This page is primarily for parents of gifted children, but it includes lists of traits of the gifted and links to resources which classroom teachers might find helpful. A hot topic is the crossover between traits of the gifted and of ADHD children.
In the Classroom: There is also a gifted child penpal service which could help a lone soul in your classroom.
This article provides information regarding gifted students. Specific topics include how to spot a gifted student, making the "gifted" label more comfortable for your child, nurturing your gifted child at home, why "advanced work" is not the whole answer, helping your child get more out of school assignments and projects and resources.
In the Classroom: This article may be a useful reference for some of your parents. Share the link on your teacher web page or in a newsletter or note sent home.
This center is directed by Dr. Joseph S. Renzulli of the University of Connecticut. This site contains a wealth of current and reliable information on the topic of gifted education and includes lists of abstracts from recent NRC/GT publications, recommended videos, book resources, articles from NRC/GT newsletters, and related educational links. An invaluable source for parents and teachers of gifted children.
This ERIC Digest offers a comprehensive, practical strategy for building an advocacy effort to support gifted education. Includes reading and resource notes.
This ERIC Digest suggests strategies to provide curriculum differentiation for gifted and talented students. Includes reading and resource suggestions.
CogitoGrade 7 to 12
- Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth- 8023
This powerful site will challenge your brightest students and get everyone thinking. Designed to spark interest of young scientists and thinkers in real world issues, this site is run by Johns Hopkins' famous program for gifted youth. Find feature articles on current research, Nobel laureates, and hot topics such as global warming. Explore the links for MANY outstanding sites not specifically for "education" as much as for real-world investigation and learning.
In the Classroom: Teachers with high level, AP, or gifted students will want to explore this site during the summer months for inspiration and resources to use throughout the year. If your gifted program requires individual projects, send your students here to find ideas and to get energized! Even "regular" teachers, especially in the sciences, will want to share some of the current research topics and interviews that fit their curriculum. If you are looking for ways students and environmental clubs can get involved, check out the "Get Involved" section in the Sites and Tools menu.
One simple way to use the Interviews in a regular science classroom would be to have students research and act out an interview with a "mock" scientist, explaining what he/she does in order to expose students to the many fields included in the sciences.
This ERIC Digest discusses the special issues that arise when students are both gifted and learning disabled - a condition that is surprisingly common. It suggests both ways to identify these hard-to-spot situations and strategies to help these students develop appropriate achievement. Requires Acrobat Reader. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
This ERIC Digest provides a long-term college planning strategy for gifted students. Beginning in middle school, the digest suggests a series of concrete steps which can lead to an informed college decision. Requires Acrobat Reader.
Let Bloom's Taxonomy become your guide in working with gifted students. This web site explains clearly and simply each level of Bloom's Taxonomy - a model of critical thinking that progresses from the most basic level to the most complex. Examples of appropriate questions are given as well as illustrations for use in the classroom. Gifted students should be asked to utilize the upper three levels - analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
Your busy life needs a manager. Now you have one: RememberTheMilk.com (also known as RTM). Don’t worry about missing a date; any or all of these applications or programs will remind you: email, SMS, and instant messenger (AIM, Gadu-Gadu, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber, MSN, Skype and Yahoo) are all supported. Set up a free account in minutes. Secondary students will embrace this tool to remind them of tests or assignments or sporting events. List making has made it to a whole new level.
In the Classroom: This is a Beta site, so beware of possible glitches. Read the Blog at this site to learn many cool ways to interact with your personal computer using RTM. Learning support teachers and teachers of disorganized gifted students may want to “model” using such an online tool to help middle and high school students learn better personal organization. Make a demo account for a “mythical” student and organize him/her together so students can see how it works. You will have to check school policies and access to some of the messaging tools, however, since some may be prohibited in your school. Learning support and gifted teachers will welcome this online tool as an engaging way for students to become better-organized. Give students a tech tool, and they just might try it!
Links to summer and Saturday programs for gifted and talented students throughout the United States and abroad are provided along with brief explanations of each. All grade levels are represented in this compilation.
Practical advice on identifying and nurturing your gifted pre-school student at home. Includes descriptions of creative activities you can do with your child outside of school to encourage critical thinking skills and creativity.
A creative collection of puzzles and brainteasers to challenge gifted students. This large collection is maintained by Hoagies and sometimes has a few dead links, but the collection is still worth visiting for the MANY good sites they share.
Knowing what questions to ask can make all of the difference in advocating for your gifted child. Written by the mother of a hearing impaired student, this article provides practical advice for any parent seeking to improve the educational climate for their child.
This California-based organization maintains an extensive collection of information on learning strategies and ways of working with gifted or specially talented students from any socioeconomic setting. There are articles, bibliographies, and links to examples of innovative strategies.
Created by the Institute for the Academic Advancement of Youth at the Johns Hopkins University, this site contains comprehensive information for teachers of gifted students in upper elementary grades through middle school. Highlights include information about summer programs for students in grades 2-12, summer employment opportunities for elementary and middle school teachers interested in becoming involved in CTY summer programs, the CTY talent search, student application information, ability and achievement testing, recommended publications and resources, and available services for interested schools and teachers.
In the Classroom: Share this link with your parents of gifted students.
Chinese PhrasesGrade 5 to 12
- Haiwang Yuan with Remy Guo- 6910
Learn the basics of Chinese. This could be very helpful for teachers working with Chinese-speaking ESL/ELL students or for your English-speaking students who are curious about other languages. Gifted students might enjoy comparing languages using this site and other tools.
Based upon Gardner’s Eight Styles of Learning, this inventory allows your student to understand how they learn. Through 80 questions, the user will be told which learning styles are his strength or weakness. It’s simple to use. Simply type in a username, if you are male or female, if you are right or left handed, and your age. Click to Begin. You will be provided a USER ID number. Make sure you write down the user ID number assigned to each student, as entering that number is the only means to look at your inventory results. All information is confidential; no names are entered, therefore the ID number is essential. The site allows a maximum of 40 users on the inventory at a time. They provide the current number of users on the main page.
In the Classroom: Regular ed and learning support teachers from middle school up will want to share this resource with students and parents to help students find the most effective ways to study and retain knowledge. Introduce to parents the concept of Gardner’s Styles of Learning by letting them take this Multiple Intelligence test in the computer lab during Parent Night. Include the link on your teacher web page or plan a start-of-the year in-class time to help students get off on the right foot. Younger gifted students may also find this site intriguing. Even teachers of gifted will find this resource helpful when their gifted students, unaccustomed to such an experience, unexpectedly "hit the wall" in challenging courses. As part of a study skills unit, have students self-assess and create a single database of the class members' learning styles and subject strengths so they can find peer-tutors during study halls.
Use this website to "clear out the cobwebs" in your students' minds. The site offers several interactive logic activities. Many require no reading. A few examples include Tetris, Rubik's Cube, Sliders, Towers and more. All activities require JAVA and FLASH. You can get both from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Use one of these on an interactive whiteboard as a brain warm-up at the beginning of class or as student enter the room. If you have a difficult group in a study hall, this site could keep them busy in a positive way. Substitutes will also love it! Include this link in your class's newsletter, classroom computer, or teacher web page for extra challenges and enrichment. Teachers of gifted can challenge their students to write "how to" directions for how to solve these puzzles, once they have figured them out!
A Free, Interactive Course in Studio and Field Production-- This is a free course aimed at students interested in going into television production. It is exhaustive in its entirety and covers all aspects of the production from scripts to news reporting, editing, legal and ethical issues, etc. While it is geared to college students, upper level high school students would do well with some of this as well, especially those motivated by this subject matter. It also offers the entire course in Spanish and Portuguese.
Clicking on the "Readings and Information" menu will give you a "classroom related" menu that includes lesson plans and ideas. Scrolling down the main page, you can check on interactive test, crosswords, quizzes, video projects, and notes for both students and teachers.
In the Classroom: Wow, what a source for those teaching video or scriptwriting! This would be a valuable reference site for students interested in independent projects using video or for gifted enrichment projects, as well. If nothing else, assign lessons on composition and other "basics" to any student choosing to use video as a medium for a major project.
This website was created to correspond with the Saxon mathematics books (grades 6-12). This site provides math stumpers and numerous activities. The topics include algebra, physics, calculus and more.
In the Classroom: These math activities are easy to use and ready to go. Use these for daily morning challenges or additional enrichment for your advanced or gifted students. Solutions are provided.
Music OutlineGrade 1 to 6
- Mr. Natural's Electric Classroom- 7380
Mr. Natural (yes, that is his real name) offers a Keyboard Intervalometer, or numbered scale, to download and place on the keys of a piano. Use this numbered version and the corresponding numbered music (think Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star) to learn to play the piano the "Natural" way. He also provides scales for other instruments. This would be great fun for young children but could also be very interesting as well as entertaining for older students!
In the Classroom: Try using the Intervalometer on a computer connected to an interactive whiteboard to SHOW students what intervals are and help them develop their "ear." If you do not have room for this system within your curriculum, you may want to include it on your teacher web page for your young prodigies to try at home. Teachers of gifted may also want to offer it as a personal exploration for students interested in music.
The Davidson Institute offers a broad range of resources for parents, teachers, and professionals working with “profoundly gifted” students – typically those with both an IQ above 150 and one or more specific talents. The site offers enrichment ideas, advanced placement strategies, and encouragement for students themselves. Though it is applicable to a very narrow range of students, this is a very rich resource.
While we’re not experts, Robots.net appears to be a robots site for those who already know what they’re doing. Written for those with some engineering expertise, the site offers a collection of articles posted by members, an index of projects (but without much explanation) and a members’ area. Those looking for advanced ideas or solutions to robotics problems may well find leads here.
In the Classroom: If you teacher tech ed, gifted, or physics students at an advanced level, this might be just the site they will love to reseacrh and create independent projects.
The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is the largest international professional organization dedicated to improving educational outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities, students with disabilities, and/or the gifted. CEC advocates for appropriate governmental policies, sets professional standards, provides continual professional development, advocates for newly and historically underserved individuals with exceptionalities, and helps professionals obtain conditions and resources necessary for effective professional practice.
Older students celebrating Reading Across America week and any just-plain Seuss fans will enjoy these parodies collected as a plain vanilla web site. Note that this collection of links was created a while ago, so some links may no longer be active. Be sure to check out the ever popular Freud-on-Seuss, originally published in a college humor newspaper. Your literature students will appreciate these examples of parody. Gifted students and talented writers may even want to try their own hand after reading some. As always with humor, preview to be sure you are comfortable bringing these into the classroom.
In the Classroom: Plan a parody activity during the celebration of Seuss. Students will certainly be familiar with the "originals," making it easier to teach the sophisticated analysis of what makes parody work. If you project these parody texts (copied into other software, such as Smart Notebook or Word) on an interactive whiteboard, students can annotate them and save/print the files.
A delightfully creative, collaborative site where people share (and comment on) directions for "how to" make just about anything. Language Arts, Art, or Gifted classes can "explore" the various topics to see how step-by-step directions are written, then have students write their own sequence of instructions. Even add a digital picture. Topics are "filtered" by topic (on the left side of the "explore" page) and also searchable by keyword. Art teachers will appreciate illustrated explanations of techniques from artists all over the world. This is a collaborative site, so you can read comments made by others on the different sets of instructions. Always preview such a site for appropriate content. Some include Acrobat files of patterns.
In the Classroom: Note: for safety reasons, it is best for the teacher to set up the free account and upload the directions, if you are posting student work. no one under 13 is allowed to post on the site. To prevent endless surfing through many how-to's, you can send students directly to specific directions by copy/pasting the address for that exact item into your class handout or onto your teacher web page.
Learn the basics of Japanese. This could be very helpful for teachers working with Japanese-speaking ESL/ELL students or for your English-speaking students who are curious about other languages. Gifted students might enjoy comparing languages using this site and other tools. Requires Quicktime to play the pronunciations.
Learn the basics of Polish. This could be very helpful for teachers working with Polish-speaking ESL/ELL students or for your English-speaking students who are curious about other languages. Gifted students might enjoy comparing languages using this site and other tools.
Learn the basics of Russian. This could be very helpful for teachers working with Russian-speaking ESL/ELL students or for your English-speaking students who are curious about other languages. Gifted students might enjoy comparing languages using this site and other tools.
Learn the basics of Portuguese. This could be very helpful for teachers working with Portuguese-speaking ESL/ELL students or for your English-speaking students who are curious about other languages. Gifted students might enjoy comparing languages using this site and other tools.
Learn the basics of Spanish. This could be very helpful for teachers working with Spanish-speaking ESL/ELL students or for your English-speaking students who are curious about other languages. Gifted students might enjoy comparing languages using this site and other tools. Requires Quicktime to play pronunciations.
Learn the basics of many languages, including may less-common ones. This could be very helpful for working with ESL/ELL students or for your English-speaking students who are curious about other languages. Gifted students might enjoy comparing languages using these tools.
This traditional "Tower of Hanoi" challenges secondary (and possibly gifted elementary) students to move all of the interactive discs from the left peg to the right peg. The goal is to move the discs using the lowest number of moves. This site requires Java. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Use this activity for independent challenges at the beginning of your math class. List this site on your class blog or website for students to try at home. Ask your advanced students to generate a “how to” explanation for the challenge.
This not-so-new site includes examples of peculiarities and oddities of the English language. Examples of topics include “Whatchamacallits,” "Spoonerisms," "Antagonyms," “Pun of the Day,” “OxymoronList.com,” and several others. Most of the sections have a "your turn" activity for students to do. This is a real vocabulary booster. Be aware: this site does include some advertisements.
In the Classroom: If you want students to get excited about words and phrases, this might be the site to do it. These are great short activities to do with students on the interactive whiteboard or projector. Or use this site with reluctant wordsmiths to get them motivated. One of the things you can do with students is to group them and have timed contests with some of the "your turn" activities given. Have cooperative learning groups explore ONE of the topics at this site, and create a multi-media or interactive whiteboard presentation to share with the class demonstrating what they have learned. Use the drag and drop features of the white board to rearrange words, letters, and phrases. Have gifted students or others in need of enrichment develop their own wiki “dictionaries” of vocabulary oddities based on this site’s ideas.
This WebQuest focuses on some great "heroes of peace" from the last 100-years! Students learn about changes in HOW people treat one another throughout the past century. The Process begins with reading a story called "The Wise Ones." Then students are asked to focus research on a specific peacemaker: Muhammad Ali, Mahatma Ghandi, Jane Goodall, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, or Desmond Tutu. Students are challenged to create a story (similar to the introduction story) involving the person they researched. ALL of the links to research are provided and were up to date at the time of this review. A scoring rubric is provided. Teachers - be sure to visit the Teacher Note section for additional information about this site. Some of the links to outside research require Adobe Acrobat and/or Flash. You can get both from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Share the introduction on your interactive whiteboard or projector. This is a great addition to a character education unit or a unit on peace in general. While this website does offer great research and project ideas, why not make it even MORE interactive and interesting to your students? Have students work in cooperative learning groups (or independently, if you prefer) to research or compare peacemakers of the past and present. Offer students other options to research also. Why not have students write a story (as the site suggests) but use a tool to create an online book, such as Bookemon reviewed here).
The name says it all—this site is just crosswords, created by you or your students. Cool features: 1. You can customize a crossword puzzle around any subject. 2. Once created, you can link it to you website or blog. 3. You can bookmark it, so that you, your students or their parents can return to it whenever they choose. 4. You can email your puzzle to anyone in the world. 5. Puzzles can be worked online, and there is even a stopwatch tell you how long it takes to complete it. (Warning: Changing an answer is cumbersome.) 6. Explore the archive to find previously made puzzles in standard or crozzle format.
Be Aware: You can’t easily print your puzzle into a sleek format without all the website clutter. This site does require Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Let your imagination run wild. Spelling words, content vocabulary words, or holiday words are obvious uses of this tool. Link puzzles to your teacher’s site, or your school’s site. Have students create puzzles to exchange with classmates. Create a crossword puzzle booklet to be given to loved ones (especially aging loved ones) as a holiday gift.
Teacher's First Edge Review: for moderate to advanced technology users. Use Go Animate to create interesting and memorable cartoon type presentations. Students will have fun unleashing their imagination and delivering a message through creative animation. Flash is required. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
Here is a very simple animation example:
In the Classroom: Skills needed: Create an account to login, but use the application right away (without waiting for an email confirmation). Video tutorials are available, and many functions are easy to figure out once you play with them. Choose from many templates or start with a blank screen. Create your cartoon using Saturday morning cartoon characters or a variety of other characters such as presidents, commercial characters, and many others. Add your images, such as faces or background pictures and customize additional characters, sounds, etc. Control length of sections, voices and sounds, and delete or add sections through the time line along the bottom. Save your creation easily and share to your favorite social or bookmark site; copy a link to share with others, or copy and paste the embed code into your wiki, blog, or website. Creations are saved in your account online and can be kept private or made public.
Safety/Security concerns: Some scenes may be inappropriate for all students but can be deleted easily. Caution: check student creations during the process. Students will need an email address to create an account. Check your school policies about accessing/sharing student email on school computers. 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. Also check your district's policies on displaying and sharing student work. CAUTION! This site includes the ability for the general public to submit their own animations. Be sure to preview for content inappropriate for your classroom. You may want to limit use to whole-class activities or prohibit accessing the public portion of the site. The home page has loud music and links to many “public” animation projects, so firm policies and/or practices to avoid "exploring" these are vital.
Possible uses: Students can sum up debate ideas using animated characters or present simple concepts from researched material to introduce to the class. Students can tell book report stories, create fictitious stories or present ideas in a fun format. Challenge students to use this site to tell the history of political figures, historical figures, or historical areas. Use this site to teach about chemical properties, scientific figures or discoveries, or great moments in Science through animation. In language arts class, you can use this tool to apply concepts of narrative patterns or characterization. Teachers of gifted may want to assign students to create an entire animated series. ESL/ELL or world language students could create animations to practice their new vocabulary. Why not have students create a comic strip about their mom or dad for Mother's or Father's Day or honoring someone else special in their lives - - even the school custodian, nurse, or secretary!
Modern LanguagesGrade 8 to 12
- Learning Space Open University- 9659
This site offers free courses with a great deal of depth on topics featuring modern European languages and English. It is a not a site for beginning language learners or low-level ESL and ELL students. Courses explore language topics, mostly with textual readings. Some of the featured units follow language textbooks. In addition to language topics, there are several offerings in business English. Students can choose what to study in a variety of ways: by topic, time of course, and course number or code.
You can put this in your RSS reader. Some of the activities require Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Introduce your AP language and world culture students to the materials on this site. Gifted students or those seeking independent language study could also use these courses.Older ESL and ELL students interested in business careers may also find it useful.
We all have them. They happen daily. Now is your chance to share funny classroom stories with the world. This simple, sleek site allows you to post your story and read stories from colleagues around the globe. Plan to laugh. Grab a cup of coffee and release the anxiety of the day by reading about how funny life really is on school campuses. Share a comical story by using the easy sharing tools.
In the Classroom: With older students (or gifted elementary), share some of the appropriate stories and challenge students to write fictional stories of “comics in the classroom.”
Have a bad day, week, month, or year? Is your class a bit more than you can (or would like) to handle? If so, visit this site for some humorous relief. They say, laughter is the best medicine. As you plan a faculty meeting, back to school teachers’ meeting, or professional presentation, find a good “opener” from this site.
How about an interactive Scrabble game for some language arts fun? This website provides a cooperative Scrabble game. Students can log-in and play Scrabble together, against other students from around the world, or start a new game independently. The website log-in requires a registration with an email account. For safety purposes, you may want to create your own Gmail account with sub-accounts for students (by sub account code name or number) within your classes. Here is a blog post that tells how. This site is ideal for language arts lessons (especially spelling and vocabulary practice), ESL and ELL students, gifted enrichment, or a Scrabble club or tournament.
In the Classroom: Why not create two user accounts, divide your class into two groups, and have a Scrabble tournament using spelling words, vocabulary words from science or social studies class, or whatever is applicable to your class. Use an interactive whiteboard or projection screen so the entire class can see (and join in on) the fun. If individual computers are available, pair students with a partner and have them create their own accounts and play against their partner. Use this site with your ESL and ELL students to practice English. Be sure to highlight this link on your class website so students (and their families) can enjoy the challenge at home.
