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return to subject listingWhenIsGood - Keith Harris
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): calendars (40), parent conferences (24)
In the Classroom
Create a calendar for scheduling parent-teacher conferences to send to parents. Scheduling a special presentation and inviting parents? Use this tool to find out what date and time of day will work best. Use WhenIsGood to set up grade level or department meetings. Share with your school's Parent Teacher Organization as a tool for scheduling meetings, fundraisers, or book fairs.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Wordsmyth Kids! - Wordsmyth
Grades
K to 5tag(s): dictionaries (48), parts of speech (40), spanish (104), thesaurus (22), vocabulary development (90)
In the Classroom
This site is a must-add to any elementary classroom's bookmarks! Demonstrate Wordsmyth Kids! on your classroom whiteboard or projector, bookmark it in your favorites, and make it directly available to students from your class webpage. Tell parents about it, too. Elementary students will enjoy defining their spelling words or content area vocabulary. Have students categorize words by parts of speech or create a list of synonyms. Have students create their own word "sticky note boards" for new vocabulary words using a tool such as Lino, reviewed here (no membership required) to create and share their sticky notes. Be sure to share this site with parents for use at home too! Speech and language and ESL/ELL teachers will love the audio possibilities and the activities related to many of the basic vocabulary groups, such as animals, etc.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Eventbrite - Kevin and Julia Hartz
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): calendars (40), Teacher Utilities (146)
In the Classroom
Use Eventbrite to increase excitement for any classroom event. Be creative and have students attend an "event" to review for exams (with bar coded tickets they can earn by sharing a student-made review activity). Offer tickets to in class enrichment "events" for those who test out of a unit. Have student groups design "events" instead of giving class presentations. The "event" could be a quiz show or game session that teaches a curriculum topic, such as "World War Wonders." Have your class work together to plan a culminating "event" such as a tea for famous Americans, and issue invitations and tickets to students who play the parts of the people they researched. Invite parents to Open Houses and Conferences. (Perhaps provide a small door prize for those using the Eventbrite app as their admission ticket!) Use Eventbrite to manage events with limited seating or a limited number of participants. If you provide professional development sessions, this is an excellent way to spread the word and manage participation. If you are an advisor for a school club, this tool would make club-sponsored events easier to organize.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Texas Law Related Games - Law Focused Education, Inc
Grades
2 to 8tag(s): bill of rights (28), branches of government (62), declaration of independence (15), game based learning (171), presidents (120), safety (71), symbols (15)
In the Classroom
Several games require significant reading, so partner weaker and stronger readers if students work independently. Ypu could also provide a reading guide using Read Ahead, reviewed here an excellent tool for introducing any reading passage to struggling readers, special education students, and ENL/ESL learners. Create a link to specific games on classroom computers as a center to use on President's Day, Constitution Day, or any class day studying U.S. Government. If studying your state's laws, use an online tool such as the Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to compare and contrast differences between your state and Texas.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Powtoon - powtoon.com
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): animation (61), digital storytelling (142), movies (51), multimedia (43), slides (45)
In the Classroom
Challenge older students to create their own PowToons. Students can use PowToon to share their ideas or to "prototype" an idea. Students can create videos to show math processes, explanations of complex concepts, review new learning, teach others, explain scientific processes, tell stories, or present research. The possibilities are really endless, and students will come up with hundreds more uses. Flip your classroom using PowToon presentations. Use PowToon to create teacher-authored animations for students in ANY grade. This is a great way to present new information or ideas for discussion. It is an easy way to share information with the class when a substitute is in your classroom. Embed your PowToon creations on your website or blog for students to review at home. Use a PowToon on the first day of school to explain class rules or give an exciting introduction to the year ahead. Use PowToon to create movies or presentations for back to school night or conference nights to display on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Teacher-librarians can ask students to create PowToon book reviews to share kiosk style in the library/media center.Edge Features:
Includes an education-only area for teachers and students
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)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
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Florida Memory - The State Archives of Florida
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): black history (121), civil war (133), florida (10), hurricanes (35), states (122)
In the Classroom
In the classroom, integrate primary documents in addition to your text to get a broader picture of history, even if you are not teaching specifically about Florida. Take a closer look at history, through the multiple aspects of video, audio, laws, and land grants. Look at perspectives of Civil War from a southern state. Make biographies of Florida residents come alive with the culture of their time. Compare and contrast Florida and another state. Use an online tool such as the Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here. Examine the history of space through NASA. You and your students can discover how Civil Rights progressed in Florida. Look at the history of the Seminole tribe as you study native Americans. Enhance learning by challenging students to create an infographic using Snappa, reviewed here about a certain period in Florida's history or to compare Florida and other states. Before beginning the infographic, have students brainstorm or collect ideas on a collaborative bulletin board like Witeboard, reviewed here. Use this resource to meet Common Core standards about primary sources or writing. Challenge students to produce digital writing and interact with others online.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Wibki - Roy Pessis
