Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Enjoy language arts interactives suited for elementary students through adult learners at Vocabulary Web Games. Elementary activities offer review of grammar and punctuation concepts. Activities include Magical Capitals, Comma Chameleon, Adjective Adventure, and more. More advanced (secondary+) activities include practice SAT and GRE prep vocabulary, medical vocabulary, and computer vocabulary using a flash card format. Play word games such as word scramble and hangman by using the other interactive games on this site.
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tag(s): capitalization (9), grammar (137), parts of speech (39), puzzles (149), test prep (69), verbs (26), vocabulary (238), vocabulary development (94)

Do your students have trouble filling in the bubbles? Create free bubble sheets for assessments. Carefully fill in the fields as you scroll down the page. Blank boxes will not appear on the test form. Change font sizes for the text, and provide directions in English or Spanish. Format your bubble columns and styles that best meet your assessment needs. Select a variety of other graphic styles that are not necessarily "normal" looking bubbles. Various styles of math grids are available. Choose from a menu of miscellaneous options to add some creativity to your test form. Include scoring boxes for evaluation and comments. Include registration marks for automated test marking machines. Select the "Test ID" option to reprint your form at a later date. The ID number will appear on your form. All data is saved for future retrieval (1-2 months). Create a test key by printing a bubble sheet on a clear transparency. Use a permanent pen to mark the correct answers on the test key.
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tag(s): assessment (147), test prep (69)

Would you like to use The Hunger Games to provoke your students into thinking about real world issues? Educurious has just the mini unit for you! Download the free PDF titled "Avoiding the Path to Panem" and be on your way to creating the thinking citizens of tomorrow. In this one-to-two week project based unit, students will use primary sources, contact experts, and write a final informative essay about sustainability, poverty, racism, economics, or war. In the essay students are to recommend specific ways our country can avoid the post-apocalyptic world of The Hunger Games. The essay will be part of a "Glog" or another form of a public post, to represent their findings and recommendations visually. The unit includes three short videos about directing The Hunger Games movie, surviving high school, and writing. Not only does this unit support the Common Core State Standards, but also the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS-S).

tag(s): essays (21), expository writing (31), novels (34), persuasive writing (58), politics (118), posters (43), reading strategies (96), social networking (61)

Find help with Grammar, Writing, and Punctuation. There is also a link for ESL lessons. The lessons include short descriptions and a quick quiz for review. Some examples of Grammar Lessons include Subject and Predicate, When to Use Which and That, Direct and Indirect Objects, and other topics. Punctuation focuses on apostrophe, comma, and period usage. In the Writing Lessons you will find information about MLA format, plagiarism, and essays. ESL lessons offer a wide variety from passive voice to irregular verbs to reading and/or vocabulary strategies specifically for ESL learners. This site does include advertisements for finding a tutor. Avoid that link.
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tag(s): citations (33), essays (21), grammar (137), grammar review (31), parts of speech (39), plagiarism (34), punctuation (25), vocabulary (238), vocabulary development (94)

Fotor is an easy online photo editing tool that doesn't require registration. Upload any picture from your computer to begin. Choose from the editing choices provided. Select a template and use basic editing tools to automatically enhance, rotate, crop, resize, and adjust lighting on images. Choose from many effects such as vintage, sepia, and other color effects. Add frames, apply a splash of color, or add text. When finished, save to your computer. Share on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Flickr, or email with links provided. Other options include templates for creating collages, photo cards, and HDR images. All options are clearly labeled, and edits are available until you are happy with the finished result. Looking to create a collage? With Fotor, you can do that, too! At the time of this review, was available as an app for iPhone, Android and works on Windows and Mac.

tag(s): collages (17), comics and cartoons (55), editing (93), images (263), photography (130)

Explore this useful catalog of all free e-books available for Kindles through Amazon. It is quite extensive with many categories: Advice & How-to, Biographies & Memoirs, Business & Investing, Children's eBooks, Fantasy, History, Literary Fiction, Mystery & Thrillers, Politics & Current Events, Reference, Religion & Spirituality, Science, Science Fiction, Sports, Teens, Travel, and many others. At the time of this review, there were over 69,000 free eBooks listed on the site.

tag(s): book lists (167), independent reading (81)

Find and print many useful charts at Chart Jungle. Under Education, topics include story starters, homework charts, reading logs, and more. Chart Jungle also includes alphabet and number flash cards to print and use. Other interesting printables include the digestive system, clocks, and skeletons. Choose any chart to print directly from your computer. Although this site does include a lot of advertisements, there are many timesavers and treasures.
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tag(s): charts and graphs (171), classroom management (120), flash cards (44), handwriting (15), homework (29), organizational skills (88), presidents (135), printables (36), time (91)

This open source, collaborative mapping site is known as the "Wikipedia of maps." This easily editable map is up to date as locations change (as they often do). The license just requires you to credit OpenStreetMap, and you can copy, download, and amend the maps without limitation.

