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Hero's Journey - ReadWriteThink
Grades
4 to 12In the Classroom
Introduce this activity with a projector or on an interactive whiteboard to show students how to navigate the site. Pair weaker readers with a stronger one and have student pairs read the information Have students create blogs sharing their learning and understanding using Telegra.ph, reviewed here. Students could then copy over the plan they have for their own hero's journey in their blog. With Telegra.ph you just click on an icon to upload images from your computer, add a YouTube or Vimeo, or Twitter links. Once students have finished writing the journey, have them publish it for their parents and peers using a tool like Ourboox, reviewed here.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Literary Bash - Cara Bafile
Grades
3 to 12In the Classroom
Use this lesson plan, and tailor it to fit your unit in almost any content area - math, english, history, science, etc. Though this lesson was intended just for Language Arts classes, most content areas also have books or common themes that this could apply to. Use this lesson plan after a test or towards the end of the year when students might need a break from the traditional classroom routines. This is a great way to make sure students get some substance of a "break" while keeping it academic! Be sure to save this as a favorite on your classroom computer to allow for easy reference later on.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Citation Maker - Secondary - Oregon School Library Information System
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Have a student demonstrate how to use this tool on a projector or interactive whiteboard. Share this link on your class web page for easy use any time students have a research project. Model ethical use of resources by using it yourself to cite sources on handouts, etc.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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iRubric - Reazon Systems, Inc.
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
To save rubrics and modify existing ones, educators must create an account. Find great project ideas, rubric examples and criteria. Build on the expertise of others to create excellent rubrics. Consider creating categories and using the advice of students to help identify criteria that is important to the project. You might even want to create differentiated rubrics to match multiple intelligences, learning styles, or varied ability levels. With such easy adaptations, you can start alter different versions very easily.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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NASA for Educators: STEM Engagement - NASA
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
This site is a must-see for all science and STEM teachers. Be sure to bookmark the site to use for lesson plans and student interactives. Easily create and share links for students using a bookmarking tool like Symbaloo, reviewed here for younger students or Papaly, reviewed here for older students. Both sites make it easy to share a group of links in one easy-to-find page. Extend classroom technology use when working with online articles, by using Fiskkit, reviewed here, as a collaborative discussion tool. After creating a Fiskkit account, use the site's tools to share a link to any online article and highlight information to use as part of your discussion. Students then can add their own thoughts to the article, making it a shared collaboration and reflection piece. As a final project, transform classroom technology use by asking students to create explainer videos using , reviewed here to demonstrate learning of concepts. Reading teachers seeking non-fiction articles for comprehension practice will find excellent options from the news listings on the home page.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Easy Prompter - Michael Drob
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Use this site to feed information used in group or individual presentations to the class. Set this up on another computer when recording video and audio recordings. Why use this site? Information fed through the prompter can be read at a steady and consistent pace. Teachers promoting oral reading fluency can make practice more engaging by having students pretend they are newscasters. If you advise the school announcement crew, try this handy tool to make them sound and look more professional.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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African American Women Writers of the 19th Century - NY Public Library
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Use the poems by Phyllis Wheatley to complement a lesson on supporters of the American Revolution. Wheatley is often a studied character in American History, and her poems often confront American Independence and slavery. Share the poems with students at the end of a lesson, and have them analyze as a class what she is trying to say about either subject. Enhance student learning with a digital classroom discussion (where everyone gets a chance to contribute) using YoTeach, reviewed here, or by digital journal writing using Penzu, reviewed here, or edublog, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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ESL Lessons and Help - Karin M. Cintron
Grades
4 to 12In the Classroom
Assign individual or mini-lesson practice on laptops or a computer cluster in your classroom after grading writing assignments or while studying grammar. Learning support and ESL teachers will also like the extra practice options to help students with grammar skills and idioms. Since there is no "scoring" function, you may want students to raise hands and SHOW you how they did as they complete activities.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Find a Book - lexile.com
Grades
1 to 12One disadvantage of the site is that you can only enter a keyword when you get to the third step. After a book list based on interests appears, then you can search by keyword to make the search zero in on specifics. When teachers or students select books for a reading list, they can then click to see the complete list of books they have selected. Clicking on a book title leads to another screen, but it does not contain a book summary; instead, it has a list of other keywords for the book along with other book data.
