TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Aug 9, 2020

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

Camp BOOK IT! - Pizza Hut

Grades
K to 6
0 Favorites 0  Comments
Camp BOOK IT! is a summer home reading program where students in grades K-6 earn monthly rewards for achieving reading goals. After enrolling in the program, parents use the digital...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

Camp BOOK IT! is a summer home reading program where students in grades K-6 earn monthly rewards for achieving reading goals. After enrolling in the program, parents use the digital dashboard to track their student's reading progress during June, July, and August. Move the slider to certify completion of the preset goal to receive a certificate to redeem at Pizza Hut for a personal pan pizza. Other features found on this site include a series of ongoing articles with activities and book recommendations; under Resources at the top, slide to Teacher Toolbox to find activities and calendars to track reading.

tag(s): independent reading (85), seasonal (17), summer (28)

In the Classroom

Share Camp BOOK IT! with parents to encourage reading over the summer months. Use this program as an opportunity to collaborate with parents to engage students in reading by providing a reading list for students that includes books that appeal to your students. Use Padlet, reviewed here, to share suggested titles of books for students, and use the stream feature to organize the titles into different categories. Encourage students to add comments to your Padlet, sharing their book reviews. Enhance your students' summer reading experience by creating a topic using Flip, reviewed here, and ask students to contribute video book talks discussing their reading. Another idea is to create a Summer Bingo topic. Attach a Bingo form to your Flip topic with different squares to complete. Ideas might be reading a biography, starting a new book series, or sharing a book with a friend.
 This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.

Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member

Rating (click star to set rating):

Close comment form

You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).

Close

Less
More

Clever Crazes for Kids - Building Healthy Lives Foundation

Grades
K to 8
1 Favorites 0  Comments
   
Clever Crazes for Kids is a kid-friendly website devoted to sharing education enrichment resources aligned to state and Common Core Standards. This site features game-based learning...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

Clever Crazes for Kids is a kid-friendly website devoted to sharing education enrichment resources aligned to state and Common Core Standards. This site features game-based learning activities based upon STREAM (Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) concepts and content. Additional activities provide foundations in English language learning skills for ENL/ESL students. Play games as a guest or create a free account to save favorites and earn points. Download the Toolkit for Educators (PDF) to find an overview of the site's offerings and suggested curriculum uses.

tag(s): game based learning (171), multilingual (63), preK (254), STEM (259)

In the Classroom

Add games found on Clever Crazes for Kids to others shared on classroom computers. Encourage students to participate in games by earning points. Have students document and extend their learning by sharing screenshots of accomplishments and by screen recording student reading sessions to demonstrate progress. Use Seesaw, reviewed here, as a digital portfolio to document progress and share student learning with parents.
 This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.

Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member

Rating (click star to set rating):

Close comment form

You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).

Close

Less
More

Book Club for Kids - Kitty Felde

Grades
5 to 9
1 Favorites 0  Comments
 
Book Club for Kids is a free, weekly 20-minute podcast for middle school students. Each podcast includes a discussion of a favorite book along with an author interview and celebrity...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

Book Club for Kids is a free, weekly 20-minute podcast for middle school students. Each podcast includes a discussion of a favorite book along with an author interview and celebrity reading. In addition to the podcasts, this site offers a variety of information for students and educators, and parents. Select the link for librarians, teachers, and parents to find curriculum guides for several books. Choose the sections with "Writers on Writing" to discover in-depth conversations with several authors. Podcasts are available on most popular podcasting sites.

tag(s): authors (103), book lists (159), book reports (28), literature (217), podcasts (72)

In the Classroom

This tremendous resource is a must-have for all middle school classrooms and libraries! Share the podcasts with students not only to learn about the latest books but also to learn how to improve public speaking skills, learn about the author's techniques and tips, and discover how to share informative book reports. Subscribe to the podcast and have students listen to weekly presentations during center times or as a class. Share the "Books We Love" portion of the site on your class webpage for students to use when looking for reading material. Ask your school librarian to share these podcasts in the media center and look into ordering books of interest to your students. As students learn from these podcasts, ask them to use what they learned to create their podcasts to share with classmates and your school. Have students use organizers found on ReadWriteThink, reviewed here to organize and plan for their podcasts and book reviews. Help students visualize their written work by creating word clouds with Wordsift, reviewed here to focus on commonly-used terms within their text and evaluate their usefulness. As a final project, help your students create and produce ongoing podcasts sharing their book reviews with peers. Buzzsprout, reviewed here and Spotify for Podcasters (wasAnchor), reviewed here both provide free podcasting tools.

Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member

Rating (click star to set rating):

Close comment form

You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).

Close

Less
More

BeeLine Reader Collection - Reading is Fundamental

Grades
K to 12
3 Favorites 0  Comments
Improve reading and comprehension skills for all students and adults with this BeeLine Reader Collection on Literacy Central. Find over 100 books and stories as downloadable PDFs, all...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

Improve reading and comprehension skills for all students and adults with this BeeLine Reader Collection on Literacy Central. Find over 100 books and stories as downloadable PDFs, all using BeeLine Reader technology to highlight and wrap text to improve focusing and tracking while reading. Use the leveled reading passages within Reading is Fundamental for multiple grade levels and books. Find additional support materials for each book, including author interviews, lesson plans, crosswords, and word searches all as downloadable PDFs. Though Beeline Reader is not usually a free tool, Literacy Central is providing it to its members for free through these PDFs. You do not need to create a free membership to use these materials, only to save them as a favorite. Learn more about the Beeline Reader tool and how it improves reading comprehension by watching the YouTube video introduction on this page.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): independent reading (85), multilingual (63), reading comprehension (142), reading strategies (96), Special Needs (53), Teacher Utilities (146)

In the Classroom

These BeeLine Reader PDFs are an excellent addition to the already valuable reading materials found at Reading is Fundamental - Literacy Central, reviewed here. Be sure to bookmark this site to find leveled reading passages with the enhanced function of BeeLine Reader. These PDFs are wonderful to share with ENL/ELL and Special Education specialists to use with their students. Remember, all teachers are reading teachers. Share this tool with your science, social studies, and math teachers, too!
 This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.

Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member

Rating (click star to set rating):

Close comment form

You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).

Close

Less
More

Read Ahead - Full Tilt Ahead, LLC

Grades
3 to 12
6 Favorites 0  Comments
 
Transform any text into a guided reading activity presentation using vocabulary, keywords, and phrases with Read Ahead. Create a presentation highlighting critical components of a text...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

Transform any text into a guided reading activity presentation using vocabulary, keywords, and phrases with Read Ahead. Create a presentation highlighting critical components of a text passage by choosing keywords or phrases, add your vocabulary list, or use the Smart Skimmer to select items automatically. When complete, your presentation shares featured words and terms with readers before beginning to read the text. Share with students using the created link or through social media links.

tag(s): literacy (106), multilingual (63), reading comprehension (142), vocabulary (235), vocabulary development (90)

In the Classroom

Include Read Ahead with your other resources for teaching vocabulary. Read Ahead is perfect for introducing any reading passage to struggling readers, special education students, and ENL/ELL learners. Create presentations for articles found in science or social studies materials to prepare students for difficult vocabulary and phrases. Take advantage of this site to use reading material with your students that might otherwise be above their reading level. Instead of asking students to use vocabulary in sentences to demonstrate understanding, ask them to use the words to create digital stories using an online tool like Book Creator, reviewed here. Book Creator can be used for a variety of assignments in any classroom that is integrating technology as an enhancement, modification, or transformation.

Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member

Rating (click star to set rating):

Close comment form

You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).

Close

Less
More

Reading Strategies Resources - TeachersFirst

Grades
K to 12
3 Favorites 0  Comments
This curated list of reviewed resources includes teaching ideas and sites to promote proven reading strategies of effective readers. Find engaging texts to use as your class focuses...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 curated list of reviewed resources includes teaching ideas and sites to promote proven reading strategies of effective readers. Find engaging texts to use as your class focuses on a particular strategy as well as professional resources to improve your own understanding of this research-based approach to building literacy skills. Don't miss "In the classroom" ideas for specific projects or ideas for before, during, and after reading.

tag(s): reading comprehension (142), reading strategies (96)

In the Classroom

Find new tools and reading strategies to share with your students. Share this list on your class website for families to use at home. This list includes resources for young readers and secondary students.

Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member

Rating (click star to set rating):

Close comment form

You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).

Close

Less
More

Twitter Chat: Strategies and Resources for Early Reading - TeachersFirst

Grades
K to 12
0 Favorites 0  Comments
This archived Twitter chat is from May 2017 and will open in Wakelet. The topic of this chat is Strategies and Resources for Early Reading. If you teach emergent readers ...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 archived Twitter chat is from May 2017 and will open in Wakelet. The topic of this chat is Strategies and Resources for Early Reading. If you teach emergent readers or beginning readers, view this archive. Browse the strategies offered by the chat moderators and participants.

tag(s): professional development (388), reading strategies (96), twitterchatarchive (172)

In the Classroom

Do you teach beginner readers? Check out this archived chat for tools and tips to use in your classroom. Share this tool with your colleagues interested in learning more tips and tools to use in emergent reading lessons.

Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member

Rating (click star to set rating):

Close comment form

You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).

Close

Less
More

CurriConnects Booklist: Adventures in Summer - TeachersFirst

Grades
K to 12
1 Favorites 0  Comments
This collection of books is all about summer! Summertime brings many adventures: vacations, camp, wild weather, fireworks, and more! Travel aboard a cruise ship, explore a mysterious...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 collection of books is all about summer! Summertime brings many adventures: vacations, camp, wild weather, fireworks, and more! Travel aboard a cruise ship, explore a mysterious island, learn about summer weather, meet some tiny creatures living in hotels, and make this a summer reading adventure to remember. This collection of books offers both fiction and information texts. CurriConnects thematic book lists include ISBN numbers for ordering or searching, interest grade levels, ESL levels and Lexiles''''® to match student independent reading levels to challenge, not frustrate. For more on text complexity and Lexiles''''®, see this information from the Lexile Framework. Don't miss other CurriConnects themes being added regularly. If your library does not have the books, try interlibrary loan!

tag(s): book lists (159), independent reading (85), summer (28)

In the Classroom

This collection is perfect to share with students (and families) prior to the summer break. Keep minds fresh during the summer. Allow students (or partners) to choose their own book. If you want to "spice" up your final month of school, allow students to start summer (in their minds). These books provide experience with both fiction and nonfiction informational texts. They often require students to draw inferences about the "facts." Allow students (or partners) to choose their own book. Share this list with your school library/media specialist or public library, as well, for them to "pull" books in support of your end of school-year reading. Extend the experience by having students create visual presentations of the concepts they learn. Challenge students to create a presentation using Prezi, reviewed here, or Slides, reviewed here.

Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member

Rating (click star to set rating):

Close comment form

You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).

Close

Less
More

Story Shares - Louise Baigelman and Gary Herman

Grades
6 to 12
1 Favorites 0  Comments
Story Share is the perfect solution for finding relevant and readable content for older students unable to read above the elementary level. Digital content provides interesting material...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

Story Share is the perfect solution for finding relevant and readable content for older students unable to read above the elementary level. Digital content provides interesting material that doesn't condescend to teen readers. Use scroll down the landing page to The Matrix to filter the correct reading level and interest level. Login is required to read books, and it allows you to add books to a reading list and to bookmark the stopping point while reading books. Be sure to check out the The Blog to find books on current topics and ideas for reading nooks, etc.

tag(s): book lists (159), differentiation (83), digital storytelling (142), ebooks (38), multilingual (63), reading comprehension (142)

In the Classroom

Introduce this site to your reluctant or struggling readers on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Then have students explore this site independently or in small groups to find interesting reading material. Be sure to provide a link to Story Shares on your class website or blog for students to explore at home. Use this site to differentiate for students of all levels and for use with special education or ENL/ESL students. Have students write their own comprehension questions and answers based on the book to check their own comprehension and to exchange with classmates.

Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member

Rating (click star to set rating):

Close comment form

You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).