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

ESL Game World is the place to go for interactives, PowerPoint activities and templates, printable board games, ESL/ELL games for kids and adults, grammar games, vocabulary challenges, and reading activities. Some of the featured activities include Snakes and Ladders, Hangman, and Wheel of Fortune games/templates. Some spelling appears to be different from Standard American English. Check to be sure. Avoid the online store section to stay with free activities.
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tag(s): grammar (137), grammar review (31), verbs (26), vocabulary (238)

Find free, scalable vector images created by a community of designers whose goal is to create a universal global language of symbols that everyone can understand. Vector files are images that do not Snappa, reviewed herehange or become fuzzy when you resize them. Communicating visually is powerful and easy using symbols like these. Move beyond language and cultural barriers in learning and communicating by using these symbols. You must set up a free account to actually download. Note: Many programs cannot use the file format (SVG) but some programs, such as Adobe Illustrator, can. Don't have a program to open the image? Download the image, then upload to the Media Converter (reviewed here) to convert the image. No need to open the file- just convert! Note that the use of these vector images is FREE if the artist(s) attribution is easily viewable and accessible (linked back to the artist's page on the Noun Project site). Many images are in the public domain with no attribution required. Ethical use would still give credit. If you do not want to attribute each time it is used, icons can be purchased for unlimited use instead. Be patient. This site is often SLOW to open and offers slow downloads because of the larger image files.
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tag(s): digital storytelling (154), graphic design (49), images (263), infographics (56), stories and storytelling (58)

Create a word search in a few easy steps. You can choose the size of the puzzle (10 x 10 to 100 x 100) as well as how many words the puzzle contains. You can also choose the highlight color, background color, font size and "word management." Word management allows you the choice of words being forward and backward, diagonal, up and down, and more. Options allow for the puzzle to be played online or printed out.

tag(s): puzzles (149), spelling (98), word study (59)

Create and play with poetry using this interactive magnetic poetry kit! Drag words from the word bank onto the blank board to build poems. Click the more words option to find additional words for use. When finished, save and share to Facebook or via email using the form provided.
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tag(s): interactive stories (22), poetry (193), sight words (23)

Find an extensive collection of art lesson plans for use in all grade levels by clicking Art Lessons on the left menu. Choose a grade level from categories on the left side of the page. Then pick from sub-categories such as type of medium, art period, or artist. One particularly useful category is by integration: ideas you can choose for lessons in subjects such as health, science, or language arts. Once you choose a lesson title, specific details include materials used, appropriate age levels, instructions, and images of projects. Many, but not all lessons also include correlation to national standards. Click on the printer friendly link to print lessons without all the clutter on the page.
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tag(s): animals (295), art history (103), artists (85), colors (64), geometric shapes (135), insects (69), japan (57), native americans (109), origami (15), painting (55), preK (271), recycling (46), symmetry (27)

This free tool is an academic search engine that uses resources trusted by educators. Choose from various subjects at the top or enter your search term directly into the search bar. Infotopia uses a Google Custom search to find information that is appropriate for students.
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tag(s): search engines (48)

