TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Feb 2, 2014

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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Imendi - David Filip

Grades
3 to 12
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Practice and learn basic words and vocabulary in Spanish, French, Italian, Arabic, Portuguese, German, Czech, and Russian. Imendi is a flashcard activity featuring various languages...more
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Practice and learn basic words and vocabulary in Spanish, French, Italian, Arabic, Portuguese, German, Czech, and Russian. Imendi is a flashcard activity featuring various languages in a drag and drop format. Choose your language to begin. You can choose between a random lesson or select a lesson topic from the dropdown menu on the upper left corner of the page. The upper left is also where you can choose to look at different vocaulary lists or use the "all words" option. Match new language terms to the English word then quickly view results and start over with a new set of cards. These are quick and easy reviews. Use the non-English speaking option to translate from any included language back to English.
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tag(s): arabic (13), french (73), german (48), italian (28), multilingual (63), portuguese (22), russian (24), spanish (104)

In the Classroom

Use this tool with your ENL/ELL students. If you teach world languages, this site is a great review of various languages. Looking for some enrichment for your gifted students? Share this site and help them to learn a new language (or at least several key vocabulary words). Have students compare the words for the same thing across various languages to notice relationships among the languages. Make simple posters of words for different themes, such as foods, in several different languages using a tool such as Web Poster Wizard, reviewed here. Be sure to include this site on your class web page for students to access both in and outside of class for further practice. Have students try out this site on individual computers, or as a learning center.

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Word Counter - Word Counter

Grades
4 to 12
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Word Counter is a powerful, simple tool for anyone who writes. Paste in the text of your own writing (a paper, a blog post, a letter, etc.) and see how ...more
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Word Counter is a powerful, simple tool for anyone who writes. Paste in the text of your own writing (a paper, a blog post, a letter, etc.) and see how many times you repeat a word. Choose to include "small words" (the, it, etc.) in the count or not. Search your writing by roots and choose how many words you want the site to list. Repetition of words is boring for your reader and often shows "lazy" word choice. Try using this program and Big Huge Thesaurus, reviewed here, to spice up your writing. Make revision for word choice one of the steps in your writing process.
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tag(s): process writing (38), word choice (14), writing (314)

In the Classroom

Demonstrate the use of Word Counter on your Interactive Whiteboard. Once the redundant words have appeared on the program, display the text they came from and have students make suggestions for stating the sentences in a different way, or using synonyms. Post a link to Word Counter on your webpage for parents and students to use at home. Use Word Counter for your own writing in newsletters home, emails to parents, graduate work, and notes to administration. Be sure to share Word Counter with your colleagues.

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Strong Random Password Generator - Passwordsgenerator.net

Grades
5 to 12
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Create safe passwords easily. Set the parameters for creating your new password: character length, use of capitals, numbers, characters, and more. Click "Generate secure password" to...more
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Create safe passwords easily. Set the parameters for creating your new password: character length, use of capitals, numbers, characters, and more. Click "Generate secure password" to obtain the password and a way to remember it (also generates a phonetic password to remember). Be sure to note their great advice about passwords for safety and security.

tag(s): internet safety (112)

In the Classroom

Have student partners share the advice about passwords. Discuss these and why they are important. Use this tool anytime a password is required for students. Display this link at the beginning of the school year on your class web page for students (and parents) to use, too!

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Presidential Classroom - Miller Center, University of Virgina

Grades
6 to 12
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The Presidential Classroom offers resources for students and teachers that provide insight into historic events, the presidency, and U.S. government. Contents include lesson plans,...more
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The Presidential Classroom offers resources for students and teachers that provide insight into historic events, the presidency, and U.S. government. Contents include lesson plans, presidential profiles, video clips, and teachable exhibits. Click either Presidency or Educational Resources in the upper left corner to find these. Explore exhibits by historical event or sort by administration. Exhibits provide a look at specific moments during a presidential administration including transcripts, videos, and audio of events. Choose the presidents link to get a look at each of the US presidents including quick facts, personal information, and cabinet members. Lesson plans include topics such as Space, Vietnam, and Cuba and include correlations to Virginia state standards.

tag(s): jefferson (17), kennedy (19), lincoln (59), presidents (120), space (211), vietnam (35), washington (24), white house (15)

In the Classroom

If your students do Presidential biographies or projects, this is a perfect site to share. Have students explore the exhibits while doing research on presidents and historical events. Enhance student learning by having students create an annotated image including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Google Drawings, reviewed here. Google Drawings allows you to annotate an image with links to videos, text, websites, and more. Not familiar with Google Drawings? Watch an archived OK2Ask session to learn how to use: OK2Ask Google Drawings, here. Have students use Fakebook,reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about a president.

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50 Amazing Facts About Earth - Jason Major

Grades
5 to 12
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This Infographic offers 50 Amazing Facts not well known about the Earth. The Infographic is separated into different sections by themes including Space, Atmosphere, Sea, Under Earth,...more
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This Infographic offers 50 Amazing Facts not well known about the Earth. The Infographic is separated into different sections by themes including Space, Atmosphere, Sea, Under Earth, Ground, and Man. Take a look to learn something new... and possibly to wonder whether everything it says is true.
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tag(s): atmosphere (23), geology (64), landforms (38), oceans (146), soil (16), space (211)

In the Classroom

This site would be a great introduction into digital literacy. Ask students how they know that these facts are actually true? Discuss how you can research the author, the quality of the site itself, the comments made, etc. Compare this site to others that are deemed to be "authorities" and with those that are not. Each student could choose one or two of these facts to do further research, not only to determine whether the facts are true, but to find important background information that can make the fact relevant to other students and the class. Be sure to check out the comments to see those who dispute some of the "facts" in the Infographic. Use research to determine which facts are correct. Why are some of the facts correct or incorrect, and what misconceptions exist about these facts? For quick projects, have students create instant graphics of important words about the Earth using a tool such as Wordwander, reviewed here, or WordClouds, reviewed here..

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