Close

Less
More

Just Free Books - justfreebooks.info

Grades
2 to 12
4 Favorites 0  Comments
This site is a wonderful search engine for most of the known digital libraries including Gutenberg, Google Books, Wikibooks, and archive.org. Entering search terms like "children's...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 site is a wonderful search engine for most of the known digital libraries including Gutenberg, Google Books, Wikibooks, and archive.org. Entering search terms like "children's audio books," for example, leads to a list of links that offer free online reads. Listing other features in your search will bring up the spescifics that you want This can include books in other formats including those that upload to many different players including PDF, TXT, MS Reader, MS Word and ODT, RTF, Palm Reader eBooks, Html, Epub, Kindle, Mobipocket, Isilo, Audio books, Plucker, and more. Besides searching in "only English," you can also select Spanish, French, and/or Portuguese to search for books in those languages.

tag(s): audio books (23), book lists (159), ebooks (38), literature (217), reading lists (80), search engines (49)

In the Classroom

Offer this site to students who wish to use digital devices to read. Keep in mind that many of the selections are older, in the public domain due to the expiration of copyright. ENL/ESL and SPED students may benefit from being able to hear or see books in a different way. Use the texts you find as language to analyze or manipulate on your interactive whiteboard to teach reading comprehension skills, parts of speech, transition words, vocabulary study, and writing style. Allow students to copy/paste text into the whiteboard software so they can "work with words" from literary works instead of worksheets.
 This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.

Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member

Rating (click star to set rating):

Close comment form

You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).

Close

Less
More

Bookshare: Books without Barriers - Bookshare

Grades
2 to 12
1 Favorites 0  Comments
  
This site allows FREE access to a number of books, newspapers, and magazines, all using adaptive technology. After a free registration (available to participants with documented limited...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 site allows FREE access to a number of books, newspapers, and magazines, all using adaptive technology. After a free registration (available to participants with documented limited vision), members can download books, textbooks, and newspapers in a compressed, encrypted file. They then read the material using adaptive technology, typically software that reads the book aloud (text-to-speech) and/or displays the text of the book on a computer screen, or Braille access devices, such as refreshable Braille displays. The advantage to this site is that it offers newer books and other written materials than many other online digital libraries. Besides written items, a number of videos are available which assist or focus on typical Bookshare users, many featuring them as success stories. A special page of information for teachers with limited vision students includes information such as other resources, reading lists, and handouts.

tag(s): digital reading (16), disabilities (29), vision (45)

In the Classroom

If you have students with limited vision or certain specific qualifying learning disabilities in your class, be sure to save this useful resource in your favorites. List this link on your class website or wiki or email it to parents of these children. If possible, share this site with those teachers working with students with limited vision and qualifying disabilities.

Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member

Rating (click star to set rating):

Close comment form

You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).

Close

Less
More

Kids Press - Kid Reporters' Notebook - Scholastic, Inc.

Grades
1 to 8
3 Favorites 0  Comments
Find news articles, written by kids, for elementary students (perfect for practicing reading and understanding informational text). Kids Press offers news on current events nationwide...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 news articles, written by kids, for elementary students (perfect for practicing reading and understanding informational text). Kids Press offers news on current events nationwide and in the writer's hometown. This site features easy-to-read news articles and articles of general interest. In addition, you and your interested students can apply to become a Kid Reporter. Since 10 to 14-year-old children write many of the stories, they offer a unique perspective on current events.

tag(s): news (229)

In the Classroom

Put a link on your teacher web page for parents and students to access Kids Press at home or in study times at school. Preview the site to determine which news stories best suit your curriculum and the age of your students. Younger classes may need help reading some of the articles: use a projector so the news story can be read aloud as students follow along. Have younger students create a simple word cloud using Word Cloud for Kids, reviewed here, and older students create an infographic sharing their "new" news knowledge using Venngage, reviewed here. Enhance learning by having students practice writing their own "News for Kids by Kids" for a classroom publication using Ourboox, reviewed here. Ourboox creates beautiful page-flipping digital books in minutes, and you can embed video, music, animation, games, maps, and more.

Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member

Rating (click star to set rating):

Close comment form

You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).

Close