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This Dynamic Earth: The Story of Plate Tectonics - U.S. Geological Survey
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): earth (184), earthquakes (45), geology (64), plate tectonics (20), volcanoes (56)
In the Classroom
This site is useful as a supplement to a geology unit or for review. Include it on your teacher web page for students to access both in and out of class. It is also a great reference tool when preparing your lesson plans. This is a great site to use when teaching about informational text(s). Open it on an interactive whiteboard and review reading strategies using highlighters and pens as you learn about plate tectonics.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Grand Canyon Explorer - - Bob Ribokas
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): geology (64)
In the Classroom
As they read the descriptions of the tour, students will find first-hand accounts of some of the research being done on the Colorado River. Since most teachers cannot take an actual trip to the Grand Canyon, use this site on laptops or a projector for a virtual trip. Ask questions requiring students to find examples of various types of rock or evidence of the geologic history of the canyon. A simple set of "why?" questions about various images will challenge students to apply what they know about rock, sediment, erosion, and more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Music In Poetry - Smithsonian Institute
Grades
5 to 12In the Classroom
Play the sound files on speakers in your classroom and be sure to include the link on your teacher web page for students to play at home, as well. If you are into podcasting, consider having students make their own recordings of ballads after hearing and studying these. Challenge cooperative learning groups to modernize one of the ballads and augment classroom technology use by creating a podcast by using sites such as podOmatic, reviewed here, or Buzzsprout, reviewed here. Help students create a checklist or rubric to use for self-evaluation or peer review. Use a tool like Quick Rubric, reviewed here, for the checklist and rubric. Use this same document to help students make constructive suggestions for story revisions. The lesson plans are printable PDFs and work with units/lessons on Langston Hughes and the blues as well as the meters of poetry.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Soaring High With Kites - everythingesl.net
Grades
1 to 6tag(s): poetry (190), vocabulary (236)
In the Classroom
Plan a kite day in the fall or spring and use all or part of these plans to learn new words, build kites, and even fly them before you write about them. This would be a terrific activity to include parents at school year's end.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Story Writing Tips for Kids - Corey Green
Grades
3 to 8tag(s): writing (317)
In the Classroom
Use this site and its organized approach to teaching story writing to your upper elementary and middle school students. Include the link on your teacher web page for them to use as a reference outside of class, as well. Consider having students use a graphic organizer of a story map to plan their stories (make one for them or have them use one of the many tools you can find on TeachersFirst by searching graphic organizer on our keyword search.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Bookcrossing.com - Humankind Systems, Inc.
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): book lists (162)
In the Classroom
Understanding that this is an open site worldwide is what puts it into the HS range-- plus the fact that most of the books addressed are adult books (rather than books written for juveniles). As a teacher, it is fascinating to gather information from other places-- and books are released from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe and everywhere in between! There are sites on this web to look at the books and the people who release them. You must register to fully use the site, but it is free. This is definitely worth exploring for a variety of reasons, even beyond teaching reading and English. And if you are a book lover yourself, it is just plain fun! Recomment the site to your mature students to promote independent reading and life-long learning.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Visuwords - Paul R. Dunn
Grades
6 to 12The color-coded word "entries" display like a mind-map or graphic organizer, showing parts of speech in different colors and showing related words and phrases, as well. Be sure to look at the color key at the bottom to understand all the information presented. This site requires FLASH. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
tag(s): dictionaries (48), thesaurus (22), vocabulary (236)
In the Classroom
Introduce new vocabulary before reading or starting a new unit, using this site on an interactive whiteboard or projector. The distinctions, examples, and relationships the site features for new words will help students build better connections and understanding as they read and study the words in classroom context. English teachers will love this as a learning tool for teaching distinctions between similar words. Just remember to use it in a monitored situation (see above).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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103 Things to Do Before/During/After Reading - Reading Rockets
Grades
K to 8In the Classroom
Use this list as an idea generator for book report alternatives or even for lesson ideas. Share the link or some of the ideas on your tecaher web page for students to choose a book report product/project/performance. Print these suggestions out and share all or some of them with parents in a newsletter,at conference times, or before summer vacation. Give credit for your source, of course!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Language Arts Presentations - Free Club Web
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): air (105), grammar (133), narrative (14), reading comprehension (142), reading strategies (98), shakespeare (93)
In the Classroom
Try these ready-to-go PowerPoint presentations on an interactive whiteboard or projector in your classroom. Some may also be well-suited for individual students to run on a single classroom computer for remediation or review. There are games, resources and a lot of information. The site includes a disclaimer asking to be notified if users find any copyrighted material. TeachersFirst recommends that you NOT download copies but instead use them online, just in case. Share this site with other teachers on your campus as there are some PowerPoints suitable for professional developmnet.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Magazine Literacy - Magazine Publishers Family Literacy Project
Grades
K to 12tag(s): literacy (110)
In the Classroom
Click on "Ideas" for downloadable, personalized labels for magazines. Also at this link, you will find information on organizing a literacy campaign for the homeless in your area. Invole your student service organization -- or even your class- in a literacy campaign that can also help students within your own schools.Check back in September to learn new ideas on how teachers use magazines in their classrooms. October is Children's Magazine Month and "real" teachers' ideas are featured.