Teacher's First Edge Review: This free site is for very adventurous technology users. With Apture, you can create a rich multimedia experience to your site, wiki, or blog, with instant access to video, audio, text, and more. Easily incorporate these multimedia objects into a page of your site, providing instantaneous information from Wikipedia, Washington Post, You Tube, Flickr, and many more. Adding these multimedia links creates icons next to your text. Hovering on the icon brings up the related multimedia items for any reader. Since learning and finding information is not linear, the discovery of your information’s deeper meaning occurs with richer context in a shorter time frame. This relevant content remains dynamic within your site. Apture's own example of a page using Apture can be found here. See another: a wiki page with class notes and Apture annotations created by a teacher..
At the time of this review, Apture is in “limited beta” but appears to be automatically accepting all new applications.
In the Classroom: Skills needed: Join the site and wait for verification email to log in. Enter your site/wiki/blog’s URL. You are actually allowed to enter many of these, but try ONE first! The site’s detector tool will then “sense” common blogging software, such as WordPress, and prompt you on what to do next. You must be familiar with embed codes and how to place them into your blog or website. Apture’s video tutorial will help (it also pops up along the Apture dashboard when you first go to your “Aptured” site/wiki/blog). Other the simple directions shown in pop-ups for using Apture in various blog and wiki tools. Instantly add the embed code to the most popular blog and wiki platforms with one click. The code generated is easily copy/pasted into your existing website/wiki/blog. Once the embed code is there, visiting your site/wiki/blog automatically brings up an Apture “dashboard” (small toolbar in the corner) for you to log in and add things to your site/wiki/blog. Highlighting text or another item automatically brings up the site (if a site name or URL) you wish to add. Other material can be located by clicking "add related media." Entering a search term instantly finds related Wikipedia or Washington Post articles, You Tube videos, Flickr photos, and more. Subsequent visitors to your site will see the icons next to any item you have “enriched” with Apture-linked media content.
Safety/security concerns: Membership requires an email address log-in. If students will use Apture with their own classroom blogs/wikis, check your school district's Acceptable Use policy regarding student email and establishing site memberships. A single class account created by an extra email account and password (NOT the one you use for your own teacher-created sites) is an option, assuming students will not vandalize each other’s work.
Apture recognizes your any site/wiki/blog name you have entered into its system each time you go there. Therefore, enter only sites you intend for multimedia use. Do not check “remember me” when you log into Apture or others will be able to add mischievous links to your site from that computer! Apture may not be fully accessible inside your school filtering because of the bandwidth it requires or the sites it pulls up. Check in advance to be sure all portions you plan to use in class will be available at school.
Practical Tips: Demonstrate first on a projector or interactive whiteboard with a teacher account so students see how easy the tool is for those familiar with embedding. This will allow you to discuss reliability of links and appropriateness of content to the audience for their educational projects. Enter additional search terms to add new media through the Apture pop-up dashboard. If you are Apture-enriching content on your site/blog/wiki for students to use independently, think of all the possible questions that your students may have about the content and vocabulary. For example, we know certain words are stumbling blocks for students, yet students are hesitant to find the meanings on their own. Link a Wikipedia or other definition for instant access to the meaning. Since Wikipedia is user-generated content, consider requiring students to link to two or three different definitions/articles so they can see first hand the variability of web information. You will need to be sure that students actually READ what they link and do not simply subscribe to “more links are better” to impress you. Consider asking for justification or critique of the links they include.
Possible uses: On your own blog or class information site, link videos explaining a curriculum topic or definitions so students understand the full context of the sentence. Use Apture to teach about evaluating the reliability of web sources by creating multiple links from the same term on a teacher-created page for students to compare and evaluate. Students can use Apture on a blog or wiki can to link content from the web to the information they are discussing. Special ed teachers may want to work with content area teachers to create enriched versions of key content on a class blog so students can experience a multimedia review. ESL teachers may want to create class blogs or wikis collaboratively with students to add visual stimuli and prompts. Consider having your more able students create some of these pages independently as a gifted project for learning support students to use later. Or allow gifted students to go beyond the usual “connections” to higher level, deeper understanding.
This website offers a tribute to mothers. Learn about the history of Mother's Day, how to say mother in various languages, jokes, quotes, poetry, gift ideas, recipes, information about Mother Teresa, craft ideas, and more.
In the Classroom: Use this website to provide some education about Mother's Day. Have your students learn how to pronounce "Mother" in other languages. Have your ESL and ELL students share how to say mother in their native languages. Teach about Mother Teresa, learn about the history of the holiday, read the poems, and explore this website together.
This site requires students to read a New York Times article about Gatsby (accessed through the site) and respond with a quiz and writing assignment. The entire activity is geared for comprehension of Gatsby in the urban classroom, but makes interesting discussion and learning in any classroom that teaches The Great Gatsby. Standards are included with the lesson plan.
In the Classroom: The article and the accompanying interactive quiz are online, so it is essential for students to do this in a computer lab or an Internet-ready classroom. The plan includes classroom discussion of the quiz after students take it, homework as follow-up, evaluation, vocabulary, extension and interdisciplinary activities, as well as links to related sites on great books and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
This site, created for third grade students, offers links to activities in math, science, social studies, language arts, creative arts, and a reference library. Some of the subject areas only offer one or two activities, while others offer several topics. The topics vary greatly and include famous U.S. monuments, place value, energy, light, contractions, antonyms, synonyms, multiplications, drawing, matter, structure of the U.S. government, famous Americans, compound words, and countless others.
Although some of the activities are not highly interactive, they are well done and could be very useful in the classroom. Some of the pages do have advertisements, but they are not distractive. This site requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: If you teach third grade (or are looking for some enrichment for gifted younger students), visit this interactive and eclectic website. Nearly all of these activities are ideal for an interactive whiteboard or projector. Use the activities to create learning centers or for research. List this site in your class newsletter and on your class website for students to use for additional practice at home.
This fabulous collection of interactive multiplication activities was organized by a math specialist (former 5th grade teacher). Some of the specific topics include flash cards, multiples of 10, multiplication tiles, factorization, and numerous others. Most of the activities require FLASH, some require JAVA. You can get both from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: Why not include a link to this website in your next class newsletter (and on your class website). This is a wonderful resource to use for additional practice, re-teaching skills, enrichment activities, or even advanced activities for your gifted students. All activities are ideal for an interactive whiteboard (or projector).
This well planned site makes language learning easy. See a complete demo from a link on the "Features" page. Select the language you wish to study after free registration. Gifted students seeking independent study of a language will enjoy the extensive offerings.Lessons begin with a conversational preview. Each portion of the conversation appears on a separate screen, with multiple practices and translation. Hear native speakers pronounce the conversation sand explore many other rich features. If you mouse over the words, you can see the phonetic pronunciation. follow the color coding to see exactly which section of the language corresponds to the English. Although the site is in BETA as of this review, more language offerings appear frequently. Unfortunately the site does not offer English as a second language except to Spanish and Polish speakers. Presumably more English is coming.
In the Classroom: Use this as a supplement to beginning language lessons or a marvelous enrichment when studying other cultures and countries. Share the link on your teacher web page for students to use as extra practice or study for tests. If yous school does not provide or permit student email accounts, a teacher can set up a class account using his/her "extra" email address and allow students to use that one account.
Sound JunctionGrade 3 to 12
- Associated Board of the Royal School of Music (UK)- 8582
Want to know how music is really put together? Do you love exploring and creating different sounds? You don't need to be a music teacher (or teacher of gifted and talented) to appreciate this site, but if you are one, you will want to mark this as a Favorite immediately. As the site says itself, "You can take music apart and find out how it works, create music yourself, find out how other people make music and how they perform it, you can find out about musical instruments, and look at the backgrounds to different musical styles."
Interact with musical instruments or create your own music and share your composition with others on the web. Lively, crisp sounds echo from this site so use your best musical "ear." Teachers can find many ways to collaborate with others around the world by clicking "Find music teaching resources," an area that even includes Sound Junction activities created by other teachers. Free membership allows you to save music you create and save your "journey" through the site's tools so you can retrace your steps another day. If high school music students are allowed to use personal accounts, they can create music individually or in small groups. Even working together as a class is a remarkable experience from beginner to professional level. This site requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Be sure to hook up speakers or headphones to share in class. Music teachers who have access to an interactive whiteboard or projector can enjoy composing music together with the whole class, then posting to the web for the school community to enjoy. Elementary students will develop a better "ear" just from the Music Explorer which will "feature" different voices from within a piece of music. Both Explorer and Composer require a "Sequence Xtra" plug-in (offered for free download). Teachers of gifted will want to share this resource with their talented musicians. There is so much in this site it could take months to discover it all.
Got a curious student? Need a motivator to connect to science lessons? Trying to find real world applications of scientific principles? This site supplies volumes (literally seven volumes) of products and how they are made. Just click on the volume number and each list is alphabetized for your students' perusal. Don't just read the short excerpt about the product. Click on the product name to read full details on product purchasing, its history, and much more. Below the "Volumes" section is another section of inventors and their biographies.
In the Classroom: When it is 'science report' time, direct your students to this site, loaded with hundreds of possibilities. Better yet, as you teach science principles, first share how something works that uses the same principle (on a projector or whiteboard). Then challenge students to find other REAL applications of the principle and create a class wiki glossary of concepts with example links. Model this the first few times, then assign them to work in groups. Since this site permits reader contributions at the end of entries, you may opt to find a product that needs more research and allow your students to add content information to the site (with your approval, of course). Every science teacher, gifted teacher, or tech ed teacher will want to share this site on your teacher web page.
This crafty website provides students (and teachers) with directions to create paper toys. The patterns are printables on the web page. The website provides instructions for approximately 100 unique models. The types of models vary from monuments (such as the Chrysler Building or the Eiffel Tower) to holiday creations. There are printable instructions provided for each model. This website is a refreshing activity for art classes, social studies classes or any class seeking a creative method to use to re-create famous monuments and other objects or buildings.
In the Classroom: The paper folding activities would work well with cooperative learning groups. For example, during a unit on architecture or structures, have each group recreate a different monument or architectural design. Then teach about the various concepts of architecture by using the groups' models. Ask gifted/talented students to analyze how the paper fold-ups work then design a model of your school.
Some of the options are purely entertainment oriented. You may want to print the paper patterns yourself instead of sending students to the site.
This holiday website has a magnitude of information about Christmas. There are close to 100 articles of interest provided. Topics include Christmas around the world, crafts, cooking, entertainment, games, gifts, history and more! My personal favorite aspect of this website was the information provided about the Christmas traditions in America, Australia, England, France, Germany, Mexico, Scotland, Spain and other countries.
In the Classroom: Be sure to check out this informative website when planning holiday lessons and festivities. Have a worldwide holiday celebration with traditional activities from different cultures and religions or include some of these explanationa as readings during a holiday musical program at your school.
Music CentreGrade 1 to 12
- Birmingham Grid For Learning- 8344
Music teachers and those who work with gifted and talented will LOVE this one. The sections include "Listening Room," "Sound Library," "Downloads," "Links," "Virtual Keyboard," "Ask an Expert," and "Mixing Studio." Students can listen to music, submit music mixes, play the virtual keyboard and even ask questions of a music expert. Be prepared for British spelling differences. The Discussion Area seems to be for people affiliated with the Birmingham, England area. This site requires Flash, get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: First, plug in speakers or headphones and turn up the sound! Share the virtual keyboard to teach basic music concepts on an interactive whiteboard without any REAL instruments. Assign students to create music mixes on laptops or lab computers using the downloadable software they offer (requires the ability to install software). For a less-technological challenge, use the Sound Library for students to hear specific types of instruments. For your 15 minutes of fame, record your school group playing copyright-free, original compositions for upload and sharing in the Listening Room.
This website provides some awesome, higher-level thinking activities. There are challenges provided in various subject areas including logic, math, science, literacy, memory and more. The specific activities are extremely attention grabbing and diverse. Some of the activities include Word Blender, Tessellations, and Sokoban. Most of these activities require Flash. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: This website literally provides activities on nearly all elementary subjects. The logic and mind stretcher activities are appropriate for elementary gifted students and middle school students. Get your entire class involved and use an Interactive Whiteboard!
This Website is designed to meet the needs of schools that would like to offer foreign languages but have no language. It serves as an introductory-level course in French, German, or Spanish. Each 10-15 minute lesson presents many words, with emphasis on the spoken word rather than the written word. Teachers of gifted may have students who want to learn a language as independent study using this site. This site requires Adobe Acrobat Reader and Windows Media Player. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: Share the videos as a whole-class lesson on a projector. You will need speakers for the audio portions of this site. Include this site on your teacher web page for students and parents to access as a reference. As you study different continents or cultures, include a little of the language to expose your students to the "sounds" of other places. If you have ESL students in your class, share a video for the native English speakers to better understand the experience of learning a new language.
Math GoodiesGrade 5 to 9
- Mrs. Glosser's Math Goodies- 8059
This site was created for middle school math, but could be used with gifted elementary students or older students needing some extra skill reinforcement. Many parts of this site are free for students, parents and teachers. Some of the resources are available by purchasing a CD. Specific math topics include logic, percent, perimeter, circumference, pre-algebra, statistics, graphs and more! This website includes interactive pages, printable worksheets, interactive puzzles and other math challenges.
In the Classroom: Be sure to include this site on your teacher web page for students to access both in and outside of class for further practice.
This limited selection of well-produced audio books in the public domain is unique in its selection of titles. New classic titles are constantly being added. Professionals read the books. Texts available as of spring, 2007 include: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; A Tale of Two Cities; Elephant's Child, The;Empty House, The;Excerpt from Don Quijote; Gift of the Magi, The; Goblin Market; Gunga Din; Happy Prince, The; Heart of Darkness; Highwayman, The; Monkey's Paw, The; On the Brighton Road; Red Room, The; Upper Berth, The.
In the Classroom: Use these recordings for a new medium in literature study or for learning support/visually impaired students whose decoding skills hinder their appreciation of the literature. Those with MP3 players can download the files for portable listening.
DLTK has created this website that includes numerous crafts, poems, online puzzles, printable gifts, recipes and more.
In the Classroom: Share this link on your class website for families to access over the summer months. Why not suggest something interactive for the students to create, in addition to the paper craft. For example, have students create online books about their fathers using Bookemon (reviewed here).
A Christmas gift from one of our own staff, this lesson based on Shel Silverstein's book The Giving Tree is sure to get you students thinking about the Christmas spirit. We're also offering a place for you to share your students' responses on TeachersFirst's own giving tree.
In the Classroom: This lesson can be adapted for use in language arts class with students of varying ability levels in grades 2 - 8. This lesson is also well-suited to a multi-age activity with "big buddies" and "little buddies" from upper and lower grades working together. School counselors and emotional support teachers may find this activity helpful for small groups working on social skills, as well.
Here's a nicely done collection of activities, coloring items, and other Christmas treats for elementary students. Lots of printable sheets to color, letting students make gift tags, cards, and the like.
In the Classroom: Post this site on your teacher web page to allow parents and students access. Teachers can also use this site in the downtime that sometimes comes in the days before winter break. Share some of the activities on an interactive whiteboard or projector, and help students recreate them.
Oddball is a mind stretching mathematics challenge (in Java). For complete instructions, be sure to visit the "Note to Teachers" page. Be sure to explain the directions to your students prior to game time (detailed directions are provided on the site).
In the Classroom: Use an interactive whiteboard to introduce and challenge your class to this mind-bending activity. Once you have explained the directions for the game and feel your students understand the challenge, head to the computer lab for individual fun! Be sure to include the link on your teacher web page for them to access both in and outside of class during "free" times. Teachers of gifted students should challenge their students to design a "winning" strategy for the game!
Space Poem ChainGrade 6 to 12
- Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency- 7777
Cross over from science to literature by participating in the Space Poem Chain. This "chain" originates in Japan, where weekly submissions have been selected during the six months from October 2006 to March 2007. Click on "concept" to read the background and details. The completed Space Poem Chain will be recorded on DVD and in late December 2007 sent up to the International Space Station in the Japanese Experimental Module Kibo. The project hopes to continue after this initial phase. The poem follows a traditional Japanese poetry form, but entries mat be submitted both in English and Japanese. See the full work, with beautiful space image backgrounds by clicking on "Space Poem Chain Gallery >Enter." The poem display requires FLASH and is sometimes slow to load.
In the Classroom: Share this site as a unique participatory poetry experience, even after the initial project publication. Perhaps your students would like to launch a poetry chain within your school or on a class wiki open to students around the world. Teachers in science, English, and even gifted program classes have a unique opportunity to awaken interest. Make creative writing an open experience-- one that may even appeal to the "rocket scientists" in your class.
When you first visit the site, you may be prompted to download a Japanese language plug-in. You will be able to READ the site without it, but the legibility improves dramatically if you are permitted to download plug-ins on your computer.
Build higher level thinking skills, especially flexibility in how students visualize and interpret a brief story. This challenging and interactive website has Lateral puzzles, both "active" and "solved." Registration is required if you guess an answer to one of the "active" puzzles. Registration is not necessary for reading the puzzles and clues. This site gives a lateral puzzle, and then the readers can ask questions to the original poster. Some of the "solved" puzzles could be used with younger students. However, the site is geared towards middle school and high school aged students.
Not sure what a Lateral Puzzle is? Read the FAQ section!
In the Classroom: Challenge your class with a "lateral puzzle of the day". This site would be perfect for your gifted students or to get everyone thinking at the start of class. Be sure to include the link on your web page! For an extra challenge when students have mastered the puzzles, ask them to analyze how they work and write some of their own.
Picturing AmericaGrade 5 to 12
- National EH/American Library Association- 7716
A new experimental program attached to the "We the People" program, Picturing America invites educators and school librarians to apply online for free 2'by 3' posters of artworks from America. Those selected for the gift (500 schools in all) will also receive reading lists and other information about the art. The deadline for applications is March 19, 2007!
In the Classroom: Get free laminated copies of major artworksto use throughout your school. Grab an art tecaher or librarian to help you complete the application. If you don't try, you'll never win!
This site pronounces Hebrew words written in Hebrew, as well as translations from a variety of other languages including English, French, Dutch,and more. The word pronounced is always in Hebrew.
In the Classroom: You may have students learning Hebrew at their temple or synagogue, but this site will allow your students to explore the look and sound of another language. Gifted students may want to try learning basics in multiple languages. If you study the Middle East or world cultures, provide this link on your teacher web page for enrichment.
This website offers a variety of books for parents (about parenting topics). Some topics include gifted students, helping your child manage stress, money management for kids, homework tips, sleeping guides and more.
In the Classroom: This article may be a useful reference for some of your parents. Share the link on your teacher web page, at conferences, or in a newsletter or note sent home.
The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is the largest international professional organization dedicated to improving educational outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities, students with disabilities, and/or the gifted. CEC advocates for appropriate governmental policies, sets professional standards, provides continual professional development, advocates for newly and historically underserved individuals with exceptionalities, and helps professionals obtain conditions and resources necessary for effective professional practice.
Looking for an online project-based interactive website that encourages literacy and cross-cultural communication? Looking for an alternative culminating project or process writing project for your secondary classes? Trying to help your high school juniors and seniors create an interesting college "essay" or portfolio piece? Join other adults and children from around the world by adding your essay, artwork or video about a hero on this non-profit, ad-free web site. You and your students can use this site with basic word processing knowledge -- or take it further if you are more technically capable.Site registration is required. Site is available in Spanish. Flash, Acrobat Reader and Quicktime are required. Get them from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Be sure to visit the Teacher’s Resource section for helpful hints and links. Use any word processing program to type essays, then copy and paste into the My Hero class page. Provide a link to the class page on your teacher web page so students, parents, and relatives can read the essays. As always follow your district policies regarding posting student work on the Internet. It is HIGHLY advisable to get written parent permission for such a project!
Very young students could work together as a class to write their entry. Older students and those with more technology available will definitely want to try the videos! If you know iMovie or Windows Moviemaker, this is a terrific project. It is well-suited for gifted students, as well.
The Giver (webquest)Grade 6 to 10
- Amy Cordy, Jennifer Fouty, Marybeth Malone, and Ekaterina Rohal- 7310
A fairly fast moving webquest, this activity nonetheless provides opportunities to delve into the world of utopias. It also bases the evaluation of the final student project on four subject areas: social studies, language arts, art history and science. An Internet link goes to a cyberguide for the novel.
In the Classroom: If you do not have enough time for en entire webquest, you may still want to do some of the activities or use the links with your class. A webquest is also an excellent independent activity for your more able students or for a gifted class, allowing you time to work in smaller groups with your struggling students. Bring in laptops for the webquest students to work in the room with you, if you have them available.
