2332 reading results | sort by:
return to subject listingLiterature Project - Literature Project
Grades
5 to 12The project states that they are currently working on literature forums, which may be useful for students in discussing literature once it becomes available.
tag(s): literature (217), speech (66)
In the Classroom
Use this site to assign reading of classic texts and stories. Students will benefit since they do not have to access actual books. As the site boasts, it is more "environmentally friendly"! Students may want to use the topic sites to research for class reports, glogs or other projects. Use classic texts from this site on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Either copy/paste for some quick electronic text or simply open the actual web page. Use the passages to annotate and explore literary devices, examine sentence/paragraph structure, or analyze writing style or context clues for vocabulary, having students use whiteboard tools to explain their analysis or present their own thoughts about the literature. This site is also a great place to "grab" passages of text and paste them into a graphic word cloud-maker such as WordClouds, reviewed here. With electronic text, you can easily compare the writing style of two or more authors or poets in a snap. Invite students to create visual interpretations of text passages, illustrating themes or motifs using a tool such as Canva, reviewed here.Electronic text can also be "read aloud" by text-to-speech software on your computer, assisting those who may have weaker reading skills.
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WordItOut - Worditout.com
Grades
2 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): visualizations (11), vocabulary (235), word choice (14), word clouds (13), word study (58)
In the Classroom
You need to know how to copy/paste text passages (ctrl or command + C, then ctrl or command + V to paste. Think Velcro to stick it there!). If you wish to Save, you must join the site (email required). Alternately, capture the image using screen capture (apple/shift/4 on a Mac or Print Screen on a PC.)Use a word cloud in virtually any class. With emergent readers, enter multiple words with the same consonant cluster or vowel sound, so they can SEE a visual grouping of that sound on your interactive whiteboard and guess the sound. Project a teacher-created word cloud at the start of a new lesson or unit and have students determine what the lesson will be about. Have students use word clouds to proof their own essays or stories. Use word clouds for students to identify the subject and frequently used words to check if they are on target with their intended message. Have students find overused words in their own writing as part of lessons on word choice. Teachers could create and save a word cloud then share it as a visual prompt for students to work individually or in groups to identify words they know (and the definitions) as well as the words they are unfamiliar with. Create word clouds of passages or stories and allow students to guess the author, title, subject, or meaning of the story. Underscore motifs in literature by creating clouds of passages, especially poetry. Have students work together to make clouds of alternative ways to say "said" or "went" in story-writing to post in your classroom as a reference. Create word clouds of opinion passages to determine the bias of the author and possible reasons for that specific opinion. Make word cloud posters on health topics such as the potential health risks of smoking. Make word clouds of different food groups. Create higher order thinking activities by approaching text in a unique way.
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Module Maker - Jamie McKenzie
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): Online Learning (39), questioning (32), Research (83)
In the Classroom
If you choose to download the WORD documents, you can post them on your class web page or wiki for the students to download to their computers in the classroom or at home. You can start with a whole class, scaffolded research topic, using a projector to walk the class through each module. Then create modules for small group research. The directions in the modules intentionally scaffold the research project for the students. The site's emphasis on "online learning" is misleading. These modules can also cite electronic AND print reference materials for students to use. Real books? Imagine that!For a real challenge when students have become adept at research, have them create modules of their own for other students to use. As each group becomes experts on one specific aspect of a unit such as the Constitution, have them create a module for others, then cycle them through completing the modules from other groups. You might even be able to "trade" modules with other classes in and outside of your school.
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LearnEnglish Kids - British Council
Grades
3 to 12The categories on the site include "Play a game," "Print some activities to do," "Listen to a song," "Read a story," "Practice your writing," and "Find lots more activities." AND, each one of these categories is multi-leveled.
In the Classroom
This extensive site will make the life of the ESL, ELL, or remedial reading teacher so much easier! Though intended for ESL/ELL teachers, this site can be used by any teacher who is teaching elementary reading and writing. It would also be good for remedial readers. In some parts, i.e. the interactives, you may want to pair up a proficient reader with the ESL/ELL student or remedial reader. The reading of the stories could be done with a projector or interactive whiteboard for a small group or the whole class, and then small groups of students could brainstorm the writing prompts at the end on an interactive white board. Share some of the activities with parents, as well, for at home practice with ESL/ELL students and their family members. Be sure to include this link on your class website.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Mailinator - ManyBrain, Inc.
