232 information-literacy-research results | sort by:

4 Free Photos - 4freephotos.com
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): copyright (51), creative commons (23), images (278), photography (157)
In the Classroom
Starting a lesson on copyright? With so much social media and access to almost anything on the web, it is important to teach students about copyright and about owner's rights. Use this site to search for photos for presentations, photos, projects, or research. For your ESL/ELL students or speech/language, use the images for them to create their own visual dictionary. World language teachers can also challenge students to use images to illustrate vocabulary or accompany writing. Use images for writing prompts or even to create descriptive sentences. Have one student describe the image as another sketches the image. Now compare the described image to the real image. To find more Creative Commons images for student projects (with credit, of course), try Compfight, reviewed here or PhotoPin, reviewed here.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Dictionarist - dictionarist.com
Grades
3 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): dictionaries (60)
In the Classroom
Save Dictionarist or add the bookmarklet to your computer for use anytime foreign translations might be needed or for correct pronunciation of difficult words. Dictionarist may be especially useful in ESL/ELL classrooms as an online tool for definitions and pronunciations of English terms. This site is very simple to use, even for younger students. Share this site on your class website for families to use to find definitions and pronunciations for difficult words.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Media Smarts - Canada's Centre for Digital and Media Literacy
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): media literacy (65)
In the Classroom
Bookmark this site to explore and use with lessons related to digital and media literacy. Share articles on gender and body image with students. Have students find examples on tv and use an online poster creator, such as PicLits, reviewed here to demonstrate examples. Have students create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from this site using a tool such as WordItOut, reviewed here. Have students create a simple infographic sharing their findings using Venngage, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Map Stack - Stamen
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Use to focus on and compare resources found in various communities or geographic locations. Identify where natural resources are concentrated in the world. Compare street design in various communities, concentration of population, and more. Create artistic representations of various areas as a project. Include this tool for your tech savvy students to try as you study different types of maps. Challenge them to create a map that has traditional elements such as terrain, and also uses color and image tools to emphasize or communicate information about a location, such as toxic waste locations or musical "scenes." Art teachers can suggest this tool for students to create geo-based artworks or create images to use in Earth Day posters.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Library of Congress American Memory - Library of Congress
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): advertising (33), african american (109), architecture (85), branches of government (49), cities (27), conservation (128), cultures (109), environment (325), immigration (60), industrialization (14), literature (272), maps (298), native americans (78), north america (19), presidents (123), religions (68), sports (99), women (94)
In the Classroom
Use American Memory in your study of either state, or United States history providing further primary and secondary resources to bring life into your subject matter. Discover point of view or popular opinion found in the collections. Use on your interactive whiteboard with the class, or even as a resource on projects to give a personal reference. Combine with literature for understanding of a place or time in American history. Look at the year of birth for your students to compare and contrast for today. Use as an example for your year of learning in your subject area or even grade level. Be sure to list as a resource on student computers or your class website.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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English Cobuild Dictionary - Reverso
Grades
5 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): arabic (20), chinese (50), dictionaries (60), french (91), german (66), italian (36), russian (28), spanish (111), spelling (168)
In the Classroom
Before turning students loose on this site, especially if their English is weak, show them how to navigate it on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Make it available for all ELL students. Install the Reverso toolbar on your computer to access the dictionary, translator, conjugator, grammar, and spell-checker. If your school computers are "locked down," ask the techies about installing it on at least one class computer to use for reference. Bookmark the site on classroom computers where any World Language instruction takes place. Use this site in World Language classes to enrich your lessons in French, Spanish, Italian, German, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, and Portuguese. Share this site with families on for use at home.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Flipboard - Flipboard
Grades
3 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (179), news (262), social networking (112), video (278)
In the Classroom
Create a class Flipboard account and create magazines for each unit studied through the year. Add information that is useful for student understanding, application of concepts, or materials to be used for projects. Create a magazine of great articles and information to read or search through. Consider creating a Flipboard magazine for student current events or happenings. Use this for reports on various topics such as food issues, diseases, political information, cultures around the world, and more. Make a customized "feed" for more advanced information on a topic for your gifted and advanced students. Students can curate a Flipboard of pictures or videos from the web on a certain topic to share with their classmates. Create a Professional Development Flipboard with other teachers. Teacher-librarians may want to work together with classroom teachers to create magazines of certain content for students to use during research units. Challenge your middle and high school gifted students to curate a magazine for themselves on a topic of individual interest, creating a "PLN" they can use for years. For example, a student interested in rocketry can locate and add blogs from rocket scientists, NASA feeds, and more. Talented writers may want to collect feeds from literary publications and author blogs. They will probably also discover related Flipboards created by others. As gifted students' interests change, they can curate other topical "magazines" to keep learning, even if the topics do not fall within the traditional curriculum. You may find that the personalization of learning is something ALL your students want to do.Comments