This site looks at the collapse of several ancient civilizations and suggests why these civilizations did not last. The text is easy to read and is highlighted by learning activities and games that illustrate the issues under discussion. Featured civilizations include the Maya, Mesopotamia, the Anasazi of North America and the West African societies of Mali and Songhai. The strength of this site is its suggestion that there are commonalities that help us understand the collapse of a society. There are web links to further resources, and a summary featuring Percy Shelley's poem "Ozymandias", a nice literary connection. There are "hands on" activities scattered throughout, many including cross-curricular links to science or literature.
In the Classroom: This site gives good concrete information, but its real power is in the greater consideration of the rise and fall of civilizations through history. This is a VERY thought-provoking collection of resources. Teachers interested in tying this discussion to current events might discuss the future of civilization in Iraq given the criteria for maintaining a society given in this site.
Teachers of gifted could also use this site as the basis for a great social studies unit. If you own the old favorite computer game Civilization, you could put together some scenarios using that, as well.
This handy tool creates printables (Acrobat Reader format) to your specifications right from the web site. You can make calendars (customize, many options), musical staff paper, graph paper, and even an endless supply of sudoku puzzles! It is easy to figure out (simple pulldowns to make your choices). The Spanish language version is in development. Remember, this site uses Acrobat Reader, so you MUST have this plug-in. Get it (free) from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Share this link with parents and students on your teacher web page. Students can make personal calendars to plan long-term projects or give as holiday gifts. You sudoku addicts willl love you for it!
Learn first year French, learn about French culture, and practice to supplement your current classroom lessons using this highly interactive site created by faculty and students from UT Austin while on-site in Lyon, France. Preview all vocabulary and grammar topics from the Bienvenue section and at the opening page of each chapter. Start with the audio alphabet and go through thirteen chapters, including topics such as love and money! There are videos throughout the program, made by the Texas students (certain to be a hit with your high schoolers!)as well as web-based activities with questions to answer. Your students can even download or RSS feed all the videos as podcasts via iTunes. This is a real treasury of great lessons, ready to go! Gifted students or those who would like to teach themselves French independently could do well with this site, also. You MUST have Quicktime to play the audio and video.
In the Classroom: Play the videos on a projector in class as you start each topic or put the link for each chapter on your teacher web page for reinforcement and review. Be sure to allow time for the videos to download. Make sure you have speakers or headphones, as well. You need the Quicktime plug-in. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
This very simple site, created by an anonymous puzzle-lover, is a treasury for logic problems and lateral thinking puzzles to use in your classroom or beyond. Click on the puzzle type you want. Use them as brain warm-ups in a math or science class before venturing into problem-solving or inquiry process or simply to engage the brains before starting any activity. There are different levels of logic and different types of lateral thinking puzzles, each with a hint before revealing the complete answer. These puzzles would also be useful for gifted enrichment.
In the Classroom: If you don't have time to spend on these in class as often as you would like, print out a single lateral thinking or logic problem each week for your bulletin board and let the students argue about it all week. Or include this link on your teacher website for the students to access outside of class. This site is a life-saver for your study hall the day before a vacation!
This web site provides a step-by-step lesson plan on teaching sets and Venn diagrams in an interactive format. Standards, supplies needed, prompting questions, worksheets, guided and independent activities are all included at this web site. The interactive link allows students to work on their new skills independently on the Internet. The web site is very simple, concise and easy to follow.
In the Classroom: This site could be used as a whole class activity on a projector. The lesson plan provides numerous independent, small group and whole class activities sure to be useful in all classrooms. You may even want to include the link on your teacher web page for students to continue to reinforce skills at home. This lesson could also be used with elementary gifted students.
For teachers or students who have not had the opportunity to learn technology skills from a real person, these video tutorials can be very helpful. They can also fill in gaps in basic computer knowledge. Topics range from Internet safety and Netiquette to more advanced video production, digital imaging, and web page creation. For your students doing independent projects, for basics before you launch into a full-class technology production, or even for teaching yourself as a teacher, these tutorials are approachable and fairly up-to-date. Make sure you choose the right level(s) for your students, since they may have better skills than you think. You can differentiate easily with the multiple skill levels available. This one takes a longer time to open, so be patient.
In the Classroom: Include this link on your teacher web page or in Favorites in your computer lab or on a classroom machine for students to use as a reference. This can be a great help for students who move in and do not have the same background knowledge as the rest of the class or as a challenge to your techno-whiz or gifted student. These also can make excellent ready-to-go projected tutorials a substitute could show in preparation for an upcoming project.
Adapting a MusicalGrade 9 to 12
- Kennedy Center ArtsEdge and Jayne Karsten, teacher - 6704
Help your students explore the implications of developing a musical from a literary text or an historical event by trying out this set of lessons.The plan includes suggestions for immersing students into the creative process of building a musical. Any literary source or sources already integrated into the curriculum could be used in this "test case" probe. Sources that do not seem to hold any promise for transformation are just as valuable as those that do. An ideal format would be to incorporate a text or texts that hold promise and one or more that seem non-transferable. Following are a few suggested titles that could be considered. Some seem rich in possibilities; others do not and may seem impossible choices. Creative students, however, may find possibilities in all of them. The plan includes a list of possible literary works from which to choose or get ideas and specific instructions on how the students could be divided to work together on specific tasks. It includes assessment.
In the Classroom: This plan actually incorporates activities for five 45-minute lessons. This activity would make a challenging interdisciplinary activity as a culmination of a unit in a history class or in a gifted program.
Follow the blog entries by hands-on experimenters to find both complicated and simple "inventions" you and your students can build. Entries include photographs that bring them to life. Many may be more sophisticated than you can do in the classroom, but the blog entries explaining how the builder accomplished the task are terrific examples of scientific method and specific scientific concepts or solutions: sound, electricity, light, robotics, etc. The MAKE blog is also an endless source of ideas for classroom projects or science fair investigations.
In the Classroom: Choose an entry each month or at the start of a unit/lesson as a real world application of scientific principles you have been or will be studying. What an anticipatory set or activator! Show it on screen in your classroom or link to it from your teacher web page. You could also use this site as an enrichment challenge for your gifted students as you study a concept. Have them search the blog to find a real world application of the principles you are studying.
This collection of entertaining books approaches math from many new perspectives, and provides readers with some engaging and thought-provoking scenarios. Secondary students can find out what happens to three-dimensional people in a four-dimensional world, or take a journey through the Amazon rain forest with a mathematically gifted parrot. Some clever cross-curricular possibilities can be found on this site. Just bring along your imagination.
Give the best gift you can with that new bike - Rules for the Road. This site will help parents safe guard children against reckless behavior and ensure they understand how to behave safely riding a bike.
Also titled “Whodunnit,” this unit combines some introductory forensic science with a thematic analysis of mysteries in literature. Originally designed for gifted elementary students, the unit could be adapted up or down in the curriculum with some minor tweaking. Students and teachers alike can have fun with this one.
This British site explains how industrial designers envision and execute projects ranging from large architectural efforts to product design and more. The content will challenge younger students, and high schoolers interested in technology will find the guided interactive explanations really useful.
In the Classroom: Try this one if you're teaching technology education or have a gifted student searching for a project.
Don’t miss this engaging exploration from the Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center for Invention. Learn why play is important for both adults and children, and discover the essential relationship between play, creativity, and invention. The site is loaded with interactive examples and games, and those with broadband connections will enjoy well produced video interviews and explanations.
In the Classroom: Try this one if you work with gifted students or are planning a unit on invention or inventors.
The Exploratorium’s Math Explorer offers a set of games and tricks involving mathematical concepts, but specifically formatted for classroom use. (You learn how to set up and run each activity, and also how long each should take in the classroom.) Designed specifically for middle schoolers, these activities might also be used for elementary gifted students.
An information-loaded site for parents, teachers, and children dealing with learning disabilities. It has a special section just for teachers with constantly updated material, as well as an online ordering service where you can read about and order books and videos. The "LD in Depth" section is especially helpful: you can find the latest news and articles by the experts on an array of topics, including Early Identification, Reading, Social Skills, Transition, Gifted/LD, and more. Click on "for Teachers" in this section to find teaching strategies, or visit the bulletin boards to exchange ideas with other teachers. Kidzone affords children with Learning Disabilities a place to "publish" their work. This is a "must see" site!
By enacting mock-trials and other role-play on the direct conflict with the U.S. legal system and immigrants from the Hmong of Southeast Asia, Samoans, Japanese, Cuban, African and Vietnamese because of cultural and/or religious practices, students face the "growing pains that result from our great diversity" in this unit originally designed for gifted students.
TeachersFirst offers a major collection of resources and information for teachers and parents of special education students.
In the Classroom: This section includes teaching strategies, lesson ideas, and detailed information on meeting the needs of special education students within the rubrics of the IDEA legislation.
Puzzles are highly motivational tools that capture the imaginations of students. To infiltrate the classroom with a vibrant brand of problem solving, this site offers a tantalizing educational bait-and-hook in the form of a new puzzle each month. Clearly illustrates puzzles and solutions. These ae not online interactives. The puzzles are explained in words or images on the web page. Some have downloadable pdf printables, as well.
In the Classroom: Definitely include this one on your teacher web page for your bright but bored kids to challenge themselves both in and outside of class. Teachers of gifted will enjoy the varied levels available.
Use a puzzle as a "warm-up" at the start of math class every Monday to get the neurons connecting!
This collection - part of an extensive site from Australia's Questacon museum - includes lots of optical illusions and deceptively simple puzzles designed to challenge perceptual abilities, logic, and higher-order thinking skills. It's a great place to send that student who's always ready for the next challenge.
In the Classroom: Include this site on your teacher web page for students to access outside of class when they are looking for an extra mind-bending challenge. Also consider sharing this site with your teaching colleagues who work with gifted students.
This is the website for the annual Odyssey of the Mind competition, an interscholastic competion in which teams compete in an attempt to solve one of five categories of problems.
In the Classroom: Entry into the competition requires each team to purchase a membership. However, this is a great resource and opportunity for teachers who work regularly with gifted students needing an additional challenge. Consider purchasing such a membership for your students, or pass the site along to a fellow teacher who works regularly with such students.
This Mensa challenge includes problems and questions designed to challenge thinkers at all levels. Taken online, the challenge takes approximately 30 minutes to complete. However, the site can be used as a whole, or teachers can use one or two questions at a time to challenge students.
In the Classroom: This site offers a great mental workout for gifted students or other students who seem to need an added challenge in the classroom. Include this site on your teacher website so that such students may access it outside of class.
This collection of surprisingly devlish illusions, mind-games, and other tricks will stump curious students. Most of these puzzles require little or no equipment, making them great for quick, indoor activities. If you have students who need an extra challenge, send them here.
In the Classroom: Share this site with your teaching colleagues who work with your gifted students.
What student doesn't love King Tut? This site is connected with the current tour of some of the King Tut artifacts across the United States. Each exhibition site has its own section, and each site is different. However, each location site contains the same educational resources, which are excellent. There is a beautiful animated gallery of some of the artifacts. Although King Tut was really just a minor king in the Egyptian history, the stunning beauty of the items discovered in his tomb is hard to resist. This site would add strong visual impact to any unit on Egyptian history.
In the Classroom: Use this site on a projector to introduce Egyptian history or make it a scavenger hunt activity. Gifted enrichment teachers could create an opportunity for students to explore and compare this and other ancient civilizations. The buttons for Exhibition Preview, Tut Mania, and The Story of King Tut provide the actual content.
Trying to incorporate writing into your math class? Looking for prompts to use in class or on a gated blog? Use this site to generate the RAFTS prompt for you. If you do not know or recall what a RAFTS is, the site explains that, too. Here is a hint: Role, Audience, Format, Topic, Strong verb. You could even share this RAFTS generator with your students to create their own!
In the Classroom: Mark this one in Favorites. It is a time saver and really challenges higher order thinking. Gifted or creative students would LOVE generating and answering their own prompts or ceating them for each other
Learn the basics of Arabic. This could be very helpful for teachers working with Arabic-speaking ESL/ELL students or for your English-speaking students who are curious about other languages. Gifted students might enjoy comparing languages using this site and other tools.Requires Quicktime to hear pronunciations.
Learn the basics of French. This could be very helpful for teachers working with French-speaking ESL/ELL students or for your English-speaking students who are curious about other languages. Gifted students might enjoy comparing languages using this site and other tools.
MySpace, Xanga, FaceBook, Moodle, blogs, Flickr, wikis, podcasts, and more! Is geek-speak Greek to you? If you have not heard the term yet, you will soon: Web 2.0 is the term for the new generation of web-based collaborative tools and other uses of the web. Your students use them in MySpace and Xanga, but these are just two small pieces of a much larger picture. If you are technology-curious or want to know what your students are talking about, take the time to read this explanation by one of the movers and shakers of web 2.0. The discussion includes some tech jargon and some of tuhe underlying philosophy behind it--not a "light" read in some spots, but it makes sense. The page is actually created with one of web 2.0's tools: Squidoo.
In the Classroom: Read for your own professional knowledge to stay ahead of the tech game, or share this site with mystified-but-curious parents and administrators, as well.You could even assign your computer students, tech ed classes, or techie students to use this site as a reference for a research project on the future of the web. Gifted classes would find it particulaly useful. The reading and conceptual level is definitely hgh school to adult.
This website is a source of free, downloadable documentaries. It is a nonprofit site. The site explains, “you can stream interesting and provocative documentary films for free!“ Teachers will want to preview before you share with your class simply because of what “provocative” could mean. Most films are full length, but some are short. There is a helpful menu of topics on the right hand side of the computer screen. This menu makes it easy to navigate and find the type of documentary that is needed. Documentaries range from 9/11 and the London Bombing to The Road to Guantanamo to The Panama Deception to many others.
In the Classroom: Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. View clips relevant to your topics of study. Use this website to contrast a documentary with the facts that are being taught. Use this site as a point-counterpoint to other perspectives available on the web as part of a discussion of bias. Compare and contrast analysis of the materials versus the known facts is one good use for this website. A short documentary could be shown during class as a launch point for students to create their own documentary style video projects. Share the videos using a site such as Teachers.TV (explained here). Teachers of gifted and high achievers will great possibilities for challenging critical thinking using this site.
Challenge basic counting skills and problem solving using classic sliding puzzles. Not only will you find numerical sliding puzzles, but also colorful shape puzzles. Java applets make an interactive version of each puzzle appear below the "goal" you are trying to reach. There is also a targeted number of moves to reach the goal. There are many different types of puzzles, some more familiar than others. Be sure to be patient as puzzles load. Sometimes the interactive (drag to slide) portion does not appear right away.
In the Classroom: Share these puzzles on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) as a mind-bending challenge. Help students develop problem-solving skills such as thinking several steps ahead by offering the link on your class web page. Higher level and gifted math students can try to determine a formula for calculating the number of moves it may take to solve a puzzle. Give awards to students who accomplish the "goal" in the stated number of moves, then ask them to explain their strategy or think aloud as they repeat it on an interactive whiteboard. Offer a puzzle club for your mathematical/logical thinkers or simply develop visual thinking skills by sharing these challenges.
Teachers First Edge Review: For slightly adventurous technology users. Create your own motivational poster easily and effortlessly. Choose a random picture, one from the Internet, or one chosen from your computer. Choose colors to border the picture and the type of text to be used. Enter your text and preview the result. Once complete, save to flickr, your computer, or print using a separate site. Remember you can use a saved image in PowerPoint shows and on a class wiki, as well.
In the Classroom: Skills required: You need to know how to browse and upload a file from your computer or find the URL of an image already on the web (one you can legally use, of course!).
Safety/Security: Be aware: there are some advertisements on this site. Also, make sure students are aware of copyright laws. Use this site to encourage proper use of photographs that students have the authorization to use. Model including appropriate photo credits on the posters.
Classroom use: Younger students can use this tool together as a whole-class activity or simply enjoy the posters their teacher creates. Have students create a picture about what has been studied with a caption of what has been learned. For example, create posters about predators and prey or classifications of animals. Students can create a poster of a study skill or learning activity that helps them learn. Create a caption that explains how the student learns the best. Every subject area can use this resource to create interesting presentation posters for display or as springboards to talk about what was learned. For example, in Biology, students could create a poster about a cell part with a clever caption about the importance of the job. In Literature or History, students can create posters about the perspectives of others in the story or at that time of history. Rather than a traditional research project. Have cooperative learning groups use this site to show their knowledge in any subject area. Ask students to apply concepts such as constitutional rights by illustrating them in poster images with captions. Teachers can create bulletin board images, as well. Have a classroom motivation poster competition to start off the school year! Share the winners on your class wiki or in a PowerPoint presentation at back to school night/open house. As special occasions approach, have students bring in or take a digital picture they can make into a poster as a family gift with their own inspirational saying.
Looking for different types of calculators? Find them on this interesting site. Choose a button on the calculator corresponding to the subject. Examples of subjects include Medicine, Algebra, Weather, Phonics, Financial, HVAC, Engineering, Weather, and Rocketry to name a few. After the subject is chosen, click on a formula to enter values. Some of the topics offer reference information, not calculations. This is definitely an interesting site to peruse.
In the Classroom: There are many different calculators for students to explore as ways to apply math in real world situations. For example, choose weather and then wind chill. Enter the information and wind chill will be calculated. Enter the information, view the calculated answer, and then have students determine how it is actually calculated. This site is a great find for gifted students to use to further investigate specific topics beyond your “regular” classroom content. Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Then have students work with a partner to explore various “buttons” on this interactive calculator. Have the groups create multimedia presentations to share their findings or demonstrate them on the whiteboard as advertisements or infomercials! Have students create online posters on paper or do it together as a class using a tool such as Project Poster (reviewed here or PicLits (reviewed here.
View interesting graphics of data that students will find fascinating. Search visuals in subjects such as Art, Biology, Food Webs, Music, and more. Each visualization has a project description, link, and other information. Caution students that ads appear on pages and these should be avoided.
In the Classroom: Share the graphics on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Use data visualizations to ask questions about interactions among the parts shown. For example, use any of the food chain visualizations to look at the interactions in the chains and identify roles of organisms. Ask students to use the whiteboard tools to explain how the visual “shows” the underlying information. Be prepared for less visual students to struggle while more visual students thrive using such a tool. Share the interesting map graphics in geography class. Use this at the beginning of a discussion and identify the organisms in the chain to uncover the relationships. Use the graphics for creative writing projects (displaying the graphic on a whiteboard while students react in writing). Ask your gifted students to choose a graphic they particularly enjoy as an inspiration to create one of their own.
Bring CSI to your classroom! Use this entertaining and interactive website to learn science concepts using forensic studies. Follow one of three adventures: Rookie Training (Beginner,) Canine Caper (Intermediate,) or Burning Star (Advanced.) Collect evidence, ask questions, and use the evidence to act as a forensic scientist while using scientific inquiry. Create a conclusion and form theories by using evidence to solve problems. Registration is not required, but doing so allows students to save their work. Registration does NOT require an email, just a username and password. You might want to save the students usernames and passwords somewhere safe! Students not registering can enter as a guest. Teachers can view additional activities, links, and materials by clicking on "Fun Stuff." Click on "Game Features" to find information on roles of different forensics investigators, a walk through to assist in the adventures, and FAQ's. This site requires Adobe Reader. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Bring CSI to your classroom! Use this interactive site when discussing the scientific method, inquiry, or the tools of scientists. Students can report on uses of lab equipment and follow up work on this site with additional in class or web simulation activities such as viewing cheek cells in the lab or online DNA simulations as reviewed here. This site is engaging and also sheds light on the various science and technical careers students may be interested in pursuing. Challenge gifted students to create their own forensic science unsolved cases for others to try! Use a wiki to share the casebooks.
This site's subtitle, "Finding your story with new media," only hints at what you will find. Explore the possibilities of using newer digital tools, ways to write stories, get inspired, exchange ideas, publish, and more. This site has extensive resources for teachers (see "Teaching Method"), including both traditional writing exercises and tool recommendations to "find your story" in a new medium such as online comic creators, podcasts, and slide shows. The "Media Library" also includes many tool options. (Many of the tools mentioned are also reviewed by our TeachersFirst Edge, including tips on how to use them within school policies.) In "New Stories" you will find examples of stories told using digital media. Note: New Stories may include subject matter not appropriate for your class, depending on age and maturity level, so preview. One intriguing "new media" literary form is the email story, a narrative told entirely by a series of emails, reminiscent of 18th century epistolary novels!
In the Classroom: Explore the various types of New Stories and choose one to try with your students. Select a tool from the Teaching Method options (and read the related TeachersFirst Edge review). Then let the stories begin! The use of digital tools will go beyond engaging your students to challenging their higher level thinking while they actually enjoy the task. Stories need not be limited to purely creative fiction. Ask students to collaborate and tell a tale based on historical facts about a major event or retell a piece of literature from the point of view of one of the characters. In world language classes, use the tools to tell stories in a new tongue (provided the tools can handle the accents, etc.).In science class, let a molecule or bacterium tells its own story. As you introduce the tools, use your interactive whiteboard or projector and allow a student tool "expert" to demonstrate any particularly quirky how-to's.
