TeachersFirst's Research Resources
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Today’s students must learn the valuable skill of research. Research will be required in future studies, and possibly a career. Research requires planning, execution, and digging deep. Students must learn to raise the right questions about what they are listening to, watching, or reading. They must learn how to decipher quality research from mediocre and find the best places for GOOD research. This collection of resources includes lesson ideas, activities, and resources for teaching research skills.
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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Eagle Eye Citizen - Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Grades
5 to 12
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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,...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 (60), civil rights (142), congress (43), elections (74), immigrants (29), inquiry (34), presidents (128), Research (45), womens suffrage (31)
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
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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 ...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 (117), journalism (71), media literacy (89), news (256), newspapers (95)
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 SearchTeam, reviewed here. SearchTeam offers you tools to bookmark and save websites, with the additional feature of allowing participants to add comments to saved information. SearchTeam 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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My Case Maker - Bean Creative
Grades
6 to 8
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My 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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My 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. If desired, use your free My Case Maker account to modify text and associated primary sources within challenges before sharing with students.
tag(s): black history (79), civil rights (142), constitution (92), democracy (17), elections (74), freedom of speech (12), immigrants (29), immigration (71), inquiry (34), media literacy (89), politics (105), racism (58), Research (45), world war 2 (146)
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. Each lesson includes primary sources to use when responding to prompts; ask students to find and share additional primary sources to include their response to each question. Instead of just creating a list of additional resources, enhance student learning and 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 further 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, have them 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.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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KingCitation - KingCitation
Grades
5 to 12
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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. KingCitation helps with this problem with its citation generator....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. KingCitation helps with this problem with its citation generator. The three step procedure begins 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 (35), plagiarism (33), Research (45)
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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Students Investigating Primary Sources - Florida Joint Center for Citizenship
Grades
2 to 12
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Students Investigating Primary Sources is a series of lessons designed through a collaboration with the National Archives, Pinellas County Public Schools, and Brevard Public Schools...more
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Students Investigating Primary Sources is a series of lessons designed through a collaboration with the National Archives, Pinellas County Public Schools, and Brevard Public Schools for 2nd grade through High School Students. Choose from topics including separation of power and women's right to vote. Each lesson correlates to National Standards and a PDF link to the original activity including vocabulary, handouts, and other necessary materials.
tag(s): branches of government (60), civil rights (142), constitution (92), primary sources (102), womens suffrage (31)
In the Classroom
Benefit from the free lessons on this site for use when teaching the use of primary sources. Challenge younger students to demonstrate concepts learned by creating a presentation using slides, reviewed here, and older students to use a presentation tool from Lucidpress, reviewed here. The easy drag and drop features of Lucidpress allow you to personalize flyers, posters, presentations, and more. Ask students to incorporate primary sources and other research materials into an interactive timeline using Preceden, reviewed here, as a visual look at historical events over a certain period.
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Google Scholar - Google
Grades
8 to 12
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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...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 (35), search engines (61)
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
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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...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): primary sources (102), Research (45), video (269)
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 Easel.ly, 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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Resource Guides - Learning Commons - The University of British Columbia - Vancouver Campus
Grades
5 to 12
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UBC (University of British Columbia) Commons offers several guides for learning and sharing with digital tools. Begin by choosing any guide of interest with topics including how to...more
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UBC (University of British Columbia) Commons offers several guides for learning and sharing with digital tools. Begin by choosing any guide of interest with topics including how to avoid plagiarism and a guide to properly citating online resources. Each guide provides an excellent description of the topic along with related resources and links. Some include videos and a FAQ section. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.
tag(s): citations (35), copyright (48), creative commons (23), digital citizenship (79), plagiarism (33), Research (45)
In the Classroom
Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard as you share individual topics with students, then create a link on your class website for students to access information at any time. Divide topics among groups of students and enhance or transform classroom technology use and student learning by having each group create a simple or multimedia infographic (depending on teacher requirements or student ability) and share their findings using Venngage, reviewed here. Create a class wiki with resources for using and crediting online tools. Not comfortable with wikis? Check out the TeachersFirst Wiki Walk-Through.
