TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of May 21, 2017

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

 

Less
More

BookBub - Josh Schanker

Grades
7 to 12
0 Favorites 0  Comments
Looking for a new book to read? Bookbub has it covered. Enter your email address and begin telling BookBub your preferences in genres and your preferred reader device or app ...more
Here is the direct link to share this resource review. Feel free to copy and paste this URL into an email or place it on your web page or blog so others can read this TeachersFirst review:

 Close Link

Looking for a new book to read? Bookbub has it covered. Enter your email address and begin telling BookBub your preferences in genres and your preferred reader device or app (Nook, Kindle, iBook, Google Play, Kobo). You will be presented with a list of authors to follow based on your genres, and then you create your password. Next you will get a list of books recommended for you. Best of all, many of the books are free. You can always put a book under bookmarks, and be alerted when it has a reduced price or is available for free. You will even get an email when one of your favortite authors is publishing a new book. Under your account and notifications select how often you would like to receive BookBub updates - daily, weekly, and various other choices.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): book lists (159), independent reading (85), reading lists (80)

In the Classroom

Sign up for BookBub and receive daily emails with book excerpts. Share the excerpts with your class as a way to hook some students into reading or to offer book suggestions. Use the emails as an example of a service that students may want to try. A valid email is required to join this site. Read TeachersFirst tips for safely managing email registrations here. Substitute oral book recommendations by having students choose an interesting excerpt from a book they are reading and share with it others via email or on your classroom blog or website. Be sure to have students use the title and author in the subject line! This will also provide a record for those looking for a new book.

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

Rating (click star to set rating):

Close comment form

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!).

Close

Less
More

CurriConnects Booklist: Award Winning Books - TeachersFirst

Grades
K to 12
0 Favorites 0  Comments
There are many awards for excellent children's books. This collection of books includes winners of many awards, including the Caldecott Medal, Newbery Medal, Boston Globe/Horn Book...more
Here is the direct link to share this resource review. Feel free to copy and paste this URL into an email or place it on your web page or blog so others can read this TeachersFirst review:

 Close Link

There are many awards for excellent children's books. This collection of books includes winners of many awards, including the Caldecott Medal, Newbery Medal, Boston Globe/Horn Book Award, and the Coretta Scott King Book Award. Although the topics vary, the level of quality is consistently the same. CurriConnects thematic book lists include ISBN numbers for ordering or searching, interest grade levels, ESL levels and Lexiles'''® to match student independent reading levels to challenge, not frustrate. For more on text complexity and Lexiles'''®, see this information from the Lexile Framework. Don't miss other CurriConnects themes being added regularly. If your library does not have the books, try interlibrary loan!

tag(s): authors (103), book lists (159), independent reading (85)

In the Classroom

Develop your students' love of reading using these fabulous books. This collection could accompany a unit about famous authors and texts. These books provide experience with both fiction and nonfiction informational texts. This list is ideal for book reports or projects. Allow students (or partners) to choose their own book. Challenge students to create presentations or small group projects to share their story. Share this list with your school library/media specialist or public library, as well, for them to "pull" books in support of your units.

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

Rating (click star to set rating):

Close comment form

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!).

Close

Less
More

CommonLit - CommonLit

Grades
4 to 12
3 Favorites 0  Comments
   
Access commonly taught themes for classic literature and discussion questions for that theme. Plus there are Text Sets perfect for social studies teachers! Choose a Lexile'''''®...more
Here is the direct link to share this resource review. Feel free to copy and paste this URL into an email or place it on your web page or blog so others can read this TeachersFirst review:

 Close Link

Access commonly taught themes for classic literature and discussion questions for that theme. Plus there are Text Sets perfect for social studies teachers! Choose a Lexile'''''® grade level for reading and download the text in PDF format or read online. Each text has a menu across the top offering Paired Texts, Related Media, a Teachers Guide, and a Parent Guide. Accompanying the text are critical thinking questions, an Assessment, and some have Guided Reading Mode. Choose the size of the font, listen to the Read Aloud (and pause it), translate to Spanish, and Highlight. Track student progress. You can search by Book, Genre, Grade Level, Literary Device, Text Set, Theme, and Spanish Texts. All of this for free! What else could one want? Well, you can also request a text, and they will negotiate with the copyright holders to have that text on their site. Take a look at their blog, too! You'll find lots of suggestions and thoughtful reflections for using nonfiction texts with your students.

tag(s): critical thinking (112), differentiation (83), literature (217), reading comprehension (142), spanish (104), substitutes (27), Teacher Utilities (146), themes (11)

In the Classroom

CommonLit is an excellent resource for literature teachers, speech and debate teachers, and history teachers. Share the site with students on an interactive whiteboard or projector, and ask the class what themes they would like to investigate. Under each theme are two questions. Divide the class into small groups with each group investigating one of the questions for one of the themes and reading the accompanying text. Differentiate for students by having students read on the same theme, but at their reading level. Challenge individuals, pairs, or small groups to create a graphic organizer for the story they read replacing paper and pencil and using a tool like Holt Interactive Graphic Organizers, reviewed here. You could take this to another level and have two groups read different selections on the same theme, use a graphic organizer to make comparisons for how the theme was presented, and then enhance learning by challenging the groups to present their findings to the class via video. Use a simple video creator like Adobe Express Video Maker, reviewed here. This site would also work when you have to make substitute plans unexpectedly. Just put the link in your plans and tell the sub what theme you want students to read about, or better yet, let the sub choose!
 This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.

