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authorSTREAM - authorSTREAM.com
Grades
4 to 12
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authorSTREAM, an internet based presentation maker that is based on PowerPoint formatting, is easy to use and offers some very useful and unique features. Offering more than the basic...more
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authorSTREAM, an internet based presentation maker that is based on PowerPoint formatting, is easy to use and offers some very useful and unique features. Offering more than the basic PowerPoint creation greatly expands its value. Special features of authorSTREAM include the ability to make public presentations, download presentations as FLV, MP4, AVI, and WMV files, present live to an online audience anywhere in the world, and the ability to create a "channel" or collection of all your online work. With this application, you can add YouTube videos and sound narration directly to your presentations. Of these features, perhaps the two most unique are the ability to download in different formats. Using this, you can create a movie to be played on a television or create a file that can be shared by all of your audience on iTunes, since MP4 is iTunes language! With private presentations -- or even public ones -- you can protect access with a password. Also, this program has an add-on in PowerPoint that allows you to search web content directly from the application.
In the Classroom
Have you been contemplating a "flipped classroom" teaching style where you do the activities and hands-on things during class and the students listen to the information and lectures outside of class? This is a great tool for a flipped classroom or any use of sharable media. You can create your notes and lectures in PowerPoint, adding video clips and narration, download as an MP4, and then share with all of your students through iTunes. This greatly enhances the opportunities for extended thinking and active time in the classroom. More simply, try recording yourself giving an informational presentation, saving it here, and sharing with students via your website or wiki to access from home as a review tool or a catch-up for absentees. Have older students create their own presentations and share with the class and teacher via iTunes. Students who are normally very shy and uncomfortable can feel safe "presenting" in front of the class! High school students can also share links to their best work as part of a digital portfolio or college application. Art students can create online portfolios with narrated artist notes. Student-made book talks can be shared on iTouches in the library/media center. Link to them by QR code! Teachers at any grade level can share back to school night information with parents unable to attend.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Auto Classmate - Auto Classmate Inc
Grades
K to 12
1 Favorites
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Auto Classmate shares several free tools for educators that use artificial intelligence (AI) to create engaging activities and lesson ideas. Look for the Free Tools or Freemium icon...more
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Auto Classmate shares several free tools for educators that use artificial intelligence (AI) to create engaging activities and lesson ideas. Look for the Free Tools or Freemium icon for free resources Auto Classmate offers. These include an AI-powered lesson plan generator, an activity generator, a would you rather question generator, and a lesson plan and activity forecasting tool, with additional tools being added often. After selecting a tool, input the information in the prompts, such as grade level, content, and options for output. Some tools require registration; others do not. After responding, Auto Classmate offers options to remix for additional suggestions, download the information as a PDF, and provide ideas on how to use the AI responses.
In the Classroom
Think of Auto Classmate as your virtual teaching library. Use the free tools to create questions that require students to debate different viewpoints, find ideas for exit tickets, and find ideas for engaging activities for any subject. After selecting ideas provided by Auto Classmate, use a virtual whiteboard tool such as Figjam, reviewed here, or Whiteboard.chat, reviewed here to record students' responses and extend learning.
This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.
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AutoDraw - Google Creative Labs
Grades
K to 12
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AutoDraw matches your online doodles with professional drawings using any device. Begin a picture, and as you add to the image, AutoDraw's algorithms offer possible matches for your...more
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AutoDraw matches your online doodles with professional drawings using any device. Begin a picture, and as you add to the image, AutoDraw's algorithms offer possible matches for your attempt. Click on any of the matching images to replace your doodle with a completed drawing. Use the site's tools to add text, change outline and fill colors, and add shapes. When finished, download your creation as a PNG file to your device. Share your drawing using social media links or the URL.