In the Classroom
This site is great for teachers searching for books at specific lexile levels. Learning support and ESL/ELL teachers can find books to accompany units in content area classes but on the correct lexile level. Students can also use the site by entering their grade levels and what kind of readers they are. Use this site to differentiate the learning experience for all levels of students. Rather than having students complete traditional book reports, why not have them complete a multimedia project? Provide some choices such as a podcast, using PodoMatic (reviewed here), interactive venn diagram comparing characters (reviewed here), or online book using Bookemon (reviewed here).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Big Huge Thesaurus - Big Huge Labs
Grades
1 to 12In the Classroom
Keep this link handy among the resources on your class web page or wiki, and be sure to bring it up on your screen or interactive whiteboard to remind students of the rich tools it offers as you teach grammar, revision, poetry, essay-writing, or even letter and resume writing. With primary grades, share the rhyming words to help teach spelling and phonics! As students share in revising a passage or writing a poem on the interactive whiteboard, have this thesaurus available on another window to model their search for just the right word. Encourage students to look up any new vocabulary or terminology at the start of new science or social studies units so they can gain a broader "sense" of the words themselves through a constellation of synonyms and related words. Help students refine vocabulary by having them rank the various synonyms offered for a certain word, deciding which has the most positive or negative connotations. Offer the writing prompts for student journal or blog posts or creative stories. ESL/ELL students can explore new words with this tool, even practicing the rhyming sounds and noticing their varied spellings. Check out the Big Huge Labs educator account. Easily pre-register students to avoid creating logins, view and download their creations, and view the site advertisement free. You will find information about the Educator Account here.NOTE: If students enter an inappropriate word, they WILL find classroom-inappropriate terms. As with use of any reference, your students need to know your classroom's consequences of such activity. The options are no different from students looking up body parts or pornographic terms in a print dictionary or on Google.
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TeenInk Online Magazine - The 21st Century and the Young Authors Foundation
Grades
5 to 12In the Classroom
English teachers, create your own TeenInk publication in your classroom. Work with your school's technology teacher to have students set up an online publication like the one at this site--perhaps on a wiki. Don't dare call it a literary magazine these days. Use TeenInk as a prototype of an edgy, creative outlet for your students. Put Shakespeare on the shelf for a few weeks and consider using the TeenInk site's content to show story elements and literary devices. If school policies prohibit publishing content online, make the wiki private and share the password with invited guests. Learn more about wikis at the TeachersFirst's Wiki Walk-Through.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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LaRue Literacy Exercises - Charles LaRue
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Let your students play and replay the modules (with headphones!) until they believe they understand, then try thr online or prinatble exercises for practice and comprehension check. You could also do the activities together with a class on a projector or interactive whiteboard.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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YourDictionary - LoveToKnow Corporation
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Send students to this site to look up those difficult words. ESL and ELL students can use this site to practice the pronunciation of new words. Be sure to mark this site as a favorite or share on your teacher web page for easy access.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Discovery Education Virtual Field Trips - Discovery Education
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Immerse your students into your studies with a close-up in-depth look through virtual field trips. Visit places where time, money, and mileage inhibit your dreams for bringing your students into wondrous worlds. Find ways to visit where your class has never gone before. Find ways to motivate your most reluctant learners. ENL/ESL learners will appreciate the visit. Reach all types of learners through a class visit. Use field trips as a whole class anticipatory guide, a center activity, a home connection, or even as extra credit. Challenge your gifted students to be guides in their own learning by choosing topics of interest. Then transform their learning and ask these students to share research findings in a video with discussion questions to go with the research and with links to outside resources using a tool such as Vibby, reviewed here. Be sure students create a script to read from before beginning to produce their own video.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Authors and Illustrators on the Web - Children's Literature Web Guide
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Share this on your teacher web page for students doing book reports or research on authors. When your students have completed creative writing book projects, have them create a mock-up site about themselves as authors! they can use PowerPoint or create an offline web page, depending on the resources available in your school. If you use PowerPoint, be sure to set it on a computer running automaically for parents waiting at conference time. If you display the student books on a nearby table, parents can learn "about the authors"!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Voki - Oddcast
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Access to a microphone is required to record a voice. There is an option to use text to voice (however, it does not have great sound.) Import audio from a file or use a cell phone instead to capture audio. Only one minute of audio can be recorded so be brief. Students need to carefully think of their narrative before recording. Users must be able to copy and paste html code for use in an external site.Use the controls to create your character's style, click customization to further refine your character, change your background, and add your voice. Keep in mind that animated backgrounds may take longer to load on your site. When done, click publish to view and copy the embed code which can then be used on a blog, wiki, or web pages.
