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 .

QUICK: the Quality Information Checklist - Grades 3 - 6
By teaching young students how to evaluate web pages early, this site helps create critical consumers of information. By clicking on items arranged in a circle on the screen, students go on to further explanations, examples, and quizzes about the main points of web evaluation. 7206

In the Classroom: This site would be great on a projector as a teacher-centered lesson, returning to each point as you build the understanding throughout the year. Use one point at a time as you show students various websites throughout the school year. Simply open this site prior to sharing a site with the class. You can use the points here to "evaluate" the source together. Be sure to include it as a reference link on your teacher web page, as well. Parents will appreciate it and students can "show" their parents how to judge sources.

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Not For Ourselves Alone - Grades 6 - 12
A PBS site connected to a Ken Burns film about Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, this site contains some very nice resources on the women's movement. Clicking on "Explore the Women's Movement" takes you to a nice multi-media presntation on the history of the movement. The Resources section has lesson plans, primary documents, a photo gallery, and biographical information. This site uses Flash. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page. 7167

In the Classroom: If you're looking for one site on the early women's movement, or the women's suffrage movement, this one may do it. The Flash presentation is outstanding, and could become the centerpiece of your lesson by itself.

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Newsround - BBC News for Kids - Grades 3 - 8
This highly-participatory, attractive world news site for kids lets children select all the normal news features like tv/movies, music, weather, sports, animals, sci/tech etc. Students can join the Press Pack and submit their own photos and comments. Under Newsroom, kids have the options of submitting a report they’ve researched and written; it will be displayed on the website! They can also ask for a certain topic to be investigated. Topic suggestions can be found here too. Personal advice columns are totally cyber with one current topic, bullying, available in video webchat format. A message board with current comments runs across the top of the site like a ticker tape. Other interactive features include student voting, blogs, and games. Besides features for students, video clips, quizzes, and educational games comprise some of the offerings for teachers . Requires the RealPlayer G2 Plug in to watch the Newsround videos. 7059

In the Classroom: Note: the site is British, so spelling and topics have a UK slant! Make sure you have parent permission for students to post work to the site, and keep their identities safe by using pseudonyms or initials. Encourage those with Internet access to visit the site with mom and dad to talk about current events together (include the link on your teacher web page). If you are familiar with RSS feeds, this would be a good choice for a first feed.

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NumberNut - Advanced - Grades 2 - 6
This useful website provides teachers with over 50 interactive mathematical activities. All activities require FLASH. The activities include fractions, decimals, estimation, rounding and money. There are also links to "kid-friendly" instructions for each operation. There are graphics used to help explain the concepts. 7211

In the Classroom: Teachers could use the activities at this website to differentiate mathematical instruction. Teachers do not need to search the site for activities; the specific topics are already listed with each activity, so the site is extremely easy to use. Be sure to include this one on your teacher web page for students to use as a review tool.

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Amazing Reef - Grades 4 - 6
Make your own movie about life on a coral reef. Give students a chance to show what they have learned during an oceanography unit! This is a terrific alternative to a quiz or test. Easy to follow step by step directions allow students to choose a story line, hold a casting call (hero, antagonist and supporting character), and pick the location. Then add motion for the cast and music. Use prewritten script or write your own. When finished, download the movie and share it with friends. Flash is required. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page 7155

In the Classroom: Use a projector to preview the site as a class and give students time to check out the characters and settings. Join language arts with science by having students pre-write their own scripts for the characters they choose. Movies cannot be saved until they have been completed, so make sure you reserve the computer lab or laptops for a sufficient length of time. If you use this as an assessment, be sure to show students a rubric before you start.

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Genomics: Systems Biology for Energy and Environment - Grades 9 - 12
Find extensive, up-to-date information on the Human Genome Project, ethical issues in genetics, biofuels, microbial genome research, and much more. This site would be a fantastic resource for student biology and microbiology research projects and career explorations. Help your students see what is happening in the very real world of science today. 7212

In the Classroom: Plan a web scavenger hunt to help students learn more about the scientific fields related to their biology class or use specific resources within this very adult site to share the excitement. The image gallery is worth some class time with a projector, for sure! Bring the science to life in the real world. The images may be used in your class projects and materials, as long as you give credit.

