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Best Word Book Ever - kokogiak on Flickr
Grades
4 to 12In the Classroom
Do you still have a favorite picture book from your childhood? Consider going to the library to find a more current version and compare the differences. Have your students ask their parents if they still have a copy of their favorite picture book, and they can pick up a copy of the current edition to compare. With older students, you can use the Best Word Book Ever comparison to see the changes in what is politically incorrect now that was in the earlier version. Students then discuss what society valued at the time of the older edition compared to what our current society values. There are not just the gender role differences (policeman vs the woman police officer). Look at the wording in the older version for behavioral expectations, too. Literature teachers could carry this one step further and make a comparison of the expectations of society at the time of a classic (Tom Sawyer, Pride and Prejudice ) and what society valued during that time. Students could make one of these comparisons using a program like Bookemon reviewed here, which creates interactive online books. Make sure your students adhere to Copyright laws if creating online. You may want to work offline using PowerPoint so student products can include copyrighted images under "Fair Use."IWitness - USC Shoah Foundation
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): digital storytelling (156), holocaust (42), jews (33), pearl harbor (14), world war 2 (161)
In the Classroom
This is a tremendously rich resource for bringing home the reality of the Holocaust using the words and images of survivors. The number of Holocaust Survivors is dwindling, and we risk losing the full impact of their experience without sites like IWitness. Search the interview archives by keyword or subject and view individual stories. Use the editing tools to collect portions of interviews into a new video presentation, use this as an introduction of the Halocaust to your students. Then, choose an Activity that is appropriate for your class. You'll find several activities for upper elementary, middle school, and high school levels. There is also one for K-2 and one for the university level. Create class projects and group them by classroom section and collect multiple student presentations. The site is flexible and geared toward educators. Don't miss the lesson plans and activity plans as well as a good collection of other resources. The site has clearly delineated technology requirements; it would be wise to consult those prior to planning an activity.Native Voices: Native Peoples - Concepts of Health and Illness - U. S. National Library of Health and Medicine
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): cross cultural understanding (173), medicine (57), native americans (109)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this site as a resource for Native American, American History, health, and other units. Read on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) together. Have groups of students read about individual tribes, then enhance learning by challenging students to create a newspaper article using the online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, to create a visual comparison of tribal beliefs-- or perhaps comparing with "mainstream" beliefs in their own culture.Constitution Day - ConstitutionDay.com
Grades
5 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): bill of rights (34), biographies (94), colonial america (95), constitution (98), history day (39), philadelphia (10)
In the Classroom
Share this site with students as a resource for reading and viewing the Constitution. Use Read Ahead, reviewed here with these articles as a guided reading activity for younger students. Read Ahead is perfect for introducing any reading passage to struggling readers, special education students, and ENL/ESL learners. Along with Read Ahead you may want to use Wordsift, reviewed here to help students identify the most important words used in the text. Challenge students to develop a fake social media presence about one of the founding fathers using Fakebook, reviewed here. This is a great resource for Constitution Day!CurriConnects Book List: USA Regional Books - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12tag(s): book lists (167), states (124)
In the Classroom
Go beyond state "reports" to state experiences by encouraging students to select independent reading books. Looking for more information about the states? For history, economics, facts, famous people, and sights to see in each state, try TeachersFirst's 50 States, the perfect complement to these independent reading selections. Even younger students would enjoy a "tour" of the states using some of the easier books on this list. Maybe have a read-aloud tour featuring one or two states per week throughout the school year.CurriConnects Book List: Immigrants and Immigration - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12tag(s): book lists (167), immigrants (34), immigration (68)
In the Classroom
Allow students to select books at their own level to understand immigrants and how their own ancestors may have felt upon arriving in the U.S. Perhaps have them write a blog post as if they had just arrived. Have students meet in literature circles as they discuss these books or hold an immigration day where students share the experiences they have read and how immigrants contribute to the many cultures in the U.S.CurriConnects Book List: Slavery - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12tag(s): book lists (167), civil war (139), slavery (79), underground railroad (15)
In the Classroom
As you study the Civil War and slavery, let students select books from this collection of fiction and historical fiction. As we honor and move beyond the 150th anniversary of many Civil War events, what better way for students to make a more personal connection to the people who lived during those tumultuous times.Electing the President - How Do You Make Up Your Mind? - History News Network
Grades
5 to 8This site includes advertising.
