TeachersFirst Resource Listings

Results: Recent | Alphabetical | Popular || Too many? - Try a Keyword Search.

Subject Results by title Records 1 to 20 of 242 | Previous 20 - Next 20 - New Search

September 11 Teacher Awards - Tribute World Trade Center Organization - Grades 0 to 12 - permalink -

Are you looking for ways to inspire meaningful discussions of September 11th and to help make sense of this tragedy? The Tribute World Trade Center Visitor Center of New York City presents awards to honor teachers who have created exemplary educational projects for students to express and sustain the memory of September 11th. This site shares their projects from the globe and involving all aspects of the arts and humanities, including history, language arts, visual, media and performing arts. Although this site is mainly designed for grades 5-12, there are some activities for younger elementary students found in the "Resources for Your Classroom" section of the site.
11421

In the Classroom:
Use these award winning ideas to commemorate September 11 in a lesson to demonstrate unity or build worldwide understanding. Use the concepts as a springboard to a collaborative project. Ideas vary from sending chains of origami cranes as a wish for peace, composing and singing a song for unity with an online tool such as Woices (beta)(a href="/single.cfm?id=10000">reviewed here), writing letters to local politicians, creating poems and transforming them into digital videos or multimedia presentations using Voicethread reviewed here, or taking responsibility for the environment while creating a sense of community by planting gardens. Choose from many ways to inspire students to recognize the importance of September 11 and to involve them in working together to become a more tolerant society. You might be so amazed with the results that you will want to submit your students’ projects to be considered for next year’s Tribute Center September 11th Teacher Awards. The annual award ceremony takes place on February 26, to commemorate the 1993 first attack on the World Trade Center.

Lit Tunes - Corndancer - Grades 5 to 12 - permalink -

Wow! Wow! At this site you will find lesson plans that connect grammar, literature, and music. Use music to teach students about sentence structure, plot elements, basic grammar, literary terms, and much more. You'll also find a database of hundreds of contemporary and classical literature titles connected to contemporary music. Click on "Connection" on the left to find music for every major work you will ever want to teach.
11326

In the Classroom:
Use the list to find literature you can use in your classroom. You may want to choose short stories or poems and their music so students will get the idea of how music and literature can fit together. Then have students choose appropriate contemporary music for an independent reading novel presentation or report. Have students figure out how they would divide up the book into sections. Then select a piece of (school appropriate) music that they think captures the feel or tone of each section. They record the pieces and possibly do voice-overs explaining what is happening in the novel during the piece of music and why they felt this piece of music fits the section of the novel. As a choice, students could use "podOmatic" to create podcasts (reviewed here). Or have students create Voicethreads reviewed here. Be sure to PLAY the music out loud as the student is talking. If you want students to “mix” music with their own computer, check out Garage Band (Mac) or Audacity (free download) available on Mac or Windows. Looking for more ways to use these audio tools? Take a look at a webquest explaining how these programs work (reviewed here).

Timelines.com - Timelines, Inc. - Grades 4 to 12 - permalink -

Teacher's First Edge Review: For moderately adventurous technology users. This site, containing tons of timelines is great for a number of different content areas. There are many video clips included. Search for the timeline of your choice, browse topics or people, or play timeline trivia. Topics range from Mark Twain to Women’s Suffrage to The Beatles to Lord of the Rings (and countless others). There is a lot of information written in a clear, understandable manner. Plus, the pictures help tell the story of the timeline. You can also contribute by creating events, voting, commenting, and adding descriptions, photos, and videos to this site.
10926

In the Classroom:
Skills needed: To contribute to the site, you must register. Registration requires an email address. To add events to the site, locate the "add event" found at the bottom of the Timelines.com homepage. Follow the very clear (with samples) directions to insert your own event. Viewing the timelines is simple. Click to watch videos, view the maps, click “Like” or “Dislike” or make comments by clicking on the words.

Safety Concerns: Monitor what students are viewing in the premade timelines. Also, teach students appropriate events to include and check their work before having them submit work so that they are more accurate. Registration requires an email address. 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. Here is a blog post that tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service.

