TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Feb 10, 2013

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

 

Less
More

The Brown Bookshelf - Paula Chase-Hyman

Grades
K to 12
  
The Brown Bookshelf features literature for young readers written by and featuring people of color. View archives going back to 2007 to find book reviews, author's chats, and some videos...more
Here is the direct link to share this resource review. Feel free to copy and paste this URL into an email or place it on your web page or blog so others can read this TeachersFirst review:

 Close Link

The Brown Bookshelf features literature for young readers written by and featuring people of color. View archives going back to 2007 to find book reviews, author's chats, and some videos that accompany books featured on the site. A flagship feature of the site is the 28 Days Later portion. Each day during Black History Month features a different author. It is a month-long showcase of the best in Picture Books, Middle Grade, and Young Adult novels written and illustrated by African Americans to help parents, teachers, librarians and booksellers recommend good reads. Archives are available beginning with the 2008 campaign.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): african american (121), black history (135), book lists (168), civil rights (219), cultures (226), literature (221), preK (291)

In the Classroom

Bookmark this site for use throughout the year, not just during Black History Month. Create a link on classroom computers for students to explore and find books for reading. Share this link on your class website or blog for students to use at home. Showcase books found on this site for classroom read aloud. Librarians will find this site helpful for creating displays in their library or for presentations in classrooms. Enhance student learning by having students create commercials for books found on this site using a tool like PowToon, or Adobe Express Video Maker, and share them using a tool such as School Tube.
Less
More

mailDiary - mailDiary.net

Grades
3 to 12
 
Check out this online journal with a twist. Each day the site sends an email with questions about your day to prompt you to write. Respond to the email with ...more
Here is the direct link to share this resource review. Feel free to copy and paste this URL into an email or place it on your web page or blog so others can read this TeachersFirst review:

 Close Link

Check out this online journal with a twist. Each day the site sends an email with questions about your day to prompt you to write. Respond to the email with your entry for automatic posting. Images can also be added to entries. Personalize the site using your choice of color and fonts. View entries as a PDF for easy printing as desired. Register with an email and unique name for your diary.

tag(s): blogs (73), creative writing (126), journals (16), writing (323), writing prompts (60)

In the Classroom

Create a diary with a message to your students each day. Have students keep a diary of their first week at school. They can re-read this at the end of the school year. Have students keep a diary of a famous person for a character in a story that you have been reading in class. Ask students to write a diary about a picture that you have sent to them. Have students write diary entries from the point of view of soldiers, presidents, scientists, and more. Prompt a giving diary during the holiday season with students writing about what they GAVE to someone else each day.
Less
More

Pixabay - Pixabay

Grades
K to 12
This is a wonderful site for finding quality images to use in projects. Use these images for either personal or professional projects. Registration is not necessary to download them....more
Here is the direct link to share this resource review. Feel free to copy and paste this URL into an email or place it on your web page or blog so others can read this TeachersFirst review:

 Close Link

This is a wonderful site for finding quality images to use in projects. Use these images for either personal or professional projects. Registration is not necessary to download them. All images are copyright free. Search images by name (or category - photos, video, illustrations and vector) and filter by orientation (landscape or portrait) and image type (photo, clipart, video, or vector.) Be sure to use the filters at the top. Right click to download. Use good search terms to find the best pictures possible. You must know where to save images on your computer. Be sure to give credit to the person who took the picture and show their name wherever the image is used. Consider adding images to this site to increase the number of options and expand the ideas of Creative Commons. Adding images does require you to join the site (email required).

tag(s): creative commons (28), images (263), photography (131), search engines (47)

