TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Sep 19, 2021
Here are this week's features. Clicking the tags in the description area of each listing will present a list of other resources with this topic. | Click here to return to the Featured Sites Archive
Time Graphics Timeline Maker - Time.graphics
Grades
6 to 12
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Time Graphics Timeline Creator offers tools to create interactive timelines that include video, images, and maps. Create an account to begin building a timeline. Locate a date on the...more
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Time Graphics Timeline Creator offers tools to create interactive timelines that include video, images, and maps. Create an account to begin building a timeline. Locate a date on the timeline, then choose to add a new event. After adding an event, on the dashboard, accept the default title or change it, add information, including a description, beginning and ending dates, and more. Other options in the dashboard include settings to change the look of the marker on the timeline. Although there are other options, the free account only allows saving timelines as public. After saving a timeline, use the provided URL to share or copy the embed code to include on a website or blog. To see an example of a timeline that includes many features available, take a look at this History of Civilization found here, or view the Editor's choices to see a variety of styles.
In the Classroom
It may take some time for you to become comfortable with creating a timeline with this product. Share with students to allow them to explore the different options, then ask them to become the teachers creating and using this tool in various ways. Ask students to create screencasts using Free Screen Recorder Online, reviewed here, with directions for using certain features of the timeline. Add all of the student tutorials into a Wakelet collection, reviewed here, for easy access at any time. Create timelines to introduce material in any subject. If your school uses Google Apps or Docs/Drive, your students (or groups) can create their own very easily. Map specific battles in history (World War II or the Revolutionary War, perhaps?) Map significant scientific discoveries in the progress of understanding cell theory or genetics. Follow the works of various writers, artists, or musicians. Follow the life of famous people or noteworthy events such as elections, the Olympics, or even local history!Edge Features:
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
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Safe@School - Lesson Plans and Toolkits - USC Rossier
Grades
K to 12
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USC Rossier's online master's in school counseling program provides this extensive collection of resources for helping you to facilitate discussions about race, racism, and diversity...more
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USC Rossier's online master's in school counseling program provides this extensive collection of resources for helping you to facilitate discussions about race, racism, and diversity with students of all ages. Some of the resources are lesson plans, glossaries, toolkits, and others are activities. You don't have to pursue a master's in counseling to use these resources. Unfortunately, a few of the links are broken. Start with the Anti-Racisim Resource Kit, and go from there down the list.
In the Classroom
Use these resources throughout the school year, and especially during difficult conversations, including those about racism, come up in class. Review these resources to prepare yourself for spontaneous discussions about race and differences. You may want to start the school year with a community building activity from this list, from Teampedia, reviewed here. Or skim through the list of resources to find one that will fit your lesson and students.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Anti-Racism For Kids 101: Starting To Talk About Race - Books for Littles
Grades
K to 5
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Discover several recommended books for beginning conversations with children about race and racism. Share these books that show how people of color are not single-faceted: they are...more
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Discover several recommended books for beginning conversations with children about race and racism. Share these books that show how people of color are not single-faceted: they are individuals whose ethnic heritage is something valuable to explore, and their ancestors' traditions, achievements, and challenges impact who they are today. Some books will help explain to children how cultural diversity makes us stronger. Other book collections on this site include Inclusive Body-Positive Kids, Waaay Before We Talk About Sex: Kids Books for Squeamish Parents, Diverse Family Constellations in Kids Books, and Immigrants Belong Here: Books to Help Kids Advocate for Human Rights. There are other "difficult" conversation collections on this site, too.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Though this site is affiliated with places to buy books i.e., Amazon, you can also find these books at your public library. An alternative would be to consider a "Wish List," either online with Amazon or publish it in your newsletter that goes home to parents and that you can mention at back-to-school night.After reading the book to the class or a small group, ask students to think about what the author was trying to tell the students about the topic (diversity, etc.). Ask for volunteers to answer. Remind students to be respectful of others' opinions during an open discussion. Use the books suggested on this site to start a discussion as to why the topic is important. After this discussion you may want to use Flip, reviewed here, to have students consolidate their learning by stating what they learned from the book and possibly replying to another classmate's response to the book.