Possible uses: Use the timelines on the site in science class to help students understand the history behind discoveries that they take for granted, such as the the space race. Today's students have never lived in a world where traveling to the moon was not possible, and understanding the history of the event could be very helpful in understanding the magnitude of such an event. This site would also be useful in art or music class. Have students investigate the history of their favorite group or type of music and create a multimedia presentation to share with the class. How about a video (including music, of course). Share the videos on a site such as SchoolTube (reviewed here).

Midomi - midomi.com - Grades 2 to 12 - permalink -

On this general music and music video site, students and teachers can find the name of a song they have forgotten by simply humming or singing into the computer mike. Note: when you click to sing or hum, you will get a message asking you to ALLOW or DENY permission for the web site to access your computer mike. IN some web browsers, the security settings may prohibit this. Test the tool on your computer to be sure it will work before assigning students to try it. It takes a little practice!
11024

In the Classroom:
Use this site for ear training. Play a reverse "Name that Tune" game to see how accurately the site finds songs. Try to find two songs with similar beginnings and see if the site can distinguish the two. Learn about other songs that have similar beginning melodies. ESL and ELL students can use this site and participate without knowing the English words for a song just by humming. Students can introduce their favorite songs this way.

Triptico: e-learning Design and Training - Triptico - Grades 0 to 12 - permalink -

The tools in this site can be used to create a wide variety of customized interactive activities. Each game is shown as an image; so it is easy get an idea of what the resource looks like at a glance. Find explanations of the function and possible uses of each game type as you click on the sample picture. Some activities include: word matching, drag and drop connections (Link Up),various types of spinners where you set the options available, and many more. On the menu bar at the top of the home page there is an option that narrows the choices of tools by category. These games would be great to help students study and what kind of methods work for them.
10882

In the Classroom:
Use these ready-made timers and other “utility” items as part of almost any lesson. The activities you and your students create using these tools can be used with a projector and an interactive whiteboard or adapted for a computer lab or small group activities. For example: The Interactive Graph tool can be used to discuss a story that students have read. Set each axis as a topic that compares and contrasts elements of the story. Then have students contribute and place ideas on the graph and give reasons for their idea and placement. This can be done as a class activity or students can do this in groups and then share the graph with the entire class. Have students create review or practice activities for their peers or themselves. Many of the tools are created using list of words, numbers, and phrases. Type and save the lists ahead of time, then copy and paste the list as needed. This saves time and allows lists to be used again. On the menu bar at the top of the home page there is an option that narrows the choices of tools by category. ESL and ELL teachers will find many of the tools useful for creating lessons from simple vocabulary to more complex ideas. Early readers can make or practice with these activities. Share the link on your class web page for students and parents to make their own review games at home, as well.

Wild Music - Association of Science - Technology Center - Grades 2 to 8 - permalink -

Engage students in the scientific study of sound while exploring the music of the natural world. This site accompanies the traveling exhibit “Wild Music.” It demonstrates how the sound of wildlife and nature inspires the creation of music. Students can compose music from the sounds of nature, compare their own hearing to other animals, and closely examine the sounds of songbirds. There are many interactives that will enrich any unit focusing on the science of sound.
10982

In the Classroom:
Enhance student awareness of the sounds common to their own community. Have students create soundtracks by combining industrial, animal, and earth sounds in the "Soundscapes" section of the site. Have students share their music via podcasts using a site such as PodOmatic (reviewed here). Then turn off the computer and go outside. Ask students to be still and pay attention to the sounds that surround them everyday. After absorbing these sounds, extend the lesson by having students record environmental sounds and create their own soundtrack with applications such as Garage Band or Audacity.

Plan a “field trip” to see “Wild Music” exhibit either in person or in virtual form. Download the Teacher Exhibition Guide and follow the lessons they suggest using before and after the visit. Each activity corresponds to a certain grade level and addresses the National Standards in Music and Science. Where is the exhibit showing? Click on the “Wild Music: The Exhibition” link to learn more.

