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HIV and AIDS Resources - TeachersFirst
Grades
6 to 12
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This collection of reviewed resources from TeachersFirst is selected to help teachers and students learn more about HIV and AIDS and to plan curriculum-related projects and classroom...more
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This collection of reviewed resources from TeachersFirst is selected to help teachers and students learn more about HIV and AIDS and to plan curriculum-related projects and classroom activities related to this sensitive but important topic. Whether you are teaching about the global economic impact of HIV and AIDS or simply helping students understand HIV and AIDS as a health topic, this list of reviewed resources and classroom ideas will provide a solid foundation.
In the Classroom
Find ideas and more as you plan for upcoming lessons on this powerful topic.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Free Documentaries - freedocumentaries.org
Grades
8 to 12
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This website is a source of free, downloadable documentaries. It is a nonprofit site. The site explains, "you can stream interesting and provocative documentary films for free!" Teachers...more
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This website is a source of free, downloadable documentaries. It is a nonprofit site. The site explains, "you can stream interesting and provocative documentary films for free!" Teachers will want to preview before you share with your class simply because of what "provocative" could mean. Most films are full length, but some are short. There is a helpful menu of topics on the right hand side of the computer screen. This menu makes it easy to navigate and find the type of documentary that is needed. Documentaries range from 9/11 and the London Bombing to The Road to Guantanamo to The Panama Deception to many others.
In the Classroom
Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. View clips relevant to your topics of study. Use this website to contrast a documentary with the facts that are being taught. Use this site as a point-counterpoint to other perspectives available on the web as part of a discussion of bias. Compare and contrast analysis of the materials versus the known facts is one good use for this website. A short documentary could be shown during class as a launch point for students to create their own documentary style video projects. Share the videos using a site such as Teachers.TV (explained here). Teachers of gifted and high achievers will great possibilities for challenging critical thinking using this site.
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English Central - englishcentral.com
Grades
5 to 12
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This site teaches English pronunciation to students by showing videos and TV programs on a wide variety of subjects. Listeners then pronounce the speech selection and record it to the...more
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This site teaches English pronunciation to students by showing videos and TV programs on a wide variety of subjects. Listeners then pronounce the speech selection and record it to the site. The site grades the student's pronunciation and shows where they have errors. The site also offers more practice for problem areas in students' pronunciations. With a free registration, students practice and keep track of their problems and progress. Video categories include Business, Daily Life, Dining/Food, Environment, Movies & TV, Music, News & Politics, Shopping, Social Life, Sports, Technology, Travel, and Video Gaming. Along with the variety of topics and subjects to appeal to everyone, English Central allows students to sort listening selections into three levels of difficulty.
Registration does require an email address. Tip: rather than using your personal or work email, create a free Gmail account to use for memberships. If you plan to have students register individually, you may want to create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes.If you plan to have students register individually, you may want to create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes. Here is a blog post that tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service.
Registration does require an email address. Tip: rather than using your personal or work email, create a free Gmail account to use for memberships. If you plan to have students register individually, you may want to create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes.If you plan to have students register individually, you may want to create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes. Here is a blog post that tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service.
tag(s): listening (86), pronunciation (41), speech (87)
In the Classroom
Refer your ESL/ELL or speech articulation students to this site to use with a microphone to record their voices. Be sure to show them the demo so they can learn how to use the tools on the site and click to "allow" the mike to record. Help weaker readers by allowing them to see the text of film clips as they listen along, then speak the words back. As they practice English pronunciation, they will also be learning about current events and other topics. Save this site in your favorites on your classroom computer. List this site on your class webpage for students to access (and practice) both in and out of the classroom. Check you school policies before setting up any student accounts with identifiable information or real email addresses.
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350.org - 350.org
Grades
5 to 12
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Join the movement to urge citizens and lawmakers to take steps to reduce global CO2 levels to the number 350. Click on the "About" tab to learn the science, hear ...more
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Join the movement to urge citizens and lawmakers to take steps to reduce global CO2 levels to the number 350. Click on the "About" tab to learn the science, hear about the actions, and view media. Participate in activities such as "Days of Action." Register and sign up for email and text messages. Tip: rather than using your personal or work email, create a free Gmail account to use for memberships. If you plan to have students register individually, you may want to create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes. IIf you plan to have students register individually, you may want to create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes. Here is a blog post that tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service.Learn from people around the world about how they are spreading the word about climate change.
tag(s): climate (93), climate change (70), earth (223), earth day (104), environment (322)
In the Classroom
View resources from around the world to look at the organized events conducted. Use these ideas to create a local event or identify the ways others have created communities around global climate action. Use information on the site to create Public Service Announcements, newsletters, or blog posts. Invite students to research sites on both sides of the issue, analyze them, and check information for accuracy. Create a blogging challenge or pledge for students to follow for forty days as a way to create change one family at a time. How about creating a 40 day class wiki about 350 and other global climate action? Not comfortable with wikis? Have no wiki worries - check out the TeachersFirst's Wiki Walk-Through.
