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Digital Civics Toolkit - MacArthur Research Network

Grades
8 to 12
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The Digital Civics Toolkit contains five high-quality modules and resources for teaching civic potentials of digital life. Topics include Participate, Investigate, Dialogue, Voice,...more
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The Digital Civics Toolkit contains five high-quality modules and resources for teaching civic potentials of digital life. Topics include Participate, Investigate, Dialogue, Voice, and Action. Each module consists of a conversation starter with ideas for discussion questions, activity ideas, extension activities, some have a video, and closing reflections. Each module provides background resources for educators. If your school blocks YouTube be sure to look at alternatives for sharing the conversation starters and other videos on classroom computers.

tag(s): communities (36), cross cultural understanding (156), digital citizenship (83), journalism (71)

In the Classroom

Save yourself some time, and use these excellent free modules on this site during online safety lessons. Share this site with your school's counselor for use during digital awareness activities. Instead of using paper and pencil to record ideas during brainstorming sessions, use an online bulletin board like Padlet, reviewed here, to organize and record student responses. Padlet offers tools for participants to share links and add comments to posts. As students develop responses to prompts, replace paper and pencil and ask them to create simple web pages to share their ideas and include support for their position using a simple webpage creation tool like Jimdo, reviewed here. Add a link to each student or group's web pages onto your class website to share the variety of ideas and resources shared by the class. Enhance learning and use Acast, reviewed here, to create podcasts featuring student's sharing tips for being digitally aware and share with your school community.

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All About the Holidays - PBS Learning Media

Grades
K to 12
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Learn about the history and significance behind many holidays through this video collection from PBS Learning Media. Begin browsing by choosing from fall, winter, spring, or summer...more
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Learn about the history and significance behind many holidays through this video collection from PBS Learning Media. Begin browsing by choosing from fall, winter, spring, or summer holidays. Each section includes short videos explaining the history of the holiday. Learn about holidays such as Yom Kippur, Oktoberfest, Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos), Kwanzaa, Juneteenth, Father's Day, and many others! Each selection also includes links to standards along with additional links to supporting materials such as lesson plans or printable items. Not seeing a holiday you want such as 100 days of school? Use the search bar at the top!

tag(s): 100thday (9), back to school (62), chinese new year (5), christmas (37), cinco de mayo (10), easter (10), elections (80), fathers day (8), fire prevention (16), flag day (5), halloween (30), hanukkah (13), hispanic (28), holidays (159), july 4th (13), Juneteenth (22), kwanzaa (11), labor day (5), martin luther king (43), mothers day (9), new years (5), pi (26), presidents (120), rosh hashanah (8), st patricks day (11), thanksgiving (24), valentines day (12), veterans (20), womens suffrage (43), yom kippur (9)

In the Classroom

Bookmark this site to use as a resource for teaching material during holidays throughout the year. For each holiday use a bookmarking site such as Wakelet, reviewed here, to organize and share lesson materials, videos, and game sites for your students. Instead of worksheets or written reports, enhance student learning by asking them to create infographics sharing information about any holiday. Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here, is a very easy to use tool that includes pre-made templates. Don't keep student learning to yourself, share their knowledge through holiday podcasts for your entire school and community to hear. Spotify for Podcastors (was Anchor), reviewed here, features many kid-friendly tools to get you started with creating and sharing podcasts.

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United States Courts Educational Resources - Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts

Grades
8 to 12
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Discover a wide variety of educational resources and interactive lessons teaching about the United States court system and Constitution. Choose the Educational Activities section to...more
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Discover a wide variety of educational resources and interactive lessons teaching about the United States court system and Constitution. Choose the Educational Activities section to find lessons based on Constitutional Amendments and the U.S. Court of Appeals. Within each of the different areas of this section are several activities that include a downloadable activity package for educators. Explore landmark Supreme Court cases and participate in interactive activities including a simulation of the Supreme Court decision making process.

tag(s): branches of government (62), constitution (86), supreme court (27)