Stories Behind the Songs; Introduction - Jonathan Chase - Grades 8 to 12 - permalink -

This site is part of the Musicians United for Songs in the Classroom, (M.U.S.I.C.), nonprofit website that promotes the educational use of songs by teachers in all subject areas. Here, the use and study of songs extends beyond traditional general music classrooms. Lyrics are a timeless expression of the human experience that captures the history that shapes our people and culture. The creative process of analyzing and interpreting song lyrics helps students to develop critical thinking and media literacy skills. In each song entry you will find information including artists' commentary, discussion of corresponding songs, referenced and related works for study and comparison, music and lyric resources, and samples of classroom activities. Song lyrics are a powerful teaching tool that engage, excite and motivate young people. Some songs only include lyrics, while others include video an/or audio. All students can learn, but first you must get their attention. This resource is music to their ears.
10945

In the Classroom:
Many students' favorite past time, when not texting or social networking, is listening to their iPods. Why not use that venue to hook them into understanding the 'music of poetry?" Stories Behind the Songs; Introduction includes the music, lyrics, song-based lessons, projects, and activities for many popular songs and ballads that express universal themes of poverty, hunger, discrimination, and hope. Students listen to the music and examine the origins and inspiration for contemporary lyrics. Popular songs can be used in a classroom setting to facilitate meaningful discussions on a particular theme or topic. Songs also create an emotional hook and may be used as a springboard to introduce poetry, literature, and historic documents. Students enter the Song Guide by clicking on the song's title to enjoy the full authentic cultural experience the music and lyrics offer. Follow up with asking students to write poems or short essays describing their feelings and impressions of the lyrics, or have them create new poetic verses and images to accompany the music. Challenge students to narrate an image using a tool such as Voicethread reviewed here.

Chogger - Chogger, LLC - Grades 2 to 12 - permalink -

Teachers First Edge Review: For moderately adventurous technology users. Create comics easily and simply by drawing, uploading pictures or graphics, and choosing as many frames as possible to complete your project. Registration is not required to use Chogger. Click “Create A Comic” to get started. The creator will launch in a new window. Note: to FINISH and share a comic by URL, you must establish a free account.
10978

In the Classroom:
Skills Required: To FINISH your comics and view by URL, you must have a free membership which requires an email address but does not make you wait for a confirmation email. Use a whole-class account created using a teacher (memberships) email for students to create comics that can be easily monitored/managed by the teacher. Click on buttons to learn the basics that can be used to create the comic. To use, click "Create" and then on "New drawing." Use the tools to create shapes, draw lines, change points, and drag segments easily. Click on the camera icon to take or upload a picture. Click Text tab to add caption bubbles and text. When finished, easily save your comic by adding a title and description. Comics can also be marked private, if you wish. Share completed online comics by copy/pasting the URL of the “finished” comic. Be sure to KEEP a record of these URLs or manage them using “My Comics.”

Safety/security: If you use student accounts, create a free Gmail account to use for memberships. If you plan to have students register individually, you may want to add up to 20 subaccounts to your Gmail account 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. Be advised that students are able to view public cartoons. Though some are slightly questionable, inappropriate comics were not evident. Teachers, however, should caution students to not browse the public portion of the site, and teachers should monitor this. Provide only the link to the “Create” portion of the site to remove possible viewing of public comics. If desired, require students to take a screenshot of their comic instead of saving to the site. Take a snapshot using the print screen (PrtScrn) button on a PC or using the screenshot shortcut in a Mac (apple/shift/4.) Images can then be uploaded to a blog, wiki, or other site for display.

In the classroom: Use Chogger to explain vocabulary words or other concepts from any class or subject area. Use comics to write summaries of current events, responses to reading assignments, expressions of teen problems, and creative works of humor. With younger students, use an interactive whiteboard or projector to share or create a class comic on a current topic of study, such as the life cycle of the frog or ways to conserve energy. Use this site to integrate an art and writing lesson. Why not have students create comics to demonstrate a concept in science or social studies, rather than a traditional paper/pencil quiz? World language teachers and ESL/ELL teachers will love the chance for students to demonstrate written language skills in the “context” of their comic situations. Emotional support /autistic support teachers and students can create comics to help explain social interactions.

DigiPoem - Jon Elliott - Grades 4 to 12 - permalink -

This site is pure fun! It quickly generates visual representations of poetry and other text sources. Students click on the Text tab and type their poems into the interactive text box. When the poem is complete, click on submit, and a variety of images appears beside each word. You can keep clicking on the spinning arrow until you find the image that conveys your thoughts. Another feature is provided by clicking on the Poetry tab to access a short list of well-known poems accompanied by a visual display of the words, or do the same for the Random Haiku or Lyrics tab. Please be patient when poems are loading; they can take a few moments.