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Changing State - Grades 1 - 5
This 2-part website is both educational and entertaining. The first activity involves labeling a "Changing State" diagram. This activity will be difficult for younger children. The second activity "The Water Cycle" provides a visual narration plus a labeling activity. The second activity is age-appropriate for younger or older elementary students. FLASH is required. 7150

In the Classroom: This site would work best with an interactive whiteboard. Younger students will have a difficult time with the first activity ("Changing State").

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From Cave Art to Your Art - Grades 5 - 12
Challenge your students' creativity and personal reflections about art: both their own and art through the ages. Use this site to CREATE their own videos with images from their own artwork, text, and video clips provided by the site. There are suggestions for structured video topics or you can suggest other ideas. The site provides clear, step-by-step instructions for students to complete their videos. The files can even be downloaded and played on any computer. Art teachers and computer teachers alike will love the possibilities of this project-site. If your students maintain electronic art portfolios, they will certainly want to add a video from this online production studio. REQUIRES FLASH!! Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.. 7213

In the Classroom: Demonstrate the skills and steps on an interactive whiteboard or projector, or simply allow your "digital native" students to work through the directions. Since no two computers are alike, it is strongly recommended that you or a student-assistant try a "practice run" to make sure your computers have all the right plug-ins and permissions. Then watch your students go to town! Share the products on a projector or burn them to CD. We were unable to find information on the site about copyright and whether you have permission to share them on a web page. This is a TeachersFirst Edge entry, though it is not difficult to use. Skills needed: drag and drop video elements, follow directions in Help, downloading files, unzipping and saving (directions provided)

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Want to see what else we've been up to? Check out our recent additions.

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 .

The Object of History - Grades 5 - 12
The National Museum of American History contains some of the most beloved artifacts from US cultural and political history. This site highlights a handful of these artifacts, and uses them to teach students of history (both those in the desks and those at the front of the class) the power of artifacts to educate. For each of five artifacts, there is a Quick Time 360-degree look at the piece, and a number of context-setting resources associated with it. However, the most important aspect of this site is the section providing tips to teachers for how to use artifacts to add impact to a lesson. 8778

In the Classroom: Use this site as a mini lesson for yourself in the use of artifacts in the classroom. We are often called to make education more "hands on," and this is a prime example of how to do this effectively with history. Use the specific artifacts featured on this site (and project the 360 views on an interactive white board or screen for maximum punch), but consider how you could also bring artifacts into the classroom using the suggestions provided. They need not be priceless museum pieces; in fact, an academic discussion of the cultural impact of a familiar object like the iPod or the cell phone could be quite effective. Extend the activity by having students in small groups create an artifact collection on a wiki using digital pictures they take themselves. Document a local landmark, an era in your school, or even today's teen lifestyle through artifacts.

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Word Games - Grades 2 - 12
This interactive website provides hours of mind stretching fun. The mind challenges include cryptoquote, popword, eight letters, define time, storyman, wordsearch, and codeword. Some of these challenges are perfect for spelling practice, learning new vocabulary, problem solving and basic math practice. Each activity provides instructions for the user to explain the purpose of the activity. Many of the activities also have various difficulty levels to differentiate the activity for a variety of learning levels. This site requires Flash. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.. 8426

In the Classroom: This website is "interactive whiteboard ready." Students will love these mind stretching challenges and teachers will love the easy-to-use format of the activities. Put a game up on the whiteboard as students are taking their seats to focus attention and minds on WORDS before you start class. ESL teachers may find these games will help students practice language skills more readily. If you don't have time to utilize this challenge in class, provide the link in your class's newsletter or on your teacher web page.

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ARKive Education - Educational Games - Grades 2 - 10
This website provides a wonderful mix of ten educational activities. Some of the unique topics include "Animal Survival," "Designing a Habitat," and "Magnetic Fridge Poetry." Most of the activities are educational and useful for instruction and review. You may notice some spelling differences since the British created this site. All of the games are interactive and require FLASH. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.. 8725

In the Classroom: Use your interactive whiteboard or projector to share these educational (and fun) activities with your class. The activities are also ideal as a learning center for cooperative groups or individuals.

