TeachersFirst Research Strategies
Today's students must learn the valuable skill of research and research strategies. Students will find research skills helpful for future studies and possibly their careers. Finding necessary information and resources necessitates planning, execution, and digging deep. Students must learn to raise the right questions about what they listen to, watch, or read. They should have opportunities to practice research strategies and decipher quality research from mediocre to find the best places for good resources. This collection of resources includes lesson ideas, activities, and resources for teaching research skills for all grade levels.
Click here to view our complete collection of tagged research resources. You may also be interested in our tagged list of resources about media literacy, citations, and summarizing.
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Google News Archive Search - Google
Grades
3 to 12
3 Favorites
0 Comments
This site is part of a thirteen-part series of lessons demonstrating how to use Google search to find historical digital publications and scanned newspapers. The short step-by-step...more
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This site is part of a thirteen-part series of lessons demonstrating how to use Google search to find historical digital publications and scanned newspapers. The short step-by-step instructions include pictures showing how to search the archives for news articles from 1995 and search terms for finding scanned newspaper articles before 1995. This lesson is available online or as a PDF document.
tag(s): journalism (74), primary sources (121), search engines (46), timelines (58)
In the Classroom
This site provides helpful information on effective browser searches for any social studies, history, or English class. Create a bookmark for news.google.com on classroom computers so that students can quickly access web news content from 2003. Include this site and other effective and safe web browsing tutorials by creating a Wakelet collection, reviewed here. Include items in your collection such as tutorials, shortcut tips, and how to use exact terms for searches.
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A Giant Step for Small Feet - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 4
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A Giant Step for Small Feet is part of the TeachersFirst Help! I Lost My Library/Media Specialist series reviewed here and shares ideas and resources...more
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A Giant Step for Small Feet is part of the TeachersFirst Help! I Lost My Library/Media Specialist series reviewed here and shares ideas and resources for introducing research to primary students. This article begins with some background knowledge information and then shares many ideas for conducting an animal research project with students. In addition, several extension activities are included. Finally, alignment to ISTE and AASL standards is provided.
tag(s): animal homes (56), animals (295), Research (78)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this article as a reference for teaching research to young students or as a resource for activities to supplement your animal unit. Use Symbaloo, reviewed here, to create and share online information with students to use with their research. The introductory activity teaches students to go beyond "asking Google." Use technology to engage students during your in-house field trip with a digital field trip using Goosechase Edu, reviewed here. Use Goosechase to create a digital scavenger hunt for students to use when locating different areas of the school or classroom library to find research materials.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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How to Research: Ultimate Guide [+Online Tools] - IvyPanda
Grades
5 to 12
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This handy guide provides step-by-step information on creating a research paper from start to finish. The manual begins with an overview of the three universal research purposes - exploratory,...more
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This handy guide provides step-by-step information on creating a research paper from start to finish. The manual begins with an overview of the three universal research purposes - exploratory, descriptive, and explanatory. Then, each step provides specific information on the nine essential items to complete the research. In addition, this article includes a handy image that provides a visual representation of the basic steps required for a research paper.
tag(s): presentations (22), process writing (35), Research (78), writing (311)
In the Classroom
This article is quite lengthy, but it provides students with a great deal of information on research and reporting researched information. At a minimum, share the provided link to the step-by-step image with students to use as a reference guide. For more in-depth lessons, break down the information into smaller pieces and include them in your current research project lessons. Consider using a curation tool such as Padlet, reviewed here, to share this resource and others with students to guide research projects. For example, include a column with tools for evaluating sources such as Checkology, reviewed here, and another column with online tools to create citations such as MyBib, reviewed here. Offer students an option of different tools to create and share their presentations, including Ourboox, reviewed here, to create a digital flipbook or Powtoon, reviewed here, as an option for video presentations.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Grades 6-8 Research Resources for Teaching Remotely on Short Notice - TeachersFirst
Grades
6 to 8
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Student research projects are perfect for use in remote teaching lessons, and this collection of resources provides tips and instructional tools perfect for at-home learning. The sites...more
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Student research projects are perfect for use in remote teaching lessons, and this collection of resources provides tips and instructional tools perfect for at-home learning. The sites contained in this Wakelet collection include a safe search option and an organizational tool for student use. Learn how to use these tools and get ideas for use with the links shared to TeachersFirst blogs and Special Topics pages.