There is an option to email your digipoem, but first remember to check your school’s policy or have students email their poems to your school email address. There is also a link to convert the text to an XML file that can be saved. JavaScript must be enabled in your browser for anything to work. The best feature of this site: no registration required!
10944

In the Classroom:
Delight your students by projecting digipoemon your classroom projector or interactive whiteboard to demonstrate how the words in poems create visual images. Then, be amazed at how quickly this will motivate them to write poetry. Take them to the computer lab or use a class set of lap tops, and put a link to this site on your class web page. Younger students should first type their poems into a Word document with a built in spell check, and then copy and paste them into the website’s text box.

Rare Book Room - Octavo - Grades 9 to 12 - permalink -

The treasury of literary works found on this site provides electronic access many great books of the world. At first glance, it appears to only have advanced level books, such as the extensive collection of Shakespeare, Milton, and Johnson. However, look carefully and you will find Aesop’s Fables in Verse and multiple versions of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The works of renowned musicians such as Beethoven and Mozart, scientists such as Darwin and Galileo, and philosophers such as Benjamin Franklin and Isaac Newton are also stacked on the shelves in the Rare Book Room. There are about 400 books that have been digitized. They include vast array of topics and rarity and come from the greatest collections around the world. You may search by category, author, or the library where the original book or manuscript is housed.
10734

In the Classroom:
Use a projector or interactive whiteboard so everyone can view the Rare Book Room at once. Small groups can write down their observations about the art and text, and then share out with the whole class. You can also have small groups of students investigate Rare Books from certain authors or time periods. Navigating and annotating the books on the interactive whiteboard and sharing their findings with the whole class. The interactive whiteboard is the ideal tool for annotating. Older students can also annotate them using an online tool such as Fine Tuna, reviewed here : reviewed here.

Music/Fine Arts Vocab - Myvocabulary.com - Grades 4 to 12 - permalink -

As part of their extensive site for vocabulary, roots, and more, Vocabulary.com has added a themed area about music and the fine arts. Find interactive vocabulary activities using music-related (not limited to music) vocabulary words. You will also find printable crosswords, fill in the blanks and more, all using the same 18 theme words. This and other "themes" available on the site will make vocabulary development fun.
10824

In the Classroom:
What a perfect addition to music or art class! Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students work in cooperative learning groups, divide up the vocabulary words, and have each group find the definitions for their assigned vocabulary words. Have the groups share their words and definitions in an online book, using a tool such as Bookemon (reviewed here). Encourage them to add terms of their own, as well. Have the groups share the online books on your interactive whiteboard or projector. If you don't have the time to complete online books, have students share the definitions using a class wiki. Be sure to also check out the interactive word puzzles!

Livebinders - Livebinders, Inc. - Grades 2 to 12 - permalink -

TeachersFirst Edge review: For serious technology users. Compile and share information from all over the web -- and text and images you add -- with others by creating a Livebinder on a topic or theme. Add tabs with specific information, easily accessed across the top of the binder. Interested in sharing information in a new way? Check out this extremely easy and exceptional site that can easily manage digital clutter. Gather and organize links, videos, information, charts, news, etc. in one neat and organized binder. As you update your binder in the future, all your changes automatically show to everyone who accesses the binder by URL or embedded version. Binders can be public or password-protected ("private"), so use of copyrighted images is possible under Fair Use, as long as you limit access to your own students via password (they call it a "key").
10479

In the Classroom:
Skills required: Creating and managing a login is required for use. Once an account is created, add the bookmarklet to your browser bar for quick access. Check with your IT department to have the ability to download bookmarklets on your computer. Knowledge of embed codes are required to manage Livebinders in other sites. To get a better idea of Livebinder basics, watch the 90 second video tour before you "play."

To use: Click on "start a blank binder," enter a description, tags, category, and mark it private or public. Click yes to "use Google search to fill a binder" to find plenty of information fast. Your new binder will instantly be filled with a new tab for each site matching your search term. After entering "climate change," a new Livebinder was created with tabs that matched research I had previously spent a lot of time to find. Now it can be instantly shared. Click on "edit menu" in the upper right of your binder to change description, title, etc. as well as fonts, tabs, and other details. To share, click on share this binder along the bottom right to share by email, Facebook, Twitter, or embedding via link or embed code. Embed your Livebinder in a blog, wiki, or other site or provide the link for access by others.

