817 teachersfirst-edge results | sort by:
Doctopus - Google
Grades
7 to 12In the Classroom
Use Google Docs more efficiently with this simple Chrome add-on. Though the process at first seems long, it actually makes sharing of documents easier with students. BUT it also makes the collecting of student documents easier. Use Docs for reading response journals, writing science labs, writing reports or papers, creating collaborative notes in any class, and more. What better way to comment on and improve student work!You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
DOGOnews - Meera Dolasia
Grades
2 to 12In the Classroom
Non-fiction reading and background knowledge have found a new emphasis with The Common Core State Standards. It is more important now than ever to help connect students with quality, non-fiction reading and viewing material. Find great news resources and videos of the week to create assignments for your class at DOGOnews. You may want to create a class page and load several news articles. Have students choose from the articles, and email it to themselves. Have students print out the article and complete a "close reading" of the article by annotating it. Then have students who chose the same article get together in groups to discuss their reactions about the article, create a summary together, and create four or five open-ended questions about the article. Lastly, create groups of four, with each student having a different article, and have them present their article to the others in the group and ask them their open-ended questions to trigger a discussion. Create a class magazine from the articles. Or better yet, have students create a multimedia presentation using Microsoft PowerPoint Online, reviewed here. This site allows you to narrate a picture. Challenge students to find a photo (legally permitted to be reproduced), and then narrate the photo as if it is a news report. Strengthen reading comprehension by having an 'article du jour' on your interactive whiteboard or projector as students arrive. Link this site on your homepage.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
DoluWiki - Andreas Gohr
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
In language arts or history classrooms use a wiki to create a favorite historical figures page, have students share their favorite person from history along with supporting evidence. Use a wiki to set up a debate between students. For example, create a wiki and ask students to debate the use of homework in schools, the effect of social media on society, or year-round school vs. traditional school calendars. As your class builds and adds to the wiki, ask students to select a topic to research further. Ask them to use a multimedia creation tool like Sway, reviewed here to transform classroom technology and share information including text, images, videos, and more. If you have not tried a wiki yet, visit the TeachersFirst Wiki Walk-Through for a detailed, step-by-step explanation and starter help, including dozens of ideas for ways to use a wiki in your classroom.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Doozy - Doozy Live Ltd
Grades
9 to 12In the Classroom
Use Doozy as a virtual get-to-know-you activity when starting remote learning activities or when collaborating with other classrooms. It is also an excellent icebreaker for professional development sessions or back-to-school team meetings. Create a quiz, or choose from the library to start a friendly competition with others. Since Doozy doesn't track scores, it is an excellent way to work with teams to review practice material in a non-competitive environment. Include Doozy as part of any team-building and social skill support activities.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
dotEPUB - Xavier Badosa
Grades
3 to 12In the Classroom
What a great find for BYOD programs! Use dotEPUB for students to take content from your course blog or website and put it on their e-readers for easy access wherever they go. Have students download informational texts from web sites to annotate in their e-reader software as you build comprehension and "close reading" skills a la CCSS. Elementary teachers will need to help students learn to use this tool. Use dotEPUB to create an ePub portfolio of your students' blogging efforts. In Spanish class, convert your website into an e-book for students to practice language learning. Make ePubs of any web content for portability and annotation tools available on e-readers.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
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.
