TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Jan 23, 2022

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

 

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Grades 3-5 Research Resources for Teaching Remotely on Short Notice - TeachersFirst

Grades
3 to 5
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Take your remote teaching activities to the next level with these research resources for grades 3-5. Each suggestion includes information about the online resource and how to get started....more
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Take your remote teaching activities to the next level with these research resources for grades 3-5. Each suggestion includes information about the online resource and how to get started. Additional resources include links to TeachersFirst blogs and other primary source links with ideas for classroom use.

tag(s): professional development (388), Research (83)

In the Classroom

Incorporate videos, articles, and quizzes found in the National Geographic link as part of an overall learning experience using Curipod, reviewed here. As students complete their research projects provide a variety of options for sharing their learning. Ideas to include as options include Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here, Clipchamp reviewed here, and Spotify for Podcasters, reviewed here.

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50 Mini-Lessons for Teaching Student Research Skills - Kathleen Morris

Grades
5 to 12
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This PDF provides quick and useful tips for teaching research skills to students from the middle primary grades through high school. The author offers a variety of topics, including...more
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This PDF provides quick and useful tips for teaching research skills to students from the middle primary grades through high school. The author offers a variety of topics, including searching, clarifying, and citing sources, and then gives ideas for activities to teach the skill. The information on the site is concise and to the point, making it perfect for use as a resource in all classrooms.

tag(s): citations (34), Research (83), search strategies (23)

In the Classroom

Bookmark this page to use as a reference when teaching research skills. Consider using this site as a beginning outline of research skills to teach throughout the year then divide each topic into a unit for planning purposes. Use digital tools to reinforce and enhance the lessons. For example, when using the ideas for teaching how to clarify questions, begin with choosing a topic idea. It states to write as many questions as you can for an idea such as koalas. Gather student ideas on your whiteboard, then create a word cloud using Wordsift, reviewed here, to highlight recurring ideas and thoughts. Use this information as a starting point for research, and ask students to share online information into Padlet, reviewed here. Ask older students to use Fiskkit, reviewed here, as a collaborative tool for sharing and discussing online articles. Fiskkit includes tools for sharing online articles and adding highlights and notes with others. Upon completion of research projects, ask students to share their learning using a multimedia presentation tool like Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here. Have students include original work, images, videos, and more to share their research projects.
 This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.

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Ruff Ruffman - Humble Media Genius - PBS Kids

Grades
1 to 6
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Ruff Ruffman is a comical canine who sets out to teach kids (ages 6-11) about being a responsible digital citizen. Short animated video clips answer questions about posting photos,...more
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Ruff Ruffman is a comical canine who sets out to teach kids (ages 6-11) about being a responsible digital citizen. Short animated video clips answer questions about posting photos, texting, and searching, reminding kids to ask an adult for help with the more difficult undertakings like finding a kid-friendly search engine. This program also has discussion questions for parents and teachers and interactive quizzes. Creating an account isn't required to use any material on the site. To create an account, you will need a username and a random password will be assigned, which can you can change later.

tag(s): digital citizenship (83), internet safety (112)

In the Classroom

Introduce Ruff Ruffman with a projector or interactive whiteboard, showing students all of the different questions Ruff will answer. Then either view the video shorts and quizzes as a class, or allow students to view the video shorts and take the interactive quizzes at a computer center. As a substitute for paper and pencil, have students use a video response tool like Flip, reviewed here, to reflect on their learning and share tips for their peers. To extend student learning, require students to view their peer's reflections and make thoughtful comments.

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The Adventures of Kara, Winston and the SMART Crew - Childnet International

Grades
2 to 6
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Here you will find 5 e-safety SMART cartoons for ages 7 to 11. These videos are all about being SMART online. Click on Teachers & professionals and slide to resources ...more
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Here you will find 5 e-safety SMART cartoons for ages 7 to 11. These videos are all about being SMART online. Click on Teachers & professionals and slide to resources to search by age or topic for other activities. The suggested recommendation from the creators is to implement activities throughout several weeks; however, it is possible to complete as a one-time activity.

tag(s): character education (75), digital citizenship (83), internet safety (112)

In the Classroom

Any teacher will benefit from the free materials and activities on this site to teach online safety to students either directly through these materials, or as additional resources to your current online safety materials. As a substitute for links on paper or in a word processing tool, use a bookmarking tool like Symbaloo, reviewed here, to share online resources with students on classroom computers and your class website. Enhance student understanding by challenging students to create digital books teaching online safety using Book Creator, reviewed here. Book Creator includes tools for adding videos, images, and more into books.

