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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.
Whether you have a few minutes or a few days to light the Olympic torch in your classroom, TeachersFirst offers these resources to guide the way to medal-winning lessons. This collection of reviewed resources from TeachersFirst is selected to help teachers and students learn more about the Vancouver Olympics, 2010, and to plan curriculum-related projects and classroom activities around the Olympic winter games in Vancouver. These links may also be helpful to compare the Vancouver games with other years. 10411
In the Classroom: Use these resources to plan a special lesson or unit within your curriculum during the Olympics or share the link on your class web page for students to access both in and out of class for enrichment or individual projects.
This site offers spelling practice through an engaging interactive! Choose a category (In and Around Home, What We Wear, What We Eat, How We Get There, or The Animal Kingdom) and then click on a picture. Choose the first letter of the word and watch the wheel spin. Click "submit" when done spelling for a spelling check. Choose "Pick a word for me" to receive random words to spell. 10403
In the Classroom: Use this activity with an interactive whiteboard or projector for class spelling. Students can work on spelling as individuals, groups, or whole class activities. Use specific pictures to practice spelling and learn spelling rules that can be applied to other words. Use this site as a language arts learning center to practice spelling. Speech and language teachers and ESL/ELL teachers can use the categories of common vocabulary to teach both words and spelling. Share this link on your class website for students to practice spelling at home.
Teacher's First Edge Review: for slightly adventurous technology users and their students. Students and teachers can write their own original books, add your own images and artwork as illustrations, and read your published books in interactive, online form. For a fee, you can also have printed copies made, but there is no fee for the online publication and sharing. This is the ultimate in "digital storytelling."
Here is an example of a book created by the TeachersFirst Edge editors. Once you set up free membership in this site, students (or teachers) can select to create from a blank start or using templates provided. You can also create a book starter of your own as an example so students can follow the prompts you have created. The book creator allows you to upload your own images and to create books from a Word document or PowerPoint file you have already made. There is no provision for multiple users to collaborate on the same book.
After you save and publish the work, share the URL so people can read the entire thing online, either among an audience of “just my friends” or publicly. They also offer the embed code to place your books in a class or school web page, wiki, or blog, but at the time of this review, this code was not working properly. The BEST option is to copy the address of the new window displaying the interactive book. There is an option to have the book printed for a fee, but this is not required. You can also read books created by others (if they make them public). Use the fully-public option to create learning materials for classes to access year to year for at-home review or reading practice.
This site requires a simple registration. Members must be at least 13 years old. Teachers using this tool with younger students should use a whole-class account WITH parent permission and in accordance with school policies. See more detailed suggestions “In the Classroom” below and in our sample book! 10404
In the Classroom: Skills needed: Join the site. No need for a confirmation email to get started. SKIP the profile and friends areas to get to the book creator. The site constantly offers ways to purchase printed versions of your books, but you can ignore them. On the Create Books page, choose from using a blank book, starting from a file, or using a template. Browse many “public” examples on the templates page of books created by others. Choose “school” to see projects from other classes or a sample created by you or a student team working in advance along with you. Explore ready-made themes (seasonal, topical, etc.) or use “open theme.” Choose book dimensions (match layout shape to any uploaded files, such as PowerPoint slides). Enter settings and description of your book (editable later), including who is allowed to “see” it: everyone, just friends, or private. Again choose a “theme” – more of a category where Bookemon will list your completed book. A logical option is “school.” Experiment with tools to upload files (within file limits), add images, add text, etc. Written help is offered as you go, but there is no video demo. SAVE often. Turn margins on to avoid chopping content. To share the book, you must “publish” it (i.e. finalize).
Once published, locate the book under "My Books" and use options to share (by email—and see the URL to copy from there), “Make a new edition” to create a new version—also useful for treating the original as a template for later books), Post to Other Sites offers embed codes not currently working properly. The BEST option is to click the book COVER which opens a new window without ads or “stuff,” and copy the ADDRESS of that window to paste into email, etc. You can also make that clean-window view a Favorite on a classroom computer!
