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Mesopotamia-The British Museum - The British Museum
Grades
6 to 12
4 Favorites
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The British Museum presents this visually stunning site about the "cradle of civilization," Mesopotamia. Approach your study from one of several perspectives: geography, time, gods...more
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The British Museum presents this visually stunning site about the "cradle of civilization," Mesopotamia. Approach your study from one of several perspectives: geography, time, gods and goddesses, or writing. Each module has information, some extension narrative, and a challenge game (with requires Shockwave). For teachers, the best part is the Staffroom section which offers step by step information about using the site in the classroom. Start there to quickly discover how you can best use this resource.
tag(s): architecture (62), mesopotamia (4), middle east (43), writing (317)
In the Classroom
An interactive whiteboard or projector will take advantage of the strong visual impact of this site, but it will also be useful for individual exploration by students either in a computer cluster or from home. Students can try the "challenge" games as an extension, or for those who finish other work quickly. Bookmark the site (or save in favorites) for independent research.Challenge students to research a various portion of this site and create a multimedia presentation (either independently or in cooperative learning groups.) How about having students use a tool such as Zeemaps, reviewed here. This site allows students to create audio recordings AND choose a location (on a map) where the story takes place. Challenge students to narrate while the exact location is shown on a map! What a fabulous way to link history, geography, and presentation skills!
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Thinkport - Maryland Public Television and John Hopkins University
Grades
2 to 12
3 Favorites
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This site provides sample student activities and "how to" instructions for students to create timelines, museums, pattern makers, and more. Explore the tools to give students ownership...more
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This site provides sample student activities and "how to" instructions for students to create timelines, museums, pattern makers, and more. Explore the tools to give students ownership over their learning. Create your own activities or use the sample activities given with each tool. Use the Timeline Builder to easily create a simple but customizable timeline. Examine text for better understanding with the Annotate It! tool. Build spatial sense with the Pattern Builder that combines art and geometry in a fun to use tool. Create your own Museum is a great learning tool to decide what to showcase in any type of museum. Besure to check out the Learning Resources tab at the top for great digital activities for all ages!
tag(s): museums (44), patterns (62), reading comprehension (142), timelines (51), writing (317)
In the Classroom
Use these tools for any subject area and for any content. Be sure to look at the sample activities that are great to use as is or can stimulate thinking into your own projects. Use the timeline as an introduction to the first year by discussing their summer activities, major events in a students life, inventions or technology that made a difference in their life, events in their favorite book, and more. To understand content in perspective, create a timeline to be sure students understand why some events happen at particular times. For example, our understanding about biology greatly changes after the invention of the microscope. A great sample activity to Create your own Museum is the celebration of neighborhoods which can create a greater understanding about different people. Create a museum for each different kind of biome that showcases what would be found there. Create a museum for a time period in history but created by a specific group of people. View each of the museums and note the differences in what is portrayed using the lens of that various segment of the population. Create writings or blog posts portraying the differences in the museums and why these differences exist. Even young students can make a simple timeline of their own life of the life cycle of a butterfly to build the concept of linear representation of time.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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So What Does It Mean To Be Human? - Smithsonian Institute
Grades
9 to 12
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Explore a wealth of images, research, and information about human origins in this visually rich site from the National Museum of Natural History. View "Human Evolution Evidence," "Human...more
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Explore a wealth of images, research, and information about human origins in this visually rich site from the National Museum of Natural History. View "Human Evolution Evidence," "Human Evolution Research," and "Human Characteristics," as well as other resources. Don't miss the 3D views of fossils. It's even better than an actual museum visit, since you can move and rotate the objects yourself.