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Use your teacher gmail account to create different Mailinator accounts for each student by sending an email to the "spoof" account. For example, a student sends an email to gottalovebio@mailinator.com. Magically, your "spoof" email address has been created. Use this "spoof" email all year long for any web 2.0 tool you wish to sign up for. Find emails sent to the "spoof" account by viewing on the mailinator site (type in your "spoof" email address) or following an RSS feed (use a feed reader to view them all.) Important Note: emails must be read within a few hours as they are then permanently deleted. Caution students not to use these email addresses for anything important as it is not a regular email address. Use only for creating logins and registrations for other web 2.0 tools. Stumped with coming up with a unique name. Possible name choices are given on the site (refresh to see more options.) Be sure to read the FAQ's to familiarize yourself with the service and answer any questions you may have. Check to be sure this is not blocked by your school. If available on a teacher computer, consider cycling each student through your computer to get them signed up while being monitored. Record their "spoof" emails in case these are needed later and students forget. Be advised that these email accounts are public. If the same email address is entered on the site by someone else, those emails will be viewed. Despite this, use the service to quickly enter students to use the variety of cool online tools found on the Internet today.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Free Magazines Online - James Hubbs
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): blogs (66), news (229), newspapers (91)
In the Classroom
For ESL/ELL students, use magazines at this site to teach vocabulary and American culture. For current events classes, display the latest news online on your projector or interactive whiteboard, finding it quickly with just a few clicks. Have groups explore current news headlines and compare coverage or create their own videos (news or infomercials) using a site such as Teachers.TV reviewed here. This may also be a link that you would want to list on your class website for both students and parents to use at home. If you require current events article summaries each week, your students can use this site to find the latest at no cost. Reading teachers can easily find passages to use for comprehension skills such as main idea, summarizing, inferencing and more, all from current articles and ready to project on your interactive whiteboard for underlining, highlighting and discussion.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Memorize Now - Brad Haugaard
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): vocabulary (235)
In the Classroom
This site does far more than aid memorization. Reading teachers can also use it to teach comprehension skills, such as using context clues to determine meaning in a paragraph. Paste in the paragraph (perhaps a passage from a non-fiction science or social studies article) and use this tool on your interactive whiteboard for students to "figure out" the missing words. Do the same with world language texts to reverse match using subject verb agreement and to analyze missing content using inflected endings. In science class, use this site to remove clues from a paragraph explaining a concepts or terms, subtracting information and having students fill it back in as they review for test and quizzes. Learning support teachers will love this option! Enter passage students write that include new vocabulary words, letting students challenge each other by subtracting portions. Speech and language teachers can use this tool to provide practice with expressive language.For work with memorization, use this site with popular song lyrics in class. Listen to the song first and give the students the lyrics to be memorized. Or, go to YouLyrics (if district policy allows) to get the song and see a video of it and then have the students use this site to help them memorize the lyrics. ESL, ELL, and students of other languages will enjoy memorizing songs which helps them improve their vocabulary and accent. Use this site in a group by projecting the screen on a whiteboard or projector and systematically show fewer and fewer words on the screen. Have teams of students compete against each other by writing the text as quickly as possible on two boards in the classroom. Share this link on your class website for students to use both in and out of the class to memorize new information. Share it as a personal study skills tool, as well.
