TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Mar 12, 2017
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
Musink - Musink
Grades
4 to 12
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Musink is a free software download for music composition for Windows devices. Create sheet music by easily placing and clicking notes onto the desired location. Musink automatically...more
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Musink is a free software download for music composition for Windows devices. Create sheet music by easily placing and clicking notes onto the desired location. Musink automatically moves notes, rests, and more when adding notes or marks to the score sheet. When finished, publish your composition as a PDF, XPS, or PNG image file. Listen to or download your music in MIDI format. Be sure to view the introductory video and example page for a full understanding of options when using Musink.
tag(s): creativity (91), makerspace (42), musical notation (34), Teacher Utilities (134)
In the Classroom
Demonstrate the art of composition while using Musink on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Share Musink with students and encourage them to create their own music. In Destination Imagination or Odyssey of the Mind, use your scores to showcase talent. In honoring multiple intelligences, highlight the students' with musical talent. While reading historical fiction novels, have students compose a song typical of that period with the commonly used instruments and style. Offer in after school clubs for music, guitar, or band.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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The Music of Hamilton: The Musical - Genius.com
Grades
6 to 12
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This site offers full lyrics to all songs in the Broadway play, Hamilton. Choose any song title to view complete lyrics and hear the audio. Most song lyrics include a ...more
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This site offers full lyrics to all songs in the Broadway play, Hamilton. Choose any song title to view complete lyrics and hear the audio. Most song lyrics include a link to listen to a preview of the original Broadway cast perform the song.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): 1700s (36), constitution (85)
In the Classroom
Use lyrics from Hamilton to introduce your unit on the Constitution. Have students explore the site on their own, ask them to take the time to through the annotations that provide historical context to the music. Challenge cooperative learning groups to create their own music related to the Consitution and record their music videos. Share them on a site such as TeacherTube, reviewed here. Have students make a multimedia presentation about events leading to the writing of the Constitution using a tool like Sway, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Museum of Modern Art Exhibition History - The Museum of Modern Art
Grades
3 to 12
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This Museum of Modern Art site, though "plain Jane" looking, shares a plethora of history of all exhibitions at the museum from 1929 through the present. Browse through collections...more
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This Museum of Modern Art site, though "plain Jane" looking, shares a plethora of history of all exhibitions at the museum from 1929 through the present. Browse through collections by date, or filter by type of exhibition including film series, performance programs, and others. Choose the link to Art and artists to find collections by specific artists. Of particular interest in this section are audio tours including some specifically for kids.
tag(s): 20th century (50), art history (79), artists (74)
In the Classroom
Art teachers will love this collection for use when teaching various types of arts and artists. Be sure to take advantage of the audio tours for a wide variety of art information for students. Include a link with specific information on your class website for students to view (and hear) at home. Have students create a multimedia presentation using Slidestory, reviewed here. This site allows you to narrate a picture. Challenge students to find a photo (legally permitted to be reproduced), and then narrate the photo as if it is a news report.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Of the People: Art and History of the White House - Discovery Education
Grades
6 to 12
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Go behind the scenes for an in-depth video discussion of the art and history of the White House with White House Curator William Allman. The actual discussion begins after the ...more
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Go behind the scenes for an in-depth video discussion of the art and history of the White House with White House Curator William Allman. The actual discussion begins after the 14-minute mark on the video with an interview led by a high school student.
tag(s): art history (79), presidents (116), video (247), white house (15)
In the Classroom
Before viewing this video, challenge students to brainstorm what a curator's job is and what kind of artifacts they might find in the White House. After viewing, extend learning by having students create a simple infographic of important White House artifacts sharing their findings using Venngage, reviewed here. Ask students to curate their own collection of items such as things found in their room at home, a collection of items from your school, or a collection of artifacts from your hometown. Create a book featuring these items using Ourboox, reviewed here. Ourboox creates beautiful page-flipping digital books in minutes, and you can embed video, music, animation, games, maps and more truly redefining learning.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Math Art for Kids: Pi Skyline - Patria Lincoln
Grades
K to 5
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Combine math and art with this excellent Pi Day (or anytime) activity! Follow the easy instructions to draw, cut, and graph your way to represent the digits of Pi. Visual ...more
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Combine math and art with this excellent Pi Day (or anytime) activity! Follow the easy instructions to draw, cut, and graph your way to represent the digits of Pi. Visual learners will enjoy the many images demonstrating how to create the skyline.