In the Classroom
View specific topics such as "Tools and Food" under "Human Characteristics." Read the material as it explains the science behind the time and use estimations. Challenge students to describe how scientists have derived at an explanation provided. Follow up with "Fossil Forensics: Interactive" under "Human Evolution Research" to see the specific portions scientists are talking about. Here, 3D pictures including microscopic views have details circled for better understanding. You may want to have this set up at a computer in your room as a "center," or have the url on your website, where students can make further investigations on their own.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Getting to Know "William" - Inside and Out - Metropolitan Museum of Art
Grades
K to 2
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Learn about primary, secondary, and intermediate colors while painting an Egyptian hippo named William. This interactive Metropolitan Art Museum site provides interesting historical...more
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Learn about primary, secondary, and intermediate colors while painting an Egyptian hippo named William. This interactive Metropolitan Art Museum site provides interesting historical information about an ancient figurine while also explaining the basics of color theory. This site does a nice job helping young students understand how to create new colors by mixing colors together.
tag(s): art history (87), colors (64), egypt (48), museums (44)
In the Classroom
Use this site as an anticipatory set or "activator" to introduce a lesson about the color wheel or mixing primary colors together. Play the animated presentation with a projector or interactive whiteboard and then let students independently enjoy coloring the Hippo. Use your interactive whiteboard as a learning center and allow students to manipulate the whiteboard themselves and change the color of the hippo. This activity would work well for individual or pairs of students in a lab or on laptops. Be sure to take the time to also share the story behind this "cute" little figurine.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Do Try This at Home: Invention at Play - Smithsonian Museum of National History
Grades
K to 6
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The Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation offers this site as a way to explore and learn how to play. The site includes opportunities for play that ...more
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The Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation offers this site as a way to explore and learn how to play. The site includes opportunities for play that develops visual thinking, problem solving, exploration, and collaboration. You can also create your own doodles to help develop creative thinking and invention. Find a multitude of ideas for students to investigate and create from designing an all-terrain wheelchair, inventing a toy, to redesigning the shopping cart or creating a solared-powered invention. Scroll down the page to find "Story Tags." There is a link to Women inventor's stories, which ncludes the stories of some male intventors, too! Read about little known and well known inventors such as Stephanie Kwolek (Kevlar) and Alexander Bell (telephone). Each story includes background on the inventor and information on how their idea developed. Several videos are included demonstrating play activities and skills developed through play and the use of common toys.
tag(s): biographies (95), collaboration (89), creativity (91), design (79), inventors and inventions (71), problem solving (225)
In the Classroom
Create a link to the site on classroom computers for students to explore the games. Share the site with parents on your classroom website or blog as a resource for using play as a learning tool. Share the site at conferences or parent meetings as a resource for developing learning skills through play. Include the inventor biographies as a resource for students when researching inventors.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Color Vision and Art - Michael Douma
Grades
6 to 12
5 Favorites
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Color, Vision and Art examines both scientific and artistic interpretations of color. This is one of many interdisciplinary exhibits found on WebExhibits online museum. This particular...more
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Color, Vision and Art examines both scientific and artistic interpretations of color. This is one of many interdisciplinary exhibits found on WebExhibits online museum. This particular showcase makes the connection between the birth of Modern art and the scientific revolution of the 19th century. Articles include historic investigations into the psychological effect of color upon the emotions, the anatomy of the human eye, color vision theory, and the brain's perception of color. The site also provides fascinating information about oil and egg tempera painting and how each achieves the illusion of light and space. They examine not only Western Art of the 19th, 20th and 21st century, but also African Art.
tag(s): art history (87), colors (64), human body (93), newton (21), psychology (67)
In the Classroom
Color, Vision and Art offers students a unique opportunity to make cross-curricular connections and is a great starting point for individual or group projects. Students interested in Anatomy, Neuroscience, Painting, or Art History, will enjoy exploring this site independently. Each individual chapter comes with a selection of extension tasks from which students can choose. The "Exhibit" tab also offers suggestions for directing class discussions and provides tasks that initiate higher order thinking. Guiding questions about the neurobiological interpretation of color, will simultaneously develop student ability to analyze and interpret color used in art. Have students create a multimedia presentation to report about what they have learned using Thinglink, reviewed here. This site allows users to narrate a picture. Challenge students to find a reproduction of a painting (legally permitted to be reproduced), and include a narration about the artist's use of color. There are also interactive activities to demonstrate aspects of color theory. Project these interactive tools on an interactive whiteboard to the whole class and experiment with simultaneous color contrast, and luminance together. Use this site as the starting point for individual or group projects. This site is excellent for enrichment. Include it on your class web page for students to access both in and out of class, especially when they are designing their own multimedia projects and want to take advantage of color's subtleties.