Join John and Hank Green on the you Tube channel, Crash Course. Crash Course consists of highly engaging video presentations that explain the basics on many topics: about 10-15 minutes in length, humorous, and engaging! The general topic areas include World History, Literature, and US History. At the time of this review, biology topics include: the carbon cycle, water cycle, molecules, nutrition, animal and plant cells, photosynthesis, heredity, DNA, mitosis, meiosis, natural selection, evolution, genetics, taxonomy, evolution, simple animals, complex animals, animal behavior, various systems of the body, bacteria, protists, and even more. In literature, five videos cover subjects from Romeo and Juliet to The Great Gatsby. There are over forty world history topics: Agricultural revolution, Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, The Persians and Greeks, Buddha and Ashoka, Chinese History, Alexander the Great, The Roman Empire, Christianity from Judaism to Constantine, Fall of the Roman Empire, Islam the Quran, and the Five Pillars, Venice and Ottoman Empire, Russia, Columbus, The Spanish Empire, The French Revolution, Haitian Revolution, Industrial Revolution, Capitalism, Socialism, Imperialism, and many more. If your district blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable. Tip: to watch or share a video without the ads and clutter, use a tool such as ViewPure, reviewed here, to watch the video ad-free!
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tag(s): animals (295), bacteria (22), bill of rights (33), body systems (40), chinese (45), constitution (96), declaration of independence (16), evolution (89), genetics (80), greeks (46), literature (221), meiosis (8), mitosis (9), nutrition (140), religions (95), rome (37), romeo and juliet (3), russia (36), shakespeare (99), water cycle (22)

The U.S. Department of State designed this interactive game to help ESL/ELL learners to learn American English. However, many non-ESL/ELL students could greatly benefit (and enjoy) this highly interactive experience and look at U.S. culture. Download Unity Player to begin. Registration is free, but does require an email address. Begin your mission with Trace, a teen back in time from the year 2045. Help Trace return to his regular time by completing several challenges. Trace must follow directions (called objectives) on each screen. He travels to 8 separate locations around the U.S. Learn about entrepreneurship, community activism, empowering women, science and innovation, environmental conservation, and conflict resolution. Travel to Kansas, New Orleans, the Grand Canyon, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. Complete 28 practice activities. You will also find 4 multi-player practice challenges, 7 graphic novels for extension activities, and an American English dictionary integration activity. The game is so involved, that you will not even realize that you are also learning English.

tag(s): communities (35), conflict resolution (9), conservation (102), cross cultural understanding (173), women (151)

Find entertaining videos, web lessons, and downloads to support learning about dictionaries, thesaurus, and "How Words Work." Each video includes a short description of content and the skills addressed. Most videos are approximately three minutes long and include links to related web lessons and print downloads. This site was originally created for adult basic literacy students. However, many of these lessons could be useful with younger students learning the basics of vocabulary. Preview the video for appropriateness before sharing with younger students.

tag(s): antonyms (12), dictionaries (47), prefixes (10), reading comprehension (149), root words (10), spelling (98), suffixes (8), synonyms (15), thesaurus (22), vocabulary (238), vocabulary development (94), word study (59)

The Literacy Design Collaborative supports the development of literacy through a series of templates for use with text when writing. There are also templates for other subjects. Most templates address secondary levels; however, other offerings contain some elementary templates. Template tasks allow you to fill in the blank with learning skills addressed. When completed, you create and produce a high-quality assignment. Three collections are available by choosing the tasks link: the template task collection II, Common Core template tasks, and K-2 template tasks. Use links provided to view instructions and download templates in PDF format. Choose the modules link to view and download complete modules for instruction for English, Science, and Social Studies. Also available at the Literacy Design Collaborative is a series of videos demonstrating changing teacher practice and literacy. Most of the videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.

tag(s): american revolution (82), animals (295), biodiversity (36), canada (24), careers (156), china (81), civil rights (209), cold war (30), ecosystems (83), energy (133), evolution (89), gettysburg (15), gettysburg address (12), india (32), industrial revolution (22), lincoln (66), literacy (122), marine biology (31), photosynthesis (21), poetry (193), pollution (52), professional development (385), shakespeare (99)

Simple English News is a site that has very short articles about items from all over the world. It also features English in 30-Seconds videos on news topics and language oddities like slang and idioms. In addition, there are quizzes, participatory polls, written and oral interviews, recipes, and many other selections. This is not a site for breaking or controversial news. Besides appealing to ESL/ELL students, this site would work well with resource classes. Please remember to preview anything you wish to share, to be sure the content is appropriate for your classroom. Some of the videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.
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tag(s): grammar (137), news (229), video (266)

Students are often in a quandary about finding words in a dictionary they do not know how to spell. Share this video and they will enjoy the humorous banter between two friends while learning to find a word they cannot spell. One needs to find a word he cannot spell, and the other gives several demonstrations of just how to use the dictionary without knowing the exact spelling for a word. Although TV411 was originally created for adult English Language students, this video could be useful in any secondary English classroom.

tag(s): dictionaries (47), spelling (98)