Provide this link on your class web page for students to access outside of class and for tools to choose as alternatives for required projects. Your gifted students will stretch to meet the new challenges, and learning support students may be more successful in more visual media. Allow students to self-differentiate by choosing, "finding their own story."
Teachers interested in project ideas to get started with project based learning will find the examples on this site helpful for envisioning project possibilities.
Find yourself stumped by all the strange questions students have? Are you looking for somewhere to go where adults can find the answers? Use this site to ask your question. Just type your question into the text box and several options for answers appear. The site was created for use by parents with young children, but it can really appeal to any age. Answers are written by site experts and by users themselves. Talk about the “source” of information as you share this site with yoru students! Registration is not necessary to ask questions. In order to add comments or an answer to another question, you must register. Registering requires use of an email address. If you choose to register your class, here is a tip: rather than using your personal or work email, create a free Gmail account to use for memberships. 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.
Once registered, your whyzz are kept as a record for review later. Site members can also comment on whyzz answers which are offered by many professionals. Each answer also features a section called "exploration" where additional learning can take place as well as "related whyzz." Check the spotlight, browse categories, and look at a featured answer.
In the Classroom: Teachers may be the experts but the greater gift is helping students find answers. Use this site as a class to receive kid friendly answers to normal and weird kid questions. Whyzz not only give the why, but also the hows and the whats! Have students create interactive projects that share the answers to the “WHY.” Have students create online posters on paper or do it together as a class using a tool such as Project Poster (reviewed here or PicLits (reviewed here. Share the link with parents of younger elementary students to use at home, as well!
Use Pixenate for quick online photo editing. This free resource requires no registration as there is no image storage, only editing for saving elsewhere. Upload pictures from your computer or enter the web address from somewhere on the Internet. Pixenate cautions users to follow copyright when editing web pictures. Once uploaded, use simple tools to edit the picture such as: undo, select, zoom, crop, resize, flip, rotate, color balance and tools, smooth, brighten, straighten horizon, remove red eye, brighten teeth, or draw lines and shapes. Choose more entertaining effects such as lomo effects, lens filters, adding clip art, creating heart shaped photos, and other effects. Edited pictures can be uploaded to flickr or saved to disk.
Be aware: students should be cautioned that the site sells services to make the photo into a gift (obviously, for a fee!). Other ads may appear on the page, as well.
In the Classroom: Many times, pictures taken in the classroom need to be edited in some way, and this online photo editor provides many of the options needed plus a few fun effects. Since no registration is required, students can upload a picture, create effects, and save again on their computer. Advise students to use pictures that they have permission to alter. Using their own photos is one way to ensure this. Be sure to check your school’s acceptable use policy. Students should be aware of how to upload and then find their creation. Use this service any time pictures are used for classroom projects, lessons, or activities.
Play interesting word, math, and other activities with this free site. Membership is not required though members receive additional benefits. Find an interesting challenge to try. On its page, click to play the game, read the directions for play, bookmark the specific game, or generate a link for embedding in a website, wiki, or blog. Printable game worksheets that can be customized can also be found on this site. Some of the specific topics include magic squares, attributions, hangman, strategy games, and more.
Note: Ads appear along the side and students should be cautioned in clicking on these ads. This site requires Flash and Adobe Acrobat. Get both from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Share this eclectic site on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Use these activities for problem solving drills and interest in words or numbers. Use this site for review. List the link on your class website for students to practice both in and out of the classroom. This is a great find for gifted students!
This interactive activity is a primary Krypto using addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. You will build number sense as well as computation skills. The rules are simple: combine five numbers and choose the operation in between to obtain the final "target" number. Primary Krypto uses the numbers 1-10 only. You simply "drag and drop" the numbers to the correct locations. To choose the operation, you click on the smaller boxes and the symbols (+, -, etc) appear. This site requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. This is an excellent challenge for young gifted students. Have students work in pairs to try out these interactive puzzles. You may find them challenging each other to do more as they become addicted!
Teacher’s First Edge Review: For moderately adventurous technology users. This site allows users to create online scrapbooks including photos, video clips, and music. Users can “Start with a Theme” or “Start with a Blank Page.” Add stickers, backgrounds, text boxes, and more. Be aware many of the themes are free, but some are for a fee. The ones for a fee say "purchase" at the bottom of the screen. This site requires Flash. You can it both from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Skills Needed: This site is fairly easy to navigate. Users must be able to access photos (from several websites or personal computers) to use in the scrapblog. View the short introduction tutorial to learn more about site. Learn how to edit photos, add stickers to your pages, add backgrounds, add text, add videos, and more! There is the option to view the scrapblogs on full screen (see the box on the top right side of the screen). If you want to control the speed of the blog, you must have it on full screen. Once on full screen, look for the turtle and hare slider to slow down the speed. When completed, you can share your scrapblog via URL, on many social networking sites, or by printing out the pages. You don't need to register to USE this site, but you do need to register to save or share your scrapblog.
Safety/Security Concerns: an email address is required for sign up to use this service. Check your school policies about accessing/sharing student email on school computers. 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.
Classroom Uses: This amazing site has countless possibilities in the classroom. After a field trip, use this site to share the experience with families and as a review for the class. Can't take a field trip? Create a scrapblog of a fictitious "visit" to the historical site, showing what you have learned without even visiting. Rather than having students create traditional "book reports" or reports about famous people or events, use this site to create a multimedia presentation with photos, text, music, and more (include attribution for the Creative Commons images they may use). What would Jefferson have included in a scrapblog about his time in Philadelphia in 1776? Elementary classes could make whole-class scrapblogs about the important people and places in your school or community, using digital pictures you take yourselves. At Thanksgiving, have students make a scrapblog about the things they are grateful for. Share this link on your class website for students to access both in and out of the classroom. This is a perfect site for students to use to make free "homemade gifts" for Mother's Day, Father's Day, or Grandparent's Day.
Here is a sample of a scrapblog created by the TeachersFirst Editors
This site provides countless books, films, plays, and television shows that all relate to specific math concepts. What a fabulous way to integrate math, language arts, history, and more! The site includes the title, year, and brief description. Teachers can browse by genre, medium, motif, and/or topic. Media include everything from comic books to plays to television series. Genres include historical fiction, children’s literature, adventure/espionage, fantasy, science fiction, and more. Sixty-three fiction offerings are even available FREE (in their entirety) online! The site is still developing and frequently adds additional fiction titles. Students who enjoy fantasy will also enjoy choosing books from this site, since the author admits that not all math mentioned in all the books is "real" math!! The site allows teachers to search by keyword and also to browse new offerings in the compilation of titles.
In the Classroom: Use this site to find extra reading choices for reluctant readers who are interested in technology and math. Use it also to show students that math processes are inherent in a lot of life's experiences. Search the site for your current math topics. Share this link on your class website for students (and parents) to use at home. Share it with your school librarian for a featured reading shelf. Challenge your more verbal/linguistic gifted students to write similar stories that feature a math concept and create an online book using a tool such as Bookemon, reviewed here.
Woices (beta)Grade 4 to 12
- Woices Enterprise, S.L.- 10000
TeachersFirst Edge Review: for moderately adventurous technology users. This site, still in beta, offers a FREE service that allows you to create and share "echoes." Echoes are words (audio recordings), left by anyone at any place, and can be played over and over by any visitors who find them. Listeners will feel as if they are really there! Echoes can be anything from personal memories, personal messages to a class, history or art related annotations of a place, music to accompany that place, or any kind of audio you can connect to a location. The audio recordings are linked to geographic locations or real-world objects (in the place where they are located). Echoes could also be fictitious accounts "placed" somewhere in the world to tell a story. Woices states that the goal of the site is to "extend reality by creating a new layer of audio information, what we call the echosphere, that will make the world a more interesting place."
You can create your own "echo" or listen to various "echoes" created by others from around the world. Click Explore to hear the echoes of the world (in every language imaginable). You do not need to join to explore and listen to others' echoes. The site uses Google Maps to share the world. Echoes are also labeled with an "e-code" for easy access by URL and listening via mobile phone. Completed echoes can be shared as an embedded device in a wiki or web page, via email, or by URL link (click Share). Here is a sample echo created by the TF Edge team. The site also includes tools for comments, blogs, forums, and other "social" aspects. This site does require Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
Note: Future plans for Woices (remember, it is still in beta) include integrating it to work with GPS-enabled mobile phones, so you could "listen" to locations as you visit them without knowing or searching for the e-codes -- right on your mobile phone. Imagine touring the Gettysburg battlefields or a museum with an audio guide on your mobile phone, created by other Woices users.
In the Classroom: Skills needed: No special skills are needed to listen to echoes. Just click Explore. To create your own echoes, you must register. Registration does require an email address and activation via a link sent to your email. To create your own, visit the Create link and follow the detailed instructions. The instructions include three simple steps (Put it on the Map, Give it a Name, and Send It). Step one requires you to click your location on the map. Then click Proceed to go on to the next step. At Step Two you add the title, description, tags, your photo (optional), language, and then you RECORD. Simply use your computer's built-in microphone and the site's "record" button. You can record more elaborate mp3 files using other software for later upload as an echo. You have TEN minutes of FREE recording time. Finally, click to Send It, and your new echo is on the web. The link is visible in your computer's address bar or can be emailed by clicking Share. You can also combine echoes created by you or various members of a group to form a "walk" of related echoes. Completed echoes can also be shared as an embedded device in a wiki or web page.
Note that using music or sounds from other sources could be a copyright violation. TeachersFirst editors remind you to use copyright-free music or -- better yet -- record your own.
Safety/security concerns: This is a public site, so once an "echo" is created, any user can access the information. If you are considering having students create their own echoes, you will want to be certain to adhere to your school's Acceptable Use Policy and obtain parental permission. If you are having students register independently (which may not be the best option), why not consider creating a free Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes. This will allow you to control the accounts. Here is a blog post that tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service.
This site also includes various social features (Community section) and advertisements. This is a great opportunity to teach basic Internet Safety in the context of a productive lesson. If students are working independently, be sure to have clear expectations and consequences spelled out -- then monitor activities. And remember, anything that is posted on this site, is available to any visitor on the web. There is no way to make the "echo" private. Take advantage of the Comments feature for students to respond to each other's echoes or to invite parents and others to respond. For example, if students create a local history tour, share it with older adults in the community to comment with their memories about the sites.
Possible Uses: The possibilities at this website are endless! Even the youngest of students can use this site (with assistance). In world language classes, have students LOOK for echoes from other countries, and even make some to practice language as they narrate cultural highlights of countries where their language of study is spoken. Make echoes about places you study in geography or history class. Have students create an echo tour or your own hometown and the important local historical sites (be sure to protect the identify of yourself and your students). Make a fictional echo "story" in real settings, using a sequence of links to echoes for the events in the story. Create a teacher-made echo treasure hunt of important locations for cooperative learning groups to explore. Make echoes about environmental sites or issues. Make a literary "walk" of a poet's geographic area with readings of his/her poetry "placed" in the places they describe, such as Emerson's account of Lexington and Concord. Make a mapped, narrated "walk" of the botanical species or animal habitats in your area. Make echoes about landforms. Create whole-class "I wonder" echoes about places they begin to study, ex. narrating the pueblos and asking about the people who once dwelled there. Then add more echoes as you learn. Use this site to record directions, questions, or prompts about places they should research and links they should use; then have them access the echoes at learning stations or with a substitute. Create "Echo" audio newsletters to share on your class website, connecting to the various "places" your class has been studying. Teachers could also record echoes about locations on a map to teach about map reading skills or have ELL/ESL students record echoes about places where their primary language is spoken to share with classmates. Have the students make the echoes, of course. Have students create their own echoes as "electronic" gifts for family and close friends. Why not create one celebrating moms for Mother's Day? Use this site to celebrate dad, grandparents, and other care givers also! Be sure to list this link (and relevant safety concerns about the site) on your class website for students to use at home. Include it as long breaks approach so students can work with their families, creating echoes about places they visit during family vacations or reunions.
This is a fun (and easy to use) site to add to an Egyptian unit or any unit based on historical types of writing or communication. By simply typing in their name, students will see how it might have been written in hieroglyphs by an ancient scribe. The maximum number of letters is 16. After you enter your name and click inscribe, you are linked to a page with your name written in hieroglyphics AND a link to the “scribe” for more information about Egypt and hieroglyphs.
In the Classroom: By providing picture clues, have students try to solve names using the Egyptian symbols. If students want to seek the scribe and delve into hieroglyphs a bit further, click on Scribe at the bottom of the page. They will be directed to the University of Pennsylvania Museum website for detailed information regarding the Egyptian culture. Are you looking for a site to use with younger students? Check out Journey to Egypt (reviewed here). Click on the link for Hieroglyphics to learn more.
Use this site as part of a study of different alphabets and coded symbols, even comparing them to mathematical or musical symbols as a means of communicating meaning. Gifted students will enjoy exploring and comparing different symbol systems.
Ever wonder what it would be like to have open access to lectures at Harvard? Stanford? MIT? Academic Earth gives you that access in a limited fashion. This site contains thousands of video lectures by some of the most well regarded professors at several of the top universities in the US. You can sort the lectures by subject, by lecturer, by university, or by "playlist." The playlists sort lectures from various topics and multiple professors into thematic groups. Within individual subjects there are individual lectures and courses--collections of lectures by the same professor on a general subject. Watch a lecture on “The Civil War and Reconstruction Era, 1845-1877,” or “The American Novel since 1945,” or “Linear Algebra.” The topic possibilities go on and on. This site requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: These are college-level lectures given at Ivy-league universities. The subject matter and the complexity of the subject matter will be beyond many high school students, and the delivery format (video-taped lecture) means there is a certain "MEGO" (my eyes glaze over) effect when viewing these offerings. However, for gifted or academically talented students, these lectures may be exactly the kind of enrichment they have been thirsting for. Provide a link to these lectures for times when a student or two has gotten way ahead of the rest of the class. Let parents know about this site for home use. Refer students who are doing in-depth research. And in your own copious free time, check one out yourself! It may provide an idea or two to apply to an upcoming lesson of your own.
Multiply by 1,2,3..through 12 at this interactive site! Choose your table, grid size (columns and rows), use a timer (or turn off), have music effects (or turn off), and use a help button (or not). You type the number and hit enter to input the data onto the grid. To start the fun, click on View the Item. Some of the answers are simple to figure out, while others require some mathematical reasoning. Young gifted students will really enjoy the challenges of this site! This is a great way to differentiate multiplication practice for your lower and higher math students. This site requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Share this site on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students work on individual computers and fill out the interactive grids. Share this site with parents on your class website or blog, so students can practice both in and out of the classroom.
If you are looking for an interactive site that combines music with theatre and culture, this is a good one. Incorporating the "page to the stage" idea, the site allows students to read about the main character and background and then listen to the blues with an introduction by Scot Reese, the director of the play. Students can see clips of the actual play, too. Another section deals with the music and includes a history and a walkthrough to the present. Don’t miss the interactive map! This site requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Students will love listening to the clips as well as watching the play excerpts. Share the clips on your interactive whiteboard or projector. The site invites them to try the blues themselves, and this is a good class or small group exercise. Use this site in music or U.S. history classes. Have students write a fictitious blog from the viewpoint of one of the music composers: what were they thinking? What was their life like? In music class, have students compose their own “Blues.” Video the songs and share them on using TeacherTube (explained here). Gifted students, especially those with an interest in music, could use this site as a springboard for their own compositions.
TeachersFirst Edge entry: for slightly adventurous technology users. Fancy photo editing for no cost—that’s what Picnik is all about. You can even do simple fixes, such as removing “red eye” or cropping the tree trunk off of your head! No downloading is required, and there are no tools to install. In fact, you don’t even need to register. However, if you want to manage your photos, you will need a quick registration. Also, for non-English speakers, choose from a list of language options in the drop-down menu at top right. It’s very user-friendly, so the techno-babies will feel right at home.
As with most high-tech sites, there is a premium level for a cost, but you don’t need to pay for some truly cool features. After you create your ‘new’ photo, you will be asked if you want to apply it to merchandise, such as mugs, key chains, magnets, etc. (This, of course, will go to an outside site which costs money.)
Picnik works on Mac, Windows, and Linux operating systems. This site allows you to access your Picnik photos from Flickr, MySpace, Facebook, Picasso, Webshots and Photobucket. If you really want to get intimately acquainted with Picnik, check out their blog and read about their featured photo makers (click on ‘blog’ at bottom of the page). This blog features photos and products designed by ordinary people like you, but the outcomes look like they were designed by highly-paid design artists! Also, if collages are what you need, click on the Collage button and go through similar easy-to-use options as the above.
In the Classroom: Skills needed: You need to know how to locate and upload photos from your computer. You can also get images from anywhere on your computer, the web, webcam, your Flickr, Facebook, or other photo storing account. Click on Get Started Now or click on the Start Picniking tab in the upper right corner.
Click on Upload or find your photo(s) that you would like to fix. Now the fun begins. Click on any of the tabs to change your photo. Click Edit to adjust the contrast, color, size, ratio, etc. of the photo. You are allowed to play around with the photo, and if you don’t like what you have done, simply click on ‘reset’ to bring it back to its original state. Once you click ‘apply’ you can not reset to its original. Click Create to apply artsy, fun or serious new effects to your photo. Click on Text, Shapes, or Frames add those features. It works just like a word processor. You can minimize the shapes or apply different fonts, colors and sizes to the photo. All of these fun effects won’t be saved until you hit Apply, so play around with the features all you want.
Once your photo is finished, click on Save and Share. Rename your photo and click on Save Photo. Once it is saved, you can manage your photo by clicking on Manage History. This feature allows Picnik to access this photo from your files whenever you desire it.
This tool would work well with a student “expert” in your class becoming the go-to helper, since most students (and the teacher) will not need all the features all the time. If one student becomes more experienced out of interest, let him/her help you—and others!
Safety/security concerns:
The only safety concern is if you are uploading photos of students to remain on the Picnik site or other photo sharing sites and this is not permitted under your school policies. If students are to use this tool, be sure you have parent permission for them to be using any photosharing sites, as well. You may want to simply work from your own local photos if sharing sites such as Flickr are not permitted. If you decide to have Picnik “keep a copy” of your picture, membership is required. Avoid this by saving your photo back to your computer, and no one has a copy but you!
Possible uses: Teachers, you can create professional posters for your classroom, gifts, scrapbooks for projects, bound books, and of course, advanced, professionally-doctored photos for any occasion by using this site. Your school (or your classroom) can raise field trip money by creating products with customized photos from this site. Middle school and high school art or computer teachers will enjoy a teaching unit on this no-cost site. It has similar functions of high-cost photo doctoring sites yet it is FREE. Have students/groups create a photo collection to illustrate a curriculum concept, such as “habitats” or “repetition in nature” by editing their own digital images to emphasize the concept. Share the finished work on your class wiki or student blogs so others can comment.
Available in both Spanish and English, this cryptology site has great information and interesting, applicable activities. This site walks students through the foundations and fundamentals of cryptology, how is has been used in the past, its applications today, how students themselves can use it, and some great interactive games.
This site is a ThinkQuest entry from 2007. ThinkQuest sites are created by students or student education candidates. This site requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: There are lots of uses for this site, although it doesn't fit comfortably in any one subject area. The concept of language as symbols is valuable for any English, history, or humanities lesson, but the real attraction to this site is student interest in this topic. Even those studying wars in history can use this extension as part of discussion or codes' role in the military. Students can create their own ciphers after researching some that have been used in the past. Students could encrypt actual quotes from Shakespeare or another author and have each other "decode" them. Use cryptology as a way to teach scientific method and hypothesis-testing, as well. This site is ideal for gifted students learning about mysteries, cryptology, or forensics.
Want a concrete indicator of public curiosity and concerns from the source they use most? Try Google Zeitgeist. This simple tool tells what people are searching most on Google (country by country), correlating it to the news and other major dates. Use the links to Year-End Zeitgeist or Zeitgeist Archives to see full-year trends. For example, use the 2008 summary to see the spikes in certain Google searches connected with events during the 2008 U.S. political campaigns. Get a quick snapshot of popular culture "hot topics" or personal concerns during tough economic times, simple by seeing what people are searching on Google. If you are trying to build world-awareness and 21st century learners in your classroom, keep Google Zeitgeist handy to spark discussion and curiosity.
