Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Find everything you need to commemorate Independence Day with your students at TeacherVision's Fourth of July - Teacher Resources. Some of the featured resources are short Educational Videos, Activities, Printables, Choice Boards, Lesson Plans, Art and Music Activities, and still, there is more! This site is a MUST-see for ideas for observing July 4th with your students. The Free plan offers three resources.

tag(s): holidays (194), july 4th (12)

This amazing library, part of Michigan State's library system, offers information about speeches, recordings, and news broadcasts featuring over 100,000 famous and not so famous personages. Not all items are digitized, but many are available in MP3 format. Those that can be played on your computer will have the word "Listen" as a link to play the file. The serach tools are a bit cumbersome, but there are terrific primary sources here.

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tag(s): authors (108), news (226), poetry (196), speech (69), speeches (23)

This website provides five lesson plans (ranging in grade levels K-12). A brief history of the holiday is provided, followed by five unique lesson plans. How about incorporating math with your Mother's Day lessons (see "Motherhood Math: Mothers in the Workforce"). Lesson plans are aligned with national standards and include language arts, math, technology, visual arts, social studies, and more. These lessons are ready to go and easy to use.

tag(s): mothers day (23), sociology (23), statistics (121)

This site provides a list and a basic description of over 30 lesson plans. There are lessons and activities for students in elementary, middle and high school. Math, language arts, history, science and more are included.

tag(s): easter (10), holidays (194)

This site provides an overview of Irish myths and legends from Ireland Now. Specific topics include The Shamrock, The Giant Rat, Children of Lir, and several others. There are also links to learn more about Ireland: Government, Irish Castles, Symbols & Flags, and more! This site does include some small advertisements.

tag(s): holidays (194), ireland (11), st patricks day (12)

This privately done digitized library focuses on books published before 1923, primarily those with magnificent illustrations. Books digitized are in the public domain and are also available to the large digitization projects going on now with the Google Books project. This site's charm is its ease of use. Users can search by author's last name or by using a list of subject categories. Because the project is fairly small, it's fun to browse through the offerings before deciding on a specific choice. The quality of the digitization is very good and appears to offer complete works. Some books have been reformatted, presumably to allow viewing consistency.

tag(s): air (99)

NPR is amassing a collection of oral histories by traveling across the country and talking to average people. On this website, users can read or listen to the stories told by a wide variety of Americans. Click "Tell your story" to find Locations & Reservations for traveling Mobile Booths or directions to record on your own. The Do It Yourself guide includes tips on interview questions and an interview check list. Started in 2003, the site has many stories in its archives and frequently adds updates.

tag(s): digital storytelling (155), podcasts (114)

This curriculum unit is designed to help fourth and fifth grade students acquire musical and dramatic skills and knowledge. The lessons can be taught in the regular enrichment class and can be completed in less than 30 minutes. It will take approximately nine weeks to complete the entire unit. While this is geared to a music class, it is adaptable to literature, history, art, or drama. The history of the theater will help students to understand that personal beliefs and societal values influence art forms and styles. Identifying significant works of drama will allow students to understand the diversity of cultures and styles. Students will be able to recognize the aesthetic qualities of the arts and they will learn to act, analyze and respond to performances, evaluate the quality of performances, and demonstrate performance disciplines.

tag(s): diversity (43)

The mission of National Council for the Social Studies is to provide leadership, service, and support for all social studies educators.

This site pulls together understanding of environment, geography, the earth and its setting in space, cultures, animals, and more. It forms a "core" for what social studies (and science)is all about. To figure out how the "Big Wide World" works, students will work with partners to investigate one area of the world (globe, plants, people, cultures, language, animals) and come up with rules about how this area works. The individual areas join with other areas and determine how the areas relate to each other. A teacher guide included. Active X is required on some website links.

tag(s): animals (293), cultures (211), environment (252)

This unique site is all about being prepared for emergencies and was created by the Department of Homeland Security. The information is presented in a "Kid Friendly", non-scary manner. Topics include "Be Informed," "Plan Ahead," "Take Action," and "Kids." There are also interactive games and resources for students, teachers, and parents. Specific emergency situations include tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, fires, floods and terrorism. There are activity books in English, Spanish, and several other languages in PDF formant

tag(s): fire (22), fire prevention (16), fire safety (16), floods (10), hurricanes (33), safety (68), sun (69), terrorism (41), tornadoes (14), tsunamis (15)

