TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Aug 26, 2018
Here are this week's features. Clicking the tags in the description area of each listing will present a list of other resources with this topic. | Click here to return to the Featured Sites Archive
WordsLiive - Sage Salvo
Grades
7 to 12
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WordsLiive is a lesson building tool that combines anchor texts with literary concepts and matching popular music videos. Follow the steps to build a lesson - final lessons include...more
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WordsLiive is a lesson building tool that combines anchor texts with literary concepts and matching popular music videos. Follow the steps to build a lesson - final lessons include teaching notes, slides, and standards-aligned assessments. Begin building your lesson with a classroom text or literary concepts. Use the search feature to find titles and authors. When complete, save to your account and access the finished product at any time. Lessons build into prepared slides to share on your interactive whiteboard. WordsLiive uses the "clean" version of included songs and music by removing questionable language. Some videos still include suggestive content, be sure to preview all videos and song lyrics found in lessons you create.
tag(s): literary devices (13), vocabulary (235)
In the Classroom
Use WordsLiive to build engaging literature lessons that appeal to students through the use of music they enjoy. After creating and sharing a lesson, use it as a model for students to find their own examples of literary features found in music and poetry. Upon completion of your unit, make a class book featuring music matched to literacy concepts using Book Creator, reviewed here. Book Creator allows students to combine their books for a class book. It includes many tools for creating online digital books that include images, videos, and more. Consider working together with your school's music teacher to create a cross-curricular unit featuring music and literacy concepts.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Your Guide to Literary Road Trips Across America - carrentals.com
Grades
6 to 12
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Inspired by road trips from the past, this quirky infographic shares facts from literary road trips of famous authors. Featured authors include Hunter Thompson, Jack Kerouac, F. Scott...more
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Inspired by road trips from the past, this quirky infographic shares facts from literary road trips of famous authors. Featured authors include Hunter Thompson, Jack Kerouac, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and others. Each portion of the infographic includes route length, travel time, and starting and end points. Additional information on this site includes a short description of the featured road trip including the name of the novel, period background, and a link to a map with the entire route.
tag(s): infographics (55), maps (209), novels (31)
In the Classroom
Use this infographic as a starting point for many activities. Have students create their own infographics using Canva, reviewed here, to share facts and information from novels they read. Use the included maps as inspiration and have students create a roadmap based on a novel. Google My Maps, reviewed here, includes tools for creating personalized maps and you can upload images to create a virtual field trip. Ask students to create a multimedia presentation using Sway, reviewed here, to share information about places featured in novels they read. With Sway, include maps, videos, and images to tell about the various locations or featured time periods.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Immersive Reader - Microsoft
Grades
K to 12
5 Favorites
0 Comments
Immersive Reader is a free Microsoft Learning Tool available for use with several Microsoft products including OneNote, Word, Outlook, and Edge. Immersive Reader dictates text and offers...more
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Immersive Reader is a free Microsoft Learning Tool available for use with several Microsoft products including OneNote, Word, Outlook, and Edge. Immersive Reader dictates text and offers several options for personalization. Use the options to adjust the playback speed, highlight text during the audio reading, and adjust text size and spacing. Click on any word in your reading material to listen to the pronunciation. Additional options allow you to view words divided into syllables, use labels to color-code words by parts of speech, and increase the spacing between lines and letters. Use the line focus feature to highlight only small portions of text. Turn on the dictionary option to select words and view drawings representing the meanings. This tool is a wonderful resource for your special needs students and struggling readers!
tag(s): adhd (28), differentiation (84), disabilities (29), dyslexia (11), Microsoft (84), multilingual (65), reading comprehension (141), Special Needs (53), text to speech (19)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the many features included with Immersive Reader for any classroom use. You may need to discuss downloading this product with your school's IT department; however, it is well worth the effort. This product is especially helpful for ENL/ESL students and students needing additional help with reading. Use the language options for students to hear and view text in their native language. Use Immersive Reader to help students with Dyslexia or ADHD to decode and focus on the text by using the options included. Upload classroom materials for students to use for help in understanding difficult text.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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StoryLab - Adventure Cow
Grades
2 to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Write a story and create interactive choose your own adventure games with StoryLab. After signing up using email and verification of your account, begin a story with the start page....more
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Write a story and create interactive choose your own adventure games with StoryLab. After signing up using email and verification of your account, begin a story with the start page. Add links to items in your story to direct readers to different parts of the adventure. Be sure to watch the tutorial videos and visit the help pages for step by step directions on creating and sharing your games.