Safety/security concerns: The home page of the site has “Featured books by our members” and the ability to browse all public books. You will want to preview for possibly inappropriate books created by others. As with any site where students can create content, you will want to obtain parent permission before posting student work online. The site does not allow users under age 13, so teachers with students below that age should obtain written parent permission for students to use generic student accounts you create and control through your teacher-extra Gmail address. Use up to 20 subaccounts of that Gmail account to create student accounts and passwords to be used by each student or group of students (by code name or number) within your classes. Here is a blog post that tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service.
If you have older students use their own email accounts to join and navigate, you will want to first spell out rules about the “profile” tools, friends, and other social networking features. There are multiple opportunities to share address books, use social tools such as Facebook to share your books, etc., so teacher-controlled accounts may be the easiest option.
If students are to collaborate on the same book, they must either log in under the same user name or sit together to collaborate. This could provide opportunities for “vandalism,” so have class policies and consequences spelled out in advance.
Possible uses:
With younger students, have them create their work in PowerPoint then upload for whole-class books. See an example, created by the TeachersFirst Edge editors . The example is full of ideas for classroom use from Kindergarten to high school, including science concept tales, poetry books, general writing, math problem solve-its, and more. ANY grade can use this tool, depending on the amount of direction by the teacher. By the way, the correct answer to the problem in the sample book is c. 27. Another idea, have students create personalized books for their parents or grandparents for special occasions (Mother's Day, Father's Day, or Grandparent's Day).
Tip: Use this site for a guided introduction to social networking as a class, an excellent teaching opportunity for 21st century literacy skills and online safety discussion.
This site has archives of lists of books, organized by theme and displayed pictorially. Specific subjects feature books divided into two or three levels, including picture books, books for independent readers, and YA books. Featured books are not annotated, but bibliographic information is included. There are many widely varied themes, from the classical to the offbeat (Something from Nothing, and In Praise of Bad Books). The themes are too numerous to mention them all: Adventures on the High Seas Booklist, Africa Booklist, American Military Stories Booklist, Building Things Booklist, Children Putting on Plays Booklist, Exploration Booklist, First Day of School Booklist, Inventors and Inventions Booklist, Mother Goose Booklist, and countless others. A search feature allows teachers and students to search by many different criteria: Type of Child, Title, Author/Illustrator, ISBN, Genre, Subject, Series, Format, Fiction or Non-Fiction, Reading Level, Grade Level, Lexile, Setting, Author and Illustrator Demographics, Personal issues, and other categories. A free login allows users to submit reviews, tag books, or create wishlists (suggest other themes). Registration does require an email address, but it is free. You do not need to register to access the booklists. 10405
In the Classroom: Turn to this comprehensive list if you are searching for books on a certain theme. These books are a perfect addition to units on the various topics presented. Share the link with your students if they want other books about subjects that have interested them. Keep these booklists handy for students seeking independent reading. If you use a list in conjunction with a curriculum unit, be sure to invite students to "review" the books by putting the list on a class wiki or in a spreadsheet where they can enter comments and indicate that which books they have read. This will allow other students to choose books based on what a fellow student with similar taste recommends. Google Docs Spreadsheets reviewed hereare an easy online tool for students to collaborate and comment. The teacher can create one that is editable publicly and link to it from the class web page. You may want to provide this link on your class website for families to access at home.
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.
This site allows users to check a document or web page for evidence of plagiarism for free. Type or copy/paste text from parts of the document or website and click search. Of course, you will need electronic copies of student work to easily copy/paste! Plagiarism Checker provides links to web-based text similar to that being searched. Note that this tool does not check against print material, such as books. It searches only the web for similar passages. 10360
In the Classroom: Students can use this plagiarism checker to be sure they are turning in original work. Teachers can use this service to check the work of students (submitted electronically). Students should create accounts with their parents to check their work at home. Model this site to explain what plagiarism IS and how students can avoid it. The hands-on experience will help them understand this challenging concept. You might even want to provide several examples of plagiarized writing as an exercise for student to check and correct before they copy/paste their way to trouble in a research assignment. Another interesting exercise for researchers is to locate an article on a how-to topic, such as "How to Paint a Room," then see how many sites use the exact same text. As a class, discuss whether this proliferation is good or bad (is the web spreading misinformation, too?).
Use the free portion of this site to check any written content for plagiarism. An accurate analysis of a whole document is quick to complete. Registration is required to use this user-friendly plagiarism checker. An email address and birth date are required for registration. 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.