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EduBirdie - KingCitation

Grades
5 to 12
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Let's face it, creating proper citations is difficult due to the many different formats and the variety of sources cited. EduBirdie helps with this problem with its Auto Citer. Click...more
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Let's face it, creating proper citations is difficult due to the many different formats and the variety of sources cited. EduBirdie helps with this problem with its Auto Citer. Click Citation Generators from the top menu and then choose the type of format you need. The three step procedure begins at the top menu with choosing the type of work that is cited then moves on to adding requested information to the form generator. Click "Generate Citation" to complete your citation ready to copy and paste into any document.

tag(s): citations (34), plagiarism (31), Research (83)

In the Classroom

Use your interactive whiteboard and projector to show students how to use this tool for citing their sources. Share this website for all of your projects using research so students know the correct procedure for citations. Be sure to add it on your class web site as a useful reference.
 

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21things4students - Regional Educational Media Center Association of Michigan.

Grades
6 to 9
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This free interactive site is an extensive digital literacy curriculum that improves technology proficiency, builds information literacy and digital citizenship skills, and provides...more
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This free interactive site is an extensive digital literacy curriculum that improves technology proficiency, builds information literacy and digital citizenship skills, and provides 21st century and project-based resources online. The 21 Things are 'big ideas' in technology and learning such as Visual Learning, Global Collaboration, Powerful Presentations, Search Strategies, Digital Footprint, and many others. The student activities use free web resources designed to address the ISTE National Educational Technology Standards for Students, and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. The non-sequential Things, delivered as project-based Quests, provide links, resources, and activities for students to earn badges and awards. Registration for teachers is required and gives access to teacher resources and a downloadable Moodle version of the site; Moodle is not required to use this site. To access certain external activities and tools, students may need to register with an e-mail. Each Thing contains a Teacher Lesson Guide, Student Checklist, Learning Objectives, and links to various web resources and apps. Choose a Things and see that the Quests have roadmap documents for students to use for tracking progress. A Quest includes an introduction (frequently as a short, animated video), vocabulary, directions, tutorials, standards, apps, and a student checklist. Extensive teacher resources and support are provided. Assessments are through multiple-choice quizzes at ProProf with a provided password. You may want to choose MITECHKIDS where you will find grade level links and categories by curriculum.

tag(s): careers (139), computers (105), consumers (14), cyberbullying (40), digital citizenship (83), digital storytelling (142), evaluating sources (28), game based learning (171), internet safety (112), media literacy (102), organizational skills (90), social media (53), social networking (68), thinking skills (14), webquests (21)

In the Classroom

Use the complete curriculum or selected Quests. Assign students individual Things to complete in school or at home as part of blended learning or flipped classrooms. Have students begin with the Basics and progress through selected skills. Use parts of the site to teach a particular skill to the whole class. Have students complete their work through an electronic portfolio bulb, reviewed here, but not included on the site. bulb includes links to some ideas and samples on the on the K-12 page.
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Comments

Tons of resources for all grades, love it! Ladisha, VA, Grades: 9 - 12
Lots of other links for using technology resources in the classroom. Ruth, AB, Grades: 0 - 12

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R4S: Research for Success - INFOhio

Grades
9 to 12
6 Favorites 1  Comments
   
Designed as an interactive online course this site helps high school students develop the sophisticated research skills needed for college and careers, an important component of most...more
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Designed as an interactive online course this site helps high school students develop the sophisticated research skills needed for college and careers, an important component of most standards. The formal research process is broken down into six steps: Asking Good Questions, Finding Information, Selecting the Best, Putting It Together, Your Presentation, and Making the Grade. Students work through a variety of activities linked from outside sites, including reading articles, watching videos, and completing worksheets. Each module is introduced by Voki avatars, reviewed here. Several popular research tools, such Zotero, reviewed here, and Evernote, reviewed here, are introduced. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.

