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Honest Slogans - What People Really Think - Cliff Dickens
Grades
9 to 12
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Honest Slogans takes company slogans, adds a little twist, and creates new advertising images. These new slogans poke fun using a company's own logo and brands. Scroll through the many...more
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Honest Slogans takes company slogans, adds a little twist, and creates new advertising images. These new slogans poke fun using a company's own logo and brands. Scroll through the many pages to view images similar to the company's advertising but with a slightly different punch line that tells what people really think about the product. For example, see the Hallmark Cards logo stating "When you care enough to give a card mass-produced by a corporation." Each slogan includes a link for viewing notes shared by others. Please take caution in sharing these with students as they are unmoderated. Not all topics are appropriate for students (for example, alcohol).
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): advertising (24), media literacy (102)
In the Classroom
Use Honest Slogans as part of a truth in advertising lesson. Share examples with students and have them create their own Honest Slogans for different brands. Use this site as the inspiration for creating new book covers for classic literature or as an introduction to a social studies chapter or math unit. Create "honest" ads in a new language in your world language class. The ideas are endless! Use an online poster creator, such as Padlet, reviewed here, to create and display finished products.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Space Facts - Space Facts 2014
Grades
4 to 10
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Travel to Space Facts to see a growing collection of interesting facts about planets, the solar system, space explorations, and more. Information includes planet profiles, planet size...more
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Travel to Space Facts to see a growing collection of interesting facts about planets, the solar system, space explorations, and more. Information includes planet profiles, planet size compared to Earth, and basic facts about the planet. The blog area provides updates on current discoveries and space related features. The Gallery includes images available for use in other projects. Read the terms of use, but most are NASA images that are permissible for download and use in your own projects. Although this site is rather text heavy, it is full of great content! There are rather annoying advertisements, so readers who are easily distracted may find it disruptive.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): earth (185), mars (26), planets (111), solar system (108), space (213)
In the Classroom
Deepen your study of the planets through further reading and beautiful graphics. Focus on the use of nonfiction text in your classroom, combined with literature studies of space or planet fiction, such as Jules Verne's, "From the Earth to the Moon," or Roald Dahl's, "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator." Find useful information, graphics, and diagrams for PowerPoints, Screencasts or Prezi's reviewed here. Include on your list of resources for science units on space on your classroom webpage. Be sure to show this tool on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) to introduce space. Visit before your trip to the planetarium or science museum. Use to inspire artwork inspired by space. Deepen your students' background knowledge in writing about space travel, future, or creativity.
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Futility Closet - Greg Ross
Grades
6 to 12
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Futility Closet is a large collection of entertaining and interesting tidbits from history, language arts, literature, and more. There are mind-stretching puzzles and many thought-provoking,...more
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Futility Closet is a large collection of entertaining and interesting tidbits from history, language arts, literature, and more. There are mind-stretching puzzles and many thought-provoking, true tales. The collection contains close to 8,000 tidbits (some with photos or video clips). More are added daily. Choose from categories such as hoaxes, poems, puzzles, or technology to narrow your search. Scroll through the site to find items by date added. This entertaining site will have you returning over and over to explore and find new bits of trivia! Some of the videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): logic (164), poetry (189), puzzles (143), trivia (18)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save Futility Closet as a resource for thought provoking trivia throughout the year. Share one item on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) at the beginning of each class for class discussion. Allow your gifted students to explore this site independently, and perhaps even start their own blog collections. Allow students to explore the site and find interesting items to research and explore further. Use the search tool on Futility Closet to search for trivia on current lessons such as Shakespeare, angles, or any keyword - you will be surprised at your findings! Some of the "curiosities" would be great writing prompts for students to take a position and research/support with evidence. Have students share one item they find interesting and create a project using a tool such as Padlet, (reviewed here). Subscribe to Futility Closet using your RSS Feed Reader. Teacher-librarians would love to use these as research prompts. Include one during your school newscast or PTO newsletter (with proper credit to the source, of course).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Crunchzilla - Crunchzilla
Grades
3 to 12
2 Favorites
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Learn basic computer coding skills using this tool. There are three difficulty levels: Code Monster for preteens (or even younger), Code Maven for teens and young adults, or Game Maven...more
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Learn basic computer coding skills using this tool. There are three difficulty levels: Code Monster for preteens (or even younger), Code Maven for teens and young adults, or Game Maven for ages 16+. Code Monster prompts younger students to change various parameters of an already given code. As they enter different parts to the code, the changes in the object can be seen immediately. Simply click on the dialogue bubble and a new lesson will appear. Unfortunately, creations cannot be saved. (Students can screenshot their creations.) Use Code Maven with older teens, though it appears to have the same lessons as Code Monster. Game Maven is the third and most advanced programming tutorial in this series. Use this to teach a little about programming by creating easy games. In all three tools, skip to further lessons by clicking on the dialogue balloons. Use the back button to return to previous lessons. It is also easy to undo a lesson and start a code over with the reset button. In all tools, if you return to the same browser on the same machine, it will return to the last lesson you were on. Note: Be sure to have played with Code Maven prior to using Game Maven as those lessons are needed to understand how to program (unless there is prior coding experience).
