TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Mar 27, 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
OK2Ask: Engage & Inspire with Reading Treks - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12TeachersFirst...more
TeachersFirst Reading Treks are built using Google Maps to chronicle the journey that a story character takes over the course of a book. Each stop along the way adds to student comprehension as they explore the information, visuals, and videos embedded in the map. Give your students context for the stories they are reading by using Reading Treks in your lessons. As a result of this session, teachers will: 1. Understand how to use Reading Treks in the classroom; 2. Learn how Reading Treks are created; and 3. Plan a new Reading Trek you will create for your instructional setting. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.
tag(s): literacy (107), professional development (394), reading comprehension (141), reading strategies (96)
In the Classroom
The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use learning technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Gatheround - Icebreaker
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): chat (42), communication (136), parent conferences (24), professional development (394), remote learning (61)
In the Classroom
Use Gatheround as a back-to-school activity when teaching remotely for small groups of students and you to get to know one another. Set up professional development sessions with peers that take advantage of the templates and cards found in the application. Use Gatheround to set up virtual parent/teacher conferences with participants located anywhere in the world. This tool is especially useful when multiple teachers are involved or when parents may not reside in the same location. Connect small groups in classrooms across the country for book clubs. Collaborate with experts such as authors and scientists with classrooms of children. Create connected learning experiences with other students, especially those in older grades. Connect world language classes to classes in other countries. Teachers can hold "office hours" for homework help and asking questions. Create a collaborative space for homework help before or after school or on snow days. Students can meet whenever help is needed, or teachers can create a session that can be accessed on any device easily by those who need it. Use Gatheround for group work - no more excuses about not meeting for cooperative learning projects! Buildings can collaborate and share professional development with others in their own district and beyond!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Microsoft Whiteboard - Microsoft
Grades
K to 12tag(s): collaboration (87), iwb (32), Whiteboard (8)
In the Classroom
Use Microsoft Whiteboard to collaborate with students to share and organize information instantly. Use the whiteboard through Microsoft's Teams to differentiate instruction with groups of students. Allow students to create collaborative drawings as responses to literature. They can map out the plot or themes, add labels, create character studies, and more. Share the finished products on an interactive whiteboard, projector, or your class website. Have a group of students create a drawing so that another group can use it as a writing prompt. Use the whiteboard as a brainstorming or sketching space as groups (or the class) share ideas for a major project or for solving a real-world problem. Use this site in a computer lab (or on laptops) to create a drawing of the setting in a story as it is read aloud. As an assessment idea, have students draw out a simple cartoon with stick figures to explain a more complex process such as how democracy works. If you are lucky enough to teach in a BYOD setting, have a blended classroom, or are distance teaching, use Microsoft Whiteboard to demonstrate and illustrate any concept while students use the chat and drawing tools to interact in real-time. If you are studying weather, have students diagram the layers of the atmosphere and what happens during a thunderstorm, for example. Introduce this tool to students who are working on group projects. Alternatively, have students use this to work as partners or as a small team to complete complex math problems or equations. Give students a question by typing it on their whiteboard.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Global Problem Solvers - Cisco
Grades
4 to 8tag(s): character education (76), critical thinking (112), cross cultural understanding (157), Problem Based Learning (13), problem solving (226), sociology (22), sustainability (44)
In the Classroom
Include the videos and materials with your current lessons using problem-solving skills. View videos together as a class and have students work in groups to discuss questions found in the teacher's guide. This resource lends itself to problem based learning: Have students find an image of a current global problem and use Image Annotator, reviewed here, to add text and videos to discuss the problem and address possible solutions. Explore global issues further in depth with Google My Maps, reviewed here. Add pins onto Google Maps to share specific problems around the world and have students post their ideas for helping those in need.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Microsoft Translator for Education - Microsoft
Grades
K to 12tag(s): chinese (44), DAT device agnostic tool (143), french (74), german (48), greek (33), hebrew (16), italian (28), japanese (47), Microsoft (84), russian (24), spanish (105)
In the Classroom
Use Translator to greet "other language" speaking students and make them feel welcome in your classroom; encourage conversations between them and your class. Take advantage of Translator to widen your classroom's global viewpoint by sharing conversations with others around the world. Use this site in world language classrooms to have students copy their text to convert into the language being studied (or the reverse). Enhance student learning by having students create presentations about other countries in the native language of the nation using a presentation tool like Canva, reviewed here. Modify your technology presentations to include multimedia. Use a tool such as Genially, reviewed here, to incorporate multimedia like maps, surveys, video, audio, and more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Text2VoiceOver - ResponsiveVoice
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): communication (136), text to speech (19), video (257)
In the Classroom
Use Text2VoiceOver to add comments and instructions to any YouTube video (or your own video) your students view. Share specific tips, ask questions, or add additional details to content. Have students create a voiceover to share their thoughts on a video, or ask questions to clarify content.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Kid World Citizen - Becky Morales
Grades
K to 6This site includes advertising.
