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40 Maps that Explain the Middle East - Max Fisher
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): iran (8), iraq (26), israel (14), maps (215), middle east (49), religions (90)
In the Classroom
Use this site as an anticipatory set or "activator" to introduce a unit or lesson on a projector or interactive whiteboard. Be sure to include this site on your class webpage for students to access both in and outside of class for further practice. Create a link to these maps on classroom computers for students to explore on their own. Use an online tool such as an Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to compare different countries, religions, or time periods included in the maps.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Patch - Tim Armstrong
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): news (228), newspapers (92)
In the Classroom
Patch is ideal for use when learning about your community. Create a link on classroom computers for students to read and explore. Become a contributor to Patch by sharing stories of events and information from your school and classroom. Have students contribute top stories locally with those from around the nation (or world). Put in the name of any city in the US for students to read about local information. If you have penpals or collaborate with another classroom via X (formerly Twitter), learn more about their community through Patch.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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80 Years of Canadian Geographic Maps - The Royal Canadian Geographical Society
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): animal homes (57), canada (24), disasters (37), explorers (65), maps (215)
In the Classroom
Even if you do not teach in Canada be sure to explore this site for lesson plans and map making information applicable to any country. Adjust lesson plans to your particular area of study. Challenge advanced students to create a presentation using Swipe, reviewed here, demonstrating similar themes. Use an online tool such a Canva, reviewed here, to create diagrams, mindmaps, and other visual graphic organizers comparing and contrasting information found on different maps.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Wimp - wimp.com
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): animals (295), musical instruments (50), video (264)
In the Classroom
Bookmark Wimp as a resource for finding videos for lessons and activities. Share the direct link to individual videos on your class website or blog. To remove the distracting advertisements on video sharing sites and more, use a tool such as Clipchamp, reviewed here, or Watchkin, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Black History Month Resources - PBS
Grades
K to 12tag(s): black history (130), civil rights (201), cultures (172), martin luther king (45), racism (79), video (264)
In the Classroom
Explore this site for many different lessons and resources to use during Black History Month and with lessons on racism and bias throughout the year. Use lessons found here to differentiate for students of different levels. Be sure to check out the Discrimination - fair or unfair? lesson plan that is designed specifically for students who have difficulty with verbal and written expression.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Supply and Demand, Lessons from Toy Fads - Council for Economic Education/Chad Mares
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): supply and demand (5)
In the Classroom
Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Then have students explore this site independently or in small groups. Make a shortcut to this site on classroom computers and use it as a center. This is a great find as an extension activity for gifted students! Encourage students to create their own list of items similar to Hula Hoops and Silly Bandz that were in high demand and low supply.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Newswordy - Josh Smith
Grades
K to 12tag(s): media literacy (107), news (228), vocabulary (238), vocabulary development (94)
In the Classroom
Newswordy is perfect for use on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Display the word of the day as students arrive in class as a great warm up for current events lessons. Share a link to the site on your class webpage. Tweak your students' interest in what is happening in the world by reading the excerpts of the articles and tweets at Newswordy. Have students bring in examples they find on the Internet or when watching T.V. Next, students can create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from this site using a tool such as WordItOut, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Watch 1000 Years of European Borders Change in 3 Minutes - Nick Morenenko
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): england (52), europe (84), france (41), germany (28), italy (20), maps (215), russia (35), spain (13), video (264)
In the Classroom
This video is perfect for use on an interactive whiteboard or projector to provide an overview of the changes in European borders over many years. Pause the video as you watch to view and discuss changes. Use the embed or link code provided to share this site on your class web page. Have students create maps using MapHub, reviewed here, to demonstrate changes in borders. Students can add icons, URLs, text, images, and location stops! Divide students into groups to explore different periods of time, then challenge students to create a presentation using Prezi, reviewed here. Use during current events lessons to help students understand that current European conflicts relate back to changes taking place over many hundreds of years.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Digital Citizenship - NSW Department of Education and Communities
Grades
K to 12tag(s): cyberbullying (40), digital citizenship (85), internet safety (113)
In the Classroom
Bookmark Digital Citizenship for use in any Internet safety lesson or unit. Create a link to individual activities on classroom computers. Be sure to share a link to this site with parents for use at home.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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NationStates - Max Barry
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): foreign policy (12), money (114), politics (117), sociology (23)
In the Classroom
