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UJAM - Make Your Music - UJAM Incorporated
Grades
4 to 12
0 Favorites
0 Comments
Create free songs without musical talent! Simply record your voice (even talking and not singing!). This free site synchronizes your voice and its speed to a variety of different background...more
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Create free songs without musical talent! Simply record your voice (even talking and not singing!). This free site synchronizes your voice and its speed to a variety of different background music options. Change the style, tone, and pace of your voice. Save your song in MP3 format. At the time of this review, this site was still in Beta. Some of the videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid reviewed here to download the videos from YouTube.
tag(s): musical notation (37), songs (53)
In the Classroom
Use this tool to create a song to explain a homework assignment or class concept. Afraid that your students will find it "strange" or "dorky"? What better way to get their attention and make something stick! Students will love to play around with this site and use it for creating projects. The creative potential is unlimited. Imagine if students were assigned the task to create a song to review a set of terms or a new concept, and they actually listened to the resulting files! Remember, the best way to learn content... is to teach about it! Have students write poems and recite them with musical accompaniment. For Dr. Suess birthday, try to make Suess-like poems about science, social studies, or math terms and setting them to music.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)
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Mastery Connect - Doug Weber and Mick Hewitt
Grades
K to 12
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0 Comments
Easily get a snapshot of students' mastery of core concepts in the classroom. Create formative assessment questions tied to a specific objective in the state curriculum. This tool ensures...more
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Easily get a snapshot of students' mastery of core concepts in the classroom. Create formative assessment questions tied to a specific objective in the state curriculum. This tool ensures that every question on formative quizzes is important, shows mastery of concepts, and is linked to the curriculum. The grade book, or "tracker," uses red, yellow, and green color coding to show mastery. The free account allows ten question quizzes. You can easily share assessments (even those aligned with the Common Core) with others. Resources such as Khan Academy videos are also linked to the Common Core. Registration is required, and the free version has limitations. Read the Plans and Pricing information.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): assessment (107), quiz (88), quizzes (100)
In the Classroom
Use these short quizzes to track mastery of concepts by all students in your class. Use this site to pretest your gifted students. If the gifted students already know the material, allow them to advance to another topic. The quick feedback allows greater opportunity to focus on students who need additional help. Share the assessment with others on your team or even with parents. Use this tool to pinpoint student understanding and difficulties.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Mightybell - Gina Bianchini
Grades
9 to 12
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Mightybell connects people based upon their passions and interests. Mightybell brings together People, Content (including photos), Conversations, and Events. Login using Facebook, LinkedIn,...more
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Mightybell connects people based upon their passions and interests. Mightybell brings together People, Content (including photos), Conversations, and Events. Login using Facebook, LinkedIn, or email. Create a community that reflects your specific interests. Within the community, create specific circles for topics within your interest. Live chat and content are easily viewed on the screen. Create an invitation-only private space or a public community. Posts of members can be edited or deleted by the space creators. (Co-creators can also be added to share the responsibility.) You can determine the frequency of email received. This tool archives all conversations and content for access by those in the community or circle. You must be 13 to use this site. If you are under 18, you need the permission of a parent or guardian to use it.
tag(s): social networking (112)
In the Classroom
Use Mightybell to begin communities that reflect student interests. For example, create a Photography community with various circles within the community such as Black and White, Digital, Landscape, etc. Create private communities for almost every subject for students who have passions for Literature, Science, History, Food and Cooking, Art, and more. Use to develop research projects or student portfolios with circles of students and teachers offering critiques and feedback. Create literature circles, book clubs, a writers' community, and even specific clubs within the school. Use this tool with colleagues to co-create materials to use with content units or materials to use for flipping the classroom. Use this tool for professional development. Load resources into the community and create circles for the various discussions of professional development. Presenting at a conference? Use this resource to share presenter materials and continue the discussion after the presentation.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
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
Includes teacher tools for registering and/or monitoring students
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Build with Chrome - Google Chrome and LEGO
Grades
K to 12
4 Favorites
1 Comments
A worldwide virtual LEGO playground, Build with Chrome offers online LEGO bricks to capture your creativity. Jump right in or take some lessons in the Build Academy from master...more
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A worldwide virtual LEGO playground, Build with Chrome offers online LEGO bricks to capture your creativity. Jump right in or take some lessons in the Build Academy from master builder, Vitruvius. Vitruvius guides you through a series of increasingly complex tasks as you unlock more bricks along the way. You must sign in to Google Chrome to publish your completed projects. You will also receive a URL to share your creation! If you do not have a Chrome account, you can take screenshots of the different views to save what you built. Explore other builds through a clickable Google Map. Choose a plot anywhere in the world to build! At the time of this review, Build with Chrome works only on the Chrome web browser and up-to-date Firefox browsers. It also works well on Android mobile devices. iOS mobile devices using the Chrome Browser do NOT support Build with Chrome. (Apple and Google are in competition, remember.) Piece together your ideas using Build with Chrome's collection of colorful bricks.
