TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Nov 23, 2014
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
ChartGizmo - ChartGizmo.com
Grades
3 to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
Quickly create charts for use on websites, blogs, and social media with ChartGizmo. Register using your email address. Click on New Chart and customize using information on the page....more
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Quickly create charts for use on websites, blogs, and social media with ChartGizmo. Register using your email address. Click on New Chart and customize using information on the page. Choose from several different chart types, add a title, change color, and more. Import data from Excel or add your own values. When finished, Save & Publish to choose from several options for sharing or placing on web pages. A manual and examples are available on the home page.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): charts and graphs (169), data (147), percent (58)
In the Classroom
Collect data in your classroom and quickly create a graph to represent it. Share through links or adding images to blogs, wikis, or websites. Share graphs on an interactive whiteboard or projector for better analysis of data by the class. Graph results of a test, answers from students, favorite foods, fictitious budgets, class schedules, and whatever else is applicable in your classroom. Use an informational text, and have students create a pie chart to understand how to read charts that accompany the informational texts. Have cooperative learning groups create graphs to share with the class on the class wiki. Create quick pie charts on your interactive whiteboard whenever you count class votes or encounter other data so students "see" data visualized on a regular basis; visual students will have another way to absorb the information. Keep the link handy on your web page to access it quickly in or out of class.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Cool Kid Facts - CoolKidFacts
Grades
1 to 7
2 Favorites
0 Comments
Visit Cool Kid Facts to find information for just about anything in this world or even out of this world! Select from Geography, History, Science, Animals, and Human Body. There...more
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Visit Cool Kid Facts to find information for just about anything in this world or even out of this world! Select from Geography, History, Science, Animals, and Human Body. There are also topics in the right menu on the home page that range from Albert Einstein to Volcanoes and nearly everything else you can think of (alphabetically) in between. There are articles, videos, pictures, and quizzes, too. The videos are from various outside sources and are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable.
tag(s): animals (281), australia (26), brain (54), china (62), deserts (15), earth (185), egypt (46), greek (33), heart (27), human body (93), italy (16), magnetism (36), mars (26), mexico (29), moon (70), newton (21), photosynthesis (20), rainforests (18), rome (21), sun (69), tornadoes (15), tsunamis (15), volcanoes (55)
In the Classroom
Share this site with students on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) and show them all the different subjects available. Challenge students to find a topic about which they know nothing (or barely anything). This site will give them experience reading informational text on a topic they wonder about. Partner weaker readers with others who may be able to help them read the text-heavier articles. Have students read and research individually or in small groups taking notes using a simple graphic organizer from Holt Interactive Graphic Organizers, reviewed here. Use this opportunity to teach summarizing, and citing sources. Cool Kid Facts is a great tool to build background knowledge about all sorts of topics!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Pit and the Pendulum Comic Book - Marc Lougee/Hand Made Heroes
Grades
8 to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Learn about Edgar Allen Poe and his literature through this eerie comic in PDF format. Using this comic, the program explores the historical backdrop of "The Pit and the Pendulum,"...more
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Learn about Edgar Allen Poe and his literature through this eerie comic in PDF format. Using this comic, the program explores the historical backdrop of "The Pit and the Pendulum," i.e. the Spanish Inquisition. Most of the llinks that made this comic interactive are not working. These are not needed to enjoy the comic.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): authors (103), comics and cartoons (53), graphic novels (5), literature (217)
In the Classroom
Introduce this program to your class on your interactive whiteboard or projector as an immediate attention grabber to begin your Edgar Allen Poe unit. Explore together and have students explore on their own or in groups. Provide the link on your website for students to continue to explore at home. Have students create online posters individually or in small groups to advertise their favorite part of "The Pit and The Pendulum." Use a tool such as Web Poster Wizard, reviewed here, or PicLits, reviewed here. Have students use Fakebook, reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about a story character or Edgar Allen Poe himself.
This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.
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Homeroom - Cluster Labs, Inc.
Grades
K to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Homeroom is an online tool and mobile app to share your class photos privately with parents, students, and others. Create an album and invite people to view it. Each time ...more
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Homeroom is an online tool and mobile app to share your class photos privately with parents, students, and others. Create an album and invite people to view it. Each time you update it, the members will be notified. When you populate your album with photos, you can also add a comment. Access Homeroom and upload photos on any device. For Initial registration you can use the app (iOs or Android) or register using your Google or Facebook account, or manually using email. Once registered, you can access the tool using any device using your username and password. Invite others from any device or computer by phone number or email address. They will become members and will be able to update your photo albums. You will be alerted about the new content. Albums are private. Only the people with the invite have access to the photos.
tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (143), images (262), photography (126)
In the Classroom
Invite parents and students as you create albums of specific events such as field trips, service projects, hands-on activities, field experiences, class speakers, and more. Anywhere photos can be used to showcase achievement, this service would be a great resource. Use for any project, class explanation of concepts, experiments, or demonstrations. Resource teachers, speech teachers, or world language teachers can collect images into "albums" for students to practice/develop speech and vocabulary. In science class when having students do insect collections, instead of having them collect the actual specimens, have them take pictures using their phones or digital cameras. Have the students upload to the album at home, and then they can create a multimedia project with the pictures and statistics of the specimen. Students can snap a picture anywhere, with any device, and upload to the web to use in class or cooperative groups. This tool would be great for clubs and performance groups as well! Do you send a newsletter home to parents? Try creating a heading made from a collage of your latest class activity. Use a program such as Mosaic Maker, reviewed here, to create a collage. Though the content is private, monitor student photos and comments as nothing would be prohibited by Homeroom. You will be notified of all new content.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Time and Date - Steffen Thorsen
Grades
K to 12
5 Favorites
0 Comments
Time and Date is your one-stop resource for anything concerning time zones, calendars, and weather. View current time for any place in the world, explore time zone maps, and create...more
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Time and Date is your one-stop resource for anything concerning time zones, calendars, and weather. View current time for any place in the world, explore time zone maps, and create and print personalized calendars. Explore the short news articles. Calculators and timers offer countdowns to any date. Find the number of days until a chosen date or tell the date in X number of days. Other options allow you to find the weather anywhere in the world, explore sun and moon phases, and browse through upcoming holiday events. There are also many free apps available to specific sections of this site (see the Apps link). There is a LOT here to explore!
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This site includes advertising.
tag(s): calculators (37), calendars (40), DAT device agnostic tool (143), moon (70), sun (69), time (92), time zones (7), weather (164)
In the Classroom
Bookmark (or save in your favorites) Time and Date on your classroom computers for students to use throughout the year. Find out the local time and temperature in countries as you study them, count down the number of days until spring break or the end of the school year. Use the stopwatch or timer/alarm for timing class activities. Create a personal classroom calendar. This is a perfect addition to your Calendar Math lessons in elementary school. Share the site on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) as you count how many days you have been in school, daily weather, or a countdown to a special occasion. The possibilities are endless using all of Time and Date's features! Include time/date conversions for online conferences you will hold with parents who are deployed or traveling in different time zones. Share meeting dates/times for Skype sessions using the time conversions so everyone is "on time." Humor your fellow teachers by warning them of the upcoming full moon and its supposed effect on student behavior!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Women, Their Rights and Nothing Less - Newseum Digital Classroom
Grades
9 to 12
1 Favorites
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The Newseum pulls together an enormous collection of primary sources about the women's suffrage movement, with rich resources for using these primary sources in an educational setting....more
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The Newseum pulls together an enormous collection of primary sources about the women's suffrage movement, with rich resources for using these primary sources in an educational setting. There is an interactive timeline, a "media map" that plots primary sources on a US map for a visual representation of the geography of the movement, and nearly a dozen lesson plans (including videos) that feature the use of primary sources to broaden understanding. The site requires registration to use, but there is no cost.
tag(s): civil rights (194), women (137), womens suffrage (44)
In the Classroom
It can be tempting to relegate resources like this one to a special unit during Women's History Month, but the primary sources here need to be integrated throughout any study of civil rights in general and the importance of universal suffrage to a modern democracy. While the sources may all be related to the fight for votes for women, much of the content is also relevant in understanding the social and political history of the United States, particularly during the 19th and early 20th century. The lesson plans are comprehensive and include printable discussion guides and worksheets, as well as extension activities. They are standards aligned and Common Core compatible. For the extension activities, consider asking students to create a multimedia project rather than an essay. Enhance learning by using either Sway, reviewed here, or Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here. Both of these tools will allow students to create a multimedia magazine or booklet and modify classroom technology use. You may also want to require students create a magazine cover using Magazine Cover Maker, reviewed here, to summarize info in their magazine with titles and as a way for them to double check and make sure they are not missing any requirements.
This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.
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CCSS Text Selection Guide - Odell Education
Grades
2 to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Find tips to implement the Common Core standards in grades 2-12. The 26-page guide for text selection is downloadable in PDF format. There is also an interactive online review form...more
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Find tips to implement the Common Core standards in grades 2-12. The 26-page guide for text selection is downloadable in PDF format. There is also an interactive online review form (editable pdf) for evaluating texts. Click Literacy Curriculum on the left menu to access four units for grades 6-12 that highlight a core literacy proficiency. They provide instructional sequences, handouts, tools, and texts for developing deeper understanding, independent writing skills, and critical thinking in students. The units include Reading Closely for Textual Details, Making Evidenced Based Claims, Building Evidence Based Arguments, and Research to Deepen Understanding.
tag(s): commoncore (75), persuasive writing (55), professional development (395), reading comprehension (143), writing (315)
In the Classroom
Bookmark this program to use with units throughout the school year. Use as a text selection guide to build your knowledge and implementation of the Common Core standards. Use the guide for choosing Common Core suitable texts. Create lesson plans for favorite books, poems, articles and more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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