Students can use this interactive individually, making connections to their choice, results, and connections to actual world events, present and past. Additionally, students can join a region and see how their decisions affect other nations. A great lesson is to allow students to run their nation according to their political views and see the results as they unfold through play. Be sure to treat this seriously as the issues presented here are actual issues that governments must deal with daily. Even making a decision within your political viewpoint can lead to results that are not anticipated. Require students to discuss their viewpoint, why they believe they are right, the resulting consequence, and how it has changed what they believe. Following the play, give time for students to research an initiative or action a country made and the resulting consequences that have resulted. Present, discuss, or debate these with the class. Allow every student in class to have a voice by using a student response system such as Infuse Learning, reviewed here, or GoSoapBox, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Science Behind the News - NBC Learn
Grades
5 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): bacteria (22), computers (108), foreign policy (12), news (228), planets (111), plants (147), politics (117), STEM (289), tornadoes (14), video (264)
In the Classroom
Introduce the videos on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Ask students to form small groups depending on which video topic they are interested in further exploring. Have students make a multimedia presentation using one of the many TeachersFirst Edge tools, reviewed here, to present what they learned to their classmates. Have older students use these videos as a springboard for further research into the topics found.Comments
Love these videos! Very engaging and extremely informative especially since they are all around five minutes!Cyndy, MN, Grades: 9 - 12
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Sutori - Thomas Ketchell, Jonathan Ketchell, Yoran Brondsema, Steven Chi
Grades
2 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): american revolution (82), civil war (138), immigration (68), photosynthesis (21), timelines (54), womens suffrage (51), world war 1 (77)
In the Classroom
Use an interactive whiteboard or projector to share timelines about historical events and more. Have students create timelines for research projects. Create author biographies, animal life cycles, or timelines of events and causes of wars. Challenge students to create a timeline of the plot of a novel. If you teach chemistry, have students create illustrated sequences explaining oxidation or reduction (or both). Have elementary students interview grandparents and create a class timeline about their grandparents for Grandparents' Day. In world language classes, have students create a timeline of their family in the language to master using vocabulary about relatives, jobs, and more (and verb tenses!). Students learn about photo selection, detail writing, chronological order, and more while creating the timelines of their choice. Making a timeline is also a good way to review the history of a current event or cultural developments.Edge Features:
Includes an education-only area for teachers and students
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Includes teacher tools for registering and/or monitoring students
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Thematic Mapping Engine - Bjorn Sandvik
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): climate change (94), diseases (67), earth (184), landmarks (22), news (228), population (50)
In the Classroom
Use this tool with Google Earth to discuss population changes, incidence of various diseases, or look at environmental data such as carbon dioxide emissions. Use this tool when discussing various countries and populations throughout the world, looking at the various factors that affect countries. Use this information to question the history and current state of various populations. Create more than one .kmz file to place on your class website. Provide time for student groups to look at one of the files and draw conclusions or report on their findings. Use class time to look at the information from all groups to obtain a snapshot of various regions, looking at populations, diseases, and more. For younger grades, use an interactive whiteboard or projector to show these files in Google Earth and compare what students know about the United States or other areas in unfamiliar countries. This tool would be perfect for gifted students to use to extend learning in a Science or History/World Cultures class to better understand the world around them.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Eyes on the Earth - NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): antarctica (30), arctic (40), carbon dioxide (10), climate (82), climate change (94), earth (184), glaciers (17), temperature (35), water (101)
In the Classroom
Be sure to share this tool using an interactive whiteboard or projector in the classroom. Provide a link to this tool on your website or bookmark on a class computer. Use this tool to introduce students to questioning and the scientific method. Why collect data on the Earth? Show a tool to the whole class or provide time for groups of students to view the visuals and develop questions and make observations. Challenge students to find answers to some of their questions. Help students figure out what they need to know to answer the questions. For a unit on the environment, begin the unit showing a few of the tools, namely the carbon dioxide and temperature tool. Compare two different tools side by side to note differences in patterns. For example, are the carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide patterns similar? Why or why not? Research the various gases, how they originate, and problems they cause in the atmosphere. Why is the carbon dioxide higher in some areas and not others? Research the carbon footprint of various regions and compare. Are those same areas showing the greatest or least effects of climate change? When discussing technology, view the different missions featured in this tool and the various engineering feats needed to accomplish these missions. Provide time for students to propose a "fantasy" mission for NASA. What should be measured, what would you call the mission? What kind of data would need to be collected? How do you think the Earth image data would look? Draft the proposal and create the possible image for review. Note: Students can focus on biological, chemical, or physical data for their proposal.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Branches of Power - Annenberg Classroom
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): bill of rights (31), branches of government (64), constitution (93), game based learning (191), supreme court (27)
In the Classroom
Use the Annenberg Classroom Civics Games to introduce Constitution-related topics to your class using an interactive whiteboard or projector. View videos together and pause as needed to discuss information. Challenge students to try the interactive activities on individual computers or at home. Enhance learning by having students use Fakebook, reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about Americans described in the games. Modify classroom technology use and enhance learning by having students create interactive timelines (with photos, text, and more) using Sutori, reviewed here, to trace the path of a bill or the writing of the Constitution.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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ABC Splash - ABC TV and Radio Australia
