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return to subject listingStudent Produced Video Field Trips - TeachersFirst
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): video (258)
In the Classroom
Read through the step by step and get started! TeachersFirst offers all the practical advice you need to try this 21st century approach to real world learning.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Plagiarism Checker - Darren Horn
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): plagiarism (34)
In the Classroom
Students can use this plagiarism checker to be sure they are turning in original work. Teachers can use this service to check the work of students (submitted electronically). Students should create accounts with their parents to check their work at home. Model this site to explain what plagiarism IS and how students can avoid it. The hands-on experience will help them understand this challenging concept. You might even want to provide several examples of plagiarized writing as an exercise for student to check and correct before they copy/paste their way to trouble in a research assignment. Another interesting exercise for researchers is to locate an article on a how-to topic, such as "How to Paint a Room," then see how many sites use the exact same text. As a class, discuss whether this proliferation is good or bad (is the web spreading misinformation, too?).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Project Based Learning for the 21st Century - Buck Institute for Education
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): assessment (146), Project Based Learning (25), Research (83)
In the Classroom
Use these ideas in any subject area classroom. Aspects of PBL can be used in introductory activities or whole units. Use driving questions to stimulate student curiosity to know more about how curriculum applies to their lives. Use this PBL framework to give students freedom to research aspects of the content or problem of personal interest. Be sure to view the resources to adequately plan for a successful unit project that incorporates 21st century skills utilizing engaging activities and content.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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5 Minute Mystery - Mystery Competition, LLC
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): critical thinking (112), mysteries (19), reading comprehension (143), short stories (18)
In the Classroom
Use your projector or interactive whiteboard to show your students the directions for getting points by selecting the correct clues and solving the mystery. To begin with, as a class, read a mystery and discuss what the clues might be and whether they implicate or exonerate each suspect. Once the students have volunteered their ideas for which sentences are clues, submit them to see the score. The program will highlight the answers you should have had, if you got any wrong. Model for your students a discussion about why those are the correct answers and why the ones they submitted weren't. Eventually they can have this discussion by themselves in small groups. Those of you with multiple classes will want to create a league for each class.Eventually you can have small groups of students compete against each other by creating leagues. Have your students come to consensus about the clue sentences and who the real perpetrator is by voting using Tricider, reviewed here, or Vevox, reviewed here.
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The Interactive Raven - TeachersFirst
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
This is a great on-line independent study for students who need additional help with either vocabulary or poetic devices. Introduce the site on your projector (rollovers will not work on an interactive whiteboard), then have students work alone or with a partner to become acquainted with the full text of Poe's masterpiece, accessing definitions and literary devices on their own. Augment classroom technology use and challenge students to create their own dramatic readings of the poem using a tool such as podOmatic, reviewed here, or accompany their reading with illustrations using ePubEditor, reviewed here, where your can upload images and text and add audio.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Carol after Edgar Allen Poe - J.H. McNulty
Grades
8 to 12In the Classroom
Use this resource as a tool during a unit about the Christmas Carol or as part of creative writing unit. Gifted students will especially enjoy the combination of two works into an original. Have them try their own, perhaps more contemporary combination of style from one work with substance from another for a creative synthesis extraordinaire.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Dickens and Christmas - David Perdue
Grades
7 to 12In the Classroom
Use this website as a tool during a unit on Christmas or Charles Dickens. Divide students into small groups or pairs to read the information on this page. The text might be challenging for some students. Pair weak readers with a strong reader. Exchange paper and pencil and instruct students to use Webnote, reviewed here, to take online "sticky notes" for the important information they learn. If some of the passages are difficult, even for the strong reader, have them use Rewordify, reviewed here, to replace the difficult text shown with easier to understand words. Be sure to tell students to use Webnote (mentioned above) to make a sticky for the difficult word or phrase and it's definition, or easier wording. Allow ESL/ELL students to try using Text to Speech Reader, reviewed here, which will allow these students to follow the highlighted text as the article or passage is read to them.Redefine learning and challenge students to create a multimedia presentation around a theme from Dickens using one of the TeachersFirst Edge reviewed multimedia tools. Some tool suggestions are (click on the tool name to access the review): Canva Infographic, Lucidpress, Powtoon, and MoocNote.
