Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

This site, produced by Australian TV, offers oral lessons for intermediate and advanced level English language learners. The TV productions are available online in their entirety; they provide listening, pronunciation, and reading and writing practice for LES candidates. Although based on the Australian curriculum and testing called IELTS, the lessons, vocabulary, and practices are appropriate for any learners of English. The accent on the videos is, of course, Australian. Included in the offerings, in addition to the videos, are tape transcripts, study items, and quizzes.

tag(s): grammar (137), video (266)

This web exhibit uses multimedia elements that provide an enjoyable, informative exploration of poetic forms, history, and evolution from ancient to modern times. You may browse by region or era to broaden learning about the development of poetry and methods for how to read a poem to understand it better. You can easily zoom into images, use the technology elements to map a course through early poetry to the renaissance period and beyond, create your own poetry, and print pages. WebExhibits, an interactive means and innovative approach for teaching science, humanities, and culture, presents Poetry through the Ages designed to serve as an ideal tool for learning about poetic forms, their influences in their eras, and their relevance today.

tag(s): poetry (193)

Use this very simple site to create a test that's accessible on the Internet. Create an automatically graded test easily and for free! You can even include audio and video if you have an HTML embed code. Registration is not required to use or to take the created tests. Simply click "Create a test," enter the test name, and create a password. Note: Be sure to remember the password somewhere because it is not possible to recover it. Read the directions on the Test Control Panel to adjust settings, add questions, and publish the test. Bookmark the URL of the finished test you make so you can find it later. After publishing, copy and paste the URL of the test into a wiki, blog, or site, for student access. View reports when students are done with the test.

tag(s): quiz (67)

Use Sweet Search to search the web for student friendly and informative sites for students of all ages to use. Simply enter your search term in the box. Use "Get Widget" to place on a wiki, site, or blog for easy access by students. Use resources listed on the search page for more effective searching and specific lists for various subjects such as Social Studies. Although the search tool does not include TeachersFirst's teacher-friendly review and classroom use suggestions, the sites they find are solid.

tag(s): search engines (48), search strategies (22)

Create a Read Later bookmark to send to any device for reading later. Though this tool is a download, all you need to do is drag the bookmarklet to your browser toolbar or click the button for "Get the Chrome Extension." There are also apps for the iPhone, iPad, Android, and Kindle. As you find articles to read later, be sure to click on the bookmarklet to save. When in your Instapaper account you can change the title and read a summary of the article, and of course read to entire article, and share it with others via email, X (Twitter), and Tumblr. Create folders to organize your articles and even create an RSS feed for the folder. Within the folder you can highlight sections; once hightlighted it will appear in you Notes (found on the left menu). Send instapaper articles to an iPad or iPhone (use the app) or send to your Google Reader. Instapaper can also be connected with the Kindle (click on the Account tab for information including the cost from Amazon for doing so.)

tag(s): bookmarks (43), curation (32), DAT device agnostic tool (147)

This news aggregator allows you to select whatever news topics you would like to see displayed. You can choose either to see just the headlines or the headline and its news source before you read. After customizing the pages, you can click to see a page showing just the items you would like to read. When you mouse over the headline, you can see the first sentence or so of the selected news item before clicking to get it in entirety. Clicking on the headline sends you directly to the original source newspaper. Once linked to the original newspaper, you have the option to search other articles at that source as well.

tag(s): news (229), newspapers (93)

This site, created in the United Kingdom, offers many timelines with a simple click to launch an amazing 3-dimensional page. Timelines are organized by subject matter and include samplings from literature, sociology, history, everyday life, science, technology, explorers, medicine, and more. With another click, you can zoom from one century to another. Start in the 1210s and work your way through the years. View the context of history using visual artifacts from DaVinci's contemporaries to shopping in the 1890s. Connect historical events or technological accomplishments by seeing them alongside simultaneous events, precursors, or results. An additional option allows you to save favorite timelines and/or events. Although the main timeline requires flash which is no longer supported, the century timelines remain viewable and provide valuable information.

tag(s): europe (84), literature (221), politics (118)

At the time of this review there were 32 ideas, but who is counting? Find exceptional ideas for using Google Apps in this online presentation. Use ideas presented here at a variety of levels and subject areas. Create a collaborative environment using these ideas. Revisit this presentation often as more ideas are added. If it is temporarily offline, check back in a few hours. Tom Barrett updates it often!

tag(s): assessment (147)

Create, find, and share visually appealing Webmixes (web based screens of link "tiles") to share web resources. Find the "Tour" (a green tile with a red circle) to learn more about Symbaloo EDU or begin exploring color-coded links on your own. Choose the EDU Tools WebMix to find links to classroom resources for social networking, video and image tools, remote teaching, and much more. Other WebMixes designed specifically for educators include widgets for classroom use, educational headlines, and much more. Tailor web resources to your individual need by creating your own WebMixes. Add tiles to instantly connect students with the resources you choose. Accounts are free but require a password (and email verification). Click "Edit WebMix" to change the background, rename the webmix, and edit the tiles. Link tiles to website URL's or RSS feed links. Hover over a tile to bring up a simple menu. Click "edit" to paste the URL of the resource, enter a title, and change icons and colors. Select any name to be displayed on the tile. Be sure to click "Done editing" when finished, and then "Share" to choose publicly or privately with friends. Use the embed code to embed directly into your class website or blog. Download the free iPhone or Android apps for use on mobile phones or use Symbaloo in your tablet browser as it has been maximized for use on these devices.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): bookmarks (43), curation (32), DAT device agnostic tool (147), gamification (83)