tag(s): creative writing (122), writing (315)
In the Classroom
Share StoryLab with students as an alternative to traditional story-writing projects. Because StoryLab features may not be intuitive to all users, consider sharing this site with a few tech-savvy students first and let them be the experts to help other students in creating books. Have older students create choose your own adventure books to discuss events in history. For example, when learning about Civil Rights, have students share options for what might happen if Martin Luther King hadn't been assassinated. Use these stories as a basis for student podcasts about moments in history and how different events shaped and changed history. Podcast Generator, reviewed here, includes features for recording and sharing podcasts.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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SummarizeThis - Iris Reading
Grades
5 to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
Do you need a tool to quickly summarize long chunks of text? SummarizeThis is the answer. Just copy any section of text from online, PDFs, word documents, or where ever ...more
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Do you need a tool to quickly summarize long chunks of text? SummarizeThis is the answer. Just copy any section of text from online, PDFs, word documents, or where ever and paste it into SummarizeThis. Click the link to summarize, and the result appears immediately.
tag(s): learning disability (22), Special Needs (53), summarizing (22)
In the Classroom
Introduce SummarizeThis to students working on research projects as a way to quickly determine the content and viability of using websites. Use to differentiate instruction with students. Use with learning support students as a resource to make content more accessible. Use the summaries when teaching how to summarize in an ELA class. Compare the summary you create as a class or in small groups with the "automated" one. Are there subtleties or important distinctions that this tool misses? As a challenge for your more critical thinkers, have them try to figure out what signals the tool uses to create its summary.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Reading Strategies Resources - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12
3 Favorites
0 Comments
This curated list of reviewed resources includes teaching ideas and sites to promote proven reading strategies of effective readers. Find engaging texts to use as your class focuses...more
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This curated list of reviewed resources includes teaching ideas and sites to promote proven reading strategies of effective readers. Find engaging texts to use as your class focuses on a particular strategy as well as professional resources to improve your own understanding of this research-based approach to building literacy skills. Don't miss "In the classroom" ideas for specific projects or ideas for before, during, and after reading.
tag(s): reading comprehension (141), reading strategies (96)
In the Classroom
Find new tools and reading strategies to share with your students. Share this list on your class website for families to use at home. This list includes resources for young readers and secondary students.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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WriteReader - WriteReader
Grades
K to 5
4 Favorites
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The scientific research behind WriterReader is that one develops and improves reading skills by writing. With WriteReader, kids create their books, including text, pictures, and voice...more
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The scientific research behind WriterReader is that one develops and improves reading skills by writing. With WriteReader, kids create their books, including text, pictures, and voice recordings. Adults/Teachers have space on the page to write comments and make corrections. The interface is so simple that even a young child can use it successfully after some adult guidance. Open the Features tab on the top menu to see an index to all features categorized by Literacy Development, Easy Book Creation, Publishing and Sharing, and Teacher & Student Management, all with several links to explore. Click the Resources Center tab on the top menu to select Lesson Plans, Templates, Writing Prompts, Videos, and more. The basic plan offers 60 books and all the essential features. Register by email or your Google account. After logging in, use the menu bars in the upper right corner and find Guides, which has a Parent Letter, a Quick Start Guide, a Template, and a few other get-started items.
For creating student accounts, you can enter students manually, or students can join the class with a class code. WriteReader has upgraded its page templates to support older students. US English, UK English, Dansk (Danish), and Svenska (Swedish) are available. There is also an introductory video on the landing page that will help everyone get started. This video resides on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, the video may not be viewable. WriteReader has added new premium features such as Read Aloud, Voice Search, Book Templates, and several others. For these, you must pay.
tag(s): digital storytelling (141), literacy (107), multilingual (65), reading strategies (96), science of reading (31), writing (315)
In the Classroom
WriteReader is so simple that very young students can use it successfully after a whiteboard or projector demonstration. While creating their books, students will be able to add images, multiple pages and delete pages, include voice-over, use color on the pages, view one page at a time or the entire book, and toggle between letters' names/sounds or no audio. Use this tool to design simple projects using student drawings to tell the story. Have students draw and annotate stories about their summer at the beginning of the year and share them with classmates. Students of any age love to draw, so why not have them draw their impression of what the message to the reader was after hearing a story and then explain it in writing? Nonreaders and ENL/ESL students especially will benefit from hearing the letter sounds as they begin writing in their new language.Edge Features:
Includes an education-only area for teachers and students
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
Includes teacher tools for registering and/or monitoring students
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The Scoop on Current Events - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 6
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This installment in the Help I lost my library/media specialist series offers ideas for introducing "the news" to elementary students. Help students understand about news sources,...more
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This installment in the Help I lost my library/media specialist series offers ideas for introducing "the news" to elementary students. Help students understand about news sources, news writing, and elements of news stories using kid-friendly resources, both electronic and traditional. Find activities and discussion questions to bring the news into focus at an age-appropriate level. Written by an experienced library/media specialist, this feature is designed to help teachers who may not have such a specialist at their school.
