Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

This blog post calls our attention to a hoax site called "Coal Cares" which, on first sight, appears to be an educational outreach site maintained by a coal company. Coal Cares is actually a parody site poking fun at Big Business and its attempts to put a positive spin on the dangerous side effects of its products.

tag(s): consumers (14), energy (133), environment (252), propaganda (8)

As teachers, we often look for ways to help students sift through the enormous amount of information on the Internet, and to help them discriminate among those that are reliable and those that are not. The site "Coal Cares" might be a wonderful tool to use in this effort. First, coalcares.org is a spoof, a site purposely written to deceive. Although it looks perfectly legitimate on the surface--professionally created, and full of "facts"--a close reading of it soon reveals that it is designed to make fun of sites which try to put a positive spin on a negative issue.

tag(s): consumers (14), energy (133), environment (252), propaganda (8)

Need to be in the know -- now? AOL 5min Life Videopedia gives you five-minute stories about current news in a range of areas including arts, business, health, video games and much more! The how-to videos are great too! The main page features current news highlights. You can join this site, but it is not necessary to view the videos. Please be advised that not all topics are class or school appropriate. The "Knowledge" section has many school-related topics, but there are also useful How-to's in other areas. Preview and select what to share. Videos include short ads at the start. Once the ad is over, you can click the small link icon to find a direct link or embed code for that video.
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tag(s): business (52), dance (31), fashion (12), fitness (39), news (228), nutrition (140), origami (14), photography (130), video (266)

Find ways to include your class in online, project based learning. This site offers living curriculum in a world laboratory that promotes lifelong learning. A series of different programs, including International Cyber Fair, Doors to Diplomacy, Mosaics of Life, Geogame, Online Expedition, and Letters to Santa all encourage global technology. Global SchoolNet engages youth in project based, online learning activities to promote creativity and communication, while increasing global understanding. A Projects Registry and Collaborative Learning Center contains great ideas for projects. Global SchoolNet has been a top ten educational website with many awards. This is a great resource for busy teachers!
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tag(s): character education (79), cross cultural understanding (173), Project Based Learning (23), service projects (17)

Join YouTube and the Guggenheim Museum in recognizing a biennial review of the best online videos from around the world. As a form of modern and contemporary art, celebrate free access every day for your virtual field trip from a Webby award-winning nominee site for 2011. A panel of 20-25 experts chooses from a selection of over 23,000 videos submitted. Explore art, music, movement, poetry, and prose on this creative video site. The option of subscribing to recent uploads is available at no charge. Click "continue" to see thumbnails of all available winners. If your district blocks YouTube, then this site may not be viewable. Not all comments posted are appropriate and videos should be previewed before viewing in the classroom setting.

tag(s): computers (109), video (266)

The Wide Angle PBS series is geared towards bringing students to a greater understanding of global current events through briefings, interactive maps, and additional resources. This 2003 episode focuses on the battle against HIV/AIDS on Angola. There is a full length video, photo-essay, interview, and much more. While this episode is now past, it provides a solid timeline of the history of the region.

tag(s): africa (148), difficult conversations (57), hiv/aids (15)

This eclectic site has something for everyone about the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. For younger students, be sure to meet the mascots of the site, view the interactives, and more. Students of all ages can use this site to learn about the schedule, view photos and videos, learn about each sport in the winter 2010 Olympics, trace the torch relay, view a spectator guide, meet the athletes, view the interactive map, and more.

tag(s): olympics (45), sports (82)

Use HealthMap (Powered by Google Maps) to view the status of different diseases around the world, compare between countries,and identify trends. HealthMap brings up to date data from multiple sources into one place for better visualizing. Click on the Blog link to access specific information about diseases including symptoms and treatment. Refine your search on the map by disease, category, or region of the world. This site can be viewed in French, Spanish, and several other languages.

tag(s): scientists (67)

This collection, provided by the National Fire Protection Association is amazing. Here you will find fire prevention facts, products to help families stay safe, special materials for parents (and teachers, too), an online quiz for both students and families, and more! At the time of this review, the message for the year was "Protecting Your Families and Loved Ones From Fire." The approach, at the time of this review, is multimedia; in addition to the quiz, there are audio public service announcements, a blog, an upcoming webinar, and safety videos. For younger children, the familiar Sparky the Dog offers fun activities. Accompanying safety tip sheets benefit everyone, and a focus on high-risk populations assures you that everyone will have a fighting chance against fire.
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tag(s): fire prevention (16), fire safety (16), homes (5)

This activity simulates some of the real-world mechanisms that cause and sustain poverty in 3rd World countries. You get to manage an African farm and are soon confronted with the difficult choices that poverty and conflict can cause. Unlike typical interactives where it's always possible to prosper by playing cleverly and making the right choices, it is not always like that in 3rd World Farmer. Just as real people die from starvation in desperate situations that they are not responsible for, all it takes for things to go wrong in this activity is one bad harvest, an unfortunate encounter with corrupt officials, a raid by guerrillas, a civil war, a sudden fluctuation in market prices, or another random event that might never happen in industrialized countries. Begin by buying crops, place them in your fields, then continue on to the next steps. A short commercial plays when you enter the site and before access to the activity.
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tag(s): africa (148), agriculture (49)

