Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Primary Resource's Maths page has useful materials for teaching number concepts, measurement concepts, data and probability, computation, and much more. Resources include handouts, presentations, graphic organizers, worksheets and other printables, and lesson ideas. Most activities include a key that indicates the appropriate age group, grade level, or required skill level needed as well as its file format. This site is from the UK, so some of the pronunciations and spellings may differ from those in American English. This site does include advertisements.

tag(s): addition (128), measurement (123), subtraction (109)

Lego Education Activities are designed to be rich, fun-filled, creative learning experiences. They offer educators a means to use LEGO sets as essential tools that engage students while challenging their creativity and enhancing their knowledge and comprehension. As a thinking teacher, you only need to look on the Teachersfirst Editor's Blog here to realize what a hot topic teaching creativity is and how it fits into the classroom. From role-playing and meeting the needs of early childhood development to theme-based sets for older students, LEGO Activities offer a multi-disciplinary approach to teaching. There are also specific sets designed to cover specific subject areas, including technology curriculum. As you browse the activities, you will find obvious connections to curriculum in simple machines and other science topics, as well. Stay current and find a lot more stimulating ideas by checking out the LEGO Education and LEGO Smart Blogs available from theLego Education Activities page.

tag(s): creativity (87), critical thinking (136), logic (161), problem solving (234)

Sodoku is a popular game for all ages, this interactive site allows the you to play online. Choose from different ability levels from easy to hard and pick the tiles to use from numbers, symbols, or letters. Other options include a timer, sound, and placement of tiles. The bright, interactive format is easy to use and will keep all users engaged.

tag(s): logic (161), problem solving (234), puzzles (149)

This site features several free downloadable fractions worksheets including modeling fractions, reducing fractions, adding fractions, subtracting fractions, multiplying fractions, and dividing fractions. All of the fraction worksheets come complete with an answer key.

tag(s): worksheets (71)

This site, created for homeschooling families but useful in any classroom, provides downloadable game boards that can be used in any subject area. Game boards come in two varieties, start to finish and racetrack. The two varieties come in several different styles. Printable dice and game cards are also available as well as directions on how to assemble the game board.

tag(s): printables (36)

This site contains links to many different sources for rubrics. You can search by grade level, subject, or type making it easier to find an appropriate rubric.

tag(s): assessment (146)

The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a nationwide effort led by the National Governor's Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers to establish a common set of educational standards which aligns benchmarks and expectations across state lines. This system builds on what states are already doing by providing an opportunity to share experiences, best practices, and lessons, while maintaining high expectations that insure the quality of education across America to enable our students to maintain a competitive edge in the global economy.

Visit this website to find out exactly what the national K-12 standards are for English language arts and literacy in history/social studies, science and technology, as well as mathematics, and to find out if your state is one many states (at the time of this review) that have already committed to adopt the Common Core State Standards. Watch videos and the recorded webinar, and read about the key points and rigorous curriculum standards, including the content and skills related to the use of media and technology for critical analysis and production.

tag(s): commoncore (73)

At this site you will find a slide show with at least fourteen different programs you can use instead of PowerPoint for your lectures. Are your PowerPoint lectures boring you and your students? Take a look at this online slide show, and choose one of fourteen different programs to convert just one of your PowerPoint lectures. Not only is each program explained, but many have suggestions for integrating your lectures with the program. Take a look. Learn about some great web 2.0 sites (Prezi, TypeWith.me, Animoto, ToonDoo, and many others). Note that many of the tools mentioned are also reviewed on TeachersFirst in greater detail if you want to learn more.

tag(s): chat (41), comics and cartoons (55), digital storytelling (155)

Basic Mathematics is designed to help students and adults with the basic understanding of mathematics concepts and operations. Instructions follow a sequential logical order and concepts are presented in clear, simple terms. Advertisements can be distracting.

tag(s): decimals (85), fractions (160)

Mathematics Help Reference offers definitions, explanations, and examples for various math concepts from statistics to geometry to decimals. Although this site is rather "plain vanilla" it does offer a lot of great information in a sequential and concise manner.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): decimals (85), integers (21), probability (99), ratios (47)

This site is quick, easy, requires no registration, and FREE. Upload your image to this site in order to create a smaller file size for use on other sites and applications as well as adding effects such as corner rounding, rotating, tinting, changing contrast/brightness, or adding borders/edges. Upload an image up to 5 MB to alter easily with this site. Web resizer automatically reduces the file size to create an optimized image. Be sure to click "apply changes" once you have finished making selections. Click "start over" to remove previous changes. Download the image easily in a JPEG format.

tag(s): images (263)