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Create a Wibki of the most used sites for your class. Link to teacher web pages, webquests, resource sites for your subject, and any other resource that is helpful for students. Consider creating a login for the whole class to update with suggestions from class members. Be sure to link your Wibki on a computer center in your room for easy access. Since icons are shown rather than words, you could use this site with your nonreaders. Create a Wibki mix for parents and students to access at home before tests. Team up with other teachers in your subject/grade to create chapter by chapter Wibkis for all your students.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Noisli - Stefano Merlo
Grades
K to 12tag(s): creative writing (122), learning styles (18), sounds (43)
In the Classroom
Be sure to share this link with students (and their parents) looking for less distracting sounds while brainstorming or working. Reading a book to the class or conducting a science lab? Turn up your speakers and use these background sounds as mood music to set the stage for your story. Why not listen to waves or water while studying it! Play a few minutes of relaxing sounds before a major test. Let a student "DJ" create a class relaxation or creativity soundscape. Consider using as background sounds for student presentations. 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. Use the writing tool available at this site to motivate your students with music, color, and more. If you talk with students about discovering their own learning styles, offer this site as a suggestion for them to try while prewriting or studying for tests. Emotional support (and autistic support) teachers may want to experiment to see if these sounds can help their students. Some students may find them overstimulating, while others may find the sounds very helpful.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Teaching Florida - Florida Humanities Council
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): explorers (64), florida (10), maps (208), native americans (91)
In the Classroom
Integrate fiction and nonfiction sources into your studies of explorers, Native Americans, or Spanish influences. Compare and contrast the differences between primary and secondary sources. Integrate units of English Language Arts Common core standards and Social Studies standards.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Zeemaps - Zee Source
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): directions (12), map skills (56), maps (208)
In the Classroom
If you teach geography, this one is a must. It is also helpful for showing students WHERE a story or news event takes place. Teach map skills by letting students explore and annotate their own community. This site is great on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Create multiple markers for various points within your community. Annotate the markers with specific information that students research. Remember to create an admin password (and save it somewhere safe!) for others to collaborate on the map. Research various places around the world, and create markers of must-see places, historical finds, and other locations of interest. Create a map of news hot spots around the world. In Biology, find places where environmental or biodiversity concerns are occurring. Collaborate on a map to include annotated information of student research about these problems. Create a map to introduce various cultures around the world. Enter video, audio, information, and links that students can use to "uncover" the content to be learned.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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QwikSlides - Russel Tarr
Grades
K to 12tag(s): images (270), qr codes (17), slides (45), video (256)
In the Classroom
Use Qwikslides to create quick slideshows for any classroom use. Easily share slides with information or (online) images on your website or blog to remind students about a project or assignment. Have students create presentations to "introduce" themselves to the class during the first week of school. Create a slide show to introduce any unit and have students guess what they will be learning. Create a Qwikslides easily "on the fly" as a review resource to embed on your class website or blog. Use the QR Code feature to add information to textbooks, on student of the week displays, or to Science fair projects! Students can easily create mini-advertisements for books by entering their text here and sharing via a QR code pasted on the book jacket. This site is perfect for your BYOD (bring your own device) classroom, since it is viewable on any device. Make quick "cue cards" for students to read their lines off a projector or interactive whiteboard for a video or school news broadcast! Paste your school or class announcements into slides and embed them on the class or school website. Have your world language or ENL students write messages in their new language for a classroom "activity tour" and convert them into QR codes to post around the room. Their classmates can "tour" the room and follow the directions for each activity using their smartphones to read the codes. Activities could include speaking, following directions such as "touch your nose" or question/answer about an image.Even the youngest gifted students can create simple presentations to go beyond regular curriculum in your class. Be sure to show young ones how to copy/paste the url for their finished work to send it to you or mark it in Favorites on the classroom computer or iPad. Have them make slide shows telling a story, explaining about a famous person, and more. During a unit on plants, have them create a guide to plant care or a show about the world's strangest plants. Have them write and illustrate slides as book reviews for independent reading they have done. This tool is simple enough for any student who can read.