In the Classroom

Include these free resources and activities to use in your social studies classroom when teaching about the U.S. Constitution. Instead of asking students to take individual notes throughout your lessons, use Google documents to create shared notes. Ask students to highlight and annotate important information shared. Use Wakelet, reviewed here, to create "wakes" for students to organize information. Add websites, documents, videos, and more to any wake for students to access information in one site. As a final project, enhance student learning by challenging them to use a video explanation tool like Clipchamp, reviewed here to share the background and information learned about Supreme Court cases and decisions.
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Humans of New York - Brandon Stanton

Grades
7 to 12
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Humans of New York was supposed to be a photography project; then it evolved into a vibrant blog featuring the individual stories and portraits of people around the world. Browse ...more
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Humans of New York was supposed to be a photography project; then it evolved into a vibrant blog featuring the individual stories and portraits of people around the world. Browse through the site to read stories of people from every walk of life in the United States. Choose the countries link to read featured stories from over 20 countries around the world. Don't forget to visit the "series" link to find poignant stories based on themes like pediatric cancer and refugee stories.

tag(s): cross cultural understanding (156), identity (28), new york (22)

In the Classroom

Each story included on this site is only about a paragraph long, perfect to use with reluctant readers or as a short introduction to lessons on a variety of social issues. Help students identify the key concepts found in each story by creating a word cloud using Wordsift, reviewed here. Use the keywords found in your word cloud as a starting point for students to begin researching the topic further - examples might be research into refugees, drug abuse, or childhood illness. As students become familiar with the site, use it as an example to create your own site as a class related to your curriculum. For science create a Humans of Chemistry, in social studies create a Humans of the American Revolution, or in language arts create a Humans of Shakespeare. At the beginning of the year use Humans of New York in a self identity and "getting to know you" lesson(s). In small groups or as a class analyze several of the stories and have stidents use the key concepts to create their own interview questions. Then have students interview each other or others on campus (adults included). Use a presentation tool like Sway, reviewed here, to share finished projects that include student writing, photographs or drawings, videos, and other multimedia. Use Sway for a variety of assignments in any classroom that is integrating technology as an enhancement, modification, or transformation. Have students work together to compare and contrast their findings as part of a discussion within ongoing podcasts. Spotify for Podcastors, reviewed here, is an augmentation tool offering free podcasting creation and sharing and many features for both new and experienced podcasting teams.

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DelanceyPlace.com - Richard Vague

Grades
8 to 12
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Delancy Place provides brief, daily emails to subscribers with interesting quotes and writing excerpts along with a short commentary. Common topics include information based on history-based...more
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Delancy Place provides brief, daily emails to subscribers with interesting quotes and writing excerpts along with a short commentary. Common topics include information based on history-based non-fiction writing. Browse the archives that date back to 2007 for a quick look at the latest topics such as The Vikings and Young Beethoven. Use the search feature to find information by keyword, author, book title, subject, or publisher.

tag(s): churchill (7), congress (39), england (50), novels (31), parts of speech (40), presidents (120), vikings (10)

In the Classroom

Be sure to subscribe to the daily email for Delancy Place to stay up to date with the latest commentaries. Use this site as a terrific resource for non-fiction supplemental reading materials for students in social studies classes and as a resource for motivating student interest in the many varieties of topics included. Include a link to the site on classroom computers for student use, or include a link with other useful student resources using a bookmarking site shared with students. Raindrop.io, reviewed here, is an excellent bookmarking and sharing tool to use with older students due to it's feature that allows you to add comments. Share an article from Delancy Place with your students and add a question in the comments for students to consider during reading. After reading the article and considering your questions, have students share their answers and reflections with a video response on Flip, reviewed here. Transform student learners into student teachers by asking them to use this site as an example to take classroom reading material and create their own video commentaries using moovly, reviewed here. Use moovly's templates and editing tools to create professional-looking video presentations to share.

