TeachersFirst: Resources for K-12 Teachers

Fractured Fairy Tales Grades 0 - 4

This site offers "ready to read" fractured fairy tales and a tool to write your own fractured fairy tales. Students can write a fractured version of Jack in the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, or The Princess and the Pea. This site prompts students to choose names for characters, the setting of the story, point of view, the problem, and ending of the story. You type up your own story and you are able to print the finished story.

IN THE CLASSROOM: Share an example of the fractured fairy tales on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Use this site to introduce the creativity of fractured fairy tales as you teach story mapping and narrative patterns. Have students work individually or with a partner to write their own fractured fairy tale. Set up this site as a learning center for students to use for creative writing during your folk tale or fairy tale unit.

WordSearchFun.com Grades 3 - 12

Use this site to find some GREAT word searches that are ready to go! Whatever topic you are looking for, you just might find a word search here. If you can't find one, make your OWN ONLINE word search. What a fantastic tool to use and/or create in any subject!

IN THE CLASSROOM: Share the relevant word searches on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Have cooperative learning groups practice spelling or vocabulary words by creating their own word search. List this site on your class website for students to use both in and out of the classroom. This is a great one for those word search lovers in your class. Why not have students use a whole-class account to make their own word searches to challenge each other with new vocabulary and terms?

Tread Lightly Grades 0 - 12

Use Tread Lightly to calculate your ecological footprint, join the forty day challenge (set to run from the end of October through December, each year) to adopt green habits, and view curriculum. There is a short introductory video clip that introduces the 40-Day challenge and the entire website. Click on the 40-Day Challenge link to learn more. Click on "Get Involved" to download the Educator Toolkit, set up a virtual classroom on TIGed, and collaborate with others. Occasional art contests add to the multidisciplinary look at your environmental foot print.

IN THE CLASSROOM: Use this site for each student to identify his/her ecological footprint. Students can find areas of improvement and generate a class list of ways to help the environment. Students can create pledges for themselves and their family as well as create a campaign to raise awareness. Assign the creation of a public service announcement to educate others. Have students create informational commercials and share them using a tool such as SchoolTube reviewed here. Have other groups create podcasts to share using PodOmatic (reviewed here). Join the TIGed community to collaborate with other schools around the world or identify the concerns of other students around the world.

Balloon Pop Math Multiplication - Level 1 Grades 1 - 3

Although this site is a basic drill and practice, it is a good one! Use a click and drag "needle" to pop balloons as you determine the correct product of simple multiplication problems. The activity starts with 2 balloons and increases up to 6 or more as you progress through the interactive. If you choose the correct answer, the balloon pops. If you choose the incorrect answer, a buzzer goes off and the balloons keep floating. At the conclusion of the activity, there is an option to email the results to the teacher.

IN THE CLASSROOM: Share this activity on your interactive whiteboard or projector to introduce the site to your class. Use this site as a simple learning center (or on laptops) to practice very basic multiplication.

Biological Animations Grades 8 - 12

Do your students have trouble understanding complex processes in Biology? Many times students cannot envision the complex processes happening when reading from a textbook. Use these silent animations to see the processes as they would happen in the cell. The general topic areas include Water/Buffers, Lipids, Enzymes, Cell Structures, Proteins, Carbohydrates, Membrane Transport, Metabolism, Molecular Genetics, and Cell Division. Each general topic area has more specific processes.

IN THE CLASSROOM: This website is definitely one for your interactive whiteboard or projector. What a fantastic way to visually display what you are teaching in class! After viewing the animation, have students write a script of what is occurring in the cell in order to understand the process. Students can work as a team or individually and then present their understanding dramatically to the class. Create multimedia or conventional presentations to show understanding and create notes and study materials for the class. Since the animations do not include sound, have students create podcasts or other audio recordings to explain the processes. For podcasts, use a site such as PodOmatic (reviewed here). Have groups identify problems that can occur with each process and the resulting problems for the cell and disease states that can result. Have students use correct vocabulary and labeled cell parts in all communication.

