TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of May 15, 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
Smithsonian Open Access - Smithsonian
Grades
K to 12tag(s): art history (92), creativity (92), images (261), primary sources (119), Research (85), sculpture (19)
In the Classroom
Think of Smithsonian access as your virtual museum of downloads to use without copyright restrictions. Search and find images to use for any need. Use the images in newsletters, teaching materials, student projects, digital books, and more. For example, include images on shared Google Slides, reviewed here, and ask students to annotate features using text or the drawing tool. Share the site with students to use when creating webpages using Site123, reviewed here, or to create posters in Canva Edu, reviewed here.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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United States Holocaust Memorial Museum - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): europe (83), germany (26), holocaust (42), virtual field trips (115), world war 2 (160)
In the Classroom
Use these free materials as the starting point for any lessons on the Holocaust. Go on a virtual field trip of the museum to engage students' interest in the causes and outcomes of the Holocaust. Be sure to help students understand the personal toll of the Holocaust by visiting the "Who Were the Victims?" portion of the site. Organize your lessons using ActivelyLearn, reviewed here. Add articles, videos, and documents into an ActivelyLearn lesson to guide students through the learning process. Easily differentiate materials based on student interests and abilities within your ActivelyLearn unit. As a culminating project, and to enhance student learning, ask students to share what they learned using Odyssey, reviewed here. Ask students to create a story map for individuals involved with the Holocaust, or to tell the story of events leading up to the Holocaust.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Google Arts and Culture - Google
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): art history (92), artists (83), museums (50), virtual field trips (115)
In the Classroom
Share this site with students and allow them time to explore on their own. Encourage students to find and share interesting art and activities with their peers. Use Padlet, reviewed here, as a collaborative tool for students to share items from this site. Ask them to include a link to a favorite portion, then add a comment on why they found it interesting. Include information from Arts & Culture when studying historical events to provide interest and perspective on that period. Have students use a map storytelling tool such as Google My Maps, reviewed here, to add information found on this site and others to tell the story of art around the world throughout history.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Americans - Smithsonian Institution
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): battles (18), native americans (96), thanksgiving (24), westward expansion (39)
In the Classroom
Replace some of your current written Native America resources with the genuine artifacts and stories available for viewing on this site. Introduce the site to students on your interactive whiteboard to demonstrate the different features available and how to find them. After students have time to explore, create groups to do in-depth research within the four different featured areas. Create a Padlet, reviewed here, with four columns for students to share web and video resources found during their research. Instead of written or oral presentations, ask student groups to create quizzes for their classmates using a quiz-creation tool like Baamboozle, reviewed here. Baamboozle is a quick and easy resource for creating and sharing quizzes for teams of two. As a final project, transform student learning by using Book Creator, reviewed here, to create class books sharing information about Native Americans. Book Creator is a digital book creation site offering the ability to add images, text, video, and more. Be sure to share student-created books on your class website or blog after publication.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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National Cowboy Museum - Online Unit Studies - National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
Grades
3 to 8tag(s): art history (92), artists (83), native americans (96), westward expansion (39)
In the Classroom
Add these teaching units to your current resources for teaching about westward expansion of America, Native Americans, the 1800's, or explorers. Have all students research and discuss other artwork depicting American expansion, ask them to use Padlet, reviewed here, to organize and curate their saved resources. Ask your more tech-savvy students to build a timeline of events based on westward expansion or Native Americans using Timeline Inforgraphic Templates, reviewed here, or choose from other timeline creation tools located here. Include images, web links, and videos to create interactive timelines. Use the "Wandering Western Chest" links as a starter to creating your own Western Chest. Include books, artifacts, drawings, and more and share as an introduction to your western unit.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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BLVRD - Art. Virtually. Anywhere. - Robert Hamwee and Elizabeth L Reede
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): art history (92), artists (83), england (52), great britain (16), museums (50), virtual field trips (115)
In the Classroom
Engage students by taking a "window walk" as you explore the large variety of art found on this site. Use a tool such as WordClouds, reviewed here to create and share word maps with features of art found in the different museums. Use this site to begin your exploration of different time periods in British history. Enhance learning by having students create an animated timeline including images and videos to share art from around the world during the same time frame or to demonstrate British art throughout the years. Use a timeline tool such as Time Graphics Timeline Maker, reviewed here that allows you to create interactive timelines.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Imperial War Museums - IWM