This site displays problem areas in a written piece so changes can be made to avoid plagiarism. A paid account is available and provides more options. 10361
In the Classroom: Students can use this plagiarism checker to be sure they are turning in original work. Teachers can use this service to check the work of students (submitted electronically). Students should create accounts with their parents to check their work at home. Model this site to explain what plagiarism IS and how students can avoid it. The hands-on experience will help them understand this challenging concept. You might even want to provide several examples of plagiarized writing as an exercise for student to check and correct before they copy/paste their way to trouble in a research assignment.
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.
What is Watch Know? Short for "You Watch, You Know," it provides explanations for students. Finding bits of information to help students can be frustrating as resources are disorganized on the web and may be hard to find.” Watch Know” is a free site that organizes small video clips to help with the understanding of a variety of topics in subject areas. Search by age (3-18+). You can click and drag the age filter to the youngest and oldest ages to include. Videos are also organized by sequence of topics taught. The site is an ongoing project with input from educators and organizations interested in education of children. Registration is not required to view the videos. Creating and saving videos to the site, as well as commenting, require registration. You can monitor site recent changes and additions using the “Change Log.” 10384
In the Classroom: Search for videos relevant to your upcoming units or share the link with older students to search on their own. Use clips as engaging openings to units or as a review at the end. Have students identify the main points in the video and relate it back to class information. Students can use the examples on the site to create their own videos about a topic they have studied that could be beneficial to others.
If you do join the site to submit videos (for more adventurous technology users), we recommend uploading, commenting, and participating in the project (the creation and growth of WatchKnow) as a whole-class collaborative activity. If your students create videos, critique them locally before submitting them to the site as the “bests” from your class.
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 Bookemon, reviewed here. Each student could make a visual poem and illustration in a whole-class book.
The celebrated RIF program offers this site for parents to support their children's literacy. You will find resources from infancy to the teenage years and some for the entire family. While there is more available for younger children (through elementary school), the Whole Family area and some of the activities are enjoyable for teens, as well. Click to find practical tips to support your growing readers, monthly features, interactive books, activities for family heritage, authors, polls, a personal bookshelf to collect book recommendations, and more. You can even search for activities by age and activity type. 10387
In the Classroom: Provide this link to parents in support of your in-school reading program. Struggling students can use RIF's Reading Planet (reviewed here) or Leading to Reading (reviewed here) activities both at home and at school to provide the repetition and review they need for skill mastery. Be sure to share this link before school breaks so parents can support literacy at home to prevent "summer slide."
Although some of the printables are available to members only, this site does includes some excellent FREE information on the history of the Olympics, maps, flags, Greek alphabet, writing activities, graphic organizers, "Invent a New Olympic Sport" challenge, and more. If nothing else, the printables offer some great ideas to implement in your classroom (for example, "Write a Sentence for Each Sports-Related Word"). 10393
In the Classroom: Take advantage of the ideas presented at this site (if you are a member or not). Share certain maps or handouts on your interactive whiteboard. Use this site to teach your students more about the history of the games.
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?
TeachersFirst Edge review: for social networking technology users who love literature, reading, and writing. This online eBook and literary discussion tool allows you to read collaboratively with others using an online eBook reader that is built into the site. The site is open to the public, so teachers should preview with their students' maturity level in mind and guide them carefully into constructive and safe use of its tools. Our editors found no objectionable texts available at the time of review, but these change. Those interested primarily in reading and discussing selections offered by Bookglutton can read the books from any computer, but you will want to set up a membership to keep track of what you are reading at the very least. The books offered include free texts that are in the public domain (no longer under copyright), user-submitted books, and fee-based purchases offered by publishers who sell their books in online form. More savvy users can embed the book-reader tool in another web site or wiki, as well. Readers who are logged in can discuss a text live (chat style) with others they "meet" on Bookglutton or with a specific group. They can also leave comments on pages or passages so others can respond later. Your comments (annotations) can also be kept private for viewing just by you, just like marking up the margins in your paperbacks. Works available include those from Bronte, Dickens, and many traditional classics of the high school curriculum. 10107
In the Classroom: Skills needed: You must join and manage various profile options, including email notifications for activity and various social features. Teachers will want to explore the options for Groups. If you wish to upload and discuss unpublished texts such as student drafts or a literary magazine proof, read detailed directions and formatting requirements for using their E-Pub Converter for uploads (more technically challenging than using books already on the site). If you wish to embed a book in a class wiki or web site, you need to know how to copy/paste the embed code and put it in your wiki. Many of the social options mirror those on Facebook (friends, wall, etc.)