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Video: Social Media - Common Craft
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): blogs (66), podcasts (74), social media (53), video (258)
In the Classroom
If you are looking to learn more about various social media, check out this short video. Learn more about the "flavors" you could use in your own classoom. For research projects have students create a blog, wiki, or even a podcast and compare the pros/cons of each regarding communication and safety. Create podcasts using a tool such as podOmatic, explained here. If you use "centers" in your classroom, put the video on a "center" computer, do a "right click" on the video, select "save as" and save to the "center" computer.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Harry Potter's Page - Scholastic Books
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): harry potter (9)
In the Classroom
See even more Harry Potter resources at Pottermore, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Webquest 101 - TeachersFirst
Grades
1 to 12In the Classroom
Mark this in your Favorites as a professional reference. You may even want to assign students to create their own webquests following these guidelines. If you mentor new teachers, share this resource when they are designing their first web-based projects.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Shakespearean Feast - TeachersFirst
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): elizabethan (13), shakespeare (93)
In the Classroom
Use the recipes on this site to host a Shakespearean feast in your own classroom. Have students partner up to prepare the dishes at home, or coordinate with your family and consumer sciences faculty to try an in-class demonstration.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Select and Speak - Google Chrome
Grades
1 to 12tag(s): listening (68), text to speech (19)
In the Classroom
Use Select and Speak as your teacher's helper. Be sure to test it out on classroom computers and devices before using it with students. During research or computer explorations, allow students to use this read aloud feature. Honor the students who heavily rely on hearing as their preferred form of comprehending material. In lower grades, research on computers now becomes an easier task. This extension is perfect for ENL/ELL or learning support students to help with vocabulary development, comprehension, fluency, and repetitions.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Einstein's Secret to Amazing Problem Solving - Litemind
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): critical thinking (112), logic (164), problem solving (226)
In the Classroom
Share this site with students on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students help create a bulletin board display outlining the problem solving steps. Ask students to create journal entries describing how they used the steps in the problem solving process. Some of your visual students may even want to draw a map of the path they follow to solve problems or make an infographic of the process steps. Share this site with other teachers in all subject areas since this process applies to any type of problem.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Brainyquote - Brainymedia
Grades
5 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): authors (103), themes (11), writing (315), writing prompts (58)
In the Classroom
Save this site in your favorites on Teachersfirst. If you are not already a member, just click on "My TF" to join for FREE. When you are searching for a writing prompt or universal theme to connect with your curriculum area, a famous quote provides a springboard for students to reflect on the topic they just read or studied. After reading two or three literary works or studying historic figures, you might try changing the quote into a question. Have students compare/contrast how each of the characters would respond, and support their responses by citing specific examples. Then, students could answer the question from their own point of view to relate the meaning of the quote to their lives. Create a class wiki for the quotes of the day (and student responses). Not comfortable with wikis? Have no wiki worries - check out the TeachersFirst's Wiki Walk-Through. Or invite students to choose a favorite quote from this site and interpret it both visually and verbally by creating an online poster using ThingLink, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Tumblr - David Karp
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): blogs (66), communication (136), microblogging (18)
In the Classroom
Use for posts that have visual elements such as photography and art. The ease of adding images to a Tumblr blog make this a great tool for the medium. Use for Family and Consumer Science to create a cooking or entertaining blog. Create a blog showing images from experiments or learning about the world around them in Biology with posts about pond life. Focus on genetic traits and the differences that exist including photographs of past ancestors to show traits. Create posts about elements and take pictures of items or objects that are made of that element. Or show images of various chemical properties. Create a Tumblr blog page for a specific historical figure and create posts that the person would make highlighting accomplishments, people they meet, etc. Note: It is highly recommended that teachers not allow students to make their own Tumblr blog for class but instead make a blog for ALL students in the class to use. The teacher can manage (and monitor) the blog.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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Thinkport - Maryland Public Television and John Hopkins University
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): museums (44), patterns (63), reading comprehension (143), timelines (50), writing (315)
In the Classroom
Use these tools for any subject area and for any content. Be sure to look at the sample activities that are great to use as is or can stimulate thinking into your own projects. Use the timeline as an introduction to the first year by discussing their summer activities, major events in a students life, inventions or technology that made a difference in their life, events in their favorite book, and more. To understand content in perspective, create a timeline to be sure students understand why some events happen at particular times. For example, our understanding about biology greatly changes after the invention of the microscope. A great sample activity to Create your own Museum is the celebration of neighborhoods which can create a greater understanding about different people. Create a museum for each different kind of biome that showcases what would be found there. Create a museum for a time period in history but created by a specific group of people. View each of the museums and note the differences in what is portrayed using the lens of that various segment of the population. Create writings or blog posts portraying the differences in the museums and why these differences exist. Even young students can make a simple timeline of their own life of the life cycle of a butterfly to build the concept of linear representation of time.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Classroom Jeopardy - superteachtools.com
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): grammar review (31), matching (8)
In the Classroom
Use this great resource to create Jeopardy games for any content area. This resource is perfect for use on an interactive whiteboard or projector with a student emcee. Use for vocabulary/terms, identifying parts of anything, and reviewing for any curriculum topic. Use as an opener to a unit to determine what students already know. Play as a review game to assist learning for all students. Encourage students to create the clues and answers to their own Jeopardy review games as a creative way to review and reinforce. Learning support teachers may want to have students create review games together.You or your students can copy and paste the HTML code for any game on your web page, wiki, or blog for easy access to any Flash Jeopardy Game.
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Bookemon - Bookemon, Inc.