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Draft - Nate Kontny
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
If individual students are allowed to have accounts (using email address sign up), that's great, but they must share their work with you. If students cannot have their own email accounts, consider using a "class set" of Gmail subaccounts, explained here. This would provide anonymous interaction within your class. Create an innovative, exciting revision experience for students to suggest revisions to each other's writing and instantly engage in the peer review process by using Draft. This tool facilitates teacher comments on student essays by not having to wait until students turn in their papers. Have them share links with you to their works in progress. Check essays online, monitor progress, and even make suggestions for revisions to provide feedback along the way and drive successful evidence support, proofreading, and editing skills. Challenge gifted students on their drafts and push their thinking further, adding questions or responses. Since most if us do not have time to provide such individual challenge throughout the writing process, why not connect them with other gifted students to collaborate and debate beyond just your classroom? Obviously, this tool is also fabulous for collaboration among students or teachers creating a shared writing piece at any level. You could even use it for parent input into draft IEPs.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Draft - Draft
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Have students use Draft to create storylines that include links and images to tell the story of events in history or to retell novels. Ask students to use Draft to create mood boards to share the different works of artists or to demonstrate different types of architecture. Draft would be an excellent choice as a collaborative tool for large projects to brainstorm ideas, assign tasks, and document progress. Use Draft with students as part of your science experiments to share the steps of the experiment, document hypothesis, and add images and reflections upon the outcomes of the experiment.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Draggo - 2012 Draggo LLC
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Use public and private options to collect different links. If you want to make your personal page (with your personal favorites) private, you can share school related links on a public page. Share resources with other teachers. Make group work easy for any age group with easily accessible links. Link directly to single categories or embed categories on other websites. No more students typing in the URL incorrectly! Younger children can easily use your recommended online activities, or enrichment sites. Label sites according to subject, or grade level. Older students can create their own accounts. Sharing links during group collaboration is a snap. Add Draggo as a link on your class website or blog. Explore using Draggo with your professional development opportunities.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Draw A Stickman - drawastickman.com
Grades
1 to 10In the Classroom
Aside from just fun practice at following instructions, Draw a Stickman would be a great fictional story prompt. Students have the bones of a story and can fill in details, vivid verbs, adjectives, etc. to tell the story. This would be a good practice activity with writing sequences of "first, then, and next." Students can elaborate on their hero, the plot of the story, the details, the setting, etc. Students can write a moral for a story to add in the customized ending. These stories would be fun to share as a class...how wide a variety can come from the same basics? Share finished stories with a talking avatar using a photo or other image (legally permitted to be reproduced). The avatars can "read" the story. Use a site such as Blabberize, reviewed here. Teach story mapping easily with this activity: On an interactive whiteboard (or projector), students can go through the stick figure story together, labeling the different parts of the story (beginning, problem, climax, resolution, ending). This interactive can help students identify story elements, including setting, characters and plot. This site would also be perfect for multilingual students for practice in reading and following directions or for speech/language students to practice retelling a story from the visual prompts. Another idea: use this activity for verb/vocabulary practice in a world language class.Comments
This will be a great fill-in activity when my students finish their assignments. I can't wait to use it!Beverly, TX, Grades: 6 - 12
Love this! So creative. I know the kids will love it too and I think the learning activities sound very promising too.Jeannie, MI, Grades: 0 - 5
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Draw Island - DrawIsland.com
Grades
2 to 8In the Classroom
Allow students to create collaborative drawings through this site as responses to literature. Share the finished products on an interactive whiteboard, projector, or your class website. Have a group of students create a drawing, then another group can use that as a story prompt. Use this site with students in a computer lab (or on laptops) setting to create a drawing of the setting of a story as it is being read aloud. Have students create an online book of images and captions about any topic using saved images withMy Storybook, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Draw.Chat - Positive Studio
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Allow students to create collaborative drawings as responses to literature. They can map out the plot or themes, add labels, create character studies, and more. Share the finished products on an interactive whiteboard, projector, or your class website. Have a group of students create a drawing so that another group can use it as a writing prompt. Use a board as a brainstorming or sketching space as groups (or the class) share ideas for a major project or for solving a real-world problem. Use this site with students in a computer lab (or on laptops) to create a drawing of the setting in a story as it is read aloud. As an assessment idea, have students draw out a simple cartoon with stick figures to explain a more complex process such as how democracy works. If you are lucky enough to teach in a BYOD setting, use Draw.Chat to demonstrate and illustrate any concept while students use the chat and drawing tools to interact in real time. If you are studying weather, have students diagram the layers of the atmosphere and what happens during a thunderstorm, for example. Introduce this tool to students who are working on group projects. Alternatively, have students use this to work as partners or as a small team to complete complex math problems or equations. Give students a problem by typing it on their board. Take advantage of the map feature to share and annotate landforms, historic places, or locations in novels.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Draw.io - Gaudenz Alder and David Benson (JGraph Ltd)
Grades
7 to 12In the Classroom
Take advantage of the "ease" of this fabulous site! Have your class create organizers together, such as in a brainstorming session on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Assign students to "map" out a chapter or story. Assign groups to create study guides using this tool. Use this site for literature activities, research projects, social studies, or science topics. Use this site to create family trees or food pyramids in family and consumer science. Have students collaborate (online) to create group mind maps or review charts before tests on a given subject. Have students organize any concepts you study. They can color code concepts to show what they understand, wonder, and question. Have students map out a story, plot line, or plan for the future. Students can also map out a step-by-step process (such as a life cycle or how to solve an equation).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Draw.io - JGraph, Ltd.
