2573 reading results | sort by:

Inanimate Alice - BradField Company Limited
Grades
4 to 12The episodes of this graphic novel are available in your browser for free if you have Flash. To read the episodes, go to the menu (3 bars in the upper right corner) and slide to Adventures.Visit the Create link to view content created by students as they adopt Alice as a friend in this intriguing and interactive story. If your students choose to "create," you may use the tool suggested or use your own. The American Association of School Librarians recognized Inanimate Alice as a 2012 Best Website for Teaching and Learning.
tag(s): digital storytelling (153), interactive stories (30), reading comprehension (123)
In the Classroom
From the makers of Inanimate Alice: "... the level of interactivity starts out low in episode one, increasing with each subsequent episode in order to reflect Alice's own growing abilities, we've found that we can take an audience unfamiliar with multimedia fiction with us. Educators like Inanimate Alice because of this; students from primary to post-graduate level find the work engaging."You can use this site with younger children on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Older students will enjoy exploring the story on their own using headphones or earbuds. Have older students work in small groups, creating an episode of their own with Alice. Encougage students to use one of these recommended free multimedia tools Sway, reviewed here, Zeetings, reviewed here, or Moovly, reviewed here. Be prepared for lots of "on task" chatter from your students about this delightful site.
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
inklewriter - Joseph Humfrey and Jon Ingold
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): creative writing (164), digital storytelling (153), narrative (20), persuasive writing (57)
In the Classroom
View stories on the site together to understand the components of the site and discuss how different choices in characters and settings lead to different story outcomes. (Be sure to preview stories before sharing, since there is "public"' content.) Watch the tutorials together on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) before students begin to write stories. Use a graphic organizer to "map out" the story before writing. Create a short story together as a class to become familiar using the site. Assign a group of students to create an interactive story each week to share on your classroom website or blog. Have students create a story map before beginning a story on inklewriter; use a tool such as 25 Language Arts Graphic Organizers, reviewed here. Create class stories to teach about literature, geography, reading comprehension, history, science concepts, and more. As a more "serious" approach, use Inklewriter to present opinion pieces where you take a position and allow readers to click on questions about it. They could also click on statements expressing opposing views so you can write counterarguments to their points. This could end up being a powerful way to present an argument and evidence as required by Common Core writing standards. A graphic organizer for planning and organizing evidence is a must! Teachers of gifted could use this for students to develop elaborate fictional or informational pieces. If you work with students who struggle, scaffold with a template for them to organize their thoughts.Edge Features:
Includes an education-only area for teachers and students
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Products can be shared by URL
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Pen.io - Anthony Feint
Grades
K to 12tag(s): blogs (85), editing (72), process writing (48), proofreading (25), writing (365)
In the Classroom
Publish student writing projects such as short stories, poems, and reports. Publish study guides before tests. Publish directions for assignments. With the options for password protected editors, students could post a collaborative report and have others help edit the work. This is an easy way to set up a student blog, especially if the focus is on writing rather than multimedia. Have students write a progressive story where they each add a portion. Practice vocabulary in English or world languages by having students add sentences throughout the year, continuously using the newest words. Just make sure that students use the same password for all the stories started in a class.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
SpeakPipe - Speakpipe.com
Grades
K to 12tag(s): blogs (85), communication (10)
In the Classroom
When installed on a school website, SpeakPipe provides a good way for parents to leave voicemail messages. Unless one of you shares the url, the communication remains confidential. Download messages to your computer as a simple way for students to record their voice responses for use in a multimedia project on your classroom blog. After posting student work on your classroom website or blog, allow students to record information responding or explaining each project. Encourage emerging readers to record their own voices reading a blog post they write. Auditory learners will truly benefit from this tool. Install this on your class blog or wiki so parents who visit can leave audio comments for the class. World language teachers could post an image on a class web site and ask students to record a response in their new language. SChool library/media centers can invite students so comment about new books listed on the web page.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
SimpleMeet.Me - Irian Solutions
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): chat (51), social networking (112)
In the Classroom
Use this site to connect to other classes to open up conferencing between your students in one convenient place. Safety is not a concern with this site, since only those with your unique code can participate in a chat. Chat sessions are not saved. (You can copy/paste the content into a document before closing to save an offline copy.) Use this site for a means to connect to any classroom you choose for any subject area. Connect to learn about other locations, learn various perspectives, find animals that are similar yet different, learn about the different books others are reading, survey students on various economic, political, or environmental topics. Be sure to plan content ahead of time, so students have the opportunity to think through the material and formulate a response. Discuss appropriate ways to communicate to others prior to connecting with another classroom. Use SimpleMeet.me as a place for students to brainstorm and share ideas about a topic. Use as a simple help forum for students to ask questions of each other and of you. Share your unique code with parents once a month for a question and answer session at a scheduled time.Use backchannel chat on laptops during a video or student presentations. Pose questions for all to answer/discuss in the backchannel, or ask students to pose their own "I wonder if..." questions as they watch and listen. Keep every student engaged and THINKING as an active listener. The first time you use backchannel, you will want to establish some etiquette and accountability rules. The advantage of backchannel chat is that every student has a voice, no matter how shy. In world language classes or even autistic support class, have students using new language vocabulary in backchannel descriptions of what they see while classmates act out a scene from a video, or describing the feelings of the actors. In studying literature, collaborate with another class to have students role-play a chat between two characters or in history class for conversations between soldiers on two sides of the Civil War or different sides of the Scopes Monkey trial.