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Blogabond (beta) - Grades 6 - 12
This new travel blog site is intended for travelers to document their trips to locations worldwide. The site is in "beta," which means that they are still working out kinks and adding features. Although it would be nice to think that teachers can use the site for their own travels, it is far more likely that you will use it to share "real world" experiences from places around the world to make the maps and textbook images come to life. You can search Blogabond by geographic location using the world map (click Maps) to find markers indicating blog posts ( little speech bubble icon) and pictures (little camera icon) from worldwide locations. 8795

In the Classroom: Find some travel bloggers who are visiting the places you are studying and share the pictures and posts on a projector. If you teach a foreign language, you can also find posts from people in other languages as they visit the U.S.! Of course you will want to preview to be sure the blog content is appropriate for the classroom. Your students would love to comment as a class and ask questions of someone "on location" in the continent/country of interest. Create a TEACHER log-in to do this as a group to protect student safety "talking to strangers." Your school filtering may block all URLs with the word "blogs." If this is the case, you may want to use your home computer to select a few specific travel blogs that are school-appropriate and support your curriculum and request that they be unblocked.

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BINGO - Grades 0 - 5
Although this website is called BINGO, this is not your traditional BINGO. Students are challenged by a cartoon "super hero" to calculate answers to numerous math problems. There are numerous difficulty levels and a variety of mathematical topics (basic math, number words, place value, remainders, rounding, and others). Each of the activities is simple to follow and quick to complete. BE AWARE - some of the primary activities ask users to choose 5 numbers. When the player clicks on the numbers nothing will happen, this may seem rather confusing. Just ignore the "choose 5 numbers." The entire activity requires Flash, get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.. 8438

In the Classroom: This website would be wonderful to use with an interactive whiteboard or as a center on a single classroom computer or computer cluster. Have your students work on their own levels of math progress.

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Haltadefinizione: The Last Supper in Detail - Grades 6 - 12
If you teach about DaVinci, the Renaissance, religion, or painting, this site is phenomenal to bring the closest thing to the actual painting of the Last Supper right up to your face. Unlike most online images, this one has been digitized to allow you to zoom in VERY closely and still have a sharp image. The exquisite detail will let you discuss technique, symbolism, and more. See context about how the online version was made by clicking on "HAL9000" and watching the "backstage" video. The video includes some street scenes outside in Milan. The site requires Flash. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.. 8796

In the Classroom: Turn off the music if it interferes with your study, then open this site on an interactive whiteboard or projector. If you have laptops available, let your students explore the painting on their own and make observations, as well, perhaps guided by some questions from you. As an interesting aside with high school students, talk about the issue of whether art masterpieces should be digitized and shared on the web for wider exposure. What does this experience do the the works? What does it do to the art viewing experience?

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NDSL Science Literacy Maps - Grades 0 - 12
Enter a search term or click the pulldown of science topics to see a graphical representation of how standards-based math and science concepts fit together and interrelate, then click on a single standards to find web resources and lesson plans specifically for that concept. Seeing the concepts organized in a hierarchy from K to grade 12 and "connected" to the precursors and following standards makes it much easier to see where your students have been and where they are headed in science before and after you teach them. The best part is that you can find exactly the resources you need to get them where they need to go. 8798

In the Classroom: Mark this in your Favorites on TeachersFirst to access it every time you start a new science topic or unit. Consider sharing a simpler version of the same map, created in Inspiration or using an online tool such as Gliffy (our review here) or Mindomo (see review )to show your students how the content in your science classes fit with their prior knowledge and connect from unit to unit. About a month before the year ends, challenge them to work in small groups and create their OWN annotated concept maps of the "big ideas" studied during the school year.

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On hold - deadlinks - Our Story - Grades 4 - 12
TeachersFirst Edge Entry: For moderately adventurous technology users. Designed for families to record a time line of events in their lives, this online tool serves the classroom teacher as an electronic time line for a collection of "stories." Each event on the "playable" timeline is a "story." See a quick sample here . Free membership allows you to add "stories" with up to six uploaded images each (no more than 3MB per image). You can also pull in photos from your Flickr or Yahoo picture account. The timeline is intended to be shared with others by URL. If you simply want them to see the timeline, you can provide the link (URL) via email or from your teacher web page. You can invite others to add, if you wish. You must be a member (free) to add to a story or timeline. See below for a special TeachersFirst member opportunity to request FREE premium membership. This resource was featured in a recent New Teacher Hotline Podcast as one of the Tech Toolbox resources. Hear more about it on the podcast . 8576