Grades
4 to 12In the Classroom
Demonstrate creating a mind map or other diagram on an interactive whiteboard or projector, and then allow students to try to create their own. Use this site for literature activities, research projects, social studies, or science topics of study. Use Draw.io to create family trees or flow charts. Learning support students could team up to map out the important concepts from a unit visually as a review activity. Use this mapping website as an alternative to a traditional test, quiz, or homework assignment in literature, social studies, or science. Have students demonstrate their understanding by creating a graphic organizer about the main points or map out a step-by-step process (life cycle). Be sure they name their organizer BEFORE they start work with their name --or code name-- so you know who did it (they could EMAIL it to you!) or have them print their results to turn them in. Anonymously share and compare different students' "views" of a unit so students can "see it through someone else's eyes."Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Draw.to - draw.to
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Skills required: You must be willing to play and play again! Use tools for thin, medium, or thick lines. Change colors of the pen by clicking on the black square and choosing a different color. Don't like what you have changed? Click the undo button (or the redo if you want to go back again!) Add text to the drawing by clicking the text button, enter the text, and then click the cursor at a place in the drawing where you wish it to appear. Use the eraser to remove certain areas of the drawing. Be sure to note: there IS an undo button! Click the share button to share as a URL or on facebook, twitter, and other applications including embed to place the code on a wiki, blog, or other site. Users must be able to manage using embed codes on the site of their choice.You can create directly without any need for registration or logins. Want to keep a picture version of the creation? Take a snapshot using the print screen function on PC or the snapshot in Mac (use apple/shift/4.)
Use slides of drawings to show any major concept. In History, show battlefronts in specific wars. Create drawings of material learned in science such as bonding of atoms, DNA structure and replication, food chains and webs, and physical laws. Use in solving Math problems as a physical whiteboard. Use with students to describe their day or specific emotions. If you are fortunate enough to have laptops or handheld devices such as iPads, use this tool for a quick formative assessment by asking students to sketch their understanding of relationships between concepts (concept map) or a diagram of a science concept such as what is happening inside a volcano. Students can share it by URL, Twitter, or whichever social networking/bookmarking service is available in your school. Draw for understanding!
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Dropmark - Oak Studios, LLC
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Use Dropmark to create a bank of resources to use for each content unit within your subject or classroom. Student can then download and use the raw materials you provide to make their own projects or to learn independently. Create a separate class account for students to curate their own lists or bookmarks and resources. Use this tool to compile web treasure hunts to learn or introduce any topic within your content area. Collect links to informational texts for students to read "closely" a la CCSS. With younger students, create links of audio books for children to view and listen to or simple interactives teaching colors, numbers and more. Have students create their own Dropmark as a place to store links for a project. Share a link to your Dropmarks on your class webpage. Save pictures of class activities with a Dropmark collections then share with parents.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Duck Soup - Robert Boyett and Andrew McAfee
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Save time and paper using Duck Soup. Start out slowly, perhaps with one or two papers the first week. Choose a paper that is familiar to both you and your students and explore together how to use e-sheets and settings that work best for your classroom. Once familiar with the site, the possibilities are unlimited. Use Duck Soup for homework, centers, and ongoing projects. Instead of sending paperwork home to be completed by parents, create digital versions for a quick response and compilation of information.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Easy notecards - Easy Notecards
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Use this site as a learning center or station before a final assessment in your class. Have students create and practice with flashcards based on their most difficult topics, allowing them to better focus their studying. Offer this as one of several study aid options for different learning styles. Have learning support students create their own aids in small groups to test each other. This would also be a great one to post on your teacher wiki or webpage, allowing students to practice both in and out of the classroom.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
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
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
EasyDefine - Prabbav Jain
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
You must know where you are saving downloads on your computer to save the list as a document. Pay attention and name files with meaningful file names, such as "chapter17vocab." Enter your list with one term per line or separated by commas, etc. Click on advanced options to add other options to the search: number or alphabetize the definition results, maximum definitions, and hiding parts of speech.Create definitions easily for word lists in any subject area. Have students enter a series of similar words to see variations in connotations. For example, enter various words that mean "fat" and discover the variability in positive and negative connotations. Follow up with a ranking or sorting activity with the same words on interactive whiteboard to build word choice options. Have students generate individualized reading vocabulary lists for content are reading chapters or literature. Click on the synonyms tab to find related words. Save as a document for easy sharing in groups. Advise students to collect definitions and compare to those they write in their own words. As with any other reference, students should be cautioned to be sure these are accurate definitions needed for the context in which they are studying the words.
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).

Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
Close comment form