In the Classroom
AutoDraw is an excellent tool for artists and non-artists. Use this site to quickly draw professional looking images for any number of classroom purposes. Create images to accompany presentations on an interactive whiteboard (or projector) or for use on your class website. Ask students to create drawings when retelling stories or creating math problems. Use with students who have any disability as an aid for conveying information through pictures. When teaching ENL/ELL and world languages, use AutoDraw to create images to replace words in texts. Have students create and personalize their images to include with multimedia presentations.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Awesome ScreenShot - Awesome ScreenShot
Grades
2 to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Awesome ScreenShot makes screen capture and annotation effortless! Click the camera icon, and Awesome Screenshot takes a snap of the whole page on your screen or any portion. You can...more
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Awesome ScreenShot makes screen capture and annotation effortless! Click the camera icon, and Awesome Screenshot takes a snap of the whole page on your screen or any portion. You can also upload an image from your computer, drag and drop, or paste from your clipboard to your account. Annotate the picture with lines, text, and shapes. Crop or blur out sensitive information before saving or uploading the image. Save to your account or get the URL to share via email, on your web page, etc. You can download video as WebM files and upload videos to your YouTube or Google Drive account. This tool supports images in PNG or JPG format. Awesome ScreenShot is available on the web. It works with Windows, Linux, and iOS 10.9 or later. It is also available as an extension for Mozilla FireFox and Chrome. The free account includes 20 recordings, unlimited recording length, 100 screenshots, and unlimited basic annotations.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Use this tool anytime you need to edit photos for use on class blogs, wikis, or in presentation tools. In primary grades, this tool can be useful for teachers to use to edit pictures from a field trip, science experiments, and more. Share the editing process with younger students using an interactive whiteboard or projector. Edit together! Encourage older students to use this site themselves on images for projects or presentations. Use this tool in photography or art classes. Use the editor to edit pictures to fit styles of pictures when doing historical reports or to set a mood. Use text options for the photos themselves to tell the stories. Have students annotate or label Creative Commons online images of cells, structures of an animal, and much more. Beef up your blended learning arsenal by creating screenshots showing how to do various computer tasks or navigate websites, and posting them on your website so students can also watch them at home. Demonstrate how to use a website or software for specific tasks within the classroom. Make how-to demos for instructions on using and navigating your class home page, class wiki or blog, or other applications you wish the students to use in creating their own projects. By labeling how students should navigate through a certain site or section, you can eliminate confusion, provide an opportunity for students to review the information as a refresher for the future, and maintain a record for absent students thus extending your blended learning class. Social studies teachers could assign students to critique a political candidate's web page using a screenshot. Reading/language arts teachers could have student teams analyze a website to show biased language, etc. Math teachers using software such as Geometer's Sketchpad could have students create their own demonstrations of geometry concepts as a review (and to save as future learning aids). As a service project, have students create "how to screenshots" to help elderly or less tech savvy computer users navigate the web, register to vote, or find important health information.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Baamboozle - baamboozle.com
Grades
K to 12
5 Favorites
0 Comments
Baamboozle is a quick and easy-to-use tool for playing and creating games. It doesn't require registration to play. Choose the "Games" link to go to all games saved on Baamboozle. ...more
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Baamboozle is a quick and easy-to-use tool for playing and creating games. It doesn't require registration to play. Choose the "Games" link to go to all games saved on Baamboozle. Scroll through to view games, or search for a term. Divide the group into two teams and begin play. Each team chooses a number from the game board and answers the question. Check for accuracy; then, Baamboozle keeps track of scores. Use games found on the site, or create games on any device. Registration with email is necessary to create your own games.
In the Classroom
Save Baamboozle in your bag of tricks for a quick review of any content. Engage students by having them create games to share with the class when reviewing for quizzes and tests. Bring excitement to professional development by creating a Baamboozle with materials you are sharing. Be sure to provide a link to Baamboozle games on your class website for students to play at home. Use Baamboozle if your class is remote learningAdd your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Badge List - Knowledgestreem
Grades
K to 12
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Build your own digital badges to award and share. Badge List offers the ability to design a badge using their built-in badge designer. You can also upload your own. Share ...more
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Build your own digital badges to award and share. Badge List offers the ability to design a badge using their built-in badge designer. You can also upload your own. Share with those seeking to earn the badge; they upload evidence of accomplishment using one of the five supported formats. Once achieved, awarded badges are displayed on an individual's profile and can easily be shared online. Since the free portion of Badge List is public, it is important for teachers to keep student identities anonymous. Use a code for the student name that is only known by the teacher. Also, be sure to obtain parent permission before using this tool with students. At the time of this review, stated by Badge List: "Badge List is currently developing simpler privacy settings to help K12 teachers protect student data. Until these features are released, teachers will need to take extra precautions to make sure that student data is safe."