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

Rating (click star to set rating):

Close comment form

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!).

Close

Less
More

Mighty Book - Mighty Book

Grades
K to 3
2 Favorites 0  Comments
 
Engage young children in this colorful site, packed with songs, interactive audio books, art and music interactives, and emergent reading activities. Reaching a wide range of grades,...more
Here is the direct link to share this resource review. Feel free to copy and paste this URL into an email or place it on your web page or blog so others can read this TeachersFirst review:

 Close Link

Engage young children in this colorful site, packed with songs, interactive audio books, art and music interactives, and emergent reading activities. Reaching a wide range of grades, this site offers over 50 different engaging activities. Visit the stories made by children. The free part of this site includes a great variety of topics: Boston Tea Party, alphabet, making mistakes, metamorphosis, Mars, a variety of popular children's songs, nouns, upper case and lower case, Beatrix Potter, jokes, Bach & Van Gogh, Mona and Beethoven, and much more! Some of the activities are also available in Spanish. Check out Teachers at the bottom of the page for Lesson Plans.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): alphabet (51), independent reading (85), preK (254), sight words (22), songs (44), video (256)

In the Classroom

Use this site for learning as a whole group, learning centers, or individual laptops for reinforcement or enrichment. First, introduce Mighty Book on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Since there are extensive ads, you may want to bookmark or create shortcuts directly to the activity you want children to use and avoid having them get "lost" in the many links that take you off the site. Share the songs and discuss the lyrics and what they are teaching. Use this site in art class to introduce famous artists to even the youngest of learners. After listening to the jokes, have students make up their own jokes. Poems with activities offer a kinesthetic approach to poetry. Songs about colors and the days of the week catch your auditory learners. Share this link on your class website for students to explore (and enjoy) both in and out of the classroom.
 This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.

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

Rating (click star to set rating):

Close comment form

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!).

Close

Less
More

LitPick - LitPick

Grades
4 to 12
1 Favorites 0  Comments
 
LitPick is a great place to find preteen and teen literature reviewed by students from all over the world. Discover the latest reads reviewed by students. Students apply to ...more
Here is the direct link to share this resource review. Feel free to copy and paste this URL into an email or place it on your web page or blog so others can read this TeachersFirst review:

 Close Link

LitPick is a great place to find preteen and teen literature reviewed by students from all over the world. Discover the latest reads reviewed by students. Students apply to become a reviewer, along with an adult sponsor, and get a free eBook or print book. Choose a book by age or genre. Read within 4-6 weeks and write a 5-10 sentence review summarizing the book, without giving away the ending. Submit and receive feedback before the final review is approved and published. Receive points and badges for well written reviews. Find books listed by genre or age group. Under Educators find an Educators Guide, Quizzes, and Learning Lessons. Adult members of LitPick can participate in the monthly book giveaway contest and newsletter that features student book reviews and special offers. Sign up to receive the latest announcement and promotional giveaways. Start book clubs, or use in classes. LitPick was selected as Best Website for Teaching and Learning by the American Association of School Librarians, and selected for the Gold Award from Mom's Choice and the Association of Independent Authors. LitPick also hosts a video review channel titled BookTube residing on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable; be sure to look at alternatives for sharing the videos on classroom computers.

tag(s): expository writing (31), independent reading (85), literature (217), literature circles (3)

In the Classroom

Use this site for a real reviewer's experience or simply to find great books. Evaluate other reviews and make a list of noteworthy reviewing techniques. Students choose the latest new reads before they are released to the public. Sign up individual students, groups of students, or your class to read a book together and write a review. Challenge your gifted ones to work on this authentic review task. This site is perfect to use for literature circles. Create your own "LitPick" on your school library site. Have students involve parents as their sponsor for greater parental involvement and excitement. Get the newest books free.
 This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.

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

Rating (click star to set rating):

Close comment form

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!).

Close

Less
More

Going Deep with Award Winning Books: Close reading and text-dependent questions - TeachersFirst

Grades
K to 6
3 Favorites 0  Comments
 
This installment in a series of articles about implementing Common Core in elementary focuses on close reading of texts in Caldecott award winning books. Since Caldecott winners tend...more
Here is the direct link to share this resource review. Feel free to copy and paste this URL into an email or place it on your web page or blog so others can read this TeachersFirst review:

 Close Link

This installment in a series of articles about implementing Common Core in elementary focuses on close reading of texts in Caldecott award winning books. Since Caldecott winners tend to be available in most libraries, what better way to start the practice of close reading and questioning a la Common Core. A major shift of the Common Core State Standards is to have reading, writing, listening and speaking grounded in evidence , from both literary and informational texts. As a result, terms like "close reading" and "text-dependent questions" are getting a lot of attention. Find ideas to implement this shift. The article is intended for elementary teachers as part of our Help! I lost my library/media specialist series.

tag(s): commoncore (75)

In the Classroom

If you are fortunate enough to have a library/media specialist to partner with you, try these ideas together during read-alouds both in the library/media center and in your classroom. Mark this article in your favorites and refer back to it as you move forward with Common Core.