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This site includes advertising.
tag(s): charts and graphs (165), pi (25), STEM (239)
In the Classroom
Create a classroom display with all of your students' Pi Day Skylines. Take this idea and apply it to other number series. Have students take pictures of their creations. Then show them how to embed media transforming their work into a true digital story using Ourboox, reviewed here. Ourboox creates beautiful page-flipping digital books in minutes, and you can embed video, music, animation, games, maps and more.
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Learn to Play the Piano - Hoffman Academy
Grades
2 to 12
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Learn to play the piano through a series of video tutorials offered by Hoffman Academy. Participate in over 100 lessons sequenced to build ability and understanding. Each lesson includes...more
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Learn to play the piano through a series of video tutorials offered by Hoffman Academy. Participate in over 100 lessons sequenced to build ability and understanding. Each lesson includes instructions and opportunities for self-paced practice. The videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable; be sure to look at alternatives for sharing the videos on classroom computers.
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This site includes advertising.
tag(s): music theory (44), musical instruments (43), musical notation (34)
In the Classroom
If you don't have access to a piano, don't worry, you can still learn how to play! Take advantage of the online virtual piano, reviewed here, to practice just like you would on a real piano. Share with your school's music teacher as an excellent resource for teaching students notes and piano keys. The self-paced videos offer a great opportunity to differentiate for different ability levels while achieving success for all. Share a link to this site on your class website for parents to use at home.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Philadelphia Museum of Art Teacher Resources - Philadelphia Museum of Art
Grades
K to 12
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This tool is a great lesson plan resource for correlating art with other curricular areas! First, scroll down to Featured Resources, Resources by Subject Matter, or Resources by Grade...more
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This tool is a great lesson plan resource for correlating art with other curricular areas! First, scroll down to Featured Resources, Resources by Subject Matter, or Resources by Grade Level. Curricular Areas include Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, STEAM, Social Justice, Critical Thinking, and several others. Click the resulting lessons to view a PDF that includes links to artwork images at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Common Core standards, and a detailed lesson plan.
tag(s): art history (79), artists (74)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this site as a resource for art projects throughout the year, especially if budget cuts have taken away your art teacher! Use this site as a way to get students interested in art and its relationship with other subject areas and its relevance in our life.
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Virtual Musical Instruments - Virtual Musical Instruments
Grades
K to 12
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Bring the world of music and instruments into your classroom. With Virtual Musical Instruments, you can explore the guitar, piano, pan flute, drums, or bongos. Select the instrument,...more
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Bring the world of music and instruments into your classroom. With Virtual Musical Instruments, you can explore the guitar, piano, pan flute, drums, or bongos. Select the instrument, and follow the directions for using the keyboard to play the different notes. Create different melodies using different notes or rhythms. Use the guitar tuner to be sure you are in tune. There is no record option on this tool. If you want to record your beat, there are many alternative options (such as using a cell phone, or an old-fashioned recorder). You can hear notes using your computer, but having a touch screen device would create the full experience, by touching several keys/strings, etc. at one time.
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This site includes advertising.
