262 mind-stretchers results | sort by:

edublogs - edublogs.org
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): blogs (65), communication (129), writing (325)
In the Classroom
Save this site as a favorite for all of your blogging needs. Find very informative instructions on blogging, and follow the student blogging challenge lesson plans. Use this tool easily in your Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) classroom since all students will be able to access it for free, no matter what device they have. Peruse through the various subjects and discover how other teachers use blogging in their classrooms. Using the given PDFs on blogging start up, parent guidelines, incorporating into subject areas, and adapt to make them suitable for you. Look at a variety of examples to help devise your own unique style to meet your students' needs.Edge Features:
Includes an education-only area for teachers and students
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be shared by URL
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
Includes teacher tools for registering and/or monitoring students
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Tetris N-Blox - Tetris.com
Grades
2 to 8tag(s): logic (161), problem solving (232), puzzles (149)
In the Classroom
Help students develop computer skills and reasoning skills through playing this game. Tetris teaches visual thinking and two-dimensional awareness very helpful for geometric reasoning. Create a classroom chart and challenge students to post their highest scores and levels achieved. Have students write journals describing how they feel as they play the game, and strategies used to progress through levels. Display this site on an interactive whiteboard to use as a learning station.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Guess the Title - Big Huge Labs
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): main idea (8), puzzles (149), vocabulary (239)
In the Classroom
Guess the Title is a quick and "addicting" way to teach, practice, and reinforce the skill of main idea -- done visually. It also teaches creative flexibility as brains cycle through possibilities to find the correct approach to the picture. Bookmark it in your favorites to provide easy access for projecting it on your interactive whiteboard. Use it whenever you have a few minutes before or after a lesson and need a motivational time filler. Include it in the "useful links" section of your class page for students to access in school or at home. Remember, it always helps to have easily accessible, "do now" activities in your "bag of tricks" to keep students engaged while using technology, when others may still be working on an assignment.Check out the Big Huge Labs educator account. Easily pre-register students to avoid creating logins, view and download their creations, and view the site advertisement free. You will find information about the Educator Account here.
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Thunks - Get Thunking - Ian Gilbert
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): logic (161), problem solving (232), questioning (36)
In the Classroom
Display a Thunk on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) as a discussion/debate starter. Have students choose a response and defend their answer. Allow students to discuss their answer throughout the week and survey responses again. Have students create their own Thunks to be discussed in class. Create a bulletin board and allow students to post comments and reactions to the question posed. Use a Thunk as a journal writing prompt. Make this page available for students who are "stuck" thinking of something to write about.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Wondermind - Tate Liverpool
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): body systems (41), brain (56), human body (93), logic (161), psychology (65)
In the Classroom
Create a link on classroom computers for students to try the challenges and then view videos on your interactive whiteboard together. Check out the learning resources link to view a video with additional ideas for visual perception games and activities. Use as part of your Alice in Wonderland or Lewis Carroll units. If you teach psychology, anatomy, or health, this exploration will offer a new angle into how the brain works. Use the game and video about memory during a unit on study skills and discovering how students learn best. Teachers of gifted may also want to explore this site as part of a unit on the gifted mind. Learning support teachers may also want to use portions to help students better understand why their minds operate differently -- not "badly." Bright Asperger's students might be fascinated by the portion on the prefrontal cortex and how we learn self-control.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Brain Metrix - BrainMetrix.com
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): logic (161), multiple intelligences (7), puzzles (149)
In the Classroom
Enjoy your new workout routine! Share the activities on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Challenge your gifted students (or ANY student) to strive for tiptop "brain shape." Use as a way to prove to struggling students they can improve with practice to gain confidence. Provide this link on your class website as an enrichment site.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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World Science - World Science
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): animal homes (57), animals (296), diseases (67), genetics (81), news (229), planets (112)
In the Classroom
