Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Ever think that you could look more professional if you used a teleprompter just like the President? Try this free version then! Simply copy and paste your text into the field, highlight words if desired, and then click "Start prompt." Click play on the next screen to start the prompter. Speed up or slow down the speed of the prompter using the "+" or "-" buttons. The size of the prompter text can also be increased easily. Users must be able to copy and past text from one application to another. Player controls look much like standard video player controls. Follow the demo to watch how it is used or take a few moments to play with it. Close the site, and the information in the prompter is lost.
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tag(s): speeches (23)

Got X (formerly Twitter)? Then take a look at these 100+ authors to see if any of your favorites are listed, and start following them. Mashable has weeded out the authors who are just trying to sell you something on X (formerly Twitter). Their list only includes authors who are trying to carry on a conversation with their followers and present information they find valuable, whether it directly benefits them or not. Each author has a description, some of the books they have written, and an example tweet.

tag(s): authors (107), twitter (13)

This site allows you to access 10 keyboarding interactives and over 40 lessons. The site is broken down into three sections, Free Typing Games, Free Typing Lessons, and Free Typing Tests. There is some advertising on this site.

tag(s): keyboarding (28)

Six Word Stories challenges students to create a meaningful "narrative," book summary, reaction to a movie, or other literary reflection in just six words. Based on a famous one by Ernest Hemingway, the site collects the writings of amateurs and professionals. Readers can search it by theme or by genre or author (including famous ones). Links include places to try similar endeavors including 2-sentence stories and fifty-word stories. Please preview: at the time of this review, there was one inappropriate comment with a curse word.

tag(s): Teacher Utilities (198), writing (325)

Use the Flubaroo add-on tool with Google docs for an easy way to create self grading documents and forms. Be sure to check out their 3 minute demo video and overview links to understand how easy it is to use. Flubaroo provides easy to use step by step directions. Use this tool for multiple choice type answers for an easy way to receive feedback. Students easily see their responses to the questions when grades are emailed providing feedback.

tag(s): assessment (147), quiz (67), quizzes (90)

Don't ever be caught with a loss for words again! Phrase up is an interactive website that helps you fill in the blank when your mind goes blank! Type in an incomplete phrase, and options are provided for finishing your thought or sentence. Parts of speech, definitions, sentence examples, as well as translations are included. While the sentence generator does provide creative results, occasionally examples are for a more mature user.

tag(s): figurative language (17), vocabulary (238)

Check Teachers First reviews for specific fun and creative tools from this expansive site. As Big Huge Labs continues to add to their offerings, be sure to check back to the main page of the site to find what is new. For now check out the Trading Card Maker, reviewed here, the CD Cover Maker, reviewed here, The Big Huge Thesaurus, reviewed here, Mosaic Maker, reviewed here, Magazine Cover Maker, reviewed here, Guess the Title, reviewed here, Captioner, reviewed here, Map Maker, reviewed here, Movie Poster, Badge Maker, Billboard, and Calender. In addition they have many photo editing/photo enchancing tools: Bead Art, Jigsaw, FX, Mat, Wallpaper, Cube, Lolcat Generator, Framer, Color Palette, Pocket Album Hockneyizer, Photobooth, and Pop Art Poster. Some of these tools are more suitable for play, but if you are beginning the process of integrating technology, these will be engaging to your students. Take time to look over some of these tools before sharing the site with students. Big Huge labs also has some other free services you may want to use such as a ranked list of the Top 100 Digital Camera Makers and Models that is updated weekly. There is also Scout to help you find your photos on Flickr Explore, Random Photo Browser, On Black, Sunset, Favorite Surfer, Flicker DNA, Photo Fortune, Profile Widget, and Writer, reviewed here.
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tag(s): collages (17), editing (93), images (263), maps (220), multimedia (53), photography (130), posters (43), thesaurus (22)

The CNN Student News WEB site is the companion to the daily CNN Student News show and is offered free of charge with no subscription. These ten-minute programs and commercial-free streamed videos produced by journalists and educators at CNN provide a great alternative to YouTube. A wealth of teacher materials accompanies each video, such as transcripts for each show, discussion questions, the Media Literacy Question of the Day, detailed learning activities, downloadable maps, and additional support materials to help students understand the news. A selection of documentaries is also accessible, with discussion guides for educators. You can sign up for emails to receive Daily Education Alerts to see what information and major stories are being covered that day or choose from previous dates and news stories from the archives. Remember to preview the program before showing it to your class.

tag(s): news (229), video (266)

Do Something.org is one of the largest organizations in the United States that helps young people take action to promote causes they care about and motivates them with realistic, creative inspiration to establish a culture of volunteerism. By tapping into the web, television, mobile devices, and popular media, Do Something.org empowers and celebrates today's youth as the "Do Something" generation: teenagers who recognize the need to do something, believe in their ability to get it done, and then take action. Explore this site for ideas for starting your own project and browse the many causes and volunteer opportunities already in your own area and beyond. Help students discover ways to make a difference. The rules are simple: No Money, No Car, and No Adults permitted for putting your plans into action.