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Kialo Edu - Kialo, Inc

Grades
8 to 12
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Kialo offers a platform for focused online discussions, this version is dedicated to educational users. Use Kialo to create and map out debates onto an interactive tree featuring arguments...more
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Kialo offers a platform for focused online discussions, this version is dedicated to educational users. Use Kialo to create and map out debates onto an interactive tree featuring arguments both pro and con. Create your own forum or participate in the questions posed by other site members. Choose to make your question private or public then invite others to contribute. Throughout the debate use the site's tools to rate the impact of arguments and switch perspectives to view opinions from the other side. Be sure to watch Kialo's introductory video for an overview of all of the site's features and check out the sample classroom activities and assignments.

tag(s): collaboration (85), debate (37), perspective (11), point of view (7), Teacher Utilities (146)

In the Classroom

Kialo is a great resource to find debate topics to use with your students; be sure to bookmark it. Explore the topics available on the public portion of the site and share the discussions with your students. Use the information to teach students how to include relevant information when debating any topic and point out the importance of viewing information through different perspectives. When ready, create your own topic for classroom debate using the private option. For example, have students debate the importance of the use of propaganda during World War 2 or the ethics of using animals when testing products. As students research your topic, have them use Wakelet, reviewed here, to bookmark and save their research. When complete, transform learning by asking students to use an infographic creation tool like Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here, to create an infographic based on their topic.

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Bad News - Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab and DROG

Grades
5 to 12
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How bad can you be? This game teaches you how fake news and disinformation spreads as players take on the role of the bad guy to acquire as many followers ...more
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How bad can you be? This game teaches you how fake news and disinformation spreads as players take on the role of the bad guy to acquire as many followers as possible while raising their credibility ratings. Follow the prompts and make selections on how to spread disinformation and take advantage of others' fears and emotions as you proceed through the game. As you make choices, watch how that affects the number of your followers and learn how to use celebrity and fear to influence others. Throughout the game, players earn up to six badges recognizing accomplishments such as impersonation and emotion.

tag(s): digital citizenship (83), game based learning (171), internet safety (112), media literacy (102), social media (53)

In the Classroom

This game is perfect for use as an introduction to lessons on digital citizenship, media literacy, and social media. Share the site with your students to explore on their own and encourage them to play several different times using the different options provided. Your students won't mind playing over and over; it is easy to get hooked on trying to find the best way to gain as many followers as possible! Once students become familiar with the game and the different options presented for spreading misinformation, ask them to apply their findings to online content. Have them do some online research to find sites or information using tactics such as emotion and the others featured in Bad News. As they research sites and online information, have them add links to the sites they find on a class Padlet. Padlet, reviewed here, offers an option to create columns, use this option then label a column for each badge found in the game and ask students to share a link to their sites in the appropriate column. In addition to adding a link, have students include a comment providing information on why their site belongs in the category. Instead of assessing learning with quizzes or a written report, enhance learning and transform your assessment by having students create infographics to share information learned. Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here, provides easy to use templates to create interesting and informative infographics. Extend leaning and ask students to become the teacher using Symbaloo Learning Paths, reviewed here, to create an online learning activity teaching others on how to recognize and avoid disinformation found online. Be sure to share your assessment rubric with students as part of your assignment. Find many ideas for implementing rubrics for assessment along with examples and online tools at TeachersFirst Rubrics to the Rescue, reviewed here.

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Civic Online Reasoning - Stanford University

Grades
6 to 12
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This series of assessments offers students a selection of online content and asks them to evaluate and judge the credibility of information. Using digital resources like Wikipedia,...more
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This series of assessments offers students a selection of online content and asks them to evaluate and judge the credibility of information. Using digital resources like Wikipedia, Twitter, and news websites students view information then respond to the provided questions. Competencies evaluated through the activities include student ability to understand who is giving information, identifying evidence, and comparing the content studied to that shared by other sources. Find Curriculum, Lessons, Videos, and more. You must sign in with a free account to access the free materials.

tag(s): journalism (71), news (229), social media (53)

In the Classroom

Include activities from this site as part of any online safety lesson. Use these lessons at the beginning of the school year to teach students how to evaluate online information and as an assessment for the understanding of the ability to judge the credibility of information and sources. Student responses from this site are created through Google Forms, use these responses as a template to create your own Google Forms for personalized content such as local news articles or T.V. news. Instead of creating a table to compare and contrast various sources of information, replace paper and pencil by using an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, for students to evaluate similarities and differences between news sources. Have students enhance their learning by creating an infographic using Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here, to share with their peers. Challenge students to include facts, comparisons, and images to create the infographics.