tag(s): architecture (84), creative writing (171), creativity (119), engineering (127), geometric shapes (165), structures (24), tessellations (6)
In the Classroom
Allow your students to explore a virtual LEGO playground without having to keep the plastic bins organized! Create a whole class account if your students do not have their own emails or use the Gmail sub account trick explained here. Challenge them to see how large a building they can build with only a limited number of bricks. Have your students build two dimensional tessellations or something that represents a geometric shape. Teach basic math concepts such as volume or multiplication by counting brick units. Your students can select a place in the world to build and research the architectural designs associated with that location. Challenge your students to build a design to fit that geographic environment. Encourage your students to locate and research different historical monuments or buildings around the world and recreate them using the virtual LEGO bricks. Have your students research the ecology and climate of where they are building. Your students can construct creations for humans or animals that live in that ecosystem. Integrate writing with your students Build with Chrome creations. Have them write descriptions and explanations of their designs. Your students can also write stories about events that may have occurred at the building they created. Assign your students different regions around the world and challenge them to build a cultural center for the area. Use the Google Maps interface to travel around the world as students use Swipe, reviewed here, to present information of their Build with Chrome building and the culture. Create your own town with the buildings created by your students. Create a newspaper for your town using a site such as Zinepal, reviewed here. Click to "Start with a blank e-Book." This is a great tool for cross-grade activities in a gifted program or sharing among students in several schools.Comments
This is a great idea. My school has a lego club and this would be great for the students.Lorraine, VA, Grades: 1 - 3
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Kickboard for Teachers - Kickboard
Grades
K to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Kickboard for Teachers is an online grade book that includes features to track student behavior, facilitate parent communication, and to identify trends in student responses. It offers...more
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Kickboard for Teachers is an online grade book that includes features to track student behavior, facilitate parent communication, and to identify trends in student responses. It offers the ability to correlate assessments to specific skills or standards including state and Common Core standards. Use features in Kickboard to personalize reward and consequence systems to meet individual needs. View snapshots of individual students showing overall performance on a group of skills as well as comparisons to group performance. Class setup and data input is quick and easy. Information is automatically backed up and saved. View an introductory video before starting to use this site.
tag(s): assessment (107), classroom management (150), data (152)
In the Classroom
Up to three teachers in an individual school may use Kickboard for free. Use Kickboard to collaborate and share data with other teachers for a particular class or group of students. This would be especially helpful for collaborating between learning support and regular classroom teachers when using a behavior plan. Share Kickboard information with parents as part of your ongoing communication process. Use Kickboard to collect and gather information for IEP and other intervention and data collection meetings. Track student behavior for positive reinforcement or discipline purposes. This versatile tool has many possibilities.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Here There Everywhere- News for Kids - Claudia David Heitler - News for Kids, Inc.
Grades
4 to 10
2 Favorites
0 Comments
Find news features on current events, politics, space, weather, sports, and more. This would be useful in any classroom where a "knowledge of the now" is a focus. At the ...more
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Find news features on current events, politics, space, weather, sports, and more. This would be useful in any classroom where a "knowledge of the now" is a focus. At the time of this review some of the specific topics included granting a wish to a terminally ill young child, remembering JFK 50 years after his assassination, a football game honoring a special needs student, the discovery of new planets, and much more. Subscribe to their newsletter to receive updates on new articles. For an interesting discussion about who writes these news stories, take a look at "About." The site creator used to be a producer for the Today Show!