tag(s): coding (88), computational thinking (42), computers (106)
In the Classroom
When discussing computer science and how technology touches all of our lives, be sure to discuss coding and that it is a language that everyone can learn. Show the HTML markup of a page to show what the computer "reads" to form what websites look like. Use these tools to show basics in coding. When students are working, be sure to not rescue them with answers. Encourage learning by telling them to ask three other students first before asking the teacher AND that it is okay if we learn it together. Use other coding programs such as Scratch, reviewed here. Have students create a tutorial or a quick reference guide for using coding. Create a class wiki using TWiki, here, to share your reference guide. If you want to learn more about wikis, check out the TeachersFirst Wiki Walk-Through. Share this site with your young gamers to lure them into the logical world of coding -- and actually build STEM skills in the process.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Mighty Book - Mighty Book
Grades
K to 3
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Engage young children in this colorful site, packed with songs, interactive audio books, art and music interactives, and emergent reading activities. Reaching a wide range of grades,...more
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Engage young children in this colorful site, packed with songs, interactive audio books, art and music interactives, and emergent reading activities. Reaching a wide range of grades, this site offers over 50 different engaging activities. Visit the stories made by children. The free part of this site includes a great variety of topics: Boston Tea Party, alphabet, making mistakes, metamorphosis, Mars, a variety of popular children's songs, nouns, upper case and lower case, Beatrix Potter, jokes, Bach & Van Gogh, Mona and Beethoven, and much more! Some of the activities are also available in Spanish. Check out Teachers at the bottom of the page for Lesson Plans.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): alphabet (51), independent reading (85), preK (254), sight words (23), songs (44), video (257)
In the Classroom
Use this site for learning as a whole group, learning centers, or individual laptops for reinforcement or enrichment. First, introduce Mighty Book on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Since there are extensive ads, you may want to bookmark or create shortcuts directly to the activity you want children to use and avoid having them get "lost" in the many links that take you off the site. Share the songs and discuss the lyrics and what they are teaching. Use this site in art class to introduce famous artists to even the youngest of learners. After listening to the jokes, have students make up their own jokes. Poems with activities offer a kinesthetic approach to poetry. Songs about colors and the days of the week catch your auditory learners. Share this link on your class website for students to explore (and enjoy) both in and out of the classroom.
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Imendi - David Filip
Grades
3 to 12
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Practice and learn basic words and vocabulary in Spanish, French, Italian, Arabic, Portuguese, German, Czech, and Russian. Imendi is a flashcard activity featuring various languages...more
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Practice and learn basic words and vocabulary in Spanish, French, Italian, Arabic, Portuguese, German, Czech, and Russian. Imendi is a flashcard activity featuring various languages in a drag and drop format. Choose your language to begin. You can choose between a random lesson or select a lesson topic from the dropdown menu on the upper left corner of the page. The upper left is also where you can choose to look at different vocaulary lists or use the "all words" option. Match new language terms to the English word then quickly view results and start over with a new set of cards. These are quick and easy reviews. Use the non-English speaking option to translate from any included language back to English.
