Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

OCD Education Station provides resources and information for helping those with OCD. Learn about OCD facts with a primer for educators that includes recognizing symptoms and challenges to student performance. Find helpful information on managing OCD in the classroom as well as tips for communicating with parents. Choose the tools and resources link to access several printable guides available in English and Spanish for parents, teens, and school personnel.

tag(s): professional development (395), psychology (67)

National Public Radio's (NPR) Backseat Book Club chose a selection every month in hopes you would read it. Past offerings range from classics like Black Beauty and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to contemporary offerings like The Red Pyramid and the Wimpy Kid series. You might also enjoy interviews of some of these authors. Type in something like "Questions for the Author" in the search bar to find a list of interviews. Certain segments of this site provide audio clips to enjoy. You can also subscribe to one of the many NPR podcasts, a great option for the BYOD classroom or your school library/media center.
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tag(s): authors (103), book lists (161), independent reading (85), literature (217), reading lists (80)

Rock out to nature with Animal Jam! Animal Jam is a virtual-world counterpart to National Geographic Kids magazine. Create a free account after validation from a parent/adult email address. Parent email is required for user validation. Learn about plants and animals while exploring virtual ecosystems. Animal Jam is great for all ages and abilities. Select an animal avatar to navigate through Jamma, a land where the animals are disappearing and the environment needs help. Name your avatar and take on its persona through the many customizable options. Uncover secrets and play games as you visit the land of Jamaa's mountains, caves, and waterways. Read electronic books, build your avatar's den, hang out with friends, and watch National Geographic multimedia clips. Earn gems through playing games and use them to purchase items for your avatar. Use the world map to show all the parts of the world that you visit. Add to your journal to record your travels through Jamaa. Tons of facts and videos are available to explore and fact sheets can be printed. Animal Jam offers many safe chat, privacy, and parental control features to make sure students are safe. Premium options are available for purchase. This review was for the FREE portion only. Follow directions found on the site to download the app or game to your computer. Not available to play directly in browsers due to the discontinuation of flash support.
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tag(s): animal homes (56), animals (281), biomes (113), ecosystems (73), habitats (87), plants (145), social networking (67)

Find animated online tours of notable battles and strategies and the outcomes of each battle from Prelude to War through The Battle of Yorktown. Choose from dates and battles included on the list at the bottom of the page to begin each animation. View instructions for each animation. Some require pushing play for each slide while others play to the end with one click of play. The animated online tours now reside on YouTube. If your district blocka YouTube, they may not be viewable.
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tag(s): 1700s (36), american revolution (82), map skills (56), maps (207)

Abbreviations.com is a directory and search engine for abbreviations, acronyms, and initial-isms across the Internet. It includes hundreds of thousands of entries organized into a large variety of categories. Search for an abbreviation or acronym using the search bar and choose from abbreviation to term, term to abbreviation, or a word in the term. Browse items by choosing any letter to find items listed or choose from specific communities such as medical or business. Although this site has a lot of advertisements, the content found is worth looking past them.
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tag(s): search engines (50)

Games to Learn English is a collection of games for ENL/ELL students or any student learning the basics of English and/or reading. Created for students of English language learners, the many activities focus on developing vocabulary, comprehension, grammar, word order, and spelling skills. Choose from interactives such as Fast Hands and Concentration to begin. Each activity includes directions for play and scoring explanations, and most have playing speed options.
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tag(s): game based learning (171), multilingual (66), preK (255), sentences (22), sequencing (17), spelling (95), vocabulary (237), vocabulary development (90), word study (58)

Add cartoon speech bubbles to any photo in seconds using Phrase.it. NO membership required! Choose a photo from your Facebook feed, computer, or from the site's random stock photo collection. Pick one of the 5 different types of speech bubbles, drag to any part of the image, and type in text. Change fonts by clicking the text box until satisfied. Change your image by applying one of the optional filters or leave it as is. When finished, click on the Save button and add your email if you want to receive a download link. You are also able to mark your photo PRIVATE. Once the image is saved and rendered, you can simply copy its URL, share via email, Facebook, or Twitter, or download to your computer. The Terms of Use require students to be 13 to use this site.

tag(s): bulletin boards (14), comics and cartoons (53), communication (136), images (262)

FindIcons.com is a search tool that helps you find free icons. Type your term in the search bar to view icons in FindIcons database. Choose from several different options to download icons in the file format desired, such as png. Convert to jpg, bmp, or several other file options. Each icon includes licensing information so you can look for icons that are Creative Commons or public domain. Create an account then make user sets of your favorite icons. Access your user sets from anywhere through the FindIcons website. Explore the TAGS button to find search ideas. Be aware: ANY word/term can be searched, some may not be appropriate for the classroom. If you plan to allow young people to use this site independently, be sure to discuss appropriate searching.
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tag(s): images (262)