tag(s): back to school (63), chinese new year (5), christmas (37), cross cultural understanding (157), earth day (60), hanukkah (13), hispanic (28), holidays (162), italy (16), Juneteenth (22), mexico (29), native americans (91), ramadan (10), thanksgiving (24)
In the Classroom
Bookmark this site for use throughout the year when teaching about countries, holidays, and for cross-cultural literature resources. Choose a country to explore each month using resources found on the site. Learn about your students' backgrounds to find countries and regions to explore using activities on the site. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to compare and contrast your culture with that of a different country.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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FreeConferenceCall.com - freeconferencecall.com
Grades
K to 12tag(s): blended learning (16), chat (42), communication (136), DAT device agnostic tool (143), parent conferences (24), parents (60), remote learning (61)
In the Classroom
Use Free Conference Call to set up virtual parent/teacher conferences with participants located anywhere in the world. This is especially useful when multiple teachers are involved or when parents may not reside in the same location. Share your screen as needed to provide information on assessments and student work.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Wonderment - Kidnected World
Grades
3 to 9tag(s): communication (136), cross cultural understanding (157), enrichment (9), gifted (65), listening (68), Problem Based Learning (13), problem solving (226), social media (53), social networking (68), social skills (22), speaking (22), sustainability (44)
In the Classroom
The Wonderment is a problem based learning adventure for each student around the world to communicate and collaborate with other students. This venue allows great lesson ideas for digital citizenship and digital footprints. Begin by choosing a path for the entire class and feature on an interactive whiteboard or with a projector. Have students work in small groups to choose their best response. Discussions can focus on creativity, problem solving, and collaboration between the group and others from around the world. In a gifted class, use as a way to challenge kids to break through the "right answer" and find the "best answer." Use this as a model for finding authentic needs in your community. Be sure to share a link to this tool on your class blog, website, or learning management system (LMS). Use this tool as the answer for the parents who always want more challenge and enrichment for their students at home. Be sure to share at a staff meeting to spread the wonder for other students and adults.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)
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
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NowComment - Fairness.com
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): communication (136), media literacy (102), questioning (32), reading comprehension (141)
In the Classroom
Consider using NowComment as a resource in your classroom to increase student interaction with materials and each other. Use a class account for students using this tool for group projects. Library/media specialists could use this tool for online book clubs. Teach on a team? Collaborate with other teachers for assignments and more using this site. Create quick questions or even a short quiz using NowComment. Use this with ENL/ESL students, encouraging them to add questions about passages of text they do not understand. Make NowComment an integral part of your flipped classroom by assigning readings and student comments as part of at-home learning. Use NowComment for peer reviews, collaborative authoring, and online assignments. Share web pages and have students comment on media bias in online articles or practice CCSS close reading skills to comment to show where the writer includes supporting evidence in opinion pieces. Since commenting requires an account, you will either have to set up class accounts or use this with students who have email to set up their own accounts.Edge Features:
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)
Products can be shared by URL
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
Includes teacher tools for registering and/or monitoring students
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Online Voice Recorder - 123apps
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): blended learning (16), communication (136), fluency (24), preK (254), speech (66), spelling (95)
In the Classroom
