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 12
4 Favorites
0 Comments
Do Lectures are like TED Talk videos, inspiring talks from people who are changing the world. Choose to view talks about Big Ideas, Challenging Talks, Funny Talks, Informative Talks, Inspiring Talks, ... more
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Do Lectures are like TED Talk videos, inspiring talks from people who are changing the world. Choose to view talks about Big Ideas, Challenging Talks, Funny Talks, Informative Talks, Inspiring Talks, and Soulful Talks. Some examples of titles are Why Going Down Mountains is Harder than Going Up and Why is Beauty Such an Important Word? Search by topic (business, creativity, environment, food, sport, technology, or well-being) or by speaker. Learn more about lecturers by clicking the link to their bio, or find similar videos with the links included with each talk. Share videos easily on social networking sites with buttons included with each talk, or use the embed code to embed talks into your blog or website. Even more simply, copy/paste the url for the video to share it.
tag(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 12
10 Favorites
0 Comments
TagCrowd is a web application to visualize word frequencies in any text through creation of a word cloud, text cloud, or tag cloud. Simply type or paste in any text, import from any website, or upload... more
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TagCrowd is a web application to visualize word frequencies in any text through creation of a word cloud, text cloud, or tag cloud. Simply type or paste in any text, import from any website, or upload a file to begin the word cloud. Choose from options such as language to use, limit number of words, exclude words based on frequency, or exclude unwanted words. Save as a PDF, print, or embed the finished image using links included with the finished product. The most frequently used words appear larger and in a bold font.
tag(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 3
3 Favorites
0 Comments
KidsTV123 offers a great YouTube channel with over 100 early learning videos. Find learning videos about time, colors, letters, spelling, states, and many other skills. There is a wide variety of topi... more
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KidsTV123 offers a great YouTube channel with over 100 early learning videos. Find learning videos about time, colors, letters, spelling, states, and many other skills. There is a wide variety of topics, making this site very useful in nearly any K-3 classroom or for children at home. Video lengths run from 1-3 minutes, making them great for young students. Hover your mouse over the right-hand corner of each video icon to view the length. Sort by date added (old to new or new to old) or most popular. Subscribe to the KidsTV123 channel to receive notification of new videos or click on the Watch Later link to add to your YouTube watch list. (You must have a YouTube membership to subscribe or watch later.) The videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, these videos may not be viewable.
This site includes advertising.
This 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 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Find out how to say a word or phrase in another language: German, French, Portugese, or Spanish. You can also work from these languages to English. This tool translates one or two words but is not a t... more
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Find out how to say a word or phrase in another language: German, French, Portugese, or Spanish. You can also work from these languages to English. This tool translates one or two words but is not a translator of larger passages as Google Translate or Babblefish are. Linguee displays two results. On the left, see example sentences from many sources using your search expression in context; on the right, see results from Linguee's editorial dictionary translating the expression in context. This is a submersion-like experience because it looks at a small amount of text in context in the target language instead of a one-to-one, back-and-forth translation. The tool orks wuite well with short, idiomatic phrases such as "ahead of the game." You can vote thumbs up or down for the various in-context translations offered. The reverse process is also available, translating from any of the European languages into English. Some of the words/phrases provide audio. Plans are to expand the offerings to other languages. The home page is also available in Spanish. You can contribute new meanings to existing entries, similar to a Wiki.
This site includes advertising.
This 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 12
3 Favorites
0 Comments
See a near-live, "overhead" view of the winds in the continental U.S. The information is updated hourly from the National Weather Service's forecast database. The wind looks like white and grey stran... more
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See a near-live, "overhead" view of the winds in the continental U.S. The information is updated hourly from the National Weather Service's forecast database. The wind looks like white and grey strands and is mesmerizing to watch. Watch the wind patterns constantly changing. View previous wind patterns (especially those of particularly blustery days) from the gallery. The site recommends using the latest Chrome browser.
tag(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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