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August 31, 2015
Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers®
September should be called Sep"Team"ber in the classroom. Enjoy this month of building your class and team! Look to TeachersFirst to be your online coach for both technology ideas and excellent resources. Get your team huddled now and get ready to score!
ISTE ON-Demand
Thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth at ISTE! Our On-Demand video is now available. If you didn’t have a chance to attend ISTE, get inspired by watching and learning from the many attendees who shared their experiences with us.
The Right Foot
Start the year on the right foot with lessons on good work habits with reviewed study skills resources from TeachersFirst. These are terrific for sharing with parents at Back to School Night!
Read-Aloud!
Do you ever wonder, “What should I read with my elementary students during the first few weeks of school?” Build classroom community during these all-important first weeks of school. Back-to-school books are generally realistic fiction and will give you lots of opportunities to have some great discussions. Make connections to your own classroom! See our Back to School Read-alouds for book and discussion suggestions for K-6.
Book Your Travel Plans NOW!
Globetraker’s Mission: Locating Louie returns this year for social studies classes in grades 2-6. Preview Globetracker’s Mission beginning in late-September. Follow the travels of teens Geo and Meri as they traverse across North America and blog about it along the way. Readers get to vote on their next steps! Teachers tell us Globetracker's Mission has proven to be a more effective, engaging way for students to master standards-aligned map skills, landforms, and geography terms and concepts, making students more curious about maps, geography, and social studies. Set aside time in your plans. You don’t want to miss this Mission!
Long Weekend Ahead?
Many of you have a few days (or weeks) of school under your belt. And this weekend ahead is hopefully filled with family, friends and fun. This week’s Teacher Poll asks: How will you celebrate Labor Day? Place your vote on the teacher poll on the TeachersFirst home page.
No Matter the Date
The first day of school is a date that matters! Make it memorable with Dates that Matter. Every day, mobile-friendly (and projector ready) Dates That Matter offers a hint at an event from history that happened on that day, followed by questions to help your students connect the event with something they know. Just as the big reveal tells what the event was, you can click Why does it matter? History becomes meaningful—and engaging—in context. Designed for middle grades, Dates That Matter appeals to students and parents alike. Engage the parents at Back to School night, too. Find more teaching ideas for DTM by clicking the little “I” at the end of the Why Does it Matter explanation. Share the Dates That Matter on your school or class web page!
Ready to Go!
Did you know that TeachersFirst has a Ready to Go! section? This list of resources includes many topics and a variety of grade levels. We will be featuring a few of these “handy” tools each week. They are interactive whiteboard ready and tie in with various curriculum. This week we will highlight the Weekly Brain Twisters. We offer an elementary and middle school edition. Another one you won’t want to miss: Biomes of the World. Explore all of our Ready to Go resources.
Featured Sites
This week in our Featured Sites find maps, writing, and more:
- NFL RUSH
- History of Poverty
- TONS of Writing Exercises
- Photo Editing made Easy
- Stop Animation
- Clean up YouTube Videos
- Typing Help
- Teaching Reading 101
- And more
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are reading this September 7 or later, the link above will take you to the Featured Sites for the current week. Find the archived August 30 Features here, and don’t miss our many other recent additions from the link at the bottom of the Featured Sites page.
Make your “team” bond, grow, and learn during the month of Sep”team”ber.
The TeachersFirst Team