Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

This free interactive site is an extensive digital literacy curriculum that improves technology proficiency, builds information literacy and digital citizenship skills, and provides 21st century and project-based resources online. The 21 Things are 'big ideas' in technology and learning such as Visual Learning, Global Collaboration, Powerful Presentations, Search Strategies, Digital Footprint, and many others. The student activities use free web resources designed to address the ISTE National Educational Technology Standards for Students, and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. The non-sequential Things, delivered as project-based Quests, provide links, resources, and activities for students to earn badges and awards. Registration for teachers is required and gives access to teacher resources and a downloadable Moodle version of the site; Moodle is not required to use this site. To access certain external activities and tools, students may need to register with an e-mail. Each Thing contains a Teacher Lesson Guide, Student Checklist, Learning Objectives, and links to various web resources and apps. Choose a Things and see that the Quests have roadmap documents for students to use for tracking progress. A Quest includes an introduction (frequently as a short, animated video), vocabulary, directions, tutorials, standards, apps, and a student checklist. Extensive teacher resources and support are provided. Assessments are through multiple-choice quizzes at ProProf with a provided password. You may want to choose MITECHKIDS where you will find grade level links and categories by curriculum.

tag(s): blended learning (37), careers (140), computers (110), consumers (14), cyberbullying (40), digital citizenship (87), digital storytelling (152), evaluating sources (27), game based learning (181), internet safety (111), media literacy (104), organizational skills (87), social media (54), social networking (64), thinking skills (16), webquests (8)

Find scavenger hunts, treasure hunts, webquests, or extend learning using Trackstar. To make a track, think of a descriptive title, and write a description. Select from creating a Resource list, Worksheet, Extended learning, or Demo. Collect up to 15 websites (know the page title and URL) and create annotations or directions. Viewing the track in frames will have the titles of pages in the left menu bar. Click on the title and the text of the page appears in the center. Any links that are on the page in the center will open in a new tab. Search ready-made Tracks to get an idea of how they work. Viewing tracks in Chrome is possible, but this tool does not seem to work with Chrome to create tracks.

tag(s): bookmarks (46), curation (36), gamification (78), webquests (8)

It's true! I saw it on the Internet! Sadly, too many students fall into this trap. All About Explorers was developed by a team of teachers to help late elementary school and middle school students sort the garbage from the gold on the Internet. Despite the name of the site, it's not really about explorers at all. In fact, all the biographies of the (very real) explorers on this site are fictional. Teachers can use the site in two ways: The "Treasure Hunt" section allows students to compare the biography on the All About Explorers site with a linked biography on a "real" site and asks them to compare the two and draw conclusions. Alternatively, there is a more comprehensive Web Quest section that allows for a more complete and lengthy lesson with the same object.

tag(s): explorers (65), internet safety (111), media literacy (104), webquests (8)

This webquest from Temescal Canyon High School looks at the conflict between Tibet and China. The project assigns students various roles, ranging from Human Rights groups to news teams, in an attempt to provide a more accurate picture of the events. Students research their various roles before putting together a presentation on their assigned perspectives. Standards are included with this activity.

tag(s): china (62)

Explore the unbelievable world of bacteria using webquests that provide guided discovery of microbes. Find a wealth of related resources about bacteria including teaching strategies and a variety of activities. Search activities for the classroom, webquests, standards, and other resources concerning microbes.

tag(s): bacteria (22)

This site pulls together understanding of environment, geography, the earth and its setting in space, cultures, animals, and more. It forms a "core" for what social studies (and science)is all about. To figure out how the "Big Wide World" works, students will work with partners to investigate one area of the world (globe, plants, people, cultures, language, animals) and come up with rules about how this area works. The individual areas join with other areas and determine how the areas relate to each other. A teacher guide included. Active X is required on some website links.

tag(s): animals (285), cultures (138), environment (239)

This beautifully designed site offers five interactive activities that progressively challenge students to connect with, respond to, and interpret the visual arts. A detailed Teacher's Guide provides directions for implementing each lesson. There are outstanding tools here for developing affective and critical thinking skills in students of all levels - from elementary to high school. Also includes an interactive quiz.

tag(s): webquests (8)

WebQuest lessons are hard to find, and this one is geared towards high school students who are computer savvy. The assignments will keep students interested and involved in their learning. An evaluation in rubric form is included to make this an easy site for teachers to implement in the study of John Knowles novel.

tag(s): john knowles (3), webquests (8)