Have students practice spelling words orally, record speeches, practice reading fluency, and much more using Online Voice Recorder. After recording, allow students to listen to the playback and reflect upon the quality of their work. Do before and after recordings of students to share with parents during conferences to demonstrate reading progress. Have students record weekly summaries for what has happened in your class to share on your class website or blog (you will have to upload the files). Record weekly or daily homework assignments and share as a voice recording on your website. Save file space by replacing old files with new ones. Online Voice Recorder would be an excellent resource for recording and sharing more complicated directions for projects and assignments (adding you voice intonation and cues!). Your weaker readers and ENL/ESL students may do better with a combination of written AND auditory directions. Provide the link on your class website for students to use at home for additional practice in spelling, reading, practicing reports, and more. Share this site with parents at Back to School Night. Have students write and record audio book reviews others can play on iPads in the school library. If you have gifted students in your classroom, this tool is simple enough for even the youngest to be able to record audio mini-dramas portraying a historic figure, poetry readings, and more. Be sure to show them how to NAME and download the files to the local computer! Anything they can say out loud can become a creative project recording. Don't forget about recording musical performances or practices.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Across the World Once a Week: Collaborative Microblogging for Cross-Cultural Understanding - TeachersFirst
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): cross cultural understanding (157), cultures (132), twitter (19)
In the Classroom
Join XW1W with your class using a single X (formerly Twitter) account or any blog or wiki tool where you can share student answers to the weekly question. If you cannot access X (formerly Twitter) at school, that is not a problem. You do not even have to use X (formerly Twitter) (though this is a great way dip your toes into X - formerly Twitter). See the FAQ page for specific hints on using XW1W with your students. Share the XW1W idea with teaching colleagues in other places, and perhaps even with families to try at home. Want to learn more about X (formerly Twitter) and teaching? See TeachersFirst's X (formerly Twitter) for Teachers page.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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ePals - ePals, Inc.
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): black history (123), collaboration (87), communication (136), disasters (36), environment (240), habitats (87), maps (209), natural disasters (16), water (101)
In the Classroom
Navigating this site is rather simple. Simply scroll through the slide show at the top to find your area of interest: Collaboration Projects, Spark!Lab Invent It Challenge, etc. Parts of this site require log-in. Registration does require an email address. A lot of safety features are already put into place at this site. To learn more about the safety features at this site, check out the ePals webinar on YouTube link on the FAQ page.This site offers an amazing assortment of class activities and possibilities. Collaborate with schools in Africa (or 200 other countries) for a geography project. Have your students find ePals to correspond with and practice writing skills in English or in a language you are studying. Get additional ideas for projects, by visiting the "Projects" link or propose one of your own based on ideas from TeachersFirst suggestions you read in other reviews, lesson plans, and articles. After viewing one of the informative videos, challenge your students to study one of the topics available at this site and extend their learning by creating their own videos using Typito, reviewed here. Use a tool such as TeachersTube, to share the video clips, reviewed here.
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)
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
Includes teacher tools for registering and/or monitoring students
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Oxfam Education - Oxfam
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): climate change (87), environment (240), water (101), women (137)
In the Classroom
Teachers who focus on current events will find much to explore. Oxfam as an organization clearly has a political point of view, but the depth of resources represented is remarkable. Enhance student learning by having students reflect about what they learned at this site using Telegra.ph, reviewed here. With Telegra.ph you just click on an icon to upload images from your computer, add a YouTube or Vimeo, or Twitter links. This blog creator requires no registration. Extend student learning by challenging students to take information from their blog and create an interactive infographic using Infogram, reviewed here, to present their learning and understanding.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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