TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Jan 29, 2012

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.
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Engrade - Engrade
Grades
3 to 12In the Classroom
Sign up for an account (email required) and keep track of student scores, create quizzes for students, and make discussion boards for online conversations about things that happen in your classroom. Quizzes can be graded from the grade book program, directly entering the scores into your records. Be sure to provide this information (link) on your class website for parents to access.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Moment Garden - Chris Kundinger and Zachary Garbow
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): timelines (31)
In the Classroom
If you use this tool as a teacher-only, or whole-class account, you can keep a digital/timeline scrapbook of class events throughout the year. Make a timeline using local, national, or international current events. Make timelines as part of a unit in history, cell growth in science, and any project, story, or biography. Or look back in time and create a historical timeline, scanning old pictures or using copyright free images from the Library of Congress American Memory Collection.Have your students create biographical timelines for artists, musicians, writers from a certain period in history, the twentieth century in different countries, World War II timeline, Civil War timeline, timeline of insect stages, timeline of the rock cycle, of a plant or tree. Have students create timelines of the life cycle of migratory animals or even personal timelines. Students can work in small groups or individually. Want something more elaborate from your students? Have have them use Moment Garden for the timeline and Glogster, reviewed here, for their overall report. They can then show their timeline as a link on their Glogster report.
More ideas: Students could interview grandparents and create a timeline about their grandparents for Grandparents' Day. For collaboration, link up with another classroom in another town (or another country) to build a timeline that shares events in each local area so students can see what was happening at the same time in another location, maybe in the opposite hemisphere (compare weather and seasons!).
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QuietWrite - James Yu
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): blogs (47), brainstorming (8), process writing (13)
In the Classroom
Having no distractions on the page when writing could help students with ADHD or those who are perfectionists. This program allows them to get their ideas down, then they can work on spelling and grammar in a word processor. With older students you may want them to use their email address and create their own account. QuietWrite would be good to use for brainstorming and "quick writes" when you want the students to get their thoughts on (virtual) paper and without worry about spelling and punctuation as part of the thinking process. Once students are done with their "quick writes" or brainstorm, if they don't have an account, they can copy and paste their writing to a word processor. This would allow them to save their "quick write" and, if they choose to develop it later, they can work on the spelling and grammar as a separate step.Challenge students to write a "blog" post from a soldier during a war that you are studying. Write a dialog between main characters from a piece of literature. Create poetry, study sheets, practice spelling words, and more. By sharing the URL, students can even collaborate on projects in any subject area!
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JellyCam - Chris Dennett
Grades
4 to 12In the Classroom
Use JellyCam to show time consuming or difficult processes broken down frame by frame. For example, long games of Chess could be turned into a video that just highlights player moves. For Science, show processes such as diffusion and osmosis (drop food coloring in water and watch it spread over time) or create DNA models that you actually show moving performing a process one step at a time. In math, build geometric structures or find math in everyday actions. Create a stop motion of actors throughout a scene. Groups of students can create the dialogue that they imagine happening with the scene. Show the creative process in creating a work of art.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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obooko - Tony Stanton, Sarah Bainbridge, Tim Johnson
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): creative writing (53), ebooks (7), mysteries (17), novels (12), poetry (159), religions (22)
In the Classroom
For your language arts class, obooko contains many examples of contemporary writing. Selections for critiquing and editing are readily available without hurting any class member's feelings. Look at examples for current ideas and places to begin brainstorming. Included are free templates for different types of writing. Have each member of your class become a published author! Use the titles as writing prompts or read only half of the story and have students finish it in their own way. Bring each student's story into the lives of many. Assign critiques using obooko. You might even create a school or class obooko literary magazine during poetry month.Library/media specialists may want to select certain ebooks to load on school iTouches for students to read and review. Start an obooko reading club with these free options.
If you are uncomfortable sharing here or school policy prohibits it, have your classes create a similar website (wiki) with published pieces from your school or class. Not familiar with wikis? Check out the TeachersFirst Wiki Walk-Through.
Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Products can be shared by URL
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Trap It - Gary Griffiths, Hank Nothhaft, Jr, David Schairer
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): news (124), newspapers (22)
In the Classroom
There are many ways this tool can be used. For example, a "trap" will display multiple articles related to a world issue or event. During election years, use traps for students to follow political races. Create a trap of most appropriate articles as a reading/writing prompt, sharing the trap's url on a wiki, via Edmodo reviewed here, or a class Twitter account. Students can read the articles and then discuss them, write a response, or summarize them as an assignment. Older students could create "traps" to show real world connections to curriculum, for example, articles about housing construction in math class, then discuss or write about the math skills required to build houses. They could create their own science "trap" collecting articles of interest related to plants, animals, vaccines, or diseases.Want to learn more about sharing and collecting class work on wikis? Visit the TeachersFirst Wiki Walk-Through. Looking for more ways to use Twitter in the classroom? Check out the TeachersFirst's Twitter for Teachers page.