There are suggestions, resources, and support to empower young people and give them the energy to take action and make a difference. Whether their passion is to feed the homeless, end bullying, help even the playing field of educational inequalities, or many more needy causes, this website is chock full of easy to access information and strategies that encourage teenagers to decide for themselves how they can contribute their time and desire to make a difference.

tag(s): character education (79), Project Based Learning (23), service projects (17)

CREEP is a clever acronym for "Campaign for the Removal of English Errors in Public." As part of an English Department's blog from a college in Ireland, pupils have posted a tagged collection of photos of signs, advertisements, notices, and just about anything to do with the written word that captures the abuse and misuse of punctuation, spelling, grammar, capitalization, mechanics, and usage. The idea is not unique, but it adds humor to the sad state of affairs of the numerous errors that "CREEP" into our English language and are published on road signs, billboards, product labels, newspaper headlines, and more. What a great way to teach proofreading skills! How many bloopers can your students spot? You may want to preview the "headlines" at this site before sharing it with your class. At the time of this review, all material was suitable for secondary students.
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tag(s): capitalization (9), editing (93), grammar (137), process writing (37), proofreading (21), punctuation (25), spelling (98)

Penzu offers a FREE service to write journals or diaries online with exceptional privacy options. As an added benefit, you can add images or your own artwork as illustrations. There is a very short demo video on the home page. On Penzu you can keep everything completely private or share selective posts by email or URL. Perhaps share selections on a class wiki page? Don't have a wiki? See the TeachersFirst Wiki Walk-Through for practical management and safety tips for a class wiki. Note: Premium service is available, but this review is for the free version.

tag(s): communication (129), DAT device agnostic tool (147), journals (15), writing (325)

This word cloud generator is made specifically for children. This site takes any text and creates a "word cloud" (graphical display) of the words in a passage of text. The most frequent words appear larger. Paste in any passage or grouping of text to create a word cloud of the text. Students can choose their own colors, type of display, font, and the final cloud can be printed or saved.

tag(s): speech (69), vocabulary (238), word choice (14), word clouds (13)

This PDF includes specific suggestions for managing journals, developing prompts for writing, and providing students with feedback on their writing. In addition, the site includes two sample lessons for introducing students to important ideas related to writing about their mathematical thinking. Ideas and activities are very clearly laid out and can be put to use in classrooms immediately. One section not to miss is entitled - Writing Opportunities in Math Class - four specific times to write, and how to write, are defined and explained. Tips are also included for managing math journals, and encouraging students as they write.

tag(s): journals (15), writing (325)

Weebly is an easy, free website creator with tons of features for you to choose from. The easy, "drag and drop" elements allow even novice technology users to create their own website. Besides the basic "drag and drop" features for the title, text, text with a picture, etc., the free version allows you to use cool items: photo gallery, slide show, YouTube videos, Google Maps, an assignment form, and lots more. They promise that the free service will remain 100% feature-packed.

tag(s): blogs (65), communication (129), portfolios (23), writing (325)

Post-it Teachers has a teacher page written by teachers for teachers, all using the little sticky notes that we cannot imagine our lives without. They are used in thousands of ways; they are not just for bookmarks anymore! This web site is an activity center for using Post-its in all subjects and grade levels. Each activity is complete with estimated time needed, objectives, description, easy-to-follow steps, and even assessments, at-home activities, and lesson extension ideas. Search by grade level (K-8, or ESL) and topic (art, classroom management, history, language arts, reading & writing, music, math, science, special education, learning activities & templates). Or you are able to search by teaching technique (K-W-L, cluster mapping, questioning strategy, storymap, timeline, Venn diagram, and several others).

tag(s): classroom management (120)

Use Education World's Vocab-u-lous! features to help build your students' vocabulary. There are numerous word banks for students to use as they figure out which of the challenging words fits in the context of the sentences. The activity sheets are arranged by the words' beginning sound, and by holiday categories, such as Thanksgiving words and Presidents' Day words.

Be aware: this site has several advertisements, some pop-up.

tag(s): sound (72), sounds (43), vocabulary (238)

This web page consists of an adaptable lesson plan and information that is chock full of creative, interactive, practical, ready to use activities based upon the discovery and usefulness of the kite. There are interdisciplinary projects including art/history, science, geography, language arts, and math that are fun for students of all age ages. Spring, or any season, is the perfect time to introduce your students to the fascinating world of kites. At the time of this review, two of the links were no longer active. However there are many useful links that make this site a worthwhile tool!

tag(s): crafts (64), seasons (37)

Whichbook is an intuitive way to find books that match students' interests, topic choices, and other elements and serves as a welcome replacement for the traditional way of searching the stacks and card catalogs in the library or browsing in bookstores or on the web. Whichbook starts with the individual reader and what they are looking for. It enables students to input criteria that is not limited to the typical title, author, genre search, but includes characteristics such as funny/sad, easy/demanding, and short/long to find books that they consider to be a "good read." Whichbook finds titles that match your preferences. There are millions of possibilities so if you don't like any of the books offered, change your choices and try again! Public libraries have played a key role in creating the database. It is important to note that all of the books are either fiction or poetry, available in paperback, and published since 1995.

tag(s): independent reading (81)

Sign up for this site to sing Karaoke through your computer! Be sure to click on the "Free Trial" on the registration page. This will allow you to use 50+ songs FOR FREE! Additional songs are available for a fee. A free demo makes using the song offerings easy. Preview the songs (and site) before introducing them to your class, since some songs may not be fitting for classroom use. The karaoke interaction uses speakers and a computer.

tag(s): songs (46)