In the Classroom: Teachers of gifted will want to share this as a must-read site, but all students would benefit from hypothesizing about the world trends that generate Google searches. Share this resource on your teacher web page or classroom computer for handy access. As you discuss current events, government, politics, of even consumer behavior, use Zeitgeist to ask questions: Why are people searching this now? What did people in other countries search while Americans were focused on Sarah Palin or bank bailouts? Show a Zeitgeist listing on your projector or interactive whiteboard and simply ask the question: Why? Challenge students to discuss possible reasons for what they see in small groups or in blog posts. Use a Zeitgeist finding as a prompt for a debate or essay in English class. Use the trends as indicators of consumer behavior for discussions in business or FCS classes. Use search wordings from other countries in your world language classes to sharpen awareness of cultural differences and similarities.
Just ask WHY? and watch your students leap to higher level thinking as you challenge them to prove it with other findings from the web or research.
Dinosaur DigGrade 4 to 12
- National Museum of Natural History- 9709
Your students can dig dinosaur bones right from their computers. This site has two interactive three-dimensional tours: 1) a tour of a museum room featuring dinosaur artifacts where you can scroll your mouse over the contents to learn more; and 2) from the ground to the museum, you can dig bones out west and then unwrap them for display at the Smithsonian. Of course, with a click of the mouse, your students have a vast amount of information for research or fun, including an interactive dinosaur tree of life. Audio and Flash are necessary. They can be obtained from here: TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: Use an interactive whiteboard or projector to effectively show and discuss the dinosaur dig and museum to your class. This Smithsonian website also features a fossil lab slide show if your students crave to learn about this branch of science. Have your students research different types of lesser known dinosaurs and create interactive presentations to share with the class. Rather than a presentation about the research, have students write a fictitious blog post from their researched dinosaur to a large animal of today (such as the elephant). What characteristics do they share? What makes them different?
Teachers of gifted students-- even younger ones-- will want to steer their dinosaur-obsessed students to this site for independent projects.
TimeRimeGrade 2 to 12
- Marijn Bom, Jaap Joziasse, Gerard Pastwa, and Pico Wilbrenninck- 9679
TeachersFirst Edge Entry: for moderately adventurous technology users. TimeRime.com allows you to view, create, and share interactive timelines. Use this site to search for user-created timelines about Barack Obama, and other past U.S. presidents, the sound of Motown, the history of Coca-Cola, Modern Thai Politics, and countless other topics. Use the search options at the top or bottom of the page to narrow your search. There is also the option to create your own unique timeline and share it by URL or by embedding in your class blog, wiki, or web page. To create a timeline you MUST register at the site. This requires a username, password, and your email address. The timelines require Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Skills Needed: If you only plan to VIEW timelines, no extra skills are needed. If you plan to create a timeline, you must register. Registration requires a username, password, and email address. To create a timeline, click on the Create Your Own Timeline link and follow the step-by-step directions. You must open the email sent to your account (from TimeRime) before you can create your timeline. The email does not automatically "appear." So you will want to register several hours (or even the day before) you wish to use this tool with your students.
Safety/Security Concerns: You must register to create a timeline. Registration requires a password and email address. Tip: rather than using your personal or work email, create a free Gmail account to use for memberships. 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.
Possible Uses: There are many uses for the already created timelines: use your interactive whiteboard or projector to learn about the history of Motown during music class, research presidents and other famous people, learn about historical events, research literature, and more. Have students create timelines for research projects using TimeRime. Use this tool to make a timeline of your class’ school year for younger classes who are just learning the graphical representation of time. Create author biographies, animal life cycles, or timelines of events and causes of wars. Create a historical time line, scanning old pictures or using copyright free images from the Library of Congress American Memory Collection. Other ideas: artists, musicians, writers from a certain period in history, the twentieth century in different countries, World War II timeline, Civil War timeline, timeline of insect stages, timeline of the rock cycle, of a plant or tree, timeline or life cycle of migratory animals, personal timelines-- suitable for younger students only if they work with a teacher account. Have them create a timeline of the plot of a novel, interspersed with the ways themes appear throughout the novel. If you read Dickens, be SURE to create a timeline of the many intertwined characters, such as Estella and Pip in Great Expectations! If you teach chemistry, have students create illustrated sequences explaining oxidation or reduction (or both). Elementary students could even interview grandparents and create a class timeline about their grandparents’ generation for Grandparents' Day. Why not create a timeline highlighting students' family events for a special gift for Mother's Day, Father's Day, or other holidays? You may need to assign students to do some investigative work first (years of births, marriages, vacations, etc.). For collaboration, link up with another classroom in another town (or another country) to build a time line that shares events in each local area so students can see what was happening at the same time in another location, maybe in the opposite hemisphere (compare weather and seasons!). In world language classes, have students create a timeline of their family in the language to master vocabulary about relatives, jobs, and more (and verb tenses!). The possibilities are endless!
This site, The Secret in the Cellar, offers a "webcomic" based on a TRUE story. This story mixes some history, science, forensics, and more to create an authentic mystery for students to read and solve. The mystery involves the discovery of a 17th Century body. Who is he or she? How did he or she die? Use photos, graphics, and online activities to unravel this history mystery! Analyze artifacts, examine the skeleton, and determine the cause of death.
Be sure to turn off your pop-up blocker to experience all the features. There is a link to Print & Help, there you can download the entire webcomic and all supporting documents. There is also an optional feedback survey at the end of the webcomic. This site requires Flash and Adobe Acrobat. You can get both from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: This site is ideal for entire class viewing, small group exploration, or even as an individual project for students. Share the site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Have your students keep a journal while they view the webcomic, keeping track of the clues and details as they are found. What a great way to teach scientific method, including forming a hypothesis and collecting data before analyzing whether your hypothesis proves correct! Use this site with younger gifted students during a "mystery" unit. Share the site during your lessons on the 17th century, as well.
This site offers some basic research on MANY "Amazing" Americans. Click to learn more about "Amazing" Leaders & Statesmen, U.S. Presidents, Activists & Reformers, Adventurers & Explorers, Musicians & Composers, Writers & Artists, Industrialists & Entrepreneurs, Scientist & Inventors, or Athletes and Entertainers. Be prepared: when you click on one of the topics you may have a few people pop up OR more names than you can count! This is an excellent site for research, teaching students about American heroes, or using to enhance your social studies, science, or music curriculum. There are pictures, information, and even some interactives. There are also links to a Presidential Scavenger Hunt, a "Dynamite Presidents" interactive, and other "extras." Some of the activities require Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: This site could be used throughout the entire year. Why not highlight a "hero of the week." Share the information on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students write diary entries (or blogs) from the perspective of the "hero of the week." Use this site for individual research projects and have students create multimedia presentations about their hero: a Powerpoint, website, blog, wiki, or video. This site can be used in more than just social studies topics. Music classes, science classes, and gifted classes can also benefit from the many research areas.
This site offers free comprehensive, interactive language and literature courses developed by MIT staff as part of their open course ware program. All courses include a regular syllabus that features assignments, interactive activities, and other resources such as videos and slideshows. There is a wide range of language offerings; the cultural courses complement the language instruction and include topics such as popular culture, history, economics, media , and thinking skills. There are courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. This site requires Adobe Acrobat. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: AP history, language, and economics students may find MIT’s online course materials useful. MIT has committed to putting its entire curriculum on the web, and these early offerings include syllabi, reading materials, and a variety of subject-specific class notes. Before using these pages, students and parents should all be aware of what Open Courseware is and is not. Teachers at smaller schools may welcome the availability of language alternatives. Teachers of gifted who are looking for acceleration options will also find these courses valuable, though you will need to develop a means of doing assessment if your students are to earn credit for them.
This great site gives serious Shakespeare students something to dig their teeth into. Of particular interest is a full-length, documentary video titled "Shakespeare and the Spanish Connection." The documentary links Spanish and Elizabethan theatres in style of performance, architecture, and background. From the homepage, you can look at galleries (basically online picture albums) of Shakespearean productions from the 16th to the 20th centuries. Clicking on the "Videos" tab will enable you watch short excerpts of plays performed in various venues including open air theatres. Due to the academic nature of the presentations, this is probably best used with upperclassmen or gifted students who have some familiarity with the Elizabethan Renaissance and Shakespeare. The videos require Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: The ideas presented on this site offer imaginative teachers great scope. Using the short videos and/or the albums as jumping off points, students can create their own videos of their own productions. Share the videos on YouTube or another tool such as SchoolTube (reviewed here).
One of the central topics can be the ease or difficulty in staging some of the scenes. Since there are several of the videos where actors describe the experiences playing certain characters as well as short documentaries showing authentic Elizabethan music, dance, etc., students can incorporate their own ideas in making their own scenes more genuine.
Use this comprehensive site to learn about the planets of the solar system as well as other objects. Use the "Stargazing" tab to view "Weekly Tips," "Sky Almanac," "Constellation Guide," "Moon Phases," "Beginner's Guide," and more. Under the "Teacher's" tab use resources such as "Lesson Plans," "Classroom Activities," "StarDate in the Classroom," or "Teacher Workshops." Materials in the teacher section provide activity directions, materials needed, as well. as documents in Adobe pdf format. There are lessons from K-12. In the "Resources" section, you will find a wealth of information and pictures about the Sun, inner planets, outer planets, and minor bodies. View past and future planned space missions. Links to keywords allow for a greater understanding of the material. Activities in the "Resources" section are listed along the side with appropriate ages. Ask Merlin provides questions and their answers. A tab to the "Gift Shop" is available, so students should be cautioned. Some of the classroom activities require Adobe Reader. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Use the activities in the Teacher's resource section to provide background material for understanding Astronomy. Many activities may already be known to the teacher, but these are thoroughly explained. Students could even teach the concepts to their classmates and use these activities as a demonstration.
Hurricane Hunters is a resource to find photos and data from past hurricanes. Hurricanes and data are archived by year. Find photos from above a hurricane with logs and information from the planes that follow the storms. Research more information about science and meteorology by using the multitude of links provided. Real time data of current storm conditions in the world are available on the website. View spectacular photos in the "Photos" section or click on "Questions" to read the most often asked questions and their answers. In the “Questions” is a link to a cyberflight that walks through the before, during, and after of a Hurricane Hunter flight. This site is mostly text and pictures.
A link to a "Hurricane Hunters Gift shop" is found on the main page and students should be advised to avoid such an advertisement. The site requires Flash for storm updates. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Compare numbers of hurricanes of various years. Plot locations, and storm paths on the same chart (or in Google Earth) to determine the origination point and landfall or end point of the hurricanes to draw conclusions. Use the information to determine the physical characteristics of the hurricanes (instead of looking them up in an encyclopedia). Determine the areas of the world where hurricanes occur in order to understand factors responsible for hurricane formation. Have students track a current hurricane and use information learned on this site to predict the spot where it will make landfall and provide reasoning for their choice.
Winter or summer, the Olympics provide teaching opportunities across the curriculum for students of all ages. Browse these options for curriculum connections to light the Olympic flame in your classroom.
In the Classroom: Use these Olympics resources to plan an entire unit during the Olympics or make them available as links from your teacher web page for enrichment if the Olympics fall during school breaks. Not enough time for an Olympics unit? Perhaps students can use these links to generate ideas and projects to share on an Olympics extra credit wiki. Teachers of gifted will find many ways to spark new projects usig these links.
Join your child guides, Zoe and Alex, as they travel to Animalia (an interesting world of talking animals). This CGI-animated series is based on the best-selling children's book by Graeme Base. At the Parents and Teachers link the site explains that Animalia teaches creativity, cooperation, persistence, world cultures, and language arts. Take a tour of Animalia, go to the Games and Activities link to find writing activities, art fun, creativity builders, and even mystery codes. There are also links to watch video clips! This interactive site requires Flash and Adobe Acrobat. You can get both from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Use this site to spruce up language arts class! Take a tour of Animalia together on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students work on individual computer to watch video clips and try the interactives. Have students write the story or "crack the code" at the Games and Activities link. Save this site in your favorites on your classroom computers so students can visit during language arts class or when work is complete. Use this site to help your ESL and ELL students further familiarize themselves with the English language. Gifted student respond well to this book. Consider extending your study of animals or writing by creating your own books modeled on Animalia.
This professional resource offers a possible look (scenarios) into the future of education. This site is a good illustration of the fact that teachers all around the world are aware of the changes that are necessary in education to respond to new technologies and globalization. The goal of the scenarios is to look at the possible education system in Australia in 2030. The creators narrowed down the futuristic world into four categories/scenarios. The first scenario offers a tolerant and harmonious society. The second scenario depicts a highly competitive world. Scenario three represents the society as polarized. The final scenario shows a world violent and fractured. The seeds of each of the possible societies are visible today. The scenarios demonstrate the importance of engaging with change and how THAT creates your ability to anticipate issues in the future, raise awareness, and create change! Click on Teaching for Uncertain Futures to view the book in its entirety. The links require Adobe Acrobat. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: Teacher ed institutions and graduate classes you are taking on contemporary issues in education may want to explore these scenarios for discussion. Even high school classes exploring careers or trends in current events may discuss the reshaping of education over the next 20+ years as today's high schoolers become tomorrow's teachers. Teachers of Gifted working with forecasting and futures will find this an interesting model.
Any teacher planing to remain in the profession will want to think about how these scenarios might affect YOUR classroom in some way in the near future.
Kids NumbersGrade K to 5
- kidsknowitnetwork- 9392
This site provides math foundation activities for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. After students learn the basics, there are a number of review activities for them to try in each operation area. In addition, there are practice activities with flashcards, telling time, money, fractions, algebra, and geometry. All of the activities are educational, but some seem to focus more on entertainment than education.
This site includes a worksheet generator so teachers can prepare their own review work. There is a calculator one click away for those who need it. There are some minor advertisements at this website. This site requires Flash. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Display this site on an interactive whiteboard or projector to create an anticipatory set for a new concept in your elementary math class. Once students are familiar with the activities, allow them to explore this website if they finish early or for extra practice. Put this site in your classroom newsletter or on your class website so students can explore and learn at home.
ESL students will enjoy this site since it will help them learn the vocabulary for math operations in English, and it will also allow them to succeed at something in school. This site can also be used to differentiate for your learning support and/or gifted students based on their current level of math instruction.
This website offers a compilation links to about thirty interactive classic stories. Read Greek Myths, Alice in Wonderland, The Life of Buddha, The Golden Goose, Ramayana, Aesops Fables, Hans Christian Anderson, Grimms Fairy Tales, and numerous others. The color coded descriptors let you know if the story includes text, pictures, sounds, animations, and videos. Most of the interactive stories also include interactive phonics and grammar activities. The reading levels vary, so preview the stories before sharing them with your students. This is a MUST-SEE for primary language arts classes, special education classes, ESL and ELL classes, and others.
This website was created by Johnnie Wilson, a mentor math coach and former 5th grade teacher. Be aware, there are minor unobtrusive advertisements at this website. Nearly all of the interactive stories require Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: What a fabulous way to share classic stories, fables, fairy tales, and myths! Use your interactive whiteboard or projector to introduce your students to these wonderful stories. Use this website in your language arts classes, special education classes, with your ESL and ELL students to share these classic stories. Challenge your gifted students to create new "classics." Have students work in pairs to explore this website (provide headsets), and then share their classic story with the rest of the class. Explore the "less known" stories available at this site. Don't forget to provide this link in your class newsletter or on your class website, so students can practice their reading skills at home.
If your curriculum calls for study of other cultures and times or even archaeology, this site makes Roman culture understandable to upper elementary and beginning middle school students. This website, created by the BBC, introduces students to the Romans, the Forum, Caesar, and more. Links and activities include City of Rome and the Roman Empire, Invasion, Rebellion, Religion, The Roman Army, and several others. There are printable pages, online activities, lesson ideas, a glossary, a link for teachers, and an illustrated timeline. Although most of this website isn't interactive, the information and printable pages are very useful in the quest to learn about the Romans.
In the Classroom: Start your exploration at the Teachers Page to learn more about this website and the numerous activities available. Use this site on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Print off some of the worksheets for additional extension activities. Teachers of gifted will appreciate this site for students to explore on their own as part of a study of ancient cultures or mythology.
This site offers digitized National Archives of the U.S. organized according to general category. You can finally explore and share primary source documents interactively through this Flash site. Start from eight featured topics. For a more in depth look at each subject and its associated categories, click on What's Interesting. A search feature is also available. An added feature at the bottom of the opening page is the "Pathways" tab. Students can participate in a "challenge" (in different levels) to find links between certain historical items. Students can also create their own pathways, writing about connections they find between certain archived items. In another section, students can create their own historical posters and movies from the archives. You can create a collection of items from the archives to retrieve or look at later, as well. This feature requires a free membership created by email address. There are also extensive lesson ideas and information for teachers at the small link, "Educators and Students," at the bottom of the page. Roll your mouse down to find it against the dark background. Note: the entire site is done in Flash (an HTML version is available from a small link at the bottom of the page). Get Flash from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Use this site as an anticipatory set for a unit in history or on inventions. Share a collection of images or invention drawings on a projector or whiteboard and ask what the invention will do. Or use the site as the starting point for individual or group projects. After demonstrating on an interactive whiteboard or projector, have students use laptops or lab computers to "collect" resources related to their assigned inventor, decade, or era in American history. Check your school policy regarding accessing student email. 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. Students can use their log-ins to collect resources.
Since the documents are in the public domain (are not copyrighted), students may also download and use the files as part of other projects, such as video compilations, Powerpoint presentations, or multimedia of any sort. To access the resources in non-Flash format, click the small link to "research this record in ARC" in the detailed view of the item. You can then view and Save As for use elsewhere. Be sure you teach students about copying the URL and relevant information from this ARC page to cite the source and give credit in any presentation they make. This site is excellent for enrichment or projects for the gifted, as well. Include it on your teacher web page for students to access both in and out of class for students who are working in History Day projects or other assignments for your class.
Although we don't usually highlight a site that is simply a list, this list is worth mentioning. There are literally hundreds of math activities at this site (all Java applets). The activities are divided up into the following categories: Arithmetic, Math Games & Puzzles, Logic, Fractals & Chaos, Fallacies, Calculus, Combinatorial Games, Algebra, Visual Illusions, Computer Math Magic, Combinatorics, Geometry, Eye Opener Series, Social Science, Mathematical Droodles, and Analog Devices. Each category has numerous interactive activities included. The site is frequently updated. There are some small advertisements at the site. This site is simple to use and offers a wealth of options for many grade levels. The activities are not time-consuming and offer simple explanations with the applets.
In the Classroom: Use these applets on an interactive whiteboard or projector as an anticipatory set for a lesson in math class. Have students work independently on the logic and puzzle activities. These activities are ideal for gifted students (for advancement and/or enrichment) or extra practice for struggling students. Provide this link on your class website, so students can explore at home or as review.
Brain Games offers a collection of over thirty interactive logic games, puzzles, music games, and more. Some specific topics include code breaking, coins, arithmetic, music notes, word scramble, and many others. There is even a card game version similar to “24.” All of the activities require Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Introduce the website (or a specific activity) on an interactive whiteboard and then have students work in pairs to "try their hands" at the many activities. This website is perfect for gifted students looking for an extra challenge. This is a great link to provide to parents in a class newsletter or on your class website.
Lead your students on an exploration of the art of Ancient Egypt! The Metropolitan Museum of Art has created a treasure trove of lesson plans and activities built around their stellar Egyptian collection. The educational resources integrate Egyptian art into language arts, social studies, math, science, and visual and performing arts. This would be a terrific launch point for a gifted enrichment unit. Dig into the Resources area to get an overview of the printable worksheets, bibliographies, maps, and online features. Be sure to click on the Curriculum Connection area for specific lesson plans and activities for your students.
In the Classroom: After exploring the various activities, students can create their own Egyptian-inspired artifacts for a classroom museum. Invite other classes for a student-docent tour of the museum. Discuss the stylized Egyptian figures that communicate ideas and stories and ask students to strike poses which others try to decipher. Students can add contemporary items to a time capsule and bury it somewhere on the school grounds to be discovered by future archeologists. Discuss why items in the time capsule might mystify people in the future.
This site offers actual lesson plans for teaching with professional cartoons. It covers social studies, art, English, and journalism. The plans are offered in three sets: elementary, middle, and high school. They are categorized, so you can search for the plans that deal with current events vs. forming opinions vs. analysis or many other possibilities. Be sure to preview ahead of time, some of the cartoons and topics are not appropriate for elementary students. New material is added often, so check this site frequently.
