TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of May 31, 2020
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
MakeCode Arcade - Microsoft
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): coding (87), computers (105), game based learning (171), Microsoft (84), STEM (259)
In the Classroom
Use Microsoft Arcade to introduce coding to both new and experienced coders. Share some ideas from the site on an interactive whiteboard (or with a projector), then have students experiment on their own. Encourage students who are comfortable with coding to become classroom experts and explain ideas to other students. Enhance their learning by asking them to make recordings using ScreenPal, reviewed here, to share tips, and demonstrate different features of coding. Use this tool with gifted students for a great challenge. Set up a coding activity center for interested students when they finish classwork or for rainy days and snow days. Share this link on your class website for students to access both in and out of the classroom.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Draft - Draft
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): graphic organizers (48), organizational skills (90)
In the Classroom
Have students use Draft to create storylines that include links and images to tell the story of events in history or to retell novels. Ask students to use Draft to create mood boards to share the different works of artists or to demonstrate different types of architecture. Draft would be an excellent choice as a collaborative tool for large projects to brainstorm ideas, assign tasks, and document progress. Use Draft with students as part of your science experiments to share the steps of the experiment, document hypothesis, and add images and reflections upon the outcomes of the experiment.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Koji - Koji
Grades
K to 12tag(s): coding (87), game based learning (171), gamification (74)
In the Classroom
Find templates by browsing the templates found on the home page, or choose the option to see what others are remixing to find examples to use in the classroom. Modify quizzes to include on your class website for quick review and practice on any device. Choose a "tap to reveal" feature to share before introducing a new unit. For example, before starting a unit on national landmarks, quickly create several "tap to reveal" games with United States landmarks and publish one a day on the week before the start of your unit. Have students create quizzes and games to review classroom material, then share the games with all students on your class websites. Share with students interested in software and coding applications, encourage them to create games that interact with current classroom materials. Koji includes options for viewing the source code for advanced coders to use in creating and modifying their interactives.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Snapstouch - SnapsTouch
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): images (270)
In the Classroom
Before sharing with students, you may want to share this tool on an interactive whiteboard or projector and show students how to save images correctly. Use this tool anytime to add interest to photos for use on class blogs, wikis, or in presentation tools. Share with older students to use for converting images for projects or presentations. Have students create a painted image to use instead of a photograph to use as their image within Google Classroom or other learning tools.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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elink - Bit Tech Labs, Inc
Grades
K to 12tag(s): bookmarks (47), curation (35), digital storytelling (142), social networking (68)
In the Classroom
Use elink to curate and share information in a variety of ways with students, parents, and peers. For example, use elink to create a grouping of links to videos for student use then embed your newsletter on your class website for use at home and school. Create a monthly newsletter to share with parents that include links to websites for use at home to support your current class lessons. Ask older students to use elink to curate resources used when submitting research and multimedia projects. Have students include their elink as part of a project created with Sway, reviewed here. As an example, if students research the causes of the Revolutionary War, ask them to include a link to their elink creation to share their online project resources. Be sure to check out the Education Curation Tools templates found on elink's website for additional ideas.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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GorillaPDF - Softpile
Grades
K to 12tag(s): conversions (36), digital storytelling (142), ebooks (38)
In the Classroom
GorillaPDF makes it easy to convert a variety of different file formats into PDF for easy use in a variety of ways. Use this tool to combine a variety of documents and images into one cohesive packet that is easy to share and view on any device. Ask students to use this site as a tool for combining research information into one easy to manage document. Extend learning by asking students to incorporate PDF files into ActiveTextbook, reviewed here, to create interactive learning experiences. Add images, videos, audio, and more to the documents to create a customized learning experience for other students to learn from their research.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Knowt - Knowt
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): artificial intelligence (99), assessment (147), DAT device agnostic tool (143), quizzes (90)
In the Classroom
Share Knowt with students as a resource for practicing for upcoming quizzes and tests. Consider this option as an alternative to flashcards or other review methods. As students become familiar with Knowt, use this tool as a starting point on lessons sharing how to find and understand important information within any piece of writing. Create a quiz together and share it on your interactive whiteboard. Ask students to analyze the questions that Knowt creates and discuss why they are included in the quiz. Once students understand how to create an effective quiz, ask them to create their own quizzes for personal study or to share with peers. Gimkit, reviewed here, offers a free quiz-creation tool for use in a variety of educational settings.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Google Jamboard - Google
Grades
K to 12tag(s): collaboration (85), images (270), iwb (31), Whiteboard (7)
In the Classroom
Use Jamboard on your interactive whiteboard (or with a projector) to share and highlight information for students. When finished, save and share as images for students to access in Google Classroom or on your class website. Enable the collaboration options for students to use when planning projects or as a tool for recording and sharing information. For example, ask groups working together on a science experiment to use this tool to share images and annotations throughout the experiment. Save Jamboard slides as images in digital portfolios. Seesaw, reviewed here, and Pathbrite, reviewed here, provide free online portfolio features for students at all age levels.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Google Slides - Google