tag(s): professional development (271), Research (78), search engines (46)
In the Classroom
Share ideas found in the collection with students to use from start to finish with research projects. Encourage student collaboration using Fiskkit, reviewed here. Fiskkit is a tool for sharing and commenting on online articles. Share articles found during research and ask students to highlight important content and share their thoughts with peers.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Grades 3-5 Research Resources for Teaching Remotely on Short Notice - TeachersFirst
Grades
3 to 5
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Take your remote teaching activities to the next level with these research resources for grades 3-5. Each suggestion includes information about the online resource and how to get started....more
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Take your remote teaching activities to the next level with these research resources for grades 3-5. Each suggestion includes information about the online resource and how to get started. Additional resources include links to TeachersFirst blogs and other primary source links with ideas for classroom use.
tag(s): professional development (271), Research (78)
In the Classroom
Incorporate videos, articles, and quizzes found in the National Geographic link as part of an overall learning experience using Curipod, reviewed here. As students complete their research projects provide a variety of options for sharing their learning. Ideas to include as options include Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here, Clipchamp reviewed here, and Spotify for Podcasters, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Eagle Eye Citizen - Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Grades
5 to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
Develop civic understanding and historical thinking skills through interactive challenges found on Eagle Eye Citizen. These activities, geared toward middle and high school students,...more
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Develop civic understanding and historical thinking skills through interactive challenges found on Eagle Eye Citizen. These activities, geared toward middle and high school students, teach about American History using primary sources from the Library of Congress. The Solve link provides challenge puzzles to learn about historical events, the big picture, and sorting information into categories. Use the Teach link to find ideas for lessons and units based on this site's components, assessment ideas, and quick activities for use at any time. This link also includes several rubrics for use with the Challenge activities.
tag(s): branches of government (66), civil rights (218), congress (41), elections (83), immigrants (45), inquiry (28), presidents (145), primary sources (121), Research (78), womens suffrage (63)
In the Classroom
Share activities from this site to introduce civics and government lessons; be sure to point out links with additional resources included after problem-solving activities. Share a link to this site on your class website for students to use at home. Replace written notes and help students organize information using a mind mapping tool like Coggle, reviewed here. Use Coggle to create and share colorful diagrams with included text and images. As students continue through the unit, have them enhance their learning by including their diagram on a website sharing their knowledge of civics concepts or discussing the historical event studied. Webnode, reviewed here, is a free website creator offering premade templates and easy to use tools. Transform student learning at the next level and ask them to create a book for younger students to teach them about the event studied using Book Creator, reviewed here. For example, when learning about the three branches of government ask students to create a digital book explaining the functions of the three branches. Book Creator allows you to include videos, images, audio recordings, and more.
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Fiskkit - John Pettus
Grades
6 to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Think of Fiskkit as a social media tool for sharing, discussing, and evaluating online articles similar to marking up a paper with a red pen. Copy and paste the URL ...more
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Think of Fiskkit as a social media tool for sharing, discussing, and evaluating online articles similar to marking up a paper with a red pen. Copy and paste the URL for a news story into Fiskkit to input into the site. Once available, click on any sentence to rate or tag information as true/false, descriptive, or complimentary. Share the article with others to evaluate then view the graph showing tag distribution. After sharing the article with your class use your account to see student names that read the article, organize comments, and open individual sentences for classroom discussion. At the time of this review, Fiskkit works best in Edge and FireFox browsers.
tag(s): critical thinking (141), journalism (74), media literacy (106), news (225), newspapers (91)
In the Classroom
Use Fiskkit in your classroom to teach students critical thinking and analysis skills. Share current news articles weekly with students to evaluate and discuss. After students provide their input, share the results on your interactive whiteboard, or with a projector, to review and discuss the reactions as a group. As students evaluate articles, replace paper note cards and suggest they use an online note-taking tool similar to Webnote, reviewed here, to justify their answers on Fiskkit. Webnote allows you to add sticky notes on the computer workspace and share with others using the URL created. Challenge students to find articles they would like to discuss, save, and collaborate on using Raindrop.io, reviewed here. Raindrop.io offers you tools to bookmark and save websites, with the additional feature of allowing participants to add comments to saved information. Raindrop.io can be used for a variety of assignments in any classroom that is integrating technology as an enhancement. Instead of a written report, as students become more comfortable with evaluating online tools, ask them to use a multimedia presentation tool like Sway, reviewed here, to modify technology use and to discuss media bias and offer tips for evaluating online information.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Case Maker - Bean Creative
Grades
6 to 8
2 Favorites
1 Comments
Case Maker is a collection of 20 civics challenges for middle school students. Share individual challenges with students using the provided Challenge Code. Once students access the...more
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Case Maker is a collection of 20 civics challenges for middle school students. Share individual challenges with students using the provided Challenge Code. Once students access the challenge, the site offers tools for adding annotations and creating case folders. Once complete, students use information as a reference for other assignments or share their work using the site's presentation mode feature. Use your free Case Maker account to modify text and associated primary sources within challenges and follow student progress. Be sure to watch the introductory videos for teachers and students.
