Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

This YouTube channel from Christina Tondevold (The Recovering Traditionalist) shares several videos discussing methods and pedagogy for teaching elementary math. Topics include building number sense, telling time, ways to develop fact fluency, and more. Each video contains a short description of the subject, along with teaching suggestions for building student content knowledge. If your school blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.

tag(s): addition (128), fractions (159), geometric shapes (136), number lines (33), number sense (70), place value (34), preK (255), subtraction (109)

Learn letter placement on the keyboard through gameplay with TypeTastic! The site's many free activities teach and practice location of letters on a keyboard through visualization of the board in three different colors. Keyboarding exercises come in three different levels (K-2 Elementary, Upper Elementary, and Middle & High).
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tag(s): game based learning (171), keyboarding (28), preK (255)

Ready Jet Go! is a PBS Kids animated series to help children learn about astronomy and earth science concepts. This site features characters from the series in games, videos, and activities. Watch full episodes, connect to the live Space Station feed, or learn about spacecraft from Astronaut Amy's short videos.

tag(s): gravity (42), moon (70), planets (112), preK (255), solar system (108), space (213), stars (66), sun (69), temperature (35)

Words for Life is a site for adults caring for or teaching children from birth through age 11 to promote literacy and communication skills. Select an age level to find tips and information, expected milestones, books, and "fun stuff to do together" such as videos, games, and audio stories. The site was created in the UK, so some of the pronunciations and spellings may differ from those in American English.

tag(s): communication (136), literacy (110), preK (255)

Give yourself a brain break using the interactive classroom resources at GoNoodle. These activities promote health, fitness, and mindfulness and are based on cutting edge research. These engaging games and activities provide short bursts of movement leading to improved focus and energy within the classroom. Sign-up using your Google account, or create an account with your email. Signing-up with Google, allows you to sign-in with your Google Classroom account. If you have multiple groups of students (or classes) start by naming your class(es), since each class will show progression on this tool. Choose from Topics, Activities and Routines, Channels, Skills and Knowledge, or New on GoNoodle (directions for registering and other features). Each title has multiple sub-categories. Some options are for paid memberships only. None of the games takes longer than five minutes. While most of these are physical tasks, a few are mental/logic activities. Time required for the activity is shown with each option. Registration does require an email address. If your district blocks YouTube, some activities may not be viewable.

tag(s): classroom management (128), fitness (38), logic (164), preK (255)

Songs, video book readings, lesson plans, and more abound at this fabulous site for young children! At We Do Listen you will find activities to build character traits (such as honesty) and social skills (such as anti-bullying). There are many video animations of the books. Choose the lessons link to find printable lessons to accompany each book to teach character traits and social skills. Under Fun Stuff there is also online coloring and a place to write and color your own story! Download song videos to your computer for use at any time. Choose the color and print your own book to color on paper, computer, and create stick and paper puppets.
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tag(s): bullying (49), character education (76), preK (255), social skills (22)

Captivate and challenge students while maintaining quiet times in your classroom with Bouncy Balls! Turn on the microphone to capture sound; the quieter your environment is, the more settled the balls remain. If there is more noise, the balls start flying and jumping around the screen. In addition to bouncy balls, choose from bubbles, eyeballs, and smiley face icons. There is also a full screen option. Our editors had some trouble trying to figure out HOW to enable the microphones. Here are some tips that we learned. If you are using Firefox or Chrome, you must allow pop-ups. You should get a message in the narrow band below the address bar asking you to "Allow Microphone" for this site. At the time of this review, this site was not working properly on the Safari browser. Even so, this is still one site you will want to explore and "have a ball." Unfortunately, this site does not work on mobile devices.
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tag(s): classroom management (128), preK (255), sound (74), Teacher Utilities (146)

Choose from many preschool and kindergarten interactives to develop and reinforce basic academic skills. This highly colorful site includes: animals, alphabet, numbers, colors, and shapes. Most activities are very simple. Simply roll the mouse over objects to hear the object name and color, or click on arrows to view flashcards. Play alphabet activities to learn letters. Test your skills with a quick quiz. Choose from an extensive array of activities in the animal portion of the site sorted into categories of look, create, play, learn, find, and count.
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tag(s): alphabet (51), animals (281), colors (64), geometric shapes (136), numbers (119), preK (255)

Are school budget cuts cramping your style? Then look at this award winning, FREE drawing application! Tux Paint is an "open source" drawing software for young students (preK - grade 6) and is available to the public at no cost. If you are familiar with Kid Pix, you will feel right at home with Tux Paint. The design is straightforward, and easy to navigate. The center of the screen serves as a large canvas with drawing tools on either side. Beneath the screen is a color palette. A cute penguin cartoon character directs students through the program and provides helpful tips. Some of the features include a large, kid friendly mouse pointer, brushes, stamps, sounds, erasers, letters, numbers, "magic effects," and an undo/redo option. Save artwork directly onto a slide finder page without having to create a file name. The installation is quick and easy even for older computers. First, download the application itself, and then the stamp collection. The number of stamps and the variety of images is amazing! Feel free to install Tux Paint on as many computers as you wish. Tux Paint will work on a variety of operating platforms such as Windows, OS X 10.3, and Linux. The "Tux Paint Configuration" tool is a separate file found on the "Tux Paint" download page. Having the controls in a different location makes it difficult for students to adjust the settings. Simply open the Tux Paint Configuration file and a main control panel will come up. From here, the supervising adult can control the screen size, sound, mouse, print settings, and save functions. Adjust the settings and simplify the program for younger children. Choose from approximately 80 different languages to run Tux Paint.

tag(s): creativity (91), drawing (59), painting (56), preK (255)