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The National Archives Activities and Games - The British National Archives
Grades
1 to 12Download lessons, Resource Packs, and Podcasts. Be sure to check out the extensive section for students including games, study skill tips and advice, and information on using primary sources. Learn about important people, government officials, and heroes of the past and present such as Charles Dickens and Florence Nightingale. Explore and research famous events/times such as American Civil Rights Movement or Life During War Times. The site was created in the UK, so some of the pronunciations and spellings may differ from American English. A very few resources require Flash, but there is so much more here, that the site is worth your time.
tag(s): dickens (8), great britain (16), heroes (22), industrial revolution (20), medieval (31), victorian (16), world war 1 (72), world war 2 (149)
In the Classroom
Keep this site in mind as an easy place to find games and lessons related to British history (and even some world history topics). Use this site as an anticipatory set or "activator" to introduce a unit or lesson on a projector or interactive whiteboard. Present the same time period, such as World War II, from a British and American point of view using this site and similar primary source images from U.S. collections like this one or this one. Have students create timelines using Timeline JS, reviewed here. Timeline JS offers the option to upload and add photos, videos, audio, Tweets, and Google Maps making it interactive. Have students use Fakebook, reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about a British resident during any time periods involved with these activities. Take advantage of the ready to go lesson plans, interactives, podcasts, and videos. Literature teachers will also want to explore and share the information about British authors.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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VideoAnt - Regents of the University of Minnesota
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): media literacy (102), video (256)
In the Classroom
If you are lucky enough to have a (BYOD) Bring Your Own Device classroom, allow students to add comments as you watch videos on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Share the "Ant" link and have students add comments and questions to any YouTube video. This works for any subject. Identify examples of foreshadowing in dramatic videos. Add questions to math explanations. Identify landforms with videos from different locations. If you joined the site, use the embed code to add annotated videos to your class website or blog. Ask students to contribute comments directly onto the video. Share this site as a way to review before tests. Have media literacy students use the annotation feature to critique videos for bias, poor writing, weak information, etc.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Polar Bears International - Polar Bears International
Grades
3 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): animals (278), biomes (113), conservation (82), ecosystems (71), polar (11), tundra (14)
In the Classroom
National Polar Bear Day is February 27th, but every day should be polar bear day to learn how our lives affect a majestic creature far away from our communities. Use one of the many lesson plans to learn about the polar bear and their movements (look at the lesson plans that use the Tracker Map). Plan a polar bear day in all subjects! Science class can learn about the polar bear, Math/Geography can use the tracker to determine patterns and distances of movement, English classes can write stories and poems, and Art classes can create polar inspired artwork! What a perfect "snowy" activity.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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GoNoodle - Abby Pecoriello, John Herbold, Scott McQuigg
Grades
K to 5tag(s): classroom management (128), fitness (49), logic (163), preK (254)
In the Classroom
Share these short activities on your projector or interactive whiteboard for your entire class to view together. Bookmark and save GoNoodle as a before class (or before the bell) activity, perfect for those long winter days inside. These would be great activities as you head into high stakes tests. When your class needs to refocus, use GoNoodle as a short brain break. Use GoNoodle to motivate and reward class accomplishments. Share with learning support teachers (or emotional or autistic support) for use in motivating and reinforcing behaviors with their students.Comments
My students and I love using GoNoodle for brain breaks. GoNoodle tracks your minutes for you and your mascot "grows" as you use the site.Paula, LA, Grades: 3 - 5
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WordDraw - Free Word Newsletter Templates - worddraw.com
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): back to school (62), Microsoft (84), newspapers (91)
In the Classroom