In the Classroom
Badges are the "stickers' of today and much more. Use Badge List to keep track of student progress with large assignments, rewarding badges for each completed step. Present awards using badges such as Student of the Month, Math Hero, Perfect Attendance, and more. Share this site the first week of school as you set up your classroom expectations. Autistic support and behavior support teachers will find this tool useful and easy to use for reinforcement and tracking. Gamify your class using badges as reward levels. Challenge students to progress through different achievement levels by providing badges along the way. Share student login information with parents so they can track progress and accomplishments at home. (Be sure to keep the login information yourself, just in case students misplace their login). Keep track of mastery of various topics or skills, much like a sticker chart! Students can embed their class badges in other sites, such as personal blogs, using the embed code.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be embedded
Includes teacher tools for registering and/or monitoring students
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BBC Bitesize - BBC
Grades
K to 12
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BBC Bitesize is an educational support site designed for students in the United Kingdom. Although much of the material is labeled based on United Kingdom grade definitions, the site...more
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BBC Bitesize is an educational support site designed for students in the United Kingdom. Although much of the material is labeled based on United Kingdom grade definitions, the site is very easy to use for students in any location. Begin by selecting from three main grade bands - primary, secondary, and post-16. Within each grade band, narrow down choices even further by age. If looking for a specific content area, scroll down to almost the bottom of the home page to select "view all subjects." Content includes quizzes, videos, articles, learning guides, and more. Registration isn't required, but it allows you to save items as favorites.
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this site to take advantage of the many resources on this site to supplement classroom instruction in any topic. If you teach history, use Bitesize to provide information to students from the British perspective. Add links to games or quizzes on your classroom website for students to practice at home. Use Padlet, reviewed here, to organize and share resources with students. Organize games and online activities into columns based on different topics to make information easy to find. Have students compare and contrast British terms and units of measurement with your system of measurement and common phrases. Use a Venn Diagram creator like the one found at Class Tools, reviewed here, to show comparisons with the British examples. If working with older students, enhance learning by using Fiskkit, reviewed here, as a tool for collaborative discussions of the articles found on Bitesize. Share the URL of an article using Fiskkit and ask students to highlight portions within the story to discuss the content.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Be Internet Awesome - Google
Grades
2 to 6
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Be Internet Awesome is a series of resources from Google to teach digital safety. Resources include Interland, reviewed here, an online interactive...more
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Be Internet Awesome is a series of resources from Google to teach digital safety. Resources include Interland, reviewed here, an online interactive that offers participants the opportunity to practice skills to combat phishers, hackers, and cyber bullies. The free curriculum, available for download, is best suited for grades 3-5; however, it is easily adaptable to other grade levels. Click the Educator tab on the top menu bar and find a teacher curriculum, ready to teach Google Slides, an Internet safety poster, certificates and badges for students, plus a lot more. All features of this site align to ISTE Standards.
In the Classroom
Discover the many free resources for teaching digital safety offered on this site. Share a link on your class website for parents. Include the interactive game as part of a computer center during Internet safety lessons. Use the free lesson plan to teach digital safety either as a one-time unit or as mini-units throughout the school year. Enhance learning by having cooperative learning groups create podcasts discussing digital safety information. Use a site such as Buzzsprout, reviewed here to create the podcasts.
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Be the Editor - Education World
Grades
3 to 6
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Improve student editing skills with this simple lesson plan that challenges them to find the capitalization, punctuation, spelling, or grammar errors in a series of 10 sentences. Print...more
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Improve student editing skills with this simple lesson plan that challenges them to find the capitalization, punctuation, spelling, or grammar errors in a series of 10 sentences. Print out the student worksheet for independent work, or display on an interactive SmartBoard and make it a full-class activity.
