TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Mar 15, 2015
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
A Sailor's Life for Me! - USS Constitution Museum
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): transportation (31), war of 1812 (15), whales (11)
In the Classroom
The great sailing ships of the 18th and 19th century were important both to the nation's defense and to the growth of the US economy. There are hours of content here and the frustration will be selecting what you can use within the classroom timeframe you have. Consider introducing the site with some small portions on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Allow accelerated students to spend time with further exploration for enrichment.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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100 Years of Parcels, Packages, and Packets, Oh My! - Smithsonian National Postal Museum
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): transportation (31)
In the Classroom
The ability to mail packages across the country is an important factor in the growth of the US and has contributed to an ever-more-mobile society. Incorporate some of the historic images here into a discussion of changes in transportation and communication over the 20th and early 21st centuries. Ask students to brainstorm the items in their own bedrooms that might have arrived via Parcel Post. How would their lives be different without package delivery? Why is it important for the US Government to be involved in package delivery? Have students share their findings and thoughts by creating online posters individually or together as a class. Use a tool such as Web Poster Wizard (reviewed here) or PicLits (reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Jewish Women's Archive - Jewish Women's Archive
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): biographies (95), jews (28), women (140), womens suffrage (46)
In the Classroom
This site offers an outstanding addition to your resources for student biographical projects, particularly focused on Women's History Month. Students will find stories of women from every walk of life, whose stories have not been often told. Consider browsing the lesson plans and incorporating one of them into a preexisting unit to provide balance and diverse viewpoints.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Tableau Public - Tableau Software
Grades
9 to 12In the Classroom
View the training videos together as a class before asking students to use Tableau. Have a few students become "experts" on this software and help others as needed. Create Tableaus for any projects requiring the gathering of data such as research into individual countries, comparison of statistics across states, or compiling poll results. Be sure to check out Tableau's Gallery for many ideas on using the software.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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GIF YouTube - GIFYouTube
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Create an animated GIF to get student's attention! A cat reading a book is one way to begin reading time! Show any science concept such as development of an organism, cell division, a chemical reaction, formation of stars, a bullet in slow motion, or anything a student should look at several times to see every aspect of the event. Do you want to reveal portions of a video outlining the travels of historic expeditions, addition of the states to the US, or any other historical event captured in video? Use a looping animated GIF! Every subject could use one of these GIFs to generate an interest in a class activity or new content.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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SchoolsWorld.tv - Early Years Teacher - SchoolsWorld
Grades
K to 1This site includes advertising.
tag(s): preK (263), professional development (407), video (262)
In the Classroom
Use this site to extend your early learning professional development. Share links to some videos of interest at a staff meeting or as professional development. Use a tool like The Urlist, reviewed here, for sharing the video links. If you are part of a professional development presentation, you may want to edit the videos to show only parts of it. Use a tool such as Clipchamp, reviewed here, or Watchkin, reviewed here. Editing the videos to just what you want to show is a real class time saver.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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EarthEcho International - Philippe Cousteau Jr.
Grades
6 to 12In addition to teaching materials, follow past EarthEcho expeditions with updates from the field. If your district blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable.
tag(s): environment (246), oceans (149), recycling (45), water (102)
In the Classroom
Create a link on classroom computers and share on your class website for students to explore expeditions on their own. To enhance student's learning ask them to complete one of the following: create an annotated image including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Google Drawings, reviewed here to demonstrate information found on EarthEcho, make a word cloud of the important terms they learn from this site using a tool such as WordItOut, reviewed here, or develop maps of explorations using MapHub, reviewed here. Students can add icons, URLs, text, images, and location stops with Map Hub!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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edpuzzle - edpuzzle
Grades
K to 12tag(s): assessment (148), blended learning (37), communication (138), DAT device agnostic tool (147), questioning (35), remote learning (56), video (262)
In the Classroom
Create short review videos or use your own narration with chosen videos to create flipped or blended lessons for your students. Is your school embracing remote learning? This is the perfect tool! Consider the power of students using Edpuzzle to annotate videos to explain the material in their own words. You or your students can use the tool to create and narrate "how-to" videos. Annotate by highlighting the significant features of videos through the creation of voice comments. Students can also create questions to play with each video. Be sure students create a script to read from before beginning their chosen video.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Shotclip (Beta) - Shotclip.com
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): digital storytelling (152), images (260), movies (53), video (262)
In the Classroom
Demonstrate this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. In lower grades, make videos together as a class. Have students create short book reviews for classmates, explain a math concept or procedure, provide a short overview of a class field trip, or demonstrate a quick science experiment. Create a video montage of images taken in the classroom. Use to show a process, explain an experiment, discuss data collected, create club or class movies about happenings throughout the year, and much more. Use this tool as a creative and easy alternative to boring slideshow presentations. Introduce the major points of a topic through images and added text. Use this site to make commercials, science fair previews, and animated shorts in any content area. Have students make "advertisements" for an organism or a literary character. Make a travel commercial for a country being studied or for cultural sites in a world language class. Be sure to share the presentations on your projector or interactive whiteboard.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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