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The Olympic Games - Enchanted Learning
Grades
K to 5
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This site was originally created for the Summer Olympics, but many of the activities are useful for the Winter Olympics as well. Although some of the printables are available to ...more
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This site was originally created for the Summer Olympics, but many of the activities are useful for the Winter Olympics as well. Although some of the printables are available to members only, this site does includes some excellent FREE information on the history of the Olympics, maps, flags, Greek alphabet, writing activities, graphic organizers, "Invent a New Olympic Sport" challenge, and more. If nothing else, the printables offer some great ideas to implement in your classroom (for example, "Write a Sentence for Each Sports-Related Word").
tag(s): olympics (52), poetry (221), puzzles (205), sports (98)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the ideas presented at this site (if you are a member or not). Share certain maps or handouts on your interactive whiteboard. Use this site to teach your students more about the history of the games.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Powering a Nation - The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Grades
6 to 12
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Who is right when it comes to energy, its creation, and its use? Many of the issues are difficult to understand, and all sides are usually not heard. This site ...more
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Who is right when it comes to energy, its creation, and its use? Many of the issues are difficult to understand, and all sides are usually not heard. This site offers a great introductory animated presentation explaining many of the concepts and problems. Students hear the stories about industries, people affected, and the ways that our society contributes to energy problems. After sharing the initial presentation, scroll down the page to read and/or watch more about "Climate Refugees," "Mining the Mountains," "Debating Coal's Future," and several other topics. New topics are added frequently. And at the time of this review, this site was kept very up to date. Articles and resources offer different angles on energy issues. Look for articles that are all about the lives of all people, how energy works, energy issues of today, and the future of energy. The variety of topics at this site is great, as is the material. If you teach science, social studies, geography, or current events, don't miss this site.
tag(s): coal (14), energy (210), fossil fuels (18)
In the Classroom
Share the video clips on your interactive whiteboard or projector for some deep class discussion and debate. Use any of the articles as a starting point in class or simply to introduce an energy unit, then revisit new issues throughout the unit. For example, read "Power from Plants" to learn about biofuels, their use, and future for energy. Read about a few biofuels. Students can then find information on other biofuels, their use, and problems with the use. Students can find data on use of fuels, analyze and make recommendations, create literature such as brochures, wiki or blog pages, or other displays to show information for others to understand. Create a debate in your classroom using the opposing voices for and against use of certain fuels. Why not have cooperative learning groups create multimedia presentations to present their findings. Give the groups some options, such as creation online posters using a site such as Padlet (reviewed here). Have students create informational commercials and share them using a tool such as SchoolTube reviewed here. Or create a class wiki on types of energy researches, the good, bad, and ugly! Not comfortable with wikis? Have no wiki worries - check out the TeachersFirst's Wiki Walk-Through.
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Global Issues - Global Issues
Grades
9 to 12
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Global Issues are on the minds of students and are applicable in a variety of different classes. Use this site to find articles (frequently updated) on and related topics. Pages ...more
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Global Issues are on the minds of students and are applicable in a variety of different classes. Use this site to find articles (frequently updated) on and related topics. Pages can be printed or emailed/bookmarked to another who is interested. Use an RSS feed to stay up to date on changes to the site. Though many of the articles are written by the site owner, the articles have extensive facts, graphs, links, and charts.
