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Made by Joel - Paper City - Joel Henriques
Grades
K to 7This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Have students use these printables to create a city to correspond with a book they read or for use as a story starter. Use the designs on the site as inspiration for creating your own printable city for any activity. Use as part of a transportation or community unit to share and discuss different components found. ESL/ELL teachers could explore the rest of the site and find coloring pages and other useful items to reinforce vocabulary.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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KQED Education - KQED
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Include a link to KQED Education on classroom computers. Be sure to help your weaker readers and ESL/ELL students by sharing the vocabulary words before reading, either on a handout or by projecting them on an interactive whiteboard (or projector). Highlight the vocabulary words in the text as you come to them. Teacher Librarians might want to keep this page open on computers for students who drop by the media center or include news notes from this site as part of your morning announcements. Do you have a student news show on your school TV channel? Find great material here for students to retell in their own words.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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World Affairs Council - Washington, DC - World Affairs Council - Washington, DC
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Thanks to instantaneous news shows and social media, the students of the 21st Century are very aware of global issues. That is not to say they understand them. Start a current events program in your class, you may want to look at Newsela, reviewed here, TweenTribune, reviewed here, or Flocabulary, reviewed here. Then turn to the World Affairs Council and their YouTube channel to get explanations about global issues. The topics are extensive; some are specific and some are more general like global warming (or climate change) and the failure of the global economy. All are current, and all will give your students a different perspective on the topic. With older students, each week you could put a different small group in charge of featuring a current event and ask them to research its history, and see if they can also find the topic on the WAC YouTube channel. Have those students create an annotated, narrated image including text boxes and related links using a multimedia tool such as Thinglink, reviewed here, to present to the class.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Bystander Revolution - Take the Power Out of Bullying - MacKenzie Bezos
Grades
4 to 12In the Classroom
Use an interactive whiteboard or projector to talk to your class about bullying with these videos. Use this discussion to prompt a journal entry, skit, or other personal response on the topic of bullying and how to handle it. Exchange pencil and paper and use a blogging tool like edublog, reviewed here. Provide this link for parents to view at home with their students. Challenge cooperative learning groups to create their own videos addressing bullying issues. Replace paper and start with Story Map, reviewed here, for students to plan their skit. Share the skits on a site such as SchoolTube, reviewed here. Be sure to share this site with your school's counselors and anyone else who deals with students who are being bullied.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Global Virtual Classroom - AT&T and Give Something Back International Foundation
Grades
1 to 12In the Classroom
Take students to another place; encourage them to understand other cultures and create global citizens by signing up to join GVC. After introducing GVC on an interactive whiteboard or projector, create a quick poll (with no membership required) using SurveyRock, reviewed here, to vote for which country or region to communicate with and share information. Begin a blog for each student to share reflections using a blog tool like edublogs, reviewed here. Consider asking the partner teacher to have their students blog, too, and encourage students to respond to each others' blogs. Students' writing improves when they have an authentic audience. Haven't started blogging yet? Check out TeachersFirst's Blog Basics.Another idea would be to use a projector and Padlet, reviewed here, and use the columns feature on Padlet to discuss and informally assess prior knowledge about the culture with whom students will be working. Padlet creates virtual bulletin boards. Once the project is underway, go back to Padlet occasionally, and add what students learned and whether it coincides with their original ideas. Before culminating the project, ask the partner class if they will fill in the areas and ideas missed on your Padlet. Consider starting a lunch time or after school club for students to have more time to participate in the Clubhouse.
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Ourboox - Mel Rosenberg & Ran Shternin
Grades
2 to 12In the Classroom
There is no end to the ideas for stories! Now you can easily publish and share them with Ourboox. At the beginning of the year have students develop stories to tell about their summer and share with classmates. Enhance and modify student learning and technology use (depending on the project requirement) by having students create: a photo story for history, showcasing great people or specific historical events such as the signing of the Declaration of Independence, in the arts, create a photo story of achievements of various artists. In science, create a photo story of famous inventors or have students explain their understanding of cell division. ESL/ELL students can use the site to recreate folk tales from their home countries. Encourage your older students to use this tool for digital storytelling projects created in response to research or extra study. This is a great find for gifted students who want to include art work and use their creativity in productive ways. No matter the subject of the story, they all need to be planned before creating a book. Have students do this either with paper and pencil or try using a digital storyboard like Story Map, reviewed here, or Storyboarder, reviewed here. If students cannot have their own email accounts, consider using a "class set" of GMail subaccounts (managed by you), explained here. This tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service. This would provide anonymous interaction within your class.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Add Text - FlamingText.com Pty Ltd.