tag(s): news (265)
In the Classroom
Use this site as a resource for current events. The reading level of the stories is generally upper elementary, but the topics are of interest through high school. These short articles would be great for practice with informational texts. Keep this site as part of a list for students to access, including weaker readers and ESL/ELL students who can use the videos to aid understanding. Have students research whats going on via this news site, and present a small presentation at the beginning of class. Students can either present orally or, for the technologically inclined, create a short video summarizing the same information. Consider using a bookmark site such as Diigo, reviewed here, to share newsworthy items that correlate with your class curriculum.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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J. Paul Getty Museum - Khan Academy - J. Paul Getty Museum
Grades
4 to 12
3 Favorites
0 Comments
The J. Paul Getty Museum has curated a special section for the Khan Academy video library reviewed here sharing many different kinds of art featured...more
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The J. Paul Getty Museum has curated a special section for the Khan Academy video library reviewed here sharing many different kinds of art featured within the museum. View close to 100 different videos on art topics such as photographs, paintings, and art conservation. One section focuses on art videos just for kids with discussions on important art pieces. The videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid reviewed here to download the videos from YouTube.
tag(s): art history (72), artists (76), drawing (81), photography (161)
In the Classroom
Display and use these short videos on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) to introduce art to students. Challenge cooperative learning groups to create videos based on other famous works of art (or their own artwork) and share them on a site such as TeacherTube reviewed here. Work together with your school's art teacher on a collaborative project with student writing scripts about art. Have older students explore areas of this site to find artwork from the time period they are studying in Social Studies classes or from a culture they are learning about in world language class. Why not have students create multimedia presentations about the style of art from specific time periods using one of the many TeachersFirst Edge tools reviewed here. Use artwork videos as one of several choices for writing prompts in your English class. Students could write about the importance of art to a culture and use the video as an example to focus on.
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Flippity - Flippity.net
Grades
6 to 12
6 Favorites
0 Comments
Easily create flashcards from Google spreadsheet data using Flippity. Simple directions offer clear instruction about downloading the template and entering data terms. Publish data...more
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Easily create flashcards from Google spreadsheet data using Flippity. Simple directions offer clear instruction about downloading the template and entering data terms. Publish data and receive the url for viewing and sharing your flashcard set. Completed sets offer options for viewing either side of cards, moving through the set, and reloading/reshuffling the set. While registration is not required for this tool, you do need a Google account. Flippity also offers several other activities you may find useful such as Quiz Show, Spelling Words, Mad Lib, Badge Tracker, and others.
tag(s): flash cards (47), game based learning (114), quiz (88), quizzes (100), test prep (96), vocabulary (324), vocabulary development (124)
In the Classroom
This is a fantastic tool for vocabulary development in any subject area! Create flashcards for your classes or have them make their own using individual or a whole class Google account. Use them as an introduction to a concept, then again in the practice of the concept, and again as a final review. It is a nice three-for-one deal! Use with science terms or for standardized test preparation. Have students create flashcards and share with each other to quiz themselves within their own groups. Encourage students in upper grades to create their own spreadsheet and flash card sets. Show them how to carefully read through their classroom notes and underline the most important word or words in a sentence. Then have them leave out the most important words for their flashcards. Learning support teachers might want to have small groups create cards together to review before tests. Have students create flash card sets to "test" classmates on what they "teach" in oral reports. Create and collect sets of vocabulary cards for your world language or ESL/ELL classes.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Delivr - delivr.com
Grades
K to 12
0 Favorites
0 Comments
Delivr combines a URL shortening/tracking service with a QR-Code generator to easily share web-based information such as links to videos or web sites. Copy/paste any url into the bar....more
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Delivr combines a URL shortening/tracking service with a QR-Code generator to easily share web-based information such as links to videos or web sites. Copy/paste any url into the bar. Use the drop-down menu for sources such as YouTube or Flickr; then press enter to shorten the url and share. Share options include Facebook, Twitter, or as a QR code to save in several different formats. Free sign-up offers additional options such as an account dashboard that allows you to manage campaigns, produce reports, and download QR codes. The FREE plan requires email registration and allows 25 "active campaigns" or services for one user.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): qr codes (22)
In the Classroom