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Online Teen Safety - StaySafe.org

Grades
5 to 12
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This guide shares online safety suggestions for teens and parents by providing basic facts and advice. Starting with tips for protecting hardware and devices from viruses and malware...more
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This guide shares online safety suggestions for teens and parents by providing basic facts and advice. Starting with tips for protecting hardware and devices from viruses and malware the site guides readers through a variety of valuable information. Additional topics include social media, scams and online shopping, and online bullying. Although the site lacks a lot of bells and whistles, it offers a great deal of information related to online safety and provides a starting point for further research.

tag(s): cyberbullying (40), internet safety (112), social media (53)

In the Classroom

Include the information from this site with your other resources for teaching about online safety. Instead of creating a list of links for students, share safety tips with students by replacing the list using a bookmarking tool like Padlet, reviewed here, to share all resources including videos, websites, and more in one place. Invite students to add their own resources to the Padlet as a collaborative activity on internet safety. Create quizzes using Baamboozle, reviewed here, as a formative assessment during your online safety unit. Baamboozle is a quick and easy quiz creation tool to replace paper and pencil. Divide the class into groups to research the different topics found on this site then let them create their own Baamboozle quizzes for their classmates. Instead of teaching online safety in individual lessons, consider using Symbaloo Learning Paths, reviewed here, to create a learning path including all of your lessons. Have students follow at their own pace and use tools with the Learning Paths to offer differentiation for the abilities and interests of your students. To modify learning and further challenge students, have them create their own internet safety Learning Paths for classmates to complete.

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The United States Diplomacy Center - United States Department of State

Grades
8 to 12
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The United States Diplomacy Center shares free simulations providing hands-on exercises in dealing with complex world problems. Click Education and slide to Education Resources to find...more
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The United States Diplomacy Center shares free simulations providing hands-on exercises in dealing with complex world problems. Click Education and slide to Education Resources to find the simulations. Topics include migration, nuclear arms, global health issues, and more. Free materials include student learning packets available in three different ability levels and videos featuring content experts. Educator materials include all information to conduct each scenario including student materials and tools for productive negotiations.

tag(s): animals (278), cross cultural understanding (156), debate (37), migration (44), nuclear energy (19), oceans (146), pollution (49), water (101)

In the Classroom

Take advantage of these free materials to immerse students in learning about current events topics through a global lens. One important component of these lessons includes the task of completing a series of formal and informal discussions on each topic. As students identify key topics and information, enhance their learning by asking them to use Lino, reviewed here, to create digital sticky notes to share among teachers and peers. Use options within Lino to color code the sticky notes to identify the group creating the note or different concepts to address throughout the simulation. Simulations also provide background information on each topic, use this information as a starting point, then have students research each topic further on their own or in groups. Share bookmarks and resources using Raindrop.io, reviewed here. In addition to sharing bookmarks, Raindrop.io includes tools for adding notes and comments for all team members to use when collaborating together. Throughout your simulation activities, use Flip, reviewed here, to modify learning and to pose essential questions discussed within the activity. Have students add video responses within Flip to share their perspective and solutions to the different problems. As a final learning activity, provide students options for sharing their conclusions and suggestions to the simulation activities through a variety of multimedia choices. Instead of a book report or PowerPoint presentation consider asking students to create a digital book using Book Creator, reviewed here, or a multimedia presentation using Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here. Both options offer tools for transforming students' learning to include video, images, and more to share their final conclusion and perspective on the topic included in the simulation.
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Read. Inquire. Write. - University of Michigan

