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return to subject listingPreparing Students for Difficult Conversations - FacingHistory.org
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): civil rights (200), journalism (72), media literacy (106), racism (79), social media (54)
In the Classroom
As an introduction to the lesson, one of the activities is to ask students to brainstorm a list of teens' news resources and a list of news resources used by parents or older people. Use Microsoft Whiteboard, reviewed here, or Google Jamboard, reviewed here, to create and analyze your lists. Use the whiteboard tools to create lists, Venn Diagrams, and add notes to extend student reflections on different news sources. Turn the Know-Heard-Learned Chart included in the lesson into an editable worksheet to use as a collaborative document to record student understanding of any events' timeline.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Say Their Names - Chicago Public Schools
Grades
K to 12tag(s): civil rights (200), courts (20), politics (114), racism (79)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this document as a guide to discussing racism in the classroom and as a link to many additional materials. Organize your resources using a curation tool such as Padlet, reviewed here. Use the shelf option in Padlet to create columns to organize information. For example, create columns to sort materials by grade levels or by type of content. As you teach lessons, use a mind mapping tool like Coggle, reviewed here, to organize and share complex information. Extend learning using Adobe Express Video Maker, reviewed here, to create student-produced explainer videos sharing their ideas on addressing racism, media literacy strategies, or steps to help others through difficult times.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Lowdown: The Obama Years, A Retrospective Lesson Plan - PBS Learning Media
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): 20th century (62), black history (130), presidents (133)
In the Classroom
As you explore the interactive timeline together as a class or with small groups, use a simple polling tool like SurveyPlanet, reviewed here, to assess student understanding of the different events on the timeline. Use SurveyPlanet to add each event to a poll and ask students to weigh in on their opinion on if the event was an accomplishment or a setback to the Obama administration. Use an online curation tool such as Padlet, reviewed here, to organize and share additional resources with students to enhance learning. For example, create a Padlet with columns for each year of the Obama presidency and add online articles from different resources that discuss each event. Extend learning by asking students to apply their knowledge of the Obama presidency and compare it to another president's term in office using one of the storytelling tools found at Knight Lab, reviewed here. Scroll down Knight Lab's main page to find options that include a Storyline to tell the stories behind numbers, StoryMap - maps that tell numbers, and a timeline creation tool.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Todays News, Tomorrows Lesson - Share My Lesson
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): journalism (72), news (227), politics (114)
In the Classroom
Bookmark this site for use with any current events lessons and as a resource for finding fact-based information to use to help understand modern history. Most of the discussion questions ask students to defend a point of view based on the shared topic. Use technology tools to help students organize their thinking and share their questions and responses. Engage students in the learning process using Fiskkit, reviewed here, as a collaborative discussion tool for sharing online articles related to the topic discussed. Fiskkit offers tools for annotating and collaboratively discussing online information. Share student opinions and discussions using Gravity, reviewed here. Ask students to respond to the discussion question within Gravity using their fact-based research. Use the comment feature to encourage collaboration and student discussion. As a final project, extend learning by asking students (or student groups) to share their responses as part of a multimedia presentation that includes student writing, videos, maps, and infographics. Have students use a presentation tool such as Sway, reviewed here, or Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here, to share their final projects.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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News and Media Literacy Resource Center - Common Sense Media
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): bias (27), journalism (72), media literacy (106), news (227), social media (54)
In the Classroom
Bookmark this site to take advantage of the many curated resources for teaching media and news literacy. Use a curation tool like Padlet, reviewed here, to save and share favorite resources found on this site with students. Use the shelf option in Padlet to create columns and organize information by topic, type of content, or for use by different groups of students. Enhance instruction by asking students to become creators of information as they share their learning. Have students use Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here, to create infographics to demonstrate different forms of media bias or to share facts learned from news articles. Extend learning even further by asking students to create blogs using edublogs, reviewed here, to demonstrate how to write and share the news using credible information and factual resources.Comments