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R4S: Research for Success - INFOhio
Grades
9 to 12
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1 Comments
Designed as an interactive online course this site helps high school students develop the sophisticated research skills needed for college and careers, an important component of most...more
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Designed as an interactive online course this site helps high school students develop the sophisticated research skills needed for college and careers, an important component of most standards. The formal research process is broken down into six steps: Ask Good Questions, Finding Information, Selecting the Best, Putting It Together, Your Presentation, and Making the Grade. Students work through a variety of activities linked from outside sites, including reading articles, watching videos, and completing worksheets. Each module is introduced by Voki avatars, reviewed here. Several popular research tools, such Zotero, reviewed here, and Evernote, reviewed here, are introduced. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.
tag(s): citations (35), classroom management (146), digital citizenship (79), evaluating sources (17), inquiry (34), media literacy (89), organizational skills (106), Research (45), search strategies (26)
In the Classroom
R4S would be perfect for use as a blended-learning or the flipped classroom experience for upper high school into the first year of college. You can have students work online, or you can download into your course management system. Have students work through all the steps as part of a research assignment, or use only the parts relevant to them. Teachers need to register to receive the text copy of the helpful teacher's guide. Use the site in any subject or curriculum area.
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Comments
Will be integrating this unit into freshman comp at the community college where I teach researched argument, the first English class students are required to complete.Patricia, NJ, Grades: 6 - 12
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Go! Ask, Act, Achieve - INFOhio
Grades
4 to 10
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Go! Ask, Act, Achieve is a free online interactive and engaging tool for students to learn the formal research process. There is no registration required. The information is divided...more
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Go! Ask, Act, Achieve is a free online interactive and engaging tool for students to learn the formal research process. There is no registration required. The information is divided into three modules, introduced by teenage Voki avatars, reviewed here. Each module links to resources and materials from various reliable sources. Modules may include text, video, and/or audio. Through these activities, students work through each section learning how to select a topic, evaluate, use and cite information, and create a final product.
tag(s): citations (35), digital citizenship (79), evaluating sources (17), inquiry (34), media literacy (89), organizational skills (106), Research (45), search strategies (26)
In the Classroom
Go! Ask, Act, Achieve is an easy-to-use introduction which demystifies and simplifies teaching the research process. Use this to meet the Common Core standards for research in a content area. Have students work through the site in sequence or pull out areas to teach skills, as needed. Don't forget to refer to the LiveBinder Teachers Guide for more fabulous ideas for the classroom.
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Teachers - Primary Source Sets - Library of Congress
Grades
4 to 12
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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...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 (53), authors (115), black history (79), civil war (143), constitution (92), hispanic (15), jefferson (22), lincoln (73), new deal (5), primary sources (102), Research (45), segregation (17), thanksgiving (27), veterans (19), washington (26), westward expansion (35), womens suffrage (31), wright brothers (20)
In the Classroom
When introducing a new unit, show students photos from the era 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 Slidestory, reviewed here. This site allows you to narrate a picture modifying student learning. Include this site on your class webpage for students and parents to access as a reference.
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Mission Possible: Successful Online Research - Answers.com
Grades
5 to 12
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Begin a research unit with Mission Possible, a downloadable online movie promoting research skills, effective searches, writing skills, citations, and Internet safety. Along with the...more
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Begin a research unit with Mission Possible, a downloadable online movie promoting research skills, effective searches, writing skills, citations, and Internet safety. Along with the video, find an accompanying teacher lesson plan for providing a great start for the introduction of a research project. A student worksheet goes along with the lesson.
tag(s): citations (35), internet safety (121), Research (45), search strategies (26), writing (342)
In the Classroom
Before beginning a research project, either introduce or review the process of researching a topic. Put a link on your class website so students can refer to this video for additional review.
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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. Click on Plagiarism 101 and find out exactly what plagiarism is and the different ...more
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Here you will find everything you will ever need to know about plagiarism and citing sources. Click on Plagiarism 101 and find out exactly what plagiarism is and the different types of plagiarism. 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" and "Where Next? Integrity for the 'Real World.' " Although this site is rather plain in appearance, it is a hot topic and definitely a site to save and share with students!
If your school blocks YouTube be sure to look at alternatives for sharing the videos on classroom computers.
tag(s): citations (35), plagiarism (33), Research (45), summarizing (17)
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 GoClass, reviewed here, or The Answer Pad, reviewed here. With with these tools you can create questions or a scavenger hunt. Then you can quiz students on the information and have it all self-corrected. Moreover, using one of these programs 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 change learning and have students create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from this site using a tool such as Wordle, reviewed here.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.
