Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

This site shares anti-racism and anti-prejudice education resources for Australian schools that provide support for schools in any country. Visit the different areas to learn how to understand racism and bias in various institutions and religions. Find anti-racism and anti-prejudice lessons for all grade levels, including quizzes, classes, and activities that provide foundational skills to counter racism and prejudice.

tag(s): bias (28), difficult conversations (57), racism (83), social and emotional learning (110)

Teaching for Change offers educators resources for building social justice through classroom activities by sharing professional development, social justice lessons, resources, and learning communities. Visit the Educator Resources to find resources linked to areas of focus that include anti-bias education, civil rights teaching, social justice books, and much more. The book section includes booklists and picture book reviews by theme.

tag(s): bias (28), central america (26), civil rights (219), cross cultural understanding (178), difficult conversations (57)

Visit Humane Education to find over two hundred free lesson plans, worksheets, and more for students aged 3-18. The lessons teach skills that help students learn compassion towards people, animals, and our planet. Register using your email to gain access to the lesson plans that align with Common Core Standards and Social Emotional Learning Standards and connect to ISTE Standards and Next Generation Science Standards.

tag(s): book lists (168), climate change (101), nutrition (140), preK (291), social and emotional learning (110)

This podcast is a weekly storytelling program that answers "what if" questions submitted by kids. Questions include, "What if it snowed even in summer?" and "What if cats could be astronauts?" Episodes are approximately twenty minutes long and feature lessons to learn, such as facing your fears and pursuing your dreams. Visit the resources section to find valuable educator materials that accompany the podcast. Resources include stories sorted by lesson, a what-if question generator, kid-friendly transcripts, and an episode-listening worksheet. Transcripts for all episodes are available to read online or download as a PDF. Listen to the podcast online or with Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

tag(s): listening (92), podcasts (118), questioning (36), social and emotional learning (110)

Noodle Loaf is an interactive podcast incorporating music education with art, rhythm, and social awareness. Each episode is approximately fifteen minutes or less and is available to listen to on the website or save on a Spotify playlist.
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tag(s): listening (92), podcasts (118), preK (291), rhythm (22), social and emotional learning (110)

Choose2Matter invites people to discover that what they do matters and to take action on their dreams and passions. Visit the Resource section then, click Exercises to find four learning modules ranging from one hour to a full-day session. Each course description includes objectives, a timed agenda, and accompanying materials, including videos.
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tag(s): back to school (55), character education (81), differentiation (86), mentoring (6), professional development (393), social and emotional learning (110)

Learn about becoming a changemaker by watching this video presentation by Shiloh Devadas, a 5th-grade student in Texas. During the presentation, Shiloh focuses on our changing world, famous changemakers, and her story as a changemaker by painting and sharing inspirational words on rocks distributed within her community. The videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.

tag(s): womenchangemaker (39)

Upschool provides many free learning opportunities aligned with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The core of Upschool's content includes a selection of 10-week and short courses with topics such as The Solar System and Beyond and The Importance of Mountains. Additional learning opportunities include Social Scenarios, Comprehension Corner, SDG Challenges, and Teacher Training. Upschool also has a library of over one hundred books submitted by authors with a special message to share. Read the books online or download them as a PDF for free. Many of the books also include teaching resources such as task cards.

tag(s): animals (293), antarctica (30), careers (183), climate (86), earth (182), explorers (64), food chains (19), gifted (66), glaciers (17), journalism (74), mountains (10), oceans (149), Online Learning (36), photography (131), planets (113), plants (148), rainforests (18), social and emotional learning (110), solar system (108), sustainability (51), weather (160), writing (323)

The Achievery is a free digital learning platform created by AT&T in collaboration with Warner Brothers that pairs video clips with lessons to engage students in learning across seven subject areas. Create an account to access activities such as a poetry scavenger hunt with Amanda Gorman or learn reading and writing skills from Wonder Woman video clips. Begin at the "All Units" link to find content by grade level, standards, subject, and additional filters. Most lessons are part of a larger learning unit; however, they are ready to use as individual teaching activities. Each lesson includes correlations to teaching and CASEL standards (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning), highlights relevant vocabulary, activity directions, and links to the featured video, and is available in PDF format. The Achievery lessons and activities are available in English and Spanish. This site would be a good one to leave for your substitute to use; it's high interest, no sign-in, and has lesson plans & video clips.

tag(s): blended learning (36), coding (87), digital citizenship (93), engineering (137), environment (251), equations (119), geometric shapes (133), graphic design (50), internet safety (116), literature (221), map skills (64), measurement (123), media literacy (113), narrative (16), numbers (121), operations (72), order of operations (29), problem solving (234), remote learning (54), Research (88), social and emotional learning (110), spanish (110), STEM (312), substitutes (25), writing (323)

