TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Sep 19, 2021
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
Time Graphics Timeline Maker - Time.graphics
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): timelines (55)
In the Classroom
It may take some time for you to become comfortable with creating a timeline with this product. Share with students to allow them to explore the different options, then ask them to become the teachers creating and using this tool in various ways. Ask students to create screencasts using Free Screen Recorder Online, reviewed here, with directions for using certain features of the timeline. Add all of the student tutorials into a Wakelet collection, reviewed here, for easy access at any time. Create timelines to introduce material in any subject. If your school uses Google Apps or Docs/Drive, your students (or groups) can create their own very easily. Map specific battles in history (World War II or the Revolutionary War, perhaps?) Map significant scientific discoveries in the progress of understanding cell theory or genetics. Follow the works of various writers, artists, or musicians. Follow the life of famous people or noteworthy events such as elections, the Olympics, or even local history!Edge Features:
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
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!).
Safe@School - Lesson Plans and Toolkits - USC Rossier
Grades
K to 12tag(s): african american (109), hispanic (34), racism (79)
In the Classroom
Use these resources throughout the school year, and especially during difficult conversations, including those about racism, come up in class. Review these resources to prepare yourself for spontaneous discussions about race and differences. You may want to start the school year with a community building activity from this list, from Teampedia, reviewed here. Or skim through the list of resources to find one that will fit your lesson and students.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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!).
Anti-Racism For Kids 101: Starting To Talk About Race - Books for Littles
Grades
K to 5This site includes advertising.
tag(s): african american (109), hispanic (34), racism (79), reading lists (77)
In the Classroom
Though this site is affiliated with places to buy books i.e., Amazon, you can also find these books at your public library. An alternative would be to consider a "Wish List," either online with Amazon or publish it in your newsletter that goes home to parents and that you can mention at back-to-school night.After reading the book to the class or a small group, ask students to think about what the author was trying to tell the students about the topic (diversity, etc.). Ask for volunteers to answer. Remind students to be respectful of others' opinions during an open discussion. Use the books suggested on this site to start a discussion as to why the topic is important. After this discussion you may want to use Gravity, reviewed here to have students consolidate their learning by stating what they learned from the book and possibly replying to another classmate's response to the book.
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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!).
Teaching About Race and Racism: Lesson Plans Resources - ShareMyLesson
Grades
K to 12tag(s): african american (109), black history (130), hispanic (34), jews (30), racism (79), segregation (18)
In the Classroom
Before sharing this site with students, find a lesson to use as an introduction. Then, show the lesson and its resources on your interactive whiteboard or with a projector, explaining to students all the parts of the lesson as you proceed through it. After this first lesson, enhance student learning by allowing them to choose what lesson or resource they would like to investigate next. Ask students to use Padlet, reviewed here, to register their preference for investigation. If more than one student is interested in the same lesson/resource, allow them to work together. Challenge students to share their extended learning with their peers in a multimedia presentation using Genial.ly, reviewed here, or Sway, reviewed here. Both Sway and Genial.ly will allow your students to create multimedia projects. With Genial.ly you could allow students to choose the type of interactive media they want to develop.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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!).
DesignCap Poster Creator - PearlMountain
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Take advantage of this free resource to create posters for any topic. Have students design poster book covers to summarize stories read. Include posters with student blogging projects as part of an online portfolio. Replace paper pen by asking students to write blogs sharing information learned using a site like edublogs, reviewed here. edublogs offers tools for creating class and individual blogs. Extend student learning and classroom technology use by asking older students to create posters of different cultures and countries, then include them in a virtual field trip using Google My Maps, reviewed here. With Google My Maps, students can embed images and videos onto their pointers and shapes for any given location. Challenge science and math students to create posters demonstrating an understanding of topics using their own words and images.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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!).
Knight Lab - Northwest University
Grades
K to 12tag(s): digital storytelling (154), images (261), maps (212), timelines (55)
In the Classroom
This site is a must-have for anyone who teaches writing or assigns writing projects. Bookmark this site for use throughout the year with any writing project. Focus on one tool a month to learn more about the features available. Assign a tool to different groups of students and let them become the experts. Enhance students' learning and modify classroom technology use by asking the groups to create a "How to" video for their tool and to share with their peers. For this, try using Free Screen Recorder Online, reviewed here, or RecordCast Screen Recorder, reviewed here. Work with peers to assign projects across subject levels using tools from this site to compare and contrast images, create interactive timelines, build story maps, and much more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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!).
WriteReader - WriteReader
Grades
K to 5tag(s): digital storytelling (154), literacy (118), multilingual (70), reading strategies (103), science of reading (37), writing (324)
In the Classroom
WriteReader is so simple that very young students can use it successfully after a whiteboard or projector demonstration. While creating their books, students will be able to add images, multiple pages and delete pages, include voice-over, use color on the pages, view one page at a time or the entire book, and toggle between letters' names/sounds or no audio. Use this tool to design simple projects using student drawings to tell the story. Have students draw and annotate stories about their summer at the beginning of the year and share them with classmates. Students of any age love to draw, so why not have them draw their impression of what the message to the reader was after hearing a story and then explain it in writing? Nonreaders and ENL/ESL students especially will benefit from hearing the letter sounds as they begin writing in their new language.Edge Features:
Includes an education-only area for teachers and students
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
Includes teacher tools for registering and/or monitoring students
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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!).