In the Classroom: If you use this tool as a teacher-only or whole-class account, you can keep a digital/timeline scrapbook of class events throughout the year. Make a time line using local, national, or international current events. Or look back in time and create a historical time line, scanning old pictures or using copyright free images from the Library of Congress American Memory Collection. Other ideas: artists musicians, writers from a certain period in history, the twentieth century in different countries, World War II timeline, Civil War timeline, timeline of insect stages, timeline of rock cycle, of a plant or tree, timeline or life cycle of migratory animals, personal timelines-- suitable for younger students only if they work with a parent's account. Elementary students could even interview grandparents and create a class timeline about their grandparents for Grandparents' Day. For collaboration, link up with another classroom in another town (or another country) to build a time line that shares events in each local area so students can see what was happening at the same time in another location, maybe in the opposite hemisphere (compare weather ans seasons!). To have students log in on their own (13 years and older please), they will need individual email accounts. Our editors did notice that "fake" emails seem to allow you to establish membership. This does not comply with the user agreement, however, and your students may forget passwords. They will be unable to receive reminder emails with false addresses. Keep a record! Some safety/content concerns: There is advertising on the side of the Ourstory pages (free version). There is also an "Explore" button which allows you to see random timelines by the general public (most are tame, BUT there is no control. Others can also COMMENT on timelines created in the free version. TeachersFirst recommends using a teacher account and carefully monitored spaces unless you have a written agreement and parent permission for students to use the full tools of the site with their own memberships (13 and over). You can limit problems by allowing students to take turns adding to a whole-class account with a single log-in. You can set the account to only show the changes with your approval. The TeachersFirst Edge team has arranged with OurStory to explore classroom-friendly solutions. TeachersFirst members may email to support(at)ourstory.com and mention your TeachersFirst membership in the email to obtain a FREE premium account to OurStory. The premium account will allow you to set up individual stories for each of your students all from one log-in ("create a new profile"), block comments on a public story, use OurStory without advertising, and set up "privacy circles" for small group projects. Premium accounts also have more space for photos and can include videos. We will contact teachers using these free accounts for a quick follow-up later in the school year to learn more about possible site improvements and share great ideas for classroom projects. Skills needed: Join the site (free or email a request for free premium version), Read through HELP, if needed. Under Settings, carefully choose approval levels and email notification, as well as personal URL for your story. Click Add Story to create an event("story")/item on your timeline. Upload or link to pictures (you could tag a set on Flickr for the project), continue adding and share the URL for others to see. Invite them to be allowed to add to the story. Adept users can Export the timeline to a blog or set up RSS feeds for changes so you know what is happening to YOUR Story and those your students are working on. Two recommendations: Under Settings, turn OFF "post image recommendations" to avoid image suggestions from Yahoo. Warn against the unsafe option of "Submitting a story to be Featured" on the story view page.

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Want to see what else we've been up to? Check out our recent additions.

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 .

Kids Lab: Grade 3 - Grades 2 - 4
This site offers fabulous instruction, reviews, and interactive quizzes on a variety of Readingand grammar topics. Topics include Direct Definition Context Clues, Inferential Context Clues, Main Idea, Locating Information, Compare and Contrast, and others. To find the topic areas, click on the Go To button and scroll down to the topic that is pertinent in your classroom. Many of the general topic areas include several specific options within the activity. 3173

In the Classroom: Share the activities on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students take turns reading the information and then take the quizzes at their seats. If possible, create a "Reading (or grammar) Learning Center" using this site and have students keep a log of the quizzes (and scores) they complete. Share this site on your class website so students can practice these skills at home. These are terrific reviews to build test scores!

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Math Power - Grades 9 - 12
This site, created by a college professor, offers a great deal of information about algebra and the general fundamentals of upper level mathematics. The site features tutorial videos, online lessons (non-interactive), study skills tips, a learning style inventory, internet homework assignments, and more. Although the site was created for beginning college students, it could easily be used in high school algebra classes. Some of the interactives require Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page. 4701

In the Classroom: If you teach algebra or other high school math subjects, save this site in your favorites. Use the homework assignments and online lessons for instructional purposes or additional practice of newly learned skills. Share the tutorial videos on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Be sure to provide this link on your class website so students can access the site (and practice math) at home.