tag(s): news (229), newspapers (91)
In the Classroom
Use these ideas during major news years, such as election season, or as a general introduction to current events. During Newspapers in Education month, extend your discussions to include both print and online news media using the lesson discussion questions included here. Incorporate current events stories as one of many types of informational texts you use to teach comprehension and other reading skills.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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CurriConnects Book List: Books for Tough Situations - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12
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Use this CurriConnects list to find independent reading books to help students facing difficult circumstances such as divorce, loss, bullying, deployed parents, friendship issues, eating...more
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Use this CurriConnects list to find independent reading books to help students facing difficult circumstances such as divorce, loss, bullying, deployed parents, friendship issues, eating disorders, and more. CurriConnects thematic book lists include ISBN numbers for ordering or searching, interest grade levels, ENL/ESL levels and Lexiles'''® to match with student independent reading levels to challenge, not frustrate. Don't miss other CurriConnects themes being added regularly.
tag(s): difficult conversations (58), disabilities (29), divorce (6), eating disorders (7), emotions (47), social and emotional learning (81), social skills (22)
In the Classroom
Build student literacy skills and help students facing personal challenges. Reading about personally meaningful topics will help students work through them. It will also build the important reading strategy of connecting what they read to what they already know. Keep this list handy in your Favorites to suggest options when a student seems to need them. Since the list includes topics for all levels of maturity, you might want to share portions of it rather than the entire list. You may also want to tell parents about it during parent conferences or when situations arise. As always, allow students to self- select independent reading books from a list of options. Don't forget to share the list with the school and local libraries so they can bring in some of the books on interlibrary loan, if needed. Your school counselor will also appreciate this list. CurriConnects are a great help for teachers and parents who have lost school library/media specialists due to budget cuts.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Audio Books with Text Resources - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12
9 Favorites
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These educator-reviewed resources from TeachersFirst offer audio books with accompanying text so all students, including emerging readers and ESL/ELL learners, can experience literature...more
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These educator-reviewed resources from TeachersFirst offer audio books with accompanying text so all students, including emerging readers and ESL/ELL learners, can experience literature and other reading selections in audio form as they reinforce and inspire literacy skills and enjoyment. Be sure to explore each site, as many include multiple types of activities, including the audio books and texts.
tag(s): audio books (22), preK (254)
In the Classroom
Mark this one in your professional favorites AND share it on a class web page for access by students and parents. The helpful reviews suggest ideas for ways to use the books in the classroom or outside of school to reinforce literacy skills, improve English skills, or study literature in new ways.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Reading in the Content Areas - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12
5 Favorites
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TeachersFirst offers a collection of web resources well suited to teach reading in the content areas, especially in science and social studies classes, but in almost ANY subject area....more
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TeachersFirst offers a collection of web resources well suited to teach reading in the content areas, especially in science and social studies classes, but in almost ANY subject area. See ideas and strategies for teaching reading across the curriculum and find texts to use on the computer, in print, on an interactive whiteboard, or with a projector. Sometimes using web-based texts can be more engaging, and often these are more up-to-date in content.
tag(s): context clues (5), main idea (8), reading comprehension (141), summarizing (22)
In the Classroom
Mark this collection as a MUST have for teaching reading to students struggling to apply more than decoding skills. Pay special attention to some of the "In the classroom" tips for unexpected ways to use these sites to teach reading along with other subjects.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Reading Suggestions - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12
8 Favorites
0 Comments
This site, created by our teacher-editors, offers a reading list for students in all grades. Simply click on the grade level that you wish to explore and a book list ...more
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This site, created by our teacher-editors, offers a reading list for students in all grades. Simply click on the grade level that you wish to explore and a book list will be provided. Most books offer a short description and some link to other titles by the same author. New titles are added frequently, so be sure to check back.
In the Classroom
Save this site in your classroom computers' favorites, so students can easily access the site to find new books to read! Share this link on your class website. This is an excellent resource to provide for summer reading.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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