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This site includes advertising.
tag(s): arabic (13), french (74), german (48), italian (28), multilingual (65), portuguese (22), russian (24), spanish (105)
In the Classroom
Use this tool with your ENL/ELL students. If you teach world languages, this site is a great review of various languages. Looking for some enrichment for your gifted students? Share this site and help them to learn a new language (or at least several key vocabulary words). Have students compare the words for the same thing across various languages to notice relationships among the languages. Make simple posters of words for different themes, such as foods, in several different languages using a tool such as Web Poster Wizard, reviewed here. Be sure to include this site on your class web page for students to access both in and outside of class for further practice. Have students try out this site on individual computers, or as a learning center.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Vidtionary - vidtionary.com
Grades
K to 12
8 Favorites
0 Comments
Vidtionary is a video dictionary defining words through images (and videos). The short videos include the word said aloud and shown in print, with sound effects or engaging music in...more
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Vidtionary is a video dictionary defining words through images (and videos). The short videos include the word said aloud and shown in print, with sound effects or engaging music in the background. Browse entries using the search bar or view featured collections. Browse alphabetically or explore collections. Because of the wide range of topics and difficulty levels, these vocabulary words could be used with any age. Video lengths run less than one minute per definition, many as short as 10-15 seconds. Originally designed to teach English to speakers of Korean and Japanese, the visual nature of the site appeals to all language learners.
tag(s): dictionaries (48), multilingual (65), vocabulary (235), vocabulary development (90)
In the Classroom
While this site is ideal for any student learning new vocabulary, it is especially useful for ENL/ELL students or speech/language students with vocabulary deficits. Share selected videos in primary grades to help students see how new words are defined and spelled. Challenge your gifted students to find new vocabulary words to share with the class. Use in any classroom as a model (sharing on your interactive whiteboard or projector). Then assign cooperative learning groups to create Vidtionary inspired videos of their own to explain curriculum terms, world language vocabulary, or SAT words. Use a tool like moovly, reviewed here, and share them on a site such as TeacherTube, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Wordless News - Maria Fabrizio
Grades
5 to 12
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"See" daily news headlines in illustration form on this clever blog created by illustrator/designer Maria Fabrizio. Each day she chooses a headline to illustrate in a sort of visual...more
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"See" daily news headlines in illustration form on this clever blog created by illustrator/designer Maria Fabrizio. Each day she chooses a headline to illustrate in a sort of visual riddle, and she also includes the link to the article that inspired it. The result: an engaging visual prompt that tempts your guess at one of the day's top stories. The news sources vary among various mainstream U.S. news sources, such as the New York Times, NBC, NPR, or USA Today. Challenge yourself to stay up to date and think visually. Cycle back through the daily entries since early 2013 or search by clickable tags to see the breadth of news represented here and find related stories. You can also sign up to receive the daily stories via email.
tag(s): news (229), visual thinking (6)
In the Classroom
Encourage students to connect with current events by sharing the daily post (or one per week) on your projector or interactive whiteboard as students enter homeroom or settle in for the start of class. If you teach reading, this is the perfect way to entice students to READ informational texts with a visual image in mind, adding a purpose to their reading of non-fiction. This is a very creative way to practice close reading, as students look for the reasons behind the illustrator's choices. Extend the activity by challenging students in reading OR social studies classes to create their own Wordless News illustrations to reflect a news story they find on their own. Share the challenges on a class wiki for other students to "guess" and include the links to the stories. Art teachers can use this blog as an example of the many ways artists find inspiration in everyday life. Even the very young can "draw" a news story they read. ESL/ELL teachers can use these illustrations to build speaking vocabulary as students discuss and guess the news stories and practice their language skills reading the actual text. Use this blog in social studies class to inspire historic " wordless news" stories with accompanying articles written by students (or primary source stories from the time). What would the illustration and article be like for the Emancipation Proclamation?Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Open Yale Courses - Yale University
Grades
9 to 12
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Open Yale Courses offers free (non-credit) introductory courses taught by teachers and scholars at Yale University. Open access allows participants to view videos, download transcripts,...more
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Open Yale Courses offers free (non-credit) introductory courses taught by teachers and scholars at Yale University. Open access allows participants to view videos, download transcripts, and receive all related course materials at any time. Choose from courses in topics ranging from English, History, African-American Studies, Languages, and many more. They offer countless topics: Art History, Psychology, various languages and literatures (Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian), Chemistry, American History, and many more.