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Beacon Learning Center: Student Web Lessons - Beacon Learning Center
Grades
K to 12
8 Favorites
0 Comments
This website, funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, provides an enormous collection of "web lessons" (interactives) for all grade levels. There are lessons in language...more
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This website, funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, provides an enormous collection of "web lessons" (interactives) for all grade levels. There are lessons in language arts, math, science, social studies, and health. There are too many lesson plans to count - and all are projector, laptop, or whiteboard-ready. Just to give you an idea of some of these unique lessons, some of the titles include "Where is Japan?", "Walrus World", "Piece of Pie", "Medians", "Fence Me In", and "Critter Craze". On the main page, a brief description is provided for each lesson plan. Click Teacher Solutions > Lesson Plans to search by subject or grade level.
In the Classroom
If you want ready-to-go lessons guaranteed to work well on your interactive whiteboard, this collection is a winner. You simply open the activity on the whiteboard and have students tap and drag their way through as you talk with the class. (Invite your most "active" student to be "Vanna White" for a great behavior management solution). Many lessons would work well on laptops or on a computer cluster center, as well.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Beautiful Audio Editor - Creative Tools
Grades
K to 12
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Beautiful Audio is an in-browser audio editor that works with Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Use the editor to import or record audio files to edit. Use the toolbar to ...more
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Beautiful Audio is an in-browser audio editor that works with Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Use the editor to import or record audio files to edit. Use the toolbar to add effects, drag and reorder audio, and split or delete sections of your file. Easily save completed projects to Google Drive or your computer. Be sure to visit the "Docs" section of this site for an overview of available features. Beautiful Audio recommends using the editor for files under 300mb or 45 minutes in length to avoid crashes leading to project failures.
In the Classroom
Record your class singing or reading their compositions to share with parents on your website or blog. Record and edit sound to be included with PowerPoint presentations. Use with a creative writing project to record stories for selected images. Share with students to use with multimedia projects to create background audio or original audio presentations. View the features of the site on your interactive whiteboard together with your older students, then allow them time to explore and experiment with the available features. Instead of having students share a written speech as an oral presentation, ask them to use Beautiful Audio to record their presentation and add original features to the soundtrack. Include this recording as part of a multimedia presentation using a site like Sway, reviewed here. Sway offers tools to create interactive presentations available for all devices.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Bensound Royalty Free Music - Benjamin Tissot
Grades
3 to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
Choose from a large selection of royalty free music to use with multimedia projects and online videos at Bensound. Music is free to use with attribution to Bensound.com in its ...more
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Choose from a large selection of royalty free music to use with multimedia projects and online videos at Bensound. Music is free to use with attribution to Bensound.com in its original format without remixing. Sort music options by genre or browse by popular and newest additions. Download your selection to your computer as an MP3 file.
In the Classroom
Play musical selections for students to talk about musical elements and styles in music class. Have partners explore the site to find examples of different rhythms or styles they prefer. Use Bensound Music for soft background music during quiet work times in your classroom. Share with students for use in multimedia presentations (with proper attribution, of course). Try sharing this resource with students when they are creating podcasts, slideshows, and other media projects. This site would also be great for performance groups such as drama clubs or musicals that need background music. Use background music for poetry readings during poetry month. Make sure students realize that "royalty-free" does not dismiss the need to give proper credit for their source!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Bestsellers - Shmoop Editors
Grades
4 to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Bestsellers is a credible, academic resource that utilizes innovative internet based features that appeal to today's youth culture, discussing best selling literature. Do you...more
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Bestsellers is a credible, academic resource that utilizes innovative internet based features that appeal to today's youth culture, discussing best selling literature. Do you want to assign a book whose title will grab your students' attention just by the mere mention of it, like the books found on Oprah's Picks and other most read lists? Have you steered away from those books because of the lack of teaching resources, such as study guides and questions? Bestsellers, part of the larger Shmoop site written by Ph.D. and Masters students at Stanford, Harvard, UC Berkeley (and other top universities), does all of that and more. Students and teachers can access lively learning guides organized by summaries, themes, quotes, study questions, character analysis, and links to best of the web options. The pages are written in a clever, witty voice designed to appeal to students and teachers, not at all like the familiar style found in most book synopsis and reviews, and all the information is properly cited. The only complaint you might have is the limited number of books to choose from, but don't worry; books are continually being added, so check back often. Since books for both younger and older audiences share this site, you may want to preview what your students can find for other age groups.