Use Flickriver as a new way to view photos from Flickr. Click the "Explore" tab to view recent pictures uploaded to flickr. Create your own flickriver stream and view all photos from other flickriver streams by registering and creating a flickr login. Use the search bar at the top to customize search by users, groups, tags, or places.

tag(s): images (263), photography (130)

Find answers to the most curious questions that students ask on this great site. Search the site for your topic of interest, such as how cars work, what makes a refrigerator cold, or how construction has changed and the materials that are used. Articles provide diagrams, text, videos, images, and a range of other resources to show a curious student what makes something tick. The site's explanations are a great resource for "kitchen science" projects, getting budding inventors started, or providing added explanations of how things work the way they do. Click the top menu topics for the various subjects such as Adventure, Animals, and Autos through Money, Science, and Tech. Can't find your answer? Ask in the search, and it may become the question of the week. Sign up for the monthly newsletter. Search the other areas of the site such as "Games," "Quizzes," and "Pics and Puzzles." Find great podcasts and blogs. Scroll to the bottom to find fun facts, trivia, and even a poll of the day! Ignore the advertising; the site content is worth it.

tag(s): independent reading (81), questioning (36), trivia (19)

This free, fast loading, online calculator can be viewed full screen and operated by your mouse or keyboard. Various types are available from the most basic one to the scientific or BMI calculator. There is also a stopwatch tool available. If you speak a language other than English, simply click to change to the language of your choice - it's that easy.

Be aware: this site does include advertisements.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): latin (23)

MindMeister is a free mind mapping program. It is easy to use online, on your mobile, or offline. Only the BASIC plan is free, allowing you up to 3 free collaborative mind maps. This is a device-agnostic tool, available on the web but also available for free as both an Android and iOS app. Use it from any device or move between several devices and still access your work. App and web versions vary slightly. There are many highly interactive features: printing, sharing (emailing), and collaborating with others in "real time."

tag(s): brainstorming (18), DAT device agnostic tool (147), graphic organizers (48), mind map (27)

Here the writing teacher will find writing prompts galore and even more! Scrolling down the "Home" page you will find links to all sorts of helpful information and resources. Check it out! "The Daily Ten" (as in 10 minutes a day) are prompts posted weekly, plus, you can see past "Daily Ten" prompts or preview prompts a week in advance. The "Mega Prompt" area gives a more complete scenario for students to write about, and encourages student publishing. Be sure to investigate "Writing Around the World" for topics of the week and publishing student work.

tag(s): essays (21), writing (325)

Use this online tool to check which famous writer you write like. Simply type or copy and paste any text: a journal entry, poem, comment, essay, or a work in progress. For reliable results, include at least a few paragraphs before clicking the analyze button. It's as easy as that. Your word choice and writing style will be compared with those of famous authors. The program doesn't store or use your input for any other purposes. A pop-up may appear asking students to register. You can simply click on the X to close the window. No registration is necessary to use the site.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): authors (107), creative writing (124), writing (325)

At The National Writing Project(NWP)you will find all sorts of ideas, advice, and resources to help you help your students to become better writers. This is a jewel of a website that is dedicated to promoting writing and teachers who are working to help students become successful writers and learners. This reviewer read an article about teachers using photos as prompts for writing. Within the article were several resources and ideas that can be used immediately. This is a massive site with lots of information. Take your time and go through it. You do not have to join the site to read or search for articles and resources. However, if you do join, you'll have the option to sign up for events, participate in discussion forums, receive E-Voice, the NWP's bi-monthly email newsletter that provides news updates, links to articles of interest to writing teachers, and other information about the NWP community.

tag(s): essays (21), writing (325)

This humorous interactive challenges students to place punctuation correctly into sentences. Semicolons have been abused for years and now they are fighting back! Head over to Punctuation Island to help semicolons fight the abuse they have suffered from periods, commas and colons. Students will be able to practice all forms of punctuation. Place punctuation correctly into sentences to win this game.

tag(s): punctuation (25)

English Online is a premier resource for all elementary and secondary teachers of English. It includes what students need to know, what teachers need to know, and even a section on how our teaching impacts learning. This site was created and is based and maintained by the New Zealand Ministry of Education; however its uses are internationally sound and practical. Whether you are searching for language and literature resources, teacher exchange of ideas, assessment tools and processes, strategies, or sequential units and models, you will find all of the offerings to be plentiful. The website is also available in various language dialects of New Zealand.

tag(s): figurative language (17), professional development (385), vocabulary development (94), writing (325)

Although this is intended as an ESL/ELL site, the focused activities, exercises, and games apply to teaching grammar in any classroom. The straightforward approach is a rich resource for those hard-to-grasp grammatical rules and structures. Complete with a quick reference section and explanations, Grammar and Words provides a number of options for practicing grammar and usage. This could also be very useful in an elementary class just being introduced to these concepts of grammar.

tag(s): grammar (137), speech (69)