TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Feb 13, 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
The Nora Project Resources for Educators - The Nora Project
Grades
K to 12tag(s): empathy (34), disabilities (41), autism (35), Special Needs (66), aspergers (11), social and emotional learning (106), character education (84), diversity (60),
In the Classroom
Bookmark The Nora Project to include resources for teaching and learning about disabilities and inclusion in your teacher toolbox. Consider curating your resources using Wakelet, reviewed here, into one easy to find collection. Add your peers as collaborators to your Wakelet collection as you continue to find and build additional resources. Ask older students to create infographics and posters to teach others about inclusiveness using Genially, reviewed here. Add links, images, and videos within your Genially projects to create interactive content. Use WriteReader, reviewed here, with younger students to create and share interactive books telling the story of inclusiveness. WriteReader is an excellent tool for creating books with emerging writers as it offers the option to show student writing along with the correct spelling underneath.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Social and Emotional Learning Resources - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12tag(s): emotions (82), social and emotional learning (106), empathy (34),
In the Classroom
Find resources to educate yourself and your students about various topics related to social-emotional learning. This collection includes lesson plans, digital check-ins, toolkits, professional resources, and more. Share this curated list with your colleagues and families.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Resources Related to Difficult Conversations - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12tag(s): racism (90), empathy (34), difficult conversations (67),
In the Classroom
Explore this collection to use to engage in difficult conversations in your classroom. Learn more about difficult conversations and empathy for others in some of the informational readings.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Resources Related to Empathy - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12tag(s): empathy (34), racism (90), perspective (15),
In the Classroom
Help your students to develop empathy for others. Share these resources with your colleagues and school parents by emailing the page or sharing the link from your school web page or on your school's LMS.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Spent - Urban Ministries of Durham
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): difficult conversations (67), empathy (34), character education (84), financial literacy (129),
In the Classroom
Include Spent as a learning resource to use with your lessons on empathy or difficult conversations. Ask students to spend time playing Spent as a way to explore how choices they make affect their living situation. Enhance learning by asking students to take a screen recording of a difficult choice they make while playing Spent and discuss their thinking behind the option chosen. Use ScreenPal (was Screencast-o-matic), reviewed here, to record and share student's recordings. If you teach older high school students, use Spent to introduce a research unit into understanding poverty in your community. Have students share their learning using multimedia presentation tools like Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here, or Visme, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Be Fearless Be Kind - Hasbro Children's Fund
Grades
K to 5tag(s): problem solving (407), school violence (17), conflict resolution (18), social and emotional learning (106), bullying (85), emotions (82), social skills (41), empathy (34),
In the Classroom
Be sure to investigate the abundance of resources and information shared in this free toolkit for use in classroom lessons on social and leadership skills, empathy, and problem-solving. Several portions in the booklet include scenarios and questions for discussions. Extend student learning by challenging student groups to create weekly podcasts addressing common social issues along with suggestions for dealing with them. PodcastGenerator, reviewed here, offers free tools for podcasting. Use the resources and suggestions with character education activities throughout the year. Share ideas from this site with parents to use at home with their children. Create a class (or school) bulletin board with examples of students demonstrating empathy.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Creating Safe Spaces: Lesson Plans for Social-Emotional Learning - Michelle Manno/USC Rossier School of Education
Grades
K to 6tag(s): racism (90), social and emotional learning (106), bullying (85), emotions (82), Special Needs (66),
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the free lessons offered on this site; many include suggestions for use on special dates such as Random Acts of Kindness week or Martin Luther King Day. Include ideas found on the site as part of your lessons that teach about racism and how it relates to bullying by others. Share with your school's guidance counselor as a resource for activities and lessons. If you are beginning the process of integrating technology, replace paper and pen and enhance learning by having students create blogs sharing their learning and understanding using Penzu, reviewed here. If you are teaching younger students and looking for an easy way to integrate technology and check for understanding, challenge your students to create a blog using Edublog, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Gift Cards for Good - Google Sites
Grades
1 to 12tag(s): service projects (33),
In the Classroom
Capture your students passion, hearts, and interest in proving that kids can make a big difference. Use this resources as an inspiration for community service projects that can be done -- even by 10 year-olds! Encourage students to look for charities in your area and find out how they can help. Place this link on your class website to further the cause and show parents the power of kids! Include it in your units on character education and leadership. Use it as an example for project based learning, challenging students to write promotional materials and letters explaining their project. Replace the paper and pencil version of promotional materials with one of the tools found at Genially, reviewed here, where students can select to create interactive images, guides, presentations, flyers and others. They can insert surveys, video, audio, maps, and more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Random Acts of Kindness - Random Acts of Kindness Foundation
Grades
K to 12tag(s): empathy (34), character education (84), emotions (82), service projects (33), classroom management (238),
In the Classroom
Become a "RAKTIVIST" and start a kindness raid on unsuspecting communities, classes, or schools! Give children power and voice through their actions. Partner this with character education programs to make a difference in all the lives you touch. For example, you may want to use the Ripples of Kindness activity included in the Empathy videos at the Big Ideas Video Series, reviewed here. During social studies, find ways kindness has changed the world. Look for times in which kindness was thwarted, such as during civil wars, dictatorships, or wars. Start a research project on world leaders who have changed the world through nonviolence, education, or generosity. Explain the power of nonprofit organizations and all the lives affected. Look into your own community and school to find needs that are waiting for active, caring participants. Create school or classroom rules to promote the power of kindness. Show your students how to embed media transforming their work and enhance their learning by challenging students to create "kindness" commercials and share their knowledge with their peers in a multimedia presentation using Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here. Alternatively, students could create a video using Typito, reviewed here. Share them using a tool such as SchoolTube, reviewed here. Emotional Support or Autistic Support teachers may find some of the ideas here helpful for talking about how others feel and ways to show kindness in a very deliberate way.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Iris the Dragon - Gayle Grass
Grades
K to 6This site includes advertising.
