TeachersFirst: Week of September 27, 2009

Featured Sites - Week of September 27, 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 .

Henry Hudson 400 - Grades 5 - 12 - permalink
By viewing superimposed old maps from Henry Hudson's time on modern day Google, students and teachers have a unique opportunity to see the courses of his voyages while he was searching for a short route to Asia. Besides maps, you will find photos, models of Hudson's ship, and read about other relevant historical data. An additional feature, Water Challenges, allows students to click on one of several sites and read about past and current water concerns. 10291

In the Classroom:
Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Use these maps to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's voyage. Share this link on your class web page and/or in a parent newsletter for those who are interested in American history, sailing, boat making, and exploring. Have students hand draw their own maps to show what other explorers have done. Or use another online mapmaking tool such as Mapskip (reviewed here) to create a map (with audio stories and pictures included)!

For similar resources, click the appropriate keyword: Henry Hudson | Hudson voyages | sailing history | maps |

Must Pop words - Grades 2 - 12 - permalink
How quickly can you create words from letters? Challenge yourself with this simple and addictive activity. Note that when started, an advertisement plays. Click “skip this ad”! No login is required to play. Click on Play to begin. An information screen provides simple directions. As the "letter" balls fall, determine words that can be made from them. Receive points and watch the balls pop when words are created. Be aware: students are able to type inappropriate words as part of the game. Discussions of what is appropriate should occur prior to playing. Monitor student use during play. 10232

In the Classroom:
Challenge students to create as many words as possible. Alter games by creating rules (such as 5 letters or more per word) to make the game more interesting. Be sure to demonstrate this on your interactive whiteboard or projector. This is also a great way for students to practice keyboarding skills, vocabulary, and spelling skills together!

For similar resources, click the appropriate keyword: letters | words | spelling |

Kids Open Dictionary Builder - Grades 2 - 12 - permalink
Kids Open Dictionary allows your students to ‘use’ this free dictionary, and it encourages your students to ‘write’ definitions as well. This wiki site invites you to edit and create the dictionary. You may also use the Glossary tool to customize your terms for specific purposes. Choose multi-presentation modes for presenting your glossary. It’s for kids, so it’s safe. Their editors approve all postings before they go online. The sign up is quick. Check your school’s acceptable use policy on student usage of internet sites that require a login. Registration does require an email. Rather than using your personal 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. 9965

In the Classroom:
Imagine the sense of accomplishment your class will feel if you allow them to submit definitions to this site. They become the Merriam Websters in your own classroom. Definitions don’t need to be perfect as the online community will continually edit them. One drawback at the present time is that not all words have definitions. This site is still “under construction” and being built upon daily. Classes can get in on the ground floor in providing definitions for these incomplete areas. Assign cooperative learning groups to explore various vocabulary words in social studies, science, math, music, or art class. Have the groups add their new vocabulary words into the “Kids Open Dictionary.” You may find the usefulness of this site in the generating of definitions for now. (This will be a moot point as the dictionary becomes filled.) As you study dictionary skills, work as a class on your interactive whiteboard to write definitions together and discuss the format of dictionary entries.

For similar resources, click the appropriate keyword: glossary | online dictionary | wiki |

Dinosaur Train - Grades 0 - 4 - permalink
All Aboard.... the Dinosaur Train! This website takes two topics that kids love (dinosaurs and trains) and turns the experience into a wonderful lesson in language arts, science, social studies, and more. Climb aboard the train and find lesson plans, games (which ARE educational), a field guide (introducing the various dinosaurs), a print option for printable pages of dinosaurs, and a video button to view clips of this educational show. There is also a link for parents and teachers (with lesson plans, class activities, overview of the show, and more).

NOTE: the popularity of this site can make it slow to load, especially at peak times. Open it on the classroom computer before the lesson so it is in the “cache,” and avoid heavy traffic times such as 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern time when schools are online across the U.S. 5053

In the Classroom:
If you are teaching about dinosaurs, herbivores, carnivores, measurements, and many other topics, share this site on your interactive whiteboard. Share parts of the video clips and then discuss the science concepts discussed. Have students use the "Field Guides" to learn more about specific dinosaurs. Have cooperative learning groups create multimedia presentations about the dinosaurs they study. How about creating a class DinoWiki (dinosaur wiki). Not comfortable with wikis? Have no wiki worries – check out the Teacher’s First Wiki Walk-Through reviewed here. Be sure to list this site on your class website for all of your dinosaur loving students to view at home!

NOTE: Open this site on the classroom computer before the lesson so it is in the “cache,” and avoid heavy traffic times such as 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern time when schools are online across the U.S.

Darwins Footsteps - Grades 2 - 6 - permalink
Follow Charles Darwin's voyage with animated friends while you discover information and solve problems along the way. Click Start Game and then Play to begin. Choose a character to come along, and start to learn about Darwin, his journeys, and his discoveries. Read about the details of the game by downloading the teachers' notes.