This site, created by Australian Sean Banville, has high interest, "easier" news for students to read and many teaching materials to go with them. Though the look of the site is cluttered with advertising and plain text, the content is worthwhile. Developed for ESL/ELL students and teachers, the site would also work well in a subject area, learning support, or reading classroom. There are MANY articles "ready to go," including mp3 audio files to listen to the articles. At the time of this review there were 200+ new additions! Each article includes several types of activities such as "online gap fill" (a Cloze reading activity), vocabulary flashcards, and hangman, and matching. A full script is available in PDF form. There is also an online, interactive quiz for students. The articles, and a lot more activities, can be downloaded and printed, too.
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tag(s): diseases (66), listening (93), news (228)

This site has assembled statistical data about the best and worst schools, public and private, state by state. Besides ranking, the site compares schools by student test scores. It also offers tons of other data about student and teacher make up. The school search feature is invaluable to parents who are contemplating moving their student to a different school, district, or area. Before moving, parents can check the school in the area and even find a list of homes for sale in the district.
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tag(s): statistics (121)

This site strives to present facts, news headlines, safety issues, gun information websites, and state by state information about gun safety and the dangers of guns in the home. Although the site is definitely pro gun control, the presence of many fact pages and articles by reputable sources provides balance and objectivity.
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tag(s): safety (68)

Looking for collection of current science research articles? This is your one stop shop! Science Daily is current, searchable, and interesting! Encompassing many, if not all, areas of science, this site could make your classroom science research easy. The major categories are: Health & Medicine, Mind & Brain, Plants & Animals, Earth & Climate, Space & Time, Matter & Energy, Computers & Math, and Fossils & Ruins.
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tag(s): animals (294), brain (56), climate (84), computers (109), data (151), earth (184), energy (133), fossils (41), matter (45), medicine (57), news (228), planets (113), plants (146), space (222), time (91)

This website features answers to new science questions everyday. If the simple answer is not enough for you, there are helpful links, and suggested additional reading if you would like a greater understanding of the concept. Even more information is available through using the categorized science facts found on the left side of the screen. Questions are also searchable by keyword. Subjects include: physics, astronomy, chemistry, biology, mathematics, geology, engineering, and medicine.
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tag(s): area (53), carbon (17), carbon footprint (5), chemicals (39), coal (6), earthquakes (46), energy (133), engineering (129), fossil fuels (10), fossils (41), glaciers (17), machines (17), matter (45), moon (73), natural resources (37), ozone (7), ph (2), planets (113), prime numbers (26), pythagorean theorem (19), questioning (36), space (222), square roots (15), stars (71), sun (71), volume (33)

Find out what happened on any date in history with this informative site. Each event is listed with a short description. Historic events are listed chronologically from oldest to current times. (Some dates are several pages long, be sure to click the "read more" link to continue to newer dates.) Information includes birthdays, discoveries, events, and more. Searches by specific years, months, and famous birthdays. You are able to add events and comments. Note that the general public can also add comments, so preview before projecting in class!
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tag(s): calendars (37), timelines (56)

The goal of this site is to educate youth about philanthropy and giving their time and knowledge for the global good. To do this, they offer over 1400 free lesson plans for teachers, parents, and community leaders. Lessons are coded to state standards and can be searched by grade level, keyword, subject, or academic or philanthropy standard. Some lessons are geared toward private or religious schools and are clearly labeled as such. Lessons include subject, key concepts, vocabulary, objectives, materials needed, approximate time, procedures, extensions, handouts, and much more. An example of a grade 3-5 lesson would be Cool Kids Compost which explores responsible use of resources by gathering data about lunchroom waste. Don't let the concept of philanthropy keep you from exploring the site, there are many great classroom lessons available for all subjects.

tag(s): african american (115), animal homes (57), animals (294), character education (79), charts and graphs (171), colonial america (95), communities (35), data (151), diversity (40), ecology (103), environment (252), heroes (24), money (113), recycling (45)

Find the latest news and information from the Middle East through this English language newspaper from Jordan. Features include updates from Jordan and around the world including the latest in business and sports.
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tag(s): jordan (4), middle east (50), news (228), newspapers (93)

This site offers suggestions and examples of different types of questions to include in classrooms. Each type of question is explained and sample questions are included. For a visual explanation of how questions work together, choose the Essential Questions link and scroll down to the diagram showing that this is center of all questions, then all other types of question serve to illuminating the Essential Questions. Links are included to additional information on each of the topics.

tag(s): critical thinking (127), questioning (36)

This collaborative website focuses on controversial contemporary issues, including juvenile justice, eco-topics, gun control, women's rights, voting rights, civil liberties in war, and affirmative action (go to Browse Topics from the Home page to find these). Help students understand the role of the news media in a democracy. This website combines the radio broadcast resources of Justice Talking and written articles and features from the NY Times Learning Network. Lesson plans corresponding to each "hot topic" offer social studies, language arts, and science teachers opportunities to connect the real news with topics in their curricula. A glossary of words important to the democratic process and a link to the Constitution with a "what it says, what it means" feature allow students to understand authentic sources as well as historical references. "In Their Own Words" (accessible from the Site Guide) provides primary source documents and statements from each of the three branches of government, from the press, and from schools.

tag(s): character education (79), civil rights (209), ecology (103), radio (20), women (151)