Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Watch full episodes of your favorite PBS shows without having to record them. Videos may be searched by show name or by subject. Use the subscribe button to automatically subscribe to the show so you will never miss a new episode again.

tag(s): video (266)

This short article contains all the information you need to get started using QR codes in the classroom. The blog post begins with reasons to use QR codes and moves on to three parts: getting ready to use QR codes, teaching students to use the codes, and ideas for using codes in the classroom. One notable section explains common problems encountered using QR codes; this is an excellent resource to look through if you have difficulty at any time. Be sure to read the comments at the bottom of the post for some additional ideas for using QR codes in the classroom.
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tag(s): qr codes (18)

News Bites is a blog for kids presented by National Geographic. Updated often, this site presents short articles on current events. Many articles include links for further information or videos. Choose from keywords included with each article to find more information on similar topics. Search also by popular keywords or posts by category or date. Find archived articles by clicking the link at the bottom of the home page.
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tag(s): animals (295), endangered species (27), news (229), newspapers (93)

Teaching Kids News is an excellent, visual newspaper for kids grades 2 through 8. Set up in a typical newspaper format, articles contain interesting images and easy to read text. Use curriculum connections included with every article for an instant lesson plan or discussion starter. View by choosing category selections such as news, entertainment, science, politics, and more. One interesting and helpful feature is the use of tags with each article. Choose from clearly labeled tags to find other articles with similar topics. Included on the right side of the site are tags used most often on the entire site. Larger and bolder text indicates most widely used tags. Share articles easily using social media links included to most common sites such as Facebook and X (formerly Twitter). Read the How to Use This Site page for ideas on how to make the most of this site with students.

tag(s): literacy (122), news (229), newspapers (93)

Learn about the endangered languages of the world. See samples of the languages, research about the language and culture spotlighted, or even record the language. A world map provides an overview of the location and status of each language under examination. The status criteria vary: at risk, endangered, severely endangered, vitality unknown. Each section of the map includes a figure indicating the number of threatened languages in the area. Find other names for the language, number and names of dialects, the number of its speakers alive today, and the location of the language. Information is available for professional linguists about how to prepare a language documentation project and about that field's research methods.

tag(s): cross cultural understanding (173), word study (59)

A picture is worth a thousand words; a map with information is worth many thousands more. The World Atlas map powered by Esri is unique with its many layers of information. Layers include temperature data, habitats, volcano locations, natural resources, and more. The map uses street view and high detail aerial maps. Zoom into any aspect of the Earth, regardless of political boundaries (thanks to NASA, the World Bank, and Spotzi data). Browse from a variety of themes available including animals, temperatures, and tectonic plates. Use the search bar to zoom in to a specific area. Several tools are available along the top including a measuring tool.

tag(s): business (52), diseases (67), ecology (103), environment (252), natural disasters (18), natural resources (37), resources (84)

Use The Congressional Timeline to look each Congress's activity beginning with the 73rd (in 1933) up until the present. We sometimes forget "Congress" is not a single entity, and there have been over 110 Congresses since the founding of the United States. This is a fairly bare bones site, but with some helpful components. The most interesting is the ability to compare the actions of congress along the top timeline, with major events in history along the bottom timeline. What happened? What did Congress do? The events are all click-able and provide either a brief explanation or links to further information. Another useful function is the ability to filter results by keyword, which eliminates everything not associated with that keyword from the timelines. Also helpful is the ability to highlight events along the timelines by keyword. The keyword fields are completely open, so you will need to experiment a little with your word choice in order to return the most useful results. The timeline is also convenient for research in that it reduces legislative activity to an easy to access summary.

tag(s): branches of government (65), congress (40)

Do advertisers market to boys and girls differently? The answer is obvious: Yes! Beyond that, how does that affect children's development and society in general? This site does not offer a specific answer to those questions, but can make distinctions between boy-girl-centric advertising painfully clear. It is a simple concept: run the audio portion of an ad targeting boys under the video of an ad targeted to girls, or vice versa. Then consider what this "mashup" now communicates. The directions ask you to drag and drop icons; do not drag them to the big open box in the center of the page. Instead, drop one ad on the "audio" icon, and the other ad on the "video" icon; the mashup plays in the middle. If you go to the home page for the project, there are other "mashups" available focused on certain kinds of toys and advertising. You can view in either HTML 5 or Flash.

tag(s): advertising (26), consumers (14), media literacy (109), psychology (65), sociology (23), women (151)

This easy to use site is a large collection of maps and data sets for access by the public. Find maps, data, and charts for almost all countries. Choose from data categories that include Per Capita Income, Government Debt, Housing, Energy Consumption, Agricultural Production, and more. Select a data set to view. Choose the available countries from the drop-down. Export, download, or embed the data into your blog or site. Peruse community boards for information on statistics and apps for sharing on Knoema. Upload data and create presentations and pages with the data simply and easily. Find tutorials about all you can do with Knoema here.

tag(s): charts and graphs (171), countries (73), data (151), maps (220), statistics (121)

Create a live Internet radio show -- free -- with Spreaker! This super easy online tool creates podcasts instantly for you to share with your own URL, on Facebook, Google +, Soundcloud, X (formerly Twitter), or add to the Spreaker website. Follow others, or invite others to follow your podcasts. With a click of a button you are creating a live podcast. There is a free version and a more deluxe premium version. This review is for the free version.
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tag(s): communication (129), podcasts (108), radio (20)