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In the Classroom:
Use this resource to uncover and discuss environmental concepts as well as adaptations in living things. Students can identify characteristics of living things, how organisms adapt, and how to identify and solve problems. Share this on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Then have students explore this site with a partner or individually. Since the explanations are in text form, be sure to partner weaker readers with a stronger reader.

For similar resources, click the appropriate keyword: Darwin | adaptation | living things |

Dole Superkids - Grades 0 - 6 - permalink
Join Bam-Nana, Brocco Broccoli and many other super characters on their mission to promote healthy eating habits throughout school and households. Dole has provided an all-encompassing website that teaches nutrition in a cross-curriculum manner using nifty super-hero characters . Through lesson plans, videos, music, activities, and more, integrating health-conscious eating habits into the curriculum is a snap. The website is filled with facts and information to make preparing and teaching these topics much easier. Take the time to thoroughly review the Teachers tab to begin planning the unit and to tie the unit to cross-curricular subjects. 10259

In the Classroom:
Use the activities, videos, songs, and puzzles to reinforce the lessons during center time. Have students create their own superkids character using their favorite fruit or vegetable. Students can compile their own fact sheets using the information provided on the website. Have students report to the class all of the pertinent information they located about their assigned fruit or vegetable and the overall affects it has on their diet and within their body. Conduct a taste-testing for students to try new fruits and vegetables on the list. Check out Mia Mango's Recipe Maker by allowing students to create and name their own recipes and proceed to make them in class or at home. Be sure to catch some of the activities on video (if district policy allows) and share the video using a site such as Teachers.TV reviewed here. Consider having students video their own cooking show or short commercial.

Send a list of the superkids characters home and have families choose 5 new fruits or vegetables from the list to try together. Encourage families to post their comments about the new fruits and vegetables to the class blog.

World of Molecules - Grades 7 - 12 - permalink
View a variety of molecules in the following categories: Food, Fuel, Pesticides, Solvents, etc. Key resources found on this free site include a periodic table, scientific calculator, dictionary, and molecular modeling. Use "Explain It with Molecules" to use interactive 3-D molecules for greater understanding of interactions. Find elements by using the "Directory of Elements" search function select a molecule by searching "3-D Structures." View molecular structures and read background information about the molecules. 10288

In the Classroom:
Choose Fuels to identify similarities and differences between the various types of hydrocarbons. Such lists can bring to life the molecular formulas of the compounds and the resulting chemical and physical properties. Discuss the energy required to break down these molecules through the process of combustion. View the food molecules to identify why the calorie amount for each is different. Create a discussion of how different biomolecules are used in the body. Have cooperative learning groups research a compound or property and create an online poster using a tool such as Project Poster (reviewed here or PicLits (reviewed here.

For similar resources, click the appropriate keyword: molecules | food | fuel | drugs |

Dummies.com - Grades 6 - 12 - permalink
Everyone knows the "for Dummies" books, but did you know there is an entire web site? This site, created by the same publisher, has text-based and video "How To" information on thousands of topics, organized into general categories. It is also searchable. The education/languages area has both obvious and more obscure topics than you might expect, from To Write a Sonnet to How to Build a Bill (in the U.S. Congress). These text- based articles are great for those who follow verbal information well and often include simple diagrams. The more consumer-oriented areas of the site include videos from setting up your wireless network to carving a turkey. Click on "all videos" under the Featured video to see the video categories. 10250

In the Classroom:
Be sure to tell your students that they are NOT the "dummies" referred to in this site! Then go beyond the obvious use of this site as a reference to use it to teach informational writing, reading comprehension, or any curriculum content. Share text-based articles on a projector or interactive whiteboard and have students analyze the keywords and structure of sequential direction-writing or informational writing before they try it on their own. Use the pens and highlighters to note transitions and other ways of organizing directions, including formatting. Use articles to teach basic comprehension skills by copy/pasting sections and having students drag them into the correct sequence on the whiteboard to form logical directions. In science or social studies classes, have students view models on this site, then work in groups to write their own how-to wiki on curriculum topics such as "How to tell a fungus from a bacterium," "How to solve simultaneous equations," or "How to form a government." If you have access to video equipment, have students write scripts and produce video versions of their how-to instructions and post them on a site such as TeacherTube reviewed here.

For similar resources, click the appropriate keyword: informational writing | sequencing | comprehension |

Bloom's Revised Cognitive Domain - Grades 0 - 12 - permalink
Confused about Bloom's Taxonomy and Cognitive Domains? Unsure about developing questions for critical thinking? Click on the links at the bottom of the page (remembering, understanding, analyzing, applying, evaluating, and creating) to create learning objectives as well as challenges and lessons. On each page, view student and teacher roles, student skills, key words for objectives, and sample questions or assignments. Use the tabs along the top to work within the original domains and categories. 10221

In the Classroom:
Find great question starters and projects for increasing critical thinking and creating higher order projects and activities. Use these question starters for writing assignments or larger projects in any content area to move beyond just knowledge. As you design project-based learning, be sure to visit this site to be sure you are putting the HOTS into student tasks!