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Plimoth Patuxet Museums Digital Resources - Plimoth.org
Grades
4 to 12
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There are actually three resources on this site for video tours! The first link will take you to The American Experience by PBS and has many videos to explore. The ...more
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There are actually three resources on this site for video tours! The first link will take you to The American Experience by PBS and has many videos to explore. The first video on this museum site is The Wampanoag Way. Witness the life of the indigenous people who were part of the Wampanoag Nation in the first 7-minute video for all grades. The second video is about Plimoth Plantation. View the simple life of the Pilgrims in this 30-minute video for all grades. There are several other resources on this page such as the history of Thanksgiving, an interactive about Thanksgiving, and a link to a podcast. The videos reside on YouTube. If your school blocks YouTube, you may not be able to view them.
tag(s): colonial america (95), native americans (91), pilgrims (12)
In the Classroom
Share this and other sections of the TeachersFirst Colonial America tour as part of your study of the colonies so students can see what these historic locations look like today.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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JFK 50 - John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
Grades
7 to 12
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This web site honors the legacy of President John F. Kennedy in recognition of the fifty years that have passed since his inauguration on January 20, 1961, when he first ...more
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This web site honors the legacy of President John F. Kennedy in recognition of the fifty years that have passed since his inauguration on January 20, 1961, when he first captured the hearts of Americans and memorialized a moment in history with his words, "Ask not what this country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." JFK50 is filled with cutting-edge multimedia that inspires and invites students to explore the themes of public service, civil rights, leadership, and more to discover how relevant they remain to social and political issues today.
tag(s): kennedy (19), presidents (122)
In the Classroom
Use this website as your online destination for teaching, researching, and starting a conversation about the primary people, changes, speeches, and events of the John F. Kennedy era. Do not miss the links at the upper left corner of the home page for the Legacy Gallery, Downloads and Resources, and "History Now" which provides an interactive timeline that links today's date to details of what transpired during JFK's presidency. Highlight the ideals articulated fifty years ago to serve as a springboard for today's students to become actively involved in public service by projecting the authentic broadcast reports, videos, newspaper accounts, and other media on your classroom whiteboard or projector. Team up with colleagues in other departments to engage in interdisciplinary learning projects. You may want to have students collaborate to put a new spin on a research report. Challenge them to create a newspaper article about the domestic affairs, foreign policies and diplomacy, the arts, or any of the other extensive topics found on JFK50 by using the Newspaper Clipping Generator. Polish it off by having students create magazine covers that reflect the content of their articles, essays, or reports by using Magazine Cover Maker reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Arounder - VRWAY Communication
Grades
K to 12
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Step onto the Brooklyn Bridge, travel all the way to Shanghai, marvel at the detailed 360 panoramic views of cities from around the world on this site. Locations in over ...more
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Step onto the Brooklyn Bridge, travel all the way to Shanghai, marvel at the detailed 360 panoramic views of cities from around the world on this site. Locations in over 70 European cities, North/South America, Asia, the Pacific, and even the Moon and Mars are yours to explore through maps, detailed photographs, and location highlights. The highlights from each city include: museums, stores, works of art, cathedrals, and cultural attractions. City highlights include city tours with accompanying satellite views from Google Earth. After choosing the city highlight, explore a 360 panoramic view.
tag(s): maps (207)
In the Classroom
Arounder adds an extra resource to make your studies come alive. Extend math with real life math problems involving distances, planning routes, costs of tours are illustrated on this site. Try language arts activities to teach setting using world travel. Enrich discussions in ESL/ELL or world language classes by sharing the detailed visual image on a projector or interactive whiteboard. Challenge gifted students to plan a world highlights trip or around the world in 80 days adventure!