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Teaching About Race and Racism: Lesson Plans Resources - ShareMyLesson
Grades
K to 12
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Curated by ShareMyLesson, find a substantial collection of PreK-12 lesson plans, activities, and resources to help students critically address the issues of race and racism. Racism...more
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Curated by ShareMyLesson, find a substantial collection of PreK-12 lesson plans, activities, and resources to help students critically address the issues of race and racism. Racism lesson plans are in categories on the left menu titled In This Collection; some examples are Black Lives Matter (which has an anti-racist reading list for children and adults), Professional Development, and General Racism Lesson Plans. The latter includes lessons about talking with children about race, stereotyping, white supremacy, segregation, lynchings, anti-Semitism, and too many more to name here. Other categories include Lesson Plans: Stereotyping, Racial Profiling, and Related Collections. ShareMyLesson has put together such a rich collection that you won't need to look anywhere else.
In the Classroom
Before sharing this site with students, find a lesson to use as an introduction. Then, show the lesson and its resources on your interactive whiteboard or with a projector, explaining to students all the parts of the lesson as you proceed through it. After this first lesson, enhance student learning by allowing them to choose what lesson or resource they would like to investigate next. Ask students to use Padlet, reviewed here, to register their preference for investigation. If more than one student is interested in the same lesson/resource, allow them to work together. Challenge students to share their extended learning with their peers in a multimedia presentation using Genial.ly, reviewed here, or Sway, reviewed here. Both Sway and Genial.ly will allow your students to create multimedia projects. With Genial.ly you could allow students to choose the type of interactive media they want to develop.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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DesignCap Poster Creator - PearlMountain
Grades
K to 12
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Create free posters in three easy steps without registration using DesignCap. Begin by selecting a template from the many offerings on the site. Use the tools to edit your poster's...more
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Create free posters in three easy steps without registration using DesignCap. Begin by selecting a template from the many offerings on the site. Use the tools to edit your poster's features including text, images, and background. Upload your images to use or choose from clipart available in DesignCap. When finished, share to social media using the provided link, download to your computer, or print your project. Registration isn't required; however, it gives you the ability to save projects to your online account.
In the Classroom
Take advantage of this free resource to create posters for any topic. Have students design poster book covers to summarize stories read. Include posters with student blogging projects as part of an online portfolio. Replace paper pen by asking students to write blogs sharing information learned using a site like edublogs, reviewed here. edublogs offers tools for creating class and individual blogs. Extend student learning and classroom technology use by asking older students to create posters of different cultures and countries, then include them in a virtual field trip using Google My Maps, reviewed here. With Google My Maps, students can embed images and videos onto their pointers and shapes for any given location. Challenge science and math students to create posters demonstrating an understanding of topics using their own words and images.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Knight Lab - Northwest University
Grades
K to 12
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Knight Lab offers a variety of tools for storytelling and promoting quality journalism. Choose the Projects tab to find all available options sorted by categories of Storytelling, Research...more
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Knight Lab offers a variety of tools for storytelling and promoting quality journalism. Choose the Projects tab to find all available options sorted by categories of Storytelling, Research and Reporting, Teaching and Learning, and Prototypes, Experiments, and Past Projects. Projects include examples and full instructions for using the tool in any classroom.
In the Classroom
This site is a must-have for anyone who teaches writing or assigns writing projects. Bookmark this site for use throughout the year with any writing project. Focus on one tool a month to learn more about the features available. Assign a tool to different groups of students and let them become the experts. Enhance students' learning and modify classroom technology use by asking the groups to create a "How to" video for their tool and to share with their peers. For this, try using Free Screen Recorder Online, reviewed here, or RecordCast Screen Recorder, reviewed here. Work with peers to assign projects across subject levels using tools from this site to compare and contrast images, create interactive timelines, build story maps, and much more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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WriteReader - WriteReader
Grades
K to 5
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The scientific research behind WriterReader is that one develops and improves reading skills by writing. With WriteReader, kids create their books, including text, pictures, and voice...more
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The scientific research behind WriterReader is that one develops and improves reading skills by writing. With WriteReader, kids create their books, including text, pictures, and voice recordings. Adults/Teachers have space on the page to write comments and make corrections. The interface is so simple that even a young child can use it successfully after some adult guidance. Open the Features tab on the top menu to see an index to all features categorized by Literacy Development, Easy Book Creation, Publishing and Sharing, and Teacher & Student Management, all with several links to explore. Click the Resources Center tab on the top menu to select Lesson Plans, Templates, Writing Prompts, Videos, and more. The basic plan offers 60 books and all the essential features. Register by email or your Google account. After logging in, use the menu bars in the upper right corner and find Guides, which has a Parent Letter, a Quick Start Guide, a Template, and a few other get-started items.