tag(s): african american (109), american revolution (81), art history (86), atmosphere (23), business (47), civil war (134), ecology (100), ecosystems (72), engineering (119), evolution (85), financial literacy (92), france (37), greece (26), greeks (31), novels (31), poetry (189), psychology (67), religions (75), romans (33), sociology (22), space (213)
In the Classroom
This is an excellent resource for gifted students as well as students interested in viewing high quality college level course material. Browse through topics of interest for your AP or IB classroom and use selected videos for viewing on your interactive whiteboard (or projector). Share a link on your class webpage for students to view at home. Teachers of gifted may want to suggest that students form small cohorts to explore one of the course of particular interest to them. Music and art history teachers will find rich materials to include in their high school courses, as well.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The 25 Best Nerd Road Trips - Popular Science
Grades
9 to 12
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Take a virtual "nerd trip" with science-history geeks. The name of this resource is sure to catch some interest, and the locations feature very interesting histories. Click on each...more
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Take a virtual "nerd trip" with science-history geeks. The name of this resource is sure to catch some interest, and the locations feature very interesting histories. Click on each point in the map to read a small synopsis of the site. You can also click links to learn more about many of the sites. We suggest you preview any information prior to sending students to explore on their own. The sites are nontraditional and can raise questions about "pop" science vs "real" science.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): scientists (62)
In the Classroom
Use these "road trips" as a springboard for unusual research projects on science topics. These are great for gifted students or skeptical students who need the extra flare of researching something a little quirky. These are also great ideas for small group research. Encourage students to create presentations about real life science with its benefits and drawbacks. Have students make a multimedia presentation using one of the many TeachersFirst Edge tools reviewed here. Some tool suggestions are (click on the tool name to access the review): Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, Animatron, Sway, and Presentious. Be sure to discuss when science enters pop culture in our society. The Center for PostNatural History, one of the sites on this map, is one such example (located near Pittsburgh, PA where organisms have been altered genetically and possibly questionably.)Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Smithsonian Digital Volunteers: Transcription Center - Smithsonian Institution
Grades
9 to 12
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The Smithsonian invites amateur historians to contribute to the massive task of transcribing their collection of written documents to make them available in digitized, searchable form....more
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The Smithsonian invites amateur historians to contribute to the massive task of transcribing their collection of written documents to make them available in digitized, searchable form. Finding authentic projects for students can be a challenge. Here, students can create an account, choose a project, and contribute their transcriptions of historic documents. Current projects include diaries, field notes, and other primary sources.
tag(s): local history (14), primary sources (115)
In the Classroom
A wonderful extension or enrichment project for responsible high school students, the Transcription Center allows students to interact with primary sources, learn about the importance of everyday records of the lives of those who go before us, and have the satisfaction of knowing they are contributing to the universe of information that will be available to future scholars. Small groups of students could share a transcription project and check each other's before submitting, or discuss the texts they have transcribed. Students interested in independent research might find a transcription project that adds to their understanding of a particular subject. You might even consider using transcription as a community service project or an initiative in your gifted ed class.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Alice - Carnegie Mellon University
Grades
6 to 12
1 Favorites
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Alice will have your students in wonderland as they use this innovative 3D programming environment targeted to middle and high school students. Be the director of a movie or the ...more
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Alice will have your students in wonderland as they use this innovative 3D programming environment targeted to middle and high school students. Be the director of a movie or the creator of a video game. 3D objects appear in an on-screen virtual world imagined by the creator and move around according to the directions you give by dragging and dropping tiles. The drag and drop technique provides a more engaging programming experience for first-time programmers. Alice provides exposure to object-oriented programming. Alice has practical value for students to learn how computers think. The instructions correspond to standard statements in a production oriented programming language, such as Java, C++, and C#. While using Alice, programmers can immediately see how their animation program runs and the behavior of the objects in their animation. Manipulate camera angles and lighting to make further enhancements. Alice is a revolutionary method to teach programming, especially to first-time learners. It allows students to understand programming concepts, a 21st-century skill.