There are amazing collections on this site.Cindi, NC, Grades: 0 - 6
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100Reporters - 100 Reporters
Grades
8 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): media literacy (65), persuasive writing (57)
In the Classroom
In discussions of current events, find great news articles that get to the heart of the story. Compare them with other news outlets to discuss how money and the viewpoints of business owners can cloud the actual reporting. Be sure to discuss how to find parent websites by investigating the shortened address (url) of sites as well as the advertisements found on pages. Compare and contrast news stories found on a variety of news pages. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram (reviewed here) to compare two news stories. In world language or world cultures classes, discover what the "hot topics" are by looking at news stories from the region being studied. In writing classes, use these articles compared with those on the same topic from other sources for students to collect supporting evidence to use in essay writing.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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50 Amazing Facts About Earth - Jason Major
Grades
5 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): atmosphere (31), geology (81), landforms (49), oceans (165), soil (18), space (221)
In the Classroom
This site would be a great introduction into digital literacy. Ask students how they know that these facts are actually true? Discuss how you can research the author, the quality of the site itself, the comments made, etc. Compare this site to others that are deemed to be "authorities" and with those that are not. Each student could choose one or two of these facts to do further research, not only to determine whether the facts are true, but to find important background information that can make the fact relevant to other students and the class. Be sure to check out the comments to see those who dispute some of the "facts" in the Infographic. Use research to determine which facts are correct. Why are some of the facts correct or incorrect, and what misconceptions exist about these facts? For quick projects, have students create instant graphics of important words about the Earth using a tool such as Typogenerator (reviewed here) or Wordle (reviewed here).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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MakeUseOf Cheat Sheets - makeuseof.com
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): computers (102), search strategies (28)
In the Classroom
Useful both with students or personally, this is a site that you will definitely want to bookmark or save in your favorites. Print the guides for use with classroom computers, in computer labs, and to tape in student notebooks. Create a permanent link to these guides on your class website or blog for students (and parents) to use at home. Encourage students to use these sheets to become "techsperts" at a certain program and to share their expertise during byod activities.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Minilogs - Minilogs
Grades
7 to 12In the Classroom
Create a class Minilog account to keep a running account of useful articles, videos, and items for use in class. Add content that the students find and discuss in class. Use for students to keep a running account of current events in the classroom, science news and the impact on society, and more. Minilogs could be used in music, art, government, and nearly any other subject. Create Minilogs about current (or past) presidents. Create a Minilog to share a specific art style or music genre. Collect videos on a certain topic, even from several content video sites like Khan Academy to "flip" your class with an entire playlist of options. The possibilities are endless. Challenge students to create their own Minilogs in cooperative learning groups or independently. If you are teaching about media literacy or advertising bias, Minilogs are the perfect way for students to create curated collections of videos with accompanying notes.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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PAT - Public Domain Country Maps - Ian Macky
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): africa (168), antarctica (30), asia (72), australia (37), countries (81), europe (74), maps (298), north america (19), south america (40)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save PAT as a resource for free printable maps for use anytime needed. Share with students to easily find and locate geographic information. Share the maps on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Share this link on your class website for students to use both in and out of the classroom.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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MapStory - MapStory Foundation
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): interactive stories (30), maps (298), stories and storytelling (32)
In the Classroom
Find great MapStory maps to introduce a concept or explain a portion of the concept that may be difficult to introduce in class. Use one to show initially, eliciting thoughts and questions from students. Because it is an open database, maps could contain errors. Have students be on the lookout for any possible errors. Students can fact check, research, and rewrite information as needed. Consider creating an assignment that shows a change in information over time. This project would be applicable to any subject area. Consider creating a class account to maintain the MapStories created by your students. Imagine new information being added every year with new updates to the map! World language (or world cultures) classes could collaborate to create a map story about a specific culture.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Smithsonian Digital Volunteers: Transcription Center - Smithsonian Institution
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): local history (15), primary sources (93)
In the Classroom