tag(s): citations (34), classroom management (128), digital citizenship (83), evaluating sources (28), inquiry (24), media literacy (102), note taking (34), organizational skills (90), plagiarism (31), Research (83), search strategies (23)

In the Classroom

R4S would be perfect for use as a blended-learning or the flipped classroom experience for upper high school into the first year of college. You can have students work online, or you can download into your course management system. Have students work through all the steps as part of a research assignment, or use only the parts relevant to them. Teachers need to register to receive the text copy of the helpful teacher's guide. Use the site in any subject or curriculum area.
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Comments

Will be integrating this unit into freshman comp at the community college where I teach researched argument, the first English class students are required to complete. Patricia, NJ, Grades: 6 - 12

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Go! Ask, Act, Achieve - INFOhio

Grades
4 to 10
1 Favorites 0  Comments
   
Go! Ask, Act, Achieve is a free online interactive and engaging tool for students to learn the formal research process. There is no registration required. The information is divided...more
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Go! Ask, Act, Achieve is a free online interactive and engaging tool for students to learn the formal research process. There is no registration required. The information is divided into three modules, introduced by teenage Voki avatars, reviewed here. Each module links to resources and materials from various reliable sources. Using these activities, students work through each section learning how to select a topic, evaluate, use and cite information, and create a final product.

tag(s): citations (34), digital citizenship (83), evaluating sources (28), inquiry (24), media literacy (102), organizational skills (90), Research (83), search strategies (23)

In the Classroom

Go! Ask, Act, Achieve is an easy-to-use introduction which demystifies and simplifies teaching the research process. Use this to meet the Common Core standards for research in a content area. Have students work through the site in sequence or pull out areas to teach skills, as needed.
 This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.

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P.org - iParadigms, LLC & TurnItIn LLC

Grades
6 to 12
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Here you will find everything you will ever need to know about plagiarism and citing sources. Start with the article on the right "What is Plagiarism." Be sure to check ...more
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Here you will find everything you will ever need to know about plagiarism and citing sources. Start with the article on the right "What is Plagiarism." Be sure to check out all the categories from the left menu. There you will find lots of videos and articles regarding citing sources (explains what a citation is), why one should cite sources, how to paraphrase, how to quote material, what a footnote is, and when one should cite the source. There are several interesting videos with titles like "Everything is a Remix." This is a hot topic and definitely a site to save and share with students! Some of the videos reside on YouTube, if your school blocks YouTube they may not be viewable on classroom computers. You could flip your classroom and have the students watch those videos at home.

tag(s): citations (34), plagiarism (31), Research (83), summarizing (22)

In the Classroom

Meet your Common Core standards for nonfiction reading using the pages at this informative site! In addition, every student who creates a report, presentation, speech, or project, in any subject, needs to know this information. Consider dividing and presenting this site with a teacher in another curriculum, so students get the idea that this is information for EVERY class. Modify learning and consider presenting the information, questions, and quizzes using a tool such as Vevox, reviewed here. Vevox will integrate with Microsoft Teams and PowerPoint, and you can have instantaeous question and answer sessions. Then you can quiz students on the information. Moreover, this program will make this text heavy, but necessary material, much more tolerable for your students. You may want to challenge your gifted and musically inclined students to create a rap highlighting the important information they learned about plagiarism and citing sources. Have them teach the rap to the rest of the class. Or enhance learning and have students create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from this site using a tool such as WordItOut, reviewed here. If you are flipping your classroom and having students to watch the videos residing on YouTube at home, you may want to use Edpuzzle, reviewed here, to add your own voice or add questions within the video and hold students accountable.

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Digital Passport - Common Sense Media

Grades
3 to 5
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Digital Passport is an interactive, engaging, and effective way to teach and test the basics of digital citizenship designed for upper elementary grades. Create and add student groups...more
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Digital Passport is an interactive, engaging, and effective way to teach and test the basics of digital citizenship designed for upper elementary grades. Create and add student groups to assign, monitor, and customize assignments for students. This site consists of five topical modules covering privacy, cyberbullying, communication, creative credit, and search. Module Guides accompanying each lesson include complete guides and suggestions for teaching and using the activity. Be sure to download the Educator Handbook for a complete guide to effectively using the Digital Passport.

tag(s): cyberbullying (40), digital citizenship (83), game based learning (171)

In the Classroom

Create an account and assign activities to students to complete at home or on classroom computers. Share this site on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Have students create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from this site using a tool such as Word Clouds for Kids, reviewed here, for younger students, or WordItOut, reviewed here, for older students. Be sure to share Digital Passport with parents and other teachers as an excellent resource for teaching digital citizenship.

