TeachersFirst: Week of August 30, 2009

Featured Sites - Week of August 30, 2009

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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 .

Speed, Eggs, and Slam! - Grades 4 - 9 - permalink
This site is an animated demonstration of Newton’s First Law. The activity is called “Speed, Eggs and Slam!” It is packed with science facts in a humorous storyline/game format. It also offers an offline version of the demonstration that includes suggestions for a hands-on experiment. The offline portion of the site instructions also has two links that are related to the demonstration and offer a real world connection to the content. Don’t miss the Teacher Page, packed with information, ideas, and downloadable activities.

Our reviewers found a glitch in the technology using Firefox on a Mac: once you start the interactive version of the experiment, clicking over to the offline version caused Firefox to “crash.” Decide which version you want to use first! There is also a “kids comment” section of the site where students who have done the experiments can write what they thought about the activity. 10181

In the Classroom:
The website would be great as an introduction to the laws of motion. It could be shown on the interactive whiteboard or projector to start an inquiry discussion on motion. The kids comment section would be useful to evaluate other’s ideas and reflect on their own learning. Enter comments as a whole-class activity under teacher supervision or in accordance with school policy. Be sure to check out the Teacher’s Page! There is also a link for parents. Why not list this link on your class website or wiki?

Pennsylvania State Credit Union Tools - Grades 6 - 12 - permalink
This site has a multitude of financial calculators such as car payment calculators, credit and/or debt calculators, and mortgage calculators. There are also planning tools to use for general budgeting, paycheck planning, and even retirement. It is part of the PA state credit union members site; however it is completely free of charge. There are a few links to apply for a loan through the credit union but they are not obtrusive. 10182

In the Classroom:
This would be useful for real world projects such as planning a new business, purchasing a car, planning retirement (what happens if they start to save $50 per month at age 14), or buying a home. Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Then have students choose a real life scenario either alone, with a partner, or in cooperative learning groups. Some examples of real life scenarios could be buying a car and calculating payments, buying your first home, using a credit card and how much you are REALLY spending, planning for retirement, or general savings (for a vacation, perhaps). The site has unlimited potential for interdisciplinary use like land management planning (loaning money) or family consumer budgeting projects. Once the calculations are completed have students share their findings by creating an online poster using a tool such as Project Poster (reviewed here). Share this link on your class web page or wiki as students begin real-world projects and real-life experiences.

For similar resources, click the appropriate keyword: Finances | Financial Calculators | loan | debt |

Map Battle - Grades 3 - 12 - permalink
Want to find or create an interactive geography activity? Use Map Battle to try activities created by others to answer questions from anywhere in the world. Click on "Play Game" to choose from existing games or "Make Game" to create your own. Choose different map types from "Normal," "Satellite," "Sky Visible," and others. Click on "Create your own maps" to begin creation of your own unique map. Click on the map to leave a point. Enter your question in the field to the right (in the "Ask" box.) If you want to change the question, make your changes, and then click "Update question." Click "New" to start a new question. This site does include some advertisements. 10153

In the Classroom:
Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. In geography class, have students try this activity independently or in pairs. Student teams can create games for other teams or the class to answer. As a class or in small groups, create a simple review game for location-connected concepts you are studying, such as landforms or immigration patterns. This site could be useful in the younger grades as they learn basic map skills and geography: cardinal directions, continents, oceans, etc. With secondary students, challenge cooperative learning groups to map out historic battle locations, world geography locations, or other pertinent information to your class. Learning support students could create review games to help them master content – both by the process of making the game and by playing it!

Jog the Web - Grades 2 - 12 - permalink
Teacher's First Edge Review: For advanced technology users. Have a series of web pages you want to share with someone? Use Jog the Web to share links and a specific jogging pathway (“track”) through them. Look at some of these great examples: Google Earth in education and Find a Fallacy.

Search or browse existing “tracks.” Once clicked, a sidebar appears on the left that provides information about the track. The number of pages in the “jog” appears, as well as forward and back arrows. View the names and descriptions of the pages and any instructions that the author added. Click on any of these names to follow the link directly to the page. Register to create your own track. See TeachersFirst’s safety and use tips for using this site below under “In the Classroom.” Some content on this site may be inappropriate for the classroom. Always preview. 10210

In the Classroom:
Skills needed: Registration is free and requires a password and email address. Once validated by email, click "Create a New Track" and enter a title and description. Find all of your tracks on your page. Click on each to edit descriptions or add steps (these are the web address url's of the pages you are adding.) Easily delete your tracks by clicking on the trash can icon next to each track.

