TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Oct 21, 2012
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
Shell Science Lab Challenge - NSTA and Shell
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): grants (18)
In the Classroom
Take the time to earn a reward for "doing more with less." You and your students can share the many ways you manage science inquiry with limited facilities. Don't be afraid to include some student brainstorming and comments to explain your creative use of limited resources to make science real for your classes.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Bedtime Math: Making Math a Fun Part of Kids' Everyday Lives - Laura Overdeck
Grades
K to 4tag(s): preK (288), problem solving (294)
In the Classroom
Do you have parents who want ideas to help with math (or make it fun) at home? Share this site as an easy way to do math and discuss problem solving at home. Instead of assigning endless worksheets, consider a family bedtime math challenge that parents and kids can do together. Use the problems in a math center - differentiate by choosing different questions from the stories for different student needs. After solving problems, change the numbers in questions to provide additional practice. Display the question of the day as a beginning of class activity or to use as a daily math journal entry.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Lost Museum - American Social History Productions
Grades
8 to 12In the Classroom
View this site on your interactive whiteboard and use the teaching activities as a supplement to information in the museum. Divide students into groups to complete the different activities. Have groups share their information usingScreencast-o-matic, reviewed here, or Screencastify (Chrome app), reviewed here, to make narrated recordings about information they find on this site.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Introducing the ELA Common Core - Kevin's Meandering Mind
Grades
K to 12tag(s): commoncore (102)
In the Classroom
This Prezi is very useful for the introduction of the Common Core standards to faculty or parents. This would be a great presentation to share at faculty meetings, inservice, or even at Back to School Night (probably a short clip, not the entire presentation). Share this link on your class website for parents (and older students) to learn more about the Common Core.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Virtual Algebra Tiles - Michigan Virtual University
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): equations (151), factoring (30), multimedia (62), square roots (22)
In the Classroom
Demonstrate the site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Allow students to explore on their own. Assign modules for homework. Then have students write a journal entry describing the mathematical concept and how to solve one of the problems. Have students make online "tours" to explain how to solve a problem using Screencast-o-matic, reviewed here, or Screencastify (Chrome app), reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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TIM - Arizona Technology Integration Matrix - Northeastern Arizona University
Grades
K to 12tag(s): professional development (164), teaching strategies (25)
In the Classroom
If you want to improve and grow in how well you integrate technology in support of teaching and learning and not as an end in itself, the levels of this integration matrix provide a framework ( and vocabulary) for growth. Think about where you are now and about your goal for effective use of technology. Look at some of the lessons between where you are and your goal to find lessons you can use with your curriculum. If you are a teacher who is in the middle of this grid, this can be'?the nudge you need to get you moving towards the goals you have. Work together with a teaching buddy to support each other as you grow. Suggest this matrix to your principal or professional development planners as a way to structure self-directed, individualized professional development.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Pause For Later - Pause For Later
Grades
K to 12tag(s): video (278)
In the Classroom
If a video is too long to share during one class period, use this tool to pick up where you left the video. It is worthwhile to ask the techies to install it at least on your teacher machine if school machines are locked down. Share this with your students when you assign videos to be watched from home, queuing the video to the start point you want the to use. Encourage students to mark start points for videos they include in oral presentations. Save them time searching if they get interrupted while viewing. This would be a useful tool to share on your class website.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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40 Interesting Ways to Use QR Codes in the Classroom - Tom Barrett
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): qr codes (22)
In the Classroom
Choose one of the ideas suggested in the slideshow as a starting point for using QR codes. Try additional ideas one at a time. Share the slideshow with other teachers and split up the ideas for each to become an "expert" in one of the strategies. Share your experiences as you learn together. Challenge your students to dream up other uses for the codes. As a service project, students could create a QR code school "tour" or add QR codes for students to use while waiting in the cafeteria line to access nutrition information about today's menu.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Twitter - Education Chats - Chat Scheduler
Grades
K to 12tag(s): microblogging (41), social networking (112), twitter (45)
In the Classroom
Explore the site to discover and follow educational and professional chats that match your interests and needs. Read the tweets about what is happening in other classrooms to gain some new/fresh ideas. Students in upper grades interested in a particular career or trying to find a mentor in an area of interest could use this. You may want to preview and pick out certain hashtags for your student(s). Want to know more about Twitter? See TeachersFirst's Twitter for Teachers page.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Morphbank - Morphbank
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): cells (99), images (278), microorganisms (15), photography (157)
In the Classroom
Use these images of organisms and nature to illustrate concepts or ask visual questions. Use in student projects, on wikis or blogs, or anywhere a great picture is needed. Use to generate essays about the different types of organisms or have students make a "wanted" poster that discusses the habitat and niche of the various organisms. Use pictures when discussing characteristics of life or the classification of various organisms. Create simple drag and drop sorting activities for interactive whiteboard using these images to assess class understanding of different characteristics or classifications. Use this activity with one of the student centered activity formats from our Hands Off, Vanna ideas for student centered use of your interactive whiteboard.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Widbook - Flavio Aguiar
Grades
K to 12tag(s): creative writing (165), descriptive writing (41), expository writing (43), paragraph writing (17), persuasive writing (57), process writing (48), writing (365)
In the Classroom
Create books on any subject for your students to review or learn. Set up a whole class account or use individual accounts with those 13 and older if school policy allows it. Challenge students to create a book as a multi-media presentation instead of a typical book report. This would be great to use for a student/star of the week presentation. Each week add a student's information. Do this together as a class on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Create a link (and log in) on classroom computers for students to view the book when they wish. Use this tool for groups to collaborate on science concept tales, poetry books, general writing, math problem solve-its, and more. ANY grade can use this tool with a whole class account, depending on the amount of direction by the teacher. Have students create a book as an end of the year culminatng/review project.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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Cropp.me - imagga
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): images (278), photography (157)
In the Classroom
Quickly and easily crop pictures and images to any desired size for use in projects and presentations. Share with students to use with projects and presentations for making images uniform in size.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Portfoliogen - Create a Free Teacher Portfolio Webpage - CG Solutions LLC
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): portfolios (32), professional development (164)
In the Classroom
Use this site to create an online portfolio even if you are not looking for a new job. Share it with your principal or administrator as part of your evaluation process. Share it with parents from a link on your class web page. Model a positive, professional online image so your students can see how important this is in the 21st century. Use this tool to create a URL for substitutes to use with pertinent information including: lesson plans, student background, websites to use for enrichment, recordings of songs sung daily, etc.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Picturing America - National Endowment for the Humanities
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): 1800s (48), 1900s (36), african american (109), american revolution (85), art history (77), artists (77), civil war (144), industrial revolution (26), lincoln (84), native americans (78), north america (19), painting (66), presidents (123), war of 1812 (15), washington (29)
In the Classroom
Share artwork and descriptions on your interactive whiteboard or projector to accompany or introduce Social Studies units on the presidents, American Revolution, the 20th Century, and more. Assign different images to groups of students as a starting point for an artist study or biography of the portrait's subject. Have students create "talking pictures" to illustrate or discuss content of an image using Fotobabble reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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