Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Curriki is a nonprofit organization that encourages teachers and learners' to collaborate in developing quality educational materials in a global community. Click What We Do from the top menu and slide to CurikiStudio, and click Creators to create a free account and find resources like questions, photos/images, multimedia, and more for interactive lesson creation. Next under Solutions is CurrikiGo, where you will publish your lessons, etc. Last on the dropdown list is the CurrikiLibrary, where you can search by subject area, grade level, or resource type (interactive, video, or podcast). For a thorough summary of Curriki click the Explore a CurrikiStudio Activity. Join different groups for a more involved way to explore new areas in online learning, subject area interests, or focus questions. Create collections of your resources to keep private or share with others. This site focuses on providing free access to teachers, schools, students, or parents to many new creative ideas for in-class learning, digital learning, and hybrid or blended learning in a global community. Free membership includes monthly newsletters. Follow Curriki on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), or blogs.
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tag(s): graphic organizers (48), literacy (121), OER (43), operations (72), resources (83), rubrics (37), Teacher Utilities (197)

TuLyn Video Clips on YouTube provides over 2000 math video tutorial clips for grades 1 through 12. Available items can be viewed by searching by topic, grade level, or school level. After choosing a topic there is a short explanation, definitions, and links to available resources by format. Choices include video tutorials, worksheets, word problems, discussions, and books. All worksheets are in PDF format for easy saving and printing. Be aware, this site has many advertisements. You may want to peruse the site and get the video (or other activity) prepared ahead of time, to avoid the advertisements.
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tag(s): problem solving (233), tutorials (52), video (266), worksheets (69)

Mr. P offers a site loaded with Math humor, facts, problems, songs, videos, quotes, puzzles, games, poems, and lesson plans. Especially helpful are the math videos (which require QuickTime). The Math Poems and Songs are great for your more auditory learners. The problem of the month is offered with the solution provided at the end of the month; however, previous problems, with their solutions, are archived and available to use.

tag(s): equations (119), humor (15), polynomials (20), puzzles (149)

Create and share surveys easily with this online tool. Simply create an account with your email and password, choose a template, customize with your information, then share the url for respondents to reply.
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tag(s): polls and surveys (49), quiz (67), quizzes (90)

Use this fun and easy flashcard site to learn information and concepts. Create flashcards easily or use the search function to find existing sets that can be used for study. Play the "Challenge" feature to compete with friends for high scores. Play a variety of games for review of the flashcard set. The variety of options keeps the learning experience fresh.

tag(s): flash cards (44), game based learning (205), grammar (137), operations (72), verbs (26)

Create your own tests to be taken online and graded instantly and accurately. With a free account, you can save 100 test results a month. ClassMarker allows you to add your own tests to be taken online and graded instantly. ClassMarker will randomize questions and answers, add time limits, and preset test availability dates. You can choose from multiple choice, short answer, essay & more question types.

Registration is not required. You can embed the tests on your own web page. This method is useful for practice tests since test results are only saved when students are registered and logged into ClassMarker. To register students, you create a group, add the student names (use a code for online safety), and create a password for the group. Or students can register themselves using a registration code you give them. You can then transfer users to multiple groups after they are registered if you wish.
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tag(s): quiz (67), quizzes (90), test prep (69)

Create a podcast out of any audio file on the web. Signing up is easy. Find an audio file online. Enter the URL, title, description of the site, and enter tags. Separate podcasts are created for the different tags that you use. Search the tags that are on Huffduffer to find specific audio files. Add the Huffduffer bookmarklet to Firefox or Chrome to instantly create a podcast from audio files you find online.

tag(s): listening (93), podcasts (108), stories and storytelling (58)

Flashcard Maker, as the title implies, is an online tool to create flashcards. This site also has a healthy bank of prefabricated flashcards that could easily save time in meeting your needs. The link to "Explore Flashcards" allows you to search for prefabricated cards sorted by subject and topic. You can save as sets of cards with tags and share with friends. You can add images to cards, making them not only more interesting to use, but also more versatile since you can identify and learn more visual things than standard flashcards. You can change the flashcard theme, font size, and viewing order.
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tag(s): flash cards (44), test prep (69)