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

Rating (click star to set rating):

Close comment form

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!).

Close

Less
More

Honing Your Craft During the Dog Days of Summer - TeachersFirst

Grades
K to 6
1 Favorites 0  Comments
This article in the series Help I lost my library/media specialist is just in time for summer break. Here you'll find an easy, quick read with some suggested activities: ...more
Here is the direct link to share this resource review. Feel free to copy and paste this URL into an email or place it on your web page or blog so others can read this TeachersFirst review:

 Close Link

This article in the series Help I lost my library/media specialist is just in time for summer break. Here you'll find an easy, quick read with some suggested activities: Read a Book - with several Professional, Children's, and Young Adult books suggested, and Take a Class suggesting several Teachers Institutes and Online Classes. Also, read about Professional Book Studies and Book Clubs under Extensions with suggestions for running the studies or clubs.

tag(s): book lists (159), independent reading (85)

In the Classroom

Mark this one in your TeachersFirst favorites, even if you have NO time to even LOOK at it right now. Share it with your student teacher, mentoree, recent teacher ed graduate, and newbie teachers as they go off on break, too. Read what you have time for this summer, and save the rest for a break later on.

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

Rating (click star to set rating):

Close comment form

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!).

Close

Less
More

Award Winning Kids' Books - Reading Rockets

Grades
K to 12
0 Favorites 0  Comments
 
If you are looking for recent children's literature award winning books, this is the site for you. Reading Rockets has an excellent compilation of major awards such as Caldecott Medal...more
Here is the direct link to share this resource review. Feel free to copy and paste this URL into an email or place it on your web page or blog so others can read this TeachersFirst review:

 Close Link

If you are looking for recent children's literature award winning books, this is the site for you. Reading Rockets has an excellent compilation of major awards such as Caldecott Medal and Newbery Awards along with other less known but note-worthy recognitions. In addition, many "best of" lists are included from recent years. This is an excellent resource for classroom teachers, library/media specialists, and parents. Schools without media specialists may find this especially useful as a resource for the newest and most highly-regarded literature. Be sure to also check out the many other resources offered on this site such as Reading Guides, Classroom Strategies, and the many videos available about reading.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): book lists (159), book reports (28), guided reading (33), independent reading (85), literacy (106), literature (217)

In the Classroom

Share this site with other teachers as a resource for locating recent literature and for book orders. Keep this site handy as a resource for ideas for student reading material, book clubs, summer reading lists, book circles, and classroom read-alouds. Be sure to list this site on your class website for students to access both in and out of school. After reading a new book, rather than having students complete a traditional book report, have students make a multimedia presentation using one of the many TeachersFirst Edge tools reviewed here. Be sure to share the link with parents, too!

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

Rating (click star to set rating):

Close comment form

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!).

Close

Less
More

5 Minute Mystery - Mystery Competition, LLC

Grades
4 to 12
14 Favorites 0  Comments
This mystery reading game helps increase reading comprehension and critical thinking skills in an innovative way. The basic game is free. You can sign up to have two mysteries a ...more
Here is the direct link to share this resource review. Feel free to copy and paste this URL into an email or place it on your web page or blog so others can read this TeachersFirst review:

 Close Link

This mystery reading game helps increase reading comprehension and critical thinking skills in an innovative way. The basic game is free. You can sign up to have two mysteries a week sent to you, or you can use their archive. There is an indepth "How to Play" section, on the top menu bar, where you can read the instructions. After reading a mystery you select the correct sentences that are clues, and select a character that the clue either exonerates or implicates. Points are awarded for each clue you get correct. You can set up a leaque or several leagues to track students' performance and progress.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): critical thinking (112), mysteries (19), reading comprehension (142), short stories (18)

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.

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

Rating (click star to set rating):

Close comment form

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!).

Close

Less
More

Interactive Audio Books Resources - TeachersFirst

Grades
K to 12
8 Favorites 0  Comments
These educator-reviewed resources from TeachersFirst offer audio books in interactive form so all students, including emerging readers and ESL/ELL learners, can experience reading with...more
Here is the direct link to share this resource review. Feel free to copy and paste this URL into an email or place it on your web page or blog so others can read this TeachersFirst review:

 Close Link

These educator-reviewed resources from TeachersFirst offer audio books in interactive form so all students, including emerging readers and ESL/ELL learners, can experience reading with audio and visual prompts or interactivity to reinforce and inspire literacy skills and enjoyment as they read. Be sure to explore each site, as many include multiple types of activities, including the interactive books.

tag(s): audio books (23)

In the Classroom

Mark this one in your professional favorites AND share it on a class web page for access by students and parents. The helpful reviews suggest ideas for ways to use the audio books in the classroom or outside of school to reinforce literacy skills, improve English skills, or study literature in new ways.

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

Rating (click star to set rating):

Close comment form

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!).

Close