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 .

Phrasal Verb Drink Dispenser - Grades 4 - 9
This cleverly formatted ESL/speech and language activity provides review material for phrasal verbs found in The Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs published by Cambridge University Press. Students can select verbs that have the same particle, verbs in content categories, and also study one verb in all its particle manifestations (i.e. go on, go out, go away, etc.). This page is a must for all English language students preparing for standardized tests. Speech and manguage teachers working with elementary students will find it helpful, as well, if the students have basic reading skills. Requires Shockwave Plugin. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page. 7218

In the Classroom: Suggest this site to your ESL students preparing for college entrance exams. You may want to mark it in Favorites on a classroom computer for students to practice independently once you have shown them how it works.

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Math Teacher's Toolkit - Grades 0 - 5
This web page provides elementary teachers with numerous interactive tools to use in their mathematic lessons. Counters, calculators, number lines and more are included in this useful site. Think of it as a complete electronic manipulative library. Flash is required for some of the activities. REQUIRES FLASH and can get pretty busy at times, slowing it down. 7070

In the Classroom: These activities give you everything you need to do math on an interactive whiteboard for elementary grades. What a resource! If you have no whiteboard, use a projector alone or use some tools as a center.

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VERB - Grades 4 - 12
Excite every student about exercise and sports using this highly interactive site. Studeents can watch and create videos about sports skills, invent new games (then go PLAY them), and much more. They can even create their own videos using the clips available. The skills illustrated in the clips are done by popular sports figures.Once one student sees this site, it will be all the rage with your digital-native students.... and get them excited about sports. All you have to do is give them an opportunity to try what they see online. Get them out of their chairs with this one. All the videos require FLASH. 7238

In the Classroom: Share this link on the PE web page for your school or invite students to create their own games and share them with their PE class for extra credit. Use a projector to share some of the skills at the start of class.

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Label That Scene: The Teddy Bears Picnic - Grades 0 - 3
This creative site challenges students to label a teddy bear scene. There is a main menu with two activity choices. The first activity provides students with words (i.e. yellow and teddy bear). The students must click and drag the words onto the correct position on the teddy bear picture. As the students move the words, the narrator speaks the words aloud. You can also play the Teddy Bear Picnic song (yellow buttons at left). The second activity, allows students to create their own words or annotations. There are print options with both activities. This site requires FLASH. 7142

In the Classroom: Try it on an interactive whiteboard or as a center and challenge your students to create their own words for this teddy bear scene! This site is great for spelling practice and building creativity. Be sure you have your sound turned up (headphones if at a center). Note: the sound download takes awhile, and it appears that the site is not opening. Click to open it and be patient- perhaps load it in advance! Not recommended for dial-up.

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Kid's Regen.org Online Magazine - Grades 1 - 8
This attractive children’s online magazine focuses on becoming more environmentally aware, enjoying nature, and learning to conserve and regenerate natural resources. Besides gardening and farming, the magazine offers articles on world cultures, fitness and health, arts and crafts, and food and nutrition, all focused on using the earth’s resources wisely. Links after each story of interest connect the reader to the magazine’s archives for other articles on similar subjects. An online glossary assists kids with those science words that might be difficult and makes this site easily accessible to second language learners and learning support students. 7056

In the Classroom: Use the articles to teacher comprehension skills with non-fiction that will engage your students or to model informational writing before you ask students to write their own articles. You could feature a section a day on a projector during April in honor of Earth Day! There are many opportunities for more able students to find enrichment activitites, as well.

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Drama Teachers Exercise - Grades 6 - 12
What makes this a good site is the variety of ideas presented. The site has ideas contributed by many. All of the exercises given are tried-and-true teacher ideas. These exercises have worked effectively with students, not only to teach acting, but also to focus them on other lessons. I particularly like the one on Shakespeare. 7089

In the Classroom: While this is a plain site with lesson ideas, it is full of possibilities for lessons in any subject; it is particularly easy to adapt to literature and social studies lessons. It incorporates creative dramatics and improvisation with analysis of text or events. Insert your own unit into it and it can create enthusiasm for an otherwise dull topic or text.

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Leapfrog - Grades 3 - 8
This logic game asks students to move six frogs (3-blue and 3-green). This is a lot more difficult than it may appear. The rules include: each color frog may only move in one direction and frogs may move one space or jump over one frog. The students are asked to investigate the game by answering a few specific questions. Younger children will need teacher direction. This game requires Flash. 7033

In the Classroom: There is no explanation or solution provided, so you may want to visit this site for a few minutes before including your class to familiarize yourself with the activity. This is a good activity to develop multi-step planning and envisioning strategies. Use it as an interactve whiteboard warm-up to get your class thinking and forming hypotheses.