In the Classroom: While mainly a professional site for teacher information and ideas, this site does give some great examples of editorial cartoons and allows you to search for cartoons by specific artists or even newspapers. Wonderfully adaptive to almost any social studies or English class, putting a cartoon on the interactive whiteboard or projector for analysis or criticism makes an entertaining and memorable lesson for students. Use these cartoons to discuss and debate current events or as an anticipatory set for a related lesson, such as government, world cultures, or electoral politics. Gifted students of all ages would thrive on discussions of these cartoons.
Snow WhiteGrade 9 to 12
- Kay E. Vandergrift- 9084
Who knew Snow White could be so scholarly? Visit this site and see how academia earns doctorates by exploring issues related to her story. This site holds a huge collection of resources to enlighten -- or “ broaden”-- this fairy tale’s meaning. Secondary teachers, especially, will appreciate the wealth of information. Issues such as morality, Disney interpretations, translation problems, feminist concerns, and more are all highlighted.
In the Classroom: English teachers need only to click on the Links button, to find many literature-related links. Use a study and discussion of Snow White as a way to completely change the way your students view literature and literary analysis. This site isn’t just for English teachers though. Social science teachers will find the information useful. Gifted students could handle the academic feel of the site, but this is mostly a teacher resource for background understanding. Use the contents of this website to prepare for a class discussion or debate on the Snow White story, morality issues, feminist concerns, or other topics highlighted at this website. Share the hypertext version on your interactive whiteboard to pique interest in finding the extraordinary under the surface of the tales we all know.
Storytelling comes alive at Zinger Tales. Listen to actual recordings of well-known tales by some of America's most famous storytellers. The rich language and expressions will captivate your students. Some examples of the stories include Why Dogs Chase Cats, The Three Bears and Goldilocks, The Cracked Pot , and numerous others. This website requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: Find the text for the stories featured at this site (or find text for any tall tale or oral history). Have students read the text multiple times to become familiar with the story. Watch and listen to the stories as a class on an interactive whiteboard or projection screen. Or have students use individual computers and listen to the stories of their choice. Don’t forget the headphones! Learning support teachers will like this option to let folk tales spark the imagination of their weaker readers. Study storytelling techniques from this site. When students are comfortable with 'their' favorite story, record your own classroom storytelling podcast. Or burn a CD to as a gift to parents or fundraiser for a classroom project.
This celebrated collection of countless interactive math activities was created by Utah State University. Use the simple grid to find activities by grade level (pre-K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12)and topic: numbers & operations, algebra, geometry, measurement, and data analysis & probability. Specific virtual manipulatives include attribute blocks, geoboards, pattern blocks, algebra tiles, and numerous others. Nearly all of the activities require JAVA. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: What a perfect tool to help your visual learners connect the dots in math class. All activities are perfect for an interactive whiteboard or projector. This is also an excellent resource to use for re-teaching skills, additional practice, enrichment activities, or even advanced activities for your gifted students. Learning support teachers will appreciate the alternative way to present math topics in a "hands-on" format. Be sure to include this website as a link on your classroom web page.
This collection of over fifty interactive math activities was organized by a math specialist (former 5th grade teacher). Difficulty levels are color-coded for "Primary Math," "Best Primary Math," "Intermediate Math," and "Best Intermediate Math." The activities include basic math and logic activities. Some of the topics include Hanoi towers, weights, Tetris, algebra, abacus, point of view, and countless others. What a fabulous resource for any elementary or middle school math class. All of the activities are interactive and require FLASH or JAVA. You can get both from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: What a fantastic website to include in your classroom web page and newsletter. All of these activities are perfect for an interactive whiteboard or projector. This is an excellent resource for gifted students. The activities could also be used for enrichment, additional practice, and re-teaching skills. So turn up the volume and treat your class to a mind-bending challenge.
This collection of nearly twenty interactive measurement activities was organized by a math specialist (former 5th grade teacher). Specific topics include telling time and clock math, balances, standard measurement, metric system, liquid measurement, proportions, coins, and others. Many of the activities can be individualized by choosing specific topics, difficulty levels, and various other options. Most of the activities require FLASH, some require JAVA. You can get both from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: All of these activities would be fabulous on an interactive whiteboard. Be sure to turn up the volume.
Include this website in your next class newsletter, your class blog, and your class web page. This is a wonderful choice for at-home practice (for the struggling students) or advanced activities (for the gifted students).
This math practice game is sure to excite your students. The challenge is to help a monkey swing on a vine across the water (and keep the apples from the crocodile). The best aspect of this game (besides the entertainment of the monkey), is that you can choose addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division. You can also choose the difficulty level (easy, medium, or hard) to differentiate student practice levels. This website requires FLASH. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: What a wonderful tool to use to differentiate your lessons to meet the needs of your struggling students and your gifted students. Why not have the students work on individual computers and use the operation that they are currently learning (addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division). And then have them work at their own individual difficulty level. If this isn't practical in your classroom, using this as a learning center on your class computer would also be beneficial. You WILL want to turn off the annoying sound!
If you are looking for a new way to teach and practice fractions, take a look at this website that was collected by a math specialist (former 5th grade teacher). The website includes nearly twenty interactive math activities, which all relate to fractions. Some of the general topics include fraction strips, circle fractions, area fractions, like fractions, fraction bars, fractions and decimals, fractions and percentages, comparing fractions, and several others. Most of the activities require FLASH, some require JAVA. You can get both from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: What a fabulous resource for teaching fractions. There are so many uses for this website. Why not get an interactive whiteboard and make the fractions activities a group challenge. Or students could work on individual computers in the computer lab or on laptops. This website could also be used as a learning station on a classroom computer. What a wonderful tool to provide to parents (in a class newsletter or on your class website) for students to gain additional practice at home, or even for enrichment and/or advancement for your gifted students.
This fantastic collection of links was organized by a math specialist (a former 5th grade teacher). The site provides over forty interactive math activities that all relate to geometry. Some of the specific topics include pattern blocks, square tiles, pentominoes, geoboards, symmetry, tangrams, triangles, angle measures, polyhedra, cartesian grids, tessellations, point of view, and numerous other topics. What a wonderful resource to use with elementary or middle school math students. All of the activities require FLASH or JAVA. Get both from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: This website provides excellent resources to use for additional practice, re-teaching skills, enrichment activities, or even advanced activities for your gifted students. All of the math activities are perfect for an interactive whiteboard (or projector). Treat your class to these fabulous resources.
Be sure to include this link on your classroom web page, blog and/or newsletter.
The collection of over fifty interactive math activities was organized by a math specialist (former 5th grade teacher). Some topics are for primary grades (such as the count aloud and sequence activities). Other topics are more complex (such as factorization and equations). Specific topics include base 10, counting, sequence, ordinals, odd and even numbers, place value, addition, equations, subtraction, integers, number line, Venn diagrams, algebra, factorization, cuisennaire rods, and others. What a fabulous resource for any elementary math class. All of the activities require FLASH. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: Treat your students to these wonderful, ready-to-go activities. All are perfect for an interactive whiteboard or projector. This is also an excellent resource to use for additional practice, re-teaching skills, enrichment activities, or even advanced activities for your gifted students. Be sure to include this website as a link on your classroom web page.
Type your name and choose your grade level (K-1, 2, 3, or 4-6). Then get ready for the wheel to spin! You can spin four wheels to get a very specific writing prompt. For example, Describe a vacation with a skinny cactus who loves country music. Each wheel produces a different part of the prompt. Each time the wheel spins, a new prompt is created. The prompts are created for the specified grade level and are highly creative. Be sure to check out the Teacher's Guide that offers learning objectives, specific lesson ideas, and printables.
Be warned: the "spinning" page has some rather loud audio sounds. Either turn up the volume and enjoy, or hit the mute button! This site requires Flash and Adobe Acrobat. You can get both from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Whether you are looking for a daily prompt for your students, or individual prompts for writing stations, you will find some creative ideas here. Share how to use this site on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Set up writing stations and have students use this site to find their prompts. Use this site to differentiate for your gifted students by allowing them to choose a prompt at a higher grade level. List this link on your class website for some writing practice or extra credit writing exercises.
Loud Lit offers "literature for your ears and eyes" (although the site's visual appearance is quite plain!). This collaborative project with public domain offers recorded literature. You are given the options of listening to the literature, listening and reading the literature, or downloading the literature to an MP3 player. The number of items available for public use is constantly increasing. The current contents include novels, poetry, classic children's literature, a few historical items, and classic short stories. Some examples of the available literature includes A Tale of Two Cities, The Little Match Girl, The Gift of the Magi, The Declaration of Independence, The Gettysburg Address, and countless others. A separate column lets you know about newly recorded items. This site requires Flash and Quicktime. Get them from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: This site is helpful for many subjects and grade levels. Have students use this website when they have to memorize poetry, the Gettysburg Address, or the Declaration of Independence. ESL and ELL students and many learning support students will benefit from the option of “reading” in multi-media format. Use the audio stories with younger students for listening skills. During a poetry unit, why not have students choose one of the poems to read and listen to? Have the students analyze and write in their journal about what they think the poem means. Then have the students share the original poem and their own opinions with the class, making this activity a listening, reading, writing, and speaking lesson. If you are into podcasting, encourage students to create some of their own poetry readings with commentary.
Who wouldn't want to make a child smile? This tax-exempt organization solicits cards to be sent to their featured children. Click on the "Send a Card" area in the center of the home page. Each month different children with dire physical ailments are featured. The site provides addresses of each of these children in hopes of their receiving much encouraging mail. Your students will enjoy reading about the different children featured.
In the Classroom: Classroom teachers are always on the lookout for ways to teach generosity, caring, and service to others. Students can choose one child to "adopt" during the school year. Cards and letters (and gifts?) can be sent throughout the year, and especially during any of the holiday periods, when the spirit of 'giving' is foremost on our minds. Adopting a child through this organization promotes acceptance of diverse physically-challenged children. School counselors should embrace this site to promote the goodwill of men (children). Perhaps your student council or service club is looking for a project. Share this site as a possibility.
An addictive logic challenge, this site asks student to "crack the code" to break into a security system at the Science Museum. Students use a telephone keypad to enter possible codes (4-digits). The challenge is somewhat similar with the board game Mastermind. Students are given six attempts to try to "crack the code" before an alarm goes off. After each attempt, students are provided with feedback about which numbers were correct. Dark green numbers represent numbers that are in the code, but in the wrong position. Light green numbers represent numbers that are in the code, and in the correct position. This site requires FLASH. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: What an excellent activity to practice logic and deduction skills! Students will love the challenge of trying to "crack the code". Science teachers trying to introduce hypothesis testing can use model this activity on an interactive whiteboard to demonstrate the process. This would then make an ideal cooperative learning activity for students to try in small groups. Elementary gifted students would also enjoy the challenges that this website provides.
If you teach film or plan a video project with students, this is a great site for students to see and practice the step-by-step process of basic film. As you click through each step, the site provides some history. It then asks students to create their own screenplay scenes from a given (already filmed) scenario. Students can see what other student writers have said as well as see the actual screenplay that was used. The site follows this format through each step, with varying degrees of interaction all along the way: from directing to producing, acting to editing.
In the Classroom: After using some of the brief history of film, teachers could have students create their own movie by assigning them different roles in the process (screenwriter, director, editor, actor, etc.) Some students might be responsible for blogging the process for another class and the end product could be shared among classes.
The resource links at the end are great for extending activities outside the classroom or getting students interested in their own research on film. Gifted students could use this as the start of a year-long project!
If you are a fan of "Mythbusters," you will love this one. This visually-drab site is a treasury of trickery included in K-6 science textbooks and popular culture. The text-only site is created and maintained by a self-described research engineer, "HV/Electrostatics specialist, Lecturer, Sci. Exhibit Designer, Textbook Consultant, Amateur Physicist" on the staff of the University of Washington Dept of Chemistry. There are some ads on the site, but they are not distracting. The various links tell of misconceptions by science category (electricity, physics, etc)and are not searchable. Start with BAD PHYSICS AND BAD ELECTRICITY. There are also links to others' articles on misconceptions in science.
In the Classroom: If you teach science (and even if you only TOOK science), you owe it to yourself to read through this site, at least long enough to find the topics that YOU teach and be sure that your materials are accurate. The best way to find information is probably to browse for the topics you teach and use Ctrl-F on your keyboard to FIND key terms in the text. Of course, if you believe the same misconceptions that our texts have told us for years, you won't know what terms to FIND...You might want to make this a professional learning "game" at an inservice day: find a misconception and debunk it for the rest of the elementary science team. You might want to gently point out the problems to your principal or curriculum director.
Share this site with very bright students to explore and report back to you. Need a challenge for the gifted? Have the students select a misconception and create a CORRECT illustration of the concept in multimedia form. If you give them a wiki space to use for their presentation, you can even submit the link to Mr. Beaty. Now that's authentic assessment!
This fascinating website investigates the origin and evolution of languages. Topics include "Where do Languages Come From?", "Table: An Example of Language Similarities", "Table: Global Roots of the Words One and Two", "Examine Words", and "Learn How to Find the Histories and Origins of Words". Some of the audio features require FLASH or Real Player. Get them from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: What a fabulous tool to study the origins of language. Explore comparisons are made between English, Latin, Japanese, Classical Greek, Portuguese, and Sanskrit. This would be a great site to use during world languages week or as an introduction to a world cultures class. Gifted students would find it fascinating. Have students create a digital "dictionary" of particularly interesting words that have evolved in unusual ways, perhaps computer terms. They can make it in the form of anything from a word document to a wiki!
HippoCampusGrade 9 to 12
- Monterey Institute for Technology and Education- 8721
Find multimedia content and lessons ready to go, and customizable by your preferences on this incredible, free, online learning site. Whether you need a comprehensive curriculum for selected high school courses, a way to differentiate instruction, or materials to reinforce challenging topics, this site has it. The current subjects include Algebra, American Government, Biology, Calculus, Environmental Science, Physics, Religion, and U.S. History. The subjects extend through high school and into AP and college level material. Open a course at the left and browse the topics, especially the multimedia offerings. A free instructor account allows you to select the modules you want your students to see and share them via a unique URL for assignments or at-home review. Since the content is offered collaboratively from multiple sources, the courses each have their own "look." The ones our review team explored all included audio-- a real plus for ESL/ELL or low level readers.
In the Classroom: Explore the curriculum topics for your subject area and select some options for students to use in class or for review. This is also an excellent option for leaving plans for a substitute who may have no expertise in your subject area! Many of the multimedia modules are well-suited for interactive whiteboard or projector (or for students to navigate at an individual pace on laptops). Have gifted students? Allow them to "compact" new content and extend into higher levels using this site. Be sure to share a link from your teacher web page for students who need an alternate presentation of material or for absentees.
This site offers an easy to use online tool to create a photo album in minutes. Choose a theme and customize with your photos. Print, email or save the brochure to print at a later date. Be sure to turn off your pop-up blocker so you can “see” all the site content. This site requires Flash. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: This site would work well for an individual or pairs of students. Take digital pictures of a science experiment or other class activity, write captions for each picture and create an album page. Combine the pages into a class book. This would be a great way to "collect" nature specimens or document biodiversity in the school yard without disturbing any flora or fauna. Special ed, ESL, ELL, speech/language, or world language teachers teachers would also like the options for student-created or personalized, illustrated vocabulary guides. Create one together with your students or assign them to make one as an assessment. Elementary teachers will love the possibilities for Mother's Day gifts!
This site allows you to learn words and hear pronunciations in 11 languages (English - Français - Español - Deutsch - Português - Russian - Italiano - Polska - Greek). Select your native language and a language you wish to study. Choose a category, such as fruits, and roll your mouse over pictures to hear the word, pronounced by a native speakers. There are also sections for grammar topics, such as verb conjugation. Site extras include sound effects to accompany some pictures (hear the bark, breathing sound, and growl of the dog)! This site avoids the problems of different alphabets by working from picture to sound, though the spellings do display as little text boxes as you roll your mouse.
In the Classroom: Use this site as a pronunciation backup when you do not have a native speaker teaching foreign language. If you have access to a lab or individual laptops, assign students to practice pronunciation as they learn new vocabulary. Be sure to share the link from your teach web page in your world language class. As you study world cultures or geography, some students may want to learn simple language selections, as well. Gifted students --especially younger ones curious about languages -- will enjoy trying to learn independently. ESL students may also use this site to hear authentic pronunciation. Speech and language and special ed teachers working on vocabulary development will want to use this site with students, as well.
Fake Out!Grade K to 8
- Education Place Houghton Mifflin - 8590
Fake Out! is like an ongoing online game similar to "Balderdash." The game provides unusual (but REAL) vocabulary words that are categorized by grade levels: K-2, 3-5 and 6-8. Students choose a word and attempt to define it by choosing among several definitions provided. If students choose the wrong definition, they are given the correct definition as well as a tally of how many times others chose each definition that is listed. Students are also given an opportunity to "create" a definition for a word and submit it to Fake Out! Student-created definitions may show up in the definition list for others to choose from.
In the Classroom: Use this site as a discussion starter for word study-- what clues can help you guess what an unknown word might mean (prefixes, suffixes, roots, etc). You can also use it to reinforce dictionary skills by having students write definitions in a credible-sounding format. Take the site one step further and have students complete activities such as creating a story with the word, using the word in a sentence, acting out the definition or drawing a picture of the word. If you have a class wiki, allow students to add favorite new words to a wiki glossary throughout the year. Teachers of gifted will love this challenge for their highly-verbal
This visually "plain vanilla" learning style inventory, created by an instructional designer at Penn State, is simple enough to use in a middle or high school classroom without explaining elaborate personality traits and indexes to preteens and young adults. (There is one unfortunate mention of smoking, since the inventory was designed for college students. You may want to point it out and make an active disclaimer. about not promoting smoking!). This free, simplified inventory is short enough to complete and discuss during one class period. NOTE: the results of the inventory come up in a small pop-up window. Make sure your pop-up blocker is not preventing you from seeing them. The Google and Yahoo toolbars block pop-ups! In Internet Explorer, you can temporarily turn off the blocker by RIGHT-clicking on the narrow yellow bar that appears at the top of the web page window.
In the Classroom: Regular ed and learning support teachers from middle school up will want to share this resource with students and parents to help students find the most effective ways to study and retain knowledge. Include the link on your teacher web page (with a note about the unfortunate mention of smoking!) or plan a start-of-the year in-class time to help students get off on the right foot. Even teachers of gifted (whose students are notorious for inconsistent study methods because they have not "needed" to study) will find this resource helpful when students "hit the wall" in challenging courses. As part of a study skills unit, have students self-assess and create a single database of the class members' learning styles and subject strengths so they can find peer-tutors during study halls.
This integrated activity was created for Art, Language Arts and Social Studies. It includes activities designed to allow students to investigate an Art movement in historical context and to apply their research to a situation where they must judge whether another artist's work and philosophy would be compatible with the movement. There are built-in extension activities and ways to address multiple intelligences within the webquest.
Ideal for working with Humanities, teachers can use this site for art, language arts, or social studies. Teachers of gifted will also find it a great way to approach art--even for those who are not "artistic."
In the Classroom: This site includes all the prerequisites for good webquests: introduction through evaluation. If you want to gear this to older students, more sites could be added to reflect your units. The sophistication of the final projects is up to you and your class, but the choices offered are a good variety.
MoleculariumGrade 2 to 5
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute- 8419
Molecularium explains the basic parts of matter, atoms, and molecules. There are three activities: "Build" explains the molecules of basic compounds; "Nanolab" shows molecules from space; "Transform" teaches about states of matter. Other areas of the website show digital views of compounds and fantastic animated videos in the Digital Dome. The Gallery is a series of musical animated views of different molecular arrangements and states of matter. Use the printable teacher's resource guide for help and suggestions. This site requires Flash. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: Turn on your speakers! Be sure to explore this site completely before attempting to use it with your class to be able to navigate comfortably. The use the site on a projector or interactive whiteboard as an introductory lesson on atoms and molecules. Once your lesson is complete, be sure the site is available for students to revisit on their own on a classroom computer (with headphones) or as link from your web page. Teachers of the gifted may wish to bookmark this site for their students to explore on their own.
This website provides review ("revision" in the UK) for numerous physics concepts taught in secondary sciecne. Utilize the resource to simplify the complexities of physics. There are nine different guides/mini-units on various physics topics. Some of the specific topics include energy transfers, properties of waves, radioactivity and more. The website features animation, interactive challenges, lessons, explicit details about the physics concepts and other educational activities. An FYI for U.S. teachers: GCSE stands for General Certificate of Secondary Education (UK). The interactive activities require Flash, get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: Many of these activities could be overview-introductions on an interactive whiteboard or projector. You will definitely want to share this resources on your teacher web page for students to use as test revew for your class. Be sure to tell them which modules to use to fit your content! More able and curious science students who wish to "self-teach" on their own will appreciate the modules as tutorials. Teachers of gifted should share them with their science enthusiasts from grade 5 and up.
