Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

This PInterest pinboard is a collection of infographics that serve as resumes for artists, writers, tech designers, digital workers, and many other 21st century creative professionals. Click any infographic to see it in its original home on the web so you can zoom in and see the details. This collection represents strengths of both Pinterest (reviewed here) and the infographic medium. Explore to see how it's done!

tag(s): careers (139), infographics (55), portfolios (22)

The Poem Farm is a wonderful resource for poems of all kinds by poet Amy Ludwig VanDerwater. Though there is a "Goodbye For Now" note, everything still works. Browse the Poetry Peeks section to peek into poetry creations in classrooms everywhere. Find poems sorted by topic. Beware, there is an extensive list of topics! Looking for poems using different techniques? Search through the site for mask poems, riddle poems, personification, and much more. Another interesting portion of the website is the dictionary hike. View a poem for each letter of the alphabet. One unique feature of the website is that the author includes additional information with each poem such as teaching techniques, thought process during the poem's creation, and other ideas for creating similar poetry. There are also some lesson plans to explore. Be sure to click the tab on the top menu for Website to find even more ideas and poems.

tag(s): poetry (189), rhymes (21), riddles (16)

Organize an online wishlist. Create an account using your Google, Facebook, or Microsoft Account, then begin creating a list. Add items, including links, to any website for purchase. Organize using the drag-and-drop features on the site. Make your list private or share it with family, friends, or the world. Gift purchases are not shared with the lists owner, only family or friends, thus keeping the surprise of gift-giving alive!

tag(s): service projects (17)

Something Fishy educates about water quality, fish, and the environment. Choose from the children's portion of the site or the section for teachers and parents. Children participate in a series of eight lessons beginning with "Water, Water, Everywhere" through "Will There Be Any Left For Me?" Lessons include short stories and slideshows. Teachers and Parents can download a teaching manual and work cards along with an overview and lesson plan for each activity.

tag(s): environment (240), fish (18), oceans (146), pollution (49), resources (88), rivers (13), water (101), water cycle (22)

The Reading Like a Historian curriculum engages you in historical inquiry. Each of the 130 lessons revolves around a central historical question. Each lesson features sets of primary documents modified for groups of students with diverse reading skills and abilities. This curriculum teaches students how to investigate historical questions employing reading strategies such as sourcing, contextualizing, corroborating, and more. Instead of memorizing historical facts, students evaluate the trustworthiness of multiple perspectives on issues from King Philip's War to the Montgomery Bus Boycott (and more). Next, they make historical claims backed by documentary evidence. Choose from the units menu to find lessons divided into 12 units: introduction through the Cold War Culture/Civil Rights. Read a short overview, then choose from the list of included lessons. Most lessons are in PDF format and may include PowerPoint presentations with additional images and/or maps to use with the lesson.

tag(s): american revolution (81), civil rights (194), civil war (134), cold war (30), colonial america (95), colonization (20), emancipation proclamation (11), new deal (5), reading strategies (96), slavery (75), world war 1 (72), world war 2 (149)

The Center for Civic Education offers this site loaded with information and resources that support the democratic process. Choose the Teaching Resources tab to take advantage of many lesson plans for all grade levels on topics such as President's Day, voting, Women's History Month, 9/11 and the Constitution, and many more. Choose the More Lesson Plans link to see a list of all lessons sorted by grade levels from K-12. Also under Teaching Resources find the 60 Second Civics option, reviewed here. 60 Second Civics is a daily podcast accompanied with a short question. Previous podcasts are archived for access at your convenience. Subscribe with iTunes or Podcast Alley or visit the page to listen.
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tag(s): branches of government (62), civil rights (194), constitution (87), democracy (19), elections (80), electoral college (22), lincoln (60), martin luther king (43), presidents (121), sept11 (18), washington (25)

MailChimp lets you create email newsletters, share them on social networks, integrate with services you already use, and track your results. MailChimp handles all of this with lists. You can subscribe, edit, and remove yourself from lists as you please. Send your newsletter immediately or schedule delivery for the future. Test the email using the popup window to send to your own email address. Create your own template or choose from one of the many pre-designed templates available on the site. Content is rendered for easy use on mobile devices for viewing and through the app for creating and sending content. The site offers a long list of free features for use if you have under 2,000 subscribers and you can send up to 12,000 emails a month - at no charge! Free features include templates, auto translate into other languages, group creation, Facebook and social media integration, and much more. Import recipient information from your online address book or an Excel spreadsheet. Choose to send your emails to your entire list, or a specific segment of your list. Your newsletters can include images and text, and can be personalized by merging "subscriber" information into the body of your message.
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tag(s): communities (36), DAT device agnostic tool (143), journalism (72), newspapers (91), writing (315)