TeachersFirst's Snow Day Resources
It seems that snow days sneak up on our classes when least expected. Use this collection of resources to "plan ahead" for snow days. Maybe you want to stop and appreciate snow for snow's sake by creating snowflakes and studying this striking weather phenomenon. Or perhaps your class needs a way to convene for some snow day collaboration. Whatever your situation, you will find tools and ideas here for any grade level.
Share this link on your class web page or TeachersFirst public page so your class is prepared. Even if a blizzard should close your school for a week, these links can prevent cabin fever for all, and keep the learning moving!
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Gravity - Gravity
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): collaboration (92), video (260)
In the Classroom
Use Gravity to create collaborative discussions on virtually any classroom topic. Challenge students to reflect on their learning at the end of a unit, research project, or literature circle. Here are just a few example questions to ask: What are some things you did well on this assignment? What mistakes did you make on your last assignment that you did not make on today's assignment? What would you do differently? What would you like to learn more about? Create a community folder for student questions; for example, ask students to create a screen-share video to demonstrate questions they have when solving math problems. Since the free version allows for only a one-minute prompt time and a one-minute reply per student, this is a good tool to teach students to be concise when responding, sharing only the important points.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
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
Includes teacher tools for registering and/or monitoring students
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Witeboard - Slack
Grades
K to 12tag(s): collaboration (92), iwb (33), Whiteboard (14)
In the Classroom
Save the link to Witeboard to use for many different classroom options. For example, when working with small groups of students, use Witeboard to draw and share ideas on your mobile device. When students are working on computers, ask them to use Witeboard to demonstrate their understanding of math problems or draw a quick response to stories they read. After creating their response, have students save their work as an image and add it to your Google Classroom assignments or your learning management system such as Seesaw, reviewed here. Ask students to collaborate in teams to create collaborative whiteboard explanations and share their thinking with classmates.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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videoask - Typeform
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): blended learning (37), collaboration (92), Online Learning (42), remote learning (56), video (260)
In the Classroom
Engage and support student learning through interactive conversations created with videoask. This is a great tool for student support if you use Blended Learning or your school is on remote learning. Use videoask at the beginning of the school year for students to introduce themselves. Then, use the provided code to add a widget to your class website to build community and comradery among peers. Consider creating a question of the week or month for students to share what they have learned, ask questions, or discuss topics they would like to learn more about. For group projects, ask students to create a videoask to include with their final presentation that includes discussions of items considered for inclusion or a conversation about the group's collaborative process.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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TeachersFirst Resources for Teaching Remotely - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12tag(s): Online Learning (42)
In the Classroom
Use the information provided in this resource as a guide for incorporating remote learning into any classroom. This content is helpful to educators using blended learning techniques and with flipped classroom content. Information provided on this site was curated using Wakelet, reviewed here. Use Wakelet to create your collections of remote learning resources in your classroom and to provide learning templates for student use.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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YoTeach! - PALMS
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): chat (41), communication (138), social networking (64)
In the Classroom
Use this site to connect to other classes to open up a discussion between your students in one convenient place. Safety is not a concern with this site since only those with an email invitation/link or the QR code can participate in a chat. (Your students need not have email. You can simply email the link to yourself and share it with students to enter into their browsers.) Teach good digital citizenship of chat etiquette while using this activity to learn. Connect with other classes to learn about other locations, learn various perspectives, find animals that are similar yet different, learn about the different books others are reading, or survey students on various economic, political, or environmental topics. Be sure to plan content ahead of time, so students have the opportunity to think through the material and formulate a response. Discuss appropriate ways to communicate with others before connecting with another classroom.Use backchannel chat on laptops during a video or student presentation. Pose questions for all to answer/discuss in the backchannel, or ask students to pose their own "I wonder if..." questions as they watch and listen. Keep every student engaged and THINKING as an active listener. The first time you use backchannel, you will want to establish some etiquette and accountability rules. The advantage of backchannel chat is that every student has a voice, no matter how shy. Use this in world language classes, ESL/ELL classes, or autistic support classes for backchannel chat. Challenge students to use their new language skills to describe a scene from a video or the feelings of the actors. When studying literature, collaborate with another class to have students role-play a chat between two characters. In a history class, create fictional conversations between soldiers on two sides of the Civil War or different sides of the Scopes Monkey trial.
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The Science of Snowflakes - Marusa BradaA'''''?