For creating student accounts, you can enter students manually, or students can join the class with a class code. WriteReader has upgraded its page templates to support older students. US English, UK English, Dansk (Danish), and Svenska (Swedish) are available. There is also an introductory video on the landing page that will help everyone get started. This video resides on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, the video may not be viewable. WriteReader has added new premium features such as Read Aloud, Voice Search, Book Templates, and several others. For these, you must pay.
In the Classroom
WriteReader is so simple that very young students can use it successfully after a whiteboard or projector demonstration. While creating their books, students will be able to add images, multiple pages and delete pages, include voice-over, use color on the pages, view one page at a time or the entire book, and toggle between letters' names/sounds or no audio. Use this tool to design simple projects using student drawings to tell the story. Have students draw and annotate stories about their summer at the beginning of the year and share them with classmates. Students of any age love to draw, so why not have them draw their impression of what the message to the reader was after hearing a story and then explain it in writing? Nonreaders and ENL/ESL students especially will benefit from hearing the letter sounds as they begin writing in their new language.Edge Features:
Includes an education-only area for teachers and students
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
Includes teacher tools for registering and/or monitoring students
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Buzzsprout - Tom Rossi
Grades
K to 12
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2 Comments
Buzzsprout offers free, easy to use, podcast hosting. Sign up to receive two hours of hosting per month. Uploads remain available for 90 days. Buzzsprout's dashboard walks you through...more
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Buzzsprout offers free, easy to use, podcast hosting. Sign up to receive two hours of hosting per month. Uploads remain available for 90 days. Buzzsprout's dashboard walks you through creating and sharing podcasts and provides information on the time remaining in your current cycle. Copy and paste one line of code to include your podcast directly on any website. Attractive features include scheduling episodes for a specific date and time, adding links, lists, chapter markers, and a "Support the show" link to your podcasts.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Even if you aren't ready to create podcasts, share the How To Start a Podcast page with your students with excellent tips for creating any type of speaking presentation, create regular or special podcasts to share on your class web page or wiki to read/listen to in class AND from home, adding a touch of blended learning to your classroom! Have readers (perhaps older buddies) enhance their learning by building fluency and recording selected passages for your non-readers. Don't forget to have them listen and critique their podcast! Launch a service project for your fifth or sixth graders to record stories for the kindergarten to use in their reading and listening center. Have students create "you are there" recordings as "eyewitnesses" to historical or current events. Make a weekly class podcast, with students taking turns writing and sharing the "Class News." Have students create radio advertisements for concepts studied in class (Buy Dynamic DNA!). Have students write and record their own stories or poetry in dramatic readings. Language students or beginning readers could record their fluency by reading passages and listening to themselves. Allow parents to hear their child's progress reading aloud, etc. Compare world language, speech articulation, or reading fluency at two points during the year. Have your Shakespeare students record a soliloquy. Write and record a poem for Father's or Mother's Day (or other special events) and send the URL as a gift to that special person. If you have gifted students who lean toward the dramatic, this tool is simple enough for them to create dramatic mini casts without needing a video camera.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
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
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
Comments
Great resource for podcast novices like me! I love the step-by-step instructions to help with creating a podcast as well as the helpful tips and ideas for a podcast. Can't wait to begin using with my K-5 students.Christina, , Grades: 0 - 8
The podcasting 101 information is incredibly helpful for anyone wishing to begin podcasting. It also establishes tips that can be helpful for any speaker (as the description says).Patricia, NJ, Grades: 6 - 12
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Classroom Materials - Primary Source Sets - Library of Congress
Grades
4 to 12
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This collection of primary sources from the Library of Congress is organized around key topics and themes in American History. View Primary Source Set titles in alphabetical order from...more
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This collection of primary sources from the Library of Congress is organized around key topics and themes in American History. View Primary Source Set titles in alphabetical order from Abraham Lincoln through Women's Suffrage. Choose any topic to view Teacher's Guides and analysis tools including graphic organizers for students. Sort information to find materials meeting Common Core Standards, State Standards, or national organization standards.