Download and save templates for use throughout the year. Use templates to create newsletters for your class. Customize any of the offerings to fit your personal needs and teaching situation. Share flyer templates with students (once they have basic computer and keyboarding skills) so they can use them in designing posters, flyers, and resumes. Be sure to demonstrate how to edit on a projector or interactive whiteboard if students are unfamiliar with text boxes.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Kids Gardening - National Gardening Association
Grades
3 to 8This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
If you aren't lucky enough to have outdoor gardening space, take advantage of ideas offered for indoor gardens, such as terrariums and container gardening. Check out the extensive lesson library to search by theme, standards, season, and more. You will also find lessons and activities appropriate for science and math. Use the Growing Poems, found here, to enhance your classroom poetry unit. Whatever activities you choose, have students record the growth in their garden or container by taking photos. As a summation for your gardening project use Photo Joiner Collage Maker, reviewed here, to create a collage of your garden photos with special effects, text, frames, and more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Sketch Toy - Hakim El Hattab
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): creative writing (122), creativity (92), drawing (60), geometric shapes (135), images (270), perspective (11), writing prompts (57)
In the Classroom
Use Sketch Toy to demonstrate symmetrical drawings. This tool is great for enhancing, creating and visualizing math concepts from basic geometric shapes and area to complex constructions and trig. Use on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Use for hands-on work with any geometry or trigonometry functions. Since this tool works on such a variety of devices, it would be ideal to use in a BYOD (or 1:1) geometry class. Art teachers who want to "draw in" their more mathematical students can offer this as a design option, especially when teaching about perspective. Drag in images of alphabet letters for younger students to practice tracing. In art class, pull in images of artworks (even students' own work) and have them highlight design principles such as the path of your eye in viewing this image. Annotate any image using freehand drawing and writing. Use this tool as a visual writing prompt. Transform learning by creating drawing stories where a small group adds to the drawing as they pass it around on a tablet, narrating the story among themselves. Save it and play it back for them to write down their own versions of the story. Drawing stories would be a great way to practice world language skills or for ENL students to master vocabulary!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Barat Primary Source Nexus - Barat Education Foundation
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): advertising (24), black history (121), cross cultural understanding (156), history day (40), immigration (64), journalism (71), Juneteenth (22), lincoln (59), martin luther king (43), poetry (188), presidents (120), primary sources (113), professional development (388), roosevelt (12), slavery (75), writing prompts (57)
In the Classroom
Take a look at the free professional development for using primary sources for teachers. Search for Connecting to the Common Core, where there are writing prompts for K-5 plus a link to the triangle activity. Download and use the PDF for the Thinking Triangle. Have older students research an interest and report to the class using a tool like Slides, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Quotes Cover - QuotesCover.com
Grades
1 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): back to school (62), firstday (22), images (270), posters (47), quotations (20)
In the Classroom
Create posters with students' favorite quotes, book titles for a bulletin board, All About Me information, or whatever your imagination produces! Have students include a poster as part of a research project or choose a favorite quote from class reading materials to "cover" a book talk. Create a poster with a quote from any figure in history and personalize it using Creative Commons images. In primary grades enter sight words and other basic vocabulary to create word posters. To find Creative Commons images for student projects (with credit, of course), try Wikimedia Commons, reviewed here. Have students create a poster for Back to School night to share with parents. Use this tool for students to make posters of the class rules they agree upon during the first week of school. Create quote images to use as Facebook "cover" photos for a famous person or fictitious character. World language teachers and students can create clever vocabulary or sentence posters to help master the new language.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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