TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Sep 16, 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
Do Lectures - Talks That Inspire Action - The Chicken Shed
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): business (86), psychology (89), environment (462), debate (66), sociology (36), nutrition (234), creativity (186), careers (223), video (457),
In the Classroom
Do Lectures are a great place to find inspiration and new ideas for your classroom. Many of the videos connect today's real world with curriculum topics, even in entrepreneurship, health, or family and consumer science classes. Use Do Lecture videos as the perfect supplement or launching point for units of study in your classroom. Find a video that supports the topics happening in your classroom. Share on your website for student viewing. Use on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) for a whole class discussion. Stop the video at various points to discuss or debate ideas included. Challenge cooperative learning groups to create videos in response to videos viewed on Do Lectures or their own topic. Share the videos on a site such as TeacherTube reviewed here. Teachers of gifted could plan an entire unit of study around one video or have students select one to use as the launch point for an independent project.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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TagCrowd: Make Your Own Tag Cloud From Any Text - Daniel Steinbock
Grades
K to 12tag(s): word clouds (18), speech (150), vocabulary (467),
In the Classroom
This is a great visual tool to use. Take a poll and have your students type their answers into the word cloud builder. Then display on an interactive whiteboard or projector and see which answer was the most popular. Use this site as a way to help students see and memorize text, especially visual learners. Use it also when writing poetry or to "see" themes of repeated words and images. Have students paste in their own writing to spot repeated (and monotonous) language when teaching lessons on word choice. Use this site to surprise students with words that appear often in their writing. Have students work in groups to create word posters of vocabulary words with related meanings, such as different ways to say "walk" or "said" and decorate your classroom with these visual reminders of the richness of language. More ideas for primary grades: Dolch words, class names, numbers to 20, words with the same beginning letters, collection of ALL the words that hang in the classroom (so students can walk around and find/touch them on a laminated Word cloud card in their hands), or any collection of similar words.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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KidsTV123 - YouTube Channel - KidsTV123
Grades
K to 3This site includes advertising.
tag(s): counting (149), countries (116), states (202), alphabetical order (23), spelling (225), time (177), preK (423), dental health (26), animals (498), alphabet (121), colors (114), phonics (114),
In the Classroom
View videos on your interactive whiteboard or projector. If you allow students to explore on their own, take caution since they could click and go elsewhere on YouTube. To share a single video safely at a center, use a tool such as Nicer Tube, reviewed here, and create a shortcut to the View Pure page directly on the desktop. Share a link to this site with parents through your classroom website or newsletter for students to view at home.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Linguee - Gereon Frahling
Grades
3 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): idioms (57), spanish (165), french (134), german (100), portuguese (30), dictionaries (69),
In the Classroom
Use this in world language classes to show how key words and phrases appear in the target language. This is a useful tool, as well, to check for plagiarism of papers written in German, Spanish, French, and Portuguese. ESL/ELL students can benefit from backing away from their reliance on translation by seeing new words or short phrases in context.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Wind Map - Fernanda Viegas and Martin Wattenberg
Grades
K to 12tag(s): atmosphere (38), maps (415), energy (275), weather (318),
In the Classroom
Watch the various wind patterns across the US. Ask students what they notice about the patterns and what could be causing them. Use this as an introduction into a weather unit or as part of the study of wind energy and alternative power. If students could map the wind around their house or community, how would they draw it? Be sure to share this site during March, when talking about the "lion" and "lamb" metaphor and the changing weather! Be sure to check it out during hurricane season, as well.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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