Getting started: Start by browsing the catalog to see which of the books you already study are available here. Watch the "How it Works" video on BookGlutton's home page to see how both "Talk" (left side) and "Mark" (right side) annotation tools function. "Talk" is for real-time interaction, while "Mark" allows comments from others at a later time. Join the site (email required) and set up groups for your students to use: "A group can be a good way to share private book uploads with multiple people, or just to read a favorite [book] from the catalog together." Try opening a book from the catalog and making some notes, then retrieving those notes later. Create a group for your class discussion of the book and invite your students to join that group. If your school does not permit use of student email, consider setting up a Gmail account and subaccounts that you control so make a set of discussion memberships. Use up to 20 subaccounts of that Gmail account to create student accounts and passwords to be used by each student or group of students (by code name or number) within your classes. Here is a blog post that tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service. Start out by working with one of the many classics available because they are past copyright. Consider embedding the book in your wiki or web page so students are not distracted by all the other social options. If you do plan to have students use the site, plan a full tour and explanation of the tools (with caveats about the areas that are off limits). Your projector or interactive whiteboard will be ideal.
Safety/Security concerns: This site is completely public and includes the ability to make "friends" and chat with others outside your school. Many schools prohibit use of such “social networking” features. Check your school policies before allowing students to access the site on their own, then spell out specific permissions and consequences. You will want to obtain written agreements on class policies from both students and parents. Set your class discussion to "private" to avoid drop-ins by uninvited guests! If you or students submit your own texts (according to school policies, of course), take the time to teach safe ways to submit, voting/ranking etiquette, and the potential for cruelty or rude behavior by anonymous viewers. Bookglutton may be blocked by your filtering system because of the social networking options. Another, more teacher-controlled option would be to use a single whole-class account to interact with books and others who are reading the same text. While limited to class consensus on an interactive whiteboard or projector, this might be a way to get started with the tools and possibly find like-minded school groups to "discuss" literature with you.
Possible Uses: Make study of classic (or "old," to your students) literary works more engaging by having students annotate, respond, and share thoughts in a Group. Set the group as private and include just those from your class or use your network to find other high school classes interested in sharing the discussion. Embed the ongoing dialog in your class wiki, or make separate groups for 3-4 students and embed both their annotated editions in your wiki for comparison of their responses. Require student groups to explain new vocabulary encountered in works using the "mark" tools and challenge them to add personal responses to passages, literary devices, characterization, themes, etc. Teach any kind of literary analysis by involving students directly with the text and allowing them to interact with each other in the discussion. Take literary discussion from teacher-centered to reader-centered. Consider uploading your drafts of the school literary magazine or work from a creative writing group for others to read, react, and respond (after establishing guidelines about appropriateness and mutual support). Share selected, well-annotated editions as embeds on your class wiki for other students to use as windows on challenging texts. Learning support or ESL/ELL teachers might find the use of the "mark" tool helpful in creating student-friendly annotated editions of required texts. Why not work together with your students to create these and continuously add to them from year to year?
There’s plenty to see in this educator’s page from the long-running RIF program. There are useful tips and resources for teachers and others interested in fostering reading, writing, and literacy skills in young children and elementary students. There are lesson plans in pdf format, links to activities on RIF's Reading Planet site, downloadable literacy activity calendars (English and Spanish), and much more. Especially useful is the Activity search for lessons and more for different curriculum strands and ages. Though many are geared for younger children (preschool and primary grades), there are some options for upper elementary, as well, including interdisciplinary lessons to include music, etc. 4654
In the Classroom: Explore this site in conjunction with the student options on RIF's Reading Planet (reviewed here) and Leading to Reading (reviewed here). As you plan new literacy centers, be sure to explore the options here. You may also want to share the link to the parent area of the RIF site on your class web page so parents can promote literacy at home. Not sure if the home has Internet access? Send the monthly literacy calendars home via backpack express and offer Reading Reward points for completed activities students bring in to share with the class. Reading Rewards points can be good for a free book or extra time on the classroom computer exploring (what else?) RIF activities! Reading specialists, principals, teachers, and literacy coaches will be interested in sharing some of the articles with other professionals and paraprofessionals.