This site allows you to safely share YouTube videos and crop the parts that you do not want from the video. The process is simple. Find a YouTube video that you would like to share with your students. Paste the link for the video into safe share TV, click to edit, and copy the link of your trimmed YouTube video. It can be pasted into powerpoint, webpages, social networking sites, and anything else you can think of! A safe and easy way to bring media into your class for free.

tag(s): safety (68)

Looking for the most from your search? Use Goofram to find the best of both Google and Wolfram alpha all in one place. View top Google searches using Safesearch as well as Wolfram alpha (which include definitions and abundant resources.)

tag(s): resources (83), search engines (48)

This site takes any quotation or poem and creates a "word cloud" (graphical display) of the words in a passage of text. Paste in any passage or the URL for any blog entry or web page (including newspapers online) to create a word cloud of the text. Enhance basic word clouds by using this site to create clouds in various shapes, use mouse rollover options, use font effects, and more. Elevate your word clouds into an art form. Once registered, change your password by clicking on the profile tab and entering your changes. Before creating a word cloud, agree to their terms that includes only using appropriate content. Copy and paste series of words or use the URL of a page where the words can be found. Choose a shape such as a heart, cloud, or geometric patterns. Choose a font as well as other options, and then click "Build the Cloud." Preview your cloud before saving. WordArt.com is free for personal and non-commercial use. However, you can only download Standard Quality (SQ) images for free.

tag(s): images (263), vocabulary (242), word choice (14), word clouds (13)

Color Sudoku will engage even the youngest of Sudoku players by using colors rather than the traditional numbers. This option is helpful for students who may not be completely comfortable with number recognition but enjoy playing games of logic. Color Sudoku is a great training tool for beginners entering the world of Sudoku. Players can click on "Give Me A Hint" if they need a little help. Be aware: this site does include some advertisements. Shrink your window to cut off the right side and avoid the distraction! This site works best with Microsoft's Edge browser.

tag(s): colors (63), logic (161), puzzles (149), sudoku (10)

Online Math Learning is a huge website with numerous resources including interactive problem generators, a video library, worksheets, and links all organized by grade level and subject level. This site is very well organized, easy to use, and has something for every grade level and nearly every subject/topic area. Advise students to ignore the advertisements.

tag(s): charts and graphs (171), equations (119), statistics (121)

Are school budget cuts cramping your style? Then look at this award winning, FREE drawing application! Tux Paint is an "open source" drawing software for young students (preK - grade 6) and is available to the public at no cost. If you are familiar with Kid Pix, you will feel right at home with Tux Paint. The design is straightforward, and easy to navigate. The center of the screen serves as a large canvas with drawing tools on either side. Beneath the screen is a color palette. A cute penguin cartoon character directs students through the program and provides helpful tips. Some of the features include a large, kid friendly mouse pointer, brushes, stamps, sounds, erasers, letters, numbers, "magic effects," and an undo/redo option. Save artwork directly onto a slide finder page without having to create a file name. The installation is quick and easy even for older computers. First, download the application itself, and then the stamp collection. The number of stamps and the variety of images is amazing! Feel free to install Tux Paint on as many computers as you wish. Tux Paint will work on a variety of operating platforms such as Windows, OS X 10.3, and Linux. The "Tux Paint Configuration" tool is a separate file found on the "Tux Paint" download page. Having the controls in a different location makes it difficult for students to adjust the settings. Simply open the Tux Paint Configuration file and a main control panel will come up. From here, the supervising adult can control the screen size, sound, mouse, print settings, and save functions. Adjust the settings and simplify the program for younger children. Choose from approximately 80 different languages to run Tux Paint.

tag(s): creativity (87), drawing (62), painting (54), preK (286)

Find digital images that are available for use without violating copyright. This search tool finds images licensed for use under Creative Commons licensing. While most major search engines have advanced features that allow you to filter out content by copyright privileges, the CC search website makes it easy and convenient. Be sure to READ the information about verifying licensing. The results provide extensive options that can be legally (and ethically) used in wikis, blogs, reports, and more, as long as you provide the attribution information. What a fabulous tool for students to use for interactive or traditional projects!

tag(s): air (100), copyright (43), creative commons (28)

HeadMagnet is a new twist on flashcards. You can create flashcards for any subject that you wish or use cards already available on the site. Once the cards are made, there are different study modes to choose - slide show, self-test and normal (type in responses). Study sessions can even be timed. After completing the study session HeadMagnet predicts which items will need more study time, enabling you to spend more time on material that hasn't been learned yet. Study lists can be shared with others, and you can search for already created materials. After completion of a study session, you can access statistics that show your overall memory of the material. You need to register to create your own materials, but all items are free. Registration requires and email address. Tip: rather than using your personal or work email, create a free Gmail account to use for memberships. If you plan to have students register individually, you may want to create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes. Here is a blog post that tells how to set up Gmail subaccounts to use for any online membership service.

tag(s): flash cards (43)