TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Mar 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
Method of Action - Method Draw - Mark MacKay
Grades
5 to 12
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Learn and practice vector design with Method Draw. First, choose from several games to practice using the drawing pen, creating shapes and colors, and understanding game settings. Then,...more
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Learn and practice vector design with Method Draw. First, choose from several games to practice using the drawing pen, creating shapes and colors, and understanding game settings. Then, use the Method Draw link to open a workspace to create your designs using the tools found in the practice games.
tag(s): design (81), graphic design (49), vectors (16)
In the Classroom
Share this site with students to use as they learn about vector design basics and creating games. It is also useful for a computer center activity for any student to learn about color basics and using a mouse to create shapes and objects. Ask students to create screen recordings using Free Online Screen Recorder, reviewed here, to demonstrate how to use design techniques and color harmonies to create objects to use in games or websites. Have students apply their learning by including their designs within games they create using Scratch, reviewed here.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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ABCYA Paint - ABCya!
Grades
K to 4
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Engage in digital storytelling using the many features included at ABCYA Paint. Choose from the included tools to spray paint, draw, add stickers, and more. When finished, save as a...more
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Engage in digital storytelling using the many features included at ABCYA Paint. Choose from the included tools to spray paint, draw, add stickers, and more. When finished, save as a PNG file to your computer or print.
tag(s): digital storytelling (153), drawing (61), painting (55), preK (265)
In the Classroom
Share how to use this site on an interactive whiteboard or with a projector then allow students to explore on their own. Have students create drawings to demonstrate math problems, share science experiments, or draw scenes from a story. Include students' drawings in a digital portfolio like Seesaw, reviewed here. Seesaw offers tools for uploading images and creating an audio recording to share their reflections on their work.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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DesignCap Poster Creator - PearlMountain
Grades
K to 12
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Create free posters in three easy steps without registration using DesignCap. Begin by selecting a template from the many offerings on the site. Use the tools to edit your poster's...more
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Create free posters in three easy steps without registration using DesignCap. Begin by selecting a template from the many offerings on the site. Use the tools to edit your poster's features including text, images, and background. Upload your images to use or choose from clipart available in DesignCap. When finished, share to social media using the provided link, download to your computer, or print your project. Registration isn't required; however, it gives you the ability to save projects to your online account.
In the Classroom
Take advantage of this free resource to create posters for any topic. Have students design poster book covers to summarize stories read. Include posters with student blogging projects as part of an online portfolio. Replace paper pen by asking students to write blogs sharing information learned using a site like edublogs, reviewed here. edublogs offers tools for creating class and individual blogs. Extend student learning and classroom technology use by asking older students to create posters of different cultures and countries, then include them in a virtual field trip using Google My Maps, reviewed here. With Google My Maps, students can embed images and videos onto their pointers and shapes for any given location. Challenge science and math students to create posters demonstrating an understanding of topics using their own words and images.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Math Art for Kids: Pi Skyline - Patria Lincoln
Grades
K to 5
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Combine math and art with this excellent Pi Day (or anytime) activity! Follow the easy instructions to draw, cut, and graph your way to represent the digits of Pi. Visual ...more
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Combine math and art with this excellent Pi Day (or anytime) activity! Follow the easy instructions to draw, cut, and graph your way to represent the digits of Pi. Visual learners will enjoy the many images demonstrating how to create the skyline.
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tag(s): charts and graphs (170), pi (29), STEM (287)
In the Classroom
Create a classroom display with all of your students' Pi Day Skylines. Take this idea and apply it to other number series. Have students take pictures of their creations. Then show them how to embed media transforming their work into a true digital story using Ourboox, reviewed here. Ourboox creates beautiful page-flipping digital books in minutes, and you can embed video, music, animation, games, maps and more.
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WordsEye - WordsEye
Grades
K to 12
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Create 3D scenes using descriptive sentences to make images. WordsEye is a must see tool! After signing up with email or a Facebook account, use WordsEye on the web or ...more
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Create 3D scenes using descriptive sentences to make images. WordsEye is a must see tool! After signing up with email or a Facebook account, use WordsEye on the web or iOS devices. There is an intro video that shows exactly how easy it is to use WordsEye. Click the blue WordsEye World text at the top of the page to find a thorough "About" page (with how-tos and FAQs). WordsEye also has an Instagram page with several other explainer videos, just click Word's Eye World on Instagram at the top of the page. Keep scenes private, publish to the gallery, or create a permalink (URL). A nice feature is that WordsEye will automatically credit you with any scene someone else uses or modifies (and vice-versa). If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.
