Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

3D Toad offers many images for viewing items in both 3D and 360 degree rotation. The site offers an assortment of categories such as Dissections, Human and Animal Skeletons, Fossils, and an extensive listing of Chemicals. There are also categories not typically associated with a "toad" such as: Yoga, Music, Dental Hygiene, History, Ballet Positions, Computer Networking, Emergency Preparedness, and more! The History link is interesting and includes American 1700-1800 and American Civil War: both packed with artifacts. Choose any image then drag your mouse to view or zoom in and out as desired.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): 1700s (36), body systems (40), chemicals (39), civil war (134), coral (10), dance (26), dissection (7), elements (32), fossils (39), rocks (36)

Writer Igniter is an "easy to use" writing prompt creator to set minds in motion! Choose the shuffle button then watch the four categories spin before stopping to set the scene for a story. Categories include character, situation, setting, and prop. Writer Igniter is also part of a larger website called DIY MFA offering articles and information for Writing with Focus and Reading with Purpose. Designed to encourage and offer tools for writers, it is a wealth of information for any aspiring writer, though it is intended for adults.

tag(s): creative writing (122), writers workshop (31), writing prompts (58)

This tool is a map-based interactive platform containing layers of news and information on climate change in the US. It includes the latest data, stories on the causes and impacts, and the response to climate change. View the most recent data, including temperature, precipitation, and carbon dioxide emissions. Filter stories by a variety of categories (such as Oceans.) Each dot displays a story.

tag(s): climate (80), climate change (87)

Find or upload sound clips in wav or MP3 format -- with clear information about digital rights -- at Sound Bible. Thousands of files are available for easy download. Use the search bar to locate a specific sound or browse through sound effects or royalty free sounds available on the site. Click the arrow to hear the sound clip, then click on the name to go to the download section. Choose from wav, mp3, or zip file, and click to download. Share your own sounds using the link provided along with a short description of your sound file. The sound file information includes licensing information for the sound. If you search solely in Royalty Free sounds, you are safe to use them, but follow the attribution requirements as explained on the lower portion of the "Royalty Free sounds" page.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): listening (68), sound (74), sounds (43)

Find ready-to-go lessons and materials for 1st and 2nd grades to meet many of the Common Core standards. Many of the materials could also be useful with students in grades 3-5. Begin by choosing from topics such as Reading, Math, Classroom Management, or Seasonal. Within each topic find a list of lessons or activities. Look under Classroom Management to find a link to Common Core "I Can" printables, reading logs, and checklists for grades K-5. Choose from different subjects for each checklist along with the option of borderless design or clip art poster. Don't let the juvenile look of this site or the abundance of advertising fool you. There are a lot of wonderful resources to be found with just a little bit of searching!
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): addition (128), back to school (63), behavior (43), biographies (93), charts and graphs (169), data (147), division (98), elections (80), guided reading (32), literacy (107), magnetism (36), money (119), multiplication (122), narrative (15), organizational skills (90), plants (144), poetry (189), problem solving (226), readers theater (10), reading strategies (96), rocks (36), subtraction (109), time (92), writers workshop (31)

Create and learn about mnemonics and acrostic poems easily with this tool. Use JogLab to create a catchy slogan to help you remember terms and ideas. You can browse the ready-made mnemonics, but there do not seem to be many. To explore the keywords of a topic and build you own mnemonic, click the topic History, (for example), then the actual concept, such as Bill of Rights. The keywords will be listed. Click "Create your own mnemonic for Bill of Rights" to generate a mnemonic from this list of keywords. Despite the many windows and scroll bars, the word finder is an easy tool to use. For each letter of the mnemonic, follow the site suggestions of words that can string together into a phrase. Use the part-of-speech sorter to narrow the suggested words to your specification of noun, verb, adjective, etc. These will reinforce parts of speech in the context of sentence making. There are links to advertising and off-site (NOT school friendly) content, so familiarize yourself with the tool before showing it to students to avoid these areas.

tag(s): parts of speech (40), poetry (189), sentences (22)

Find downloadable worksheets correlated to Common Core curriculum. Visit the math link for practice with all operations and many topic areas (balancing equations, many forms of graphs, fractions, grids, lines, line plots, geometry, measurement, money, negative numbers, time, and SO much more)! In social studies find worksheets on geography, primary and secondary sources, and timelines. Language arts includes parts of speech and sentence types. Under each subject choose easy, medium, or hard worksheets. In Create a Review, choose your topic area and create your own worksheet. Also included are brain teasers, bingo games, and multiplication mazes.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): charts and graphs (169), decimals (84), fractions (159), measurement (126), money (119), negative numbers (12), operations (72), order of operations (28), parts of speech (40), primary sources (115), probability (96), sentences (22), time (92), timelines (49), variables (14)