Grades
K to 12tag(s): multimedia (43), Online Learning (39), remote learning (61), slides (45)
In the Classroom
Discover the many features of Google Slides to create presentations, interactive stories, and much more. Create a class poetry presentation by asking students to create individual Slides, then put them together in one slide show as a class poetry book to share on your class website. Deliver blended, flipped, or remote learning lessons using Google Slides by adding links to videos, websites, assessment information, games, and other learning activities. Find many more ideas for classroom use at the archive of a recent OK2Ask webinar: GoogleMania - Student Activities for Google Slides, reviewed here, or the OK2Ask webinar: GoogleMania - Choose Your Own Adventure with Google Slides, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Data GIF Maker - Google News Lab
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
This tool provides you and your students an excellent resource for engagingly sharing data. Use the Data GIF Maker to create a visual display when collecting data. For example, begin using this tool by polling your class to find out their favorite type of pizza and then enter the data to create a GIF. Use the same data in all three included formats to compare and contrast how the information looks based on the type of chart used. Take this same information and have students calculate the percentages and create GIFs to compare and contrast this information with your original images. Once you and your students are familiar with how to use this site to create GIFs, use it to enhance student learning by including GIFs within your presentations for students to evaluate and to visualize any data. Create GIFs to document student reading logs, the amount of time spent on homework, or time spent on community service. Have students include GIFs when annotating images using Image Annotator, reviewed here, or within presentations created with tools such as Sway, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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QRickit QR Codes - Denso Wave Inc.
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): gamification (74), qr codes (17)
In the Classroom
Create a QR code that directs to your class website or blog. Include it on handouts for Back to School night. Create a QR code scavenger hunt for students or make a webquest more engaging. Add QR codes to documents for students to check their answers. Further, develop knowledge of a topic by adding a QR code to a site that expands upon what is in the textbook. Create a data chart accessible via a QR code. Students can access the data and manipulate the information. Have students create a book trailer or review and affix a QR code to the outside of the book. Students may be more apt to read a book that has been reviewed by another student. Make a display completely interactive with a QR code that describes the assignment, the process, the research, students' reactions, and more! Add extra help information to any assignment that asks students to solve problems. Create an online help tutorial accessible via a QR code, and place the code beside a similar problem. Link a QR code directly to a Google Map. Place QR code contact information for you and your school on contact cards to give to parents. Attach QR codes to physical objects around the room to provide information about the object. Instead of copying/pasting links in a newsletter, put them into QR codes for easier access by readers. Post QR codes to resource sites and new articles on your BYOD classroom bulletin boards for students to access information on their tablets or smartphones. As a time-saver, post a QR code to the class wiki or web page.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Audience Connect - Create with Google
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): Google (44), multimedia (43), slides (45)
In the Classroom
Take lessons beyond your typical slide show presentations by using the features in Audience Connect. Insert polls within your slides to quickly gauge students' understanding of the content or ask them to respond to questions throughout the presentation. Use the embed video feature to have all students watch portions of video directly from your laptop onto their device. Have students use Audience Connect as an enhancement to any class presentation to keep their audience involved and active in the presentation topic.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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SceneVR - KnightLab Northwestern University
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Use SceneVR to take slide presentations to a whole new level. Quickly upload panoramic photos from class field trips, science experiments, or presentations to create a unique presentation to share with parents and families on your website. Ask students to use their photos to create a virtual reality presentation. For example, when learning about geometric shapes, have students take panoramic images of your classroom and school. Put these images into SceneVR to create a presentation and allow students to explore your "virtual world" for shapes found around them. Extend learning further by incorporating the slideshows into a multimedia presentation such as a digital book made with Book Creator, reviewed here, or Sway, reviewed here. Use your (or student-created) multimedia presentations to present a larger picture of any concept by incorporating text, images, and videos along with your slideshow.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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CleverPDF - CleverPDF
Grades
K to 12tag(s): conversions (36), images (270), worksheets (70)
In the Classroom
Be sure to bookmark this site on all classroom and personal computers for use throughout the year. If you have a large PDF file but only need a page or two, use CleverPDF to extract it for you. Convert PDF files to Word or Pages when working with a document that needs editing. Convert student work into PDF then convert into a book using PDF to Flipbook Converter, reviewed here. PDF ro Flipbook Converter even includes a handy page-turning effect! This is a helpful utility for students entering contests or completing applications offered only in PDF form. Help students create a more organized and appealing portfolio by converting all items to one standard file type such as PDF. bulb, reviewed here, is an easy to use tool for creating and sharing portfolios, include student-created PDF documents to share any work document.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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