Grades
K to 12After you save and publish the work, share the URL so people can read the entire book online, either among an audience of "just my friends" or publicly. They also offer the embed code to place your books on a class or school web page, wiki, or blog. The easiest option is to copy the address of the new window displaying the interactive book. There is an option to have the book printed for a fee, but this is not required. You can also read books created by others (if they make them public). Use the fully-public option to create learning materials for classes to access year to year for at-home review or reading practice.
This site requires a simple registration. Teachers can set up an edCenter for their school or class in accordance with school policies. See more detailed suggestions "In the Classroom" below and in our sample book! Newer mobile device options include players to view your books on iPads and more.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): creative writing (121), digital storytelling (141), writing (315)
In the Classroom
SKIP the profile and friends areas to get to the book creator to play with the tools a bit. Before you get too involved, create an edCenter to minimize advertising and create books in your own teacher-friendly class environment. Use the edCenter to register students and establish privacy settings for your class. No student emails are required.On the Create Books page, choose from using a blank book, starting from a file, or using a template. Choose "school" to see projects from other classes or a sample created by you or a student team working in advance along with you. Explore ready-made themes (seasonal, topical, etc.) or use "open theme." Choose book dimensions (match layout shape to any uploaded files, such as PowerPoint slides). Enter settings and description of your book (editable later), including who is allowed to "see" it: everyone, just friends, or private. Again choose a "theme" - more of a category where Bookemon will list your completed book. A logical option is "school." Experiment with tools to upload files (within file limits), add images, add text, etc. Written help is offered as you go, but there is no video demo. SAVE often. Turn margins on to avoid chopping content. To share the book, you must "publish" it (i.e. finalize).
Once published, locate the book under "My Books" and use options to share (by email--and see the URL to copy from there), "Make a new edition" to create a new version--also useful for treating the original as a template for later books), Post to Other Sites offers embed codes. The BEST option is to click the book COVER which opens a new window without ads or "stuff," and copy the ADDRESS of that window to paste into email, etc. You can also mark that clean window view as a Favorite on a classroom computer!
Use your edCenter settings to manage social networking features. This will avoid the "public" Bookemon features such as opportunities to share address books, use social tools such as Facebook to share your books, etc. Teacher-controlled edCenter accounts are probably the easiest option for managing within school policies.
With younger students, have them begin their work in PowerPoint then upload for whole-class books. See an example, created by the TeachersFirst Edge editors . The example is full of ideas for classroom use from Kindergarten to high school, including science concept tales, poetry books, general writing, math problem solve-its, and more. ANY grade can use this tool, depending on the amount of direction by the teacher. (By the way, the correct answer to the problem in the sample book is c. 27.) Another idea: have students create personalized books for their parents or grandparents for special occasions (Mother's Day, Father's Day, or Grandparent's Day).
Use the mobile device features offered in your BYOD classroom to make and share books, PDF's, and more. Tip: Use this site for a guided introduction to social networking as a class, an excellent teaching opportunity for digital citizenship in the context of a project.
This is one of the best creative tools for gifted students to go above and beyond regular curriculum. Don't let the "juvenile" appearance fool you. Even older students can write and include images to create and share books of any length. Any independent research or writing project can become an interactive book. Even advanced science experiments and lab reports can be shared online using this tool. Once you have one book, you can use that as a template for others. Inspire your gifted students to create literary magazine or even a personal online "portfolio" of writing, artwork, or photography presented in interactive book form.
Edge Features:
Includes an education-only area for teachers and students
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 (NO email)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be shared by URL
Includes teacher tools for registering and/or monitoring students
Comments
This is one of my all time favorite creative tools. Very versatile. Great for making "buddy books" or for teacher-created learning "books." Make one as a whole class to summarize a science unit in primary grades. I even use it personally to make fee online "gifts" for children I know. I did purchase one print version, and it looked great.Thinking, PA, Grades: 5 - 10
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PocketMod - PocketMod.com
Grades
K to 12See a sample PocketMod checklist, notes, and calendar booklet (with a separate page of folding directions) and one made from a PDF of the Pennsylvania Science and Technology Standards, converted using the free downloadable software.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): organizational skills (90)
In the Classroom
Go to PocketMod and follow the simple drag-and-drop visual screen to create the PocketMod from their many organizer options. Print and fold (NO Acrobat Reader required). More skilled users should consider downloading the free "PDF to PocketMod" converter that will take any pdf document and format it to the small, foldable format. If you have handouts in pdf format or can make them from your scanner/copier, you can make ANYTHING into a PocketMod. The converter assumes you have Acrobat Reader.Have students design their own study guides before a chapter test or maintain a project checklist to be submitted along with the completed project to build better organizational skills. Warning: Students will quickly learn that PocketMod is a great way to make CHEAT SHEETS. Be forewarned of student cleverness!
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TeachersFirst: The Highwayman - TeachersFirst
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): poetry (189)
In the Classroom
Share the start of the poem on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Then turn students or partners loose to explore the poem and discover the details on laptops or at home. Transform classroom technology use and extend the unit by challenging groups or individual students to create their own visual interpretations of a stanza using a tool such as Poster My Wall, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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