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NumSum - Grades 4 - 12
TeachersFirst Edge entry: for the more adventurous technology user. Share and collaborate on data for projects using this online collaborative spreadsheet tool. Group projects can share their data as they collect it, such as students who do animal counts in their backyards or water analysis in various locations. If you prefer to use it in class, students can all enter data from an experiment they do in the lab so you can compile a larger aggregation. Join for free. You can also see and collaborate with other schools a nd people ( be careful to protect student identities and location). Find interesting ideas by playing with the "search spreadsheets" feature. 7246

In the Classroom: Skills needed: join the site (free) using YOUR teacher email or a yahoo or gmail account. This editor has an email account used strictly for memberships to such sites and uses the same user name and password for all. Set a username and password. Tools are very mush like Excel. Remember your user information. Students can use it or you can set up accounts for student groups so you can monitor their activities, if your district policies suggest this.

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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 .

Cup Stacking - Grades 0 - 5
This site simultaneously offers alphabet recognition and keyboarding. Stacked cups have letters on the front of each one. When the letter is highlighted, the student must strike the correct key on the keyboard. This is an interactive way for student to recognize his/her alphabet letters and match them with the appropriate keyboard location. It is also terrific for keyboarding practice. The game keeps score, so students can challenge themselves to "beat" their previous scores. This site requires FLASH. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.. 8703

In the Classroom: Use this game as a center for primary students learning the alphabet and computer keyboard. Allow older students to use it as a warm-up or "down time" activity in the computer lab when other work is complete. You may want to turn down the sound or ask students to wear headphones the "cup" sounds get annoying after a while!

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Simile of the Day Generator - Grades 6 - 12
This is a very simple site that offers the "simile of the day." Click on the button "Gimme a simile" and an unusual simile will pop up in the box below. Example: "Resentment is like a toenail." The object is for students to figure out how the abstract word (resentment) is like the concrete word (toenail). This could be a great deal of fun for students of any level to practice creating figures of speech and thinking creatively. 8800

In the Classroom: Because clicking on the box will give a different simile every time, students could create their own list of similes to discuss with each other. Once they've practiced with the given similes, they can create their own. You might have them create paragraphs or even stories using the given simile as the opening sentence or as the theme. There are lots of possibilities for creative thinking and writing with this site. If students have trouble making connections between the two items, have them list characteristics of each until they find some in common. For a more extended project, ask your more able students to create an illustrated guide to unusual similes with student-created images and paragraphs using the similes. A wiki would be ideal for this ongoing project.

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Way Back: Presidents: The Secret History - Grades 4 - 6
Students enjoy uncovering the secrets of our Presidents by clicking their way through this site. Students click on Presidential photos to read their secrets or as they move through a game board of intriguing election facts. The "Hit the Trail" section is all about the presidential election process. This site requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page. 8689

In the Classroom: Read the "Kids For President: Would You Run?" section on a projector or interactive whiteboard to generate the same discussion in your classroom. Assign students to write comments to the President which you can send as a class and receive a letter from the White House. A writing project pretending to know the present President's secret will bring hilarity and imagination to your classroom. In election years, use "Hit the Trail" as a lead-in to the primaries and other current events.

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The Virtual Autopsy - Grades 9 - 12
This intriguing website gives students a front row seat to anatomy and physiology. The website provides 18 virtual autopsy cases. Each case includes a presentation about the case, history of the patient, and results of examinations performed on the patient. The cases each offer students an interactive human body. Students can click on various body parts to learn more about the health of each of the systems of the body (central nervous system, respiratory system, endocrine system, gastrointestinal track, cardiovascular system, reticulo-endothelial system, genito-urinary system, musculoskeletal system, and general external appearance). Once students have investigated the case, they are asked to identify the cause of death (the website provides 5+ possibilities for each case). If the students guess the cause of death incorrectly, they receive clues. 8793

In the Classroom: What an excellent way to excite your students about learning the science of anatomy and physiology! Get out your interactive whiteboards to share a case as you talk about the process of inquiry. Or have cooperative learning groups explore different investigations. Use teacher discretion as to whether your students can maturely handle illustrations of the human body. Be sure to read the "How to Use This Website" link for additional ideas.