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tag(s): citations (35), essays (24), plagiarism (33), quotations (21), Research (45), writing (342)
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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Surfmark - Vivek Agarwal
Grades
K to 12
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Collect, express opinions, and collaborate on any web content easily using Surfmark. Get started with the quick sign-up process. Add the Surfmark bookmarklet to your browser's toolbar...more
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Collect, express opinions, and collaborate on any web content easily using Surfmark. Get started with the quick sign-up process. Add the Surfmark bookmarklet to your browser's toolbar or add the Chrome or Firefox extension. Visit any web page and activate the app when ready. Type in thoughts and annotations as notes, then save. This creates your Surfmark. Add additional annotations to any page, or highlight text directly from web content. View saved pages as a mind map, or create books for multiple pages. Privacy options allow for public editing or password protection to access saved information. View other's pages and grab those pages to add to your own. Easily share any creations using the share link with a custom URL or links to social networking options. Because public content is shared on this site, adults may want to explore this site on your own and not send students to explore unsupervised.
tag(s): bookmarks (54), collaboration (78), organizational skills (106), professional development (267), Research (45), social networking (89)
In the Classroom
Use Surfmark to collect and organize information for lessons throughout the year. Share with older students (age 13+) -- if school policies permit -- to use when collaborating on projects or as a resource for gathering and organizing information for a research project or year end review. Create a Surfmark and share the link on your classroom web page, have students add their own notes and thoughts then share the finished session on your interactive whiteboard. Surfmark provides opportunities for limitless collaboration and sharing of information from across the web, not only with your class but with others around the world!Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be shared by URL
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
Requires download/installation of software
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OECD Data Lab - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Grades
8 to 12
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Discover graphical displays of statistics about education, death, employment outlook, migration, income distribution, and more. The best way to understand our world and to educate people...more
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Discover graphical displays of statistics about education, death, employment outlook, migration, income distribution, and more. The best way to understand our world and to educate people is to know what is happening in the many aspects of our lives. Hover over a graph to view an abstract of the data used for the graph. Each graph is interactive. Choosing various countries or other parameters changes the graph. Click on the "Create Your Own" button on most of these graphs to enter your own data for viewing and comparison. Compare your graph to others and share. Graphs even showcase gender differences in responses. The Better Life Index is a great place to start.
tag(s): agriculture (54), charts and graphs (191), critical thinking (117), cross cultural understanding (150), financial literacy (108), foreign policy (16), migration (61), writing prompts (74)
In the Classroom
Start with the OECD Better Life Index that brings together many factors to numerically rank countries by happiness or well-being. Assign this graph as a "Make Your Own," with students rating the topics (or more importantly, asking their parents or grandparents). Compare their results and look at gender differences. Students can brainstorm reasons for gender differences or ranking of topics in importance. Compare the United States to other countries. Allow class time to look at other data found on this site and brainstorm how these are connected. Connect the data to curriculum being discussed in class: economic policies, wars, global problems with food and agriculture, social norms, and more. Connect the information to headlines from around the world, both past and present. Encourage students to write an essay, opinion piece, or elevator pitch on one aspect or social issue that is important to change. What a great example of argument and evidence as required by Common Core! This assignment can also be delivered as a podcast, video, or part of a news segment the class creates. Use a site such as PodOmatic (reviewed here) to create podcasts. Try creating a video and share it using TeacherTube reviewed here.
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TPS-Barat Primary Source Nexus - Barat Education Foundation
Grades
2 to 12
2 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. 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! Preview before sharing with students.
tag(s): advertising (33), black history (79), cross cultural understanding (150), history day (22), immigration (71), journalism (71), lincoln (73), martin luther king (33), poetry (218), presidents (128), primary sources (102), professional development (267), roosevelt (13), slavery (58), writing prompts (74)
In the Classroom
Take a look at the free professional development for using primary sources for teachers. In the Archives for Connecting to the Common Core, 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 Zoho Show (similar to PowerPoint, but easier and free) reviewed here.
This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.
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All About Explorers - All About Explorers
Grades
5 to 8
2 Favorites
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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 ...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 (71), internet safety (121), media literacy (89), webquests (27)
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 Screencast-o-matic, 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 offers...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 offers browser bookmarklets for Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Internet Explorer. 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 (35), Research (45), summarizing (17)
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
1 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. This simple site is a great resource for discussing and teaching information literacy lessons about evaluating information and sources.
tag(s): evaluating sources (17), internet safety (121), media literacy (89), Research (45), rubrics (32)
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 computer for easy student (and parent) reference at any time. Another idea: 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!
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