tag(s): digital storytelling (153), images (261)
In the Classroom
Turn on your students' creative side with WordsEye! There are SO many ways to use WordsEye in classrooms: ENL/ESL students can create sentences, and correct them if the image doesn't look right. Have ENL/ESL and world language students set up their own visual dictionary. Challenge students to create images and then use them with the class as a writing prompt. Tell them they have to create a story, not try to recreate the sentence that produced the image. Show your students how to embed media transforming their work into a true digital story using a multimedia presentation about class content with their created images and sentences and Presentious, reviewed here. Digital storytellers can use the 3D images for the reader to see what is happening in the story. Alternatively, they can upload their image to Google Drawings, reviewed here, and tell the story around the image. Google Drawings allows you to annotate an image with links to videos, text, websites, and more. Not familiar with Google Drawings? Watch an archived OK2Ask session to learn how to use: OK2Ask Google Drawings, here. Share the link for this tool with your school's art teacher as an excellent tool for use with art projects, and post the link on your website for students to use at home. Since registration is via email, for young students consider using a "class set" of Gmail subaccounts, explained here; this tells how to configure Gmail subaccounts to use for any online membership service. Using Gmail subaccounts will provide anonymous interaction within your class.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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I Am an Artist - RTE and the National Centre for Technology in Education
Grades
K to 5
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Bring art alive for young students. Paint and color, clay, fabric and fiber, drawing, construction, and print are the six strands of visual art covered by I Am An Artist. ...more
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Bring art alive for young students. Paint and color, clay, fabric and fiber, drawing, construction, and print are the six strands of visual art covered by I Am An Artist. Click on a strand to view short videos, about six minutes in length, designed to keep your attention. Each strand also has a "Look and Respond" stimulating slide show with discussion questions. The "Can You?" section under each visual strand provides steps for a hands-on explanation. I Am an Artist allows you to explore the visual arts with various materials and tools, allowing students to express their world in a visual, tangible form. The "For Teachers" section on each strand page provides child-centered lessons developed to foster creativity and design with printable activity sheets. The site also provides weblinks and interactive games on a wide range of visual arts topics. Explore the I Am an Artist Gallery for examples. Find information about how to submit your own work to the gallery. The content for I Am an Artist has been created in consultation with Irish teachers.
tag(s): colors (63), crafts (60), creativity (92), design (81), drawing (61), makerspace (43), painting (55), sculpture (19)
In the Classroom
Become art smart with resources from the I Am an Artist site. Use the collection of videos to flip your art instruction. Search through the lesson plans and activity sheets to provide hands-on, minds-on activities for your students. Use the videos or the slide shows as an anticipatory set or "activator" to introduce a unit or lesson on a projector or interactive whiteboard. Have students or groups collect ideas and thoughts from the slides using Padlet, reviewed here. Use a visual blogging tool such as Telegra.ph, reviewed here, to upload the students art work - no registration required! If you are teaching younger students try using Seesaw, reviewed here. The students can blog about their work, upload their artwork, and even create an online portfolio. Browse through the resources to see what can be used in your makerspace. Host an art show at your school for families and the communities to showcase the students' creativity. Your students can describe their work as visitors explore the gallery. Use the activities as stations during your art show for participants to create their own art. Many of the lessons on the site are cross-curricular.
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Art Lessons and Lesson Plans - Ken Rohrer
Grades
K to 12
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Find an extensive collection of art lesson plans for use in all grade levels by clicking Art Lessons on the left menu. Choose a grade level from categories on the ...more
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Find an extensive collection of art lesson plans for use in all grade levels by clicking Art Lessons on the left menu. Choose a grade level from categories on the left side of the page. Then pick from sub-categories such as type of medium, art period, or artist. One particularly useful category is by integration: ideas you can choose for lessons in subjects such as health, science, or language arts. Once you choose a lesson title, specific details include materials used, appropriate age levels, instructions, and images of projects. Many, but not all lessons also include correlation to national standards. Click on the printer friendly link to print lessons without all the clutter on the page.
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tag(s): animals (293), art history (90), artists (83), colors (63), geometric shapes (135), insects (68), japan (56), native americans (96), origami (15), painting (55), preK (265), recycling (45), symmetry (27)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this site as a resource for art projects throughout the year, especially if budget cuts have taken away your art teacher! Be sure to check out the link to Sub Lessons. Print and save a couple of these to have in your substitute folder for use if necessary. Share with your art teacher (if you have one) as a resource.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Murder at the Met: An American Art Mystery - The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Grades
5 to 12
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Find a mystery in art, and use art to solve the mystery. Tour American paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts that reside at The Metropolitan Museum of Art to solve the ...more
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Find a mystery in art, and use art to solve the mystery. Tour American paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts that reside at The Metropolitan Museum of Art to solve the murder of Virginie Gautreau AKA Madame X, painted by John Singer Sargent. The scenario is an evening gala in 1899, and you put clues together using either your mobile devices or a computer. Players must examine the art work since you are witnesses. There are possible weapons and crime scenes. There are three possible avenues to take to reach the solution, so the game can be played multiple times.