tag(s): news (258)
In the Classroom
Use this site to raise awareness of global issues or as material to teach critical research or expository writing. Students can research other sources for information to verify or debunk the material in the article. Students can analyze information from various sources for bias and use of facts. Have students use this as one of several sources for support in persuasive essays or letters to the editor. Use the articles to practice important reading skills, such as main idea or summarizing, marking up the article on interactive whiteboard. Students can also post findings, viewpoints, and solutions onto a personal or class blog. Have cooperative learning groups choose a topic to research and become "experts" about. Have the groups create multimedia presentations to share with the rest of the class. Have students create a multimedia presentation using ThingLink, reviewed here. Challenge students to find a related photo (legally permitted to be reproduced), and then narrate the photo as if it is a news report. To find Creative Commons images for student projects (with credit, of course), try Compfight, reviewed here. Have students use a mapping tool such as Zeemaps, reviewed here, to create a map (with audio) where the global issues are taking place. Another option, have students create videos and share them on a tool such as SchoolTube, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Job Voyager - ipums.org
Grades
8 to 12
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This interactive graph (created with information from the 2000 U.S. Census) shows all jobs and the percentages of people who worked them from 1850-2000. Students can scroll up over...more
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This interactive graph (created with information from the 2000 U.S. Census) shows all jobs and the percentages of people who worked them from 1850-2000. Students can scroll up over any given year to see any job and the percentage of Americans working that job during that year (gender indicated). A few do have "missing data," but most are complete. By clicking on the job, a new screen appears which shows the percentage of workers but divides the workers into male and female (pink and blue traditional colors help to differentiate between the genders). The site reflects the growing number of female workers, the loss of agrarian occupations, and the changing fields of importance, to name a few trends. Besides viewing the breakdown of male and female employees, you can also select one field and analyze its place in society today and during any given year. Occupations range from teachers to salesman to farmer to clerical worker and countless others. You can also search by letter and all the occupations beginning with that letter will come up graphed by percentages across the span of years.
tag(s): time (138)
In the Classroom
This is a great find for the interactive whiteboard or projector. Share this site with career counseling staff, as well. Use this site when studying U.S. history and economics. Compare the role in society of various occupations (such as a farm laborer) from the 1850s to 2000. Have students hypothesize about why the changes occurred and predict what might show in census data in 2010 and beyond. Use this when teaching graph reading and graph creation, as well. As with any data on the Internet, you will want to challenge students on how they know whether this data set is reliable -- what is the source?
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Going for the Gold - 2009 United States Olympic Committee
Grades
2 to 12
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Follow the United States Olympic athletes at this interactive website. Find out current news about the athletes, read biographical information, read the athlete's blogs, watch video...more
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Follow the United States Olympic athletes at this interactive website. Find out current news about the athletes, read biographical information, read the athlete's blogs, watch video clips, explore the articles, and more. Click on "Resources" and then "U.S. Olympic Education" to find some lesson ideas to use in your classroom. There are some minor advertisements at this website.
In the Classroom
Use this site to research American athletes. Share the video clips, read the blogs, and view the pictures on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Don't miss the lesson ideas (in the "Resources" section). Share this site on your class website, so families can follow the U.S. Olympians.
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Equal Exchange's Fair Trade Curriculum & Educational Resources - Equal Exchange
Grades
4 to 10
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This collection of pdf lesson plans centers around 3 main topics: how we get our food, what the Fair Trade movement is doing for farmers and eaters, and what coops ...more
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This collection of pdf lesson plans centers around 3 main topics: how we get our food, what the Fair Trade movement is doing for farmers and eaters, and what coops are. The complete curriculum is downloadable and printable, and the daily lessons at this site offer support and extra activities. One lesson, translated for Spanish teachers, offers students an activity so they can understand "What's Fair?" One of the most exciting parts of the website is a collection of videos of Dominican children talking in Spanish about cocoa production! The lesson plans include a variety of activities for students and include projects in math, writing, civics, research, geography, art, music, and international culture.
tag(s): air (146)
In the Classroom
Use these lessons as part of a unit in social studies, Family and Consumer Science, or several other subjects. Take your students on a visit to a local food coop or invite one of their members to speak to your class live or via Skype (explained here.). Have students do a project comparing coop grocery sales with the more commercial establishments. Maybe even have student groups create an online Venn Diagram comparing the two using a site such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram (reviewed here). If you have international students from the Dominican Republic or other cocoa producing countries, share this site with them and allow them to compare what the students say on the video to their own experiences. Create your own videotaped interviews with food growers or their families. Share the videos using a tool such as Teachers.TV reviewed here.
