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September 7, 2015
Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers®
We hope that you had a chance to sit back and put your feet up this Labor Day weekend. And now you are all ready to run the race of the school year.
Score with Books
The September theme from TogetheRead is “Sports and Fitness.” TogetheRead provides a list of recommended books, questions, and activities designed to build stronger readers. The themes include books for all ages, centered around the same theme. Parents find questions to ask as the family reads, deepening comprehension before, during, and after reading. Included are free and low-cost ideas for activities families can do together, as well. TogetheRead involves the entire family in supporting literacy.
ISTE On-Demand
Our On-Demand video is now available. If you didn’t have a chance to attend ISTE, get inspired by watching and learning from many attendees who shared what they had learned with us.
A Few Weeks Until Take-off
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!
Challenges??
Many of you have been in school for a few days or even weeks by now. This week’s Teacher Poll asks: What is your biggest challenge of the new year? Place your vote on the teacher poll on the TeachersFirst home page.
Don't Forget—World Water Monitoring Challenge
Get your class involved in the World Water Monitoring Challenge. Monitor a lake, stream, bay, or any other nearby body of water. The challenge continues through December 31. Learn more about it here.
Ready to Go!
Did you know that TeachersFirst has a Ready to Go! Section? They are interactive whiteboard ready and tie in with various curriculum.
Gettysburg By the Numbers (grades 5-10) - an interactive infographic about the Battle of Gettysburg through numbers that will connect your students to the past.
The Hamlet Quizzes (grades 9-12) - interactive and engaging reviews/quizzes.
Been There, Done That
Discovers handy ways to make your tech-infused lessons go more smoothly with TeachersFirst’s Been There, Done That tech tips. Savor a clever idea or two from experienced, Thinking Teachers or share the entire batch with colleagues who need a little extra confidence.
Featured Sites
This week in our Featured Sites find:
- Tech Integration Matrix
- Proportion
- Shapes for the Young
- Star Wars
- Debate—Do you Agree?
- Typing Speed Test
- Primary Sources
- Digital Citizenship
- Which One is Not Like the Other?
- Andrew Carnegie
- Free Video Converter
- And more
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are reading this September 14 or later, the link above will take you to the Featured Sites for the current week. Find the archived September 6th Features here, and don’t miss our many other recent additions from the link at the bottom of the Featured Sites page.
The race is now beginning. Use TeachersFirst as your “water breaks” to find some fresh and inspiring ideas along the track.
The TeachersFirst Team