Use Delivr to shorten and share any long url. If you have a BYOD or 1:1 classroom with mobile devices, be sure they include free QR reader apps to open the codes you create. Create a QR code that directs to your class site or blog and include it on handouts for Back to School night. Create a QR code scavenger hunt for students, making a webquest or research project more engaging. Add QR codes to documents for students to access a key or information to check their answers to questions. Expand knowledge of a topic by adding a QR code to a site that goes beyond the textbook. Create a data chart accessible via a QR code. Students can easily access the data and manipulate the information. Have students create a book trailer or review and affix a QR code to the outside of the book. (Students may be more apt to read a book that has been reviewed by another student.) Make a display completely interactive with a QR code that describes the assignment, the process, the research, student's reactions and more! Add extra help information to any assignment that asks students to solve problems. Create an online help tutorial accessible via a QR code, and place the code beside a similar problem. Even non-readers can use QR codes that lead to images or videos. Link directly to a Google Map. Place QR code contact information for you and your school on contact cards to give to parents. Attach QR codes to physical objects around the room to provide information about the object. Place the links in a newsletter using QR codes instead of a series of words that need to be typed.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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One Big Photo - Joao Martins
Grades
6 to 12
0 Favorites
0 Comments
Explore amazing photography from around the world at One Big Photo. Photos are user-submitted and shown via a selection process. They are not for sale. Choose from several different...more
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Explore amazing photography from around the world at One Big Photo. Photos are user-submitted and shown via a selection process. They are not for sale. Choose from several different categories such as animals, black and white, landscape, and people. You can also click to view a random photo. Other search options include browsing top rated images or galleries. Click any image to view the large, high quality image. Note that right-clicking does not offer options to download images. The intent is that you will view images ON this site. Although this site does include a lot of advertisements, it is worth taking a look! This site does have social features such as "likes" and links to external sites.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): photography (161), writing prompts (95)
In the Classroom
Find interesting photographs to use as creative writing prompts and for daily journal writing. Be sure to explore the site on your own before sharing with students who will be distracted by ads as this site is heavy with unfiltered advertising. Project the image full screen to avoid seeing as many distractions. Art and photography teachers will enjoy using this site for sharing interesting examples of design principles on the fly. It is not easy to "find" a photo from another session easily, so open the site and keep it open if you want to keep a certain photo on your screen. Alternatively, open the image to the large view and copy the url for the photo (or mark in Favorites) to revisit it later. Assign students (those who can ignore ads) to "collect" urls for a curated collection of images illustrating a design principle or demonstrating a photographic style they would like to present to the class.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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HapYak Interactive Video - HapYak
Grades
3 to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Take any video to the next level by adding interactive content such as links, quizzes, drawings and more. Add chapters to videos over two minutes in length for viewers to ...more
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Take any video to the next level by adding interactive content such as links, quizzes, drawings and more. Add chapters to videos over two minutes in length for viewers to jump directly to important content. Sign up using your email and a password to begin creating content on any video. Follow the step by step directions for adding your video link and title. Videos can be located on any public site such as YouTube or Vimeo. Once the video is available, use links at the bottom of the screen to draw, add images from a url or your computer, create a quiz and more. When finished, share using the url provided or the embed code. The FREE plan includes 20 public videos and 1 author. All other features are the same (or very similar) to the paid plans.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Create videos for your students or have older students create videos to share with others (using a teacher-controlled email registration). Read tips for safely managing email registrations here. Tag key points at which students might have questions. At those points insert tags that reveal clarifying information from another video, a web page, an image, or an audio recording. If using student-created videos or having students create the HapYak video, check your school policy about sharing student work on the Internet. If using with students, be sure to discuss appropriate/inappropriate annotations to make on videos. Also discuss the fact that you are using someone else's video and should give proper credit for it. Embed annotated videos in your class wiki for the class to find them easily. Projects students could make include a cultural tour of a country, a detailed biography, or an author study to play in the library/media center.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Calendly - calendly.com
Grades
K to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
Calendly is an appointment scheduling tool that syncs with your Google Calendar. Sign in with your Google login and set up scheduling pages with your availability preferences. Choose...more
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Calendly is an appointment scheduling tool that syncs with your Google Calendar. Sign in with your Google login and set up scheduling pages with your availability preferences. Choose from several options for length of appointments. Next, describe your event and even add additional questions for invitees if desired. Advanced options allow for making events public, limiting the number of participants, and minimizing schedule notice time. You can add buffer time before and after appointments. Share the link with anyone needing to schedule an appointment with you. They simply visit your calendar to schedule an appointment, and it appears automatically on your calendar. Invitees receive a confirmation screen upon completion of scheduling that includes a link to add the event to their own calendar.
