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 .
Scripps National Spelling Bee - Grades 4 - 8 - permalink
This official site for the Scripps National Spelling Bee answers all of your questions about how you and your school can promote good spelling and vocabulary knowledge. Check out all of the links to learn how to study for the Bee, guidelines, and application deadlines. December is the annual deadline for your school’s enrollment in the National Bee. This site will have the exact deadline each year. Click on Study Zone to download the Consolidated Word List (a gigantic compilation of 794 pages of words that have been used from 1950 to the present). Students can test their spelling know-how by clicking on the Test Your Spell It Knowledge link on the homepage. Your serious competitive spellers will also benefit by exploring Merriam-Webster's Spell It (reviewed here by TeachersFirst). This site requires Adobe Acrobat and Flash. You can get both from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.9811
In the Classroom: If you have students who are competitive spellers, encourage participation by introducing this site to them and their families. Once your school signs up with Scripps (sign up at this website), host an information event one evening to promote the Bee. Moving through the competition will involve family support, so make sure they are well aware of the steps along the way. Official rules must be adhered to, so make sure you and your school become very familiar with the guidelines.
Word Magnets - Grades 1 - 12 - permalink
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.
Think Green - Grades 0 - 12 - permalink
Looking for great information on living green and saving the environment? Find great resources here on "Transforming Waste" and "Case Studies." Read posts from professionals in "Points of View." View videos in the "Resources" section. Look under "Classroom Tools" to view student resources by grade and teacher resources by grade, topic, and resources. Caution: the beginning of the site sometimes asks you to participate in a survey. You can hit the “no thanks” button to pass this section. 10133
In the Classroom: Use this site for lesson plans, videos, and other resources for teaching environmental issues to students of all ages. Share videos with younger students on a projector or as a center. Stay up to date with points of views from professionals. Have students review resources and determine points of views of other articles and resources on the web. Students can create individual, group, or class projects to increase awareness of environmental issues. Why not have students create age-appropriate multi-media presentations demonstrating what they learned? Have students create posters on paper or do it together as a class using an online tool such as Project Poster (reviewed here or PicLits (reviewed here. Have cooperative learning groups create online books using a tool such as Bookemon, reviewed here. Have students create commercials and share them using a tool such as SchoolTube
Ancient Civilizations - Grades 4 - 12 - permalink
Browse the themes of the interactive history map by the British Museum to learn about ancient civilizations. Choose "Cities," "Religions," "Technology," "Trade," "Writing," or "Buildings." Click on the map to see places for more information. Click on the clock along the bottom to open a timeline. Open a list of ancient civilizations by clicking on the globe. Access the main menu of themes by clicking on the museum picture. Additional links are found by clicking on "Other related sites." Teachers can find other resources and information by clicking on "Staff Room." 10160
In the Classroom: Divide students into groups to peruse a given theme or an ancient civilization. Student groups can ask additional questions to begin a search for even more information and present their findings to the class. Discuss parallels among ancient civilizations through the discussion of these themes as well as comparisons and contrasts with present society. Create a visual display of life in these societies or share food and traditions that might have existed. Try some multimedia projects like a Venn Diagram comparing a certain theme of ancient civilization to present society using an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram (reviewed here). Have cooperative learning groups create podcasts demonstrating their understanding of one of the themes. Use a site such as PodOmatic (reviewed here).
For similar resources, click the appropriate keyword:
china |
Egypt |
Mesopotamia |
minoan |
anglo-saxon |
Aztec |
Phoenician |
inca |
roman |
mayan |
byzantium |
Ancient civilizations |
The Sun In Motion - Grades 2 - 12 - permalink Take your students on a trip to the SUN! Look at the Sun closeup from the safety of your computer screen. Observe phenomena such as solar flares and specula's. Watch IMAX movie clips of various aspects of the sun and the chemistry behind the giant fireball. Some of the video clips are from YouTube, so you may have trouble accessing them from school. 10347
In the Classroom: This site is definitely one for your interactive whiteboard or projector. Use this in a unit on stars or astronomy. Use in the classroom when discussing various events related to seasons or astronomical events. Use a whiteboard and/or classroom projector to really generate size and awe about the Sun. Students can research characteristics of stars and the differences between the various types. Create multimedia or conventional displays that show size and characteristic comparison among them.