You may be familiar with Google Earth but may not have the ability to install their free software on your computer, either because you are not permitted to or because your computer is not powerful enough to handle it. Try Flash Earth for a simpler tool to explore the earth as you teach geography to any age from kindergarten to seniors. Perhaps you just want to quickly show which way the Conestoga wagons crossed the U.S., or maybe to show where in the world a current events story is taking place. This simple tool, on a projector or interactive whiteboard, is just the trick. Note: You MUST have FLASH on your computer.

tag(s): globe (12), maps (224)

Biography TimeLine Templates are back-to-basics download files for creating simple timelines. With the user-friendly format for entering information, this site could be a great method by which to begin timeline introduction lessons as well as for organizing and writing informational pieces. The timeline capability could be utilized for either autobiographies or biographies. Be prepared for the simplicity of this site. It does not contain a variety of editing options.

tag(s): time (91)

Create photo trading cards using images you upload or store on Flickr, Instagram, or Dropbox. Imagine having your students create study aides about famous people using images they draw and scan or photos of themselves impersonating the famous people, such as presidents, explorers, authors, and more. If you celebrate reading by having an "author's tea," why not follow up by asking students to make trading cards for the authors they "met"? Use a similar approach for famous historical figures or even for geometric shapes you photograph with the digital camera. If students write their own "biographies" of the shapes to study from, they will learn for sure! They can even trade each other for favorites.

tag(s): book reports (28), famous people (25), images (263)

Find Native American nations' own sites and information in this alphabetical index by tribe(with notes as to most recent updates).

This site features art and cultural information of native Americans, focusing especially on the Eastern Woodlands region. There is information on , Birds & Feathers, Clay & Pottery, Leather & Clothes, Metalwork, Plants & Trees, Porcupine Quills, Stonework & Tools, and Weaving & Cordage. Some of the text passages may be a bit lengthy, but there are also interactive ways for students to get a "hands on" feel, such as with the beadwork interactive game. The sections under Special Features are certain to make the culture come alive for elementary and middle school students.

Discover the pioneer world of Laura Ingalls Wilder with this blog. Under "Live Like Laura" from the top menu find Activities, Crafts, Recipes, and Pioneer Living. Find blog posts and a few videos about the Cat's Cradle game, Gardening Activities, information about the Grasshopper Plague, Word Searches, Trivia Searches, and too much more to list here. This informative site is a must see for anyone who loves Laura Ingalls Wilder or teaches the books with all puzzles, activities, and images of people in clothing of the time and places in Laura's life.

tag(s): authors (108), crafts (74)

Investigating the First Thanksgiving - What was it really like?? Plimoth Plantation museum offers a Flash-based Thanksgiving lesson that will introduce students to the cultures and customs of both the Pilgrim and Wampanoag peoples. This presentation blends information about lots of everyday activities and customs with a look at what the actual "first Thanksgiving" might have looked like. Requires Flash. A message on the site warns that traffic near Thanksgiving can make the site very sluggish and offers directions to download it to your local computer.

tag(s): pilgrims (12), thanksgiving (24)

An extremely sophisticated site examining the recent history of farming through the examination of a small New York village in the early 19th century. Each site in the village has a number of short video clips explaining that work that takes place at that site, and explanations of various artifacts associated with the site. Sites include a barnyard, field, church, cooperage, county fair, general store and schoolhouse. The really nifty tool on the site is the ability for users to save various video clips, assemble them in a sequence and to create their own video presentation. In short, this is one VERY impressive site!

tag(s): agriculture (52), new york (23)

A great source of primary documents covering many topics of interest to grade school children including the real stories some of the people killed on Sept. 11. Although this is usually a pay site ($9.95/yr), free membership is available for educators, schools, and libraries. Each feature article is divided into "Story Chapter Links" and highlighted vocabulary clicks to photographs, maps, artifacts, documents, audio-visual clips, and articles with more information about the word. Topics offered include history, culture, literature, disasters, and media. You can find passages on topics related to almost any student's interests and use the resources to teacher reading skills. In December, 2006, Awesome Stories announced free accounts for individuals, as well, but for a "limited time." If you would like your students to be abe to use it at home, consider setting up accounts for students, as well, while they are free.

tag(s): dinosaurs (43), disasters (37), literature (221), movies (55), space (220)