tag(s): animation (62), coding (88), digital storytelling (141), problem solving (226), video (257)
In the Classroom
Be sure to check with your Technology Department, as many districts require authorization to download or install new applications. Plan ahead as you request that this application be installed on your classroom or laptop cart computers. Alice provides an opportunity to enhance learning for students by creating and learning how to problem solve. Subscribe to the teacher list to receive updates and integration ideas for Alice. The purpose of this list is to provide an easy way to ask questions and collaborate with the Alice teaching community. View and use activities to increase programming knowledge and the use of the Alice program.Students quickly catch on to Alice when allowed to play and easily see what they can make from it. Provide a simple assignment with defined rules/tasks to learn the tools as well as the drag and drop interface. Have students use a storyboard to organize their creation in order to keep tabs on students and their creations. Replace the paper and pencil storyboard by using a digital storyboard like Story Map, reviewed here, or Storyboarder, reviewed here. Build games to review curricular material for assessments. Have students create videos or digital stories to bring a subject to life. Teachers of gifted can turn their students loose to create animations about individual interests or research projects.
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Tour Builder (Beta) - Google
Grades
5 to 12
1 Favorites
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Put any story on the map using Tour Builder (by Google). A Gallery shares examples. You would be wise to preview the Gallery before sharing since these are created by ...more
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Put any story on the map using Tour Builder (by Google). A Gallery shares examples. You would be wise to preview the Gallery before sharing since these are created by the general public. To create a tour, choose locations, add text, images, and videos to create a story to share with the world. Add up to 25 items to each pinned location. Options include three different types of storylines. You can decide how others view your story/tour and how your story will progress. Linear tales move the story along a line. The hub option tells the story from a central location. You can disable lines completely so stories are not tied to a specific sequence or timeline. Finished stories default to private view. You may share privately with friends and family or make public for anyone to view. The Google Earth plugin and a Google account are required to use Tour Builder. Some of the introduction/explanation videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.
tag(s): digital storytelling (141), maps (208), timelines (49)
In the Classroom
Create a simple tour to share (or find one in the gallery). Share the tour on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Create tours of events from history, famous battles, scientific discoveries, biographies, and much more. The possibilities are endless. Create a timeline of famous people or a hub of locations related to a topic such as toxic waste sites or habitats for a certain animal. Tour settings for Shakespeare plays or an author's life. Tour Van Gogh's painting sites or map landforms such as glaciers. Have students who have Google accounts build a Tour of important events in their lives (or use a teacher-controlled account). In world language classes, create cultural tours in your new language. Scroll through the gallery for ideas on how others have used Tour Builder. You may just find some neat tours to share in the gallery.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Products can be shared by URL
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
Requires download/installation of software
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X (formerly ) Twitter Magnets - twittermagnets.com
Grades
3 to 12
1 Favorites
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Have fun creating sentences or short messages (like tweets) using drag and drop words at X (formerly Twitter) Magnets! X (formerly Twitter) Magnets calls them poems, though the length...more
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Have fun creating sentences or short messages (like tweets) using drag and drop words at X (formerly Twitter) Magnets! X (formerly Twitter) Magnets calls them poems, though the length limit is a real challenge for poets! Choose from the words offered. Drag and drop the magnets into the message area at the bottom -- up to 120 characters. The tool keeps a character count for you. Need different words? Click the swap words link for new choices. Click submit to view your message/poem and decide whether to submit to X (formerly Twitter) Magnet's feed or not. You can also link to send from your own X (formerly Twitter) account. Note that clicking to see the Twitter Magnets feed will show you "messages" and poems created by the general public. Steer clear or preview to be sure these are appropriate in your setting.