One minute wonders Grades 0 - 8

View one minute wonders to learn great facts about a variety of science and social studies topics. There were 13 topics at the time of this review. Learn about a Northern Oriole that can eat 17 caterpillars in a minute, music in the 16th century, or vehicles in the world. Videos are entertaining and sure to capture student attention. After viewing videos, click on quizzes to check understanding.

IN THE CLASSROOM: Use these minute-length videos to introduce a topic on your interactive whiteboard or projector. These would also make a great introduction to writing prompts or blog posts. Consider using these as examples for one minute projects for students to demonstrate understanding for any topic or content area (and make accompanying quizzes for their peers to try). Have cooperative learning groups view videos of their choice and add their findings to your class One Minute Wonder Wiki. Not comfortable with wikis? Have no wiki worries check out the Teachers First Wiki Walk-Through reviewed here. In lower grades, have students plan and act out their own one minute wonder plays to explain something they have learned or simply share the videos as humorous but accurate portrayals of science topics. American students will need to grow accustomed to the British accents.

Powering a Nation Grades 6 - 12

Who is right when it comes to energy, its creation, and its use? Many of the issues are difficult to understand, and all sides are usually not heard. This site offers a great introductory animated presentation explaining many of the concepts and problems. Students hear the stories about industries, people affected, and the ways that our society contributes to energy problems. After sharing the initial presentation, scroll down the page to read and/or watch more about Climate Refugees, Mining the Mountains, Debating Coals Future, and several other topics. New topics are added frequently. And at the time of this review, this site was kept very up to date. Articles and resources offer different angles on energy issues. Look for articles that are all about the lives of all people, how energy works, energy issues of today, and the future of energy. The variety of topics at this site is great, as is the material. If you teach science, social studies, geography, or current events, dont miss this site.

IN THE CLASSROOM: Share the video clips on your interactive whiteboard or projector for some deep class discussion and debate. Use any of the articles as a starting point in class or simply to introduce an energy unit, then revisit new issues throughout the unit. For example, read "Power from Plants" to learn about biofuels, their use, and future for energy. Read about a few biofuels. Students can then find information on other biofuels, their use, and problems with the use. Students can find data on use of fuels, analyze and make recommendations, create literature such as brochures, wiki or blog pages, or other displays to show information for others to understand. Create a debate in your classroom using the opposing voices for and against use of certain fuels. Why not have cooperative learning groups create multimedia presentations to present their findings. Give the groups some options, such as creation online posters using a site such as Wallwisher, (reviewed here). Have students create informational commercials and share them using a tool such as SchoolTube reviewed here. Or create a class wiki on types of energy researches, the good, bad, and ugly! Not comfortable with wikis? Have no wiki worries check out the Teachers First Wiki Walk-Through reviewed here.

Guess the Flag Grades 5 - 12

Think you know the flags of other countries? Test your skill at this site. Once given a flag, you have four choices of countries. After one chance at a correct answer, the answer is displayed along with a placemark on a map with statistics about the country. The country domain name is also displayed. The site also provides the name of the capital, population, Internet users, unemployment rate, and more. Advise students to ignore the ads that are along the sides of the site. Use this site as a cultural bridge to understand the rich history and viewpoints of other nations.

IN THE CLASSROOM: This is a great site to use on your interactive whiteboard or projector to practice world geography. Use this site to identify the flag for various countries. Identify aspects of the flag and why those elements were chosen. Report on the history of element and color choices. Use the background information displayed and search for additional information for a conventional poster presentation or an interactive one using interactive whiteboards, powerpoints, wikis, or blogs. Have cooperative learning groups create online posters on paper using a tool such as Project Poster (reviewed here or PicLits (reviewed here. Compare different flags and understand the culture behind it. Learn other viewpoints by searching using the country's domain name. For example, search "financial crisis" or "green technology" by entering "site:de financial crisis" in the search bar to search items about the financial crisis for Germany.