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): afghanistan (8), churchill (8), cold war (30), d day (11), europe (83), holocaust (42), middle east (49), russia (35), world war 1 (79), world war 2 (160)
In the Classroom
Discover the many ready-to-go, free resources on this site as you teach about wars and conflict. Use this information to compare and contrast British involvement in conflicts vs. those in your country. Have students create an annotated image including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Image Annotator, reviewed here, to describe images taken during wartime. Using Twiki, reviewed here, create a class wiki about the conflict you are studying. Not comfortable with wikis? Check out the TeachersFirst Wiki Walk-Through.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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MetKids - The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): africa (142), art history (92), artists (83), asia (104), china (74), europe (83), inventors and inventions (77), japan (57), middle east (49), myths and legends (24), russia (35)
In the Classroom
This site is perfect for use on classroom computers or for a blended class for students to explore on their own. Streghthen student learning by asking them to find information for a specific period of time or country and label what they find important using Webnote, reviewed here; tell students to be sure to save the URL to share their notes and questions with you and their peers. Next, transform classroom technology and extend learning by showing students how to embed media into an interactive time line using Sutori, reviewed here. With Sutori you can include images, text, and collaboration, or Preceden, reviewed here, for creating multi-layer timelines for over lapping events.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection Stories - National Museum of African American History and Culture
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): african american (109), black history (130), cross cultural understanding (170), cultures (163)
In the Classroom
Share stories from this collection to provide a personal look at events from African-American history in the United States. Use stories as an example, and ask students to find additional artifacts from the National Museum and research to discover the story behind the item. Have younger students use Kiddle, reviewed here, a kid-friendly search engine to find documents about their particular object. Younger students could bring an item from their home to tell the story of its history. For either of these ideas, enhance student learning by encouraging them to create online books for sharing the stories using a tool such as Ourboox, reviewed here. Ask students to find local residents with knowledge of historical events to come talk to your class about the "behind the scenes" story, or set up a Zoom meeting with an African-American leader. Use these stories for informational reading in your Language Arts classroom, and as a wonderful resource to use for covering the informational reading standards required with the CCSS.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Smithsonian Learning Lab - The Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): animals (295), architecture (72), art history (92), aviation (40), black history (130), civil war (136), dinosaurs (42), explorers (65), images (261), inventors and inventions (77), Learning Management Systems (20), oceans (148), scientists (62), shakespeare (99), Teacher Utilities (174), volcanoes (54)
In the Classroom
The Smithsonian Learning Lab is a must-add to your list of classroom bookmarks! Search for collections and information throughout the year on all topics. Add a link to classroom computers for the entire site or specific collections. Be sure to take advantage of the many features of this site to create customized collections, then have students add additional resources. Have students create quizzes for review of topics. Enhance student learning by challenging them to create a simple infographic sharing their findings using Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here.Comments
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The Walters Art Museum - The Walters Art Museum
Grades
K to 12tag(s): art history (92), artists (83), museums (50)
In the Classroom
Find printable lesson plans to create cross-curricular lessons. The lesson plans include objectives, multiple activities, examples, and a wrap-up. Students can then use the site to find other pieces of art that demonstrate or support the same concept.Connect middle and high school students to the museum through one of the prescheduled video conference calls to learn about specific topics. Be sure to prepare students for the conference call, and encourage students to participate with comments and questions to enhance the learning experience. After the conference, have students navigate through the pieces of art on the site that relate to the topic from the video conference. Enhance student learning by posing questions on Gravity, reviewed here, for students to answer and comment on each other's answers.
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Disability History Museum - Disability History Museum
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): character education (77), disabilities (30), primary sources (119)
In the Classroom
Use the resources here to help students talk about the role and experiences of those living with a disability. How have attitudes changed over time? What has driven those changes? Helping students understand why some people experience physical and emotional challenges, and the importance of honoring their contributions and abilities can be difficult. The resources in this archive may be helpful in sparking discussion.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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