Help your students to determine their own individual intelligences by using this website. The website provides information about the various intelligences, an interactive quiz (available in text or audio versions), and a detailed results page. This site requires Flash, get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Use a computer lab or laptops to help students learn more about how they learn. For many students, this could be part of a plan for how to study and be successful in the new school year. This would be a great "first week of school" activity or part of a unit on study skills. For gifted students finally "hitting the wall" and having to learn to study in high school, this self-analysis could be very helpful.
Here is another wonderful website created by the Woodlands Junior School. This website is basically a compilation site for teachers. There are links and activities for math, science, special needs, history, geography, health, holidays, and many other subject areas. The website also offers many lesson plans - find the lesson plans by clicking on the subject. Note: The site is British, so beware of spelling differences! Most of the activities are interactive and require FLASH, get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: This website is ideal for interactive whiteboards. The amount of topics and information is truly amazing. Don't miss this incredible resource!
TeachersFirst Edge entry: for moderately adventurous technology users. Voicethread allows you to upload images (from your digital camera, scanner, or even paint program), then allow students to record their own comments and/or narration about the images. Other listeners can "comment" back, as well. TeachersFirst is providing the link to the VoiceThread home page but suggests that you first watch this quick explanation about two types of FREE educator memberships being offered for classroom teachers (one completely free, the other after a one time fee of $10...so "sort of" free). You can click to go to the home page from there. Access to the ed.voicethread site (as opposed to www.voicethread)is restricted to grades K-12 students, educators, and administrators.
VoiceThread explains how to set up a classroom account and has some ideas for classroom use, as well. Ideas from the TeachersFirst Edge review team are listed below, under "In the classroom."
In the Classroom: Skills needed: join the site (free). You will be logged into your account immediately after you fill in the registration form. Watch the "One Minute Voicethread" to get a very quick overview of how easy it is to create a digital story. Set up student identities. You will want to "Browse" some Voicethreads to get an idea how they work. Use first names only. You need to know how to locate and upload saved pictures. You WILL need a microphone, either plugged into your computer or built in. They can be purchased for less than $10 at a discount or electronics store. Once you create a Voicethread, it can be shared by copying the URL and sending it via email or other means, inviting others to comment back. You can also decide whether you wish to allow comments and whether these comments will be moderated by you.
Of course, you should be sure that you have the RIGHTS to any images you upload. Fair Use does not apply when you put an image on the web!
Safety/security: TeachersFirst recommends that you explain the VoiceThread projects via a note sent home and obtain parent permission to post student work to the web, even anonymously. Then invite parents to share in the results (The VoiceThread classroom page tells you more about this). TeachersFirst does not recommend using actual, identifiable pictures of children. Let them draw a picture or take a digital picture of an object that somehow represents them (middle schoolers will love that idea!). If you allow others to "comment" on student Voicethreads, the experience can be both wonderful and a bit intimidating. Use this opportunity to promote ethical and kind interaction with other students and their projects.
Possible uses: Elementary classes can create or take pictures, then ask each child to talk about the images. Each child can comment on the SAME pictures, creating a collaborative collection of responses. After a field trip or special class event, you can assign groups of students to explain each of the digital pictures you took and how they relate to curriculum topics. In art class, students can critique works of their own or of fellow students. In language arts classes, students can scan and comment on writing pieces as part of a reflective phase of the writing process. Or post an image as a prewriting activity and allow students to respond orally in an idea-generating phase. In social studies, have students provide a picture of a grandparent then narrate what they learned about that grandparent from interviewing him/her. Have students create narrated pictures as gifts (for parents or other care givers) for special occasions, winter holidays, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, etc.. During a science experiment or demo, have a student take pictures of the steps. Then ask students to "narrate" them by commenting on what is happening. The narration assignment could even be a center activity or an assignment on a few classroom computers for students to rotate through. What a great way to review and apply key vocabulary! Be sure they identify their voices if you are using a single class account and want to be able to assess understanding. Other ideas: narrated local history projects (pictures of local sites), audio "museum tours" of artifacts (photos) or war veterans telling their stories along with images of their uniforms or old photos. Speech/language, ESL/ELL or early childhood teachers could use this tool to promote vocabulary development and oral expression.
TeachersFirst is proud to offer this chance to experience the life of a physics researcher through the eyes and dry humor of our own physics blogger, Andy. As an undergraduate not long out of the high school physics lab, Andy brings us into the "real world" of scientific research but can still connect with the middle or high school student who may be wondering, "When am I ever gunna use this stuff?" Spending the summer of 2007 at Los Alamos National Labs, Andy shares his day-to-day discoveries and gives your students a chance to respond to the blog, perhaps connecting to a "real" scientist for the first time.
In the Classroom: Share this resource with your science students or gifted classes on your teacher web page and encourage them to follow it throughout the summer. Andy promises to keep all of us up to date and, within time constraints, respond to meaningful comments.
TeachersFirst Edge Entry: For very comfortable technology users who need more sophisticated capabilities than your TeachersFirst home page. This online tool creates a highly visual "home page" that can incorporate multiple elements simply by dragging and dropping them in place. Not unlike Google's personalized homepage, the elements look like little sticky notes or boxes, but there is far greater flexibility and a wider variety of content readily available. You can also make the page local (simply use it as the "home" on your classroom computer), shared by a select group (passworded), or completely public. You can easily make a theme or unit page for quick access of resources, complete with directions.
In the Classroom: How would you use this in your teaching? Create a set of RSS feeds for current events or a specific curriculum topic such as weather and make them available for an in-class activity, complete with directions. World language, world cultures, or geography teachers can profile a location on the globe, complete with local weather and news. Make separate tabs for separate activities. Students can access them by password or publicly from outside of class, as well. For primary grades, make simple instructions right on the desktop for a computer center activity. Use color coding of the instructions to differentiate for different children (Sam, I want you to do the yellow one). If your school permits students to set up accounts on web services, have groups make Protopages on an assigned topic, collecting and organizing resources, images, and information: "A Protopage Guide to Cells" or "Shakespeare's Times." Gifted and highly-able students will go crazy!
Skills needed: Join (free). Check out the Intro, Overview, and Quickstart to see how it works. Play to your heart's content, including making tabs. Learn about RSS feeds and other Widgets-- including sticky notes. Share the URL with those you wish to have use it. Note: this works on Internet Explorer 6 and higher and on Firefox. If your users are on older web browsers, the developers recommend upgrading. This may be a problem for some. Check with your end-user computers before you spend too much time making the perfect Protopage!
If you allow students to create their own Protopage, you will need to have very specific rules about content, since there are non-educational elements available.
This site accompanies a PBS episode on the sinking of the Andrea Doria. Following a "crime scene investigation" model, the episode looks at the controversy behind the collision between the Doria and the Stockholm in 1956, and efforts to examine the wreck off the coast of New England. The site's usefulness is not limited to history teachers, however! There is a significant portion devoted to the science of deep sea diving.
In the Classroom: Use the excellent flash-enabled interactive "Diving Deep" to illustrate the physical properties of deep-sea diving that can endanger the lives of divers. There is also a detailed lesson plan in the Teacher Toolbox section that offers hands-on activities for exploring gas laws that affect divers, and printable handouts that provide questions on the lessons.
As you study the decades of the 20th century, this site could also be an interesting independent project source for a student interested in the 50's. Gifted students as young as upper elementary might find it a springboard for a comparison of maritime disasters.
The Tech Museum of Innovation's online interactive exhibit about robotics includes fascinating history about robots seen from different angles. A video of Hans Moravec of Carnegie Mellon University discusses the components of a robot. Another section of the display examines ethical questions about the line between humans and robots and includes audio files of scientists responding to the questions (requires Quicktime). Site visitors can also respond.If you think you can't be creative with robots, take a look at the robot artists' section and view their creations. Finally, you can try driving your own robot in a virtual simulation. This section requires the Shockwave plugin. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: Explore the world of robots as part of a tech ed, gifted, science, or physics class. Be sure to include some of the discussions of ethics and technology as part of your unit. This site would also provide excellent background research for debate topics on technology and ethics. Note: the site was started prior to the 2003 Mars lander problems. Be sure to talk about what we know now about those robots, as well.
Learn about each Egyptian pyramid by following explorers through the excavations, and learn about the exciting history of pyramid discovery and uncovering! View detailed inside views of each site. Learn how to decipher hieroglyphics as you make your way through this fascinating site. Read about current digs and restoration efforts. The virtual exploration portions of the site require Quicktime. There is a link to download it, or you can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: Use the lesson plan to build a scale model of a pyramid in your classroom or assign your students to explore the pyramids and collect information to compare them to burial customs of other ancient civilizations. You will definitely want to make this site available as a link from your teacher web page for further exploration. Teachers of gifted could use this as a springboard for an entire Egypt unit.
Mad Sci NetworkGrade K to 12
- Mad Sci Network/Third Sector New England- 8153
This great reference resource is an attractively packaged compilation of ways to get answers to questions about science. Offerings include a place to ask questions from K-college, access to a search engine, a list of FAQ's on common topics, a library with links to other relevant sites, a knowledge generator, an archive of lab experiments, and other assistance with science fair projects. The Mad-Sci labs also has a "Guided Tour of the Visible Human" section on human anatomy, with many images of cross-sections and internal organs.
In the Classroom: Navigate the human body and label parts on an interactive whiteboard, or find the appropriate experiments for all your science concepts. By searching the question archives, you can find answers to questions at all levels. Be sure to include this link on your teacher web page year-round to promote curiosity about science. Teachers of gifted will love this one as a treasury of open-ended ideas on science by scientists.
Those studying Chaucer and middle English will find this site hilarious, intriguing, and downright addicting! Besides the blogs all being in middle English, it includes "Howe to Reade My Writinges; Basic Glossary; Notes on translatynge Middel Englysshe; On my Englysshe; Elizabeth Renfeldes Notes on Pronounciacioun and Vocabularie as sidelight links on the left.
Under the heading "Linkes of Sentence and Solaas" there are links to a variety of related sites that are rich in information as well as interest. A favorite was the Virtual Tour of Dante's Hell.
In the Classroom: You are limited only by your imagination in the use of this site with high school students. Assigning different "translations" would be the least of the activities. Connecting and writing or reporting on the many related sites can create endless projects from "Market Day" to storytelling to panel discussions to powerpoint demonstrations.
DO be aware the "Playing on my Ipod" will take students to other student sites, so you might want to limit and be specific about what you want them to do; checking that first yourself may prove that your school filtering blocks those sites anyway.
There is also a link to buy shirts from zazzle.com with Chaucer-related sayings on them; again, your filtering may block this, or you might want to specifically deal with that issue.
In any case, there is too much "good stuff" here not to use at least some of it for fun and learning if you teach Chaucer et. al. Teachers of gifted students may find this site a marvelous prototype for creating a similar author-centered blog or wiki.
TeachersFirst Edge Entry: for moderately adventurous technology users. Create simple audio podcasts using this online tool and the free space they provide. Simply put, this tool lets you create and place sound recordings online for people to listen to and/or download from a web site. There are MANY free podcasts in a variety of subject areas (art, health, technology, music, business, and more). The site itself is a "web 2.0," social networking style site, so some schools may have it blocked. Ask about unblocking just YOUR teacher account so you can have students access it while at school and under your supervision.
What can it do? You can record sound directly with the microphone built or plugged into your computer and make it available for people to listen to online or download to their MP3 player. See and hear a sample we made for you.
In the Classroom: Skills needed: Join the site (free); Membership requires email. Then attach a mike or use your built-in computer mike; create the podcast by clicking a record button,(you may have to tell your computer to "allow" nonsecure items over and over). Choose a background for your podcast page. Share it with others using one of several sharing options on the "My Podcast" tab, including copying the link to paste in an email or newsletter or embedding the podcast in your class web page or wiki.
Safety/Security: Podomatic does not allow memberships for those under 13. Teachers using this tool with younger students should do so under supervision and with a teacher-controlled account. The site is a "general public" site, so the home page has links to recent podcasts that may not be appropriate for the classroom. Discuss this possibility and tell students NOT to click on other's work or simply avoid sending students into the site on their own. Be sure you have parent permission and check school policies before allowing students to post work online. Carefully select or SKIP many sharing mechanisms for safety's sake. Limit any identifiable information within the podcasts. You may want to share the links to class podcasts only with your students and parents. If you have students record podcasts as assignments, you may need multiple accounts because the free accounts have limited file space. An elementary teacher might have enough space for 25 students to keep a limited number of products on his/her own account, depending upon length. The site will tell you how much space each podcast takes and how much you have left. Check your school policies about accessing/sharing student email on school computers. 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 create these subaccounts for use in joining any web-tool site.
Possible uses: You could record your homework assignments or directions; you can record story time or a reading excerpt for younger ones to listen to at a computer center AND from home! Have better readers record selected passages for your non-readers (perhaps older buddies). Launch a service project for your fifth or sixth graders to record stories for the kindergarten to use in their reading and listening center. Have students create "you are there" recordings as "eyewitnesses" to historical or current events; make a weekly class podcast, with students taking turns writing and sharing the "Class News;" have students create radio advertisements for concepts studied in class (Buy Dynamic DNA!); have students write and record their own stories or poetry in dramatic readings; language students or beginning readers could record their fluency by reading passages; allow parents to hear their child's progress reading aloud, etc. Compare world language, speech articulation, or reading fluency at two points during the year. Have your Shakespeare students record a soliloquy! Write and record a poem for Father's or Mother's Day (or other special events) and send the URL as a gift to that special person.
Writing FixGrade 1 to 10
- Corbett Harrison / Northern Nevada Prof. Dev. Prj.- 8078
"Where getting your daily writing 'fix' is more important than fixing your writing." WritingFix has interactive lessons for building stronger writing skills in writers of any age, with the "kids" portion dedicated to the elementary/middle school student. This is an excellent site that provides solid theory with interactive writing games and prompts. WritingFix created unique interactive word games that put the writer in control and keep him/her engaged. It is wisely divided into "word games" focusing on left-brained and right-brained writers, chapter books, etc. If your district has introduced or advocates W.A.C. or R.I.C.A. standards, the site includes those. It was designed by writers, teachers, and students to spark the imaginations of writers, teachers and students of all ages.
In the Classroom: The choices are many, so be sure to limit students to a time frame in searching their options. The Writing Journal section provides marvelous ideas to promote student ownership of their own writing. The ideas are terrific for student blogs or a whole-class blog. The site includes pdf. samples for you to put on a projector or whiteboard and/or print and use in class. Include the link on your teacher web page as a reference for parent help. Teachers of gifted should recommend this one for their budding writers to use on their own.
TeachersFirst Edge Tool: For more adventurous technology users-- and those who are willing to take the time to learn the tool. This fabulous, FREE online tool allows you to create your own interactive "books" to help young readers learn reading strategies to build comprehension. The tool allows you to enter your own text, images, and hints. The finished product is a very polished-looking book in a form that you can save on your computer or burn to a CD and use over and over and over with students for years to come.
Be sure to try the model books and read the tips for writers and illustrators. Click to see a sample we made for you and placed on our site.
In the Classroom: Skills required: joining the site (free), locating or writing your own copyright-free text, locating or creating images for which you have the rights to make more than one copy (Fair Use does not apply!), copy/paste the text and resize/upload the images--following simple directions to create the pages and accompanying hints. Be sure to learn about the three interactive characters who teach the strategies! Publish and download the files of the finished "books" and save on your computer. Extract the zipped files and save locally, on your network, or burn to CD so your students can access them directly.
The uses of this one are endless. If you take the time to get permission from the publisher to use text from some of your textbooks or reading books, you could create interactive versions to use in your classroom or with special ed students. More simply, use student-written stories and artwork (scanned -- or created in Paint)to create the "book." Imagine creating a class "book" at the end of a unit on Communities or Animals, and including images you take with your digital camera. If you copy the CD's, students could sign out the "book" and read it to relatives using their home computer. You can keep the "library" of past books to help future classes. Or ask your middle/high school or gifted students to create books as writing/service project for struggling readers to use.
The eFieldTrips website literally takes students on a virtual field trip to Pearl Harbor. There are four sections of the "field trip". Part one is the journal, which is presented to the students first (which required Adobe). The journal provides numerous questions for students to search for the answers while they visit their destinations. Part two is the virtual journey itself (which requires FLASH). Part three is "ask the experts" which is available on some virtual trips and not others. Part four is a live chat with the experts (a specific time is predetermined for the chat). Some of the eFieldtrips do not include this feature. Even without parts three and four available on some of the virtual fieldtrips, this site is still extremely useful and informative.
In the Classroom: Get an interactive whiteboard and take your students on a virtual journey back in time. Be sure to print out the journal questions first to help your students focus on the content.
Consider asking students to create a similar "field trip" to a local history site using digital pictures and local historical documents. They can present it as a web site (if they have the technical tools available) or as a PowerPoint "tour" with hyperlinks between slides. Give the file and a student-created question sheet to your local historical society to share with other schools. You'll be amazed how hard your students will work on this group project! Projects like this make xcellent HIstory Day or gifted program projects, as well.
This list of themed bibliographies invites teachers and librarians to expand their offerings when presenting units about a specific subject or at a specific level. Prepared by librarians at the prestigious Children's Cooperative Book Center, the books offered are the best in the field. Each subject list of carefully selected items is divided into broad age levels, but each book also contains information about what ages it would be appropriate for.
In the Classroom: Keep up to date with the latest in children's literature by referring to the themed reading lists offered here. Use your newsletter of web page to sure to share a featured list to go along with units you are studying. You might also want to share them with your gifted enrichment teacher to extend classroom units.
This website was created to correspond with the Saxon mathematics books (all levels). This site provides basic enrichment and can easily be used without the Saxon textbooks. There are activities available for all grades and many topics (including algebra and calculus).
In the Classroom: These math activities are easy to use and ready to go. Use these for daily morning challenges or additional enrichment for your more able students. Include the link on your teacher web page for students to use during school and at home.
Ask Oxford.comGrade 6 to 12
- Oxford University Press- 7356
For existing and potential wordies, this fun page offers a word of the day, a quote of the week, a list of new terms added to the OED online (i.e. "Lollywood"), a chance to look at commonly asked questions about words and linguistics, and a chance to ponder over interesting quotations that feature significant words and word play. Links from the page go to dictionaries including a children's dictionary, a cross word puzzle,facts about English, a quick quiz, and more games.
Note: you can toggle between US and UK versions of the site at the top right.
In the Classroom: If you have a projector, use the word of the day or one of the quotes as an anticipatory set for vocab lessons or during homeroom to warm up the minds of sleepy students. Include the link on your teacher web page for your "wordie" students. Maybe even consider making some of the activities an exta credit opportunity.
TeachersFirst Edge Entry: for more adventurous technology users. Create photo trading cards using images you upload or store on Flickr. Imagine having your students create study aides about famous people using images they draw and scan or photos of themselves impersonating the famous people, such as presidents, explorers, authors, and more. If you celebrate reading by having an "author's tea," why not follow up by asking students to make trading cards for the authors they "met"? Use a similar approach for famous historical figures or even for geometric shapes you photograph with the digital camera. If students write their own "biographies" of the shapes to study from, they will learn for sure! They can even trade each other for favorites.
In the Classroom: Skills needed: join the site (free), upload and tag your photos. type information, print cards. This is also an excellent idea for special occasions for special people: mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, school nurse, school secretary, school custodian, favorite aunt, or anyone else! Be sure to print onto cover stock and laminate (if possible). What fabulous (and memorable) gifts.
The self-declared mission of this site is to "make people love math." You will find a history of math, information about mathematicians, math games, information about how math applies in many "real world" professions, even downloadbale banners and wallpapers for pro-math folks. There are also audio files. The site creators are students from Singapore, China, and Malaysia, so it is a bit difficult to understand their spoken English in the audio files. This is a Thinkquest contest winner, 2006.
In the Classroom: Feature portions of this site on a projector for your more reluctant math students or make the link available on your teacher web site for your "math maniacs."
Writers' WindowGrade 1 to 12
- Ministry of Education, New Zealand- 7255
Wow! What a great interactive site! Writers' Window is a site for school-aged young writers (aged from 5 to 18) to publish their writing. They publish all writing that complies with their guidelines. The site contains numerous places to share stories, read published stories, talk about writing, and a "writer's workshop" room that gives multiple interactive hints for young writers.
