Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

This creative site offers "how to" videos on a WIDE variety of topics. Anyone is able to view the videos, but you must be a member (which is free) to comment on the videos, grade the videos, or submit your own "how to" video. Topics vary; some are appropriate for the classroom - others are definitely NOT appropriate. Some of the general topics that may be useful in the middle school or high school classroom include: alcohol, autos, motorcycles, and planes, business and money, computers and programming, diet and health, education (which features a variety of science experiments and more), film and theater, language (English, Chinese, Hungarian, Russian, Finnish, sign language, Polish, and countless others), music and instruments, travel, and several other topics. Within each of these general topics, there are thousands of specific "how to" videos.

Membership is free and has many perks. You are able to comment and/or grade the video clips or even submit your own video. Registration does require some personal information: a username, password, email address, and date of birth. ALL USERS MUST BE OVER 13-years of age! Check with your administrator about allowing the students to register for this site using fictitious names. You may wish to set up a class registration instead of entering true data into the registration site. Another option is to create a free Gmail account to use for memberships. If you plan to have students register individually, you may want to create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes. Here is a blog post that tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service.

Warning: not all videos are suitable for the classroom. Be sure to preview what you wish to share. If you choose to allow your older students to navigate this site on their own (for research or a class project), be sure to set boundaries on which videos to watch, consequences for going elsewhere, and WATCH CAREFULLY! Some videos explain "how to" do things that are unsafe or inappropriate for school-ages audiences. Wonder How To does include unobtrusive advertisements.

tag(s): aircraft (17), business (45), money (122), russian (21), sign language (10)

This page has been archived, but the links still work. This highly motivating website demonstrates step-by-step how to prepare a school musical. The website includes lyrics, drama vocabulary terms, musical notations, scenery, props, and an introduction to various types of music (including calypso). There is a Directors link that includes curriculum information, a glossary, and more. Use the website to teach your class about calypso music, drama vocabulary terms, and many other details pertaining to music and drama. Some of the activities require Flash, but most of this doesn't.

tag(s): ireland (11)

These adapted radio scripts assist ESL/ELL students with learning how to use articles and grammar correctly, increase vocabulary, and improve reading comprehension. A highly motivating site, students can see photos of old movies and even enjoy clips from the movies as they work with the scripts.

tag(s): grammar (134), movies (55), radio (22)

This is a simple webquest to introduce students to many of the techniques used in radio that are still used in film production today. It also familiarizes students with the era of radio -- an important experience for those trying to understand history of the first half of the twentieth century. The webquest is almost deceptively simple. The age of your students and the sophistication with which they approach the task can determine the level you want to teach. It includes the elements of typical webquests from introduction through evaluation in an easy, step-by-step manner.

tag(s): 1930s (17), 1940s (11), decades (8), radio (22), writing (279)

Constructed by a practicing teacher, this webquest is simple, but very good. It takes students through a series of searches that lets them think about the difference between society and theatre of that time. While Mr. Eyerly has constructed the quest in such a way as to take the place of or significantly augment a unit plan (covering 45 days) on Elizabethan drama, with the culminating project being a student film, many parts of this are adaptable to shorter periods and less ambitious outcomes.

tag(s): elizabethan (13)

This site has links to everything you ever wanted to know about the Elizabeth world from a Compendium of Life in Elizabethan England to Heraldry to the transcripts of the trials of the Earls of Essex and Southampton. It also includes a link to a list of more than a hundred recommended sites for the Renaissance and Elizabethan times.Teachers of everything from world history to Shakespeare will find something to mine at this site. The Compendium of Elizabethan Life is especially interesting to those students who want to know "how things worked" 500 years ago in the time of Will Shakespeare. While this is a great research sourcefor Shakespeare, it is also good for drama, literature, and history for all sorts of activities.

tag(s): elizabethan (13), renaissance (32)

This is a site for those who teach theatre and those who want to be more involved in educational theatre throughout the USA and internationally. As the U.S. association affiliated with the International Thespian Society, this site provides everything a first-time director or a seasoned pro might want to begin a thespian society in his school. Or perhaps you just want to use some of the information from this site-- that's worthwhile too.

tag(s): acting (18)

This site has an A-Z listing of all the games played on the popular TV show Whose Line Is It Anyway? as played in the original show in Great Britain and the American version hosted by Drew Carey. For the simplest games, there is just a description. For the ones that need further explanation, there are links to click on and a sample shows as the game was played with the actual script as it happened.

tag(s): literature (220)

Are you producing a play that is in need of some accented English speech, or do you teach dialogue? This website offers accents/speech patterns from all over the world. In the "browse" section, you are able to click on an area of the world and hear a paragraph spoken from a native of that country,state, or region. The same paragraph is spoken in each example. The paragraph contains all of the needed vowel/consonant combinations, so that an interested student could easily compare and match a needed sound. You, too, can submit your own English accent recording to this site. It is a perfect site for those who desire some authenticity when it comes to learning about how different cultures speak the English language. Over 553 samples have been recorded for the site, and you can add one of your own. This site requires the Quicktime plug-in. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page

tag(s): patterns (60), speech (69)

Make the Bard more approachable for younger students with this clever, interactive resource. Kids of all ages can enjoy delving into the life of Queen Elizabeth and the works of William Shakespeare. Explore full texts of plays in PDF format, word games and puzzles, historical lessons (some are interactive), and fun facts about Shakespeare and his theater. A word of caution: many of the activities on this site require prior knowledge of Shakespearean plays and characters. Choose wisely based on the level and language skills of your students, and the depth of your study of Shakespeare. Use to introduce the Elizabethan era, review important concepts, or extend a literature unit with a bit of history. Created by the Folger Shakespeare Library. Requires Adobe Acrobat.

tag(s): elizabethan (13), england (52), plays (24), shakespeare (91)

This theatrical oddity includes significant content in some areas, but is weak in others. While it's hit-and-miss, we've listed this one because theater education resources of any sort are difficult to find.

This one's admittedly for fans of musical productions, but music and theater teachers will likely find a good deal of useful information and guidance here. The content includes sections on how musicals are written, staged, and produced, as well as a section on show rights and recordings. Bring your own makeup.

tag(s): acting (18), composers (16), dance (21)

Study the drama of racial tension, prejudice and pain in To Kill A Mockingbird, The Death of Bessie Smith and Blues for Mr. Charlie.

tag(s): africa (137), african american (92), blues (18)

This unit investigates the Civil War through children's literature, using multiple approaches to learning including reading, writing, dramatization, and music.

tag(s): civil war (128), literature (220)

This is a quick collection of activities for individuals or groups, coupled with a collection of links for students, as well as a resources section for teachers and coaches.

tag(s): plays (24)