tag(s): art history (90), artists (83), critical thinking (120), interactive stories (21), mysteries (20), thinking skills (15)
In the Classroom
Whether teaching art history or a unit on mysteries and deductive reasoning, students will learn from using this program. Though there is a place for students to keep notes, they should also keep their own notes about the clues, especially why they chose the ones they mark "highly suspicious." Replace paper and pencil by using a tool like Memo Notepad, reviewed here, for digital note taking. If you and your students liked this site you might also enjoy "Mysterious Places: Ancient Civilizations Modern Mysteries," reviewed here, with its lovely photographs to go along with the mysteries. A natural follow up would be to have your students write their own mysteries. Expository Escapades - Detective's Handbook, reviewed here, is just the place to give you some ideas! Challenge gifted students to create similar mysteries using subject matter in any science or social studies class.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Oh Freedom! Teaching African American Civil Rights Through American Art at the Smithsonian - Smithsonian American Art Museum
Grades
5 to 12
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Oh Freedom! is an introduction to the Civil Rights movement through the art of the Smithsonian. The site provides educators with new ways to visually teach about the Civil Rights ...more
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Oh Freedom! is an introduction to the Civil Rights movement through the art of the Smithsonian. The site provides educators with new ways to visually teach about the Civil Rights movement. Students will learn in different ways through interactive timelines, artists, and lesson plans.
tag(s): african american (109), art history (90), artists (83), black history (130), civil rights (200)
In the Classroom
This site is a must for any Art, Art History, or Social Studies classroom. The program really lends itself to having a discussion. Visit the Artists area, choose an artist, and project the artwork on an interactive whiteboard. Using the "looking questions," have a class discussion. Assign groups and give each group a different picture. Let them discuss using the questions and then jigsaw them so they can share each other's answers.
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Sumo Paint 3.0 - Lauri Koutaniemi and Aaro Vaananen
Grades
6 to 12
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Sumo Paint is a free, web-based painting and photo editing application. Without even having to create an account, you can edit images from a URL or personal desktop file. Simply ...more
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Sumo Paint is a free, web-based painting and photo editing application. Without even having to create an account, you can edit images from a URL or personal desktop file. Simply go directly to the site and begin editing images or creating work directly from a web browser, or download the app to your desktop. The painting tools included are layering, cloning, blur effects, a magic wand, shape tools, paint bucket, lasso selecting, filters, and the ability to add text. The photo editing tools allow for the adjusting contrast, hue saturation, and color balance. The application works with JPGs, GIFs and PNGs and saves work as a JPG and PNG format. The support tutorials provide tips on how to use these various features. Sumo Paint also serves as a global network of artists and is available in over fifty different languages. Without an account, you can view work but cannot share or post comments. Signing up for a free account will provide artists an opportunity to share their work, comment, view, and rate the work others artists. A free account also grants access to features such as the ability save the layer data incomplete artwork, back up files, and participate in collaborative image creation.
tag(s): design (81), editing (92), painting (55), photography (119)
In the Classroom
Previous experience with layer-based design software editing such as Photoshop is extremely beneficial. The "Sumo Paint Help" page provides helpful tutorials but individuals without previous training may need additional support.Challenge students to learn about the tools professional designers use today. Select and then project video help tutorials to the whole class. Before sending students off for independent practice, demonstrate how to use the image editing and painting tools on an interactive whiteboard or projector. The videos in this section link to YouTube, so systems that block YouTube access may not be able to access this. Rather than a traditional report, challenge students to write articles and create magazine covers for biographies, history or science reports using Magazine Cover Maker, reviewed here. Have students create icons for logos for websites. Have students create artwork for CD labels for portfolios or multimedia projects using CD Cover Maker, reviewed here. Post a link to Sumo Paint on your class website for student access outside of school. The beauty of this free cloud based software is that students can start a project in school, collaborate on a single image, and continue to work on it after school hours.
Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be shared by URL
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Tux Paint - Bill Kendrick
Grades
K to 6
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Are school budget cuts cramping your style? Then look at this award winning, FREE drawing application! Tux Paint is an "open source" drawing software for young students (preK - grade...more
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Are school budget cuts cramping your style? Then look at this award winning, FREE drawing application! Tux Paint is an "open source" drawing software for young students (preK - grade 6) and is available to the public at no cost. If you are familiar with Kid Pix, you will feel right at home with Tux Paint. The design is straightforward, and easy to navigate. The center of the screen serves as a large canvas with drawing tools on either side. Beneath the screen is a color palette. A cute penguin cartoon character directs students through the program and provides helpful tips. Some of the features include a large, kid friendly mouse pointer, brushes, stamps, sounds, erasers, letters, numbers, "magic effects," and an undo/redo option. Save artwork directly onto a slide finder page without having to create a file name.