In the Classroom

Use in the classroom any time images are needed for projects, even if the project is not put on a website for others to see. Be sure students are aware that any time another person's image is used, they must give full credit for it, even if that owner cannot see it. Student groups can use Pixabay to collectively find the best image to use for a project. Enhance classroom technology use by challenging students to create personalized images (with text) using PicFont. Teachers can collect images for use on their interactive whiteboard for sorting activities (monocots and dicots, producers and consumers, etc). Use images as writing prompts or in poetry collections. Art teachers can find images for students to use as references or in photo montages (with credit). Elementary teachers can use images from this site as part of student-run interactive whiteboard activities, such as labeling parts of plants. Speech and language or ENL/ESL teachers can find images to use in vocabulary development activities. World language teachers can find cultural photos to use in oral exercises.
Less
More

One Zoom Tree of Life Explorer - One Zoom 2012

Grades
8 to 12
 
View and zoom into areas of the Tree of Life Explorer interactive viewer. Click on an area of the tree to zoom in to identify how species are related to ...more
Here is the direct link to share this resource review. Feel free to copy and paste this URL into an email or place it on your web page or blog so others can read this TeachersFirst review:

 Close Link

View and zoom into areas of the Tree of Life Explorer interactive viewer. Click on an area of the tree to zoom in to identify how species are related to one another and the evolutionary relationships that exist between species. Find where paths diverged in the past to create new branches of the tree of life. More trees are planned for the future to explore other classes of animals. At the time of this review topics included: the tree of bird life, the tree of mammal life, the tree of amphibian life, insects and many more. There is also a tutorial.

tag(s): amphibians (17), biodiversity (36), birds (46), evolution (88), insects (68), mammals (22)

In the Classroom

Use this site to view how organisms are related and identify the evolutionary relationships among the different animals and biodiversity. Use this site as a springboard to discussions in class. Share the videos and interactives on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Research information that explains and shows the evolutionary evidence that exists. Have students create their own simple infographic of a single species in relationship to its "relatives."
Less
More

TV411 - Finance - Adult Literacy Media Alliance

Grades
6 to 12
 
Find web lessons, videos, and downloads about timely and necessary financial topics. Learn about credit card financing, hidden costs, and paychecks. Each lesson begins with an introduction...more
Here is the direct link to share this resource review. Feel free to copy and paste this URL into an email or place it on your web page or blog so others can read this TeachersFirst review:

 Close Link

Find web lessons, videos, and downloads about timely and necessary financial topics. Learn about credit card financing, hidden costs, and paychecks. Each lesson begins with an introduction to the activity including questions to answer. Feedback is given to the questions, including an explanation of the correct answer. Use the print downloads for creating a budget to use as an activity in class.

tag(s): financial literacy (95), money (113)

In the Classroom

Include this site in a course on personal finance, business, or consumer science. It would also be very useful as a real world application for math skills. Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector to introduce or review financial topics. Take advantage of the free lesson plans. Share the videos with your class as you study finance and the economy. Share this site with parents through your classroom website or blog.
Less
More

Navajo Code Talkers - Navajo Code Talkers Foundation

Grades
6 to 12
 
The Navajo Code Talkers Foundation site tells the story of young Navajo men who transmitted secret communications on the battlefields of World War II. Their unbreakable code played...more
Here is the direct link to share this resource review. Feel free to copy and paste this URL into an email or place it on your web page or blog so others can read this TeachersFirst review:

 Close Link

The Navajo Code Talkers Foundation site tells the story of young Navajo men who transmitted secret communications on the battlefields of World War II. Their unbreakable code played a pivotal role in saving countless lives and hastening the war's end. Choose the link to the "Code Talkers" to read their story from beginning, through the battles, and coming home. Understand more about the only unbroken code in modern military history by watching the various videos. Meet several of the code talkers through their bio, photos, and interviews available on the site.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): cryptography (5), native americans (116), world war 2 (163)

In the Classroom

Share this site with your students on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) during your World War II unit or a unit on Native Americans. This would be a great link to share during Native American Heritage Month. Enhance student learning by replacing pencil and paper and use an online tool such as the Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here to create a visual comparison of the Code Talkers vs other World War II battle units or cryptographers. Put a link to Fun Facts For Kids on station computors or your website for your students to learn even more.