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Build A Caterpillar - Grades 1 - 4
This website challenges students to build a caterpillar (and of course, learn scientific information). Students will learn about the caterpillar's environment, enemies, how caterpillars protect themselves, and more. This site presents students with various "scenes" (interactive pictures) that demonstrate how the caterpillar survives. The scenes allow students to change the color of the caterpillar, spine of the caterpillar, and other "extras." Tips and suggestions are provided. Students are provided with a text box on several of the "scenes" to explain WHY they made the changes that they created. This site requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page. 9562

In the Classroom: Share this site on an interactive whiteboard or projector to introduce the activity to your class. Then have students work with a partner to build a caterpillar. Have groups write about their choices as they work through the activity and print their results to discuss with the class or post on a bulletin board (there is a print button at the end of the activity).

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Grimm Fairy Tales - Grades 0 - 4
If you are looking for information about Grimm Fairy Tales, check out this interactive site. The site includes online stories, information about the brothers Grimm (Jacob and Wilhelm), links to interactive games (some relate to the Grimm Fairy Tales, others do not), and printable pages. The highlight of this website is the online stories. You may read the stories in text or interactive (Flash) format. The interactive (Flash) story provides audio, so even early readers and ESL or ELL students can participate (with headsets, of course). The audio can be turned OFF. The story includes some animated pictures.

Be aware that this site does include some advertisements. The site requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page. 9609

In the Classroom: Share the fairy tales on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Turn down the volume (or turn it off), and have students take turns reading the pages to the class. Allow students to revisit the story as a center option on your classroom computer. Challenge your students to write new endings for the stories. Use the story to teach students about plot, characters, conflict, setting, and other key elements in a story. Use the site to teach about the history of the Brothers Grimm. This site also provides excellent research information about these famous writers.

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Wonder How To - Grades 6 - 12
This creative site offers "how to" videos on a WIDE variety of topics. Anyone is able to view the videos, but you must be a member (which is free) to comment on the videos, grade the videos, or submit your own "how to" video. Topics vary; some are appropriate for the classroom - others are definitely NOT appropriate. Some of the general topics that may be useful in the middle school or high school classroom include: alcohol, autos, motorcycles, and planes, business and money, computers and programming, diet and health, education (which features a variety of science experiments and more), film and theater, language (English, Chinese, Hungarian, Russian, Finnish, sign language, Polish, and countless others), music and instruments, travel, and several other topics. Within each of these general topics, there are thousands of specific "how to" videos.

Membership is free and has many perks. You are able to comment and/or grade the video clips or even submit your own video. Registration does require some personal information: a username, password, email address, and date of birth. ALL USERS MUST BE OVER 13-years of age! Check with your administrator about allowing the students to register for this site using fictitious names. You may wish to set up a class registration instead of entering true data into the registration site. 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.

Warning: not all videos are suitable for the classroom. Be sure to preview what you wish to share. If you choose to allow your older students to navigate this site on their own (for research or a class project), be sure to set boundaries on which videos to watch, consequences for going elsewhere, and WATCH CAREFULLY! Some videos explain "how to" do things that are unsafe or inappropriate for school-ages audiences. Wonder How To does include unobtrusive advertisements. This site requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page. 5390

In the Classroom: Use these fabulous "how to" videos for informative writing projects in speech, science, or even with your gifted students. The site does provide excellent research. You may want to link directly to the specific videos you want students to see in order to avoid other, less-desirable options. Share the "how to" videos on an interactive whiteboard or projector as an anticipatory set for a new lesson. For a final project, have students create and submit their own "how to" video using YouTube or using a tool such as SchoolTube (reviewed here).

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Gapminder World - Grades 6 - 12
Use Gapminder World (with no login required) to see how countries vary and change over time in economics, health, and environment. Click the MAP tab as a good place to start. Follow all trends and click play to animate the country bubbles through a timeline. Click on a specific bubble (country) to follow through time. Each axis of the graph can be customized for a large number of combinations. Video tutorials and a pdf of directions are available. Share your chart through the use of a link or take a snapshot of your screen using print screen functions. This site requires Adobe Acrobat and Flash. Get both from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.

Be patient. This site has a lot of information to load, so you may have to wait a bit! 9618

In the Classroom: Be sure you and your students begin by “playing” with the controls to figure out the many tools available on this dynamic site. Use this site to generate questions from students for continued research in health, environmental, and civics topics that students will relate to. Manipulate each axis (using pulldowns) to create a dynamic graph and follow all or a few of the countries (bubbles). Questions resulting from the graph can be used to define research leading to further understanding. Have students obtain background information that can lead to further research on social issues in the U.S. and around the World or use this tool as part of oral/visual presentations comparing countries and cultures. Be sure to use your interactive whiteboard or projector.