Grades
6 to 10
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Read. Inquire. Write. is a free curriculum using investigations to support middle school social studies learning through inquiry-based lessons; also, this site provides many supports...more
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Read. Inquire. Write. is a free curriculum using investigations to support middle school social studies learning through inquiry-based lessons; also, this site provides many supports for English Language Learners within the activities. Use the provided literacy tools to guide students in analytical reasoning and argument writing within the 5-day investigations. Each investigation includes all materials needed including teacher's guides, student packets, rubrics, student models, and a PowerPoint presentation. Also, all activities provide video models demonstrating methods to encourage student thinking and investigative responses. Each lesson includes correlation to Common Core Standards. Registration is required to download materials from this site. Videos reside on YouTube. If your school blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable.

tag(s): civil war (133), colonial america (95), concept mapping (17), debate (37), democracy (19), evaluating sources (28), greece (26), inquiry (24), maps (208), mexico (29), middle east (43), native americans (91)

In the Classroom

Instead of using paper documents, scan the included PDF or Word documents into Google Classroom or your school student/teacher platform to share and assign to students. Be sure to include mentor texts for student use. Enhance student learning by asking students to use highlighting and note-taking tools within their word document to provide documentation for their responses. Although this site includes many high-quality graphic organizers, create your own and using Diagramo, reviewed here to engage students and personalize for your classroom use. Have students use a digital portfolio tool to share their investigations. Spaces, reviewed here includes many resources for creating online portfolios and web pages. Consider sharing the activities found on this site with your peers as a model for redesigning lessons you already use in your classroom. Use Padlet, reviewed here to collaborate and share ideas, activities, and resources as you work toward incorporating inquiry lessons into your classrooms.
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Engaging Congress - Indiana University

Grades
5 to 12
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Engaging Congress is an interactive game that uses primary sources to help students evaluate information as they learn about the United States government. Download the app from Google...more
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Engaging Congress is an interactive game that uses primary sources to help students evaluate information as they learn about the United States government. Download the app from Google Play or the iTunes store, or select the webGL link to play on the web. Begin play by choosing a story, primary source, or pick a trivia challenge or practice. Use the Teacher Toolbox to find documents by era or topic, learning objectives matched to Common Core Standards, and compelling questions for use with each issue and story. Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the home page to find the link to request classroom giveaways to encourage play!

tag(s): branches of government (62), congress (39), DAT device agnostic tool (143), evaluating sources (28), primary sources (113)

In the Classroom

Take advantage of the free games and materials on this site to use as a supplement to your current resources for teaching history and government. Instead of written notes, strengthen learning by having students use an online tool such as Holt Interactive Graphic Organizers, reviewed here, to create diagrams, mindmaps, and other visual graphic organizers. To compare and contrast information found in different primary sources, create a Venn Diagram. As students prepare to share their findings and summarize their learning, have them modify their learning by creating infographics using Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here, to visually represent facts and information. As a final assessment for your unit using these materials, ask students to form teams to debate different sides of the issues presented. Share their debates as a podcast using Spotify for Podcasters, reviewed here. Spotify for Podcasters is a simple to use podcasting tool offering several free options for creating, hosting, and sharing podcasts. As an alternative, ask other students redefine their learning and to create multimedia presentations using Sway, reviewed here to share text, videos, images, and more.
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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 (62), civil rights (193), congress (39), elections (80), immigrants (33), inquiry (24), presidents (120), primary sources (113), Research (83), womens suffrage (43)

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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Outrider - Outrider Foundation

Grades
8 to 12
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Outrider shares information and interactives exploring the topics of nuclear war and climate change. Within the section devoted to nuclear war, browse through stories explaining the...more
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Outrider shares information and interactives exploring the topics of nuclear war and climate change. Within the section devoted to nuclear war, browse through stories explaining the importance of NATO, a timeline of nuclear history, and explore the interactive demonstration of the impact of an atomic bomb blast in your location. The climate change portion of the site includes an interactive demonstrating the effects of climate change nationally and locally. Also, this portion contains articles and timelines of climate history.