A wonderful extension or enrichment project for responsible high school students, the Transcription Center allows students to interact with primary sources, learn about the importance of everyday records of the lives of those who go before us, and have the satisfaction of knowing they are contributing to the universe of information that will be available to future scholars. Small groups of students could share a transcription project and check each other's before submitting, or discuss the texts they have transcribed. Students interested in independent research might find a transcription project that adds to their understanding of a particular subject. You might even consider using transcription as a community service project or an initiative in your gifted ed class.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Scrible Student Edition - Scrible
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): citations (37), summarizing (16)
In the Classroom
Your students' online research will be efficient and effective with Scrible. Students can take notes on their bookmarks. They only need to bookmark the part of the website they need for their assignment. Students can collaborate with peers on their research. Post articles and documents online for your students to highlight and annotate. Bookmark this tool on your website or blog for your students to access in or outside of the classroom. Use Scrible to annotate professional development articles or to highlight important information for your students. The best part? It will instantly create your bibliography for you!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Crafting Digital Writing - Troy Hicks
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): copyright (51), digital citizenship (68), digital storytelling (155), professional development (164), writing (365)
In the Classroom
The Common Core State Standards Anchor Standard for Writing CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.6 calls for students to use the technology to share their writing and to interact with others as part of this digital writing process. With this in mind, sharing this Digital Writing resource with your English department members and with science and history departments is a natural. This page is a terrific resource for any upper elementary or secondary teacher who wants students to produce writing or present research results digitally. For those interested, here is a video of Troy Hicks outlining the principles of his approach and the five themes he adheres to for a writing class: Troy Hicks Video. This video is hosted on YouTube. If Youtube is blocked at your school, it may be worth viewing at home prior to introducing your students to the resources. Use this companion wiki page directly with students or create an English department Symbaloo webmix or Livebinder of digital writing resources for students to practice ethical and powerful digital writing. Make digital writing a year long initiative in your school.Comments
Excellent resourcesPatricia, NJ, Grades: 6 - 12
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Patchwork Nation - Jefferson Institute
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): branches of government (49), census (19), communities (37), democracy (12), demographics (19), politics (97)
In the Classroom
This site could be useful in a variety of classroom settings. A sociology class might grapple with the generalizations inherent in each of the 12 community types. What does it mean to be a "Tractor Country" community? The associated charts and demographics can help prove or disprove those theories. A government class might consider the impact of these different community types all existing within one Congressional district. How might that legislator best represent those communities at the State level or the Federal level? An economics class might speculate on the distribution of wealth in the US. What factors influence that distribution? A US History class could speculate about how these different communities have come to be. What impact has immigration had? Industrialization? Geography? Are there regional differences that could stem from the Civil War? And a statistics class would find plenty of raw data to play around with. In a "Patchwork Nation," what does it mean to be "average"?Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Spigot - spigot.org
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): media literacy (65), news (262)
In the Classroom
Use these articles to discuss the future of education and the use of technology both in high school and higher education. As students are the most important stakeholders in education, many of these articles are relevant to them and their future. Students will especially be interested in the Practice and Alt. Culture sections of this site. Discuss current events in your classroom and ask students to investigate an angle on technology and/or education for a persuasive writing piece or debate. Students have incredible insight into their own learning and technology use. Keep this link bookmarked on your classroom computer or linked to your blog, wiki, or class page. Use examples from this site to look for bias or editorial slant as part of an information literacy unit. Select articles for experience with informational texts.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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RADCAB - Steps for Online Information Evaluation - Karen M. Christensson
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): evaluating sources (16), internet safety (118), media literacy (65), rubrics (32)
In the Classroom
Share this site and content on your interactive whiteboard or projector as you begin a project involving research. Demonstrate how to use this site before allowing students to explore on their own. Print and use the rubric available on the site. Require that students (or groups) complete the rubric on their chosen sources for research. Share a link to the site on your class website and classroom computer for easy student (and parent) reference at any time. Another idea: assign cooperative learning groups one part of the acronym. Each group could create a presentation to share with the class about what they learned about their part of the evaluation process. Have students create online posters individually or together as a class using a tool such as Web Poster Wizard (reviewed here) or PicLits (reviewed here. Students will LOVE finding and sharing examples of "bad" sources!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Find me Words - FindMeWords
Grades
1 to 12tag(s): antonyms (26), phonics (70), synonyms (37), vocabulary development (124), word study (79)
In the Classroom
Add a technology twist to your word study program. Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector and explore together with your students. In your phonics block, go further by looking at word patterns, beginning sounds, and ending sounds. In your Greek and Latin roots study, search for words by prefix or suffix. Use as a resource for writer's workshop, using the synonyms and antonyms. Increase vocabulary with the definitions. Make words into an exploratory "game" using this site. Have students collect favorite word discoveries on their own wiki page.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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