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K-12 Digital Citizenship Curriculum - Common Sense Education

Grades
K to 12
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Common Sense Education offers this curriculum for teaching Digital Citizenship to students in all grades from K-12. Topics include cyberbullying, digital footprint & identity, media...more
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Common Sense Education offers this curriculum for teaching Digital Citizenship to students in all grades from K-12. Topics include cyberbullying, digital footprint & identity, media balance & well-being, among others. Create a free account to access all lesson materials, including lesson plans, media, and student materials. Many of the included materials are available for bilingual learners.

tag(s): cyberbullying (40), digital citizenship (83), identity (28), internet safety (112), media literacy (102), social networking (68)

In the Classroom

Bookmark and save this website as your first stop for any lessons related to responsible digital behavior. Share a link to videos on your classroom website or blog for students (and parents) to view at home. Download and use lesson plans and materials as part of your digital safety planning. Many lessons include suggestions for modifications to use as a quick activity instead of a complete lesson. Enhance learning and have students create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from this site using a tool such as Word Clouds for Kids, reviewed here, for younger students, or WordClouds, reviewed here, for older students. Enhance learning and ask students to collect ideas on a collaborative bulletin board like Scrumblr, reviewed here, (quick start- no membership required!) demonstrating information presented from these Digital Literacy & Citizenship lessons.
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Scrible - Scrible

Grades
4 to 12
1 Favorites 0  Comments
 
Transform your students' web-based research with Scrible. Highlight and annotate web pages and easily save, share, organize, and collaborate on Internet-based research. Scrible Edu...more
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Transform your students' web-based research with Scrible. Highlight and annotate web pages and easily save, share, organize, and collaborate on Internet-based research. Scrible Edu integrates with Google Classroom and offers browser bookmarklets for Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Edge. With the Scrible bookmarklet installed, when you're on a page just click the bookmarklet to launch a menu of bookmarking tools. Access your work right where you left off from editing. Use the option to format your bibliographies as you bookmark. Compile your article clippings into one package. Students may sign up using their academic email address. (If your school's domain name is not recognized as "academic," sign up for the free account and send a "feedback" email explaining that your email address is that of a student.) Student Scrible accounts have double the storage capacity of the standard free account. Educators sign up for the Basic Edition and then click the feedback link to let Scrible know you're an educator. They will set you up with a special edition which includes the same features. Work smarter, not harder with Scrible. Saving your bookmarks with Scrible allows you to easily go back to review a site, and you'll see immediately why you bookmarked that site.

tag(s): citations (34), curation (35), Research (83), summarizing (22)

In the Classroom

Your students' online research will be efficient and effective with Scrible. Students can take notes on their bookmarks. They only need to bookmark the part of the website they need for their assignment. Students can collaborate with peers on their research. Post articles and documents online for your students to highlight and annotate. Bookmark this tool on your website or blog for your students to access in or outside of the classroom. Use Scrible to annotate professional development articles or to highlight important information for your students. The best part? It will instantly create your bibliography for you!

How many times have we heard students complain during a group project, "But I couldn't get to his or her house to work on it?" Tell them to use Scrible to interact online. The research and conversations created through highlighting and annotating what they read can greatly enhance both their research skills and their online interaction on academic level skills. Or use the site to post and share discussion assignments on specific articles or even parts of articles using the highlighting tool. Find a relevant article to your subject. Highlight the part that you want students to read. (If students are younger, keep it short to reduce the intimidating reality of too much information for kids.) Attach a note with a discussion question for the students. Have them comment on the link in a "class discussion" as an outside assignment. If you are fortunate enough to have all students with computer access in your class and at home, such as in one to one laptop (or BYOD) program schools, you can use this essentially to run your class. Post assignments or post readings. Science teachers can post online interactive labs, and more.

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