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Scribblar - Grades 9 - 12
Teacher’s First Edge review: for moderately adventurous technology users. This free provides an instantly-available online whiteboard for multiple people to collaborate as they brainstorm, add text and shapes, or annotate an image. You can also add video or sound (if you have Internet cameras and microphones). Create a graphic from scratch using the geometric shapes. Share the whiteboard to brainstorm with both words and shapes. Upload of photos is easy. Include photos or other images as part of your collective visual “thinking.” A chat function exists on the whiteboard space, as well. This site requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page. 9616

In the Classroom: Skills needed: You need to know how to locate and upload a picture from your computer and how to manage basic tools, etc. Scribblar creates a temporary room for use by your group. Using the free room requires a name to be entered to temporarily manage and track edits. Email addresses or passwords are NOT required. Tools are easy to use and require a small amount of play to be comfortable. Invitations can be sent to other students in order to allow group contributions. Clicking “Take a snapshot” opens a pop up window to SAVE the collaborative creation. You can also use the print screen function (PrtSc button on a PC) or apple/shift/4 combination on a mac. For schools needing more photo mash up options to alter artwork or photos, this is an alternative. Safety/security concerns: The site includes a chat function. Be sure to caution students about appropriate use. Continuous monitoring by teachers is essential! Ideas for use: Use pictures from a science lab or experiment to write information on the picture. Have student groups collaborate to create a diagram of the steps in a process shown in a photograph. Have students add annotations to an art images or ad layouts, showing design elements and the path of your eye as you view the image. Show math concepts using geometric shapes. Create images as a group or use for tutorials. Create artwork or use for brainstorming. Have students create their own whiteboard as part of a research project. Project the “Scribblar – whiteboard brainstorming” on your interactive whiteboard or projector as you begin a unit or lesson or to recap the steps in a process with the entire class. Collaborate with others outside the classroom as you create a community map or action plan together.

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Way Back Machine - Grades 0 - 12
Has your favorite website gone MIA? Do you get the messages, "This site has moved" or "This website cannot be displayed?" If so, this website, Way Back Machine, will be of great assistance to you. The website pulls sites from Internet archives so you are able to look for clues how to find those websites when they "disappear."

To use this site, simply type or paste in the old URL into the Way Back Machine Search box. You will see links to find several pages that show when the site was updated. Look at the archived pages to find the author, actual page title, project name, or other clues to use in a new Google search for the “missing link.” Oftentimes you will find that it has simply moved to a new home. Try copying key or unique short passages from the archived page and putting them into Google with quotes around them. If that text appears somewhere new on the web, Google will find it!

This site is one of the TeachersFirst editorial team’s all time favorite technology tools! 9611

In the Classroom: Use this helpful site to find those "missing" websites that you used previously in class.

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Want to see what else we've been up to? Check out our recent additions.

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 .

RIF Kids: Reading Planet - Grades 0 - 5
RIF, the long-established organization for promoting reading, offers this site for school-aged readers and their parents. Young readers may join (or not) and access activities to do alone or with family (Activity Lab), book ideas (Book Zone), writing starters and contests (Express Yourself), and educational games (Game Station). Many of the activities are ready to go in a classroom or at home. Several of the activities are available in both English and Spanish. New writing activities appear monthly, including story starters for members to complete. Feature authors and new additions make this site worth a look every month. 10386

In the Classroom: Many of the games would be terrific as literacy centers or on an interactive whiteboard or projector to reinforce basics. Make this link available on your class web page for parents, students, and younger siblings to access from home. Parent notifications on games and contests with prizes and required parental consent for students to join make this a very safe site. Teachers may want to offer some of the writing contests as regular classroom activities or for enrichment or to adapt them for use with newer technologies. The visual poetry idea, for example, would work well as an interactive book created using Tikatok, reviewed here. Each student could make a visual poem and illustration in a whole-class book.