The Life and Voyages of Henry Hudson - Grades 7 - 12 - permalink
This site details the life and many attempted voyages of the English explorer Henry Hudson. Although the site is very “wordy,” it is very inclusive and excellent for research. It includes a lot of facts, maps, information about each voyage, information about nautical measurements, and details about his ships and crews. The information and maps available here are based on the author combing historical books and documents and information. An extensive bibliography and list of weblinks relating to Hudson adds interest to the maps and history on the site. 10324
In the Classroom: Have the students make a cumulative map of all Hudson’s voyages together in order for them to get a chance to become intimately familiar with the map making process. Try a site such as Woices (beta) (reviewed here). Woices allows students to create audio recordings AND choose a location on a map where each story takes place. Have each cooperative learning group focus on a different exploration. Compare their creations with the online map which has all four voyages combined. Assign students in a group each a few pages of an imagined journal Henry might have written on each voyage. The most interesting part will be to imagine what happened to him after people no longer heard from him! Use this site as the starting point for individual research papers. Encourage students to find other resources that contribute to their knowledge of Henry Hudson. Have students write a talk Hudson might give if he suddenly woke up today (like Rip Van Winkle). Or make it more Web 2.0 and have students write blog entries. The text passages on this site are also ideal for reading comprehension practice. Project them on an interactive whiteboard for practice in main idea, summarizing, and more.
Power Up! - Grades 5 - 8 - permalink
This site is an interactive simulation where participants need to power up the city and stay within the city's budget in the process. The activity appears simple, but requires thinking and calculation to successfully fuel the city. Learn about solar, oil, and natural gas power, see how it impacts the environment and the funds required. 10304
In the Classroom: The site would be great for an environmental science unit or a cross-curriculum science and math unit. Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. This activity would work well for individuals on laptops. Have students partner up and try to successfully fuel a city without breaking the budget!
Visual Math Learning - Grades 2 - 8 - permalink
Use these easy lessons to understand math concepts in Elementary Algebra and Pre-Algebra that many students find difficult to grasp. Use a variety of interactives to bring the concepts to life and provide real practice. Practice exercises include topics such as Numeral Tree, Less or Greater, Equivalent Fractions, and several others. Puzzles and Games include Shapeology, Primary Colors, Equivalence Rings, and more. This site has a lot to explore! Use additional puzzles and activities for extra practice. There are some unobtrusive advertisements at this site. 10317
In the Classroom: Many students feel inadequate with math concepts. Use these simple lessons and activities to teach concepts in a meaningful and easy to understand manner. Share the activities on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Or have students work on individual computers and use this site to differentiate instruction to meet each student’s current math level. After understanding, provide additional practice on paper or with other manipulatives.
Dictionary of Science Quotations - Grades 7 - 12 - permalink
This site is a searchable database of science quotes from different scientists and philosophers. This site is a basic “plain vanilla” tool, but includes a lot of scientists and philosophers (great for reference and quick research). Searches can be done by keyword, names, or alphabetically. The drawback to the site is that there are some distracting commercial features. Direction would need to be given to younger students on differentiating between advertisements and site content. 10183
In the Classroom: This site would be great for creating cross curriculum units with language arts and science. It could be used as a resource for teachers. Students could search for quotes relevant to scientists being studied. Students could also choose a favorite quote as a prompt for a blog post. Have students create bulletin board posters using favorite quotes and adding images to them using a tool such as Project Poster, reviewed here: http://www.teachersfirst.com/single.cfm?id=7332, or an online “poster” about a scientist using a tool such as Nota, reviewed here: http://www.teachersfirst.com/single.cfm?id=9915.
TEMATH - Grades 10 - 12 - permalink
This website is a portal to a graphing application. The application can be downloaded for free. (see suggestions below). There are programs for calculus, linear algebra, and many others. Data can be analyzed and manipulated. This site gives a great tool to bring math to life in a laboratory type setting. View the tutorial and examples to learn more about this fascinating tool. 10326
In the Classroom: If your school computers are locked to prevent downloads, it is worth sending this link to your curriculum supervisor along with a request that the tech dept permit the download. Be sure to demonstrate this site (share the tutorial) on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Students could use this application in a laptop lab to discover the graphs behind different mathematical equations. Students could also apply different tools to help with homework if it is posted to the class wiki. Not familiar with wikis? Have no wiki worries – check out the Teacher’s First Wiki Walk-Through reviewed here.
ScribbleMaps - Grades 0 - 12 - permalink
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?
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The Sun In Motion - Grades 2 - 12
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