World Science empowers your students to recognize that they too can ask questions, and they too can understand the latest science questions and answers. Inspire thinkers to find questions and seek answers. Set as your home page and always captivate your students. Use as a reference site to add the latest science news. Subscribe and send to each of your students emails. Reinforce the scientific method in everyday research. Have your classes create their own science news on your website. This is an excellent site for inspiring critical thinking skills and creative thinking. Be sure to include this site as part of your current events and curriculum in gifted and advanced classes.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Syvum - Syvum
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): creativity (86), critical thinking (127), logic (161), problem solving (232)
In the Classroom
As a teacher, get a free membership with some capabilities to manage your class such as creating your own quizzes and monitoring class progress. This is the sure-fire way to increase problem solving and creative thinking skills through gaming. Use as a whole class activity, individual, or reward time options. Expand the way gifted and advanced classes think! Put a link to this site on your class webpage, wiki, or blog.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Smarthistory Art History Conversation - Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker with Khan Academy
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): art history (103), medieval (33), renaissance (38)
In the Classroom
A must for any art classroom, Smarthistory adds an extra dimension and deeper understanding to any history, social studies, or cultural studies classroom. Use the Smarthistory videos on YouTube to engage and enhance student learning. If the videos aren't viewable in class assign students to watch them at home; that's perfect for the flipped or blended classroom. If you are going to require students to watch the videos from home, consider using edupuzzle, to add your own voice or add questions within the video. Use in writing workshops to provide insights to art and culture and to into thoughts and feelings. Study written works alongside the art of past time periods. Bring unlimited, world-class resources to each class. Gifted classes will devour this website. Provide this link on your class website to offer students extra challenge and exploration.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Yummy Math - Brian Marks
Grades
5 to 9tag(s): number sense (69), problem solving (232), puzzles (149), sports (82)
In the Classroom
Make math relevant to any student. Assign weekly problems from the site for homework or daily classwork. Ask students to create new problems to be solved by classmates using the topic of the week or local topics of interest. Have students make a multimedia presentation using one of the many TeachersFirst Edge tools reviewed here. Some tool suggestions are (click on the tool name to access the review): Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, Vevox, Animatron, Renderforest, and Microsoft PowerPoint Online. Use the archives to find problems available from previous months.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Platonic Realms - Math Academy Online,
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): logic (161), mental math (19), problem solving (232)
In the Classroom
Keep Platonic Realms on hand for all of your math classes. Find simple explanations to advanced mathematical concepts. Keep handy as a link on your website and keep as a favorite on each student computer. Advanced through remedial students benefit from the extra information and reinforcement.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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NobelPrize.org - Nobel Media AB 2011
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): creativity (86), literature (222), medicine (57)
In the Classroom
Inspire your students to strive for excellence! Show students original, creative, thinking. Let students know they can understand the ideas awarded by trying the educational activities offered. Follow each year's announcements and award ceremonies. Use as an inspiration when beginning your own Nobel Prize winning awards competitions. Encourage students to use critical thinking skills to form opinions based on facts. Substitute pen and paper in your class by having students blog about what they are learning and understanding using Telegra.ph, reviewed here. This blog creator requires no registration. Extend learning by inviting pairs or small groups to use a tool like NoteJoy, reviewed here, to take notes and share links, documents, and images to organize for an interactive poster. Use Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here, for the poster. Gifted programs can easily incorporate many of the ideas into the curriculum. Lead your students to Nobel Award winning thinking.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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PBS Learning Media - Physical Education - PBS
Grades
K to 12tag(s): alphabet (53), careers (152), dance (31), data (151), decimals (85), diseases (67), fitness (39), human body (93), mark twain (8), multimedia (52), music theory (46), percent (59), probability (99), problem solving (232), psychology (65)
In the Classroom
Find more details and teacher information under "Customization for States and District" to align the offerings here with your state's standards. Check this site for an introduction to a curriculum topic or unit or when looking for support activities to reinforce concepts. Use this site as the starting point for individual or group projects. Share the interactives as a learning center or on your interactive whiteboard or projector. This is one that you want to save in your favorites.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Mind42 - IRIAN Solutions Vienna
Grades
1 to 12tag(s): concept mapping (15), mind map (27)
In the Classroom