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Snapguide - Heavy Bits
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): computers (102), crafts (39), directions (19), fitness (50), makerspace (11), photography (157), sequencing (29), speeches (19)
In the Classroom
Share the ready-made snapguides in various classes: family and consumer science, music, art, photography, science, computer, and more! Create your own snapguides to share with your class on any subject matter. ESL/ELL and other special needs students will learn better seeing the photos along with the instructions. Use Snapguide to explain a lesson or a project that has multiple directions. Use Snapguide for directions for parents. Create a snapguide for your students when leaving plans for a substitute teacher. Students can also create their own snapguides to use as presentations and even for sequencing practice. These re the perfect prompts for writing and giving informative, how-to speeches. Students can explore the guides available and follow directions or even evaluate their effectiveness. Have cooperative learning groups create their own snapguides to share a new topic with the class. Encourage students to use Snapguide to illustrate their math solutions, discuss the completion and science behind a lab experiment, or show cause and effect.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Requires download/installation of software
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Talk Typer - 2012 TalkTyper
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): text to speech (18)
In the Classroom
Talk Typer is a very versatile tool, for students, parents, and teachers alike. Bypass poor typing skills, dysgraphia, dyslexia, and physical disabilities. Use this tool in emails, documents, or anything requiring typed text. Use in your writing class so students can either write or edit their work. Use when you are in a hurry with emails requiring long text. Use for your newsletters or family emails. Share this on your class website and at Back to School Night. Emerging literacy students will enjoy the success they have with their oral language into written word. Improve content and forget about mechanics of writing or typing. Focus in on grammar and mechanics after seeing the recognized mistakes. Include this website on every tool bar and as a favorite on your class web page. ELL students can speak English, play it back, and correct it until it "sounds right" and expresses their ideas correctly.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Vozme - Festival Speech Synthesis System Centre for Speech Technology
Grades
K to 12tag(s): text to speech (18)
In the Classroom
Create a verbal classroom using speech in your email messages, blog, browser searches, and even class discussions, read alouds, and simple explanations. Lower elementary classes, ESL/ELL, or learning support classes can enjoy greater independence with both verbal and written text. Let students try making a blog post with synthesized speech. ELL students can hear written language to build listening skills and relate written English to the spoken sounds. Send an email with an anticipatory activity for a content lesson by polling, asking a question, or offering food for thought. At the end of the unit, have students create a review for content area subjects. Use in your writing class for students to listen to their own work read aloud. This allows for easier self-revisions. Share all written work on your class blog, allowing everyone to share (with parental permission, of course). Enjoy giving students writing prompts or homework assignments spoken aloud, playable as many times as each individual needs. Send a quick email to a sick or absent student, adding a more personal touch with them hearing your message. Use to read poetry or to illustrate inflection and emotion in your speech. Enjoy all the talking and listening you and your class will do!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Button Beats - Buttonbeats.com
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): music theory (44), musical instruments (51), musical notation (39), podcasts (57)
In the Classroom
Create original background music for any multimedia project or a lead-in for podcasts. Since the created music is original it is not a copyright concern. Use this site to teach basic music concepts on an Interactive Whiteboard or projector. This is a great tool for music classes or students learning to play the piano. Challenge students to RECORD their own creative pieces and share with the class. Have students create music to express their reactions to current events, social issues, after reading a book, or whatever relates to your curriculum.Edge Features:
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Products can be embedded
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Lesson Stream - Jamie Keddie
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): narrative (20), parts of speech (67), punctuation (43), sentences (50)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this site to access lesson plans throughout the year. Lesson plans cover multiple grade levels in many different English content areas. Resources can enrich, or even give further explanation to current topics of study. Teachers of English/language arts and special ed will find some of the lessons quite applicable for all students, not just ELL.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
The Times Spelling Bee - Times Newspapers Ltd.