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Trulia Hindsight - Grades 3 - 12
Use this visualization tool to zoom into areas around the world and view the topography and other statistics. Use the zoom tool in the bottom left to zoom in on a specific area. Double click the map to bring up a historical player that shows population growth in that area over time (1800's to present depending upon your area.) If your area does not zoom in completely or have statistics, try areas such as Los Angeles or New York City to see amazing changes. Type a city and state into the search box in order to choose a specific area. Change the contrast with the slider in the lower right hand corner to adjust the amount of the background that you want to see. You can also use your arrows tools (or scroll) to view the lines (not labeled) for the equator, lines of latitude, and lines of longitude. Note: The data takes some time to load. Make sure you are zoomed in enough to get the “Please wait” message, then be patient. While you are waiting, form your own hypothesis of what you will see! 10354

In the Classroom: Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Use this incredible tool to look at landforms such as forests and fields. Discuss suburban sprawl, use of resources, and other issues by looking at various areas. View urban areas and the placement of roads, etc. Watch your state and transportation network “grow” as part of your state history units. Bring math, drafting, and other topics to life with use of this incredible tool. View the growth in population of various areas. As the slider moves through the years, corresponding colored dots appear on the map. Pause the player at any point to really look at where population increases have occurred. Students can take a snapshot of the map (apple-shift-4 on Mac or Alt Print screen on PC) to record specific data. Theorize the scientific, historical, or geographic reasons for changes in locations of populations over time. Students can research and present development of various areas across the world. Compare societal values and changes between different countries. Have students compare data using Venn Diagrams. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram (reviewed here).

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Reuters: Times of Crisis - Grades 9 - 12
See a visual timeline of the worldwide economic crisis beginning in 2008, from the point of view of a non-U.S. source. Reuters shares 365 days of upheaval beginning in fall, 2008 via pictures, captions, videos, articles, facts, and more in a highly interactive timeline. 10398

In the Classroom: Explore the timeline on your interactive whiteboard or projector as a class or ask students or groups to explore it on their own, looking for key points and terms that help them better understand this complex crisis. Ask student "guides" to trace and elaborate on trends they find or to highlight key moments as they explain orally to the class. Have students respond to a single image using an online tool to narrate an image such as Voicethread reviewed here or in a blog post. Find an event to which they can connect from their own personal or family perspective. Compare these vignettes with others from the Great Depression photos of great photographers. Keep the link to this interactive timeline on your class web page or wiki as a reference or as a venue for sharing students responses.

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Trailfire - Grades 0 - 12
Teachersfirst Edge Entry: for anyone who can click and type! Trailfire is an online tool for making "trails" for others to follow on the Internet. You can also find "trails" created by others willing to share their work. Simply by clicking the various "stops" along your guided trail, you can add notes telling people who should stop here or what they should do, comment on the pages' content, etc. Click "explore" to browse or search (by tag or keyword) the many trails already available. Click "Learn" in the tag cloud to see examples of "how to" trails. There is even one on how to make lesson plans! Navigate the "trail" with small blue arrows at the very top and read the creator's comments as little pop-ups that look like sticky notes. As with any public site, there are topics NOT suitable for the classroom, so preview, preview, and preview. Buried among the trails are some created by teachers, such as the Great Pumpkin Adventure or this sample trail by the TeachersFirst review team. Trails YOU make can be shared by URL or kept private to share with your selected viewers. NOTE: the site seems a bit sluggish at times, so resist the urge to click into "mouse panic." 10396