This site brings together many of the excellent resources on the web about Judy Huemann and the disability movement. Find podcasts with disabled changemakers and their supporters. Resources offer a variety of information, lessons, videos, books and book guides, disability resources for asserting your rights, and much more. Central to the disability rights movement is Section 504 of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which stipulates that individuals with disabilities "should not be denied the benefit of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance." Find a downloadable "Curriculum Guide for Patient No More: People with Disabilities Securing Civil Rights," found under 504 Sit in History. Judy Huemann led protests, including a 26-day sit-in at Health Education and Welfare's San Francisco headquarters, calling the federal government to issue regulations implementing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
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tag(s): bias (28), character education (81), disabilities (32), women (154)

In this unit, students will discover the actual human behind the famous name Maya Angelou. The unit has three parts: Tough Beginnings - Maya as a child and teenager, Talent to Spare - Maya as a young adult and her early career, and More than Words - Inspiration. Many students may not know that she was the first African American streetcar conductor in San Francisco and a singer and songwriter. Part three, More Than Words: Inspiration, has a timeline from 1971-2008 and colorful images of her later in life. In the last two parts of the unit find four discussion questions called Think Piece. At the bottom of the landing page are three different word activities. You will need to have a free Kids Discover membership to access this unit.

tag(s): african american (121), authors (108), biographies (94), black history (135), poetry (195), women (154)

Find everything you need to learn about Patsy Mink, a powerful Asian-American woman. Elected to Congress in 1964, she collaborated to craft Title IX, a law that prohibits discrimination in education and federally funded activities due to gender. There are activities and discussion questions for grades 1-6 based on an essay for students, an article, and a short video.

tag(s): bias (28), character education (81), racism (83), women (154)

Join in the biggest annual celebration of character worldwide with resources for educators, families, and communities shared by CHARACTER COUNTS! Since 1993 the third week in October is recognized as CHARACTER COUNTS! Week. Begin by scrolling down the page and selecting the Schools/Educator link to find lessons in developing skills such as trustworthiness, respect, and fairness for all grades from K-12. Each lesson includes a printable PDF document containing all resources and procedures. Family resources include an activity guide and family guides for elementary, middle, and high school. In addition, the shared community resource provides customizable CHARACTER COUNTS! Week proclamation for use by cities and states.

tag(s): character education (81), preK (291), social and emotional learning (110)

Uncover a city with over 200 pyramids, search across Europe for your penguin friend, or test your knowledge of ancient artworks and artifacts, and much more at Google's Arts & Culture Experiments. This large selection of experiments allows you to interact with artificial intelligence and interactive experiences to explore the arts in new and exciting ways. Hover over the icon for any investigation to launch the activity or see an overview that summarizes the experiment and information on tools used to build the experience.

tag(s): animation (66), art history (108), artificial intelligence (188), artists (87), climate change (101), colors (63), crosswords (19), drawing (62), egypt (59), emotions (53), environment (251), europe (84), france (40), glaciers (17), insects (68), july 4th (12), museums (52), music theory (47), nasa (28), nutrition (140), painting (54), patterns (61), poetry (195), pollution (53), robotics (26), women (154)

Overcoming Obstacles free curriculum shares hundreds of lessons based upon a foundation of thirty life skills. Skills include effective communication, making informed decisions, setting goals, respecting one another, and more. Find content organized into four grade bands, beginning with kindergarten through second grade and finishing with high school. Each printable lesson starts with a plan that includes goals, objectives, and a materials list. In addition to specific lesson instructions, each activity includes additional extensions to practice and reinforce skills taught. All information is available without registration; however, registering on the site allows you to customize lessons before downloading and saving. In addition, student activity sheets are available for download in 25 languages.

tag(s): communication (130), conflict resolution (9), OER (43), problem solving (234), social and emotional learning (110)

This guide provides clear information and resources for educators at all grade levels on learning about and addressing the issue of cyberbullying. Learn about the definition of cyberbullying and understand statistics on the prevalence and types of cyberbullying. Other tips share how to identify and intervene when recognizing instances of bullying. In addition, this guide provides grade-level-appropriate teaching resources to use as part of the Common Sense K-12 Digital Curriculum, reviewed here.

tag(s): character education (81), cyberbullying (44), digital citizenship (93)

The Digital Citizenship Progression Chart provides clarity and an organized path for teaching the main concepts of digital citizenship starting with kindergarten and through high school. This resource is organized using the nine themes of digital citizenship, such as digital access, digital commerce, and more. This resource provides a visual tool for use across grade levels and topics. In addition, information includes correlations to the three guiding principles of safe, savvy, and social digital users. To learn more about the nine themes of digital citizenship and the three principles, use the Nine Elements tab from the top menu. Download an updated copy of the progression chart for personal use using the link at the bottom of the page.
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tag(s): character education (81), digital citizenship (93)

Proper use and understanding of using technology responsibly are essential for all students to acquire. This offering from PBS Learning Media focuses on Digital Citizenship concerning technological literacy. Each of the fifty-three included videos helps students understand concepts such as understanding the role of influencers on social media, editorial accuracy, and why many people are susceptible to disinformation. Each video is relatively short in length, running from around five to fifteen minutes. Look for the icon with "SM" located at the bottom of some of the descriptions; these videos include additional support materials for use in the classroom.

tag(s): digital citizenship (93), internet safety (116), journalism (74), social media (50)