tag(s): creative fluency (5), microblogging (18), poetry (189), Teacher Utilities (146), twitter (19), writing prompts (58)
In the Classroom
Create a message or "poem" of the day as a class to send from your class X (formerly Twitter) account. Use as a center activity or have student groups create their own messages about what you have learned today in any subject area class. Have ELL students create simple messages to reinforce language skills. If you don't have a X (formerly Twitter) account, just have students create offline messages. Take a quick screen shot, then write, illustrate, and share on your classroom bulletin board! Generate creative messages as a class to use as writing prompts. Have students tell the story (or nonfiction news account) about what caused the message. Looking for more ways to use X (formerly Twitter) in the classroom? Read more about X (formerly Twitter) at TeachersFirst's X (formerly Twitter) for Teachers page. You can also use this site as a tool to teach about digital citizenship and the etiquette of tweets.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Next Vista for Learning - Rushton Hurley
Grades
3 to 12
8 Favorites
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Next Vista offers Learning videos for teachers looking for alternatives to YouTube. At the time of this review, they offered over 1,000 videos (most useful for in the classroom). Videos...more
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Next Vista offers Learning videos for teachers looking for alternatives to YouTube. At the time of this review, they offered over 1,000 videos (most useful for in the classroom). Videos are made by teachers and/or students. Search by three main topics: Light Bulbs, Global View, or Seeing Service. Better yet, use the right sidebar to search by topic: Math, Science, World Languages, History & Culture, Performing Arts, and more.Next Vista offers an extensive collection of career videos to use as a resource for exploring and discovering career opportunities. View videos directly on site or share using the link or embed code provided. Throughout the school year, Next Vista hosts video creation contests for students and teachers. Submit your own videos less than 5 minutes in length using directions provided. They even offer small prizes for winners.
tag(s): africa (137), asia (68), careers (139), computers (106), europe (75), literature (217), musical instruments (46), musical notation (35), north america (14), parts of speech (40), poetry (189), shakespeare (93), south america (36), speech (66), video (257)
In the Classroom
Explore the various topics to share with your students. In the math section, share the "How to Show Your Work" video on your projector or interactive whiteboard. There are useful videos in all sections, offered at a variety of levels. Bookmark and save this site for use throughout the year for student and teacher created videos. Challenge students to create a video to submit for one of the site's contests; who knows, they may win!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Brilliant - Sue Khim
Grades
8 to 12
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Brilliant provides challenges for anyone with a passion for mathematics or physics. Create an account, enter your interests, and take a short diagnostic test to receive an assigned...more
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Brilliant provides challenges for anyone with a passion for mathematics or physics. Create an account, enter your interests, and take a short diagnostic test to receive an assigned level in either subject. You must create an account using an email address or Facebook. Each week, you will receive new problem sets based on your assigned level. If you answer correctly within three attempts, you receive points toward prizes or academic opportunities. Warning: This site can get addictive.
tag(s): problem solving (226), STEM (261)
In the Classroom
Use when differentiating in the classroom or as a resource for gifted students. Allow students to create their own account, take placement tests, and problem-solve the challenges each week. Have students share problems and their problem solving process with classmates via podcasts demonstrating their understanding of one of the concepts. Use a site such as PodOmatic (reviewed here). Create your own account; then share problems on your website or blog using the share feature offered on the site. If you plan to have students register using their own email accounts, read tips for safely managing email registrations here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Sail the Book - Sail the Book
Grades
8 to 12
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Sail the Book does what we all wish we had time to do: it pulls together works of literature--all of which are focused on maritime themes--and uses Google Earth technology ...more
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Sail the Book does what we all wish we had time to do: it pulls together works of literature--all of which are focused on maritime themes--and uses Google Earth technology to bring them to life. With so many online resources out there, it's great to encounter a truly well-integrated interdisciplinary site that draws on the strength of 21st century technology to transform classic literature. Each of six books, including Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle, is presented in full text form, chapter by chapter. Each chapter is accompanied by a "tour" linked to Google Earth, and here is where the fun begins! The tours include a number of Points of Interest that open in Google Earth as well as questions and activities that link to passages within the text. Taken as a whole, this is an interdisciplinary approach at its best, combining geography, history, science, art and literature into one tidy package. If you aren't sure where to get started, visit the Video Tutorials to learn more! The video clips are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.