tag(s): french (134), difficult conversations (67), empathy (34), Special Needs (66), adhd (50), mental health (43), autism (35), aspergers (11), ebooks (73), social and emotional learning (106),
In the Classroom
Download books from Iris the Dragon for use in mental health lessons or to address specific classroom concerns. Use books as a read-aloud and display on your interactive whiteboard or projector during class meetings. Again, use the books to raise student awareness and empathy levels for differences in people inside and outside of class. Print and laminate books for use in guided reading lessons. Share this site on your class website for students (and parents) to read together at home. You may want to use the books in conjunction with the Empathy video series at Big Ideas Video Series, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Inspire My Kids - Mike Stutman and Kevin Conklin
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): behavior (73), character education (84), school violence (17), diversity (60), bullying (85), disabilities (41), service projects (33), tolerance (14), identity (32),
In the Classroom
Share stories from the site on your interactive whiteboard or projector when learning about character traits such as sportsmanship, perseverance, and responsibility. Use the site as a resource when problems arise in the classroom such as bullying, intolerance, or special needs awareness. Have students use resources from the website as models for writing their own articles or enhance learning with the challenge to create a podcast. Use a site such as podomatic, reviewed here. Use the stories as models for writing activities and essays. Your students could also draw inspiration from this site to create values comics. Have students create printed comics (or rough drafts) using Printable Comic Strip Templates, reviewed here, or exchange paper for a digital online comic with one or two characters. Use ToonyTool, reviewed here. Students can create an online comic strip by using Make Beliefs Comix, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Do Something.org - Do Something.org Team
Grades
7 to 12There are suggestions, resources, and support to empower young people and give them the energy to take action and make a difference. Whether their passion is to feed the homeless, end bullying, help even the playing field of educational inequalities, or many more needy causes, this website is chock full of easy to access information and strategies that encourage teenagers to decide for themselves how they can contribute their time and desire to make a difference.
tag(s): Project Based Learning (29), service projects (33), character education (84),
In the Classroom
Do you believe that kids can change the world? What are you doing about that? If you have been thinking about involving your class in some type of community service and project based learning, but need some direction, DoSomething.org is a phenomenal place to "shop" around for ideas. Perhaps you may want to start by showing the film, Pay It Forward, or with a writing prompt, "If you were given time in school to come up with one idea that could be put into action right now by people your age that would make this school or this community a better place, what would it be and how would you put your plan into action?" Have students share ideas in small groups, then introduce them to DoSomething.org by projecting it on your classroom whiteboard or projector, viewing some of the short videos, and using the power of the internet to empower them to act now. Challenge students to collect Internet resources for their cause using Wakelet, reviewed here, where they can add a cover image, background, collaborate with others, and chose the layout they prefer. Next, enhance learning by asking your students to create an interactive infographic using Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here, to explain their ideas about their cause and how they would put their plan into action. Club advisers, school counselors, and teachers of gifted can use the empowering resources of this site to inspire students to ACT.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Pennies for Peace - Central Asia Institute
Grades
K to 12Register to receive a free, extensive toolkit that shows how to implement the campaign, provides background resources and curriculum materials. The toolkit is grouped by the grade levels, K-4, 4-8, and 9-12. The Pennies for Peace Curriculum directly links to grade level standards in social studies, math, and literacy. In order to participate schools need to register on-line. There is a page for "kids" that provides facts about a typical village and school and background information about Pakistan and Afghanistan. The tool kit contains videos and photographs as well as maps from National Geographic that are free for download. The videos will take participants through the steps of implementing the project to interviewing Greg Mortenson, possible classroom applications, and short clips to support sections of their curriculum. Address core subjects such as social studies, math, history, geography, science and language arts while enhancing cultural awareness in your students.
tag(s): cross cultural understanding (214), critical thinking (185), service projects (33),
In the Classroom
Launch this campaign together as a school-wide effort or keep it to your classroom. Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Then have students explore this site independently or in small groups. The toolkit gives very concrete lesson plans to follow fully or just in parts. One example is for younger students to examine a map of the area in which they live and then compare that to where children in Pakistan live. Essential questions such as "How does where we live effect how we live?" and "What are the similarities and differences between these places?" Ask students to visit the site and enhance their learning by creating an interactive book using a tool like Ourboox, reviewed here, about both geographic locations. Older students can extend their learning by creating an interactive map with a tool like Zeemaps, reviewed here. Use the printable images from this site for your bulletin boards. Older students can participate in book clubs that read either Greg Mortenson's original book Three Cups of Tea or his new book Stones to Schools There is a version of his book for Younger Readers, Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Journey to Change the World...One Child at a Time which includes photos and illustrations and a children's picture book Listen to the Wind that may be useful for introducing the project.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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