"Bestsellers" is free to use. Additionally, there is an option to create a free account which allows the advantage of using the tools like the online dictionary, "Stickies," and sharing on social networks. Creating an account requires an email address. You may want to create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes. If you plan to have students register individually, you may want to create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes. Here is a blog post that tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service.
"Bestsellers" is free to use. Additionally, there is an option to create a free account which allows the advantage of using the tools like the online dictionary, "Stickies," and sharing on social networks. Creating an account requires an email address. You may want to create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes. If you plan to have students register individually, you may want to create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes. Here is a blog post that tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service.
In the Classroom
Are you looking for a way to motivate your reluctant readers to pick up a book, or do you have some book hungry students who sneak to read their own book while you are teaching a lesson? The "Bestsellers" site provides a wealth of internet-based material for navigating the twists and turns of the plots and characters in books like Harry Potter and the Twilight series. The online learning guides have a table of contents that gives a quick view of what is included in each tab, which enables you to quickly find what you want without opening each section. This site provides more information than the standard textbook teacher's edition, and provides brilliant connections between some of the literary classics. There are photos, videos, and links galore. You might want to include a link to this site on your class web page, or if you prefer to control the amount of information that you want students to have before actually reading the book, then bookmark it in your favorites and dole out the information at your discretion.If looking for a different instructional method, share one of the slide shows on a projector or interactive whiteboard as you introduce a unit or allow students to use portions of the slide shows as part of their own presentations on a specific author or book on the bestsellers list.
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Better Lesson - BetterLesson
Grades
K to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
This site offers over 10,000 lessons aligned with the Common Core and the Next Generation Science Standards. The lessons were created by 130 Master Teachers. You can browse resources...more
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This site offers over 10,000 lessons aligned with the Common Core and the Next Generation Science Standards. The lessons were created by 130 Master Teachers. You can browse resources without registering. Click the blue "Browse" button to get started. Choose along the top from Common Core Math, Common Core ELA, or Next Generation Science. Lessons are arranged by grade level or Math, Language, and Science subjects. However, if you want to create your own resources, registration is required. After registering, create a class and then create a unit for that class. Finally, create a lesson for that unit, fill in an objective, select a state standard, and estimate the total time on task. Upload files (or drag and drop) to assign them to the lesson or keep them "unassigned" for later use. Additionally, simply add other members' files to your own curriculum. Search for files by keyword, age-level, and type of format. Click on a result to see every lesson plan using that file.
In the Classroom
Use this site to create lessons for students to follow. Use this site to share inspirational lessons you create or to find inspiration in the work of others. Meet the Common Core goals by using the tools and lesson plans offered at this website. Though the site deals with the technical aspect of lesson planning, many ideas exist to reverse engineer to your own lessons. Create a course to maintain and tweak your lessons for your classes. Expand PD to others in your school or in other schools to learn from the best ideas of others!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Big Dayta - Tsai Hsing School
Grades
3 to 12
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What do you do in a day? Join a worldwide classroom sharing project for students to learn about life in other schools and cultures. This teacher-driven project, begun as a ...more
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What do you do in a day? Join a worldwide classroom sharing project for students to learn about life in other schools and cultures. This teacher-driven project, begun as a collaboration between schools in Tai Pei and California, collects "unique student-generated global dayta" about students' daily life using a simple, online Google Form. Day + data = DAYTA. The dayta is available for your classroom to use in loads of different math, social studies, and writing activities. Click to add your class using the Contact button. The project encourages you to form collaborations with another school. Click the link to the Idea Guide to find curriculum connections and lesson ideas. The project is adding new classes, so why not join in? Be sure to check out the community area where you can share your successes and questions with other teachers.