In the Classroom: Skills Needed: NO skills are needed to view and use trails created by others. Explore, find, and save the URL for the trail you want your students to use. To be able to create trails, join the site (email required, but no waiting for verification email). Download the Trailfire toolbar (you will be prompted to do this when you register). You do NOT need this toolbar to FOLLOW trails, only to create them or "see" marks left behind by others on the web. Note that any computer equipped with the Trailfire plug-in installed will also "see" any public "marks" left on pages by other Trailfire users. If your school computer does not allow downloads, you can create trails at home for use by students. Getting started: Once you join and download the plug-in simply click the Trailfire "mark page" button on your toolbar whenever you visit a site on which you would like to comment. The sidebar (which you can keep open or close with the x) offers hints as you learn to use Trailfire. If you are preparing a trail for students to follow, Add "marks" (like sticky notes) to each web page on your trail. These can include comments, directions, etc. To share your trail, go to "My stuff" and get the trail URL (tiny orange text!) Safety/security concerns: If you are only USING trails or creating them for your students to use, there are no safety issues. If you are having students create trails they will need to log in and work on computers with the Trailfire download installed. You might want to consider using a whole-class account with your own (extra) email as the log in or setting up a GMail account with sub-accounts. Tip: rather than using your personal or work email, 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. Since the Trailfire site offers Recent, Popular, and Hot trails on the home page, teachers allowing students to create trails will want to have strict policies about avoiding these areas where the general public could create topics for trails inappropriate for the classroom. Possible Uses: Have students create visual bibliographies of sites they used for a project and what they learned there, or create student trails of different types of volcanoes (explaining them in markers). Challenge students to create trails of examples of the bill of rights in operation or the three branches of government in real life, or student commentary on web page bias, or even student explanations of grammatical errors they find---with markers explaining the CORRECTIONS! Teacher-created trails for students doing project-based learning, including notes on which sites might be more challenging reading or include a good introduction, key terms and definitions in markers on a page with challenging reading, purpose-setting "markers" for reading comprehension practice using web articles. What other ideas can YOU add?

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My Safe Home - Grades 3 - 12
Learn about safety hazards throughout the home. View sections of the house such as Kitchen, Hallway, Pool and Spa, or Backyard. In each section, find safety concerns for Falls, Poisoning, Burns, Fires, Suffocation, and Electric Shock. Each concern contains an audio file and/or written information to outline the danger. 10381

In the Classroom: This site is a terrific find for your safety unit or safety week. Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Or have cooperative learning groups investigate specific rooms together. Students can use this information to determine common household dangers. Students can use the information to create a visual or interactive online display of safety information. Use the information to create public service announcements, newsletters, or a mini lesson to present to the class, other classes, or parent groups. Have students create infomercials to share with the class using a tool such as SchoolTube reviewed here.

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Biology Animation Library - Grades 8 - 12
This web page is a GREAT resource of various biological animations. The site offers the options of either playing the animations via web browser or downloading the animation to the computer. Versions of the animations are available for both Mac and PC. Topics include, but are not limited to: cloning, cycle sequencing, model organisms, transformation, DNA restriction, DNA arrays, and gel electrophoresis. 10319

In the Classroom: The animation on this website will help explain some of the more difficult biological concepts in DNA. Use an interactive whiteboard or projector to show the animations during discussions about DNA topics. Also, animations could be posted to the class website for review at home or as part of electronic homework. An animation could be assigned to the class, and each student would need to watch it and re-explain it in his or her own words. Consider creating a class wiki about the topic being discussed. Not familiar with wikis? Check out the Teacher’s First Wiki Walk-Through reviewed here.

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350.org - Grades 5 - 12
Join the movement to urge citizens and lawmakers to take steps to reduce global CO2 levels to the number 350. Click on the "About" tab to learn the science, hear about the actions, and view media. Participate in activities such as "Days of Action." Register and sign up for email and text messages. Tip: rather than using your personal or work email, 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. Learn from people around the world about how they are spreading the word about climate change. 10394

In the Classroom: View resources from around the world to look at the organized events conducted. Use these ideas to create a local event or identify the ways others have created communities around global climate action. Use information on the site to create Public Service Announcements, newsletters, or blog posts. Invite students to research sites on both sides of the issue, analyze them, and check information for accuracy. Create a blogging challenge or pledge for students to follow for forty days as a way to create change one family at a time. How about creating a 40 day class wiki about 350 and other global climate action? Not comfortable with wikis? Have no wiki worries – check out the Teacher’s First Wiki Walk-Through reviewed here.

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Exploring the Secret Life of Trees - Grades 2 - 9
This animated video explains in detail how an acorn becomes a tree. The audio uses simple terms, however some vocabulary may need further explanation with younger grades. The slides can be advanced or reversed with the buttons provided on the pages. This is a modern version of the old fashioned film strip. The narration is also available in Spanish. 10375

In the Classroom: This is ideal for use on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Due to the ability to easily pause the video, students can take notes directly from the whiteboard. Create a guided note sheet to accompany the interactive by capturing the screens into PowerPoint slides or a smart notebook and put blank text boxes over the writing so that students can enter the information as they watch it. This is a great one to save in your favorites for an Earth Day activity! Have student create their own “tree stories” using digital pictures of a tree they know and narrating it on Voicethread, reviewed here.

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