Safety/Security: If students are to create tracks, each student will need to create an account (with an email address) and then email verification. Check your school policies about accessing/sharing student email on school computers. 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.

Consider creating a single class account using your “extra” email address, so you can monitor and submit student work safely. Student-created tracks can be identified through title or adding initials at the end of the title. The home page of this site includes changing “featured” content contributed by the general public. Be sure to preview the content ahead of time. You may want to send students to your track via a direct link.

Classroom use: Create your own tracks as webquests for students to follow for class assignments. Students can be assigned different subtopics of a subject such as biomes, find related pages, and create a track working through these pages. Students could also create tracks to annotate their sources for a research project, critiquing each source in the sidebar. Teach about evaluating web sites and reliability of sources by having students in small groups create tracks comparing different sources on the same topic. Create tracks as homework help solutions for parents and students. Use a blog, wiki, or website to share these tracks for students to visit for obtaining information. Want to learn more about Wikis? Check out the Teacher’s First Wiki Walk-Through reviewed here.

For similar resources, click the appropriate keyword: webquest | collection | information literacy | websites |

Teaching with Historic Places - Grades 4 - 12 - permalink
Do you have trouble finding suitable sites to teach state history for YOUR state? This site includes more than 130 "ready to go" lesson plans organized by state. You can also view the collection by states, social studies standards, U.S. History standards, specific skills, time period, or topic. This resource was pulled together by the National Park service. The specific topics vary from America’s Space Program to Skagway: Gateway to the Klondike to Brown v. Board of Education to The Trail of Tears to Pearl Harbor to Lewis and Clark to the construction of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and countless others. Check out what it highlights for your state.

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In the Classroom:
Search for your state and see what this site has to offer. Looking for a specific topic (i.e. Civil War or Pearl Harbor), search using topics. Take advantage of these ready to go lesson plans. Infuse your lessons with technology by creating a class wiki about the lesson/topic being discussed. Maybe make a wiki guidebook to your state. Not comfortable with wikis? Have no wiki worries – check out the Teacher’s First Wiki Walk-Through reviewed here. Save this site in your favorites, and check back as you plan throughout the year.

Baseball Multiplication - Grades 2 - 4 - permalink
Roll the dice, multiply the two numbers that appear on each dice, type in your answer on the interactive calculator. Explicit audio directions are provided at the beginning of this activity, but you can click to skip the instructions. Be aware: this activity is free; however most of the site is for a fee. 10167

In the Classroom:
Share the instructions and activity on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students work with partners to try the baseball "game." Don't forget the headsets!! You may want to list this site on your class webpage or wiki, so students can practice baseball multiplication at home!

For similar resources, click the appropriate keyword: multiplication | baseball |

Pixenate - Grades 2 - 12 - permalink
Use Pixenate for quick online photo editing. This free resource requires no registration as there is no image storage, only editing for saving elsewhere. Upload pictures from your computer or enter the web address from somewhere on the Internet. Pixenate cautions users to follow copyright when editing web pictures. Once uploaded, use simple tools to edit the picture such as: undo, select, zoom, crop, resize, flip, rotate, color balance and tools, smooth, brighten, straighten horizon, remove red eye, brighten teeth, or draw lines and shapes. Choose more entertaining effects such as lomo effects, lens filters, adding clip art, creating heart shaped photos, and other effects. Edited pictures can be uploaded to flickr or saved to disk.

Be aware: students should be cautioned that the site sells services to make the photo into a gift (obviously, for a fee!). Other ads may appear on the page, as well. 10132

In the Classroom:
Many times, pictures taken in the classroom need to be edited in some way, and this online photo editor provides many of the options needed plus a few fun effects. Since no registration is required, students can upload a picture, create effects, and save again on their computer. Advise students to use pictures that they have permission to alter. Using their own photos is one way to ensure this. Be sure to check your school’s acceptable use policy. Students should be aware of how to upload and then find their creation. Use this service any time pictures are used for classroom projects, lessons, or activities.