Safety/Security: Users must be 13 years of age to create an account. Teachers can create an account and share Livebinders for student use at any age. Create a class account with a global login and password. Students use the same login to access the Livebinder and create tabs on various topics. As each collaborator would not be known, ask students to add initials to tabs they create so you know the source. Check your school policies on whether student work may be displayed online and what information is permitted, then enforce that policy with your students.

In the Classroom: Create a Livebinder to assemble information and requirements for a student project. Make the Livebinder the actual ASSIGNMENT sheet. Use a new tab in the binder for each type of resource or topic of information. In English classes, use to offer spelling, writing, or grammar hints for students. Create a binder for specific sports teams that showcase team accolades, resources for increasing skills, or to create snack lists and travel information. Create a Livebinder for groups of students to plan or report on vacation plans, learn about cultures or countries, or maintain information for student projects. Students can use Livebinders to assemble information for group projects that can be discussed with the teacher to track progress. Consider creating a binder for assignments for students that focus on the use of information versus just the searching for the information. Any content or subject area can be easily managed by creating a Livebinder for student learning. Create an art or music gallery easily with a Livebinder. Use each tab of a Livebinder for each cell part necessary for the functioning of a cell. Create tabs in a binder for each battle or campaign in a specific war. Create a tab for each candidate in a specific election. Have students or student groups (13 and over) create Livebinder "tours" or annotated collections on a topic such as the pros and cons of organic foods, a cultural tour of a country, or applications of geometry in architecture. Of course their student-written annotations and commentary will be key to make these collections into meaningful products. They might even create tasks and questions for other students to try to learn about the topic.

If you are simply looking for a way to share technology-infused project assignments with students from grade 2 and up, a teacher-made Livebinder is an easy way to do it, and you can share the assignment with parents and learning support teachers by simply providing the URL.

Let's Be Counted - Steven J. Logwood - Grades 2 to 12 - permalink -

Wow! What a creative way to introduce a census unit, or to just make your students aware of the importance of the census. This is a four minute video, "Music-Based Messaging Prototype encouraging young Hispanics and African Americans to participate in the census." It is a YouTube video with a catchy tune and photos of every ethnic group one can think of. The information in the song is also printed on the screen. The video is available in Spanish and English. As they say in their pitch: “It’s fun, motivating, digital, downloadable, overcomes literacy issues, and is environmentally friendly.” After viewing the video, scroll down the screen and you'll find the time line for the music and facts presented in the video. Keep scrolling and you'll find the number of iterations for certain message phrases, and information about other applications and services. If YouTube is blocked in your school, you CAN download the videos at home and bring them in “on a stick” using a tool such as Vixy, reviewed here.
10814

In the Classroom:
Share this video and song on your projector and screen, or whiteboard, as students come into the classroom. Use it as a lead-in to a discussion about the importance of the census. You can post some of the information from Scholastic's “Census in Schools” reviewed here. From this same site you can go to “It’s About Us,” and find a "Reference Page" with "Census Facts" that you can use in elementary, middle school, and high school classrooms. One last suggestion: Once you’ve completed your census unit, discussion, etc. You might want to have your class participate in the “100 People: A World Portrait” reviewed here. Don't forget about the possibility of using the census in math class to understand data and graphing, as well.

Literature-Map - Marek Gibney - Grades 5 to 12 - permalink -

Finished reading the most recent book by your favorite author and looking for a new author to explore? You and your students will find authors you are likely to enjoy based on similar authors you (and others) identify as favorites. The choices display visually in a moving, web-style “map.” The author’s’ names are dynamic, moving around the page as other authors are identified. Content changes as more people participate in the site.
10333

In the Classroom:
While this is a free site, in order to participate in all its functions, each student will need to sign up for a “flork” account which is open to worldwide use and discussion forums. Teachers may want to limit student use to the content that does not require membership or use a whole-class account created by the teacher. This site could be used with an interactive whiteboard or projector to illustrate how author selection works and show relationships between similar authors. Students may search individually for new authors. In higher level literature classes, ask students to explain why certain authors are shown as similar. What similarities do they see? Have students use this question as a prompt for a blog post or full expository writing piece.

