TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Nov 12, 2023
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
Book Creator Certified Author Course - Book Creator
Grades
K to 12tag(s): ebooks (73), writing (569), literacy (184), digital storytelling (300), DAT device agnostic tool (247), preK (423), professional development (530),
In the Classroom
Completing the Book Creator Certified Author course is an excellent way to learn about the numerous features included in Book Creator, available when making engaging and interactive books to share with students or for students to use when creating books. Use the many available templates as a starting point to create books to enhance student learning and for students to share their learning. Find out more about how to use Book Creator by visiting the TeachersFirst review found here.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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OK2Ask: Google MANIA - Choose Your Own Adventure with Google Slides - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12Go digital with Choose Your Own Adventure stories! Google Slides presentations don't have to be linear. Learn to create a nonlinear show that can engage students while helping them learn content. Join this session and learn to use Google Slides to create an interactive, engaging instructional activity or Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA) story so you can guide your students as they create their own. As a result of this session, teachers will: 1. Review storytelling elements; 2. Understand how to create nonlinear Google Slides presentations; and 3. Learn ways to use CYOA slideshows in the classroom. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.
tag(s): Google (95), digital storytelling (300), professional development (530),
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.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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OK2Ask: So Simple. So Slick. So Sway! - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12Interested in a simple yet powerful tool that allows you and your students to create and share engaging interactive reports, presentations, assignments, and projects? This session will introduce Sway, a free digital storytelling and presentation app that is accessible on any device. Add text and pictures, embed or hyperlink relevant content, then watch Sway do the rest. Learn the basics in minutes and create projects focusing on content rather than bells and whistles. Leave this session with actionable ideas for the classroom. As a result of this session, teachers will: 1. Learn basic use of Sway; 2. Explore three different ways to use Sway in the classroom; and 3. Plan for using Sway in your learning environment. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.
tag(s): professional development (530), presentations (18), digital storytelling (300), Formative Assessment (87), Microsoft (137),
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.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Elementari - Nicole Kang and David Li
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): coding (129), digital storytelling (300), creative writing (243), writing (569),
In the Classroom
You may want to start by clicking Help on the upper right menu. There you will find directions for Creating and Coding, Interactive Lessons, Classroom Dashboard, and others. Create stories together as a class as you move through a unit or topic. Enhance student learning by adding ideas your students suggest. Use in a flipped or blended classroom to deliver course information. Assign several student groups a different topic and extend their learning by having each group create their own version as they learn more about the topic. Challenge gifted students to modify the "standard" class text with the additional material they discover by going deeper and learning about related topics. In lower grades, create teacher-made digital stories for students to use as a learning tool.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Notebook.ai - Indent Labs, LLC
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): descriptive writing (76), creative writing (243), stories and storytelling (72), characterization (26), digital storytelling (300),
In the Classroom
Although created for fantasy storytelling, Notebook.ai contains many features for teaching story writing. Ask students to create an account and choose an option such as the character builder. This section includes many ideas for building features for your character including describing his history, looks, and social profile. The same idea is built into the other areas to help develop descriptions of locations and surroundings in a story. Consider displaying this site on your interactive whiteboard during story writing lessons to introduce these ideas of character and scene building into student writing activities. Have students begin rough drafts using Google documents, then share with peers for peer editing activities. Ask students to highlight well-written portions of their story, and add questions and suggestions for improvement. Upon completion, enhance classroom technology use and learning by having students share their stories in weekly podcasts shared onto your class website. Podcast Generator, reviewed here, is an easy to use tool for creating and sharing podcasts.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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ABCYA Paint - ABCya!