Monitor all aspects of student production and use for appropriateness and copyright. If concerned about using student email, consider creating a class account for students to use. Be sure that students understand not to change the Voki of other students if using a class account. Check your school district policy about using emails or identifying student information on the Internet.
Introduce and share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Use this free site to record a greeting for students that can be seen on the start page of your blog, wiki, or website. Record online assignment information that is spoken by the Voki (always more pleasing to look at than the teacher!). Use this to share homework assignments, a message from you (via a substitute), and more. Use a character that is interesting or matches the assignment you may be leaving. Use Voki to record two different opinions or viewpoints and create a poll of students to view reactions. Use the Voki in Math by posing possible solutions to problems and create a class discussion or poll to determine which one is the actual answer. As students are working on projects, create a Voki that provides hints and tips for students. Allow students to use Voki to provide peer assessment to others. Consider using Voki in place of other assignments such as "What I did this summer vacation..." or "Here is information about me..." Use in any language class to record narratives or translations. Students can create a variety of Voki recordings over time which can show their learning of a language over time. Create classroom newscasts using student(s) on a rotating basis. Use Voki for vocabulary exercises which can be created by students or the teacher. The possibilities for this tool are endless. The quick and engaging nature of this tool offers unlimited uses.
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Research 101 - University of Washington
Grades
9 to 12In the Classroom
What is terrific about this site is its interactive capability-- so you can introduce it on a projector or whiteboard at the beginning of class, then let them continue by themselves as you go around and check on individual issues. After each section there is a "review quiz" that students can take right there and get their score immediately. Require them to raise a hand to report a score--or they risk a zero!This site is a must for your teacher web page during research season.
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This Day in History - Timelines, Inc.
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
To add events to the site, locate the "add event" found at the bottom of the Timelines.com homepage. Follow the very clear (with samples) directions to insert your own event. Viewing the timelines is simple. Click to watch videos, view the maps, click "Like" or "Dislike" or make comments by clicking on the words.Monitor what students are viewing in the premade timelines. Also, teach students appropriate events to include and check their work before having them submit work so that they are more accurate.
Use the timelines on the site in science class to help students understand the history behind discoveries that they take for granted, such as the the space race. Today's students have never lived in a world where traveling to the moon was not possible, and understanding the history of the event could be very helpful in understanding the magnitude of such an event. This site would also be useful in art or music class. Have students investigate the history of their favorite group or type of music and create a multimedia presentation to share with the class. How about a video (including music, of course). Use a tool such as Moovly, reviewed here, and then share the videos on a site such as SchoolTube, reviewed here.
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American Library Association Newbery Medal Page - Amer. Library Assoc.
Grades
1 to 12In the Classroom
Use this list to help your students choose some new literature to read. Provide this link on your class website for students and parents to use to find quality literature. Consider starting your own class wiki with student-made interactive book posters on favorite Newbery winners and honor books using a tool like Canva, reviewd here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Teacher Training Videos - Russell Stannard
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Use the links on the left hand side to find videos on how to use some of the most popular and useful classroom sites around. Find something of use in the vast array available for viewing. The screencasts of the web 2.0 sites offer step by step instructions to help novice and intermediate users in their use in the classroom. Videos are organized into topics with multiple tools showcased in the segment. Find quick videos at the bottom of the page which highlight just one tool. Even teachers of very young students will find many of the tools explained helpful for their own use in creating learning materials, centers, etc.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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