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February 8, 2016
Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers®
February offers opportunities galore for young learners. Registration is now open for Broadcom Masters. This competition is open to students in grades 6, 7, and 8. Get your students eager about engineering and NASA technology with the Optimus Prime Spinoff Promotion & Research Challenge. This competition has challenges tailored for elementary (grades 3-5), middle (grades 6-8), and high school (grades 9-12) students. The competition continues until March 8th. Finally, if you are a high school science or math teacher, check out the Intel Science Talent Search. This competition opens the first week of March, so start to prepare your students today.
National Biodiversity Teach-In
Join EarthEcho on February 12, 2016 for FREE ocean-themed webinars for your classroom. Each webinar is 45-minutes in length. Learn from speakers and scientists from around the world. Explore the full schedule to find a topic ideal for your classroom.
Inventors
TeachersFirst is here to help you plan for National Inventors' Day (February 11th) or any unit on Inventions and Inventors. Checkout our Instructional Unit: Inventors of the Industrial Revolution. We also have a CurriConnects Booklist: Inventors and Inventions. Use CurriConnects leveled lists to find books related to curriculum topics or subject areas. CurriConnect booklists include interest and Lexile®
levels.
Start A New Journey
The February theme from TogetheRead is “Books to the Sky: The Power of Books to Start New Journeys.” TogetheRead provides a list of recommended books, questions, and activities designed to build stronger readers. The themes include books for all ages, centered around the same theme. Parents find questions to ask as the family reads, deepening comprehension before, during, and after reading. Included are free and low-cost ideas for activities families can do together, as well. TogetheRead involves the entire family in supporting literacy.
Twitter for Teachers
When people talk about Twitter, do you nod politely and secretly wonder why they bother? Learn about the professional learning power of Twitter. Start with TeachersFirst’s Twitter for Teachers Page. And then plan to attend the OK2Ask Online Workshop on Tuesday March 15th, “Getting Started With Twitter.” Registration is open now!
Black History Month
Prepare for Black History Month now with many resources from TeachersFirst. Check out TeachersFirst’s CurriConnects booklist for 100 leaders. The unit They Had A Dream Too is another must-see! TeachersFirst’s 50 States also features a section about Famous African-Americans.
How Many Years?
This week’s Teacher Poll asks: How many years have you been teaching?
Place your vote on the teacher poll on the TeachersFirst home page.
Featured Sites
This week in our Featured Sites you will find:
- Genius
- Borderland
- Ask the Judge
- Drafting Board
- ThinkCerca
- Code Avengers
- Calculus: The Musical!
- Paper City
- And more
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are reading this February 14, or later, the link above will take you to the Featured Sites for the current week. Find the archived February 7th Features here, and don’t miss our many other recent additions from the link at the bottom of the Featured Sites page.
Don’t forget about the Broadcom Masters, Optimus Prime Spinoff Promotion & Research Challenge or Intel Science Talent Search. Do yourself (and your class) a favor and check out at least one of these fabulous opportunities.
The TeachersFirst Team