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The Wild Ones - Wildlife Trust
Grades
3 to 8tag(s): animals (284), endangered species (27), habitats (86), species (15)
In the Classroom
Use this site as the starting point for individual or group projects on animals. You will want to assign a reading partner with your weaker readers, especially in lower grades.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Dinosauria - University of California Museum of Paleontology
Grades
4 to 10tag(s): dinosaurs (40), paleontology (28)
In the Classroom
Use this site as the reference for research on individual or group projects. Weaker readers in elementary and middle school will need a reading partner, since the site is text-heavy.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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How to Slay a Cliche (and how to rewrite it) - Alan Eggleston
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): idioms (32)
In the Classroom
Introduce the site to your students on a projector os interactive whiteboard. Then have them work individually or in groups to write some of their own alternatives. Use the whiteboard to write new ideas! You could even start your own class wiki to include cliches students encounter in everyday conversation and in readings along with their suggestions for alternatives. Give extra credit for new additions students make on their own! Keep the link to Cliche a Day on your teacher web page as a reference for student writing assignments throughout the year.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Fun Activities at Your Library: So much to See, So Much to Do - American Library Association
Grades
K to 5In the Classroom
School librarians and reading teachers will want to use these activity offerings to familiarize children with the library. Make your library a happenin' place with a bookmark contest!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Leaky Cauldron - Floo Network
Grades
4 to 9tag(s): harry potter (9)
In the Classroom
Channel your students' high levels of anticipation about the next HP book by encouraging them to participate in some of these online discussions, with parent permission, of course. Include the link on your teacher web page to accompany an independent reading or for author study.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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When the Personal Becomes Presidential - New York Times Learning Network
Grades
6 to 12The lesson plan starts with the familiar "read the story and discuss" format, but there are a number of good essential questions and extension activities provided that could be tailored into a strong classroom plan. The lesson plans have cross-curricular suggestions, and are tied to standards.
tag(s): elections (80), presidents (122)
In the Classroom
Be sure help your weaker readers and ELL students by sharing the listed vocabulary words prior to reading, either on a handout or by projecting on an interactive whiteboard and highlighting them in the text as you come to them.Use this lesson to discuss current events in politics (which changes daily). Have students discuss and debate the current issues. Have the students write a wiki about a current event in politics (for example, Governor Palin being the first woman VP on the GOP ticket).
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Geographia - interKnowledge Corp
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
This would be a good reference resource for students doing "country and culture" reports or displays or for background when reading a novel from another culture. World language teachers can also use this as a source for cultural information. Note: the reading level is comparable to the Wall Street Journal, so you may want to partner weaker readers with others or offer multiple options for sites to use.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Judy Blume's Home Base - Judy Blume
Grades
5 to 9tag(s): authors (105), book lists (162), reading lists (79)
In the Classroom
Share the link on your teacher web page as a resource to promote independent reading or author study. Enhance learning by asking students to share what they read - the tirle, a summary, and a rating of the book using Flip, reviewed here. Have students watch their classmates' Flips to find a new book to read and leave a comment about the book or the presentation.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Citebite Bookmarklet - Abstract Factory
Grades
K to 12tag(s): internet safety (113), literacy (110), quotations (20), safety (71)
In the Classroom
Tool can be used in less than 30 seconds. Open TWO windows in Internet Explorer or any web browser. One should be open to citebite; the other to the web page you wish to reference. On that web page, locate and "highlight" the exact passage of text you want to "send" people to see. Copy/paste the passage into the quotation box at Citebite (copy, then change windows). Return to the target web page and copy/paste its actual URL into Citebite. Click "Make Citebite." Copy/paste the new url, indicated after "Your citebite link is:" Note: if the original quote is within a FLASH presentation, it will not copy/paste or generate a Citebite. See this example of a Citebite link to a tip about TeachersFirst Edge tools.Have your middle and high school students do a web page "credibility critique" on their potential sources by using Citebite before they start a research project. They can highlight passages as proof of credibility -- or lack thereof -- and give you the Citebite links. They will love this easy way to reference a specific portion of a page. You will love the ease of finding it. If you give them a Word document table as a web site evaluation rubric, they can paste the Citebites there, with their comments in the neighboring cell!
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Activities and Crafts for July 4th - Enchanted Learning
Grades
K to 5In the Classroom
Share this one on your teacher web page just in time for summer so students have something to do when they are "bored" on rainy days!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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