN THE CLASSROOM: Skills needed: Join the site. No need for a confirmation email to get started. SKIP the profile and friends areas to get to the book creator. The site constantly offers ways to purchase printed versions of your books, but you can ignore them. On the Create Books page, choose from using a blank book, starting from a file, or using a template. Browse many public examples on the templates page of books created by others. Choose school to see projects from other classes or a sample created by you or a student team working in advance along with you. Explore ready-made themes (seasonal, topical, etc.) or use open theme. Choose book dimensions (match layout shape to any uploaded files, such as PowerPoint slides). Enter settings and description of your book (editable later), including who is allowed to see it: everyone, just friends, or private. Again choose a theme more of a category where Bookemon will list your completed book. A logical option is school. Experiment with tools to upload files (within file limits), add images, add text, etc. Written help is offered as you go, but there is no video demo. SAVE often. Turn margins on to avoid chopping content. To share the book, you must publish it (i.e. finalize). Once published, locate the book under "My Books" and use options to share (by emailand see the URL to copy from there), Make a new edition to create a new versionalso useful for treating the original as a template for later books), Post to Other Sites offers embed codes not currently working properly. The BEST option is to click the book COVER which opens a new window without ads or stuff, and copy the ADDRESS of that window to paste into email, etc. You can also make that clean-window view a Favorite on a classroom computer! Safety/security concerns: The home page of the site has Featured books by our members and the ability to browse all public books. You will want to preview for possibly inappropriate books created by others. As with any site where students can create content, you will want to obtain parent permission before posting student work online. The site does not allow users under age 13, so teachers with students below that age should obtain written parent permission for students to use generic student accounts you create and control through your teacher-extra Gmail address. Use up to 20 subaccounts of that Gmail account to create student accounts and passwords to be used by each student or 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. If you have older students use their own email accounts to join and navigate, you will want to first spell out rules about the profile tools, friends, and other social networking features. There are multiple opportunities to share address books, use social tools such as Facebook to share your books, etc., so teacher-controlled accounts may be the easiest option. If students are to collaborate on the same book, they must either log in under the same user name or sit together to collaborate. This could provide opportunities for vandalism, so have class policies and consequences spelled out in advance. Possible uses: With younger students, have them create their work in PowerPoint then upload for whole-class books. See an example, created by the TeachersFirst Edge editors . The example is full of ideas for classroom use from Kindergarten to high school, including science concept tales, poetry books, general writing, math problem solve-its, and more. ANY grade can use this tool, depending on the amount of direction by the teacher. By the way, the correct answer to the problem in the sample book is c. 27. Another idea, have students create personalized books for their parents or grandparents for special occasions (Mother's Day, Father's Day, or Grandparent's Day). Tip: Use this site for a guided introduction to social networking as a class, an excellent teaching opportunity for 21st century literacy skills and online safety discussion.