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

 

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I Side With - Taylor Peck and Nick Boutelier

Grades
6 to 12
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Two friends with opposing political views created I Side With as a resource for engaging in political discussion and learning about different points of view. Take the online...more
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Two friends with opposing political views created I Side With as a resource for engaging in political discussion and learning about different points of view. Take the online quiz to learn which candidate aligns with your beliefs the most. Explore the many polls on the site to view results from across the country. Break down information from the polls into additional information such as by state, city, party affiliation, ethnicity, and income.

tag(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.

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SheHeroes - sheheroes.org

Grades
2 to 10
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SheHeroes is a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering girls from ages 8-14 to dream big and pursue any interests regardless of gender. Articles feature well-known and everyday...more
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SheHeroes is a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering girls from ages 8-14 to dream big and pursue any interests regardless of gender. Articles feature well-known and everyday females that serve as inspiration for young girls. Choose the Interests link to browse articles by categories such as engineering and sports. The video link offers several short videos of prominent women discussing how they have grown in their careers. Each includes a link to discussion questions for further exploration. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.

tag(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.
 This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.

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E.A.K. (Erase All Kittens) - Drum Roll

Grades
1 to 6
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Erase All Kittens is an online activity that teaches HTML coding. As you play, learn how to build ledges, add boxes, and more as your friend Arka endeavors to save ...more
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Erase All Kittens is an online activity that teaches HTML coding. As you play, learn how to build ledges, add boxes, and more as your friend Arka endeavors to save the missing kittens. Short demos and tips throughout the activity guide players on how to add and edit code. This review is for the free first two levels only; click Free Trial to get it.

tag(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.

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Call Me Ishmael - Logan Smalley & Stephanie Kent

Grades
6 to 12
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Call Me Ishmael is a charming site that celebrates books and life through a very simple concept. Call the phone number on the site and leave a voicemail about a ...more
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Call Me Ishmael is a charming site that celebrates books and life through a very simple concept. Call the phone number on the site and leave a voicemail about a book you love. Browse through the latest entries by clicking Calls. If your district blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable. There is a PAID feature for a Yellow Pages type book for some of the favorite calls and other features. This review is for the FREE portion of the site which you will find by clicking Calls. If you plan to allow students to call Ishmael, be certain to obtain parent consent and check with your school's policy to ensure this type of communication is permitted, even with parental permission.
This 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.

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Cite This For Me - RefME Ltd. (2015)

Grades
8 to 12
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Create bibliographies and works cited with Cite This For Me. The reference styles include Harvard, APA, MLA and thousands of others. Not only can you reference the standard sources...more
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Create bibliographies and works cited with Cite This For Me. The reference styles include Harvard, APA, MLA and thousands of others. Not only can you reference the standard sources (books, videos, etc.), but your sources can also be doctoral dissertations, reports, book chapters, legislation, artwork, and more. Create projects, annotate web pages, and add quotes using the Cite This For Me WebClipper. Scan book and journal barcodes. Sync references across devices. Invite others to collaborate on projects using any device. You can also check your paper for plagiarism!

tag(s): citations (34), Research (83)

In 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!

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Typewrite - Josh C.

Grades
5 to 12
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Typewrite.io is a collaborative writing tool that is in real-time so multiple editors can be working on the same document at the same time. It is distraction free, and you ...more
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Typewrite.io is a collaborative writing tool that is in real-time so multiple editors can be working on the same document at the same time. It is distraction free, and you can save versions and revert to previous versions. When viewing versions, changes will be highlighted. Sign up using email and get started right away. There is no waiting for approval. Share documents via email to have them edited.

tag(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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