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Shipwreck Challenge - Museum of Science, Boston
Grades
6 to 8
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Shipwreck Survival is a plan for a great "thinking outside the box" activity to engage your students and promote critical thinking and problem solving skills as part of the engineering...more
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Shipwreck Survival is a plan for a great "thinking outside the box" activity to engage your students and promote critical thinking and problem solving skills as part of the engineering design cycle. The activity itself takes approximately thirty minutes and utilizes every day, reusable items so it is inexpensive. There is a downloadable worksheet that you can print for your students, clear instructions, and great background information. It is an ideal small group or team activity. While this activity in real life would happen outside, the simulation can easily be done indoors with some imagination.
tag(s): creativity (91), problem solving (225)
In the Classroom
Set up this activity by talking about creative ways to solve problems and using one's imagination, connecting it to what scientists and engineers do. Have your students agree on what parts of the classroom will represent different parts of nature. For example, desks could be trees. Then group students into fours, give them a box of materials, and have them think and then create different survival gear. Debrief the class by having them show their designed gear, explain how and why it would work, and their thought process. Possibly have students summarize their design on a video. Share the videos on a site such as SchoolTube (reviewed here). Then, have other groups respond by suggesting improvements or alternative ideas.
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American Labor Studies Center - ALSC and Share My Lesson
Grades
5 to 12
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This site offers a collection of lesson plans, videos, photographs, songs, timelines, and other documents about the history of the labor movement in the U.S. The documents are a compilation...more
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This site offers a collection of lesson plans, videos, photographs, songs, timelines, and other documents about the history of the labor movement in the U.S. The documents are a compilation from many prestigious sources including the Library of Congress, the National Archives, labor history from individual states, and labor museums. Click topics to explore such as Using Songs to Teach Labor History, Black Labor History, Women's Labor History, Religion and Labor, and several others.
tag(s): history day (40), labor day (5)
In the Classroom
Offer a lesson from this site when planning student projects for National History Day or in conjunction with Labor Day. Use this site to have students compare labor issues in several states. Show students a timeline of labor history from one area and have them create a similar one for their own state or region using a site such as Sutori, reviewed here, that can include images, text, and collaboration. Show selected videos (on your interactive whiteboard or projector). Share authentic photographs from this site when discussing employment topics or the history of unions. This site can also provide context when reading literature based in the Great Depression or industrialization era.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Teachinghistory.org - National History Education Clearinghouse
Grades
6 to 12
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This is another incredibly rich site, so much so that it's difficult to know where to start in describing it. Designed to be a resource to those teaching history, the ...more
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This is another incredibly rich site, so much so that it's difficult to know where to start in describing it. Designed to be a resource to those teaching history, the site is divided into three main areas: teaching materials, history content, and best practices. The teaching materials section includes these topics: Reviewed Lesson Plans, Teaching Guides, and English Language Learners. The history content includes website reviews, multimedia resources, links to museums and historical sites and other resources. The best practices section looks at how one thinks as a historian, advice on using primary sources, and tips for those teaching history. There are brief video introductions to the site focused on different instructional levels (elementary, middle school, and high school). Tucked in the corners is a weekly history quiz, video interviews with historians, and an NHEC blog.