The President's Challenge - Grades 0 - 12 - permalink
Dating back to the 1950's, The President's Challenge is a motivating program that promotes physical activity to all Americans. Students take a pledge to do 30 minutes of activity, five times per week for six weeks. The website provides a log for students to record their activity and length of time. Once they have completed their six week challenge, they can submit their logs and earn rewards such as bronze, silver and gold medals and The President's Challenge badges. The site also provides a list of activities to choose from and information on the importance of physical fitness. Although the site mentions “Log-In,” at the time of this review all features of the site were available without having to log-in. 10265

In the Classroom:
Challenge your individual classroom, school, or entire district to try The President's Challenge. Have younger students partner with older students to create a team affect. Classroom competitions such as jump rope contests, push-ups contests or silly relays can be loads of fun. Maintain statistics and results on the classroom homepage or district wide homepage. Students can record and maintain data on spreadsheets and present their findings with bar graphs and pictographs. Create a “Get Fit Wik” – a wiki for students to write about their weekly activities. Not familiar with wikis? Check out the Teacher’s First Wiki Walk-Through reviewed here.Provide this link on your class website for families to explore together.

For similar resources, click the appropriate keyword: exercise | physical fitness |

The Digital Narrative - Grades 6 - 12 - permalink
This site's subtitle, "Finding your story with new media," only hints at what you will find. Explore the possibilities of using newer digital tools, ways to write stories, get inspired, exchange ideas, publish, and more. This site has extensive resources for teachers (see "Teaching Method"), including both traditional writing exercises and tool recommendations to "find your story" in a new medium such as online comic creators, podcasts, and slide shows. The "Media Library" also includes many tool options. (Many of the tools mentioned are also reviewed by our TeachersFirst Edge, including tips on how to use them within school policies.) In "New Stories" you will find examples of stories told using digital media. Note: New Stories may include subject matter not appropriate for your class, depending on age and maturity level, so preview. One intriguing "new media" literary form is the email story, a narrative told entirely by a series of emails, reminiscent of 18th century epistolary novels! 10248

In the Classroom:
Explore the various types of New Stories and choose one to try with your students. Select a tool from the Teaching Method options (and read the related TeachersFirst Edge review). Then let the stories begin! The use of digital tools will go beyond engaging your students to challenging their higher level thinking while they actually enjoy the task. Stories need not be limited to purely creative fiction. Ask students to collaborate and tell a tale based on historical facts about a major event or retell a piece of literature from the point of view of one of the characters. In world language classes, use the tools to tell stories in a new tongue (provided the tools can handle the accents, etc.).In science class, let a molecule or bacterium tells its own story. As you introduce the tools, use your interactive whiteboard or projector and allow a student tool "expert" to demonstrate any particularly quirky how-to's.

Provide this link on your class web page for students to access outside of class and for tools to choose as alternatives for required projects. Your gifted students will stretch to meet the new challenges, and learning support students may be more successful in more visual media. Allow students to self-differentiate by choosing, "finding their own story."

Teachers interested in project ideas to get started with project based learning will find the examples on this site helpful for envisioning project possibilities.

For similar resources, click the appropriate keyword: digital tools | digital story telling | |

Public Domain Clip Art Blog - Grades 0 - 12 - permalink
Use this searchable blog to locate images within the public domain for you to use on web sites, in multimedia projects, and more. The site provides complete source information on each image, as well as its rationale for treating the image as "public domain." Public Domain images are not subject to copyright restrictions, so you may use them in places that do not qualify for "Fair Use," such as on open web sites, blogs, etc. Though we are not legal experts and this review should in no way be deemed to be legal advice, our editors found that the evidence of public domain seems credible on this site. The site does include extensive advertising and links to non-education topics and blogs, the collection is very useful for teachers of any level or subject. Note: Because of extensive advertising and links, teachers should spell out specific consequences for following these non-educational links and may want to limit use of this site by students to times when you can monitor directly. 10267

In the Classroom:
Find images to illustrate curriculum topics, such as historical photos and cultural images. Include them in activities on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Art teachers can use images freely to illustrate design concepts. Create montages of images from eras in history, a culture, or scientific concepts to give visual learners a way to remember new content. "Harvest" images for students to use in their own projects, saving them on a local drive or computer (copying these images is OK!). Have students select an image as an inspiration for a writing assignment or blog post. Upload images to Voicethread reviewed here and have students critique or explain it orally in a world language, science, or social studies class. Have student groups use these copyright-safe images (with credit, of course) in their online Bookemon books reviewed here or Scrapblogs reviewed here about a curriculum concept.

For similar resources, click the appropriate keyword: clip art | photographs | images |

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