Use Tineye as a reverse image search engine. Tineye's unique image search engine looks for the same actual image -- not the description. This is a great way to find out where else an image is in use on the Internet. To use this simple and free service: upload or enter the link to an image on the Internet. Tineye will search the Internet to find the same image even if it has been rotated, altered or cropped by using image recognition technology. What a terrific way to discover the origin of an image or find those using it without permission. Note that the maximum upload size is 1 MB. Use this free service without registering. Create an account to use other features such as saving your searches. Registration does require email verification. Download the applet for Firefox or Chrome for ability to instantly use the service. You must have the ability to install browser add-ons to use the add-on version of the tool.
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tag(s): images (263), photography (130), plagiarism (34), search engines (48)

Teachers' Domain is a free digital media service for educational use. All of the material are from public broadcasting and its partners. This site aggregates thousands of media rich resources like lessons, videos, learning games and professional development resources. All resources can be found by subject area. In addition, each subject has sub areas to help you refine your search even more. You are allowed 7 views of material without registering.
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tag(s): professional development (385), resources (83), teaching strategies (50)

"I decided to put together Mathstory.com to keep students smiling and engaged as they mastered mathematical concepts," is Mr. R's explanation for this site that includes many resources for elementary teachers along with a few lessons for Jr High and High School teachers. Be sure to check out the Math Videos page which includes 20 homemade videos created for learning strategies for counting and multiplying (the page may be slow to load because of the number of videos included). The Math Story link currently leads you to the online book, Fourth Grade and the Evil Wizard of Math. Each chapter contains math problems. There are many math lessons included for all grade levels. Don't miss the interesting math poems to learn geometric shapes. There is A LOT here to explore!
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tag(s): geometric shapes (134), interactive stories (22), poetry (193), video (266)

Slavery Footprint calculates the number of forced laborers involved in making the products we buy as consumers (such as beans in our coffee). Questions are based on the food you eat, clothes you own, and even the sports you do. There is even the option to add detail about certain commodities to allow the program to make a more precise calculation. The result gives you the exact number of slaves that "work for you" in the supply chains of your consumption. An interesting portion of the site goes into detail about the methodology used for determining the number of slaves "working" for the respondents. The site also provides their definition of a slave: "Anyone who is forced to work without pay, being economically exploited, and unable to walk away." Be sure to share the opening portion of the site, "What? Slaves work for me?" with students for a wonderful explanation of slavery and the purpose of the site. Note: There is one question in the survey about paying for sex. While sexual slave trade is a very real issue in today's world, you may not want your less mature students to encounter this question. Only you know your school community's tolerance for such discussions.

tag(s): cross cultural understanding (173), ecology (103), slavery (79)

Need kid-friendly online news? This safe site, written for kids, by kids, offers news from a younger point-of-view. You can create a class page where you can load a variety of articles, add a book list, a calendar, favorite sites list, add lesson plan instructions, monitor student comments, and more. DOGOnews is kid-friendly, colorful, and flexible. After all, DOGO means young or small in Swahili. You can select articles from a number of categories (Social Studies, Science, World, Current Events, etc.). There is an integrated dictionary for challenging words and maps for geographical context. Some of the articles include short video clips. Students may leave brief comments about each article (no login required). Also, typing the word "video" in the search box will bring up the Video of the Week for the past several weeks. The videos reside on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable. In addition, find a Book and Movie section with a brief summary for the book or movie, and comments. You don't have to join to read the articles, but you do need to join to create a class page. There are many benefits to creating a class page, and it's all free! Don't want to create a class page? You can also embed articles on your current web page.

tag(s): journalism (74), news (228), reading comprehension (149), sports (82)