Grades
4 to 12In the Classroom
This lesson is perfect for saving for a snowy day or use during winter lessons. Create your free TED-Ed account, reviewed here, and save this lesson and others for use in your classroom. Before introducing this lesson to students, ask students to share what they know about snowflakes on an online bulletin board like Lino, reviewed here. At the end of your lessons, revisit your bulletin board to add additional information learned and correct previous misconceptions. View the video together as a class, then allow students to research and find answers to the included discussion questions. Create a Google form for students to respond to discussion questions. Ask them to back up their response by including information and/or images found during their research.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Kami - Kami, Ltd
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): collaboration (92), editing (91)
In the Classroom
Use Kami on an interactive whiteboard or with a projector to share and highlight information on documents during lessons. Ask students to use this site to highlight information. For example, in short stories have students highlight foreshadowing events, character clues, or descriptive phrases. Have students use the document to create an annotated image of the excerpt from the story using Google Drawings, reviewed here. Google Drawings allows you to annotate an image with links to videos, text, websites, and more to provide details explaining the original document. Not familiar with Google Drawings? Watch an archived OK2Ask session to learn how to use: OK2Ask Google Drawings, here. Google Drawings can be used for a variety of assignments in any classroom that is integrating technology as an enhancement, modification, or transformation. With Google Drawings you can add narration, links to text, videos, and images to provide details explaining the original document.Edge Features:
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be shared by URL
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
Comments
Great collaboration tool for students to edit and submit PDFs or scanned documents for grading!Ladisha, VA, Grades: 9 - 12
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Zoom - Eric Yuan
Grades
K to 12tag(s): chat (41), communication (138), DAT device agnostic tool (147), parent conferences (21), video (260)
In the Classroom
Use Zoom to set up virtual parent/teacher conferences with participants located anywhere in the world. This is especially useful when multiple teachers are involved or when parents may not reside in the same location. Share your screen as needed to provide information on assessments and student work. Connect whole classrooms across the country for book clubs. Collaborate with experts such as authors and scientists with classrooms of children. Create connected learning experiences with other students, especially those in older grades. Connect world language classes to classes in other countries. Teachers can hold "office hours" for homework help and asking questions. Create a collaborative space for homework help before or after school or on snow days. Students can meet whenever help is needed or teachers can create a session that can be accessed on any device easily by those who need it. Consider using a tool such as Remind, reviewed here, to alert parents and students when your sessions are open. Use Zoom for group work - no more excuses about not being able to meet for cooperative learning projects! Buildings can collaborate and share professional development with others in their own district and beyond!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Snow Days - Always Snowing LLC
Grades
K to 4This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Let it snow all day with these virtual snowflakes. Challenge students to write poetry to include when students send their snowflakes to parents or grandparents. Research winter animals, places, or birds and put information and write facts on snowflakes. Create and make a multimedia presentation with your different snowflakes. Make a blizzard of all of your snowflake messages! Virtually cutting and creating snowflakes may become addicting!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek - John Branch, New York Times
Grades
8 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): descriptive writing (40), disasters (36), journalism (72), snow (16)
In the Classroom
Include this story (or portions of it) during your science study of motion, gravity, or weather with secondary students. (Our check of reading level found it to be approximately 8th grade). Experience the text on a projector or interactive whiteboard to annotate figures of speech that tell us even more than some of the images. Read and analyze it as an informational text in English class. (it's viewable on tablets, too!). Discuss how the author uses media as part of the writing instead of as an add-on. For journalism and other writing classes, you may want to have your students read the accompanying article "http://source.opennews.org. US/articles/how-we-made-snow-fall/ How We Made Snow Fall to analyze how the interactive and graphics departments at the New York Times worked with the text of the story to make the graphics and video a seamless part of the "reading". Challenge student groups to investigate a true story of a weather event or other actual occurrence through a combination of media and writing, explaining the science concepts along the way. Share their projects using one of the multimedia tools available from the TeachersFirst Edge. Expecting a snow day? Share this on your class web page for your literature or science class as a productive way to spend the day. Teachers of gifted can share this as an example of a project that can draw on a student's interests in science, art, and writing. Challenge students to try one. If you teach journalism, you could make the two articles an entire unit as you discuss the changing role of print vs. web-based writing in the 21st century.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Flake Pad - Pen Flakes
Grades
2 to 6tag(s): creativity (90), geometric shapes (135), snow (16), symmetry (27)
In the Classroom
Flake Pad is a great site to help students understand symmetry. Any time students click a space on the grid, the shape will appear on multiple points on the grid. Use Flake Pad on an interactive whiteboard and have students identify lines of symmetry on the flake. With the pointer tool on Flake Pad, students can drag the shapes they have created to different points. Have students in the audience describe what happens to the flake as you move the shapes.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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100 Snowballs Game - ABCya!
