TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Jan 17, 2016
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
I Side With - Taylor Peck and Nick Boutelier
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): elections (80), politics (113), polls and surveys (46)
In the Classroom
I Side With is an excellent resource for use during an election unit. Have students research candidate information and compare and contrast points of view. Use an online tool such as the Interactive 2 or 3 Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here. Have students explore this site independently or in small groups. Ask your students to visit the site and create an infographic with the information they learn. Use Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here, for creating the infographic. Create a link to the News portion of the site on classroom computers and your class website to use as part of your current events resources.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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SheHeroes - sheheroes.org
Grades
2 to 10tag(s): careers (139), mentoring (5), women (136), womens suffrage (43)
In the Classroom
Use SheHeroes as part of your Career Day or career unit resources. Add a link on classroom computers for students (male and female) to explore on their own. Take advantage of the further discussion questions to encourage students to think about the obstacles faced by women in business and society. Ask a prominent local business woman to speak to your class and discuss obstacles she has faced and how she was able to overcome those issues. Although the site is dedicated to girls from ages 8-14, share with both boys and girls from ages 8 and up as part of any unit on gender inequalites.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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E.A.K. (Erase All Kittens) - Drum Roll
Grades
1 to 6tag(s): coding (87), computational thinking (41), computers (105), critical thinking (112), logic (163), problem solving (225), STEM (259)
In the Classroom
Introduce Erase All Kittens on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Allow students to explore and learn on their own at classroom computer centers or individual laptops. Provide a link to Erase All Kittens for students to access at home. Create a bulletin board for students to post achievement levels. Enhance learning by having student "coding experts" create video tutorials using Screencast-o-matic, reviewed here, and share them on a site such as TeacherTube, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Call Me Ishmael - Logan Smalley & Stephanie Kent
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): book lists (159), family (53), literature (217)
In the Classroom
Share Call Me Ishmael on your interactive whiteboard to listen to story reviews together with your class. Use these prompts as examples and models of information to include with book reviews. Enhance learning by asking students to think of prompts for a list of ideas in which books may shape your life. Use this site as a model and have students create an annotated image book review, 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. Extend learning by challenging students to create their own videos using Adobe Express Video Maker, reviewed here. and share them on a site such as TeacherTube, reviewed here. Be sure to share a link to Call Me Ishmael on your class website for students to use as a resource for finding reading materials.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Cite This For Me - RefME Ltd. (2015)
Grades
8 to 12In the Classroom
Share with students as a resource for saving and organizing web material. The Webclipper feature allows students to highlight the key information from a page so that a few days down the road they're not wondering why they bookmarked a web page. The bibliography tools help students properly format their Works Cited pages. Use this tool to help keep your students (or even yourself) organized! Make sure you teach plagiarism lessons about paraphrasing and proper citation of sources, so students use this tool properly!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Typewrite - Josh C.
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): editing (93), proofreading (21), writing (315)
In the Classroom
Have your students set up collaborative groups for projects, lab data, and more. Anything students can do on a single computer; they can do collaboratively with this tool, accessing their work from any online computer. Be sure to test out this tool before using with your class. It may be a good idea to set up the groups with the teacher as a "member." Make sure you are protecting the safety of student work and identity and are within your school's Acceptable Use Policy.This tool facilitates teacher comments on student essays by not having to wait until students turn in their papers. Have them share links with you to their works in progress. Check essays online, monitor progress, and even make suggestions for revisions to provide feedback along the way and drive successful evidence support, proofreading, and editing skills. Challenge gifted students on their drafts and push their thinking further, adding questions or responses. Since most of us do not have time to provide such individual challenge throughout the writing process, why not connect them with other gifted students to collaborate and debate beyond just your classroom? Obviously, this tool is also fabulous for collaboration among students or teachers creating a shared writing piece at any level. You could even use it for parent input into draft IEPs.
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