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The Migrant Trail - Marco Williams
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): critical thinking (110), immigrants (27), immigration (65), migration (57), problem solving (262), reading comprehension (123)
In the Classroom
Introduce this interactive to students on a projector or interactive whiteboard. You may want to start out as a border patrol officer so students will understand the underlying humanitarianism in this job. The officers in this interactive are empathetic and concerned about the health of the migrants. Have students explore individually or in pairs the different migrants, their history, and decisions they have to make while crossing the desert. Be sure to supply earbuds/headphones or have students silence the audio on the computers. There are short biographies of the migrants. Pair weaker readers with stronger readers as necessary. The Migrant Trail is an excellent way to make students think about and discuss a real-world issue in a government class. In an economy class, talk about the role of public policy in citizenship and the financial matters that drive the migrants.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Home Shrunken Home - New York Times
Grades
9 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): architecture (73), environment (274), homes (11), STEM (207), structures (20)
In the Classroom
Share this article in a class on environmental issues, a social studies class on economics and current events, or even a physics class learning about structures and forces. Note that this article is a great example of informational text! Have students make observations about the pros and cons of modular mini-apartments for the resident, the city, and the environment. Have student groups investigate related topics in building materials, environmentally-friendly design, and urban crowding. Hold a class debate: Mini-living: Positive trend or Foolish Fad? This article would be great for gifted students interested in contemporary issues or architecture. Have them design their own mini-apartments, complete with appliances and built in furniture, to meet the challenges of green living, high-cost housing, and urban crowding!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Simon - Neave Games
Grades
K to 12tag(s): game based learning (160), patterns (74), preK (271), puzzles (174)
In the Classroom
Join forces with Simon to help improve memory skills. Introduce on your interactive whiteboard or projector to demonstrate memory skills. Help young students learn simple patterns by trying "their hands" at this interactive. Very young students can even use the beginner games to learn colors. Share and discuss ways to improve with such techniques as sound, visual, or "chunking." Use as a reward time device. Keep a class best score and challenge students to beat it! Use this tool to grab your students' attention to come back to their seats after centers or individual/group work periods. Share this link on your class website for students to "play" both in and out of the classroom.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Creators Project - Voice Media
Grades
5 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): creativity (98), engineering (111), inventors and inventions (77), STEM (207)
In the Classroom
Turn STEM into STEAM in your science, math, or art class. This project is perfect for convincing students that science is neither boring nor unimaginative! Lure your artistic students into science and your pragmatic scientists into creativity. This project fits well with any Maker Movement activities you may do in your school. Share a feature or two each week in your science class and ask students what science concepts the creator had to use to achieve that design. Ask what problems he/she might have faced in creating it. Ask why it appeals to people (function? visual design?) Challenge student groups to choose a design or invention on this site and analyze the physics behind it. How/why does it work? What simple machines do they see within it? Why did they use those materials? Have them share their findings (or hypotheses) in a multimedia presentation or wiki page, sort of an "invention unwrapped." Teachers of gifted or science club sponsors can find loads of project inspiration at this site. Share it during a career unit for students to investigate creative ways to use science and design in a future career. Have them research the people behind an invention or art piece they particularly enjoy.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Big Dayta - Tsai Hsing School
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): cross cultural understanding (141), data (144)
In the Classroom
Introduce Big Dayta in your world cultures, math, or writing class. If you team teach, work together with your computer, math, social studies, or English teacher to have students share dayta and then analyze and use it for your own class projects. Find specific curriculum activities for math, writing, and social studies classes on the site or ask your students what dayta they would like to compare and contrast in a "hands-on" experience with data. If they like learning about life in other places, your class may also want to join in #XW1W (Across the World Once a Week). Be sure to pass these projects along to other teachers! As a geography extension, have students create an electronic placemarker file using Google Maps or Click2Map, or an actual map poster of the places they learn about.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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ASAP Science YouTube Channel - Mitchell Moffit and Gregory Brown
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): periodic table (52), video (249)
In the Classroom
Mark this one in your teacher favorites to find videos to use at the start of a science or health unit. Make science more appealing as a way to answer the questions we ponder every day. Do NOT turn students loose on this channel. Because of the popular "adult" videos on this channel -- not appropriate for the classroom, but perfectly appropriate for adults -- we recommend locating the specific video you want to share and placing the url or embed code for that one video on your class web page or wiki. You can also share on a projector or interactive whiteboard. To avoid any possibility of showing titles that may cause distraction, use a tool such as ViewPure, reviewed here to clear away all the YouTube clutter. Use an ASAP Science video as inspiration for students to create their own videos explaining a science concept or debunking a science myth. Make this an option for research projects to appeal to your musically talented or "poetic" science students.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Myths: Everything You Need - Scholastic Inc