This free organizational tool can be used in classrooms at every level. Teachers can use this tool to help organize learning units and share the orgnanization on screen so students see how pieces fit together. Share the unit map with other teachers, students, or parents, to highlight goals, objectives, learning tasks, assessments, and resources. Share before your unit and expectations become very clear. Use as a yearly overview for parents showing units with resources at the beginning of the year at Open House. Let parents see the multiple ways their child will be assessed through the year. Students can use this tool for direction in problem based learning situations. Use this tool in science for collecting data, experiments, or science fair outlines. Use the tool in writing class to make writing guides for narrative or expository writing. In reading, use for predictions, sequencing of stories, inferences, or organizing genres of books each student has read. Have students map multiple ways to solve a single problem in math class. Have students keep daily requirements or schedules with readily available resources as links. Let students enjoy taking notes from content based classes. Have a student scribe create the notes each day and share with the class. Have student groups map the current unit before the test as a review activity.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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izzit.org - Izzit.org
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): critical thinking (127), news (229), vocabulary (239)
In the Classroom
Choose one current events lesson as a Problem of the Week for class discussion along with some of the questions provided in the lesson. Challenge students to create their own lesson with local newspaper or magazine articles. Search the archives for articles that relate to lessons taught in class. Display the article on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) and discuss, use whiteboard tools to highlight vocabulary and search for context clues in finding definitions.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Mathispower4u - Video Tutorials - James Sousa
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): area (53), business (52), charts and graphs (171), equations (119), factoring (25), functions (52), integers (21), measurement (122), operations (72), order of operations (29), percent (59), place value (34), prime numbers (26), ratios (47), test prep (69), tutorials (52), volume (34)
In the Classroom
Share videos on your interactive whiteboard as in introduction to a new concept or as review. Embed the links to videos of weekly concepts on your class website or blog. Create a link on classroom computers to current content for students to use as a review resource. Ask students to rate the most helpful videos they find and share their recommendations on a class wiki. Share this site with parents to use as a resource when helping students at home. Challenge students to create their own how-to video of math concepts. Share the videos using a tool such as SchoolTube, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Games for Mathematics Education - Freudenthal Institute
Grades
K to 7tag(s): critical thinking (127), estimation (33), logic (161), money (113), puzzles (149), symmetry (27), time (90)
In the Classroom
Create a link to this site on classroom computers for students to explore. Share a link to the site on your classroom website or blog for students to access at home. Display the site on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) to use as a math center. Be sure to explain how to translate the site into English (when necessary).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Games for the Brain - GamesfortheBrain.com
Grades
3 to 12In the Classroom
Offer exciting and fun ways to improve problem solving and creativity in A Game a Day! Challenge your students to go beyond and stretch their thinking in a variety of ways. The gaming format holds high motivation and interest with your students. Arrange contests within your class for increased achievement. Use in gifted and advanced classes. A Game a Day is a great center time activity and also can be used effectively for reward time. Use as examples for gaming formats with your computer classes. Challenge your students to create review activities for concepts and units based on the game formats presented. Preservice teachers can benefit for discovering the wave of the future: education through gaming. Use in your world language classes to increase fluency.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Knoword - Trevor Blades
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): game based learning (204), vocabulary (239), vocabulary development (94), word study (60)
In the Classroom
Try this activity at the start of class on your interactive whiteboard or projector; it's perfect for vocabulary development with a lively twist! Offer this site to your students who are trying to assess and/or improve their vocabulary for standardized tests such as the ACT or SAT. ENL/ELL students may also enjoy the challenges and additions to their vocabulary. Share this site on your class webpage or blog for students to access (and practice) at home.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Curriki - EnterpriseDB Postgre SQL company
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): graphic organizers (48), literacy (121), OER (43), operations (72), resources (85), rubrics (37), Teacher Utilities (194)
In the Classroom
Curriki has several ways to benefit teachers and students. Use Curriki as a resource listed on your website to have extra opportunities for additional practice or enrichment for parents and students. If you have a blended classroom, Curriki is the perfect tool to use for your students to access assignments. Use as a way to organize your digital resources. The lesson plan and Webquest templates are user friendly and promote best practices. While growing in your professional development by connecting with teachers worldwide, let your class learn with other classes worldwide. Curriki encourages you to think critically about your own lessons, and also the lessons suggested.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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