tag(s): black history (135), civil rights (218), constitution (101), democracy (25), elections (83), freedom of speech (14), immigrants (45), immigration (80), inquiry (28), media literacy (106), politics (119), racism (81), Research (78), world war 2 (168)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the free materials on this site to encourage debate and discussion within your current civics lessons and lessons on civil rights and racism. Introduce Case Maker by showing the class the student introductory video. Each lesson includes primary sources to use when responding to prompts; ask students to find and share additional primary sources to include in their response to each question. Instead of just creating a list of additional resources, engage students and augment classroom technology use by sharing additional resources using Padlet, reviewed here. Padlet offers features for adding comments; ask students to use this feature to indicate important information found on the document. Enhance learning by finding and sharing videos that support the topic being discussed. Use edpuzzle, reviewed here, to add comments and question prompts for students. Upon completing student projects, extend learning by having stidents share their thoughts through a podcast featuring students' challenge solutions. Be sure to include a group of students in each podcast featuring various points of view and their backup documentation. Try using Acast, reviewed here, to create student podcasts.Comments
Great variety of resources!Toni, , Grades: 5 - 8
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EduBirdie - KingCitation
Grades
5 to 12
1 Favorites
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Let's face it, creating proper citations is difficult due to the many different formats and the variety of sources cited. EduBirdie helps with this problem with its Auto Citer. Click...more
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Let's face it, creating proper citations is difficult due to the many different formats and the variety of sources cited. EduBirdie helps with this problem with its Auto Citer. Click Citation Generators from the top menu and then choose the type of format you need. The three step procedure begins at the top menu with choosing the type of work that is cited then moves on to adding requested information to the form generator. Click "Generate Citation" to complete your citation ready to copy and paste into any document.
tag(s): citations (30), plagiarism (31), Research (78)
In the Classroom
Use your interactive whiteboard and projector to show students how to use this tool for citing their sources. Share this website for all of your projects using research so students know the correct procedure for citations. Be sure to add it on your class web site as a useful reference.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Google Scholar - Google
Grades
8 to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
Google Scholar is a web search tool for scholarly literature and academic resources such as books, articles, and documents. Enter your search term, then choose to search by articles...more
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Google Scholar is a web search tool for scholarly literature and academic resources such as books, articles, and documents. Enter your search term, then choose to search by articles (with or without patents and case-law). Use additional tools within search results to narrow down by date. Enable the My Library function to save selected results for later use. The Cite link beneath the entry description includes formatted citations in many different options.
tag(s): citations (30), search engines (46)
In the Classroom
Use this great resource to organize and compare research found on the Internet. Consider creating a class Google account to collect materials found throughout the school year. Be sure to talk to students about how to organize and share information and sources. Students can maintain their own archive and show their collection at the end of the year. This tool will also be very handy for graduate projects teachers may be doing.
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Primary vs Secondary Sources - The Minnesota Historical Society
Grades
6 to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
Primary vs. Secondary Sources is an excellent YouTube video explaining the difference between these two types of sources. The video provides several examples of each type of source...more
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Primary vs. Secondary Sources is an excellent YouTube video explaining the difference between these two types of sources. The video provides several examples of each type of source and tells why it fits into that category. If your district blocks YouTube, then this video may not be viewable.
tag(s): evaluating sources (29), primary sources (121), Research (78)
In the Classroom
Share this video with students as they begin any research project. Be sure to add a link to this site on your class website for reference at home. Have students create a simple infographic with examples of both types of resources using Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here. Have students upload a photo they have taken of a source and add an explanation about why it fits into a particular category using a tool such as Add Text, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Classroom Materials - Primary Source Sets - Library of Congress
Grades
4 to 12
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0 Comments
This collection of primary sources from the Library of Congress is organized around key topics and themes in American History. View Primary Source Set titles in alphabetical order from...more
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This collection of primary sources from the Library of Congress is organized around key topics and themes in American History. View Primary Source Set titles in alphabetical order from Abraham Lincoln through Women's Suffrage. Choose any topic to view Teacher's Guides and analysis tools including graphic organizers for students. Sort information to find materials meeting Common Core Standards, State Standards, or national organization standards.
tag(s): 20th century (130), authors (108), black history (135), civil war (142), constitution (101), evaluating sources (29), hispanic (46), history day (38), immigration (80), jefferson (20), lincoln (66), new deal (5), primary sources (121), Research (78), segregation (20), thanksgiving (25), veterans (29), washington (32), westward expansion (41), womens suffrage (63), 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.