Curious Corner - The Art Institute of Chicago - Grades 0 to 7 - permalink -

What student could resist matching sounds to characters in a painting, searching for hidden animals in illustrations, matching shapes to a drawing or creating their own curious collections? Students will make personal connections to art as they work through unique interactive art activities: story time, match up, and play with art. The parent and educator resources include tips for looking at art together, engaging follow up activities, podcasts, video clips, and lesson plans. Don’t miss this site!
10299

In the Classroom:
This colorful website will appeal to lower elementary students immediately, but its activities are stimulating for older students as well. Share this site on your interactive whiteboard. Have pairs of students explore the site together and create multimedia presentations to share with the class. You could create a class wiki for students to share their thoughts on the podcasts, video clips, or artwork. Not comfortable with wikis? Have no wiki worries – check out the Teacher’s First Wiki Walk-Through reviewed here. Another idea, have students create online books demonstrating their new knowledge using a site such as Bookemon, reviewed here.

Rhapsodies in Black - Institute of International Visual Arts - Grades 11 to 12 - permalink -

From the Harlem Renaissance to Black Nationhood, explore five themes related to being Black in the US during the first half of the twentieth century. Read extracts from these periods, analyze their impact, and explore the words and art of historians, writers, and artists of the day.
10307

In the Classroom:
Use this site as a jumping off point for advanced students to explore what it meant to be Black during this time. Various digital storytelling or multi-media tools may be used to effectively share and interpret some of the art, music, and literature representative of the five themes. Have your students create an interactive online poster ("glog") using Glogster EDU, reviewed here. Supplement traditional book sources from the site with online sources.

Zoopz.com - Meyers Labs - Grades 0 to 8 - permalink -

Zoops are “games that make you think”. Games are sorted into 9 different categories and each category contains one or more games. You might think it is easy; however, as you move up levels you also move up in difficulty. The games support skills in special relationships, patterns, strategy and memory. Work your way through mazes, races and galactic space journeys. Examples of topics and activities include music and dance, solitaire, mosaic designs, mazes, mind benders, and several others.
10635

In the Classroom:
Students can use the activities on this site to help improve those all important problem solving and critical thinking skills. Each activity starts out easy and then builds to more difficult situations. This site can be used as a center in the classroom, in the computer lab as an activity, or at home for extended problem-solving practice. Tie games into geometry, scientific method (hypothesis testing), design and composition, and many other curriculum concepts. Primary teachers can reinforce basic sequencing with maze games. Challenge your students to build informational writing skills buy writing their own desriptions or directions for a favorite game. Share the writing pieces on your class wiki. Not comfortable with wikis? Check out the Teacher’s First Wiki Walk-Through reviewed here.

Timetoast - Timetoast - Grades 8 to 12 - permalink -

Teachers First Edge review: For adventurous technology users. Create timelines of related events and share them anywhere on the web for free. Hovering over events on the time line enlarges them. Create your own or browse many of the timelines already created on the site to use. Browse many great examples from such categories as Music, Science, Film, Politics, Biography, and Art and Culture.
10483

In the Classroom:
Skills required: If you only plan to VIEW timelines, no extra skills are needed at all! If you plan to comment or add a timeline, you must register. Easily create an account with a username, password, and email (students over 13 only.) Activation through email is required. Students must have individual accounts (email required). Check your school policies about accessing/sharing student email on school computers. 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. You may wish to keep track of student logins in case a login and password is forgotten. Users must be able to use embed codes to place timelines in a specific site, blog, or wiki.

Safety/Security: Though inappropriate material was not seen at the time of the review, teachers should always be vigilant while allowing students to browse examples. Note that there are ads that appear above and below timelines and students should be cautioned not to click on these ads. Consider creating a class account with a single login and password. Students can sign up to create timelines to keep track of student work. Ask students to initial their timelines as well to assign ownership.