In the Classroom
Introduce Big Dayta in your world cultures, math, or writing class. If you team teach, work together with your computer, math, social studies, or English teacher to have students share dayta and then analyze and use it for your own class projects. Find specific curriculum activities for math, writing, and social studies classes on the site or ask your students what dayta they would like to compare and contrast in a "hands-on" experience with data. If they like learning about life in other places, your class may also want to join in #XW1W (Across the World Once a Week). Be sure to pass these projects along to other teachers! As a geography extension, have students create an electronic placemarker file using Google My Maps or MapHub, or an actual map poster of the places they learn about.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Big Huge Labs - Big Huge Labs
Grades
K to 12
3 Favorites
0 Comments
Check Teachers First reviews for specific fun and creative tools from this expansive site. As Big Huge Labs continues to add to their offerings, be sure to check back to ...more
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Check Teachers First reviews for specific fun and creative tools from this expansive site. As Big Huge Labs continues to add to their offerings, be sure to check back to the main page of the site to find what is new. For now check out the Trading Card Maker, reviewed here, the CD Cover Maker, reviewed here, The Big Huge Thesaurus, reviewed here, Mosaic Maker, reviewed here, Magazine Cover Maker, reviewed here, Guess the Title, reviewed here, Captioner, reviewed here, Map Maker, reviewed here, Movie Poster, Badge Maker, Billboard, and Calender. In addition they have many photo editing/photo enchancing tools: Bead Art, Jigsaw, FX, Mat, Wallpaper, Cube, Lolcat Generator, Framer, Color Palette, Pocket Album Hockneyizer, Photobooth, and Pop Art Poster. Some of these tools are more suitable for play, but if you are beginning the process of integrating technology, these will be engaging to your students. Take time to look over some of these tools before sharing the site with students.
Big Huge labs also has some other free services you may want to use such as a ranked list of the Top 100 Digital Camera Makers and Models that is updated weekly. There is also Scout to help you find your photos on Flickr Explore, Random Photo Browser, On Black, Sunset, Favorite Surfer, Flicker DNA, Photo Fortune, Profile Widget, and Writer, reviewed here.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
You can choose images from Flickr, Instagram, Dropbox, your files or provide a URL. This tool is so simple with very few steps for creating. Simply upload your photo, select from a few options, and then create.Check out the Big Huge Labs educator account. Easily pre-register students to avoid creating logins, view and download their creations; view the site advertisement free. You will find information about the Educator Account here.
Options here are endless. Find out what students understand about a concept by creating a 6 word story. Students find a suitable picture and sum up the concept in 6 words. Students can use the Motivator tool, reviewed here, to create. Place their creation on a blog, wiki, or web site and have students write about how their understandings of the concept have changed throughout the study of it. Create Badges for field trips and other activities. Use the Trading Card Maker, reviewed here, to identify what a student understands about a concept. Create trading cards of the many species that exist in the world or of places to visit, past leaders of nations, or states and other countries. Create vocabulary trading cards. Use social networking in the classroom? Create an Avatar to use on these spaces. Reading a book or viewing documentaries? Create Movie Posters to share information or to inform others about various times in history. Whatever you use this tool for, it is powerful for students to use a great image and word captions to display their knowledge.
Edge Features:
Includes an education-only area for teachers and students
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Requires registration/log in (NO email)
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
Includes teacher tools for registering and/or monitoring students
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Big Huge Thesaurus - Big Huge Labs
Grades
1 to 12
6 Favorites
0 Comments
This simple-looking online thesaurus is actually MUCH more than a quick-look-up. You can find synonyms, antonyms, similar words, and rhymes for any word you enter. A click on any of...more
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This simple-looking online thesaurus is actually MUCH more than a quick-look-up. You can find synonyms, antonyms, similar words, and rhymes for any word you enter. A click on any of the words offered provides the same information for THAT word, sending you on word-paths through the English language. Innocent-looking links at the top of the page also provide hundreds of prompts for blog posts and stories, with enough choices to inspire any writer. Don't let the boring white background and plain-text presentation fool you. This tool has magic powers to make words interesting to almost anyone. The database of words used to generate this thesaurus comes from "the Princeton University WordNet database, the Carnegie Mellon Pronouncing Dictionary, and suggestions from thousands of people on the internet just like you." See a special note to teachers below regarding student behavior!