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P.org - iParadigms, LLC & TurnItIn LLC
Grades
6 to 12
6 Favorites
0 Comments
Here you will find everything you will ever need to know about plagiarism and citing sources. Start with the article on the right "What is Plagiarism." Be sure to check ...more
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Here you will find everything you will ever need to know about plagiarism and citing sources. Start with the article on the right "What is Plagiarism." Be sure to check out all the categories from the left menu. There you will find lots of videos and articles regarding citing sources (explains what a citation is), why one should cite sources, how to paraphrase, how to quote material, what a footnote is, and when one should cite the source. There are several interesting videos with titles like "Everything is a Remix." This is a hot topic and definitely a site to save and share with students!
Some of the videos reside on YouTube, if your school blocks YouTube they may not be viewable on classroom computers. You could flip your classroom and have the students watch those videos at home.
tag(s): citations (30), plagiarism (31), Research (78), summarizing (23)
In the Classroom
Meet your Common Core standards for nonfiction reading using the pages at this informative site! In addition, every student who creates a report, presentation, speech, or project, in any subject, needs to know this information. Consider dividing and presenting this site with a teacher in another curriculum, so students get the idea that this is information for EVERY class. Modify learning and consider presenting the information, questions, and quizzes using a tool such as Vevox, reviewed here. Vevox will integrate with Microsoft Teams and PowerPoint, and you can have instantaeous question and answer sessions. Then you can quiz students on the information. Moreover, this program will make this text heavy, but necessary material, much more tolerable for your students. You may want to challenge your gifted and musically inclined students to create a rap highlighting the important information they learned about plagiarism and citing sources. Have them teach the rap to the rest of the class. Or enhance learning and have students create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from this site using a tool such as WordItOut, reviewed here. If you are flipping your classroom and having students to watch the videos residing on YouTube at home, you may want to use Edpuzzle, reviewed here, to add your own voice or add questions within the video and hold students accountable.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Formatically - Tyler Bell and Duncan Harma
Grades
6 to 12
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Formatically automatically puts an assignment into the MLA format. The simple, straightforward looks are deceiving. This tool is a dream-come-true for any middle, high school, or college...more
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Formatically automatically puts an assignment into the MLA format. The simple, straightforward looks are deceiving. This tool is a dream-come-true for any middle, high school, or college student who has ever had to format a paper. Input information for the cover sheet, essay, and Works Cited. Formatically will take care of the rest. This tool works in conjunction with EasyBib, reviewed here, for the Works Cited. In addition, under the How To tab are an essay writing guide, MLA formatting guide, and Word tutorials with videos. The videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable. At the time of this review the creators say formatting for APA and Chicago Style will be available soon.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): citations (30), essays (20), plagiarism (31), quotations (19), Research (78), writing (311)
In the Classroom
Use your interactive whiteboard or projector and this tool to walk your students through each step of the MLA formatting process. Point out all the particulars that this tool is doing so students get a better understanding of MLA formatting. Send the students home to use the tool on their most recent essay as practice. Ask them to keep track of any questions or problems they have while using this tool. The next day, go over the questions.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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A Research Guide for Students - A Research Guide
Grades
6 to 12
4 Favorites
0 Comments
Find a complete resource for how to write a research paper, including simple step-by-step directions, suggested resources, and ways to avoid plagiarism. This site also includes how...more
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Find a complete resource for how to write a research paper, including simple step-by-step directions, suggested resources, and ways to avoid plagiarism. This site also includes how to format a research paper, write footnotes, create endnotes, and make parenthetical references, with examples for all. There are tips for public speaking and how to use search engines.