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ARKive Education Multi-Media Educational Resources - Grades 0 - 12
This website provides numerous multi-media educational resources (ready to use modules) in science, geography, and other subject areas. Some of the challenging topics include classifying species, habitats, endangered species, plant life cycles, food chains and webs, ecosystems, survival, and numerous others. This website was created in the UK, so you may notice some spelling differences. Permission is granted to download, so kids and teachers can embed the videos into their own products, such as PowerPoint presentations, interactive whiteboard flipcharts or notebooks, or Google Earth files. However, teachers may NOT incorporate these as part of online presentations, such as their own web sites, though they CAN link to them. The website's stated terms of use are, "Extracts of part of the website or compilations of extracts can be made for the internal educational purposes of any authorised educational establishment, provided that the integrity of the material is maintained and copyright ownership acknowledged". 8726

In the Classroom: These science and geography modules are ready to go and perfect presentations for an interactive whiteboard or projector. Students will be extremely motivated by the unique videos and activities. Be aware that-- even on a fast connection - some of these files are very large and will take a few minutes to download. READ the download directions. If your school computers are set to prohibit downloads, you may want to download the files at home and bring them in on a USB "stick". Some are PowerPoint shows, and others include pdf files for printables. The video clips require Windows Media Player. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..

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Genki Hip Hop Quiz - Grades 6 - 12
This site combines current-sounding songs, a chance to listen to music, lyrics in print, and choices to click on exactly what students hear. Scores show up immediately to reinforce correct answers. Students can try that selection again or go on to another song. Although consumers can purchase the songs for an MP3 player, the complete song plays from the site. ESL/ELL students enjoy song lyrics and show marked improvement in accent development and vocabulary enhancement, so this site is ideal. 8467

In the Classroom: Refer your middle and high school ESL students to this site as a link from your home page or favorites. Pair one ESL student with a native speaker of English to select the correct words to the song.

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Squigly's Apples - Grades 1 - 2
Students must identify where Squigly is on a line using ordinal numbers and click the WORD for that number. This site is simple and will help students with ordinal numbers and vocabulary. 8700

In the Classroom: Make this game a center on your single classroom computer or cluster. To extend the idea, have students create his/her own ordinal number question on a PowerPoint slide by pasting identical clip art graphics and "hiding" something behind one of them. Then type the question: Which dog (cat,etc) is hiding the bone (ball, etc)? Combine the slides into a show you can share on your interactive whiteboard or print as a "big book."

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September 11 Digital Archive - Grades 7 - 12
A good start for accessing a wealth of information related to the events of September 11, 2001, this site provides links to research databases, first person accounts and photo and sound galleries. For most teachers, 9/11 is a very recent event and is fresh in our minds. However, for students, the details of that terrible day may be fuzzy either because they were young when it happened, or because they were shielded from much of the news coverage. This site can help present the account. Among the "Special Collections" is a link to an innovative sound memorial site that provides a montage of voices and sounds recorded on September 11. Although the main site does not, some of the linked sites require Flash. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.. 8676

In the Classroom: Preview carefully for younger students. Use the site in your discussions of current events and terrorism-related topics or share it as a resource for high school students doing research projects. As politicians talk about Sept 11, this site can help fill the gaps in your students' background. You can easily demonstrate primary and secondary sources with these engaging examples.

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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 .

Sliding Block Puzzle Page - Grades 1 - 12
Challenge basic counting skills and problem solving using classic sliding puzzles. Not only will you find numerical sliding puzzles, but also colorful shape puzzles. Java applets make an interactive version of each puzzle appear below the "goal" you are trying to reach. There is also a targeted number of moves to reach the goal. There are many different types of puzzles, some more familiar than others. Be sure to be patient as puzzles load. Sometimes the interactive (drag to slide) portion does not appear right away. 10414

In the Classroom: Share these puzzles on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) as a mind-bending challenge. Help students develop problem-solving skills such as thinking several steps ahead by offering the link on your class web page. Higher level and gifted math students can try to determine a formula for calculating the number of moves it may take to solve a puzzle. Give awards to students who accomplish the "goal" in the stated number of moves, then ask them to explain their strategy or think aloud as they repeat it on an interactive whiteboard. Offer a puzzle club for your mathematical/logical thinkers or simply develop visual thinking skills by sharing these challenges.