TeachersFirst Edge Entry: for ANY technology user who can "draw" with computer drawing tools. With no registration or email required, you can use this site to "draw" on and label any map available through Google Maps, including maps of the night sky! Create a colorful and personalized map with added scribbles and labels. Your drawing or "Scribble Map" is then available for you to share by URL, email to a friend or teacher, or print (but think of the trees first). Slightly more savvy users can download, save as a kml file (readable in Google Maps or Google Earth), or even embed the map in another site. The tools include sharing the map on Facebook and Twitter, as well. Slightly more savvy users who know how to find the URL for an image on the web can add images to the maps, as well. Drawing tools include lines, circles, place pointers, text labels, and color/size/transparency controls for all tools. This site is not affiliated with Google Maps, but it does include Google Ads on the right side and all the normal controls of Google maps, including satellite, map, terrain, hybrid views and Night Sky. See a sample Scribble Map created by the TeachersFirst editors (drag the map with your mouse!):
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In the Classroom: Skills needed: Users need to have some basic familiarity with computer drawing tools and Google Maps. If you wish to include images in a map annotation, you need to know how to obtain the image URL from an image you wish to pull in from anywhere on the web. If you wish to embed the finished map in your web site, wiki, or blog, you must know how to copy/paste the embed code using that option from the Menu and paste it into your site.
Getting started: Explore the tools and MENU options at the top left when you start out. Try the different Maps views (lower right) and zoom controls. Search for a starter location using the search at the top left, just below the tools. There is no help available, but it is easy to do basic maps. Share, save, etc. by clicking Menu (top left). When you first save a map, it will ask you to create a password for that map to use to edit it later. Note that if you SAVE a map and share it by URL, those accessing it will be able to use the tools and change the map. If you want them to see it without changing it, you will need to embed it in a blog, wiki, or other web site. Students and teachers will want to keep a written record or map URLS and passwords for future reference. When you click to SAVE a map, the site gives you the direct URL for that map. Highlight it and control (on Mac: Command)+C to COPY it and then paste it into a document or electronic note so you do not "lose" it. Model this for students so they do not lose hours of work! Our editors discovered that the map ID can be changed and customized by simply typing in your own choice of ID when you are saving the map. You can also email the map URL to yourself and others. Students who create maps for an assignment can "turn them in" by emailing the URLs directly from this site to the teacher! All they need to do is type in a quick message identifying whose work it is. Teachers can prepare partially-made maps or maps for students to make corrections and changes by giving the students the URL, then having them SAVE the map with a NEW ID. To SAVE the map with a new name and URL, click "Save map" in the menu, then enter your OWN map ID. Students could use a code including their initials, such as SJ12-3-09 for a map made by Sally Jones on Dec 3, 2009. Teachers should PASSWORD their originals so changes can only be saved under a new name. Similarly, if a student saves the map with a map password, they don't have to worry about other students vandalizing their work. But they DO need to remember the password! Wise teachers will keep a class list of maps and passwords for forgetful students! A note from the TF editors; it took us a few moments to figure out that place pointers can be edited by selecting them (arrow tool), then clicking the small pencil!
Safety/Security Concerns: The site collects no information about users and no email address or membership. It does include advertising on the right side, but it you click the "delist" box when first saving a map, ads seems to disappear from that map except for an ad to use Google Adwords. All maps created are public BUT are only accessible if others KNOW the URL. Since this tool shares no "popular" or "latest" maps created by the general public, it is far safer than many user-tools on the web today. Before having students create their own maps on the web, check school policies and obtain written permission from parents. Be sure students do not include digital pictures or information that could identify them from their maps. Since images must come from other web pages, students will not be able to upload an image to include in their map. Using images by URL avoids the problems of copyright, however. Just be sure to teach your students the best practice of giving a credit to the image source in the text of their placemarker of other map annotation.