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tag(s): expository writing (31), literature (219), persuasive writing (54), plagiarism (31), process writing (35), Research (78)
In the Classroom
Use this site on a projector or interactive whiteboard to discuss and informally assess prior knowledge as you start a research project. With younger students, you may want the class to go through each step together before beginning the next step. However, let gifted students work ahead. The beauty of this site is that it is great for classroom differentiation for independent work. With older students, you may want to show them the different steps and have them start where they think they need help and share examples. Be sure to post a link to the site for students and parents to access at home.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Barat Primary Source Nexus - Barat Education Foundation
Grades
2 to 12
3 Favorites
0 Comments
Find high interest primary sources for anything from teddy bears to Abraham Lincoln to King Kamehameha and much more. There are also primary sources for world connections for Serbia,...more
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Find high interest primary sources for anything from teddy bears to Abraham Lincoln to King Kamehameha and much more. There are also primary sources for world connections for Serbia, Iran, and Cambodia. Common Core emphasizes "reading" of visual sources of information, and this is the perfect source. Be sure to click on Learning Resources and Teaching Resources for lesson plans for Literature Links, Lesson Plans, Tech Tools, Integrating Tech, and much more. This is a growing resource, so be sure to sign up for their newsletter. The Primary Source Nexus is the online support resource for the TPS-Barat Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Program. This is a great place to look for ideas to use for History Day! For instance, use the search bar to find several resources for Juneteenth. Preview before sharing with students.
tag(s): advertising (26), black history (135), cross cultural understanding (176), history day (38), immigration (80), journalism (74), Juneteenth (22), lincoln (66), martin luther king (45), poetry (196), presidents (145), primary sources (121), professional development (271), roosevelt (18), slavery (79), writing prompts (59)
In the Classroom
Take a look at the free professional development for using primary sources for teachers. Search for Connecting to the Common Core, where there are writing prompts for K-5 plus a link to the triangle activity. Download and use the PDF for the Thinking Triangle. Have older students research an interest and report to the class using a tool like Slides, reviewed here.
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All About Explorers - All About Explorers
Grades
5 to 8
2 Favorites
0 Comments
It's true! I saw it on the Internet! Sadly, too many students fall into this trap. All About Explorers was developed by a team of teachers to help late elementary ...more
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It's true! I saw it on the Internet! Sadly, too many students fall into this trap. All About Explorers was developed by a team of teachers to help late elementary school and middle school students sort the garbage from the gold on the Internet. Despite the name of the site, it's not really about explorers at all. In fact, all the biographies of the (very real) explorers on this site are fictional. Teachers can use the site in two ways: The "Treasure Hunt" section allows students to compare the biography on the All About Explorers site with a linked biography on a "real" site and asks them to compare the two and draw conclusions. Alternatively, there is a more comprehensive Web Quest section that allows for a more complete and lengthy lesson with the same object.
tag(s): explorers (66), internet safety (112), media literacy (106), webquests (8)
In the Classroom
The trick in using All About Explorers is to keep the real lesson a secret at the beginning and allow students to come to their own conclusion. Processing that "aha!" moment when students recognize that there is a hidden agenda here will have a much more lasting impression than simply telling students they cannot believe everything they read. Deep inside, students often believe they can easily tell the difference between the Truth and something that is misleading or downright false. All About Explorers will help them see how difficult that can be. They might also learn something about explorers in the process! Extend this lesson by having student groups find another suspect site and create a screencast of that "suspicious" site, pointing out characteristics that indicate an unreliable source. A tool such as ScreenPal, reviewed here, or Screencastify (Chrome app), reviewed here, will allow them to create a "tour" of the fallacies they find.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Scrible - Scrible
Grades
4 to 12
1 Favorites
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Transform your students' web-based research with Scrible. Highlight and annotate web pages and easily save, share, organize, and collaborate on Internet-based research. Scrible Edu...more
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Transform your students' web-based research with Scrible. Highlight and annotate web pages and easily save, share, organize, and collaborate on Internet-based research. Scrible Edu integrates with Google Classroom and offers browser bookmarklets for Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Edge. With the Scrible bookmarklet installed, when you're on a page just click the bookmarklet to launch a menu of bookmarking tools. Access your work right where you left off from editing. Use the option to format your bibliographies as you bookmark. Compile your article clippings into one package. Students may sign up using their academic email address. (If your school's domain name is not recognized as "academic," sign up for the free account and send a "feedback" email explaining that your email address is that of a student.) Student Scrible accounts have double the storage capacity of the standard free account. Educators sign up for the Basic Edition and then click the feedback link to let Scrible know you're an educator. They will set you up with a special edition which includes the same features. Work smarter, not harder with Scrible. Saving your bookmarks with Scrible allows you to easily go back to review a site, and you'll see immediately why you bookmarked that site.