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Cybersmart - Grades 0 - 12
Although there are many websites about internet safety, this site is unique in its detailed sections for user groups including young children, children, teens, parents, libraries, and schools. Each section contains age-appropriate interactive activities, quizzes, tips students can understand, information on online devices the student might be using, and information on social networking for older students. Since the site is from Australia, you may notice some slight language differences, but all the other information is pertinent, helpful, and recognizable. 10410

In the Classroom: Share the activities with your students on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students work in cooperative learning groups to investigate various parts of this site. Challenge students to create online posters about internet safety on paper or do it together as a class using a tool such as Project Poster (reviewed here or PicLits (reviewed here. Or use another online poster creator, such as Wallwisher, (reviewed here). You may also want to share this link with parents via your class web page.

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Caves at Lascaux - Grades 6 - 12
This latest redesign of the Lascaux tour offered by the French government takes viewers on a video tour of the famous French caves. As you walk along, pop-ups label the drawings being viewed. An outline map on the right lower side of the screen shows the path the "walker" is taking, and also demonstrates where the viewer is at any given part of the tour. In addition to the video walk, information about the caves appears in "Chapters" which students can click on. The original version of this site is in French. The left sidebar offers the options of viewing the site in French, English, German, or Spanish. This link automatically opens to the English version of the site. 10408

In the Classroom: Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Since many of the functions work on mouse-over -- not click -- you may want to use a human being to operate the actual computer mouse, since many whiteboards do not “know” where you are mousing until you click! Then have students explore this site independently or in small groups. This is a great addition to French or Art class. Challenge students in your class to narrate an image orally in French as they present it on the big screen or have them create their own narrated “cave paintings” using a tool such as Voicethread, reviewed here.

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ESL Holidays Lessons - Grades 1 - 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.

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Automotivator - Grades 0 - 12
Teachers First Edge Review: For slightly adventurous technology users. Create your own motivational poster easily and effortlessly. Choose a random picture, one from the Internet, or one chosen from your computer. Choose colors to border the picture and the type of text to be used. Enter your text and preview the result. Once complete, save to flickr, your computer, or print using a separate site. Remember you can use a saved image in PowerPoint shows and on a class wiki, as well. 10401

In the Classroom: Skills required: You need to know how to browse and upload a file from your computer or find the URL of an image already on the web (one you can legally use, of course!). Safety/Security: Be aware: there are some advertisements on this site. Also, make sure students are aware of copyright laws. Use this site to encourage proper use of photographs that students have the authorization to use. Model including appropriate photo credits on the posters. Classroom use: Younger students can use this tool together as a whole-class activity or simply enjoy the posters their teacher creates. Have students create a picture about what has been studied with a caption of what has been learned. For example, create posters about predators and prey or classifications of animals. Students can create a poster of a study skill or learning activity that helps them learn. Create a caption that explains how the student learns the best. Every subject area can use this resource to create interesting presentation posters for display or as springboards to talk about what was learned. For example, in Biology, students could create a poster about a cell part with a clever caption about the importance of the job. In Literature or History, students can create posters about the perspectives of others in the story or at that time of history. Rather than a traditional research project. Have cooperative learning groups use this site to show their knowledge in any subject area. Ask students to apply concepts such as constitutional rights by illustrating them in poster images with captions. Teachers can create bulletin board images, as well. Have a classroom motivation poster competition to start off the school year! Share the winners on your class wiki or in a PowerPoint presentation at back to school night/open house. As special occasions approach, have students bring in or take a digital picture they can make into a poster as a family gift with their own inspirational saying.

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Autopsy - Grades 8 - 12
This interactive site shows how parts of an actual autopsy are done. The site does have a disclaimer that the content may be too graphic for some viewers. However, the "person" is a computer drawn, faceless character. You can click through the site, screen by screen, following the onscreen instructions to complete the autopsy. This includes removing the organs and weighing them. The site also includes a short video about an actual forensic scientist. Average metric weight of some human organs is also included in the site. 10423

In the Classroom: This site could be used as an alternative to dissection, an enrichment activity, or as part of a unit that uses crime scene investigation as part of its delivery technique. Anatomy classes could use this practice and review for quizzes or tests on the human body organs and systems. Show the site using the interactive whiteboard or projector as an introduction to human anatomy or to dissection. If you teach high school biology, this would be a great site during Halloween season, as well: teach anatomy with a creepy feature!