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Tildee - tildee.com
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): assessment (27), tutorials (35)
In the Classroom
Tildee could become a very powerful tool in your classroom. Have students use it to demonstrate what they understand about any concept you teach. Tildee would be the ultimate in "show your work" to explain how students came to a conclusion. Students could use Tildee for persuasive speeches, or speech and debate by uploading facts, videos, and images to prove their point during their speeches. They can also use it to write sequenced directions. Students in history, math, science, art or music classes could showcase their knowledge by creating a tutorial about any topic: how an animal became endangered and the steps to reverse this, the major events that led up to the Civil Rights Movement, or the Holocaust, how to reduce a fraction, the cycle of a cell, or anything else you feel would be worthy of assessment. Physical Education teachers could create tutorials for any move for any sport or exercise, i.e. how to do a proper sit-up or push-up. Teachers can use this site to create tutorials for absentees and/or review and post the URL on your webpage.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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My Fake Wall - myfakewall.com
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): digital storytelling (30), social networking (40)
In the Classroom
Create a fake Facebook page using My Fake Wall to publish biographical information about any historical figure in any subject area. Use My Fake Wall to create a fake Facebook pages about a character in a novel. Create posts that outline the tension that the characters have for one another in the Facebook page. Create Facebook type pages about scientists and their contributions including reactions of others to their discovery or invention. Research why these inventions were particularly very important and the scientific knowledge that changed as a result. Create a Facebook page about artists, musicians, politicians, etc. Challenge the students to step into the person's character to create an informative understanding about the person and their contribution. Create a blog post that discusses their thoughts about the process, linking the My Fake Wall page in the body of the post. In upper elementary grades, have all students generate a starter "Fake Wall" offline about a famous person (or people) you are studying. Then vote on one to maintain as a class using this online tool.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Biodigitalhuman - Healthline Networks
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): body systems (28), human body (46), medicine (27), reproduction (7)
In the Classroom
Use this resource in an anatomy/physiology, biology, or health class. Use as a resource to understand structure and function as well as common health ailments and their effects. Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Provide this link on your website for students to use who are studying human body systems. Assign a different "system" to each student (or cooperative learning group). Challenge students to create multimedia presentations on their system using one of the many TeachersFirst Edge tools reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Groundhog Day and Possum Night Talking Storybook - Mighty Book
Grades
K to 3tag(s): holidays (97)
In the Classroom
This would be a great site to use on classroom computers as a center close to Groundhogs Day. Show the book on your interactive whiteboard or projector and have students circle and find adjectives, nouns, or verbs in the story.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Readability Test Tool - David Simpson
Grades
1 to 12tag(s): independent reading (32), readability (7), writing (287)
In the Classroom
Use this tool to offer differentiated resources for the different reading levels in your class. If you do discover that a website you want to use is over your students' independent reading level, you can still use it, just open Lingro (reviewed here) first; then enter the URL (web address) you want them to read. Lingro is a study aid and open content dictionary that makes all of the words (on a particular website) clickable for definitions and translation. Of course, if the sentence length or complexity is at a much higher reading level, simple word definitions will not make it "readable" for struggling readers.Why not have students put in the URL for their blog or wiki (or simply paste in a writing sample) to see the level at which they are writing? This is one way to encourage writing as a craft and challenge students to include more varied vocabulary ad sentence structure in their writing.
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iCharts - iCharts, Inc.
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): charts and graphs (113)
In the Classroom
This site is great for classroom work or teacher-created mapping. You will want to play with this tool before using it in class, but it is very simple to use. Use with any numerical data that is best shown in a chart. Collect data in a science lab, survey, or math class, and display it using different graphs to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using each graph type. In reading class, practice reading charts/graphs that accompany informational texts using the various examples here. Use for quick creation and sharing of graphs. Create charts together easily on an interactive whiteboard (or projector) when introducing the different types to elementary students, then embed your examples on a class web page for students to revisit. Have students operate the board so their peers can see how the tool works and give each other oral directions as they problem solve together. Then make the iChart site a small group center during math class for further practice on a computer or interactive whiteboard. Save this site in your favorites for quick retrieval any time students need to make a quick chart. For student practice, have them chart time spent on homework or hobbies, choice of favorite pet, etc. Reinforce good study habits in middle school by having students make charts of their average grades or time spent on independent reading.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Not Just Sushi - Dr. Min Liu and Team
Grades
6 to 10tag(s): cross cultural understanding (32), cultures (56), japan (56), webquests (25)
In the Classroom
Create small groups of students, then use your interactive whiteboard or projector introduce the site. There are descriptions and plans under the "Teacher's Guide" for each of the three projects. You may want to post the link to the directions on either your website, or use PearlTrees reviewed here not only for the project directions, but to direct your students to only one or two of the sites listed.Students making the "Travel Guide" can use an online program like SimpleBooklets reviewed here to present their final project to the class, or My Brochure Maker reviewed here if you want the brochures for your bulletin board. Students creating the "Cookbook" can use a site such as Bookemon reviewed here. Students interested in completing the "Japanese Restaurant" project can simply create a menu by using a site like Web Poster Wizard 7332reviewed here.
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100 Snowballs Game - ABCya!
Grades
K to 4In the Classroom
This site would be perfect for the 100th day of school activities! Use in a computer center and have students group the snowballs into different size groups and count how many are in each pile. Have students create a scene using the 100 snowballs then write a poem about their creation.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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