Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Just the facts, ma'am. Knoema's World Data Atlas provides a dizzying array of data about the countries of the world. Sort either by country (from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe), or by topic (agriculture to water). Look at zoomable, color coded maps, and analyze rankings by topic. The interface is simple and direct, so if you are just looking for a statistic, you will find it quickly and easily. If you are looking at masses of authentic data to analyze or compare, you'll find that too. Click to create comparisons among any 2 to 3 countries. There is an introductory video available, hosted on YouTube. If YouTube is blocked at your school, you may need to view this video at home.

tag(s): atlas (5), data (151), infographics (56), map skills (63), maps (220), natural resources (37), resources (83), united nations (6)

Cartoons for the Classroom offers over 400 one-page downloadable lessons featuring two or three political cartoons related to current events and several questions for discussion that relate to those cartoons. Alternatively, download the cartoons alone along with space to "draw" your own conclusions. Also find an evaluation form for you and your students use. Click "Home" on the top left of the list to go to the home page and "Interactive Lessons - Updated Every Monday" (usually a political comment). A picture is worth a thousand words, and editorial cartoonists have been boiling down the foibles of politicians and public figures throughout history. One needs only to know about Thomas Nast and his cartoons of Boss Tweed during the 19th century to know that cartoons have a deep impact on political discourse.

tag(s): comics and cartoons (55), politics (118), satire (6)

Geography Awareness Week is an annual opportunity for families and schools to engage in educational experiences that draw attention to the importance of place and how we affect and are affected by it. Launched in 1987, this initiative is celebrated during the third week of November. The Awareness Week site offers support through lessons, activities, films, and print materials to spread the word in your community. Each year offers a different theme. Scroll down near the bottom of the home page to find links to free materials, information on local events, and information on how to register your event and receive free supplies to give away!

tag(s): globe (12), map skills (63), maps (220)

Make the most of Red Ribbon Week with ideas and support from the official Red Ribbon Campaign website. Choose from many downloads such as the official planning guide, Red Ribbon fact sheet, printable pledge sheet, and photo contest flyer. Sign an online pledge for adults to help children grow up safe and drug free. Read the Red Ribbon Blog to stay up to date on all the latest events and information about the Red Ribbon Campaign.
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tag(s): drugs and alcohol (28), red ribbon week (9)

Learn about the Stock Market and the world of finances without spending a cent with Wall Street Survivor. Create a free account to access free courses and stock market simulations. Once registered, join stock market leagues. Set up your own practice portfolio for a no-risk option to dabble in stock trading and buying. Play against friends using your own settings and options for trading and selling. In addition to investing options, be sure to check out the large library of articles and tutorials teaching how the stock market works. Not all courses are free, but several basic introductory finance courses offer free lessons in an easy to understand format. If your district blocks YouTube, videos may not be viewable.
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tag(s): business (52), financial literacy (93), money (113)

Find interactive maps examining the results of elections from 1840 through 2008. With US politics increasingly dominated by election year strategizing, a historical look at how Americans have voted in both Presidential and Congressional elections can provide useful context. In a democracy, the power of popular elections to affect the lives of all citizens cannot be understated. In order to understand how changes in population--demography and distribution--have affected popular elections, it's important to see those changes in perspective. On this site, you can look at Presidential elections or Congressional elections, as well as population maps focused on African American and White population changes over the time period. Most of the maps are based on an advancing time line that maps data over time. For Presidential elections, there are also more detailed maps for each separate election.

tag(s): congress (40), elections (82), electoral college (22), maps (220), presidents (135), timelines (56)

National Geographic offers collections of resources aligned to Common Core ELA standards for grades K-12. Begin your search by exploring non-fiction resources grouped by grade range. If you prefer, use a keyword search to find specific content. When searching by grade range groups, scroll through the presentation slide show to view all resources and click links to go directly to the page. Be sure to take some time to find all the collection offers; there is a great deal of content available. Look for Geostories, Article, or Encyclopedic Entry to find reading resources. Don't miss the Common Core Toolkit offering a large variety of lesson plans and media aligned to National Geographic books.
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tag(s): charts and graphs (171), guided reading (33), reading comprehension (149)

Create a customized start page including your favorite websites, RSS feeds, and social networking sites with Start.me. Choose from over 20 widgets such as bookmarks, weather, calculators, or currency converters to personalize content. Drag and drop widgets to any area on your screen. Change backgrounds using images provided or one you upload, or personalize using other options under settings. All saved information is cloud-based, so it is available from any device where you log in to your account. Create multiple pages for different needs such as work, home, hobbies, etc. Add the bookmarklet to your browser to add items easily to your start page at any time. The introduction video is hosted on YouTube. If YouTube is blocked at your school, view the intro video at home to learn more!

tag(s): bookmarks (43)

The Free Dictionary is much more than a dictionary; it also includes a thesaurus, encyclopedias, a literature reference library, and lots more! Browse the home page to find Word of the Day, Article of the Day, In the News, Quotations, Today's Birthday and Holiday, and Hangman. Choose the Spelling Bee to test spelling skills in levels. Your ESL/ELL students can discover and "play" with English words using this site. Browse to find dictionaries for many other languages and specialized needs such as medical and legal dictionaries.

tag(s): dictionaries (47), quotations (19), thesaurus (22), vocabulary development (94), word choice (14)