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Teacher Training Videos - Russell Stannard
Grades
K to 12tag(s): professional development (388), spelling (95), tutorials (51), vocabulary (235)
In the Classroom
Use the links on the left hand side to find videos on how to use some of the most popular and useful classroom sites around. Find something of use in the vast array available for viewing. The screencasts of the web 2.0 sites offer step by step instructions to help novice and intermediate users in their use in the classroom. Videos are organized into topics with multiple tools showcased in the segment. Find quick videos at the bottom of the page which highlight just one tool. Even teachers of very young students will find many of the tools explained helpful for their own use in creating learning materials, centers, etc.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Common Craft - Lee Lefeever
Grades
K to 12tag(s): blogs (66), media literacy (102), movies (51), tutorials (51), video (256), wikis (15)
In the Classroom
Start by looking at any video that catches your eye, but don't be afraid to search for other topics that have you wondering. You will definitely want to make this channel a Favorite to find information to keep you informed. Share it on your teacher web page to help out your parents, too! Create an account to add as favorites and subscribe to the channel to inform you when new videos are added.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Caldecott Winners - American Library Association
Grades
K to 10tag(s): book lists (159)
In the Classroom
Save this site on your classroom favorite's on your computer to assist students in finding books to read and sample illustrations for art class and students' own stories. This is a great link to provide on your class website for students to access at home. Within the classroom, have students choose a former Caldecott winner to read and create a multimedia presentation. Use a tool such as bubbl.us (reviewed here) to create and share concept maps about the books.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Legends of America - Legends of America.org
Grades
6 to 9tag(s): louisiana purchase (5), photography (131), westward expansion (38)
In the Classroom
This website would be an excellent resource for researching in American History courses. Challenge students to take the information beyond plain vanilla. Try having students create an online tour of places along the Oregon Trail or a tour of mining towns of the gold rush. Have students use a mapping tool such as Zeemaps, reviewed here, to create a map of the historic locations (with audio stories and pictures included)! Or challenge students to narrate an image using Thinglink, reviewed here. Thinglink site allows users to narrate a picture.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Movieclips - movieclips.com
Grades
2 to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Use the clips for vocabulary with ESL or ELL students. Introduce other curriculum topics or lessons using the clips on this site. For example, use video clips to get students thinking about concepts such as tornadoes, animals, feelings, or decision-making. As you teach about characterization in literature or creative writing, use movie clips to illustrate how a writer can "show not tell" about a characters personality or motivations. Have students observe the outward signs the actor uses to SHOW what he/she is feeling, then use these signs in writing their own stories: the way the eyebrows move, the body language, etc. Emotional support and autistic support teachers can use the clips to help students learn to "read" human feelings.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Blabberize - Mobouy Inc.
Grades
1 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): animation (61), back to school (62), communication (136), firstday (22), images (270), photography (131)
In the Classroom
If your students have never tried to make a Blabber, select Browse to share the an introduction blab on the home page on a projector or interactive whiteboard. You may want to create one of your own to share, and then have the class create one, all projected on your whiteboard. Browse a few examples first to get ideas on how to make a mouth on your photo to move and "talk." Be sure to turn up your sound! Have a student demonstrate uploading an image from a safe and legal source. You may want to use a single, whole-class account you create with your "extra" email account. Be sure to spell out consequences of inappropriate use/content of blabs. Have students enter the site through the "Make" page link provided in this review to steer clear of the "latest" blabs. You may want your students to make their blabs "private" so they do not show on the public areas, depending on school policies. If you are implementing technology in your classroom, this is an augmentation tool.Blab the homework directions on your teacher web page. Have your students use photos or digital drawings to "blab"! Have students draw in a paint program, save the file, and then make it "speak." Spice up research projects about historic figures or important scientists. Have literary characters tell about themselves. This tool is great for gifted students to go above and beyond the basics with an independent project. Create entire conversation sequences of blabs between people in world language or ENL/ESL classes (with students speaking in the language, of course), then embed them in a wiki. Have speech/language students make blabs to practice articulation and document progress over time. Promote oral reading fluency with student-read blabs. Create book "commercials." Have students blab what the author may have been thinking as he/she wrote a poem or literary selection or as an artist painted. Blab politicians' major platform planks during campaigns for current events. Blab the steps to math problem solving. Even primary students can make an animal blab about his habitat if you set up the blab as a center. Make visual vocabulary/terminology sentences with an appropriate character using the term in context (a beaker explaining how it is different from a flask?) Students could also take pictures of themselves doing a lab and then blab the pictures to explain the concepts. This would be a great first day project (introducing yourself and breaking the ice). Share the class blabs on your class web page or wiki! Give directions to your class (for when a substitute is there). Use at back to school night to grab parents' attention for important information.