tag(s): history day (40), primary sources (117)
In the Classroom
While the "history content" section of this website contains resources that might be directly usable in the classroom, there is much more here for the teacher to use in preparing lessons, learning more about topics of interest and in infusing the teaching of history with more primary documentation and historical thinking that has been past practice in a traditional social studies classroom. There is also a focus on the limitations of mass produced text books, and guidance on helping students begin to question what they find in those text books as historians. On this site there are interactive posters to use with your students to get them to start thinking like a historian. You can see the review for the elementary poster here. Altogether, this is a very rich resource and should be in regular rotation among your "go to" bookmarked favorites.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Climate Change - American Museum of Natural History
Grades
4 to 12
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If you are looking for good, condensed information about climate change, use this resource. Click on "Introduction" to view information about climate change indicators and facts from...more
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If you are looking for good, condensed information about climate change, use this resource. Click on "Introduction" to view information about climate change indicators and facts from the past to the present. View changes that are occurring throughout the globe. Although this site is very "wordy," there is lots to explore! Click on the underlined vocabulary words to learn more about the definition and where to find more information about the topic. On the left find a link for an Educator's Guide
tag(s): carbon (15), carbon dioxide (10), climate (81), climate change (88)
In the Classroom
Use this resource for some excellent background information. Search for more information on the Internet to determine facts and how these facts are used. Create Public Service Announcements outlining the key points. Create a campaign for making small changes in our lives that can add up to a big difference. Have students create multimedia presentations such as an interactive online poster using Visme, reviewed here. Research alternative energy sources and create proposals for change within your district.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Brilliant Line - RISD Museum
Grades
6 to 12
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The beautiful, award-winning site explores the art of the engraving from the Renaissance and Baroque eras (1480-1650). Navigate through artworks, zooming in interactively as you read...more
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The beautiful, award-winning site explores the art of the engraving from the Renaissance and Baroque eras (1480-1650). Navigate through artworks, zooming in interactively as you read about the works, the artists, and the iconography of each work. An interactive map shows the location of the work, and a special "analyze lines" tool allows you to turn off and on each level of engraved line to see the work in layers of its complexity. There is also a video showing how the engraving process works. Many of the drawings of this time involve classical figure drawings (and some nudity).
tag(s): renaissance (33)
In the Classroom
Share this site on a projector or laptops so students can see the lines up close. This site would be an excellent way to introduce the power of line as a design element and as a way to form shading, contour, and more. Share the video on a projector to explain how these images were made. Beyond art and art history classes, this site also provides an interactive experience with the history of the Renaissance as part of a western heritage course. Descriptions are written at a very high reading level, so some assistance may be needed. Have students compare these works with other forms of art such as sculpture or painting from the Renaissance or perhaps write a blog post as an artist during the laborious process of producing an engraving. With middle school art classes, use the analyze lines tool for students to discover ways to use simple pen and ink or felt-tip markers to create rich drawings using only lines. Middle school students may not have the maturity to handle some of the figure drawings.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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National Museum of American History - Interactive Flag - Smithsonian Institute
Grades
K to 12
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This site provides a comprehensive look at the Star Spangled Banner. The site lets you interact with the Star Spangled Banner by clicking on various "hot spots". You can play ...more
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This site provides a comprehensive look at the Star Spangled Banner. The site lets you interact with the Star Spangled Banner by clicking on various "hot spots". You can play a game called Collect the Stars that requires you to collect 14 stars by answering quiz questions. You can sing your own version of the national anthem and contribute your own photos to the flag mosaic. There is also a link to educational resources (click resources). You can also click on the link at the bottom of the page "How to Use This Resource In Your Classroom."
tag(s): colonial america (95), flag day (5), williamsburg (7)
In the Classroom
Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Use the Explore the Flag section on the site as a whole group activity. Have students explore the site independently or in small groups. If used independently put the site on a classroom computer and use as a center. To use in small groups, set up a game show format. Using the Star Quiz game, break students into groups and ask the questions. Whichever team collects the most stars wins. In addition, take individual or group photos and submit them to be part of the flag mosaic. Additional ideas can be found in the provided educator resources.
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The Anne Frank House - The Anne Frank Stichting
Grades
5 to 12
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The Anne Frank House has been a museum since 1960. The history of the former hiding place where the Frank family and four other Jews lived in secrecy comes alive ...more
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The Anne Frank House has been a museum since 1960. The history of the former hiding place where the Frank family and four other Jews lived in secrecy comes alive on this website. Starting with 1940 photographs of the building known as Opekta factory, see and learn how the office space was transformed into the Secret Annex where Anne Frank hid for more than two years until the betrayal and arrest by the Nazis. Find out about the four employees who risked their lives to make the hiding possible. The rooms of the Secret Annex have been preserved in their authentic state and salvaged documents and objects belonging to the eight people in hiding are on display. Three short films are included on the website to place the significance of this personal story in a historical context. See Anne Frank's hiding place in 3D and meet the people that helped those hidden inside. After clicking on the secret bookcase, you will be taken behind the scenes of the house to see how Anne and others lived in the communal room, the front office, the attic and more. View the painstaking ways that were taken to keep them safe, and by looking at the space where Anne ate, slept, and hung her pictures.