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Use Add Text to add captions to images to create memes or posters for your bulletin boards. Use this easy tool with students during back to school time as a way for them to get to know each other. Have students upload a picture of themselves doing their favorite activity and label it with amusing text or a favorite quote (or song lyrics?). Have them upload images that represent their interests and character traits. Print the images with text for a back to school bulletin board. Use after a field trip for students to write captions on the photos they took. Be sure to share the photos on your class webpage, blog, or wiki. Haven't started blogging yet? Check out TeachersFirst's Blog Basics. For other uses, have students practice new words in a world language class by labeling and identifying images in that language. Help ENL/ESL students learn English by labeling the images. Create writing prompts using several annotated images. Have students create annotated images to explain key terms in science class. In ELA class, make homophone or vocabulary images to show the correct word along with a picture that explains it.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Parable of the Polygons - Vi Hart and Nicky Case
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Parable of the Polygons is excellent for use in both math and social studies classes. Use in your social studies class to discover how bias and racism affect diversity through the escalation of small situations into larger problems. Challenge students to explore and interact through different scenarios to view changes. Have cooperative learning groups create podcasts demonstrating their understanding of one of the concepts. Use a site such as podOmatic, reviewed here. Share this site as an excellent interactive for use during math fairs.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Cell Phone Recycling - Help Yourself to a Little Humanity - SellCell
Grades
2 to 12In the Classroom
Students love their cell phones and want whatever is the latest and greatest. Create interest by starting a discussion about what's new on the device front. Then ask students what they do with their old cell phones, tablets, laptops, etc. Assign them to count, that evening, how many of these items they have at home that they could recycle. When they come to class the next day do a quick tally and have students multiply this by however many classes are meeting at the same time on your campus. They should start getting the idea that there are many devices out there that can be recycled. Next, share the Cell Phone Recycling infographic with your students using a projector or interactive whiteboard. Does your school encourage giving to the less fortunate during the holidays? For a class project, initiate a recycling campaign and create a center for recycling e-waste. How about holding a 'green' competition to see which classroom submits the most items. Assign small groups to create a public service announcement for your school or community to encourage recycling. Use one of the many multimedia/presentation tools reviewed by TeachersFirst here. Donate the cash collected to the school's charity of choice, or one of the charities listed on this infographic. Get parents involved. Make sure they are aware via your website and newsletter about submitting these items to the school. Many parents will be able to contribute items from their workplace that was otherwise destined for the landfill.This site is full of information such as kids and recycling, electronics in education, and many more. Find these by clicking Resources.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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I Side With - Taylor Peck and Nick Boutelier
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
I Side With is an excellent resource for use during an election unit. Have students research candidate information and compare and contrast points of view. Use an online tool such as the Interactive 2 or 3 Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here. Have students explore this site independently or in small groups. Ask your students to visit the site and create an infographic with the information they learn. Use Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here, for creating the infographic. Create a link to the News portion of the site on classroom computers and your class website to use as part of your current events resources.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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SheHeroes - sheheroes.org
Grades
2 to 10In the Classroom
Use SheHeroes as part of your Career Day or career unit resources. Add a link on classroom computers for students (male and female) to explore on their own. Take advantage of the further discussion questions to encourage students to think about the obstacles faced by women in business and society. Ask a prominent local business woman to speak to your class and discuss obstacles she has faced and how she was able to overcome those issues. Although the site is dedicated to girls from ages 8-14, share with both boys and girls from ages 8 and up as part of any unit on gender inequalites.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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pechaflickr - Alan Levine, cogdog productions
Grades
1 to 12In the Classroom
What a delightful tool to use for impromptu speeches in any class or improvisation in a drama class. Consider uploading images for your curriculum topic to Flickr, reviewed here, and creating a specific tag or tags for the images, and then use pechaflickr as a review tool. Pechaflickr can be a great lesson starter, particularly on those dreary days when kids don't want to work. For lower level kids, it is a brain exercise for such things as an alphabet game (which is more difficult than it first seems!). In an ELA or ENL/ESL class have students create a complete sentence for as many pictures as they can, trying to improve the number of sentences written each time, or they can choose one of the sentences to create a story.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Dotstorming - Gareth Marland
Grades
2 to 12In the Classroom
Share your board with a projector or interactive whiteboard. Put the URL link on your website for students to access. If you don't want to share the link that way, then use a tool such as Stich, reviewed here, for students to type in (and reduce input mistakes). You may want to think about students using only their first name or their code to participate. Dotstorming does not show which posts belong to which student, so you may want to require that students identify their post and comment by putting their initials, their first name, or their code on their contributions to get credit. If you plan to allow all students to post to the wall or make comments, you may want to discuss Internet safety and etiquette and establish specific class rules and consequences.Use Dotstorming to collect WebQuest links and information to share with students. Assign a student project. For example, have students create a board about an environmental issue. They can include pictures, video, links, and other information to display. Use as a new format for book reports. Do your students have favorites such as music or sports? Create a board around these favorites or hobbies. Use a wall for grammar or vocabulary words. Create walls for debates or viewpoints. The voting is perfect for that idea! Post assignments, reminders, or study skills on a board. Do you use student scribes or reporters? Use Dotstorming to create a board with class news and updates.
