10209

Two foods - Grades 0 - 12 - permalink
Confused about the nutrition in various foods? Compare two foods easily by entering the names and clicking Compare. Several choices for your entries appear for better comparison. View the calories, fat, protein, and carbohydrates. Advise students to be very specific in their search terms for better results. In order to save information, either document manually or using a print screen function (command-shift-4 in Mac or Alt-print screen in PC.) 10256

Culture Crossing - Grades 3 - 12 - permalink
Are you looking for a high quality research site about countries throughout the world? This site offers a wealth of information about hundreds of countries. The general categories include basic information, business information, and student information. Each country also has specifics: Greetings, Dress, Taboos, Law & Order, Videos, Gender Issues, Government, Major Religions, and many more. Not only can students or teachers access detailed information they might be interested in, they can also add information to the site with a simple registration. You can ask questions about any country or custom, look for general answers on a blog, add to the blog, see what others say in the forum feature, and get links for finding further information. Weekly updates create continuing interest in this site.

Registration does require an email address. 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. 10204

The Big Picture - Grades 6 - 12 - permalink
This website offers large, poignant, and significant pictures from different current events and history. The pictures are stunning and definitely help tell the story which further enhances student understanding. The site can be searched by category or by archived dates. Although this site doesn’t appear to be updated on a regular basis, it is updated at least once every few months. Note: the images are large so may take a while to load! It is worth the wait.

You are able to post comments. You may want to preview the comments before allowing students to view. Posting comments requires an email address. Check your school’s acceptable use policy regarding student email use. 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. 10187

Explore Mars Now - Grades 3 - 12 - permalink
What would it be like to visit Mars? Find out with this interactive website that simulates a rover and base camp. Learn about the hostile environment of Mars through the exploration of the simulations. Looking for Mars facts? Click on the button to learn important information. Scrolling your mouse around the interactive screen offers countless pop-ups with more information. Some specific topics include “Mars Base Layout,” “Stairs to Upper Level,” “Personal Hygiene,” and several others. 10226

Skype - Grades 0 - 12 - permalink
TeachersFirst Edge entry: for slightly adventurous technology users (may require permission or special arrangements from your tech department!). Every teen and college student knows Skype, the free tool for making calls from computer to computer anywhere in the word. By downloading and installing free software and setting up a free account, you can talk and/or make a video call to a similarly equipped computer elsewhere in the world for free. Skype uses a lot of "bandwidth" so is not suitable for very slow networks or dial up connections. It may also be slow at high-traffic times on a good network. Some patience and pretesting is required before you can be sure it will work for your needs. Connect to classrooms, experts, authors, virtual special speakers, or interview subjects using Skype. 10252