New Orleans Math Teacher, Jerome White, has created this site to share his classroom productions with others. He has produced videos fashioned after popular songs with Math themes. Examples are Super Geek sung to the tune of Super Freak, I Solved for X to the tune of I Kissed a Girl, and many more. Videos are presented through YouTube and most are also linked to an original posting with an explanation of the contents. Be sure to also check out his Math Nerdiness page which features his Mathematical explanation of Parallel Parking, Sine Cradle, Rational Functions explanations, and other "Nerdiness." Other linked portions of the site are for more mature students, such as the tattoo designs done by calculus students. The videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.

tag(s): angles (52), geometric shapes (134), humor (15), quadratics (27)

Jiskha Homework Help is a large collection of resources to help students learn and improve their grades. The homework help forum welcomes posts to their large group of professional experts and teachers who are there to receive questions. A well organized array of articles, links, and other searchable resources on all kinds of school subjects round out this really well thought-out site for students of all ages. Archives are available to find answers to previous questions, simply type in a search term to find questions, articles, and directories related to the search. Other searches can be done by grade level or school subject by choosing links on the left side of the page. Most answers are provided within a couple of days so this site shouldn't be counted on for last-minute homework questions!
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tag(s): homework (29)

Mathebook.net has Online Tutorials as well as Downloadable pdf tutorials which you can save on a computer and use later. It can be used by teachers for home work purpose. The pdf is editable and students can e-mail the homework tutorials by e-mail back to teachers. To begin using the site, you simple choose from kindergarten, elementary, middle school, or high school levels. Within each of those sections is a list of topics, and then a choice of virtual or ebook. Virtual activities are those done on the computer and cannot be saved. These are items such as fact practice where feedback will be given as to the correctness of answers. eWorkbook items are PDF documents that can be printed and used as worksheets. You can either print and use them, or the answers can be inputted online, saved, then emailed to the instructor. The site also includes a math dictionary, video tutorials, and downloadable worksheets.
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tag(s): addition (129), decimals (85), division (98), factors (29), fractions (160), measurement (122), multiplication (122), number sense (69), subtraction (110), time (91), video (266), worksheets (69)

If you are looking for puzzles, this site offers hundreds of choices in many different forms. Try solving weight puzzles, color sum puzzles, or pyramid puzzles. If unsure, puzzles are also sorted by easy, medium, or hard levels. Solutions are available for all puzzles.

tag(s): logic (161), puzzles (149)

Produce Oasis is a source for information about selecting and preparing herbs, fresh fruits & vegetables. The site includes healthy recipes, seasonal information, history, and nutritional & dietary data about your favorite fruits and vegetables! To explore the site, choose from one of the categories from the menu on the right: Blog, Cookware, Food, and Science.
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tag(s): cooking (32), nutrition (140)

Encourage students to get sixty minutes of exercise daily by partnering school workers with this site's two sponsors: the Department of Agriculture and the National Football League. You can join the program for free and see if your school qualifies to receive grants to help educate your students about exercise, nutrition, and healthy eating and also to increase student access to more physical education programs and better foods. Check with your school administrators to be sure it is acceptable to have your school join and to allow your students to individually register. "Quick Start Resources" help you learn how to use the program and set up their class as a team.

tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (147), fitness (39), nutrition (140)

JustPaste.it is a quick, online way to share text and images with others. This site offers a neat twist to creating a blog. It features an easy-to-use text editor with text formatting function. Just paste text from another web page or word processor and text formatting and images will be preserved. By using the "Upload images" module you can easily add new graphics to your notes. If you have written your note originally using a word processor: (such as Microsoft Word), simply upload it to the server using the "Import from file" function. Text formatting and graphics will be preserved. When finished creating your text, click Publish to receive the HTML code, forum code, and URL link. Or create your own custom URL through the Custom page name option at the top right. Notes can also be edited through the link provided after publication. The finished product can also be easily saved as a PDF file, just scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Save to PDF link.
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tag(s): blogs (65), communication (129), images (263), note taking (36)