tag(s): calendars (46), organizational skills (128)
In the Classroom
Use Calendly to schedule parent or student conferences that meet mutual scheduling needs. Create events for professional development sessions. Have participants choose a time for attending or presenting at sessions. Share with your school's Parent Teacher Organization as an excellent scheduling tool for any event. Link this up with your Google Calendar and save time, emails, phone calls, and more!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Flipboard - Flipboard
Grades
3 to 12
3 Favorites
1 Comments
Use Flipboard to collect, explore, and share information from many sources, all in a magazine-style format. Flipboard can hold specific articles and images you choose or a dynamic "feed"...more
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Use Flipboard to collect, explore, and share information from many sources, all in a magazine-style format. Flipboard can hold specific articles and images you choose or a dynamic "feed" from a web source such as CNN, a Twitter hashtag, or a favorite blog. Most Flipboard consumers read their magazines on mobile devices, but you can manage and access your magazines from the "web tools" page (the link from this review) on a computer. Create your personal magazine(s) with things you care about: news, staying connected, social networks, and more. Create an account with Flipboard and then connect with LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube. Click the More panel to browse other categories and add them to your magazines. Drag the Flipboard button to your bookmarks bar or use the Flipboard app on your smartphone or tablet. Find an article you want to add to your collection? Click the + button next to the article to save it or simply click "Flip It" on your computer's browser toolbar to add that web page to your magazine. Edit your magazines online and share with friends and colleagues. View your RSS feeds or follow your news stream in social media with this magazine-style interface. Most of the tutorial videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home. If you want to share the videos with students, bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid, reviewed here, to download the videos from YouTube. Flipboard is a device agnostic tool. Load the free app on mobile devices.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (170), news (265), social networking (112), video (276)
In the Classroom
Create a class Flipboard account and create magazines for each unit studied through the year. Add information that is useful for student understanding, application of concepts, or materials to be used for projects. Create a magazine of great articles and information to read or search through. Consider creating a Flipboard magazine for student current events or happenings. Use this for reports on various topics such as food issues, diseases, political information, cultures around the world, and more. Make a customized "feed" for more advanced information on a topic for your gifted and advanced students. Students can curate a Flipboard of pictures or videos from the web on a certain topic to share with their classmates. Create a Professional Development Flipboard with other teachers. Teacher-librarians may want to work together with classroom teachers to create magazines of certain content for students to use during research units. Challenge your middle and high school gifted students to curate a magazine for themselves on a topic of individual interest, creating a "PLN" they can use for years. For example, a student interested in rocketry can locate and add blogs from rocket scientists, NASA feeds, and more. Talented writers may want to collect feeds from literary publications and author blogs. They will probably also discover related Flipboards created by others. As gifted students' interests change, they can curate other topical "magazines" to keep learning, even if the topics do not fall within the traditional curriculum. You may find that the personalization of learning is something ALL your students want to do.
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Comments
There are amazing collections on this site.Cindi, NC, Grades: 0 - 6
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Hootsuite - Hootsuite Media, Inc.
Grades
9 to 12
3 Favorites
0 Comments
Manage all of your social networks (Twitter, Linkedin, Google+ Pages, Facebook, and more) from one place: HootSuite. This is especially helpful for professional development or for organizing...more
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Manage all of your social networks (Twitter, Linkedin, Google+ Pages, Facebook, and more) from one place: HootSuite. This is especially helpful for professional development or for organizing class learning experiences via Twitter. Learn more about Twitter in this review and TeachersFirst's Twitter for Teachers page. Use Hootsuite to easily and quickly receive updates from followers, direct messages, Facebook updates, and follow hashtag conversations all in one convenient interface. Use this application to follow the multitude of educational chats on Twitter using hashtags. Need help using Hootsuite? Click "Resources" on the site to find help with various issues, as well as video tutorials. Hootsuite is available as an add-in for many browsers as well as an app for mobile devices.
tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (170), social networking (112), twitter (44)
In the Classroom
Set up Hootsuite by providing information such as your Twitter and Facebook name. Create columns for the various conversations such as "All Friends," "Facebook status updates," "Direct Messages," and more. Create a new Column to follow all the tweets of a particular person or a specific hashtag. Simply enter the username or the hashtag to instantly follow all conversations. Have more than one Twitter account? No problem. Follow all conversations by adding up to five accounts. Click on the picture of each follower for simple commands such as "Reply," "Retweet," "Direct Message," or "Other actions" to manage the user or the Tweet given. Easily follow or unfollow others. Create a column for each hashtag for the best way to keep track of chats on education topics.Check that Twitter is accessible at school. Twitter is safest used as a whole class activity. If using Twitter with students, be sure you are following the students in order to monitor their use. Set up searches for curriculum-related topics, such as climate change or earthquakes. Use this tool to manage some of the best professional development around. Learn from other like educators, and challenge thinking and learning to greatly impact the lives of your students. Create connections that help you grow as an individual and an educator. Find more ideas in TeachersFirst's Twitter review.