To use: Create a new timeline, upload or choose an image, create a title, and select a category. Add a date to your timeline along with a title for that date, a description, and a link if you wish. Create time spans between points in the timeline that are also labeled. Share to many possible sites such as facebook or twitter or use an RSS feed. Click "embed/share" to copy a direct link that can be shared with others or an embed code that can be used in a blog, wiki, or other site.

Ideas for use: Opportunities to use this resource are endless. Every topic in history, literature, sciences, and the arts have dates and events that have been recorded. Use your interactive whiteboard or projector to learn about the history of the Olympics, famous people, events, literature, and more. Have students create timelines for research projects. Use the timeline as a visual tool to discuss events in literature works, or the life of a scientist, political figure, or pop artist. Create animal life cycles, author biographies, or even timelines of the events and causes leading to a war. Make a time line using local, national, or international current events. Elementary students could even interview grandparents and create a class timeline about their grandparents’ generation for Grandparents' Day. For collaboration, link up with another classroom in another town (or another country) to build a time line that shares events in each local area so students can see what was happening at the same time in another location, maybe in the opposite hemisphere (compare weather and seasons!). Students can use the timeline as a backdrop during presentations to remember events that need to be discussed during the presentation. Student groups can work on different topics of the subject that will be shared with the rest of the class. For example, in studying World War II, one student group can create a timeline of Japanese occupation, another of the German occupation and so forth. The timelines are perfect to share on your interactive whiteboard or projector.

Memorize Now - Brad Haugaard - Grades 2 to 12 - permalink -

This site allows students to enter texts of varying lengths which they would like to memorize, but it can also be much more. Working like a sort of reverse cloze test, the site erases more and more of the text as the student works through it. A blank remains, marking the spot for each word that has been removed. Alternatively, students can also select "letters" to see the first word of every sentence in the item. Two ways of entering the text passage allow students to copy items from a spread sheet (like vocabulary words) instead of retyping or entering each word. This site also allows you to create flashcards to use for practice. This is a great tool to help students study and understand how they learn best!
10609

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.

TubeChop - TubeChop.com - Grades 0 to 12 - permalink -

Teachers First Edge Review: For adventurous technology users. Chop pieces of You Tube videos easily and effortlessly in as little as a few steps. Quickly share your chopped video by providing a URL link or using the embed code in a wiki, blog, or other site. View easy instructions and examples of chopped videos on the front page of the site. Advise students that ads do appear on this site and they are to be ignored.
10560

In the Classroom:
Skills required: No registration is needed to use this free, web based application. Users need to be able to find an appropriate You Tube video and know where the start and end times of the portion they wish to cut. If more than one portion is wanted from the video (i.e. remove the whole middle), users will have to create two chopped segments which can be posted separately.

To use TubeChop: First, select the video you want to use. If the URL is not known, no problem. Search for the video within TubeChop itself. Once the video is selected, click the "Chop" button. Select the part you want by dragging the two black sliders that appear under the video to choose the desired start and end times of your chopped piece. It is helpful to note the time markers when you are previewing the original video and then move the markers to those points. Once your chopped piece has been chosen, simply click "Chop it." The chopped video appears with its own Tubechop link. Copy the embed code to share the video on your blog or website. The embed code is easily entered on a wiki as well.

Safety/Security: If YouTube is blocked in your district, Tubechop videos will not show, either, since they are "pulled" from YouTube. Check school access before you plan to use TubeChop! (When tested in a district that blocks You Tube, the actual Tube Chop video did not play.) Be sure to check District policy about use of You Tube videos. Even if YouTube is not filtered, as with all resources used in the classroom, be sure to preview the appropriateness of the video before using in the classroom. TubeChop removes unwanted material whether inappropriate or not needed for that particular lesson.

In the classroom: Choose only portions needed for use in that particular lesson or remove unwanted portions that are inappropriate (or boring!) Create little clips to use as a webquest. Though it is time consuming, it would be easier for younger students to focus on smaller pieces of video to locate information. Chop small pieces of video for use as writing prompts for essays, creative writing, or blog posts. Chop portions of videos showing different viewpoints or arguments to any scientific, political, economic, or historical event. Use in the Arts to showcase music, dance, art, or other creative pursuits. Use chopped portions of video footage captured by the public to compare with news accounts to uncover bias and discuss perspective.

Records 1 to 20 of 242

previous 20 - next 20 - New Search