tag(s): literature (217), marine biology (25), oceans (146)
In the Classroom
Developed by a teacher, Sail the Book is exactly what all good teachers wish they had time to do: create imaginative, integrated units that take advantage of today's technology. Sail the Book could be used in conjunction with a regular classroom study of one of the works of literature included. However, a reasonably self-directed student could undertake an independent reading of any of the books, using Sail the Book to gain further insight. Alternatively, the "tours" might help struggling readers or non-native readers get the most out of these works, helping the words come to life through more visual terms. The site seems uniquely suited to a multi-disciplinary setting like a gifted enrichment class, where students are free to pull from a variety of curricula--science, literature, geography, and history--to add value and rigor to the traditional classroom. The site is easily adaptable. Use one chapter. Use one full book. Do the tours with the activities or without the activities. And once your students have done a tour, ask them how THEY might construct a tour of their own related to some other work of literature they love. Creating their own could be an ideal unit for a gifted classroom or for gifted students going above and beyond the "regular" unit.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Mathics - Jan Poschko
Grades
10 to 12
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Mathics is a general purpose, online algebra software system. Use the online version of Mathics with Firefox, Chrome, or Safari. Tech-savvy users can also download and install the program...more
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Mathics is a general purpose, online algebra software system. Use the online version of Mathics with Firefox, Chrome, or Safari. Tech-savvy users can also download and install the program on your computer. Browse the online documentation for an overview of how to operate Mathics. Explore the gallery for many examples of the program in use. (Be sure to wait for everything to load.) To get started, click Use Mathics Online.
tag(s): charts and graphs (169), functions (52)
In the Classroom
Mathics is for advanced math students who are also interested in computer programming. It would be ideal for use with gifted students to explore mathematics concepts and theories. If you feel unsure of how to use this site, be sure to view the Gallery for examples and more information.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Duolingo - Duolingo
Grades
1 to 12
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Duolingo is a free, online language learning class. Sign up with email. Make a selection from Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese, Arabic, and many others. Earn points on...more
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Duolingo is a free, online language learning class. Sign up with email. Make a selection from Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese, Arabic, and many others. Earn points on different levels as you work towards mastery. Practice provides both seeing and hearing the words. Your responses require choosing the English translation and also spelling the words in the "new" language. Put your knowledge to work in the immersion section and translate a document or even upload a document of your own. Check the vocabulary you have learned and your progress toward mastery. Track your weekly progress. The discussion section answers individual questions. Duolingo is free for schools. There are free iOS and Android apps for Duolingo.
tag(s): arabic (13), chinese (44), DAT device agnostic tool (143), french (74), game based learning (171), german (48), hebrew (16), italian (28), japanese (47), multilingual (65), OER (43), Online Learning (39), portuguese (22), russian (24), spanish (105)
In the Classroom
Use Duolingo in your world language classes as another form of practice and enrichment. Have students sign up to compete against each other in a fun game of language mastery. Have world language students use the immersion tool to help read and translate authentic text. For an ENL/ELL classroom, provide extra, specific practice in beginning English. ENL/ELL students can also use the immersion section to check their own written documents and connect with other ENL/ELL students. Offer this site as a supplement when you study cultures from around the world. Gifted students are sure to enjoy the challenge of learning some language phrases. Is your class remote learning? Duolingo has a guide just for that! Scroll down the home page and find Duolingo for Schools, then click Bring Duolingo to Your Classroom. Find the Guide for using Duolingo at home at the top right of the page.
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101 Science - Science 101.com
Grades
3 to 12
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Science 101 is a science Internet portal. Although rather "plain vanilla," this site has a LOT to explore. After choosing a subject area: astronomy, bacteria, biology, books, calculations,...more
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Science 101 is a science Internet portal. Although rather "plain vanilla," this site has a LOT to explore. After choosing a subject area: astronomy, bacteria, biology, books, calculations, chemistry, data, earth, electronics, or ethics, find articles or website links for further information. This site includes over 30 subject areas on a variety of science and math topics. Use as a resource to begin explorations. Some links may lead to flash activities, not all browsers support flash.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): resources (88), science fairs (19), scientific method (47)
In the Classroom
In the classroom, use Science 101 as a reference site for finding further material. Under each subject, find articles, videos, or experiments. Use parts of this site at a center. List as a resource on your class website. Be sure to have the link available when students work on research projects or even during free exploration time.
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