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TweenTribune - Alan Jacobson
Grades
K to 12
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TweenTribune has joined with Smithsonian and now offers the news in Lexile levels for k-4, 5-8, 9-12. That is not the only change. The Smithsonian TweenTribune now has several ...more
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TweenTribune has joined with Smithsonian and now offers the news in Lexile levels for k-4, 5-8, 9-12. That is not the only change. The Smithsonian TweenTribune now has several new features, including a Dashboard for assignments and classrooms, assigning a story to all with one click, and self-scoring quizzes for articles. There are now free apps for the iPad and iPhone. TweenTribune continues to include open-ended critical thinking questions and a daily quiz using multiple sources. This site is still jam packed with current news stories that are chosen by site coordinators for all reading levels. The articles are easy to read, relate to, and understand. The site is easy to navigate with a subject indexed toolbar, and it is searchable. All stories are current because the creators scour the internet weekly for age-appropriate material. It greatly reduces the pressure of searching by giving an article research tool that is much more specific than simply using a search engine.
tag(s): news (258), newspapers (98)
In the Classroom
The sky is the limit for potential and possibilities with this website. There are some minor warnings. If you want to allow your students to post to a blog, you will need to create a class and then have them enroll. The great news is that is free. As the teacher, you can moderate or delete posts before they are public. There are lessons available on the site as well as a "Teacher's Lounge" where lesson ideas can be exchanged. In a language arts classroom, students could be assigned to read and blog as a weekly writing assignment. The teacher can assign a specific article or have students choose. Have students read their articles on a podcast using podOmatic, reviewed here. In science, articles from this site could be used to supplement science textbook reading with current articles that better interest students. Articles are short and provide quick practice pieces for non-fiction reading comprehension. Project a story and ask students to write their own sentence for the main idea or to summarize. These quick pieces would fit well on your interactive whiteboard. SmithsonianTweenTribune Espanol allows students to read daily news articles in Spanish and post comments about the stories they read. Teachers moderate all comments before the comments are posted.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Newsy - newsy.com
Grades
5 to 12
5 Favorites
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This site presents current news stories from multiple perspectives, featuring videos and commentary from the world's top newspapers. All the video news clips offer a complete transcript...more
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This site presents current news stories from multiple perspectives, featuring videos and commentary from the world's top newspapers. All the video news clips offer a complete transcript (click on "transcript" just below the video window). General topics covered include the U.S., the world, the environment, culture, technology, economy, and politics. Students can see short news clips, make comments blog style, and read news articles from newspapers around the world. Anyone can view the material, but you must register to be able to make comments. Check your school policies about accessing/sharing student email on school computers. If you plan to have students register individually, you may want to create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes. Here is a blog post that tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service.
tag(s): news (258), newspapers (98)
In the Classroom
This site is ideal for your interactive whiteboard or projector, learning station, or on individual computers (with headsets). Use this site to keep your students up to date on current events. Have students compare the different versions of the same news stories to try and ferret out the facts and the way points of view affect reporting. Project the scripts on an interactive whiteboard to have students highlight language choices that provide a certain slant. ESL/ELL students will benefit from listening to the short news clips and being able to see the transcript of the report. Have your ESL/ELL students write their own comprehension questions and answers based on the podcast to check their own comprehension and to exchange with classmates. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram (reviewed here) to compare the differences in two newspapers' versions of the same news. Have ESL/ELL students present the news from a newspaper familiar to them if possible by having them prepare an introduction and questions. Learning support students can use the transcripts and videos in combination to understand and report weekly current events assignments for social studies class.
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The Big Picture - Boston.com (Part of the Boston Globe)
Grades
6 to 12
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This website offers large, poignant, and significant pictures from different current events and history. The pictures are stunning and definitely help tell the story which further...more
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This website offers large, poignant, and significant pictures from different current events and history. The pictures are stunning and definitely help tell the story which further enhances student understanding. The site can be searched by category or by archived dates. Although this site doesn't appear to be updated on a regular basis, it is updated at least once every few months. Note: the images are large so may take a while to load! It is worth the wait.
You are able to post comments. You may want to preview the comments before allowing students to view. Posting comments requires an email address. Check your school's acceptable use policy regarding student email use. Rather than using your personal or work email, create a free Gmail account to use for memberships. If you plan to have students register individually, you may want to create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes. Here is a blog post that tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service.