tag(s): atomic bomb (9), climate (80), climate change (87), nuclear energy (19), weather (163)

In the Classroom

Include this site with your resources for teaching both of these timely topics. Collaborate with your students and extend learning by bookmarking and saving additional resources using Netboard, reviewed here. In addition to saving bookmarks, Netboard includes the option for adding notes to shared resources. Encourage students to use this feature to describe useful information found on any website. As students explore these topics, use Flip, reviewed here, to enhance learning by creating video response questions for student discussion. Encourage students to redefine their learning and problem solve solutions by creating video explainers describing the problem and proposed solutions using a video explainer tool like Kizoa, reviewed here.

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Fake It To Make It Game - Amanda Warner

Grades
7 to 12
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Learn about how and why fake news is created and distributed with this game where players earn money by spreading false news. Begin by selecting a guide for the game ...more
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Learn about how and why fake news is created and distributed with this game where players earn money by spreading false news. Begin by selecting a guide for the game and choosing a financial goal. Follow the game to create your site and choose from different payment and options for monetizing information, while at the same time working toward optimum credibility. As the game continues, players select options for sharing their fake news to gain the maximum number of shares and likes. Throughout the game, follow your progress to your financial goal chosen at the beginning of the activity.

tag(s): journalism (71), news (229), newspapers (91), problem solving (225)

In the Classroom

More than ever, understanding the use of media to manipulate readers is a critical skill. Use this game as a supplement to lessons on verifying news sources and fact-checking. Help students discover trigger words found in fake news articles by creating lists of sensational words. Replace word lists with a word cloud creator like Wordsift, reviewed here, to help visualize the use of trigger words found in online news. Have students find fake news online to analyze for misrepresentations of facts. Instead of doing this as a pencil and paper project, ask students to transform their learning and use Image Annotator, reviewed here, to share an image of the article and add links, images, and videos to "debunk" false information. As students become more familiar with recognizing fake news, have them use a comic creation tool like ToonyTool, reviewed here, to modify their learning by creating single frame cartoons with tips for avoiding false information then share these comics on your class or school webpage.

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#ThisIs18 Around the World - New York Times

Grades
9 to 12
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#ThisIs18 is an interactive photo essay from the New York Times that shares images of everyday life for 18-year-old girls around the world. Pictures and interviews conducted by young...more
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#ThisIs18 is an interactive photo essay from the New York Times that shares images of everyday life for 18-year-old girls around the world. Pictures and interviews conducted by young women accompanied by professional mentors produce the content shared in this interactive. A look at girls' lives across 15 languages including 21 subjects providing an insightful snapshot into their everyday life across the globe.

tag(s): cross cultural understanding (156), cultures (132), women (136)

In the Classroom

Be sure to allow some time for students to explore all of the information shared in this incredible interactive. After students have looked through this site on their own, take a deeper look together by displaying the site on your interactive whiteboard and discussing together as a class. Have student share the portions that had the deepest impact on them, compare and contrast their everyday life to those in the interactive, and define topics for further exploration. Use this site as a starting point for a biography project or unit on cultures within your school or community. One great resource for starting a biography and enhancing student learning is the Cube Creator, reviewed here. Instead of just using written notes, extend students' learning by challenging them to take audio recordings of interviews using Vocaroo, reviewed here. Use #ThisIs18 as a model to create your own interactive sharing student interviews and biographies. Sway, reviewed here, is an excellent multimedia tool to enhance learning and for publishing and sharing content. Include audio and video interviews, student writing, and more to create your storytelling project.

