Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

This site connects your knowledge of fractions and length to musical pitch through many visual explanations and hands-on activities. The introductory page explains using fractions to create notes on a scale along with an interactive activity to create your own song using the fraction bars. Be sure to visit the page with instructions on creating your own fraction musical tubes using PVC pipe. You can even play your own song using virtual musical tubes right on the site! Other interesting parts of the site include drum notes from Ghana and ancient melodies from Mexico.

tag(s): fractions (231), musical notation (39), songs (53)

The goal of this site is to educate youth about philanthropy and giving their time and knowledge for the global good. To do this, they offer over 1400 free lesson plans for teachers, parents, and community leaders. Lessons are coded to state standards and can be searched by grade level, keyword, subject, or academic or philanthropy standard. Some lessons are geared toward private or religious schools and are clearly labeled as such. Lessons include subject, key concepts, vocabulary, objectives, materials needed, approximate time, procedures, extensions, handouts, and much more. An example of a grade 3-5 lesson would be Cool Kids Compost which explores responsible use of resources by gathering data about lunchroom waste. Don't let the concept of philanthropy keep you from exploring the site, there are many great classroom lessons available for all subjects.

tag(s): african american (106), animal homes (63), animals (319), charts and graphs (199), colonial america (107), communities (39), data (157), diversity (33), ecology (133), environment (321), heroes (24), money (184), recycling (59)

What kinds of activities would be found at a 19th century Christmas party? Read and learn about some very popular games played by children and adults during the Victorian era. Clear, simple instructions are provided and little or no preparation is required

tag(s): christmas (52), victorian (20)

Give students a taste of the Victorian celebration with this site showing greeting cards from the Victorian era, and explaining the Victorian origins of many of today's Christmas traditions. We wish the images were bigger, but this is a nicely designed introduction to Victorian celebrations.

This beautiful French site documents the discovery and preservation of the ancient cave paintings discovered in caves outside Lascaux. The site contains explanations of the ancient people who likely created the artwork, its symbolism, and the science behind its preservation. It's an interesting blending of science and art.

tag(s): painting (62)

This site offers an extensive collection of art lesson plans for young students, as well as places for teachers to exchange art education ideas and for students to submit their work. Try it out for specific lesson ideas, or just for artistic brainstorming.

tag(s): crafts (39)

This is a nicely constructed collection of art and art appreciation activities. Well illustrated ideas and concepts could be used in a variety of settings and grade levels. If you're looking for art projects, there are dozens of ideas here.

tag(s): artists (78)

This site offers suggestions and examples of different types of questions to include in classrooms. Each type of question is explained and sample questions are included. For a visual explanation of how questions work together, choose the Essential Questions link and scroll down to the diagram showing that this is center of all questions, then all other types of question serve to illuminating the Essential Questions. Links are included to additional information on each of the topics.

tag(s): critical thinking (116), questioning (36)

This site offers several templates to make a variety of shaped boxes from folded card stock or paper. Create a pyramid, hexagonal, matchbox, takeout, trapezoid, flap, candy, bon-bon, or puffy box with these printable templates and directions.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): angles (87), area (71), crafts (39), geometric shapes (167), holidays (137), perimeter (29), printables (39), volume (53)

Write your own original books, add images and artwork as illustrations, and read your published books in interactive, online form. There is no fee for the online publication and sharing. This is the ultimate in "digital storytelling." Click "Explore" to browse many "public" examples on the templates page of books created by others. Take advantage of the free apps that make Bookemon even easier to use with any device! Use Bookemon Reader to READ books you created in Bookemon or Bookemon edCenter (available for both iOS and Android). BookPress for iOS devices only allows you to CREATE books from scratch, including using photos from your iPad/iPhone. InstaPress (for iOS only) offers options to make books from documents, pdfs, etc. to be shared on mobile devices as eBooks. Here is an example of a book created by the TeachersFirst Edge editors. Once you set up free membership on this site, students (or teachers) can select to create from a blank start or to use the templates provided. You can also create a book starter of your own as an example so students can follow the prompts you have created. The book creator allows you to upload your own images and to create books from a Word document or PowerPoint file you have already made. EdCenter users can collaborate on books.

After you save and publish the work, share the URL so people can read the entire book online, either among an audience of "just my friends" or publicly. They also offer the embed code to place your books on a class or school web page, wiki, or blog. The easiest option is to copy the address of the new window displaying the interactive book. There is an option to have the book printed for a fee, but this is not required. You can also read books created by others (if they make them public). Use the fully-public option to create learning materials for classes to access year to year for at-home review or reading practice.

This site requires a simple registration. Teachers can set up an edCenter for their school or class in accordance with school policies. See more detailed suggestions "In the Classroom" below and in our sample book! Newer mobile device options include players to view your books on iPads and more.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): creative writing (170), digital storytelling (151), writing (364)

Learn about primary, secondary, and intermediate colors while painting an Egyptian hippo named William. This interactive Metropolitan Art Museum site provides interesting historical information about an ancient figurine while also explaining the basics of color theory. This site does a nice job helping young students understand how to create new colors by mixing colors together.

tag(s): art history (81), colors (78), egypt (62), museums (44)

Create amazing photo effects, animations, magazine covers, and more with this free site. Choose the effect, upload a picture, and save to your computer for use anywhere. Ads appear throughout this site. Be sure to warn students to only use the tabs along the top and choose the photo effects under each tab.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): animation (61), images (279), photography (155)

This is a simple connect-the-dots game using numbers 1 up to 50. Several different puzzles are offered for students to choose from. Connect the dots in the correct order and the completed picture is shown (in color.) Puzzles are printable so can also be used by all students at one time for a classroom activity. The image size is not large, so those with poor mouse-skills may have trouble clicking on the small numbers/dots.

tag(s): counting (110), puzzles (205)

Traditional art media become digital with the free ArtRage 2.6 Starter Edition paint program. Pencil, chalk, paint and marker tools smear, smudge, blend,and flow just like real art materials. You and your students can paint with thinned oils, use wet or dry markers, soften the pencil and control the hardness of the crayon, and much more. Scroll down the page to find the FREE 2.6 Starter download instead of the 30 day free trial of ArtRage 3.0.

tag(s): graphic design (39), photography (155)

Looking for easier ways to share images? Pronounced "Imager," this site is easy to use. Use the super-simple photo-sharing site to upload photos or insert image URL addresses. Click the upload button or enter the URL of the image from the Internet (obtainable by right clicking the online image and selecting "properties" or "Get info"). No need to register for an account. Uploaded images are private and only the person who uploaded has the URL of the image. Use the simple editing options to be sure the image fits in the blog, wiki, or site you are using it on. File upload is limited to 2 MB. Use a direct link or embed code to share your uploaded image wherever you need.

tag(s): images (279), photography (155)