tag(s): anne frank (10), holocaust (41), remembrance day (5), women (138), world war 2 (151)
In the Classroom
Use your interactive whiteboard or projector to take your class on a virtual field trip to Amsterdam to visit the Secret Annex where they can realize what it was actually like for Anne Frank's family and four others to live inside a hidden space, with the constant fear of being discovered by the Nazis. Help the words in Anne's diary come alive by showing what the outside and inside of the building looked like, by viewing the painstaking ways that were taken to keep them safe, and by looking at the space where Anne ate, slept, and hung her pictures. Students will be more likely to relate to Anne as a real person, instead of a fictional character, and admire her optimism, courage, and resiliency. Use this to initiate journal entries for students to reflect on how they would handle two years of hiding and sharing a small space with others, as well as what they would do to remain positive, or use the online exhibit to shed some light on a dark period in history and to strengthen the personal account of the hiding period and the deportation to the camps. Assign class members to read about one of the house members or helpers to research, then have them write a diary (or blog entry) from that person's point of view. Assign teams to debate who was the most important member of the household or if this situation could take place in today's society. Not comfortable with wikis? Have no wiki worries - check out the TeachersFirst's Wiki Walk-Through.Have groups compare two people they learned about using a tool such as the Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram (reviewed here). Create a class wiki for students to share their journal articles and respond to others.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Tate Kids - Tate Gallery
Grades
1 to 6
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Winner of a 2009 Youth Webby Award, Tate Kids connects the art of the past and present to the world of blogging, on-line activities, storytelling, and craft making. Each project ...more
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Winner of a 2009 Youth Webby Award, Tate Kids connects the art of the past and present to the world of blogging, on-line activities, storytelling, and craft making. Each project cleverly weaves in a child friendly art history or theory lesson. Features such as "Tate Paint" invite viewers to create and share their own animated masterpiece on-line. Students can select pieces from the Tate Kids Collection or upload their own artwork into the "My Gallery" space and create a personal virtual museum available to visitors around the world. This site screens all submissions before they appear on-line and provides safety tips for children to review with an adult. Signing up for the "My Gallery" option requires a username and password, but no email address is required. Create a sunset reminiscent of Joseph Turner's paintings or experiment body movements suggestive of Bruce Nauman's performance art. Activities such as these and many more craft ideas are located on the "Tate Create" page. The site includes a complete list of materials, procedures, and helpful hints needed for the activities. Each lesson is kid tested at the Tate Gallery itself and corresponds to works of art either on display at the Tate or a part of their permanent collection. The site was created in the UK, so some of the pronunciations and spellings may differ from those in American English.
tag(s): creativity (91), dance (26), england (50)
In the Classroom
You will also find a complete list of materials, procedures, and helpful hints needed for the activities. Connect these tasks to a literature study unit or as art projects. The website's on-line activities and films are all compatible with an interactive whiteboard. Some lessons contain black line masters of artwork that are available for download. If you plan on using the "My Gallery" feature with your class, check with your administrator to be sure that your school allows students to set up individual accounts on on-line sites. Be sure to include this site on your class web page for students to access during summer break or for creative family activities at home.