Grades
K to 4tag(s): 100thday (8)
In the Classroom
This site would be perfect for the 100th day of school activities! Use in a computer center and have students group the snowballs into different size groups and count how many are in each pile. Have students create a scene using the 100 snowballs then write a poem about their creation.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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TeachersFirst Brain Twister - TeachersFirst
Grades
3 to 9In the Classroom
Since elementary and middle school curriculum content varies from location to location, it is unlikely that every question will fall within the scope of your school's curriculum. High point questions may fall outside standard classroom fare. Five-point questions tend to be at the knowledge/comprehension/application level of Bloom's taxonomy and closer to "normal" content. Ten pointers are more likely cross-curricular application/analysis, and twenty pointers require analytical thinking and a wider experience level, such as knowledge of current events or information beyond normal curricula. Twenty pointers may require more than one student's input.Do the questions as a whole-class activity with a projector or interactive whiteboard with students contributing the portions of knowledge they do know toward solving the question. Using teamwork and thinking aloud can often help the group reach a conclusion that no single member could do on his/her own. They can each test different math answers to see which one is correct. This process will not only foster thinking aloud and group communication, but also model test-taking skills for multiple choice.
Alternatively, do the Twister in small groups, with one student an answer entry but others as researchers on neighboring computers to find out what the group does not know. It may be helpful to assign roles: moderator (assigns what to find out and helps the group reach consensus), keyboarder (enters responses, may conduct research in a new window), or researchers (find information as assigned). Use the Twisters to model and teach information literacy skills in a high-motivation activity. Or offer the Twisters as an enrichment challenge or extra credit option for students to do at home. Ask parents to be on the honor system to sign a note indicating the score their child achieved. Since parents may be overly interested in helping, you may want to simply give extra credit for anyone completing the quiz, no matter the score. Be sure to mark this ready to go exclusive in your favorites and share it on your teacher class web page.
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Build a Snowman - Highlights Kids
Grades
K to 5tag(s): creative fluency (5), fluency (25), snow (16)
In the Classroom
Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector and then ask students explore it independently or in small groups. Connect this activity to literature study books such as Lois Elherts "Snowballs," and ask students to label or write about their online creation. It is possible to print directly from the site. To save on paper and ink, simply take a screen shot and save it to the desktop ("Prnt Scrn" key on Windows, Command+shift+4 on Mac --- then paste into a document or slide). Exercise your students "fluent" creative thinking skills by asking them to brainstorm items that developers could add to the snowman options, and collect them in a digital "idea bin" like Lino, reviewed here. Soon students will be generating their own ideas for unusual snow characters. These images could be incorporated into a class book in programs such as Book Creator, reviewed here, or Story Maker, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Snow School - Winter Wildlands Alliance
Grades
3 to 6In the Classroom
PE teachers can use the activities area for suggestions on teaching students games and other things to do on a snowy day (use the search bar to find activities). The Snow Science sections contains many experiments to perform in Science class that can be related to weather units, chemistry units, and animal units. Take your class outside after a snow to perform experiments in density, insulation, and snow melt included on the site or look for animal prints to identify.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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National Snow and Ice Data Center - National Snow and Ice Data Center
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): climate change (93), glaciers (17), snow (16), weather (160)
In the Classroom
Ask students to write their own questions about snow and ice and research the information on this site. This is a perfect site to include with any winter activities. Ask students to locate the places mentioned in the gallery on a map. Have students research a historic snowstorm from a specific geographical location and use an online mapping tool to tell the class about the winter event (and location). Try a tool such as Zeemaps, reviewed here. Use the site when teaching a unit on weather (or winter Olympics) for factual information about snow using the resources link. Extend the snow "storm" by investigating everything there is to know about snowflakes at Snowflake Bentley, reviewed here, and Snow Crystals, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Snowflake Bentley - Jericho Historical Society
Grades
3 to 8In the Classroom
Use this site as the starting point for individual or group projects about famous pioneers, weather research, or famous characters from books. This site is a perfect addition to any winter activities. Have cooperative learning groups investigate a specific section of this site and share their findings on your class wiki. Not comfortable with wikis? Have no wiki worries - check out the TeachersFirst's Wiki Walk-Through.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Dream Snow Hangman - Amanda Madden on Quia
Grades
K to 4tag(s): assessment (148), game based learning (181), reading comprehension (144), snow (16)
In the Classroom
This is definitely a winter book, so plan on sharing it on an interactive whiteboard (or projector) during your winter unit. Or quiz your students' understanding of the book by having each take the Hangman quiz. Have them print out their scores or raise a hand to share it with you for a token grade.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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U.S. Antarctic Program: Science and Education - National Science Foundation
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): antarctica (29), arctic (40), environment (239), polar (11)
In the Classroom
This website has resources for all grade levels. If your class is learning about Antarctica - check out the lesson plans at this website. Or better yet, get an interactive whiteboard and share the unique video clips or pictures from the Arctic photo gallery with your class.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Kidspired Frostytales - Patricia Knox and Susan Silverman
Grades
K to 2tag(s): concept mapping (16), writing (319)
In the Classroom
Pick your favorite winter book from the student sample section and download the template on to a classroom computer. Be sure to follow district policies for downloading information from the Internet. You need the software to make the template work. The demo versions are good for 30 days only, but doing a project using a demo is a great way to demonstrate to budget committees why they might consider purchasing the software for your school.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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