Sozo offers daily online broadcasts for learning English. Older teens and adults will enjoy learning English through daily feature videos, pronunciation assists, and interview clips which include lesson features and online review exercises. You can contribute to online surveys, learn idioms, and take quizzes with free registration. Subject matter is designed for teens and adults.
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tag(s): figurative language (17), idioms (30), listening (93), news (229), pronunciation (34), vocabulary development (94)

Like the looks of Infographics but wish it were as easy as creating a Powerpoint? This website aims to empower you to easily create infographics in a short time. It is worth the free registration to gain access. Create beautiful Infographics by creating a title and then choosing a template or color scheme. Create your own templates using a range of color, label, and font choices. Click on the elements on the template to change the words, add widgets, create charts, and more. Use the slider along the top right to move between edit mode and preview mode. Go beyond traditional charts by including word clouds, treemaps, bubble charts, and more. Click Save as Template (helpful in creating labels and examples for students to follow) to save your style for later. Click Publish to make the Infographic public or private. You can save the Infographic as an image, share via URL, or use an embed code to place on a wiki, site, or blog. Click on your dashboard to view additional templates shared by creators and to find your Infographics. With the free plan you can create 5 infographics.

tag(s): data (151), infographics (56), posters (43), vocabulary (238)

This infographic depicts the trends and design strategies used to convey information in today's infographics. See stats on the visual devices used, topics, locations, and informational elements that are "trending" in infographic use. Whether you are an analytic person or a visual one, this site make you stop and think.

tag(s): graphic design (49), infographics (56)

Grand Challenges for Engineering shares information on several engineering problems that are just waiting for 21st century solutions. Engineering challenge information is presented and followed by a moderated response forum. Anyone may submit ideas, and no registration is required. Share your name and location on the planet, and your comments may be featured in the forum. There are video clips, interactives, ready to go activities, and more. Information about world needs and next steps towards solutions are available. These topics can be controversial, so preview before you share with the class.

tag(s): carbon (17), critical thinking (127), engineering (129), mars (26), medicine (57), nuclear energy (20), problem solving (233), scientific method (48), STEM (297)

Blog your way into the latest social technology using edublogs. Use the free service to set up a blog as a student, teacher, or campus. This education friendly tool avoids some of the "public interaction" that can offer inappropriate content. Upgrade to more advanced features, to include more options. The additional information on blogging makes this site very valuable even if you already have a blogging platform. Find a plethora of advice, tutorials, PDFs, and lesson plans for blogging. This site is a great reference site for all who are beginning to use blogs, or even look for more varied and effective ways to blog with students, or even other classes. Compare this tool to other free blogging tools mentioned in TeachersFirst's Blog Basics for the Classroom . This is a device-agnostic tool, available on the web but also available for free as both an Android and iOS app. Use it from any device or move between several devices and still access your work. App and web versions vary slightly.
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tag(s): blogs (65), communication (129), writing (325)

NetSmartz'''® is an interactive, Internet safety resource that uses 3-D activities to teach how to stay safe. Games, videos, and activities provide information using three characters - Clickie, Nettie, and Webster. This site has more than just your typical topics, such as: Inbox Defender Don't Open That File: A Computer Virus Game, The Password Rap, and much more. Router's Birthday Surprise includes a teacher's guide for classroom use along with an ongoing activity that can be saved and revisited at a later time. Be sure to check out Into the Cloud season 1 and 2. Although this site states that it is designed for ages 5-17, our editors found most of the activities were designed for elementary and middle school ages.

tag(s): computers (109), internet safety (114)

Watch and listen as popular authors talk about their nonfiction books on this C-SPAN companion website. Book TV features 48 continuous hours of nonfiction books every weekend. You can easily explore the archived programs, video library, or books and topics by searching the title, author, category, keyword, or browsing all of the listings. Watch the online videos or listen to podcasts of interviews with the authors from Book TV's After Words. There is a lot here to explore, and it appears to be ever-growing! You can find past telecast videos on YouTube, as well, in case you want to be able to download them to use offline. Click the YouTube menu. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.
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tag(s): biographies (94), independent reading (81), interviews (17), politics (118)

TED is the home of the award-winning TEDTalks video site, a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. In the beginning, the TEDTalks mission was to bring together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, and Design. However, its scope has broadened to challenge the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers to give the talk of their lives (in approximately 18 minutes or less). Find TEDTalks under the Watch tab on the top menu. At the time of this review, TED.com has more than 1,100 of the best talks and performances by speakers with powerful ideas from around the world. The talks are free and the collection continues to grow. The goal of the foundation is to foster the spread of great ideas, thus it aims to provide a platform for the world's smartest thinkers, greatest visionaries, and most-inspiring teachers, so that millions of people can gain a better understanding of the biggest issues faced by the world, and a desire to help create a better future. Easily search the site by topics, disciplines, newest releases, or most favorite. TEDTalks offers subtitles in various languages which enhances the accessibility for the hearing-impaired, and for those who speak English as a second language.

tag(s): cultures (180), politics (118)