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Ides of March Resources - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12tag(s): julius caesar (5)
In the Classroom
Use the resources in this collection to add to your classroom during a lesson on the Ides of March. The resources listed can be used for webquests, learning centers, lesson plans and the like! History and Language Arts teachers will appreciate this one.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Veteran's Day Resources - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Take advantage of the resources in this collection to add to your classroom during a unit on Veteran's Day. The links on this site could be used for lesson plans, webquests, learning centers & the like!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Native American Resources - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12tag(s): india (25), native americans (91)
In the Classroom
Use the resources in this collection to help supplement and plan for a unit on Native American cultures. Use the links here for webquests, learning centers, lesson plans & the like.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Big Huge Thesaurus - Big Huge Labs
Grades
1 to 12tag(s): rhymes (21), thesaurus (22), vocabulary (235), word study (58), writing (315), writing prompts (57)
In the Classroom
Keep this link handy among the resources on your class web page or wiki, and be sure to bring it up on your screen or interactive whiteboard to remind students of the rich tools it offers as you teach grammar, revision, poetry, essay-writing, or even letter and resume writing. With primary grades, share the rhyming words to help teach spelling and phonics! As students share in revising a passage or writing a poem on the interactive whiteboard, have this thesaurus available on another window to model their search for just the right word. Encourage students to look up any new vocabulary or terminology at the start of new science or social studies units so they can gain a broader "sense" of the words themselves through a constellation of synonyms and related words. Help students refine vocabulary by having them rank the various synonyms offered for a certain word, deciding which has the most positive or negative connotations. Offer the writing prompts for student journal or blog posts or creative stories. ESL/ELL students can explore new words with this tool, even practicing the rhyming sounds and noticing their varied spellings. Check out the Big Huge Labs educator account. Easily pre-register students to avoid creating logins, view and download their creations, and view the site advertisement free. You will find information about the Educator Account here.NOTE: If students enter an inappropriate word, they WILL find classroom-inappropriate terms. As with use of any reference, your students need to know your classroom's consequences of such activity. The options are no different from students looking up body parts or pornographic terms in a print dictionary or on Google.
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Magazine Cover Maker - Big Huge Labs
Grades
3 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): bulletin boards (14), collages (20), firstday (22), flickr (2), images (270), posters (47)
In the Classroom
Enhance classroom technology use by using this tool with your students. They will need to know how to locate your photos on your computer or photo sharing site. Click the little white boxes to change text colors, etc. as you enter desired text. SAVE your completed cover when done. Be sure to give it a meaningful name if you are creating several covers on the same computer!Check out the Big Huge Labs educator account. Easily pre-register students to avoid creating logins, view and download their creations, and view the site advertisement free. You will find information about the Educator Account here. If you and your students simply use the tool without joining the site, there are no problems with email, profiles, etc. You do need to demonstrate the tool and specifically explain which links students should NOT use, including ads and links to social networking sites that are prohibited in your school. These may be blocked, anyway. Make sure you watch and teach copyright issues in snatching photos from the web.
Have students create magazine covers of themselves as a getting to know you activity and classroom bulletin board. Print and laminate magazine covers to make them appear even more authentic. Or share the images (WITHOUT student names) on your class wiki or web page. When doing reports for any subject, have students create magazine covers that mimic the real thing instead of boring plain covers. Make covers about famous Americans, scientists, or historic figures. Make covers about objects, as well. Assign students to research a vegetable and create a cover about its nutrients, recipes, and more as part of your nutrition unit! Guidance teachers or principals can feature exemplary students using this tool. Bulletin board creativity will skyrocket using Big Huge Labs Magazine Cover. Why not offer a rotating PowerPoint slide show of student-made magazine covers for parents to view as they wait in the hallway for conferences?
Edge Features:
Includes an education-only area for teachers and students
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Requires registration/log in (NO email)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
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English Central - englishcentral.com
Grades
5 to 12Registration does require an email address. Tip: rather than using your personal or work email, create a free Gmail account to use for memberships. If you plan to have students register individually, you may want to create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes.If you plan to have students register individually, you may want to create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes. Here is a blog post that tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service.
tag(s): listening (68), pronunciation (33), speech (66)
In the Classroom
Refer your ESL/ELL or speech articulation students to this site to use with a microphone to record their voices. Be sure to show them the demo so they can learn how to use the tools on the site and click to "allow" the mike to record. Help weaker readers by allowing them to see the text of film clips as they listen along, then speak the words back. As they practice English pronunciation, they will also be learning about current events and other topics. Save this site in your favorites on your classroom computer. List this site on your class webpage for students to access (and practice) both in and out of the classroom. Check you school policies before setting up any student accounts with identifiable information or real email addresses.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Reading is Fundamental - Parent Literacy Resources - Reading is Fundamental (RIF)
Grades
K to 8tag(s): audio books (23), authors (103), literacy (106), summer (28)
In the Classroom
Provide this link to parents in support of your in-school reading program. Be sure to share this link before school breaks so parents can support literacy at home to prevent "summer slide."Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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