You are able to post comments. You may want to preview the comments before allowing students to view. Posting comments requires an email address. Check your school's acceptable use policy regarding student email use. Rather than using your personal or work email, create a free Gmail account to use for memberships. If you plan to have students register individually, you may want to create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes. Here is a blog post that tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service.
tag(s): news (258)
In the Classroom
This site would be great for a multitude of subjects and may be best implemented with an interactive whiteboard or projector. One suggestion is to show a picture on the board as students enter the room and pose one question about it. It would create a great prompt for discussion or journaling. Students could also access pictures and create their own stories or presentations of the actual events. Students could create a news story and post it to the classroom wiki where available. Do you want to learn more about wikis? Check out the TeachersFirst's Wiki Walk-Through.
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Refdesk - Refdesk
Grades
2 to 12
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Use this free site for finding the best information on the Internet. Enter the search term directly into the fields you wish. Refdesk provides many search engines to choose from. ...more
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Use this free site for finding the best information on the Internet. Enter the search term directly into the fields you wish. Refdesk provides many search engines to choose from. Use the dictionary and thesaurus, search literature, scan news, or read about articles, pictures, or headlines of the day. Refdesk provides one place to find an abundant amount of information at your fingertips. Students should be cautioned to not click on ads which are scattered throughout the site.
In the Classroom
Use this link in the resources section of your wiki, blog, or website for students to quickly find or use information from the Internet. Build information literacy as your students do research. As a beginning activity, have students use the same search term but use different search engines and identify the differences in the top results. Use Refdesk to find interesting information for writing prompts or discussions/blog posts for the day. Use this site for research projects, homework help, and more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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News for You Online - New Readers Press
Grades
4 to 10
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This online version of the traditionally used ESL/ELL newspaper, "News for You," has a few up to date stories available for free and an archive of stories from the past ...more
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This online version of the traditionally used ESL/ELL newspaper, "News for You," has a few up to date stories available for free and an archive of stories from the past few months as well. Besides reading the stories, students can also hear them. The accompanying teacher's guide in pdf format has comprehension and discussion questions, vocabulary help, and a loosely related grammar activity. A separate classroom ideas section has something appropriate for nearly all classrooms.
To read/listen to the articles, you must put in an email address. Tip: rather than using your personal or work email, create a free Gmail account to use for memberships. If you plan to have students register individually, you may want to create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes. Here is a blog post that tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service.
To read/listen to the articles, you must put in an email address. Tip: rather than using your personal or work email, create a free Gmail account to use for memberships. If you plan to have students register individually, you may want to create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes. Here is a blog post that tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service.
tag(s): news (258)
In the Classroom
Have students make a vocabulary list of new words they see/hear from the stories each week. Include a story from NFY every week to present a slightly different take on the television news or paper news headlines. Have your students create their own "headline" news and video the projects! Share the videos using a tool such as TeacherTube reviewed here.
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Real Clear Politics - Real Clear Politics
Grades
9 to 12
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If you are a politics geek, this site will occupy you for hours! "Real Clear Politics" is a collection of video clips, editorials, blog postings, and news stories on current ...more
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If you are a politics geek, this site will occupy you for hours! "Real Clear Politics" is a collection of video clips, editorials, blog postings, and news stories on current politics. The site strives to capture both the left and the right, and "everything in between" and carries the full range from Limbaugh to Olbermann; from the Wall Street Journal to the Nation. If you and your students don't have time to catch all the evening commentary programs, read half a dozen papers, and search the blogsphere for facts and opinion (and who does?) this site might be a great place to start each day. Stories are categorized by date and by topic and there is a link to video content.
tag(s): politics (98)
In the Classroom
Make this site available in Favorites on your classroom computer for students to refer to often when they have questions about current events or politics or build deeper understanding. You may also want to list this link on your class website or wiki, so students can access the page both in and out of the class. Consider using the site as an icebreaker at the beginning of a class: pick one of the polls or short video clips (share it on your interactive whiteboard or projector) and discuss. Use the site to demonstrate how to negotiate the partisanship in political reporting on television and to teach students about how political bias affects the tenor of the conversation about current events. After doing research, have cooperative learning groups create podcasts or video commercials highlighting a recent event or political figure. Create FREE podcasts using a site such as PodOmatic (reviewed here). Share student-made videos on a site such as Teachers.TV reviewed here.