Use Dotstorming as an "idea bin" where students can collect ideas, images, quotes, and more for a project. Require them to share a brainstorming Dotstorming board to show you the ideas they considered before they launch into a project. Have them brainstorm (and rank by votes) the possibilities for a creative problem solving or a "Maker Faire" project. In writing or art classes, use Dotstorming as a virtual writer's journal or design notebook to collect ideas, images, and even video clips.
Use Dotstorming as your virtual word wall for vocabulary development. Have students submit and share questions or comments about assignments and tasks they are working on.
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NewseumED - NewseumED.org
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
If you teach or even discuss civil rights, the First Amendment and its freedoms and ideals, current events, or the presidential elections be sure to look at the lessons provided here. The lessons will also help you show students how to tell facts from opinions in current events. Use ideas from the lesson plans to supplement your current teaching materials. Enhance learning and challenge small groups of students to create an infographic sharing their learning from the notes they took during a lesson. Use Infogram, reviewed here, to construct the infographic. If you plan on using one of the EdCollections ask students to enhance and extend their learning and develop a multimedia presention using Presentious, reviewed here, or an interactive poster with a tool like Genially, reviewed here, for one of the suggested Extension Activities.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Ocenaudio - ocenaudio
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Use Ocenaudio in early grades to promote literacy by recording your students and creating an audio portfolio record of their reading. Use this tool with ESL/ELL students to practice fluency and hear themselves speak. Use Ocenaudio to record parents, principals, lunch ladies, librarians, relatives, and bus drivers all telling a favorite class story. During writing time, allow students freedom from the pencil to express their true creative voices. Also, dabble into digital storytelling to create a lesson in adding voice, emotion, and characterization. Record audio interviews at local nursing homes, fire stations, or museums to recollect times such as wars, the Great Depression, Civil Rights Movements, or as a primary source during memorable events. Record world language conversations as a student project. Make music class or the school band a gold recording!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Keith Hughes Teaching Stuff YouTube Playlist - Keith Hughes
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Include videos during back to school preparation and planning with other staff members. Share with your student teacher as an excellent repository of teaching advice. Use these videos as examples for creating your own videos to share with your teaching colleagues.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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TomRichey.net - Tom Richey
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Tom Richey has put together an excellent resource for any secondary level history teacher. Take advantage of the many free materials to supplement your current curriculum. Share a link to videos and review information on your class web page for student use at home or view together on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Be sure to share with students as they prepare for AP exams.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Archive of Recorded Poetry and Literature - Library of Congress
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Share recordings on your interactive whiteboard to introduce literature readings in your classroom. Take advantage of the many biographies on this site for use when introducing poetry and literature. Include information from this site when transforming learning & creating multimedia timelines (with music, photos, videos, and more) using Timeline JS, reviewed here. View all of TeachersFirst's Editor's Choices for Poetry Month here. Have students use Fakebook, reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about an author or poet found on this site.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Mobile Learning: Why Tech Savvy Educators Are Turning to Podcasts - Buzzsprout
Grades
1 to 12In the Classroom
Share this article with parents (or administrators) as an explanation and introduction to using podcasts in your classroom. Share with other teachers as part of your professional development sessions on learning technologies. Explore these other options for choosing your podcasting tools - PodOmatic, reviewed here, and Spreaker, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Ultimate Camp Resource - Ultimate Camp Resources
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Bookmark this tool for the first week of school or any time that you want to experience some "team-building" in your class. Use this site to find games and activities for classroom icebreakers. Find ideas on this site to build relationships among students. There is even an Art Project section (scroll to the bottom menu to find it) that has lots of crafts for your makerspace! Share this site with parent helpers to find ideas for classroom parties.Comments
This is a valuable resource, not just for summer!Patricia, NJ, Grades: 6 - 12
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