TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Aug 28, 2011
Here are this week's features. Clicking the tags in the description area of each listing will present a list of other resources with this topic. | Click here to return to the Featured Sites Archive
Learning to Give - Points of Light Institute
Grades
K to 12tag(s): communities (65), recycling (96), colonial america (149), african american (210), ecology (185), animals (498), diversity (60), data (250), animal homes (79), environment (462), heroes (40), charts and graphs (296), money (262), character education (84),
In the Classroom
Use this site as a resource for all subject matters, search for subject and browse resources. Share with other teachers in your building or district including teachers of the arts. Get your students involved! Challenge cooperative learning groups to create a multimedia presentation using one of many TeachersFirst Edge tools reviewed here discussing one of the topics at this site. Some tool suggestions are (click on the tool name to access the review): Canva Infographic Maker, Lucidpress, Powtoon, and MoocNote.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Story Blocks - Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy
Grades
K to 1tag(s): rhymes (48), poetry (377), songs (87), literacy (184),
In the Classroom
Use the songs and chants on these videos to interest children in reading. Many songs and rhymes have actions that the children can do while saying the text. Have the children lead the class once they are familiar with offerings. Project the rhymes on your interactive whiteboard and follow along with the motions on the screen. Write down some of the words in the song and use them as sight words for the week. Have student helpers hold up the "sight word" as it is shared. Choose 3-5 new words from each rhyme. Share this site with ESL and learning support staff.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Curiosity - Discovery Channel
Grades
8 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): sexuality (21), questioning (51),
In the Classroom
Looking for an answer to a student question? Check here first. The answer may be waiting for you! Promote scientific curiosity by featuring a question a week as a class intro. Consider creating a similar page on your class site (or wiki) sharing student questions to guide student research and presentation of answers in an engaging manner. Challenge more able students to add their own thinking questions/answers as alternatives to curriculum they have already mastered. Not comfortable with wikis? Check out the TeachersFirst Wiki Walk-Through.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Project Based Learning for the 21st Century - Buck Institute for Education
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): assessment (239), Project Based Learning (29), Research (88),
In the Classroom
Use these ideas in any subject area classroom. Aspects of PBL can be used in introductory activities or whole units. Use driving questions to stimulate student curiosity to know more about how curriculum applies to their lives. Use this PBL framework to give students freedom to research aspects of the content or problem of personal interest. Be sure to view the resources to adequately plan for a successful unit project that incorporates 21st century skills utilizing engaging activities and content.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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5 Minute Mystery - Mystery Competition, LLC
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): short stories (35), reading comprehension (223), critical thinking (185), mysteries (40),
In the Classroom
Use your projector or interactive whiteboard to show your students the directions for getting points by selecting the correct clues and solving the mystery. To begin with, as a class, read a mystery and discuss what the clues might be and whether they implicate or exonerate each suspect. Once the students have volunteered their ideas for which sentences are clues, submit them to see the score. The program will highlight the answers you should have had, if you got any wrong. Model for your students a discussion about why those are the correct answers and why the ones they submitted weren't. Eventually they can have this discussion by themselves in small groups. Those of you with multiple classes will want to create a league for each class.Eventually you can have small groups of students compete against each other by creating leagues. Have your students come to consensus about the clue sentences and who the real perpetrator is by voting using Tricider, reviewed here, or Vevox, reviewed here.
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Deviant Art Muro - Scott Jarkoff, Matthew Stephens, and Angelo Shift
Grades
9 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): painting (104), drawing (135), photography (233), design (159), graphic design (81),
In the Classroom
Some previous experience with layer base design software editing is beneficial but not completely necessary. The DeviantART muro drawing tools have a higher level of sophistication, and yet are intuitive to use. There are filters and layering options within the free version. It is possible to import photographs or scanned images into various layers. Save individual files or export student work as a web page. Unfortunately, the export process does not result in a useful file format. Consider having students take a screen shot of their work instead. Clicking the devaintART logo will take students to the public art space. Here the general public has the ability to submit imagery. Although students will not be able to comment or post without an account, they can view submissions easily.Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Then have students explore this site independently or in small groups. Use this site as the starting point for individual or group projects. The mural format lends itself to the drafting of school murals or stage backdrops. Consider using this long online drawing space to tell visual stories or map out a character's or historical figure's journey through time. Post a link on your class website to DeviantART muro for access outside of school.
Although users can access the muro creator without signing up for an account, high school students may want to participate in the deviantARTs free social networking site. This may be the personal learning network for juniors and seniors in high school considering a career in the arts are looking for. Students age 16 and older will benefit from an online profile account where they can create personal galleries, develop fans, and find collaborators for projects from across the globe. High school students considering jobs in graphic design, animation, film, illustration, or computer arts can build a professional portfolio to submit to employers, art schools, or potential clients. Users will also benefit from the deviantART critique section that provides constructive criticism from viewers beyond their immediate brick and mortar school. Students will need to create an account in order to use these services. If your students submit their own content (according to school policies, of course), take the time to teach safe ways to submit, commentary etiquette, and the potential for cruelty or rude behavior by anonymous viewers. You may want to monitor the discussion boards for a week or two before deciding if they are appropriate for your school situation.
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