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Louvre - Louvre
Grades
1 to 12
5 Favorites
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Roam the halls of the Louvre without having to sign one field trip form (or gather passports). This virtual museum experience contains an on-line collection of 35,000 pieces and spans...more
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Roam the halls of the Louvre without having to sign one field trip form (or gather passports). This virtual museum experience contains an on-line collection of 35,000 pieces and spans across 60,000 square feet. Features such as "My Personal Space," allow you to bookmark and store your own personalized art collections in multiple albums. Each art piece includes a label that states basic information such as the name of the artist, date, period, and medium. For more in depth information simply click the label and view a short narrative written by the Louvre's own curators and staff. Search their database by keywords or exact phrases or use the "kaleidoscope" to locate artwork organized by themes such as: mythology, landscape, and even sports. By downloading 3Dvia, you can also view imaginary architecture and exhibitions in 3D. The work displayed at the Louvre spans from the medieval period to 1848.
tag(s): europe (75), france (37), italy (16), sculpture (21)
In the Classroom
The possibilities for using this website in the classroom are as extensive as the Louvre itself. Liven up your Greek Mythology unit by accessing the "Kaleidoscope" mythology theme to learn how various gods and their stories appear in fine art. View the site in French and have your class speaking and reading French as they stroll through the halls of the Louvre. Link your study of the French Revolution to paintings such as Delacroix's "Lady Liberty." While studying World History, reading Machiavelli's masterpiece "The Prince" or Vasari's biographies in "Lives of the Artist," view the work of artists who lived through the political unrest of the Renaissance. The site does not provide prefabricated lessons for teachers but is an excellent resource for re-search and project-based learning. Create a class wiki for students to share their favorite paintings or thoughts on a specific painting and its meaning. Not comfortable with wikis? Have no wiki worries - check out the TeachersFirst's Wiki Walk-Through.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Forward Thinking Museum - Joy of Giving Something, INC
Grades
8 to 12
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This is a treasure trove of contemporary photography and film. The "Forward Thinking Museum" is where students build knowledge of photography and film while discovering how the visual...more
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This is a treasure trove of contemporary photography and film. The "Forward Thinking Museum" is where students build knowledge of photography and film while discovering how the visual arts can elicit meaning. The website contains a listing of exhibitions by groups and individual artists. Right from the classroom, students can witness the work of artists worldwide and watch professionals speak passionately about their life's work. The enthusiasm of the spotlighted artists is infectious and inspiring. It is impressive how the site integrates the study of science, history, philosophy, and literature with the photographic experience. Every three months artists are encouraged to submit their own photographs for selection in their on-line virtual gallery.
tag(s): artists (78), design (79), graphic design (48), photography (118), visual thinking (7)
In the Classroom
This website is useful for teaching the arts and to challenge your students higher level thinking skills. For example, quotations from history, literature, or philosophy synthesize with evocative images. The pairing of quotations with art provides teachers with an engaging way to initiate student discussion and debate. This is an excellent way to demonstrate how the visual arts can overcome language barriers and ignite thought. A new developing feature is on-line workshops free to all public schools.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Creativity Resource - Denver Art Museum
Grades
K to 12
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This site from the Denver Art Museum is just the ticket for arts-related lesson plans and ideas for your language arts, social studies, or visual art classes. Search lesson plans ...more
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This site from the Denver Art Museum is just the ticket for arts-related lesson plans and ideas for your language arts, social studies, or visual art classes. Search lesson plans by age level, resource type, and more. Colorado standards are included. Or browse by image to find related lesson plans. Search artworks by country/culture, medium, period and region. Each of these categories has a drop down list with multiple items. There are highly motivating lesson plans to go with each piece of art. For example, "A Face to Remember - Mummy Case" looks at Ancient Egypt for grades 6 -12. "(Students) will research information about the ancient Egyptians and explore how their findings are visually represented on the DAM's mummy case. Students ...design a mummy case that reflects their personal values and beliefs." During this lesson students are introduced to two column notes for recording their research. The Early Childhood lesson entitled "Bubbles" has students look closely at a work of art using bubbles!
tag(s): art history (87), artists (78), images (256)
In the Classroom
Use a projector or interactive whiteboard so everyone can view the art work at once. Small groups can write down their observations about the art and then share with the whole class. From there the lesson plans can take over with loads of ideas for how to proceed. Don't forget to have students navigate and annotate artworks on interactive whiteboards. It is the ideal tool for annotating images. Older students can also annotate them using an online tool such as Annotely, reviewed here, to annotate images.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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