Grades
K to 4tag(s): digital storytelling (300), drawing (135), painting (104), preK (423),
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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Imagine Forest - Imagine Forest
Grades
K to 6tag(s): writing prompts (123), writing (569), digital storytelling (300), creative writing (243),
In the Classroom
Imagine Forest is a must-have resource for elementary teachers of writing. Even your most reluctant writers will enjoy the ideas included on the site. Share how to use the site on your interactive whiteboard or with a projector then allow students to explore on their own. Challenge students to set daily goals using activities found in challenges. Publish and share student work to create your own classroom library of student-created books. Ask students to create books for any content area studied during class, be sure to upload and include images taken during activities for students to use in their books. Create a classroom chart for students to share accomplishments like badges and points earned while using the site.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Book Creator - Red Jumper Limited
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (247), collaboration (121), preK (423), reading comprehension (223), digital storytelling (300), ebooks (73), writing (569), literacy (184),
In the Classroom
Create books together, as a class, as you move through a unit or topic. Enhance student learning by adding images and ideas your students suggest. Use in a flipped classroom to deliver course information. Assign several student groups a different topic and redefine their learning by having each group create their own multimedia versions as they learn more about the topic. Students can combine their books later as a class book. Make a digital bookshelf of all the versions for all to use. Challenge gifted students to modify the "standard" class text with the additional material they discover, by going deeper and learning about related topics. In lower grades, create teacher-made e-books for your young readers, perhaps adding audio - your own voice reading the text. Find much more information and ideas for using Book Creator in any classroom by exploring the Book Creator Toolkit for Schools and Districts available here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Knight Lab - Northwest University
Grades
K to 12tag(s): images (487), digital storytelling (300), maps (415), timelines (112),
In the Classroom
This site is a must-have for anyone who teaches writing or assigns writing projects. Bookmark this site for use throughout the year with any writing project. Focus on one tool a month to learn more about the features available. Assign a tool to different groups of students and let them become the experts. Enhance students' learning and modify classroom technology use by asking the groups to create a "How to" video for their tool and to share with their peers. For this, try using Free Screen Recorder Online, reviewed here, or RecordCast Screen Recorder, reviewed here. Work with peers to assign projects across subject levels using tools from this site to compare and contrast images, create interactive timelines, build story maps, and much more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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EasyWrite - Deekshith Allamaneni
Grades
K to 12tag(s): digital storytelling (300), vocabulary (467), process writing (66), writers workshop (60), writing (569), editing (140), multilingual (72),
In the Classroom
Have students use EasyWrite to retell difficult text in an easy to understand way. Retell Shakespeare passages in simple English or breakdown complicated directions into simple terms. EasyWrite is perfect for use with ENL/ESL or special education students. Choose any complex or difficult text and break it into simpler terms for easier understanding. Do this by adding a free browser extension to classroom computers and devices. Use a tool such as Grammarly (at the time of this review worked for Chrome, Safari, Edge, and FireFox), reviewed here., or After the Deadline, reviewed here. Turn the theory of EasyWrite upside down - have students paste their writing projects into EasyWrite. If there are only a few highlighted words, have them develop more interesting and complex writing passages. Have students take a screenshot of their original work to include with a final draft.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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WriteReader - WriteReader
Grades
K to 5tag(s): literacy (184), science of reading (34), digital storytelling (300), writing (569), reading strategies (139), multilingual (72),
In the Classroom
WriteReader is so simple that very young students can use it successfully after a whiteboard or projector demonstration. While creating their books, students will be able to add images, multiple pages and delete pages, include voice-over, use color on the pages, view one page at a time or the entire book, and toggle between letters' names/sounds or no audio. Use this tool to design simple projects using student drawings to tell the story. Have students draw and annotate stories about their summer at the beginning of the year and share them with classmates. Students of any age love to draw, so why not have them draw their impression of what the message to the reader was after hearing a story and then explain it in writing? Nonreaders and ENL/ESL students especially will benefit from hearing the letter sounds as they begin writing in their new language.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Pencil Code Gym - David Bau
Grades
K to 12tag(s): computational thinking (56), problem solving (407), critical thinking (185), drawing (135), coding (129), digital storytelling (300), musical notation (50), geometric shapes (230),
In the Classroom
Create a link on classroom computers for use as centers. Use the text options for students to use with digital storytelling. This site is perfect for differentiating different levels of coding skills. Allow students to explore at their own pace, then share their creations with classmates. Extend learning by challenging students or groups to create videos explaining their creations using Adobe Creative Cloud Express Video Maker, reviewed here, and share them on a site such as TeacherTube, reviewed here. Be sure to add a link to your class website for students to practice at home.Comments
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NaNoWriMo\'s Young Writers\' Program - NaNoWriMo.org
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): writing (569), creative writing (243), novels (44),
In the Classroom
Engage your students with the free classroom kits, workbooks, and Common Core-aligned K-12 lesson plans. Teachers can use this challenge and the resources to get their kids writing. It also offers the chance to be published online. Use your interactive whiteboard or projector to get your students started filling in their profiles. Show students that they are to click "yes" whether or not there is a current challenge (they can still get started writing). Then have them click the link for detailed instructions for getting started.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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