TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Nov 21, 2010

Here are this week's features. Clicking the tags in the description area of each listing will present a list of other resources with this topic. | Click here to return to the Featured Sites Archive

 

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The Supreme Court: Games - PBS

Grades
9 to 12
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Although this site is no longer maintained, most links are working. As a supplement to their series on The Supreme Court, PBS has prepared nine interactive modules on various aspects...more
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Although this site is no longer maintained, most links are working. As a supplement to their series on The Supreme Court, PBS has prepared nine interactive modules on various aspects of the high court. Although they are called "games" most are simply interactive lessons on topics including a quiz on the constitution, information on the symbols used by the court to illustrate its importance to the US system of government, civil rights rulings, specific justices of note, and landmark cases. For reasons not immediately apparent, one of the interactives requires registration with an email address and password. 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. There are also links to educator resources and lesson plans.

tag(s): civil rights (194), constitution (87), supreme court (27)

In the Classroom

These lessons would be useful on an interactive whiteboard or projector along with a unit on the Supreme Court or the US judicial system. Students might also use them to to extend or enrich the topic on their own time, or when they have completed other classwork. They are well researched and informative, however, most students won't view them as "games" as they are labeled. Have cooperative learning groups investigate one specific topic and share their discoveries with the class. Challenge students to create a video using Powtoon, reviewed here, and it share using a site such as SchoolTube, reviewed here.

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Thought Audio - thoughtaudio.com

Grades
K to 12
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This free audio book site offers classical literature and philosophy books in the public domain for download at no charge. In addition to typical classics, it offers recordings of the...more
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This free audio book site offers classical literature and philosophy books in the public domain for download at no charge. In addition to typical classics, it offers recordings of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, some Mark Twain, and a few Christmas recordings for children including "Twas the Night Before Christmas," "The Gift of the Magi," and "Scrooge: A Christmas Carol."

tag(s): audio books (22)

In the Classroom

Make a shortcut to this site on classroom computers as a reference. Suggest it to students as something they can use on their mp3 players. Share this link on your class website for students and parents to access at home. Learning support teachers may want to use selections from this site as alternatives to reading print literature selections. Play a story on your computer speakers as a listening activity in younger grades.

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Rubric Gallery - RCampus

Grades
K to 12
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This site contains links to many different sources for rubrics. You can search by grade level, subject, or type making it easier to find an appropriate rubric. ...more
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This site contains links to many different sources for rubrics. You can search by grade level, subject, or type making it easier to find an appropriate rubric.

tag(s): assessment (146)

In the Classroom

Use this site to search for rubrics for any type of assignment or classroom use. Material isn't limited to academic use, it also includes attendance, homework, and other types of rubrics.

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Green Revolution - National Science Foundation

Grades
4 to 12
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Join the Green Revolution! Choose videos that showcase the inventiveness, creativity, and passion of researchers and inventors who will be part of powering our future. At the time of...more
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Join the Green Revolution! Choose videos that showcase the inventiveness, creativity, and passion of researchers and inventors who will be part of powering our future. At the time of this review topics included: wind, solar, green roofs, microbes, city car, smart grid, and biomass. You are also able to embed videos into a wiki, site, or blog. Click "Print Educator Info" to download a PDF for use with classes. In the future, transcripts will also be available.

tag(s): conservation (83), environment (240)

In the Classroom

Use these videos as a great introduction to green energy and replacements to fossil fuels. Share the videos on your interactive whiteboard or projector. After showing a video, have students research the use of the various green energies around the country and the world. Research energy use and especially the difference between residential and commercial demand. Have cooperative learning groups view one of the videos and complete some basic research on the topic. Have the groups create a multimedia presentation to share their findings. Challenge students to narrate a picture using a tool such as ThingLink, reviewed here. Be sure your students check out the City Car. Research the various types of green designs on cars to find the advantages and disadvantages of each. Great discussions, projects, and research are all possible through use of these videos.
 This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.

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