TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Jan 15, 2012
Here are this week's features. Clicking the tags in the description area of each listing will present a list of other resources with this topic. | Click here to return to the Featured Sites Archive
Alan Cooper's Homonym List - Alan Cooper
Grades
1 to 12
tag(s): editing (74), homonyms (9), spelling (166), word choice (27), word study (78)
In the Classroom
Challenge your students to use both homonyms in a meaningful sentence. Each word's meaning should be obvious in the context of the sentence. Then give the students a fill in the blank test on the words where they have to choose the correct spelling of the word. Challenge students to put some of the more difficult words/homonyms on a poster using Automotivator reviewed here. For a creative challenge, have students create simple animations distinguishing the homonyms using one of the animation tools from the TeachersFirst Edge. Award Homonym Oscars for the best animations.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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iTV Wild - ITV Studios
Grades
K to 8tag(s): animals (320), environment (323), habitats (108)
In the Classroom
Use to introduce students to certain species or to discuss how different organisms meet their life needs. Increase the observation skills of your students by viewing clips as they become the head scientist, observing behavior or physical characteristics. Use these videos for elementary students to practice writing observation log as a scientist; then assign student partners to watch and "observe" another video at a classroom center. Answer questions such as: What kinds of habitats do each of these organisms need? How are they all similar or different? Have students create a word cloud of the important information they learn from this site using a tool such as Wordle (reviewed here), Tagxedo (reviewed here), or WordItOut (reviewed here).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Disapainted - Matus Lestan
Grades
4 to 12In the Classroom
Use this site to draw a quick sketch to show to your class instantly. Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Then have students explore this site independently or in small groups. Use this site as the way to add another dimension to individual or group projects. Encourage your students to use this tool for projects, such as simple animations of the rock cycle or water cycle, cells dividing, etc. Share the various projects on your interactive whiteboard or class wiki by url.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 embedded
Products can be shared by URL
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Zinepal - Zinepal
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): blogs (84)
In the Classroom
Create an eBook for each student's individual blog or from a class blog. Create an eBook from a class wiki or other feed. Create eBooks about class projects, topics for units of study, sharing student work, and more. Share with parents or other classes. Make a class eBook on a current unit topic to be read on iPads or eBook readers. Teachers can make social studies topics into eBooks for reading practice in time-crunched elementary classrooms. Make the eBook yet another alternative for sharing projects and presenting information. For a high-level thinking challenge, have students create eBook collections of different political leanings to compare during an election year. By selecting and grouping content from multiple sources into one eBook, students can show relationships between disparate content. In world language class, have students collect and generate eBooks with cultural or recipe information in their new language.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be shared by URL
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Thinking Mathematics! - James Stanton
Grades
8 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): critical thinking (116), fractions (229), gifted (82), prime numbers (31), probability (136), puzzles (204), video (271)
In the Classroom
Use your interactive whiteboard (or projector) to view videos available on the site. This site is perfect for advanced or gifted students to use for learning new concepts or exploring different approaches to mathematics not typically covered in classroom materials. After sharing this site on your interactive whiteboard, allow students to explore the site on their own. Challenge your students to create their own videos demonstrating a tough math concept. Share the videos using a site such as TeacherTube reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Math Games - Kent ICT
Grades
K to 5tag(s): addition (224), counting (110), decimals (125), iwb (32), logic (247), multiplication (210), negative numbers (20), number sense (94), operations (119), place value (55), preK (284), puzzles (204), subtraction (186), time (138)
In the Classroom
Use this site as an anticipatory set or "activator" to introduce a unit or lesson on a projector or interactive whiteboard. Use one of the activities on your interactive whiteboard as a math center. Share this link on your class website for students (and parents) to access at home. Selected activities could also serve as writing prompts after the math is done: tell about your giraffe or snowman!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Lyrics Gaps - lyricsgaps.com
Grades
5 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): cross cultural understanding (127), cultures (111), french (87), german (63), greek (41), italian (35), japanese (45), portuguese (22), russian (26), songs (53), spanish (107)
In the Classroom
This is a wonderful find for ESL/ELL and world language teachers. Teachers may prefer to do a class registration and use the offerings of the site with the entire class. Challenge your students to create (and submit) their own songs/activities in a new language. If school policy does not allow students to share songs on a site, have students create their own in-class presentations of songs and similar exercises using one selection from this site as a model.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular Music - Smithsonian Institute
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): biographies (88), cross cultural understanding (127), cultures (111), hispanic (15), mexico (32), south america (40)
In the Classroom
When studying music or Latin America, introduce your units with a clip from a specific type of music. Assign other types of music for your students to research; allow them to choose by listening to a section of a song and seeing what they like. Challenge students to find current examples of one of the genres and then create reports or reviews of the music using TubeChop, reviewed here. Share them using a tool such as SchoolTube, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Morguefile - Kevin and Michael Connors, Johannes Seemann
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): copyright (45), images (280), photography (156), writing prompts (92)
In the Classroom
Use this site in every subject area where images can convey concepts or students make projects. Find free images easily for use within the classroom. Use images for drag and drop activities on IWB, such as sorting vegetables from fruits, etc. In Art class, have students find images to demonstrate different design concepts such as rhythm, line, etc. Project an intriguing photo on your interactive whiteboard or projector as a writing prompt for a short story (or poem). Use images for practice writing in world languages, by having students describe the scene or tell a story about it. Have students create an annotated image including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Thinglink, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Mathispower4u - Video Tutorials - James Sousa
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): area (71), business (58), charts and graphs (197), equations (153), factoring (31), functions (69), integers (40), measurement (179), operations (119), order of operations (40), percent (80), place value (55), prime numbers (31), ratios (62), test prep (94), tutorials (47), volume (53)
In the Classroom
Share videos on your interactive whiteboard as in introduction to a new concept or as review. Embed the links to videos of weekly concepts on your class website or blog. Create a link on classroom computers to current content for students to use as a review resource. Ask students to rate the most helpful videos they find and share their recommendations on a class wiki. Share this site with parents to use as a resource when helping students at home. Challenge students to create their own how-to video of math concepts. Share the videos using a tool such as SchoolTube, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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RekenWeb Games - Freudenthal Institute
Grades
K to 7tag(s): critical thinking (116), estimation (47), logic (247), money (184), puzzles (204), symmetry (51), time (138)
In the Classroom
Create a link to this site on classroom computers for students to explore. Share a link to the site on your classroom website or blog for students to access at home. Display the site on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) to use as a math center. Be sure to explain how to translate the site into English (when necessary).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Mapping the Nation's Well-Being - NY Times
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): careers (145), dental health (22), map skills (81), maps (295), mental health (27), nutrition (159), stress (12)
In the Classroom
Use this map when studying map reading and graphs. Talk about what geographic, climate, or economic factors may influence "well being" in a certain location. Have students create a simple online posters comparing two areas using PicLits (reviewed here. Or use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram (reviewed here) to compare two areas. Incorporate information from this map when doing state projects. Have students make a multimedia presentation using one of the many TeachersFirst Edge tools reviewed here. This site is very accessible for ESL/ELL and learning support students since there is little reading.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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