tag(s): makerspace (42), music theory (44), musical instruments (43)
In the Classroom
Virtual Musical Instruments opens up the world of music into many other subjects. In music class, discover the different instruments, sounds, and rhythms the virtual instruments can produce. Allow your students to make their own compositions. Challenge them to determine a way to give the directions for their composition to another person so that they can repeat the original piece. In language arts class, discuss mood in literature. Determine the instruments used, the rhythms, and sounds needed to make that effect. During Readers' Theater, add a musical score for more excitement and engagement with further analysis of the text. Have students create a musical composition that tells a story. Now, play that musical story for the class, and turn it into a writing prompt. Use musical sounds and beats to illustrate the concepts of literature and the use of plot. Determine a melody for each character. Write to explain why each character has that musical composition. Math class brings the study of fractions with types of notes: whole note, half note, quarter note, and eighth notes. Let students create a musical sentence that represents them and write to explain why. Use whatever recording option is most practical in your classroom.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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I Am an Artist - RTE and the National Centre for Technology in Education
Grades
K to 5
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Bring art alive for young students. Paint and color, clay, fabric and fiber, drawing, construction, and print are the six strands of visual art covered by I Am An Artist. ...more
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Bring art alive for young students. Paint and color, clay, fabric and fiber, drawing, construction, and print are the six strands of visual art covered by I Am An Artist. Click on a strand to view short videos, about six minutes in length, designed to keep your attention. Each strand also has a "Look and Respond" stimulating slide show with discussion questions. The "Can You?" section under each visual strand provides steps for a hands-on explanation. I Am an Artist allows you to explore the visual arts with various materials and tools, allowing students to express their world in a visual, tangible form. The "For Teachers" section on each strand page provides child-centered lessons developed to foster creativity and design with printable activity sheets. The site also provides weblinks and interactive games on a wide range of visual arts topics. Explore the I Am an Artist Gallery for examples. Find information about how to submit your own work to the gallery. The content for I Am an Artist has been created in consultation with Irish teachers.
tag(s): colors (62), crafts (50), creativity (91), design (85), drawing (61), makerspace (42), painting (57), sculpture (20)
In the Classroom
Become art smart with resources from the I Am an Artist site. Use the collection of videos to flip your art instruction. Search through the lesson plans and activity sheets to provide hands-on, minds-on activities for your students. Use the videos or the slide shows as an anticipatory set or "activator" to introduce a unit or lesson on a projector or interactive whiteboard. Have students or groups collect ideas and thoughts from the slides using Padlet, reviewed here. Use a visual blogging tool such as Telegra.ph, reviewed here, to upload the students art work - no registration required! If you are teaching younger students try using Seesaw, reviewed here. The students can blog about their work, upload their artwork, and even create an online portfolio. Browse through the resources to see what can be used in your makerspace. Host an art show at your school for families and the communities to showcase the students' creativity. Your students can describe their work as visitors explore the gallery. Use the activities as stations during your art show for participants to create their own art. Many of the lessons on the site are cross-curricular.
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Sketch Toy - Hakim El Hattab
Grades
K to 12
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Sketch Toy is an intriguing, online drawing tool. No membership is required. Click in the blank graph paper to begin drawing. Click buttons/menus to adjust the line size and color,...more
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Sketch Toy is an intriguing, online drawing tool. No membership is required. Click in the blank graph paper to begin drawing. Click buttons/menus to adjust the line size and color, undo, or erase. Note that you must click Erase a second time to turn it off! Set your line to vibrate using different options. One of the best features of this site is the ability to take an image from your desktop and drag it onto the drawing screen. Once your image is on screen, use the image to trace and create a stencil. Then choose "SAVE" to view your artwork in a step-by-step replay. Copy the image URL and/or share using social networks. Going to the URL will "play back" the drawing process. Click Refresh to watch it over again. You can also download your image. This tool works nicely on tablet browsers. Important: Be SURE to save your image URLs in Favorites or paste them somewhere so you can find them again later. With no registration, you have no way of "saving" your works of art within the tool!
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This site includes advertising.
tag(s): creative writing (120), creativity (91), drawing (61), geometric shapes (131), images (254), perspective (11), writing prompts (56)
In the Classroom
Use Sketch Toy to demonstrate symmetrical drawings. This tool is great for enhancing, creating and visualizing math concepts from basic geometric shapes and area to complex constructions and trig. Use on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Use for hands-on work with any geometry or trigonometry functions. Since this tool works on such a variety of devices, it would be ideal to use in a BYOD (or 1:1) geometry class. Art teachers who want to "draw in" their more mathematical students can offer this as a design option, especially when teaching about perspective. Drag in images of alphabet letters for younger students to practice tracing. In art class, pull in images of artworks (even students' own work) and have them highlight design principles such as the path of your eye in viewing this image. Annotate any image using freehand drawing and writing. Use this tool as a visual writing prompt. Transform learning by creating drawing stories where a small group adds to the drawing as they pass it around on a tablet, narrating the story among themselves. Save it and play it back for them to write down their own versions of the story. Drawing stories would be a great way to practice world language skills or for ENL students to master vocabulary!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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