If you teach gifted students, use Hootsuite on classroom computers for them to set up specific searches related to the topics your class is studying. Challenge them to act as your class Twitter curators, checking out related articles and links that will bring more real-world examples to the rest of the class or raise related debates that the gifted student can investigate. Find professionals in the field for your gifted students to ask questions about their science experiments and interests. Be sure to discuss safety and responsible online behavior if you permit students to send tweets on their own. Of course you will be able to "see" what they have sent if they use a class account.
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PollCode - Boardhost.com
Grades
3 to 12
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Looking for a way to quickly collect answers or opinions? Use PollCode to quickly create and embed a poll on your website. You can also share it using a simple ...more
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Looking for a way to quickly collect answers or opinions? Use PollCode to quickly create and embed a poll on your website. You can also share it using a simple link. Receive a breakdown of responses. Fill in the question along with up to 30 answer options. Use the code provided to embed the poll on any website. Share the poll also using social media share buttons. Sharing the poll by link allows users to also leave comments. Polls stay online until they have received no responses for 30 days.
In the Classroom
Share polls on a projector or interactive whiteboard to discuss and informally assess prior knowledge as you start a new unit, asking questions about the material. Discuss in groups why students would choose a particular answer to uncover misconceptions. Use for Daily quiz questions to check student understanding as a means of formative assessment. Use a class account to have student groups alternate to create a new poll for the next day. Place a poll on your teacher web page as a homework inspiration or to ask questions to increase parent involvement. Older students may want to include polls on their student blogs to increase reader involvement. Have students create polls to use at the start of project presentations. Use polls to generate data for math class (graphing), during elections, or for critical thinking activities dealing with the interpretation of statistics. Use "real" data to engage students on issues and current events that matter to them.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History - Gilder Lehrman
Grades
4 to 12
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Discover American History through images, exhibits, primary sources, and more with The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. As a teacher or student, you can have free access...more
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Discover American History through images, exhibits, primary sources, and more with The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. As a teacher or student, you can have free access to the website. Find history by era beginning in the 1620's. Look at Native Americans, Colonization, The American Revolution, National Expansionism, Civil War and Reconstruction, Industrial America, The Great Depression and World War II, all the way to current times. There are special programs and exhibits for teachers and students. A large collection of primary sources complements many studies in social studies-- and literacy. As a member, save all of your favorites and make lists for each area of study. The multimedia tab reveals documentaries, videos and virtual field trips. History Now publishes monthly newsletters.
tag(s): 1600s (14), american revolution (89), civil war (145), colonization (17), great depression (26), industrial revolution (25), literacy (106), native americans (78), westward expansion (29), world war 2 (141)
In the Classroom
Find many lesson plans, resources, and primary documents to enrich your history lessons. Make a splash with visual learners by starting class with artifacts from an era displayed on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Explore primary sources and historic texts as part of a Common Core literacy program cooperating among English, reading, and history teachers. Have your students sign up to enjoy access to all the resources. Challenge cooperative learning groups to choose a specific historical time period and become "experts." Have the groups create presentations to share with the class about what they learn. Use a tool like Zoho Show (similar to Powerpoint, but easier and free) reviewed here.
This resource requires Adobe Flash and PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.