This is such a valuable resource and it's so helpful to have one collection that I know has been vetted with accurate, useful information that teachers can use for themselves as well as with their students. I also love the "In the Classroom" section with suggestions for ways to use the information and resources.Peggy, AZ, Grades: 0 - 8
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Talking About Race and Privilege: Lesson Plan for Middle and High School Students - National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): civil rights (200), psychology (67), racism (79)
In the Classroom
Include this lesson plan with your other resources when teaching lessons on racism and social injustice, either in-person or through remote or blended learning situations. Instead of using paper charts as mentioned in the lesson, use a digital chart creation resource such as Lucidchart, reviewed here, to create collaborative digital workspaces. Lucidchart includes several features that expand learning through the use of commenting, real-time collaboration, and colorful visual displays. Guide students in how to think through reflection questions using topics available in Thinkalong, reviewed here. Thinkalong offers an interactive multimedia format that guides students through investigations that lead them to contemplate possible solutions to serious problems.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Teaching The New Jim Crow - Tolerance.org
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): civil rights (200), courts (20), politics (114), racism (79)
In the Classroom
Incorporate this free unit as a guide to teaching the sensitive topics of race and justice with or without using the novel. As you begin your unit, use AnswerGarden, reviewed here, as an anonymous brainstorming and response tool. Use AnswerGarden by forming open-ended questions such as "The hard part of talking about racism is..." or "The beneficial part of talking about racism is..." as a way to elicit student ideas without students being concerned about sharing ideas orally with their peers. Use AnswerGarden in various ways throughout the unit to gauge student ideas and responses to lesson topics. All of the lessons include essential questions and big ideas, use Gravity, reviewed here as a collaborative tool to encourage student conversations through Gravity's video response options. Extend learning using podcasts as a format for students to share their learning about race and our justice system. For example, PodcastGenerator, reviewed here, for students to create podcasts to discuss different components of race relations and the justice system.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Coronavirus Resource Page for Students - New York Times Learning Network
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): diseases (69), journalism (72), news (227), newspapers (91)
In the Classroom
Engage students in learning about the coronavirus by sharing this link with students on your class website. Ask them to browse through information on the site, including opinion pieces as a starting point for writing an opinion piece. Guide students toward learning techniques for presenting a persuasive argument by viewing the site ProCon, reviewed here, to demonstrate methods for sharing both sides of an argument. Take advantage of the many picture prompts shared by the New York Times to encourage student creativity. Use Gravity, reviewed here to promote student voice by sharing a picture prompt from this site and asking students to share their ideas. Be sure to turn on and allow commenting to promote student collaboration and discussion.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Thinkalong - Conneticut Public
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): critical thinking (117), debate (40), inquiry (24), media literacy (106), news (227), persuasive writing (57), Research (84)
In the Classroom
Whether teaching in a classroom or online, scan the included PDF or Word documents into Google Classroom or your school student/teacher platform to share and assign to students. Enhance student learning by asking students to use highlighting and note-taking tools within their word document to provide documentation for their responses. To prepare students for Common Core Assessments on evidence and arguments, have them choose a popular topic, research it (with the materials provided) so they can provide evidence for their stance when writing about their opinion or to refute another's. The debate section is the perfect opportunity to teach students about countering an opposing opinion, deciding which is the strongest point, and then teach them how to address concerns of others in their writing or debate. For example, they can concede it is a valid point and then counter with another strong argument. Consider sharing the activities found on this site with your peers as a model for redesigning lessons you already use in your classroom (for online learning during absences and crises?). Use Padlet, reviewed here, to collaborate and share ideas, activities, and resources as you work toward incorporating inquiry lessons into your classrooms.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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American Experience - PBS
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): 1800s (75), 1900s (73), blues (22), civil rights (200), great depression (30), heroes (25), jazz (17), medicine (56), presidents (133), weather (161), womens suffrage (46)
In the Classroom