Possible Uses: in primary grades, make maps of your local community together on your interactive whiteboard as you teach basic map skills. Create your own "key" with symbols you choose for playgrounds, etc. Have students help map locations of favorite playgrounds, grandparents' houses, stores, etc. as they gain basic understanding of map skills. Make sure you allow students to operate the tools! Save the map and share it as a link from your class web site (or embed it there). Keep names generic so it is "safe." Other ideas: natural resource maps, immigration maps, maps of civil war battles day by day, maps of key sites in the life of a famous person, artist, or author. Maps of the settings in a novel, landform maps of a continent or state, "My life" maps of places important to an elementary student's family, annotated watershed maps of pollution sources, maps of the water cycle, maps of constellations in the night sky created by students to demonstrate understanding, maps of a dream community to be built in a vacant area (desert), including the water sources, etc. that will be needed, maps of a redesigned city/town on top of its current map. Teachers can provide map challenges or templates to be completed or corrected, including maps where students must label distances and cardinal directions between points (using map scale and skills). Or provide a teacher-created map with labels in the wrong places for students to correct the landforms, resources, etc. What will YOU do with Scribble Maps?
Teachers can paste the text of any words or paragraph into the Word Magnet box and the program will scramble the words. You can choose how you want the background to display (there are boxes, Venn diagrams, triangles, columns, and more). You can also choose the color of the background for each word that you “click and drag,” Select the magnet size to emphasize certain words. Students practice word order, diction, and creativity by rearranging the words. For a demonstration of how to use this feature, see this blog post by Nik Peachy. Students can color the text boxes to indicate parts of speech, singular and plural, etc. Students can also add words and delete words if they choose. There is a brief advertisement at the beginning of the site. Click “next” to move on to the actual site. 10344
In the Classroom: This site is useful in any class that uses words and is ideal for interactive whiteboard! Use this site to teach word order with your ESL/ELL students or as part of any writing exercise in any language. Paste words in the box that you'd like students to use to create poems or to improve sentence wording as a revision exercise. Use this site when teaching adjectival word order; which comes first, age, size, color, etc. Primary grade teachers could use the site for students to arrange basic sight words into sentences. All language learners can benefit from examining word order in sentences from other languages; for example, in Spanish, the adjective comes after the noun it modifies. Have students operate this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector as a whole class activity or center. Then have students explore this site independently or in small groups.
In five lessons, students review what they know about plagiarism and copyright and update it to include aspects of copying in the digital age. In addition to the history of copyright (with application to proper documentation and annotation), students learn about concepts such as fair use, free speech, peer-to-peer file sharing, and the public domain. The most in-depth portions are definitions and history of copyright, the concepts of fair use and stakeholders, and finally, contemporary explanations of the interpretation of copyright today including material on the internet. The lessons include Notes for the Educator, Assessment, Extension Ideas, Objectives, and many other possible resources. Each lesson varies slightly in the additions. 10341
In the Classroom: Use when teaching essay writing and how to cite sources. Plan a unit on plagiarism using the resources on this site or incorporate them into your existing research units. Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Then have students do the activities on this site independently or in small groups. The culminating activity here is a trial; plan to use this with the entire class with each member having a distinct role. Why not video record the trial? Share the video using a resource such as Teachers.TV reviewed here.
Looking for different types of calculators? Find them on this interesting site. Choose a button on the calculator corresponding to the subject. Examples of subjects include Medicine, Algebra, Weather, Phonics, Financial, HVAC, Engineering, Weather, and Rocketry to name a few. After the subject is chosen, click on a formula to enter values. Some of the topics offer reference information, not calculations. This is definitely an interesting site to peruse. 10314
In the Classroom: There are many different calculators for students to explore as ways to apply math in real world situations. For example, choose weather and then wind chill. Enter the information and wind chill will be calculated. Enter the information, view the calculated answer, and then have students determine how it is actually calculated. This site is a great find for gifted students to use to further investigate specific topics beyond your “regular” classroom content. Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Then have students work with a partner to explore various “buttons” on this interactive calculator. Have the groups create multimedia presentations to share their findings or demonstrate them on the whiteboard as advertisements or infomercials! Have students create online posters on paper or do it together as a class using a tool such as Project Poster (reviewed here or PicLits (reviewed here.
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Resource Listings 
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.
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. 