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): digital storytelling (132), enrichment (10), myths and legends (26)
In the Classroom
After you choose your level, discover one or many of the lessons to integrate into your English Language Arts or Social Studies curriculum. Choose your objectives, and find the lessons that are appropriate. Some lessons can be shared on the interactive whiteboard or projector. Others are more appropriate alone as individual work. Materials are included so much of the prep work is already done for you. To conclude the myths unit, have students create a play featuring a unique culture and a hero they create. Students will need a detailed script containing; theme, plot, settings, and characters including a hero. Go as far as you want developing props, costumes, and accompanying sounds and music. Have students present using a live presentation, video, or digital storytelling. Choose from the TeachersFirst Digital Storytelling tools, reviewed here. This site is a great reference for an after-school enrichment program on writing, reading, book clubs, or even self esteem.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Linguistadores - Bob Rafferty
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): guided reading (38), independent reading (106), reading comprehension (123), vocabulary development (96)
In the Classroom
Use Linguistadores with ESL/ELL or special education students as an interesting way to deliver appropriate leveled informational texts. Have students create individual accounts and use as a computer lab or classroom center activity to build vocabulary and reading skills. Use this site to differentiate for students of all levels. Share this site with your teaching colleagues to help differentiate for learning support (or gifted or ESL/ELL) students. Select informational texts to use for close reading (a la Common Core) together as a class on a projector or interactive whiteboard.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Wonkblog: Kurt Vonnegut graphed the world's most popular stories (blog post) - Ana Swanson/Washington Post
Grades
5 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): authors (97), creative writing (130), infographics (52), narrative (13), stories and storytelling (28)
In the Classroom
Explore the patterns of story and narratives in our culture and beyond using this visual approach to story mapping. In a high school language arts class, watch the video of Vonnegut explaining story shapes (about 4 minutes) and challenge student partners or groups to think of other examples of that story map, even from movies or television shows. Then turn the class loose to make their own graphic representation of a literary piece you have read recently - or of a movie that is popular right now. If you have an interactive whiteboard, have students direct a student "emcee" to do the drawing as the class gives instructions. With younger students, you may need to talk as a class to be sure students are able to grasp the abstract patterns shown in the graphs, and the video may be too adult level for them to understand without a slower discussion. Once your class (of any level) seems to grasp the idea, post story shapes on your class wiki or web page (with proper credit) so students can add their own examples of tales they have read or watched that fit the pattern. If you give them extra credit for noticing such stories in their own lives, they will internalize the idea of narrative patterns. You could also make a story shape bulletin board where students can add index cards with names of books/tales they read under each pattern. If you are promoting narrative writing, use these story patterns as a way to help students get ideas for where a storyline can go so it has a beginning, middle, and end.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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American Bald Eagle Foundation - Bald Eagle Foundation
Grades
1 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): endangered species (37), extinction (4)
In the Classroom
Study the bald eagle and its current status as no longer endangered. Use as a research site for bald eagle information. Show the video under the Festivals tab on your projector or interactive whiteboard. If you do not wish to show all scenes in the video use a program like Clipchamp, reviewed here, or Watchkin, reviewed here, to show only the portions of the video you want your students to see. Look for an animal in your area, and research it. Do a Problem Based Learning Project on creating dioramas and information for creating public awareness. Create a festival to promote the preservation of the species. Have students create commercials and posters to meet speaking and listening standards. For online posters use a program like Adobe Spark in K-12, reviewed here. Create a public blog for an ongoing research watch using Webnode, reviewed here. If you have not started blogging yet, check out TeachersFirst Blog Basics.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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XKCD - XKCD
Grades
8 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): comics and cartoons (45), humor (15)
In the Classroom
Add humor to your science, math, language, and current events classes to lighten the mood! Spice up professional presentations with humor, and keep your audience involved. Share the direct URL to any comic that relates to your curriculum or specific topics. Encourage students to create comics with your current content. Have students use one of the tools and ideas included in this collection. Keep your class website humorous with a few comics from XKCD.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Math Puzzles - Transum
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): crosswords (19), logic (212), problem solving (262)
In the Classroom
Share the math puzzles on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Use as a math center or when you have an extra 5-10 minutes of time. Create a link to the puzzles on classroom computers or your class website. This is a great find for use with gifted students to practice logic and problem-solving skills. If you are beginning the process of integrating technology, have students create blogs to explain their problem solving process and understanding using Webnode, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Nautilus - Nautilus