In the Classroom: Skills Needed: Download and install the Skype software. If you are not allowed to install software on school computers, ask to have a single laptop available that is Skype-capable so you can borrow it or else explain to your principal that you are planning a series of Skype visits in your classroom so your techies will install it in your classroom. You will need a computer with built-in or separate microphone and speakers and optional webcam. If you plan to use a webcam, you must know how to start it. You will need to set up a free Skype account (requires email) and password. Keep a record of what you use for email and password! A single teacher-controlled Skype account will work in most school settings. Getting started: If you prefer written directions go to Help >> Step by Step Help to get started. Or ask a student to show you (without seeing your password). You will need to explore the tools in Skype to locate where to enter the SKYPE name of the person you wish to call, start the call, and answer calls. Do NOT set your copy of Skype to "remember me" on a school computer! If students are to participate in the Skype call, you may want to have a "hot seat" at the Skyping computer so they can sit at a mike so their questions will pick up better for the person at the other end. Safety and Security Tips: Be sure to set Skype so it does not open every time you start up the computer. Manually start the program when needed and do not leave an obvious Skype icon on the desktop for "clever" students to find. Protect your password -- do not post it on the computer. A teacher-controlled account is best for Skype classroom use to prevent unauthorized calls by students. Your user name will show on the screen for students to see, so be aware of that when you create your account. Possible Uses: Anything you can do by telephone or video call you can do on a projector with your entire class. Connect the Skyping computer to a projector or whiteboard for the entire class to see if you are using video. (The video will be fuzzy, but good enough to follow a person's face.) Use Skype to talk to authors (check out their web sites or this blog for contact information). Have students write questions in advance. Use your contacts, web page "contact us" emails, and parent contacts to find others willing to Skype into your classroom. Interview scientists or government officials, deployed military personnel, or classes far away in a different culture or language. Younger students can compare weather, family life, community events, and more. Learn other ideas for using Skype in your classroom For similar resources, click the appropriate keyword: video | webcam | calling | communication | virtual visits | Skype An Author - Grades 0 - 12 - permalink Don’t despair over lack of funding for an author’s visit! Through this Skype network of authors, you can bring an author into your classroom. Peruse the list of authors then click on their name. The site provides contact information, photos, book covers, and more pops up. Contact the author to negotiate a time to "meet." If it is more than a 10-15 minute visit, you will need to negotiate payment per hourly rate. It is best to familiarize your students with a particular author’s work before the virtual visit. Also, if you have an electronic white board, the author’s visit projects onto the big screen, which makes the visit more meaningful. Sorry, the visit can’t be recorded. You will need Skype set up on your computer and projection before the visit. Make sure you are familiar with Skype before contracting an author’s visit. You don’t want to waste their valuable time while you’re learning to use the technology. Need to learn more about Skype? Read TeachersFirst's review here. 10262 In the Classroom: During your school’s Reading Month, broadcast an author into your classroom for a live reading of their book(s). Invite parents to the virtual visit and follow up by parents assisting in writing thank you letters to the author or crafts relating to the book. Or create a class book highlighting the authors visit. Make an online book using a site such as Bookemon, reviewed here and be sure to share the link with the author, too! Make sure you have your class’ questions ready before the author’s visit. Share the “visit” on your interactive whiteboard or projector, so everyone can see! While saving money by visiting authors by this method, turn this into an ecological/economy lesson: How much gas, resources, time, etc, did you and the author save by having the author visit your classroom virtually? Hype the Skype visit! Have a countdown taking place for days prior to the visit. For similar resources, click the appropriate keyword: Author visit | author study | virtual visits | Skype | Reading Month activity | Kate's Book Blog: Authors Who Skype with Book Clubs - Grades 0 - 12 - permalink Find authors willing to pay a "virtual visit" to your classroom or school library from this list of author names collected by author Kate Messner. She explains that these authors "offer free 20-minute Skype chats with book clubs that have read one of their books!" Longer visits are usually for a fee. The author list is sorted by age group, and each name links to the author's web site for more information. If you are not familiar with Skype, all you need is a computer with the free, downloadable Skype software, speakers, and a microphone. If you have a webcam, you may be able to make your visit a two-way video chat. See tech tips below. 10251 In the Classroom: Plan a series of author visits or one special virtual visit to motivate your club or class to read! Have students prepare questions in advance and maybe even dress as a favorite character if you plan to use video. Make the best of your short visit by refining questions in advance and having everything ready to run with no wasted time. Have students step up to the microphone quietly and smoothly to ask their questions. Since authors book up easily and may not respond quickly to email, you should plan well in advance to arrange such a visit. Some technical tips: Share the Skype screen on a projector or whiteboard so more students can see it. Be sure to turn up your speakers and connect a microphone (even a cheap one) to the computer handling the Skype call. Pretest your visit by having a virtual visit from a friend outside of the school, loading Skype and using the same equipment you plan to use for the real visit. You may need to request that the school unblock Skype for your use during a specific time frame, since many schools do not allow such a "pull" on the network without special permission. Once you have a successful test, make a diagram of what you did so you will remember and can share with other teachers. Once you master the set-up, you can do it over and over! Need to learn more about Skype? Read TeachersFirst's review here. Learn other ideas for using Skype in your classroom For similar resources, click the appropriate keyword: library | book club | literature | Want to see what else we've been up to? Check out our recent additions. TeachersFirst.com • The web resource by teachers, for teachers. 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