Four documentary films related to the Civil Rights Movement, available to stream either in part or in their entirety, form the centerpiece of this effort from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The films cover time periods beginning with the Abolitionist Movement and continuing through the Freedom Marches and the turbulent 1960s. Explore the meaning of freedom and equality in the United States with relevance still today. There are teacher resources for using Created Equal in the classroom.

tag(s): bill of rights (33), black history (133), civil rights (209), civil war (139), cultures (180), emancipation proclamation (13), segregation (18)

Totally History offers a brief overview on many historical events and topics. Choose from categories including art history, U.S. history, world history, famous history, and the history of technology. Within each topic, find facts and a several paragraph overview of the content.
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tag(s): american revolution (82), art history (102), civil war (139), presidents (135), religions (95), vietnam (38), world war 1 (77), world war 2 (161)

With so much data out there, how are we, as citizens, to manage this information to make good choices? The University of Washington's Center for American Politics and Public Policy takes the massive amount of information about US legislative activity from 1973 to the present and helps us visualize the progress of bills through the legislative branch. Color-coded "particles" represent each bill on an interactive field for each two-year legislative session. Set the field in motion and watch bills move through committees and onto the floor of the House or the Senate. Notice how many "particles" (each representing a bill) remain clustered in committees throughout the legislative session and how many actually make it to the President's desk and become law. The animation is much more powerful (and informative) when you select an issue, a state, a legislator, a committee, or a party from the drop down menus, but the "big picture" visuals are also informative.

tag(s): advanced placement (26), branches of government (65), congress (40)

Numbeo is a crowd-sourced database of statistical information about cities across the world. It includes information about quality of life factors like cost-of-living, crime, health care, pollution, and traffic. Select a category and a city to view data about that location. Compare locations on that criterion. See the information displayed on a map. There is an enormous amount of data here; however, keep in mind that the data is user-generated and will only reflect what others have entered. Consequently, it is constantly being updated and revised. Numbeo provides real-time numbers that students can use to learn how to analyze statistical information and graphs.
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tag(s): consumers (14), statistics (121)

View this interactive Google map to discover where "fraccidents" have occurred and a description of what happened. A "fraccident" is when something goes wrong at a fracking site. Hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking" is drilling to fracture shale rocks to release natural gas. Fracking is a controversial technology, and this site is one organization's efforts to slow the pace of industrial gas development. So you will notice some bias. Find out if anything like this has happened near you. At the bottom of the page is a video, "Finding Their Way." It is about a Williamsport, PA couple who developed strategies to stop industrial gas development in Rider Park, land consisting of forests, rivers, and fields. The video also gives statistics about how quickly fracking wells were built in Pennsylvania from 2007 - 2010.

tag(s): disasters (37), energy (133), environment (252), geology (62), natural resources (37), oil (22), resources (83)

Finding Dulcinea is a tool that selects and annotates credible, trustworthy websites into an online newspaper format. In addition to current content, the site also offers over 550 web guides providing resources for topics such as health, teacher resources, and global warming. Be sure to check out the Beyond the Headlines section of the site for in-depth looks at topics such as Why Do We Have Daylight Savings Time? View the site tour video located here to understand the set-up and how to use the site.
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tag(s): careers (156), cultures (180), financial literacy (93), mental health (48), news (228), newspapers (93), religions (95), sports (82)

Planet Nutshell offers short, comic videos hosted on Vimeo explaining diverse topics such as Internet safety, financial aid, and climate change. Click More, then For Teachers, and choose your topic, Many videos include a suitable grade range with the title and run three minutes or less in length. Share videos using the share link provided with the direct URL to the Vimeo site or embed code. Save videos for later viewing on your Vimeo account.

tag(s): climate change (99), financial aid (13), internet safety (114)

Investigate leadership and entrepreneurship with Stanford University through videos, podcasts and speakers. Study creativity and innovation, product development, finance and venture capital, leadership and adversity, team and culture, globalization, marketing and sales, social entrepreneurship, and marketing and sales. This program works on Windows, iPhone, and iPad platforms.

tag(s): creativity (86), engineering (129), speeches (23)

Find a constantly updated collection of informational articles about the environment of the Great Lakes. Subscribe to receive news of current feature articles. The variety of article topics is sure to catch the interest of almost any reader. The articles have Creative Commons Attribution - Share Alike licenses so are free to use and recopy (be sure to attribute!).
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tag(s): animals (294), fish (18), insects (68), plants (146), pollution (52), water (102), watersheds (8), weather (160)

Find science current events and more with this wonderful site. This section also includes information on STEM careers and teaching science to teenagers. Find interesting articles and information about Atoms and Forces, Earth and Sky, Humans and Health, and more. Below each article is words used in the article and their meanings. Find information about science projects in the Student Resources section.

tag(s): news (228), science fairs (20), scientific method (48), scientists (67)

Top Documentary Films contains a large collection of documentaries from around the world. Choose "Browse" to explore the films available, or use the Categories menu on the right to view by topics such as Politics, Science, etc. Choose List from the top menu to view a complete listing of all available films. Each listing includes a short description along with a link to view the video. Videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable. Be sure to PREVIEW videos before showing to a class as they are unmoderated. Comments are also unmoderated. There is a wonderful disclaimer at the lower left of the home page about bias and documentaries. It is well worth noting as you watch ANY "documentary."
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tag(s): advanced placement (26), animals (294), artists (84), biographies (94), drugs and alcohol (28), environment (252), evolution (89), hiv/aids (15), humor (15), media literacy (109), mental health (48), money (113), politics (118), psychology (65), religions (95), sports (82), vietnam (38)