Buzzsprout - Tom Rossi
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): communication (139), digital storytelling (154), podcasts (104)
In the Classroom
Even if you aren't ready to create podcasts, share the How To Start a Podcast page with your students with excellent tips for creating any type of speaking presentation, create regular or special podcasts to share on your class web page or wiki to read/listen to in class AND from home, adding a touch of blended learning to your classroom! Have readers (perhaps older buddies) enhance their learning by building fluency and recording selected passages for your non-readers. Don't forget to have them listen and critique their podcast! Launch a service project for your fifth or sixth graders to record stories for the kindergarten to use in their reading and listening center. Have students create "you are there" recordings as "eyewitnesses" to historical or current events. Make a weekly class podcast, with students taking turns writing and sharing the "Class News." Have students create radio advertisements for concepts studied in class (Buy Dynamic DNA!). Have students write and record their own stories or poetry in dramatic readings. Language students or beginning readers could record their fluency by reading passages and listening to themselves. Allow parents to hear their child's progress reading aloud, etc. Compare world language, speech articulation, or reading fluency at two points during the year. Have your Shakespeare students record a soliloquy. Write and record a poem for Father's or Mother's Day (or other special events) and send the URL as a gift to that special person. If you have gifted students who lean toward the dramatic, this tool is simple enough for them to create dramatic mini casts without needing a video camera.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
Comments
Great resource for podcast novices like me! I love the step-by-step instructions to help with creating a podcast as well as the helpful tips and ideas for a podcast. Can't wait to begin using with my K-5 students.Christina, , Grades: 0 - 8
The podcasting 101 information is incredibly helpful for anyone wishing to begin podcasting. It also establishes tips that can be helpful for any speaker (as the description says).Patricia, NJ, Grades: 6 - 12
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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!).
Classroom Materials - Primary Source Sets - Library of Congress
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): 20th century (62), authors (105), black history (130), civil war (136), constitution (93), evaluating sources (28), hispanic (34), history day (39), immigration (68), jefferson (18), lincoln (66), new deal (5), primary sources (119), Research (85), segregation (18), thanksgiving (24), veterans (29), washington (27), westward expansion (39), womens suffrage (50), wright brothers (16)
In the Classroom
When introducing a new unit, show students photos from the era (on the left menu) and have them describe what they see and what period they think it is. Find plenty of questions and activities (including a blank analysis organizer for students) in the Teacher's Guides. Also look at Library of Congress: for Teachers, reviewed here. Encourage your students to use this tool for projects. Challenge students to find a photo (legally permitted for reproduction), and then narrate the photo as if it is a news report. Have students create a multimedia presentation using Google Slides, reviewed here. Google Slides allows you to narrate a picture (choose Insert from the top menu, then audio) modifying student learning. Include this site on your class webpage for students and parents to access as a reference.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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!).
Salsa - Georgia Public Broadcasting
Grades
K to 12tag(s): hispanic (34), preK (266), resources (87), spanish (108)
In the Classroom
Use these episodes to supplement regular Spanish language classes or as enrichment for elementary classes wishing to learn a language. Encourage your Spanish-speaking class members to assist with pronunciation, episode summaries, songs, etc. Provide this link on your class website for students to use both in and out of the classroom; the activities and stories help with Spanish language comprehension. After introducing your students to this program you may want to set up stations with different stories from this list for students to rotate through. Share the stories on your interactive whiteboard or projector as a model for world language students, then extend student learning by challenging students to create their own stories. Use a tool like FlexClip, reviewed here, to record them and share them. FlexClip is designed to allow you to create short animated or explainer videos to share on YouTube and other social media sites. Then, share on a site such as TeacherTube, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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!).
Americas Award for Children and Young Adult Literature - CLASP
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): book lists (165), hispanic (34), reading lists (77), spanish (108)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the free unit plans and classroom activities within the "resources" section of the page. Explore through these resources to find one to add a multicultural perspective to your history or language arts class. Be sure to save the site as a favorite to allow for easy reference later on. Try using Raindrop.io, reviewed here for this purpose.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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!).
Hispanic Historic Places - National Park Service
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): hispanic (34), national parks (29), resources (87), spanish (108)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the free lesson plans listed for Hispanic American/Latino American History here from the NPS Teaching with Historic Places series. This is a great resource for a history or geography classroom, just be sure to save it as a favorite to allow for easy retrieval later on. You might want to use a curation tool such as Wakelet, reviewed here to share with this site with your students.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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!).
REFORMA - UCLA
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): communities (37), hispanic (34), service projects (17), spanish (108)
In the Classroom
Familiarize students with this site and what the REFORMA goals are: The goals of REFORMA include: Development of Spanish-language and Latino-oriented library collections, Recruitment of bilingual, multicultural library personnel, Promotion of public awareness of libraries and librarianship among Latinos, Advocacy on behalf of the information needs of the Latino community, and Liaison to other professional organizations. Then have them investigate your school library and local libraries to see if they meet those goals. If some of the goals are not being met, there is an opportunity for community service.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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!).
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
Close comment form