tag(s): citations (30), curation (23), Research (78), summarizing (23)
In the Classroom
Your students' online research will be efficient and effective with Scrible. Students can take notes on their bookmarks. They only need to bookmark the part of the website they need for their assignment. Students can collaborate with peers on their research. Post articles and documents online for your students to highlight and annotate. Bookmark this tool on your website or blog for your students to access in or outside of the classroom. Use Scrible to annotate professional development articles or to highlight important information for your students. The best part? It will instantly create your bibliography for you!How many times have we heard students complain during a group project, "But I couldn't get to his or her house to work on it?" Tell them to use Scrible to interact online. The research and conversations created through highlighting and annotating what they read can greatly enhance both their research skills and their online interaction on academic level skills. Or use the site to post and share discussion assignments on specific articles or even parts of articles using the highlighting tool. Find a relevant article to your subject. Highlight the part that you want students to read. (If students are younger, keep it short to reduce the intimidating reality of too much information for kids.) Attach a note with a discussion question for the students. Have them comment on the link in a "class discussion" as an outside assignment. If you are fortunate enough to have all students with computer access in your class and at home, such as in one to one laptop (or BYOD) program schools, you can use this essentially to run your class. Post assignments or post readings. Science teachers can post online interactive labs, and more.
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RADCAB - Steps for Online Information Evaluation - Karen M. Christensson
Grades
6 to 12
2 Favorites
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RADCAB is a way to evaluate information and resources. RADCAB is a mnemonic acronym: Relevancy, Appropriateness, Detail, Currency, Authority, and Bias. Click on each word for details...more
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RADCAB is a way to evaluate information and resources. RADCAB is a mnemonic acronym: Relevancy, Appropriateness, Detail, Currency, Authority, and Bias. Click on each word for details on that topic. An excellent rubric is available for download in PDF format at the bottom of the home page. This simple site is a great resource for discussing and teaching information literacy lessons about evaluating information and sources.
tag(s): evaluating sources (29), internet safety (112), media literacy (106), Research (78), rubrics (35)
In the Classroom
Share this site and content on your interactive whiteboard or projector as you begin a project involving research. Demonstrate how to use this site before allowing students to explore on their own. Print and use the rubric available on the site. Require that students (or groups) complete the rubric on their chosen sources for research. Share a link to the site on your class website and classroom computers for easy student (and parent) reference at any time. Another idea: to enhance student learning is to assign cooperative learning groups one part of the acronym. Each group could create a presentation to share with the class about what they learned about their part of the evaluation process. Have students create online posters individually or together as a class using a tool such as Web Poster Wizard, reviewed here, or PicLits, reviewed here. Students will LOVE finding and sharing examples of "bad" sources!
This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.
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Cube Creator - Read Write Think
Grades
2 to 12
4 Favorites
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The Cube Creator offers four different options for creating and personalizing a printable cube for summarizing or story-telling: Bio Cube, Mystery Cube, Story Cube, or Create your Own...more
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The Cube Creator offers four different options for creating and personalizing a printable cube for summarizing or story-telling: Bio Cube, Mystery Cube, Story Cube, or Create your Own Cube. Follow prompts to create the cube. The planning sheets help you collect information before making the actual printable cube. Once you have entered all your information, print and follow directions to assemble the paper cube. Follow links to find lessons that use this interactive as well as suggestions for other uses. There are lessons for grades 3-4 up through grades 11-12. Note: Read Write Think has added the capability for students to save their work to continue later. In the last paragraph of the Overview, there is a link to watch the video: Saving Work With the Student Interactives.
tag(s): back to school (55), biographies (97), firstday (22), mysteries (27), printables (36), summarizing (23), word study (57)
In the Classroom
Use the Cube Creator for virtually any lesson or activity as a substitute for a paper and pen project. Try printing on heavier card stock so cubes are durable. Create a cube to practice math problems, describe habitats, outline important story events, and much more. Have students create a cube and share with other students to practice retelling, summarizing, adding synonyms, or review for tests. Have each of your students create an All About Me cube for parents to view at Open House or to get to know each other during the first week of school. Have others guess which cube belongs to which classmate. Create a cube review game where others must answer the question that comes up when you "roll" the cube. The possibilities are endless. Challenge your gifted student(s) to create a "Who Am I?" cube about a famous person they research. Use the Bio Cube option with one variation: DO NOT include the person's real name. Share the cube as a game for the rest of the class to guess (and then create their own similar cubes). Your gifted students may also come up with new ways to Create Your Own Cube that could become a class game! Invite them to try their creativity.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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