tag(s): elections (82), electoral college (22), presidents (136)
In the Classroom
Select components of the lesson as a supplement to your current election unit. Print the worksheet for students to use to identify topics that are important to them. Use information from this lesson to study and consider the influence of Social Media on elections, Have students use Screencast-o-matic, reviewed here, or Screencastify (Chrome app), reviewed here, to make narrated recordings about the use of social media, political advertisements, or any other election topic after completing the lesson on this site.In Their Footsteps: Walking the Picket Line - Brett Kelley
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): 1800s (75), civil war (139), gettysburg (15)
In the Classroom
Include this journal as part of your Civil War unit. Have students read this along with diaries and journals of actual Civil War soldiers. Compare and contrast his experience with those of the soldiers. Share one entry per day and have students create their own blog posts in response with possible questions they may have, how they would feel in the same situation, etc. If you are beginning the process of integrating technology, have students create blogs sharing their learning and understanding using Tumblr, reviewed here. For a more major project, create a blog as a class, having students take turns playing the role of one civil war soldier and adding to the blog daily.The Mind is a Metaphor - Brad Pasanek
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): literary devices (13)
In the Classroom
High school AP literature and history teachers or IB capstone classes will especially love this site. Share a metaphor a day as students are entering the class or on your class web site. Allow a student to choose one as today's Metaphor Master! Discuss the meaning together or use it as a quick writing prompt. Use the time period to discuss the historical context of the metaphor. Use these in your own presentations or require students to create a presentation explaining the metaphors you assign. Younger students just beginning to study metaphors can benefit from trying to interpret the metaphors as a group and presenting them to the class. Challenge students to try to create their own metaphors. Develop a class Metaphor Wiki for students to share metaphors. Not familiar with wikis? Check out the TeachersFirst Wiki Walk-Through.American Battlefield Trust - American Battlefield Trust
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): battles (18), civil war (139), emancipation proclamation (14), gettysburg (15), gettysburg address (12), Juneteenth (22), lincoln (67), slavery (79)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this site as an excellent resource for Civil War materials. Display different battle information on an interactive whiteboard or with a projector to discuss as a class. Share this site with students to use as a resource for class projects. Ask them to collect facts and resources using a bookmarking tool such as Wakelet, reviewed here. Have students use a mapping tool such as Google Earth, reviewed here, to create an audio (and visual) tour of pertinent battle sites. Challenge your students to use a site such as Sutori, reviewed here, to create an interactive timeline of important battles. With Sutori you can include text, images and collaboration. Have students make a multimedia presentation using Genial.ly, reviewed here.Promethean Planet - Promethean, Inc
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Before you try any of these activities, think about how you can make the lesson more student-centered. Find ideas in TeachersFirst's Hands off, Vanna! Giving Students Control of Interactive Whiteboard Learning . Browse the site for interactive whiteboard resources to download for classroom use. Bookmark and save favorites for later use. Download any resource, then tweak it to your individual needs. Have questions about creating Promethean Flipcharts? Post your question on the technical board to receive helpful replies. If you have a SmartBoard, be sure to check out the SmartBoard lessons and resources page located here. You will need to download the ActivInspire software (free).Do Lectures - Talks That Inspire Action - The Chicken Shed
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): business (52), careers (157), creativity (86), debate (42), environment (252), nutrition (140), psychology (65), sociology (23), video (266)
In the Classroom
Do Lectures are a great place to find inspiration and new ideas for your classroom. Many of the videos connect today's real world with curriculum topics, even in entrepreneurship, health, or family and consumer science classes. Use Do Lecture videos as the perfect supplement or launching point for units of study in your classroom. Find a video that supports the topics happening in your classroom. Share on your website for student viewing. Use on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) for a whole class discussion. Stop the video at various points to discuss or debate ideas included. Challenge cooperative learning groups to create videos in response to videos viewed on Do Lectures or their own topic. Share the videos on a site such as TeacherTube reviewed here. Teachers of gifted could plan an entire unit of study around one video or have students select one to use as the launch point for an independent project.Useful charts - UsefulCharts Publishing
Grades
5 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): art history (102), charts and graphs (172), grammar (137), multiple intelligences (7), myths and legends (37), poetry (194), politics (118), psychology (65), religions (95), solar system (107), space (220), timelines (56)
In the Classroom
Share a visual overview of a topic on projector or IWB before teaching or as a reference before lessons that zero in on subtopics. Use this site to teach data and the graphic display of data. Allow groups of students to choose a graphic and report to the class on how the data was made more meaningful using the graphics that were chosen. You may also want to share this link as a research tool for debates or presentations on science or social studies topics. Share the timeline or graphic on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Discuss the science, history, or math behind the data collected. Discuss other information and ways of presenting the information in order to create a more interesting graphic. Have students try their hand at creating an infographic using a tool such as Snappa.Dr. Seuss Went to War - UC San Diego
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): comics and cartoons (55), dr seuss (12), world war 2 (161)
In the Classroom
This collection offers rich opportunities during the study of World War II. Students can trace the tensions and events of the war year by year or by issue. Extend students' learning by having pairs or small groups create their own comic about a current event and explain it using Phrase.it, reviewed here, an image annotation tool that allows you to reference images by URL, add text, links, audio and video.PBS Video Online - PBS
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): video (266)
In the Classroom
Teachers you can now access videos from PBS without having to record them. Use the subject search to find videos relevant to a unit of study. Display videos with your projector or add a link to your class website so students can watch at home.The White House Tour - Google Maps
Grades
K to 12tag(s): presidents (136), virtual field trips (130), white house (16)
In the Classroom
Take your students on a virtual field trip! This is a great way for kids to "visit" the White House. Include it during inauguration week or any time you are studying U.S. government. Show the website using a projector, and have students write a tour script or a tale of something that might happen in the White House. Younger students might want to write a story from the President's dog's (or other pet's) point of view! Before using the site, you should familiarize yourself with how to use the Google Maps street view tools to navigate through the house. Better yet, have a student operate the tour on the whiteboard or projector.Edsitement - EdSitement
Grades
K to 12tag(s): art history (102), cultures (181), Juneteenth (22), literacy (121)
In the Classroom
Use Edsitement for lesson ideas in language, history, literature, and cultures. Find multiple sources to give a deeper comprehension on the subject matter. In history classes, keep the ongoing calendar in your favorites to celebrate an important historical day every day. Lesson plans cover multiple grade levels in many different subject areas. Resources can enrich, or even to give further explanation to current topics of study.Zinn Education Project - Zinn Education Project
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): african american (116), bias (27), black history (133), civil rights (209), hispanic (36), racism (79), women (151)
In the Classroom
If you are looking for additional teaching materials that focus on issues of social justice, racism, or which provide information from a progressive point of view, you can search by time period or theme (i.e., African American, Mexico, Hispanic, Latinx, LGBT, War and Anti-War, Civil Rights, Racism, and many more). The teaching materials are in PDF format you can download once you log in. Language arts teachers will find the articles here great for nonfiction reading and terrific as discussion starters!Tesla - Master of Lightning - PBS
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): electricity (61), energy (133), industrial revolution (22), inventors and inventions (80), motion (47), radio (20)