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Frontline: Breaking the Bank - PBS
Grades
9 to 12
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A website connected to an episode of Frontline, this site looks at the recent collapse of several large "superbanks," and how these bank failures have been connected to the general...more
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A website connected to an episode of Frontline, this site looks at the recent collapse of several large "superbanks," and how these bank failures have been connected to the general economic downturn. Many PBS shows' sites are built around the concept of having students "watch the show and discuss"; these require teachers to buy or find a copy of episode. However, this site includes access to the full episode (requires Flash), which can be viewed as a whole or in sections. The resource list is very comprehensive and would give students who are researching national or global economics many good sources. Finally, there is analysis, set up in Q&A format that stands alone, and could be used if you don't want to use classtime to view the video episode.
In the Classroom
Although this site deals with the 2008-2009 banking crisis at a level that is probably more in-depth than most teachers have the opportunity to deal with, it would be useful for an economics class or a recent American history class. You might consider some portions of it during a discussion of the Great Depression in the 1930s, to help students connect that economic time with the present. Finally, this might be a good resource site for students who are interested or who are working on more comprehensive projects. Why not have students create a multimedia presentation of their own demonstrating their understanding of the connection between the bank failures and the economic downturn. Have students create (and respond) on class wikis. Not comfortable with wikis? Have no wiki worries - check out the TeachersFirst's Wiki Walk-Through.
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Swine Flu: What you Need to Know - Nemours
Grades
K to 12
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Nemours' balanced approach makes this explanation of swine flu very helpful for parents, teachers, and kids alike. Not only does the article share the basic facts and simple strategies...more
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Nemours' balanced approach makes this explanation of swine flu very helpful for parents, teachers, and kids alike. Not only does the article share the basic facts and simple strategies fo staying healthy. Included are links to related articles for kids and for teens. In the lower area of the page (just below the clickable page numbers), look for "More on this topic" and click on the tab "For Kids" or "For Teens." The common-sense approach will help prevent spread of the disease and reassure frightened students in terms they can understand.
In the Classroom
Share this resource with your building principal and with parents to help control any panic about a possible pandemic.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Kidscoop - Kid Scoop
Grades
1 to 6
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This website accompanies Kidscoop, a feature in many local newspapers, but it is not necessary to have this section in your paper to enjoy the benefits of the site. Find ...more
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This website accompanies Kidscoop, a feature in many local newspapers, but it is not necessary to have this section in your paper to enjoy the benefits of the site. Find activities for kids, parents, and teachers that focus on the real news of the day. Interactive activities for kids include news summaries with pictures, word searches, book reviews, quizzes and polls of the week among many other activities. Teacher offerings include links to Newspapers in Education materials already familiar to many educators. Also, there are lesson plan banks, coupons, activity ideas to use with newspapers, weblinks, etc. Take some time to explore this great resource! Other offerings include a free subscription to a weekly newsletter and weekly writing prompts. Although many resources are available for purchase, there is plenty of free content that will be useful. Some features require Adobe Acrobat Reader. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
tag(s): news (258), newspapers (98)
In the Classroom
Find classroom follow-ups for leading news stories. Have your children write their own stories and create their own activities using these as models. Use the writing prompts to help children better grasp important news issues. Why not create an online newspaper for your class on a wiki? Learn more about wikis at TeachersFirst's Wiki Walk-ThroughAdd your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Immigration Explorer - NY Times
Grades
3 to 12
4 Favorites
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This site offers an interactive map that displays the population and ethnicity of the counties of the United States. Readers can select various ethnic groups and find out where they...more
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This site offers an interactive map that displays the population and ethnicity of the counties of the United States. Readers can select various ethnic groups and find out where they settled. A drop down menu has lists of immigrant groups. The color coded map of the U.S. displays settlement locations for specified groups. Separate countries available include many Asian and European countries. African countries are not listed separately, unfortunately. Another feature allows students to move the timeline marker to show immigration in different years. The timeline includes the 1880s through the 2000s. This interactive map does require Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
tag(s): immigration (61), migration (58)
In the Classroom
Share this map on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Use with your ESL/ELL students to show the class where most settlers from their specific countries go. Talk about your American students' origins and check to see where their ancestors may have settled. Use this interactive map to teach about various kinds of map making and map keys. Use this site to reinforce your students' understanding of timelines. Have cooperative learning groups investigate a specific decade. Challenge the groups to create multimedia presentations to share with the class: blog post from a settler during their "decade" or maybe an interactive timeline of a fictitious settler family using a tool such as TimeRime (explained here).
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