The installation is quick and easy even for older computers. First, download the application itself, and then the stamp collection. The number of stamps and the variety of images is amazing! Feel free to install Tux Paint on as many computers as you wish. Tux Paint will work on a variety of operating platforms such as Windows, OS X 10.3, and Linux. The "Tux Paint Configuration" tool is a separate file found on the "Tux Paint" download page. Having the controls in a different location makes it difficult for students to adjust the settings. Simply open the Tux Paint Configuration file and a main control panel will come up. From here, the supervising adult can control the screen size, sound, mouse, print settings, and save functions. Adjust the settings and simplify the program for younger children. Choose from approximately 80 different languages to run Tux Paint.
tag(s): creativity (92), drawing (61), painting (55), preK (265)
In the Classroom
Introduce this fabulous site on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Have students take turns trying the program. Include a link to Tux Paint on your class website and encourage families to download Tux Paint onto their family computer. Elementary teachers will enjoy all the options Tux Paint provides for image making. Classroom teachers can have students draw a response to a class glyph, illustrate stories, label scientific images, write and illustrate word problems or create self-portraits. You will need headphones or speakers for the audio portions of this site. Dazzle parents at Open House or Back to School Night with a viewing of the slide show presentation or looping animation of student work. Save student work as a JPG and export images into a multimedia presentation with narration using My Storybook, reviewed here. Ask older students to design and submit new stamps to Tux Paint. Explain to them the premise behind Open Source software and how to participate in collaborative software development. Tux Paint is also a great way to teach young students how to control a mouse, type, drag, and cut or paste imagery. Stuck for lesson ideas on how to use Tux Paint, just ask the students!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Art 21: Art in the Twenty-First Century - PBS
Grades
9 to 12
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See the many featured, twenty-first century artists and their work in slideshows and hundreds of streaming video clips that accompany the ninth season of this PBS series. The artists...more
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See the many featured, twenty-first century artists and their work in slideshows and hundreds of streaming video clips that accompany the ninth season of this PBS series. The artists speak quite articulately about their creative process and messages they wish to convey.
tag(s): artists (83), creativity (92)
In the Classroom
Make this site a link from your teacher web page for your art students to explore for inspiration. Many of the video clips would also be great introductions to studio assignments, cultural discussions, or writing assignments if shown on a projector. Find Teacher Guides for Art 21 here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Winslow Homer in the National Gallery of Art - National Gallery of Art
Grades
8 to 12
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This site is a companion to an exhibit of oil paintings, watercolors, drawings and prints by American artist Winslow Homer. The exhibit spans his career from early oil paintings of...more
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This site is a companion to an exhibit of oil paintings, watercolors, drawings and prints by American artist Winslow Homer. The exhibit spans his career from early oil paintings of the Civil War era and classic images of 19th century American life through his late watercolors of sea scenes.
tag(s): art history (90), artists (83), painting (55)
In the Classroom
Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Then have students explore this site independently or in small groups. Have students go through the slide show and select one image to analyze. Next, have students create a multimedia presentation using PowerPoint Online, reviewed here. This PowerPoint allows you to narrate a picture. Challenge students to describe the photo as if it is a news report. To find Creative Commons images for student projects (with credit, of course), try Vecteezy, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Childe Hassam: American Impressionist - Metropolitan Museum of Art
Grades
9 to 12
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Take your art students on a virtual tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art with this impressive retrospective highlighting the work of Childe Hassam, one of America's leading impressionist...more
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Take your art students on a virtual tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art with this impressive retrospective highlighting the work of Childe Hassam, one of America's leading impressionist artists. Many oil paintings, watercolors, pastels and prints are featured, depicting nostalgic views of well-known sites across America and Europe. Details of each image can be explored with the click of a mouse, and descriptive captions are provided for each work. A lengthy chronology of Hassam's life is included. Portions of this site would be quite at home in an American history class! Be sure to investigate the "Learn with Us" link which offers Learning Resources, #MetKids, a Timeline of Art History, and others.
tag(s): art history (90), artists (83), impressionism (6), painting (55)
In the Classroom
Use this site as an introductory activity to impressionism in the U.S. with an interactive whiteboard or projector. The images on the site are excellent representations of impressionism and can be used as examples to help students characterize it.Divide students into cooperative learning groups to explore the site. Have them compare and contrast what they note about impressionism to other styles that have been studied before in class. Use an online tool such as the Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here. Have students print out their diagrams OR display their findings on the interactive whiteboard to their peers.
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