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Tramline Virtual Field Trips - Grades 1 - 12
This website is dedicated to delivering a variety of virtual field trips. The trips are listed by content. Each trip contains objectives, concepts, and terms to know. There are lesson plans linked in the Teacher Resource section of the page, and extra information on the topic. The trips themselves are a lot like guided web quests. The websites that are used in the field trips show good variety. And standards are even provided! The trips include grade levels. Examples of topics include hurricanes, dinosaurs, deserts, natural wonders, dark ages, and American Presidency. 10373

In the Classroom: Virtual field trips from this website could be used on the interactive whiteboard or projector as a whole class activity. A better use could be to create a question sheet that mirrors the trip and have students work through the field trip at their own pace in lab, either with partners or individually. Follow up by challenging student groups to create an interactive guidebook to their topic using a tool such as Bookemon, reviewed here. With younger students, make a class book together.

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Planet Quest - Grades 7 - 12
View a time line of findings and explorations into other habitable planets in the universe. View understandings, pictures, quotes, and other materials available from 500 BC to the present. Use the arrows that appear on the screen to scroll backward and forward. Audio and auto play can be turned on and off along the bottom of the screen. Click on the dots below the time line to jump to discoveries, technology, or thought and culture throughout the time line. Click on "Show Key Milestones" to see a bar graph type image showing key points. 10382

In the Classroom: This site is perfect for an interactive whiteboard or projector. Learning support students and weaker readers will benefit from the audio option. Use the information here as a springboard for other discussions, blog posts, or displays about planets possibly like Earth. Identify how technology and science has changed over the years and the natural laws that were understood prior to the discoveries. Have cooperative learning groups explore a specific section of this site and create a multimedia presentation to share with the class. Challenge groups to narrate a photo (legally permissible) using a site such as Voicethread reviewed here.

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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 .

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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The Karaoke Channel - Grades 1 - 10
This site requires free registration for access to over 200 free songs: mostly classics and holiday favorites. The site includes some young children's classics, too. As with all karaoke, only the melody plays; the words are visible in a box on the website. The language of the song displays also when not English. Use these songs for younger children, special occasions, foreign language classes and ESL/ELL students. Play the songs on your classroom computer. Be sure to turn up the speakers!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In the Classroom: You can add this in your RSS reader. Why not use the RSS feature to remind you of the day’s events? Share the site on an interactive whiteboard or projector. The topics on the left and right side bars make excellent research references. For a classroom-ready activity each day to build understanding of historical events in the context of your students' prior knowledge, also try TeachersFirst's Dates That Matter. Include both links on your teacher web page for instant access by students both in and out of class. Maybe start a class wiki for your own "This Day" collection and assign student groups a day of their own. Add to it from year to year. Or have students write blog responses on class or individual blogs as they choose an event for the day from several sources and react to it.

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

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

In the Classroom: Skills needed: Join the site (free), but only if you wish to be able to SAVE dabbleboards. You can share them in real time without joining, but they are lost once you quit. Joining requires an email address. Use your memberships email or check school policies before allowing students to sign up using email. Another option is to create a free Gmail account to use for memberships. If you plan to have students register individually, you may want to create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes. Here is a blog post that tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service. Once you join, watch the quick video tour or play with the tools. Be sure you can locate tools to draw, resize, delete, drag, and group/ungroup items. Try uploading an image (make sure you have the RIGHTS to use it!). Your uploaded items remain in your library for later use. Note that to add text you simply click in the whitespace and start typing. It is easier to change text size and color BEFORE typing. To keep a board, simply click NEW. The old board will become part of your library at the left of the screen. Safety concerns: Once shared, any dabbleboard can be seen and altered by others who know the URL. You will not have any record of who makes changes, so student-to-student "vandalism" is possible. Do not make student drawings "public" unless this is within school policies. Clicking "Make public" will add that dabble board to the public library. Others can copy any "public" work. Note that sharing by URL does NOT make a board public unless you click "make public." Ideas for using this tool: Assess prior knowledge as you start a unit by generating a class dabbleboard. Save it under your class/teacher account to re-access throughout the unit, adding new topics and content. Make the URL available from your class web page for students to use as review or for learning support teachers to reinforce what has happened in class. Have student groups map out the content of projects. Encourage visual prewriting for the students who "think in pictures." Have students create review organizers or drag and drop activities to share with classmates. Brainstorm together over time or distance by letting students add ideas from home or collaborating from another school. Save your visual notes from a faculty meeting to reopen next time. Allow students to use a dabbleboard as their visual during speeches. Map the sequence of steps in a chemical reaction. Then share the URL for absent students to "see" what happened in class. Annotate design principles directly on top of an uploaded image or have students submit their own analysis of an image by sending you the URL for their dabbleboard. Have young students use a dabbleboard to draw out ideas before they can even write entire sentences. This one has endless possibilities!

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