Grades
3 to 8This site includes advertising.
tag(s): spelling (168), vocabulary (321), vocabulary development (124)
In the Classroom
Demonstrate this site on your interactive whiteboard (or projector). Allow students to play on their own at classroom computers. Challenge students to increase scores in games by recording scores in individual folders after each session. Have students write down words or definitions missed and use as spelling words when giving individualized spelling lists. Share the link to this site on your class website or blog for students to use at home. Be sure to talk about the differences in spelling between British and American English!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
QR Codes and Ideas for Using Them in the Classroom - Karen Ogen
Grades
K to 12tag(s): qr codes (22)
In the Classroom
All it takes to use a QR code is a device such as an iTouch or phone to aim at the code. Even very young students can aim at a code to open a web page or game. Make objects in your classroom play a song (on a web page) or teach. Choose one of the ideas suggested in the slideshow as a starting point for using QR codes in your classroom. Try additional ideas a little at a time. Share the slideshow with other teachers and split up the ideas for each to become an "expert" in one of the strategies. Share your experiences as you learn together. Form a classroom "tech team" of interested students to try out an idea before launching it with the full class. Let them become experts along with you. Meet together over lunch or before/after school to become QR masters.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
How to embed almost anything in your website - Amit Agarwal
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): images (277), photography (157), portfolios (32), resources (107), video (278)
In the Classroom
If you have students creating projects using online tools, embedding is often the best way for them to collect projects all in one place. Often the tools are not clear about how to manage the details of embedding, to this reference is very helpful. If your students create ME-portfolios to showcase their work to colleges or potential employers, embedding is a must. Link to this site from your class web page of general resources to help today's tech-savvy students learn how to embed from various applications. Provide this link on your class website, wiki or blog for students (and parents) to access at school and at home. Teachers can create a class wiki or web site using embedding, even in school-subscription web site services. Share your elementary class's creative projects by embedding them on your class site so parents can see their great work. This site wil help you learn how.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
IconBug.com - ClipArt Free - IconBug 2011
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): clip art (9), creative commons (23), images (277)
In the Classroom
Share this link with your students so they have safe images to use in projects beyond the standard images in their computer software. If you worry that students will spend far too much time making up their minds, download a smaller collection, including the links to give proper credit, to share locally as part of a project assignment. Use clipart to spice up your activity sheets and rubrics. Use clipart images in learning support, speech and language, or life skills classrooms to teach words using images. This method could also be applied for students learning a new language. World language teachers can create a presentation of pictures and speak the words in the world language to help students learn. An extension of this type of activity could also be helpful with ESL/ELL students in your classroom. The handy icons here would also work well for sharing link collections visually using a tool such as Symbaloo, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Common Core: The Fuss Over Non-Fiction - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 6tag(s): commoncore (99)
In the Classroom
Read the questions/answers and explore the suggested resources as background during this new challenge. Mark this article in your Favorites as you begin to implement Common Core. Many of the suggested resources may be helpful during curriculum planning sessions with other teachers. Click the "share" widget to send them to others!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Introducing the ELA Common Core - Kevin's Meandering Mind
Grades
K to 12tag(s): commoncore (99)
In the Classroom
This Prezi is very useful for the introduction of the Common Core standards to faculty or parents. This would be a great presentation to share at faculty meetings, inservice, or even at Back to School Night (probably a short clip, not the entire presentation). Share this link on your class website for parents (and older students) to learn more about the Common Core.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Pause For Later - Pause For Later
Grades
K to 12tag(s): video (278)
In the Classroom
If a video is too long to share during one class period, use this tool to pick up where you left the video. It is worthwhile to ask the techies to install it at least on your teacher machine if school machines are locked down. Share this with your students when you assign videos to be watched from home, queuing the video to the start point you want the to use. Encourage students to mark start points for videos they include in oral presentations. Save them time searching if they get interrupted while viewing. This would be a useful tool to share on your class website.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
40 Interesting Ways to Use QR Codes in the Classroom - Tom Barrett
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): qr codes (22)
In the Classroom
Choose one of the ideas suggested in the slideshow as a starting point for using QR codes. Try additional ideas one at a time. Share the slideshow with other teachers and split up the ideas for each to become an "expert" in one of the strategies. Share your experiences as you learn together. Challenge your students to dream up other uses for the codes. As a service project, students could create a QR code school "tour" or add QR codes for students to use while waiting in the cafeteria line to access nutrition information about today's menu.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Twitter - Education Chats - Chat Scheduler
Grades
K to 12tag(s): microblogging (40), social networking (112), twitter (45)
In the Classroom
Explore the site to discover and follow educational and professional chats that match your interests and needs. Read the tweets about what is happening in other classrooms to gain some new/fresh ideas. Students in upper grades interested in a particular career or trying to find a mentor in an area of interest could use this. You may want to preview and pick out certain hashtags for your student(s). Want to know more about Twitter? See TeachersFirst's Twitter for Teachers page.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Widbook - Flavio Aguiar
Grades
K to 12tag(s): creative writing (164), descriptive writing (41), expository writing (43), paragraph writing (17), persuasive writing (57), process writing (48), writing (365)
In the Classroom
Create books on any subject for your students to review or learn. Set up a whole class account or use individual accounts with those 13 and older if school policy allows it. Challenge students to create a book as a multi-media presentation instead of a typical book report. This would be great to use for a student/star of the week presentation. Each week add a student's information. Do this together as a class on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Create a link (and log in) on classroom computers for students to view the book when they wish. Use this tool for groups to collaborate on science concept tales, poetry books, general writing, math problem solve-its, and more. ANY grade can use this tool with a whole class account, depending on the amount of direction by the teacher. Have students create a book as an end of the year culminatng/review project.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Comments
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
Close comment form