The films, videos, and articles provided on this site offer many opportunities to include primary sources within any American or world history unit. Bookmark this site to share first-hand information on world events with your students. Enhance learning by asking students to create video timelines using Timelinely, reviewed here, that includes maps, videos, and links to relevant information as a way to understand the complete picture of world events. For students who enjoy drama or journalism, ask them to produce podcasts using Buzzsprout, reviewed here. Use podcasts for students to role-play events throughout history as told from a variety of perspectives.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Coronavirus Lesson Plans and Resources - Share My Lesson
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Be sure to see the many free resources found on this site for use during health lessons. Add the ideas for implementing remote learning to your toolkit of ideas to use for unexpected school shutdowns due to weather, power failure, or any other unforeseen circumstances. Use Wakelet, reviewed here, to create templates for student lessons and responses, then copy the template and edit to fit the needs of your remote lesson. Incorporate the coronavirus lessons into your current health and science lessons to teach students about the spread of disease. Enhance learning by using Google My Maps, reviewed here, for digital storytelling to demonstrate the flow of diseases across the globe. Ask students to use an animated video creation tool like Powtoon, reviewed here, to share their understanding of the spread of disease. Create your video together with younger students, or ask older students to create videos to demonstrate learning.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Understanding Public Health Crises - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12tag(s): h1n1 (6), hygiene (9), media literacy (106)
In the Classroom
Help your students to stay healthy and avoid fear by sharing the facts and prevention tips in these resources. Share these resources with your colleagues and school parents by emailing the page or sharing the link from your school web page and in your school newsletter.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Coronavirus Resources: Teaching, Learning and Thinking Critically - New York Times and Katherine Schulten
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): diseases (69), Online Learning (42), professional development (409)
In the Classroom
Be sure to bookmark this site as an important resource for lessons about the coronavirus and also as a resource for implementing online teaching activities. Incorporate ideas and activities found on this site into a blended learning system such as ActivelyLearn, reviewed here or Curipod, reviewed here. Both of these sites include features to create remote lessons with text, videos, and quizzes and provide educators instant feedback on student understanding. As students develop an understanding of the effects and makeup of the coronavirus, use Annotely, reviewed here, to upload and label an image sharing their knowledge. For example, have younger students upload a picture of their home, then label different surfaces with a short sentence on how they can spread or receive germs. For older students, ask them to use Annotely to label the different areas found in the community that leads to the spread of disease.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Reading Treks: Every Single Second - TeachersFirst
Grades
4 to 8tag(s): character education (77), empathy (32), family (51), racism (79), virtual field trips (96)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the many suggested classroom uses for this resource found on the Instructional Guide (PDF). Include this Reading Trek as part of lessons in empathy, racism, and character traits. Consider using content from the book as an inspiration to have students create a timeline of their friends. Find a variety of free online timeline creation tools located here. Using the map and locales, trace and then calculate distances for some Little Italy locations. Use Google My Maps, reviewed here to create and share custom maps.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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KidNuz - KidNuz
Grades
K to 6In the Classroom
Include KidNuz as part of any current events or social studies center activities. Ask students to listen to the podcasts and take quizzes. Have older students use KidNuz as a starting point to learn more about current events. After further research of the event, ask them to share what they learned and their sources using Seesaw, reviewed here. Enhance learning and ask students to create their own current events quizzes using Quizizz, reviewed here. Use the KidNuz podcasts to extend learning by asking students to create their own 5-10 minute podcasts sharing the latest world news along with news from your classroom and school. Buzzsprout, reviewed here, is a free podcasting tool that offers a large selection of options, including the ability to record and schedule podcasts for release at your chosen date and time.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Conservation Station - Learn to Conserve
Grades
5 to 10tag(s): conservation (92), energy (132), solar energy (34), STEM (279), water (102)
In the Classroom
Use these excellent free lessons during STEM units on conservation and energy. Use free tech resources to enhance and extend learning beyond the lesson outlines. As you begin an activity, use Padlet, reviewed here, to curate and share a list of online resources for student use. Include websites, interactive activities, and other information relating to your topic. Share a note-taking tool like Webnotes, reviewed here, with your students to use to take notes or ask questions when reading online articles. They can share the URL of their notes with you as part of their ongoing discussions on the topic. If you find online articles that need additional discussion, use Fiskkit, reviewed here, to create a collaborative discussion of the material. As an ongoing activity, ask students to use Pathbrite, reviewed here, to write about the activities and include videos and pictures of their work. As a final project, ask students to become the teacher by sharing what they learned through their choice of media projects. For example, ask students to use moovly, reviewed here, to create animated explainer videos, create an interactive book using Book Creator, reviewed here, or develop a learning game using Minecraft Education Edition, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Famous African Americans - Famous African Americans.org