Grades
K to 10tag(s): addition (129), animals (295), antarctica (30), atmosphere (22), australia (28), cells (83), climate change (94), continents (33), counting (59), decimals (85), division (98), earth (184), earthquakes (45), ecosystems (80), egypt (50), energy (131), environment (246), food chains (18), forces (37), forensics (12), fossil fuels (10), game based learning (191), gold rush (15), human body (93), immigration (68), insects (68), light (55), maps (215), molecules (44), money (114), multiplication (122), nuclear energy (20), nutrition (137), oceans (147), parts of speech (38), percent (59), perimeter (20), place value (34), plants (147), probability (99), rhymes (21), rocks (35), songs (44), sound (73), subtraction (110), time (91), vietnam (38), volcanoes (54), weather (160), whole numbers (9), world war 1 (77), world war 2 (160)
In the Classroom
This site is excellent for enrichment. Include it on your class web page for students to access both in and out of class. Share this link on your class web page and/or in a parent newsletter for help with homework and school projects. These high-quality media resources will engage your students and enhance their learning.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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National Geographic Education - National Geographic
Grades
K to 12tag(s): animals (295), climate change (94), commoncore (74), earth day (59), ecology (102), energy (131), food chains (18), map skills (59), maps (215), migration (45), multimedia (51), oceans (147), STEM (289), weather (160)
In the Classroom
Be sure to bookmark (or favorite) this site for use throughout the year to find real-world resources for classroom use. Don't forget to look for materials on National Geographic for use with Earth Day and Arbor Day activities! Differentiate easily using the multiple levels of materials found within National Geographic. Some text portions are challenging, so you should pair weaker readers with a partner as they research on this site. Have students create a simple infographic sharing their findings using Venngage, reviewed here. Have students create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from this site using a tool such as WordItOut, reviewed here. If you use Apple products in your classroom, be sure to download the interactive iBooks for use in classroom centers or independent reading.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Change Gamer - Mike Farley
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): animals (295), earth (184), ecology (102), energy (131), environment (246), financial literacy (91), fish (18), game based learning (191), human body (93), map skills (59), migration (45), natural disasters (17), planets (111), plants (147), politics (117), problem solving (229), stars (70)
In the Classroom
Use these interactives to review concepts learned during a unit of study. Consider using the interactives at the start of a unit to teach concepts as the material is being learned. Be sure to download the student activity document. Use the pre-questions to identify misconceptions and activate prior knowledge. Directions in the document alert you to the basics of using the interactive. Provide the post-questions to the students as they play the interactive to be aware of what they will be learning. Replace paper and pen and use a blogging tool such as Telegra.ph, reviewed here. This blog creator requires no registration; be sure to have students save the URL to share with you. Students can answer the questions individually, as groups, or as a class to review the concepts learned during the interactive and connect it to class. As a class, discuss how the scenario presented in the interactive is or is not like actual environmental issues of today. Enhance learning and get the shyest of students involved in the discussion by using a backchannel chat such as YoTeach!, reviewed here. Change Gamer would also be an excellent activity for gifted students or for those who are ahead in their work in a differentiated classroom.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Mental Floss - Felix Dennis
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): animals (295), famous people (19), grammar (137), quizzes (90), trivia (19)
In the Classroom
Share Mental Floss on your class web page in any science, history, health, or reading class in middle school and up. Use it as a place for students to discover research topics related to your subject or as prompts for blog posts to get kids writing about something that interests them. Make a regular extra credit offering for students to write a blog post responding to something they learn here. If you have trouble getting students to read informational text, use these factoids as introductions to draw their interest before offering a longer article. Use these articles as starters for information literacy activities. Have partners research to find a corroborating (or debunking) source for the trivia offered here. English teachers will love some of the quick articles on misused or frequently misspelled words. Invite your students in any subject to find an article related to your subject and to create a poster version of that tip or tale using a tool such as Web Poster Wizard (reviewed here).Comments
Awesome for so many topics. Blog post ideas! Love the layout and diversity.Patricia, NJ, Grades: 6 - 12
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Nest Watch - Cornell University
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): birds (46), environment (246), scientific method (48)
In the Classroom
Want to involve students in a country wide scientific investigation? With Nestwatch, students participate in a genuine scientific study with a prestigious university. All background information for participating is provided, along with detailed instructions for procedural steps. Look at the trends in bird nesting over the years and have students discuss causes for the results. In cooperative learning groups, have students defend a logical reason for the results of your study in a multimedia presentation. Find a tool to create a multimedia presentation using one of many TeachersFirst Edge tools, reviewed here. Use this research style as a model for studying endangered species in your area. Read excerpts from literature to gain further background information including literature such as, Silent Spring by Rachel Carsen. In your schoolyard, choose an area to landscape for birds. Watch for other wildlife in your nest spot.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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