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100Reporters - 100 Reporters
Grades
8 to 12
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One hundred of the World's top reporters have joined forces to take aim at corruption around the World. View news stories include various topics such as Agriculture, Business, Government,...more
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One hundred of the World's top reporters have joined forces to take aim at corruption around the World. View news stories include various topics such as Agriculture, Business, Government, and more. Be sure to click on the World tab to view articles by region. Build your own critical thinking as you read these articles and compare them with typical media sources. Although all articles appear perfectly appropriate for older students, we still suggest previewing this site before you share with students. Some of the topics are sensitive and/or graphic.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): media literacy (62), persuasive writing (56)
In the Classroom
In discussions of current events, find great news articles that get to the heart of the story. Compare them with other news outlets to discuss how money and the viewpoints of business owners can cloud the actual reporting. Be sure to discuss how to find parent websites by investigating the shortened address (url) of sites as well as the advertisements found on pages. Compare and contrast news stories found on a variety of news pages. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram (reviewed here) to compare two news stories. In world language or world cultures classes, discover what the "hot topics" are by looking at news stories from the region being studied. In writing classes, use these articles compared with those on the same topic from other sources for students to collect supporting evidence to use in essay writing.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Brainy Box - Russell Tarr
Grades
K to 12
5 Favorites
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Create a 3-D animated cube where you choose the content for each of the sides. No membership is required. Your Brainy Box cube is viewable on any device - even ...more
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Create a 3-D animated cube where you choose the content for each of the sides. No membership is required. Your Brainy Box cube is viewable on any device - even iPads and other tablets. Click through the tutorial by clicking the numbers under the cube and learn the details! When you are ready to create your own, click the New button to begin. Edit using standard web tools and click on a different cube face number to continue editing. Save your creation with a password to retrieve later. Be sure to save the url somewhere you can find it! Some of the introductory videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable. You could always view the videos at home and bring them to class "on a stick" to share. Use a tool such as KeepVid reviewed here to download the videos from YouTube.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): creativity (119), images (274), photography (161)
In the Classroom
Create a cube with various aspects of information about curriculum content to be shared with students. Even the non-readers could navigate a teacher-created cube if videos (or graphics) are included instead of words. Use a Brainy Box cube to give directions and examples to a specific project assigned to students. Create a cube about a particular person or event from history. Decide on the parameters for each of the sides of the cube before assigning. Create a cube to include specific information from characters in novels. Create a Brainy box to include related images or words. Students can brainstorm how these images or words are related. Assign a Brainy Box with student's favorite artwork and reasons chosen from their work through the year. Use a Brainy Box as a visual aid for student presentations. Challenge students to create their own Brainy Box on nearly any subject. Some additional ideas shared from Brainy Box: Produce a "Who" cube with an image and five key aspects of a character; Summarize a key topic with two facts, two images, and two videos; and Summarize a key event looking at different times in history. The possibilities here are endless! See more ideas in this review of a similar tool (3D Photo Cube) that creates a cube of still images.Edge Features:
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
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Cacheopedia - Cacheopedia
Grades
4 to 12
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Interested in geocaching (or want to know what it is?) This wiki offers an encyclopedia of geocaching. Cacheopedia indexes everything about geocaching. Learn the basics of geocaching....more
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Interested in geocaching (or want to know what it is?) This wiki offers an encyclopedia of geocaching. Cacheopedia indexes everything about geocaching. Learn the basics of geocaching. Find vocabulary, guides, and even communities. Use GPS units or GPS-enabled smart phones to get started geocaching.
In the Classroom
Incorporate geocaching into geography, math, science, history, English, and physical education curricula. Develop understanding of latitude, longitude, and basic geography. Create lessons (or even better, have students do the creating) to learn about the area in which your students live. Encourage students to focus on places they have not been and include local history. Design a scavenger hunt around the school to move students through various caches and information they should gather or items they should see. Have a resource others would like to see? Read the Contribute section of Cacheopedia to write and submit information that others may find useful. Your students could, for example, create a geocache with a token about local history or biological species and help others learn from them! You might even make the "cached" item a QR code that directs to a wiki page your students create telling all about the local historic site or species found at the cache location. Learn more about QR Codes in this archived OK2Ask recording.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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BookRX - Knight Lab Northwestern University
Grades
K to 12
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BookRX finds and recommends books for you to read based on your Twitter feed. Allow the site access to your Twitter account and enter your handle. In a few seconds, ...more
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BookRX finds and recommends books for you to read based on your Twitter feed. Allow the site access to your Twitter account and enter your handle. In a few seconds, a suggested book list appears based on information found in your Twitter feed! The site finds books based on hashtags used and other users you follow. Book recommendations appear in several categories such as food, business, or science and technology.
tag(s): book lists (133), independent reading (129), professional development (156)
In the Classroom
Use BookRX as a fun way to find book recommendations you may not otherwise know about. In lower grades, this is likely to be a teacher-only tool. Share with older students who actively use Twitter to help them find new reading material. Use with your classroom Twitter account to find books related to curriculum topics your class has been tweeting about or experts you have been following. Teachers at ANY level who have established a Twitter presence can use it to find professional reading materials. Looking for more ways to use Twitter in the classroom? Read more about Twitter at TeachersFirst's Twitter for Teachers page.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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