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): african american (110), biographies (95), black history (130), cultures (145)
In the Classroom
This is an excellent site to use as part of a biography unit to match biographies to individual student interests. Allow students to choose a category. Have them read several biographies from that category, then research an African American that hasn't been included on this site. Have students use these biographies as a model to write about the person they researched. Instead of using paper and pen to write down information, ask students to use Google Docs or Microsoft Word to begin research. Using these online documents affords many benefits, including the ability to add comments, highlight information, and add links to online information. Once research is underway, suggest that students use a bookmarking tool like Raindrop.io, reviewed here, to organize information. Raindrop.io includes the ability to add notes to bookmarks, making it easy for students to label and add information for later use. As a final project and to extend student learning, ask students to create their own book using OurBoox, reviewed here, that includes images, videos, and text. Math teachers could have students figure out which category has the most people in it, or what percentage of the site is dedicated to the category they are interested in.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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OK2Ask: Data and Charts and Graphs, Oh My! Let Google Tools Be Your Guide - TeachersFirst
Grades
2 to 12Humans respond...more
Humans respond to and process visual data better than any other type of data. Whether students are learning to collect, organize, graph, or interpret data, this webinar offers proven tools and strategies that assist learners in developing and applying those skills. Together we will explore and plan for the use of forms to collect data, web resources to access data, spreadsheets to manipulate and graph data, and Google MyMaps to visualize data. Students from beginner to advanced can use these tools to visualize and connect math, science, and social studies concepts to concrete, real-world applications. Let's get students excited about learning and help them incorporate complex data literacy into their world view. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels. Participants will: 1. Understand how to use data visualization in the classroom; 2. Explore digital tools that will assist students with data visualization projects; and 3. Plan for the use of data visualization in the classroom. This session is appropriate for teachers at all technology levels.
tag(s): charts and graphs (171), data (147), Google (52), infographics (56), professional development (409), visualizations (11)
In the Classroom
The archive of this teacher-friendly, hands-on webinar will empower and inspire you to use learning technology in the classroom and for professional productivity. As appropriate, specific classroom examples and ideas have been shared. View the session with a few of your teaching colleagues to find and share new ideas. Find additional information and links to tools at the session resource page. Learn more about OK2Ask and upcoming sessions here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Under Advisement: Ohio Supreme Court Cases On Demand - The Supreme Court of Ohio & The Ohio Judicial System
Grades
9 to 12In the Classroom
Although this site is aligned to Ohio Learning Standards, it is useful for any classroom studying civil and criminal cases. Download the free materials to use when learning about branches of government. Before completing the lessons within each of the cases, introduce the topic to students and ask them to predict the outcome using a simple polling tool like Poll Everywhere, reviewed here. As students become familiar with the Ohio court system, ask them to research the courts in your state and compare them using a Venn Diagram tool like the one found at Class Tools, reviewed here. Consider asking a local attorney or judge to visit your classroom to discuss the specifics of each case and how the law is interpreted within the state courts.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Great Big Story - Great Big Story and CNN Worldwide
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): cross cultural understanding (167), DAT device agnostic tool (147)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the content found on this site to find reading material that appeals to students. Share stories as examples of how to write and share topical information or as inspiration for student writing projects. Use the search feature to find content that matches your current classroom curriculum. For example, when learning about countries around the world, use the search bar to find articles and videos of real-world information and sharing stories of people from that country. As students find and share information, use Edublog, reviewed here, as a platform for sharing student work.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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