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Project Look Sharp - Project Look Sharp, Ithaca College

Grades
K to 12
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Project Look Sharp promotes media literacy education and critical thinking skills through the offering of curriculum kits for classrooms in grades K-12; to find the kits click the Free...more
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Project Look Sharp promotes media literacy education and critical thinking skills through the offering of curriculum kits for classrooms in grades K-12; to find the kits click the Free Classroom Materials button. The free kits include teacher guides, handouts, assessments, and correlating digital media. Browse through all available kits, or filter by grade level or Common Core Standard. Each kit is available for download in its entirety or download individual lessons as desired; registration is required. Lesson contents cover a variety of topics including Global Warming, Presidential Campaigns, and Social Justice. Be sure to look through other sections of the site including professional development information and links to handouts from Project Look Sharp's presentations.

tag(s): american revolution (80), climate change (87), critical thinking (112), environment (238), martin luther king (43), media literacy (102), middle east (43), nutrition (134), OER (43), presidents (120), russia (33), social media (53)

In the Classroom

Become acquainted with these free curriculum kits and lessons to integrate media literacy within content already taught in the classroom. As you teach lessons found on the site, incorporate technology to enhance learning and build student understanding by using Word Ahead, reviewed here, or WordSift, reviewed here, to introduce and develop vocabulary as a prereading strategy or older students can use either as they are reading. Incorporate images with annotations to help students understand "big picture" ideas using Image Annotator, reviewed here. For younger students create a Image Annotator as a class to add text, video, and more to images. Ask older students to create their own Image Annotator sharing information learned throughout your lessons. Be sure to share all of your images on your class website for students to view at any time. To transform classroom technology use and as a culminating activity, use a digital book creation tool like Book Creator, reviewed here, as an alternative assessment to quizzes or tests. Include student-created writing, Annotated images, and add videos with student commentary within each book. Be sure to provide students with your rubric to use as a guide before turning in digital books. Find many ideas for implementing rubrics for assessment along with examples and online tools at TeachersFirst Rubrics to the Rescue, reviewed here. Whether students work individually or in groups, be sure to share your new digital library related to your lesson topic with students to review and revisit at any time!
 This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.

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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 (112), journalism (71), media literacy (102), news (229), 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.

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Moment Zero - Pilot

Grades
6 to 12
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Moment Zero is an immersive experience for viewing seismic activity around the world since 1970. View information in 360 degrees using computers and mobile devices, or in VR with a...more
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Moment Zero is an immersive experience for viewing seismic activity around the world since 1970. View information in 360 degrees using computers and mobile devices, or in VR with a headset and mobile phone. Use the options on the site to explore the yearly timeline and view annual statistics.

tag(s): earthquakes (44)

In the Classroom

There is a learning curve to using this site, be sure to take some time to explore the options on how to find different areas and information that is available. Consider choosing a couple of "tech-savvy" students to become experts on using the site. Ask them to use Free Screen Recorder Online, reviewed here, to record instructions about finding information, share these tutorials on your class website for student use. As students gather information and statistics from the site, use this as part of a larger activity as you learn about earthquakes. Create a class account for Google My Maps, reviewed here, and enhance student learning by recording earthquake activity around the world as they occur. Have students add images, videos, and vital statistics to this ongoing project.

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The Adventures of Kara, Winston and the SMART Crew - Childnet International

Grades
2 to 6
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Here you will find 5 e-safety SMART cartoons for ages 7 to 11. These videos are all about being SMART online. Click on Teachers & professionals and slide to resources ...more
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Here you will find 5 e-safety SMART cartoons for ages 7 to 11. These videos are all about being SMART online. Click on Teachers & professionals and slide to resources to search by age or topic for other activities. The suggested recommendation from the creators is to implement activities throughout several weeks; however, it is possible to complete as a one-time activity.

tag(s): character education (75), digital citizenship (83), internet safety (112)

In the Classroom

Any teacher will benefit from the free materials and activities on this site to teach online safety to students either directly through these materials, or as additional resources to your current online safety materials. As a substitute for links on paper or in a word processing tool, use a bookmarking tool like Symbaloo, reviewed here, to share online resources with students on classroom computers and your class website. Enhance student understanding by challenging students to create digital books teaching online safety using Book Creator, reviewed here. Book Creator includes tools for adding videos, images, and more into books.

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