Grades
9 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): careers (141), expository writing (33), scientists (66), writing prompts (67)
In the Classroom
Share these articles as part of a broad discussion of the role of science in our world, such as during a unit on scientists or careers. Share Nautilus with your gifted or science-focused students to spark interests in scientific fields that are new to them. Assign gifted students to select an article and research it further when they have tested out of regular curriculum. They can share their discoveries as a multimedia presentation or write a blog post about them. Use articles from the magazine as fodder for class debates in English class or pull excerpts to use as writing prompts for informational or expository writing. The reading levels are high school and up, so be sure to partner weaker readers with a more capable reader if using this for class assignments. Check specific reading levels of an article by pasting its url into the Juicy Studio Readability Test, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Springboard - Parul Gupta and Gautam Tambay
Grades
8 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): professional development (217), search engines (56)
In the Classroom
Share Springboard with your gifted students as a resource for finding enrichment resources or content not taught by your school. Search for and share free courses for all students to use for review of any topic. Use the Springboard search engine to find professional development courses for your own personal use.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Netwars - Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): internet safety (118)
In the Classroom
Use portions of this site with more mature students to spark discussion about the real (or unreal?) threats of cybersecurity. Every week, news stories about data breaches and hacking proliferate. Include this site as one of many current events topics in a government or civics class where you talk about the issues facing both the executive and legislative branches -- as well as the constitutionality of some proposed solutions. In a research unit in English class, include this as a site to be evaluated. Is this a reliable source? Does it show bias? Is the threat portrayed substantiated with facts or is it designed to scare the audience? Have student groups write and create a web tour using a tool such as Screencast-o-matic, reviewed here, to make an argument about the site and support their points with examples from the site's visual "text." Challenge gifted students to research other evidence supporting or debunking the facts from this site. Since the site is also available in German, world language teacher may want to share it with more advanced German students for language listening and practice.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Granite School District Curriculum Maps - Granite School District, Salt Lake City, Utah
Grades
K to 12tag(s): professional development (217)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this site for use throughout the year. Download and use curriculum maps, assessment schedules, and parent guides. Be sure to check the math section for several support documents such as lesson plan templates and guides for teaching basic facts. Share with other staff for use as models for lesson planning and curriculum mapping.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Texas Performance Standards Project - Texas Performance Standards Project
Grades
K to 12tag(s): differentiation (51), gifted (71)
In the Classroom
Use this site to meet the needs of your gifted students. Use guides and materials to differentiate instruction in your classroom. Share with other teachers as a resource for collaboration with students across classrooms.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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WeTheEconomy - 20 Short Films You Can't Afford to Miss - Vulcan Productions/Cinelan
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (167), financial literacy (104), money (158), supply and demand (4)
In the Classroom
Sign up to download the support materials and plan one or several lessons to demystify the economy as part of a civics/government class or an economics course. Transform the technology use in your class by assigning students to watch films in small groups and create digital booklets explaining the key concepts to the class using a multimedia tool such as Calameo, reviewed here. As economic issues come up in current events or during an election cycle, use these films to explain the underlying issues.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering Science Education - Dept. of Health and Human Services/NIH
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): engineering (111), medicine (59), STEM (207)
In the Classroom
Use this site as a source for careers in cutting edge science and medicine. As many students play sports in school, they will be able to connect with some of the technologies mentioned on this site. Be sure to include this link on your teacher website when searching for careers or for current events. Gifted students will love to explore this site and the resources. Be sure to create a series of links for students to look at when extra time is available in class. Include this site on the list. Connect this site with initiatives for STEM education at your school.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Incredibox - So Far So Good
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): musical instruments (46), rhythm (24)
In the Classroom
Use Incredibox as a great warm-up activity for a choir, band, or any sort of music appreciation class. As part of music class lessons, discuss the different elements in compositions. Use in any class as background music for podcasts, movies, PowerPoints, or blogs. Highlight and honor the musical geniuses in your classroom with this easy tool. Allow your learning support students instant success while challenging gifted students to create the perfect piece. Use in writing class to create mood. Play a composition as background while reading poetry or doing artwork. Help students memorize mnemonics by accompanying them with an audio track a la rap. Use music tracks as a writing prompt and enjoy the fun.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Products can be shared by URL
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