In the Classroom: The uses are almost infinitive in this site. If you are wondering how to keep your students' writing fresh or how to keep your own teaching of writing new and interactive,this is the place for you!
Make this one a link from your teacher web page for any age student. If you have gifted students or independent writers, they will enjoy exploring it on their own, too.
You get the best results using Flash, but it can be used without, as well. There is a "doorway" to get into the site and still see a lot of it without Flash.
Girls Go TechGrade 3 to 6
- Girl Scouts of the United States of America- 7247
The Girls Scouts of America have created this unique and educational website. There are four themes provided (Cryptic Codes, Mandala Maker, Mixed Messages and Composing Digital Music). Each topic provides information, unique facts and has a creative game or interactive activity. FLASH is required for some of the activities.
In the Classroom: The themes provided at this website could easily be incorporated into science (codes and hypothesis testing as part of scientific method, the brain as part of human body systems), music or general mind stretching activities. Use an interactive whiteboard to introduce your students to left brain versus right brain, cryptic coding or even creating digital music. This site is sure to excite your students!
Challenge your students' creativity and personal reflections about art: both their own and art through the ages. Use this site to CREATE their own videos with images from their own artwork, text, and video clips provided by the site. There are suggestions for structured video topics or you can suggest other ideas. The site provides clear, step-by-step instructions for students to complete their videos. The files can even be downloaded and played on any computer. Art teachers and computer teachers alike will love the possibilities of this project-site. If your students maintain electronic art portfolios, they will certainly want to add a video from this online production studio. REQUIRES FLASH!! Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: Demonstrate the skills and steps on an interactive whiteboard or projector, or simply allow your "digital native" students to work through the directions. Since no two computers are alike, it is strongly recommended that you or a student-assistant try a "practice run" to make sure your computers have all the right plug-ins and permissions. Then watch your students go to town!
Share the products on a projector or burn them to CD. We were unable to find information on the site about copyright and whether you have permission to share them on a web page.
This is a TeachersFirst Edge entry, though it is not difficult to use. Skills needed: drag and drop video elements, follow directions in Help, downloading files, unzipping and saving (directions provided)
This simple site has Everything Butterfly to go along with your study of insects and these beautiful creatures. You will find links, activities, and even butterfly quotes. Print the quotes in large a large font on colored paper or with clip art, and you have an instant bulletin board!
In the Classroom: Include the links to word searches and other butterfly sites on your teacher web page as you study butterflies so families can extend the fun at home. Ask your gifted students to investigate some of the links and choose the "best" butterfly information.
This attractive children’s online magazine focuses on becoming more environmentally aware, enjoying nature, and learning to conserve and regenerate natural resources. Besides gardening and farming, the magazine offers articles on world cultures, fitness and health, arts and crafts, and food and nutrition, all focused on using the earth’s resources wisely. Links after each story of interest connect the reader to the magazine’s archives for other articles on similar subjects. An online glossary assists kids with those science words that might be difficult and makes this site easily accessible to second language learners and learning support students.
In the Classroom: Use the articles to teacher comprehension skills with non-fiction that will engage your students or to model informational writing before you ask students to write their own articles. You could feature a section a day on a projector during April in honor of Earth Day! There are many opportunities for more able students to find enrichment activitites, as well.
This logic game asks students to move six frogs (3-blue and 3-green). This is a lot more difficult than it may appear. The rules include: each color frog may only move in one direction and frogs may move one space or jump over one frog. The students are asked to investigate the game by answering a few specific questions. Younger children will need teacher direction. This game requires Flash.
In the Classroom: There is no explanation or solution provided, so you may want to visit this site for a few minutes before including your class to familiarize yourself with the activity.
This is a good activity to develop multi-step planning and envisioning strategies. Use it as an interactve whiteboard warm-up to get your class thinking and forming hypotheses.
Dates That Matter provides a new perspective on history by placing each day-in-history event in broader context and explaining its long-term impact. History is a fabric woven of many events, and Dates That Matter helps students see the full tapestry.
The dates display on a projector-ready screen: A single sentence reveals something about the date. You then click to see a sequence of thought-provoking questions to guide students to a greater understanding of interrelationships as they try to guess the actual event. When the historical event finally shows on screen, a further explanation, Why does it matter?, fills in the remaining context and offers reviewed links to learn more.
Teachers who work with low readers might try using these daily clues to teach the reading strategy of connecting what you read with prior knowledge to place new learning in context.
A full, annotated version of each dte is availabel from the Teacher page at the end so you can plan for student responses and have hints for guiding the discussion. You can also preview upcoming dates to choose those you may want to put in your weekly plans.
In the Classroom: Begin your social studies class once or twice a week by sharing a Date That Matters on a projector or interactive whiteboard to foster broader understanding of the connections that form world history. Or use the links at the end as an extra credit or enrichment opportunity or for gifted students to investigate more. Focus class attention as everyone enters by projecting the date and starting sentence.
Make this one a link on your teacher web page for students (and parents)to access outside of school.
TeachersFirst Edge entry: for the more adventurous technology user. The Washington Post offers this short-term opportunity to create your own campaign interview. Begun in September, 2006, the project invites you and your students to create a video interview using the downloadable question "footage" they provide of an interviewer and insert your own video of the responses. You may submit your completed video back to the Post's site. After a few weeks, the Post will allow you to see others' work and comment to each other.
This would be a great activity to teach video editing, but more importantly to teach about interviewing, political "message," and the election process.
Although this activity was designed prior to the 2006 election, the video clips will work for most any election. This site requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: As a class activity, you may not want to upload your resulting videos but instead share them in class, depending on your district policies about posting student work to the web. Certainly, you will want to keep student work anonymous. Tech skills needed: ability to download and upload, locating or creating video clips of responses, use of Windows Movie Maker, iMovie, or similar video-editing software, management of larger files, proper citation of sources.
This website provides three free lesson plans for converting fractions and percents. The three plans are easy to follow and include practice activities for the students and online worksheets. the lesson plans are basic - but could be helpful in teaching a new topic or review.
In the Classroom: Get a SmartBoard or another projection screen and make the online worksheets into a class game! This website could also be used as enrichment for the elementary gifted students. Include it in the links from your teacher web page.
This information-packed site focuses on calendars through the ages. It includes sections on the astronomy of calendars (e.g. moon cycles), the history of calendars, differences among various international calendars, derivation of the names of the months, and loads of other trivia about calendars.
In the Classroom: Lots of great stuff for "did you know?" discussions or as an extension of a study of timelines and other graphic organizers of information. A few interesting visuals, but the strength of this site is in its information. Might be a good source for monthly bulletin boards or an enrichment area for gifted students.
Really excite your AP biology, ecology, and biochemistry students with these real-world applications of the sciences in solving problems. Each case is presented in a narrative, and the learner resources include advice on reading cases, collecting data, and all the steps to solve the problems. There are over two dozen problems across several biology, chemistry, ecology, and molecular biology disciplines. These are college-level problems, so you may want to use one as a whole-class activity to model the process and spur enthusiasm for further scientific study. The ideal is then to allow groups of students to continue with the investigations, if they have sufficient knowledge to do so on their own.
In the Classroom: Review the cases and select one that extends your curriculum, then share it on a projector so students are not overwhelmed by the level of sophistication at first. These would also be ideal for gifted high school students interested in the sciences.
Science teachers will find lots of opportunities in this collection of hands-on science projects, each of which illustrates concepts. This page is home to several dozen projects in topics like planet earth, sport science, human body, and mind and perception. While some projects require more elaboate supplies and equipment, others are fairly simple.
In the Classroom: Try this link when you need a hands-on illustration to a principle in your curriculum. If you have gifted students, you may want to share this link with their parents for some at-home enrichment, as well.
These six puzzles, involving virtual matchsticks, require some clever out-of-the-box thinking. Follow the directions to create a specific number of equal rectangles by moving a limited number of matches. It's tougher than it looks. No hints given!
In the Classroom: This is a great find for gifted students. Share the site on an interactive whiteboard or projector, and allow students to work on the puzzles in teams. Have the teams compete to see who can solve the puzzles the fastest, or complete the most. This site is tricky, but is an excellent enrichment activity for a unit on logic or geometry.
Discover the spies, treachery, and intrigue that were a vital part of how the North and the South gathered and used information during the Civil War. This illustrated report details the missions and personalities – off the battlefield and behind the scenes – that contributed to the successes, failures, and eventual outcome of the War Between the States.
In the Classroom: This is a great find for gifted students. If assigning research projects, encourage your students to look at this site as it provides information that is pertinent but rarely touched upon in classes. The site offers intriguing information about Pinkertons, spies, and a secret service-like organization. Students interested in the topic will love the in-depth information provided.
This series of eight interactive mazes brings some unique challenges to the usual navigation process. Users must keep an eye on directional arrows and their numeric values, as they move toward their goal. Mazes can be "restarted" in the likely event that a user may become hopelessly stuck. Solutions are neither simple nor quick, so recommend these to your most tenacious students who love a challenge. Great extension activity for gifted and high ability students.
Let's Play Top It and practice division! Listen/watch the tutorial to learn how to use the site. You will get 3 playing cards. You can click and drag those cards to create division problems. This is a quick and simple site to practice division. Warning: this activity is free, but most of this site does require a fee.
In the Classroom: Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Use this site for extra division practice for students struggling with mastering this math skill. Provide this site to your younger gifted students for enrichment and/or advancement opportunities. Provide this link on your class website or wiki for students to access both in and out of the classroom.
Wonder How ToGrade 6 to 12
- Wonder How To, Inc.- 5390
This creative site offers "how to" videos on a WIDE variety of topics. Anyone is able to view the videos, but you must be a member (which is free) to comment on the videos, grade the videos, or submit your own "how to" video. Topics vary; some are appropriate for the classroom - others are definitely NOT appropriate. Some of the general topics that may be useful in the middle school or high school classroom include: alcohol, autos, motorcycles, and planes, business and money, computers and programming, diet and health, education (which features a variety of science experiments and more), film and theater, language (English, Chinese, Hungarian, Russian, Finnish, sign language, Polish, and countless others), music and instruments, travel, and several other topics. Within each of these general topics, there are thousands of specific "how to" videos.
Membership is free and has many perks. You are able to comment and/or grade the video clips or even submit your own video. Registration does require some personal information: a username, password, email address, and date of birth. ALL USERS MUST BE OVER 13-years of age! Check with your administrator about allowing the students to register for this site using fictitious names. You may wish to set up a class registration instead of entering true data into the registration site. Another option is to create a free Gmail account to use for memberships. 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.
Warning: not all videos are suitable for the classroom. Be sure to preview what you wish to share. If you choose to allow your older students to navigate this site on their own (for research or a class project), be sure to set boundaries on which videos to watch, consequences for going elsewhere, and WATCH CAREFULLY! Some videos explain "how to" do things that are unsafe or inappropriate for school-ages audiences. Wonder How To does include unobtrusive advertisements. This site requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Use these fabulous "how to" videos for informative writing projects in speech, science, or even with your gifted students. The site does provide excellent research. You may want to link directly to the specific videos you want students to see in order to avoid other, less-desirable options. Share the "how to" videos on an interactive whiteboard or projector as an anticipatory set for a new lesson. For a final project, have students create and submit their own "how to" video using YouTube or using a tool such as SchoolTube (reviewed here).
This mind-boggling website offers a treat for your brain. The website features interactive visual, spatial, coding, memory, dual task (multi-task), and language "mind games." There is also a link to learn about the science behind your brain and what is happening when you solve these challenges. The activities offer several difficulty levels, which enables the website to be used by a wide range of grade levels. Try the easy level of the "Vowel of Silence" game with your early readers. There is also a link to view the show (on BBC) BrainBox Challenge . All activities require Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: Use an interactive whiteboard or projector to introduce this website. Read the "science" section together and demonstrate some of the activities. Then allow your students to try their hand (and brain) at the activities on individual laptops or in the computer lab. These activities offer excellent enrichment for your gifted students. Provide this link in your class newsletter (if applicable) and on your class website for students to use at home.
What exactly is IQ? What is a standard deviation? How are IQ scores classified? This site briefly and clearly addresses many questions parents may have as their child faces IQ testing.
Social studies, history, and government teachers - be warned - this site may be the best FREE gift you receive this year. To sum it up in one word - WOW! The highlight of this site is ready-to-go lesson plans (with standards) divided by age level (elementary, middle, and high school). These FREE lesson plans are available online via a PDF file or you may order a FREE CD (they say it is a $150 value).
The elementary topics range from Colonial America to U.S. Presidents (with a focus on George Washington) to the History of Thanksgiving to The Pledge of Allegiance and MANY others. The middle school topics include the Declaration of Independence, Our National Documents, The Gettysburg Address, Religious Expression in School, and several others. The high school topics vary from the Mayflower, to Federalists 47, the First Amendment, and more. Each grade level also includes lessons on character education.
In addition to the wonderful lesson plans, the site also highlights the four themes of the foundation: Unity, Progress, Freedom, and Responsibility. There are also links to some fantastic social studies sites and a wealth of research information about America. Some of the lesson plans and printables require Adobe Acrobat. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Obviously, the lesson plans are useful for all grade levels. Take advantage of these free resources. Many include printable activities for your students to try out. Although the site isn't highly interactive, it does have some great ideas to incorporate into your class to bring history alive.
Make the lesson plans more "technologically advanced" by having students create a wiki or blog entry. Have your high school students complete the lesson on the First Amendment and then have them have a virtual debate about the First Amendment via a class wiki. Have your elementary students complete the lesson on U.S. Presidents and then have each student write a blog entry pretending to be one of the presidents (a great mini-research project). Have your middle school students complete the lesson on the Gettysburg Address and then try to create their own "Address" to talk about the current state of our nation. Have them share their "Address" on a video using YouTube or or TeacherTube (explained here).
This site, created by Kidport for fifth grade students, offers links to lessons and activities in math, science, social studies, language arts, creative arts, and a reference library. Some of the subject areas only offer one or two activities, while others offer several. Some examples of math topics include measuring angles, adding and subtracting decimals, and measuring distance. Language arts topics include contractions, antonyms, synonyms, compound words, and homophones. Science topics vary greatly and include the heart, human body, bones, muscles, the animal kingdom and more! Social studies lessons focus on the pilgrims, U.S. states and capitals, and the American Revolution.
This site offers a variety of interactive elements (online quizzes, interactive maps and diagrams, and other learning exercises). Some of the pages do have advertisements, but they are not distractive. This site requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Share this site with your families by listing it on your class website for additional at-home practice and enrichment. Use this site with younger gifted students. Share the site with your students on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Use this site for learning stations, or indoor recess options.
This website offers a compilation of links to interactive stories designed in the categories of Beginning Readers, Classic Stories, and Older Readers. The site was created by Johnnie Wilson, a mentor math coach and former 5th grade teacher. He has found the "best of the best" interactive stories and activities on the web! The reading levels vary, so preview the stories before sharing them with your students. This site does require Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: What a fabulous way to share classic stories, fables, fairy tales, and myths! Use your interactive whiteboard or projector to introduce your students to these wonderful stories. Use this website in your language arts classes, special education classes, with your ESL and ELL students to share these classic stories, or the other topics provided. Challenge your gifted students to create new "classics." Have students investigate the sites on their own (using headsets). Save this site as a favorite on your classroom computers. With elementary students use this site during your language arts block, use this website as a learning center for students to explore independently. (Be sure to provide headsets). Don't forget to list this link in your class newsletter or on your class website, so students can practice their reading skills at home or maintain skills during vacations.
This site provides information on the Civil War Confederate submarine "Hunley" and the efforts to find, raise, and restore the vessel. Used to attack Union ships blockading the Charleston, SC harbor, the Hunley successfully sank the USS Housatonic, then mysteriously disappeared. This site is worth a look for both its scientific and historical possibilities. This site requires QuickTime. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Use this site during an "Unsolved Mystery" units with gifted student. Share the photos and "tour the Hunley" using an interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students investigate the Hunley in cooperative learning groups.
This site offers some fabulous (and addicting) mind stretchers. There are both visual and verbal puzzles. There is also a puzzle archive featuring a variety of puzzles for various grade levels. Some of the puzzles are interactive and you complete them online, while others are printable. This site requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Save this site in your favorites. Use a logic puzzle as a class opener to “warm up” brains. Display the puzzle on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Print out the logic puzzles for students to complete for additional enrichment. Use this site with your gifted students. Provide a link to this site on your class website for students to use at home. Challenge your students to create some puzzlers of their own and share them on a class wiki.
This site offers links to "The Best Math." Subject areas include numbers, geometry, fractions, multiplication, math fun, measurement, statistics, and probability. This collection of nearly 100 interactive math activities was organized by a math specialist (Johnnie Wilson, a former 5th grade teacher). What a fabulous resource for any elementary or middle school math class. All of the activities are interactive and require FLASH or JAVA. You can get both from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: What a fantastic website to include in your classroom web page and newsletter. All of these activities are perfect for an interactive whiteboard or projector. This is an excellent resource for gifted students. The activities could also be used for enrichment, additional practice, and re-teaching skills. So turn up the volume and treat your class to a math and/or mind-bending challenge.
The site provides explanations and problems covering Geometry, Algebraic Functions, Chaos, and Stereograms. Site could be used as an example of student work on the Net, or as an extension during class time.
In the Classroom: This site is excellent for gifted students! Introduce the site on an interactive whiteboard or projector, focusing on the section that allows users to create stereograms. After the introduction, allow small groups of students to use the interactive whiteboard to create their own stereograms and attempt to see them. Post the website on your class website (or wiki) to allow students to access some of the other materials in an out of the classroom. This site is excellent for all math subjects, but in particular Geometry and Algebra.
The poetry site created by children's author Bruce Lansky is far more than a plug for his books. There are numerous poetry lessons, written "at kid level" that enourage children to write and express themselves. There are also contests, lots of poems to read, and lots more.
In the Classroom: Use this site as inspiration for lessons in poetry writing on your interactive whteboard or share it on your teacher web page for enrichment. Gifted students will LOVE it.
This site, originally created for students to use during a family field trip around central Illinois, shares information all about Lincoln. Students click to choose a location (Lincoln's Law Office, Lincoln Courthouse, Lincoln's Tomb, and several others). Once "at" the location, students are given some basic facts about the locations, a "History Hunt Question" with several clues to help them solve the mystery, and a "Mystery History Object" with pictures of artifacts from the time period and a brief description of the picture. This site is excellent, but does not provide the answers to the "History Hunt Questions." However, most are easy to find at the site. What a fabulous way to celebrate the 200th birthday of one of the USA's greatest leaders.
In the Classroom: Take your students on this virtual hunt during the month of February. Why not visit a new place each day, share the information, ask the History Hunt Question, and share the picture and information about the artifact. Share the site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students create their own "History Hunt Questions" about the town where you live and any connections to Lincoln: Underground Railroad Houses, a courthouse that defends the rights of all races, or even a mint where they make Lincoln pennies. Have students share their History Hunt Questions on a class wiki or online as a Place Spotting challenge (Read more about Place Spotting here ).
Younger students will need to do the “hunt” as a whole class activity because of the reading level and sophistication of some of the History Hunt pages. If you have the chance for lower elementary students to work together with older “buddies,” they could enjoy the hunt together without teacher guidance. Gifted students and better readers in lower grades could also work on their own.
This site boasts a collection of visually impressive math and logic brain-busters to challenge your class puzzlemasters. The collection changes from time to time, and the game-quality graphics make the site especially attractive to those who have grown up on video games.
In the Classroom: Include this site on your teacher web page for students to access outside of class for additional mindstretching practice.
Also consider sharing this site with your teaching colleagues who work with your gifted students.
Here's a puzzle to challenge even the most adept word workers. This daily puzzle from WordZap lets players unscramble a phrase using letter substitution. It sounds simple, but the process is more complex than one might imagine. This is a great site to challenge "out of the box" thinkers.
In the Classroom: Be sure to include this site on your teacher web page for students to access outside of class for a daily challenge. Also consider sharing this site with your teaching colleagues who work with your gifted students.
This ERIC Digest suggests strategies to provide curriculum differentiation for gifted and talented students. Includes reading and resource suggestions. 
Use this website to "clear out the cobwebs" in your students' minds. The site offers several interactive logic activities. Many require no reading. A few examples include Tetris, Rubik's Cube, Sliders, Towers and more. All activities require JAVA and FLASH. You can get both from the 
This site requires students to read a New York Times article about Gatsby (accessed through the site) and respond with a quiz and writing assignment. The entire activity is geared for comprehension of Gatsby in the urban classroom, but makes interesting discussion and learning in any classroom that teaches The Great Gatsby. Standards are included with the lesson plan. 