In the Classroom
When introducing a new unit, show students photos from the era (on the left menu) and have them describe what they see and what period they think it is. Find plenty of questions and activities (including a blank analysis organizer for students) in the Teacher's Guides. Also look at Library of Congress: for Teachers, reviewed here. Encourage your students to use this tool for projects. Challenge students to find a photo (legally permitted for reproduction), and then narrate the photo as if it is a news report. Have students create a multimedia presentation using Google Slides, reviewed here. Google Slides allows you to narrate a picture (choose Insert from the top menu, then audio) modifying student learning. Include this site on your class webpage for students and parents to access as a reference.
This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.
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Salsa - Georgia Public Broadcasting
Grades
K to 12
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This Spanish language program features TV segments of popular children's stories in Spanish. The TV episodes include puppets, animation, live action and music characteristic of Hispanic...more
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This Spanish language program features TV segments of popular children's stories in Spanish. The TV episodes include puppets, animation, live action and music characteristic of Hispanic culture. Besides transcripts, the website includes an intro, vocabulary, and more. In some episodes, the action is translated into sign language for the hearing impaired, as well! Complete transcripts in Spanish and English allow the instructor to pre-teach vocabulary and set up the situation before showing the video. One of the main advantages of using this program in a mixed language class is that the Spanish-speaking students suddenly become the authorities in the classroom; they can assist the instructor with the episodes and activities.
In the Classroom
Use these episodes to supplement regular Spanish language classes or as enrichment for elementary classes wishing to learn a language. Encourage your Spanish-speaking class members to assist with pronunciation, episode summaries, songs, etc. Provide this link on your class website for students to use both in and out of the classroom; the activities and stories help with Spanish language comprehension. After introducing your students to this program you may want to set up stations with different stories from this list for students to rotate through. Share the stories on your interactive whiteboard or projector as a model for world language students, then extend student learning by challenging students to create their own stories. Use a tool like FlexClip, reviewed here, to record them and share them. FlexClip is designed to allow you to create short animated or explainer videos to share on YouTube and other social media sites. Then, share on a site such as TeacherTube, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Americas Award for Children and Young Adult Literature - CLASP
Grades
3 to 12
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Here's a collection of outstanding books by Hispanic authors and/or about Hispanic themes for children and young people. Teachers and librarians may find this list helpful in selecting...more
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Here's a collection of outstanding books by Hispanic authors and/or about Hispanic themes for children and young people. Teachers and librarians may find this list helpful in selecting appropriate or attractive titles for their students. Click the title to see a description; some will have a classroom unit with reading levels and standards. Not only are the yearly winners listed here, but you can search by several categories such as Immigration, Civil Rights , Artists, Musicians, and Writers, various Latino countries, and several others. Clicking the category will produce a PDF you can take to the library or send home to parents.
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the free unit plans and classroom activities within the "resources" section of the page. Explore through these resources to find one to add a multicultural perspective to your history or language arts class. Be sure to save the site as a favorite to allow for easy reference later on.
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Hispanic Historic Places - National Park Service
Grades
4 to 12
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This site from the National Park Service shows several historic sites associated with Hispanic culture in the U.S. It can also lead to an appropriate selection of lessons from the ...more
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This site from the National Park Service shows several historic sites associated with Hispanic culture in the U.S. It can also lead to an appropriate selection of lessons from the NPS Teaching with Historic Places series. These lessons are a nice way to integrate Hispanic themes and contemporary accounts into an American history unit.
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the free lesson plans listed for Hispanic American/Latino American History here from the NPS Teaching with Historic Places series. This is a great resource for a history or geography classroom, just be sure to save it as a favorite to allow for easy retrieval later on.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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REFORMA - UCLA
Grades
4 to 12
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This site is a resource for those interested in building Spanish resources in libraries and helping Hispanics discover and use libraries. REFORMA contains listings of Hispanic sources...more
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This site is a resource for those interested in building Spanish resources in libraries and helping Hispanics discover and use libraries. REFORMA contains listings of Hispanic sources and information, and was developed at UCLA. From the top menu under Resources and Publications click Information for libraries and librarians serving Latinos & Spanish - speaking communities to find many useful resources for your school library and your classroom.
In the Classroom
Familiarize students with this site and what the REFORMA goals are: The goals of REFORMA include: Development of Spanish-language and Latino-oriented library collections, Recruitment of bilingual, multicultural library personnel, Promotion of public awareness of libraries and librarianship among Latinos, Advocacy on behalf of the information needs of the Latino community, and Liaison to other professional organizations. Then have them investigate your school library and local libraries to see if they meet those goals. If some of the goals are not being met, there is an opportunity for community service.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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