In 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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Big Ideas Video Series - Class Dojo
Grades
K to 8
1 Favorites
0 Comments
The Big Ideas Series, offered by ClassDojo, provides ten video topics encouraging students to explore different ways to healthy social emotional development and learning. The videos...more
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The Big Ideas Series, offered by ClassDojo, provides ten video topics encouraging students to explore different ways to healthy social emotional development and learning. The videos discuss concepts such as Empathy, Perseverance, Positive Thinking, Gratitude, Mindfulness, and more. Each topic has a series of short videos and includes a discussion guide to download for classroom use and a page with take-home questions for parent use.
In the Classroom
You may want to start your school year by sharing the three part video series on Empathy. Each video is five minutes and has a discussion guide. As a follow up use the Ripples of Kindness activity in small groups. Share younger students' observations on a whiteboard or poster. Older students can share their observations using a tool like Stickies, reviewed here. Dotstorming allows participants to add comments. Share other videos with a projector or on an interactive whiteboard to introduce a video each week and explore the discussion questions together. These videos could be very useful when preparing and motivating students for upcoming standardized testing or at the beginning of a school year to set a tone that everyone can learn. Include a link to videos on your class web page for parents to discuss at home with their student, and be sure to send home the take-home questions with topics to talk about.
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Bing Images - Microsoft
Grades
K to 12
0 Favorites
0 Comments
Take advantage of Bing's robust image search features to find images for any occasion. Similar to other search engines, Bing offers a search bar to locate images using keywords. What...more
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Take advantage of Bing's robust image search features to find images for any occasion. Similar to other search engines, Bing offers a search bar to locate images using keywords. What makes Bing different is some of the additional options provided on the home page. Bing provides different images in categories like popular people, feed topics, animals, nature, backgrounds and more. Choose the info link to learn about the featured image or scroll through to find stunning images from previous days. Other features on this page share images to currently trending news stories.
In the Classroom
Bookmark Bing images to use when searching for images to use in newsletters, your class website, research projects, and more. Choose an interesting image from one of Bing's categories to use for writing prompts. Then, extend students' learning by asking them to create a simple one-page website using a free webpage maker like Carrd, reviewed here, to share their creative writing projects. Create a Microsoft account and log in to save images. Add your saved images to collections to organize and share content with others. Use images to create animated videos using a video tool like Typito, reviewed here. Typito offers drag and drop features for uploading your images and video, text, music, and templates.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Bingo Baker - Matt Johnson
Grades
K to 8
7 Favorites
0 Comments
Whip up a batch of Bingo cards in no time with Bingo Baker! Give your card a title and start typing words into the Bingo grid, change Bingo column headings ...more
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Whip up a batch of Bingo cards in no time with Bingo Baker! Give your card a title and start typing words into the Bingo grid, change Bingo column headings if desired. Use the option to leave the center space free or not by checking the box at the bottom of the page. When finished, click Generate to produce your cards. The free option is limited to printing 8 cards at a time. This may work best for centers and small group work instead of whole class activities.
In the Classroom
Use Bingo Baker to create Bingo games to review any topic with small groups. Instead of telling the word that is on the Bingo card give the definition (so students must find the term) or a math problem whose answer is among those on the card. Create sight word bingo cards for younger students. This is a great review tool for science or social studies. Put a short description of a vocabulary word into the space. Tell students the name of the vocabulary word and see if they can find it on the Bingo card. Or do the reverse and write the vocabulary word on the card and read the definition to the class. Encourage students to create bingo games for each other as review or to engage the audience during oral presentations. Learning support teachers can create them together with students as an engaging way to review. World language teachers (and students) can create bingo cards to reinforce vocabulary.
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