For similar resources, click the appropriate keyword: photo editing | pictures | photos |

Free Music Archive - Grades 5 - 12 - permalink
This site provides a clearing house for legal, copyright-safe, free music available for download and podcast use. Students looking for pod-safe audio, music remixes, and background music will be relieved to find this marvelous library of recordings. Students or teachers do not need to join to listen and/or download the MP3 files, but they can join if they'd like to submit their own legal files. We recommend that teachers be the only ones to upload music (with parent permission if you are sharing music performed or written by students). Students who have serious musical ambitions and repertoire may want to join at home.

NOTE: Music on this site is submitted by the general musical public and may include lyrics inappropriate for school. The "Hip Hop" genre includes some inappropriate offerings, so teachers will want to decide the best way to handle use of this site by students. Each genre has its own URL, so it is possible to make only certain areas available. The "classical," "jazz" and other instrumental areas are safer. Depending on the maturity and trustworthiness of students, teachers may want to directly supervise use of this site.

Listeners can find their favorite music by browsing through the many genre categories or trying some of the daily featured artists.Besides music files, there are artist and album profiles, and listeners can star favorites. 10208

In the Classroom:
Students can use files from this site when preparing multimedia class presentations that require music or background sounds. Use this site when preparing lessons on plagiarism, copyright, and the open source software concept. If your students are mature enough, share the link to this site via your class web page (with a disclaimer about possibly inappropriate lyrics). Music teachers with talented composer/performer students may want to share the site as a potential place for students to share their work (with parent permission).

For similar resources, click the appropriate keyword: free music downloads | open source materials | audio files | popular performers |

The Differentiator - Grades 0 - 12 - permalink
Struggling to create the best objectives for your lessons? Use this free tool created by an educator to create great objectives for differentiated instruction. Based upon the new (1990s) Bloom's Taxonomy, click on the action verb; enter your content, resources to be used, final product, and group size. You will see your objective created across the top of your screen. Be aware this site does include some “click me” advertisements for contests and more. And the review team did notice one typo. However, we still felt this site would be helpful to many teachers out there “in the trenches.” 10219

In the Classroom:
For example, use a verb from Bloom' taxonomy such as "evaluate." Click on the portion of the sentence at the top to enter your content such as "patterns of environmental issues." Choose the resource to be used, final product to be made, and number of students in group from the appropriate tabs. Example objective: Students will evaluate the patterns of environmental issues using websites to create a news report in groups of two. Save your objective by copying and pasting into any document or online tool. This site will give you many project ideas that you may not have thought of yourself. Although this site is deceivingly quick and simple, it could be very useful when writing detailed, powerful lesson plans.

Word Ahead Vocabulary Videos - Grades 9 - 12 - permalink
This great site offers more difficult vocabulary words with a short video so that students can more easily remember their definitions and usages. The focus for this site is students preparing to take the ACT and SAT tests, students who want to improve their verbal scores. It would also be useful for students preparing to take the TOEFL test. Students can view the featured words and their accompanying videos, check the Study Room for more word videos, and even submit their own ideas for vocabulary videos. Another option is to sign up for a word video of the day in one's email box. This obviously requires registration and an email address. If you choose to allow your students to register, 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.

You can also prepare a list of flash cards for repeated practice. A complete word lists is available for students to scroll through. Students can share videos, make comments on those already present, and flag inappropriate ones. 10207

In the Classroom:
Share this site with school counselors who can offer it to students preparing for the college entrance exams tests and international students required to take the TOEFL test for college admission. Share this link on your school (and class) website. Save this site in your favorites on your classroom computers for use in vocabulary development. Have students make "vocabulary videos" in groups: challenge cooperative learning groups to create videos share the videos on a site such as TeacherTube reviewed here before submitting to "Word Ahead." World language teachers might also want to have students create similar vocabulary development videos in their new language!

For similar resources, click the appropriate keyword: vocabulary development | word lists | flash cards | videos |

The House Fairy - Grades 0 - 3 - permalink
This site, created especially for young elementary students, offers an audio (with pictures) presentation all about the flu (and Swine Flu). Come along with 6-year old Libby to learn what the flu is, how to avoid getting the flu, what to do if you have symptoms of the flu, and more. Vocabulary words are discussed (for example, "symptoms"). Click on the other pictures to explore other facets of this site. 10193

In the Classroom:
Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Brainstorm ways students can keep themselves healthy. Encourage your class or school to maintain healthy habits, dispel incorrect information, and avoid spread of flu by sharing this site.

For similar resources, click the appropriate keyword: H1N1 | Swine Flu | germs |

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