Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

This collection of math activities from PBS Learning includes five lesson plans, and five videos focused on practicing and learning math facts. Lessons also integrate physical education into learning activities. Select an activity for an overview of learning objectives and the activity then click on the "view" icon to open a PDF document containing the lesson. Use the links found in each lesson to assign to Google Classroom or share via social media options.

tag(s): addition (129), counting (60), fitness (39), multiplication (122), subtraction (110)

MyFitnessPal is basically a food diary; what makes it exceptional is their extensive food database (over 11 million foods) to help you count and keep track of your calorie intake. You can view nutritional information about each of the food items (sugar, protein, cholesterol, and more). You can also view your total nutrition for the day, for example, 45 grams of sugar and what you have consumed. This app will help you keep track of your physical activity, too. With MyFitnessPal just enter your goal weight and the app will calculate what your daily calorie intake should be. Whenever you eat something, enter it manually or scan a barcode and the program deducts the calories from your total, showing you the calories you have left for the day. Of course, exercising allows you to have a larger total for your calorie intake. Enter your calories burned by exercise and MyFitnessPal will add them back into the total for the day. There is a free tier of service, plus a Premium membership. This review is for the free tier.

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

My Plate Match is an interactive game for students to learn all about nutrition and healthy eating. Students will learn all about the food groups by dragging and dropping the food items to the appropriate section of their plate. Not only will they learn about the food groups, but they will also learn how to stay active for 60 minutes per day.

tag(s): fitness (39), game based learning (205), nutrition (140)

Coaching Boys Into Men is a prevention program for athletic coaches to teach young men healthy relationship skills and that violence doesn't equal strength. Tools include several downloads such as posters and step by step lessons to integrate into weekly training sessions. Be sure to click Tools on the top menu to find several "kits" for coaches.

tag(s): bullying (48), character education (79), difficult conversations (57), mental health (48), mentoring (6), school violence (10), social and emotional learning (102), social skills (22), sports (82)

Maintained by a company that sells pool accessories, this collection of links on swimming, swimming pools, and water-related topics helps teach students about being safe around water. Scroll down the page to see resources organized by grade levels and content areas. The links include research articles, videos, lesson plans, worksheets, experiments, activities, and games for science, math and history classes. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): chemicals (41), safety (68), sports (82), water (102)

Enter the world of Ultimate Camp Resources and find a myriad of songs, games, and more to use at home, at camp, or in a classroom. Download and print all skits, songs, games or just the one you're interested in. Some of the songs even have videos!

tag(s): back to school (55), crafts (64), family (51), makerspace (40), seasonal (16), songs (46), sports (82), summer (28)

Share positive moments and increase your happiness! Share by describing your happy moment, upload a picture (not required), and place it in categories you create, such as working out, family, and more. Click Share to share with others, including on Twitter or Facebook. Why use categories? If you are lacking motivation for working out, viewing your positive messages from before can definitely help! Connect with others and comment on their happy moments! Read helpful tips to center you on happiness, find mini-courses, and use daily reminders to increase your happiness. Read the many articles on your journey to a happier YOU! This site/app is easy to use with today's busy lives, and interactivity is grounded in actual science.

tag(s): emotions (49), mental health (48), psychology (65), social and emotional learning (102)

Shape America is the home page for professionals involved in school-based health, physical education, and physical activity. Their comprehensive site offers information and guidelines for physical education, dance, and early childhood education. Choose the Standards & Guidelines link to view national standards for health, dance, physical education, and sport.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): dance (31), fitness (39), sports (82)

Bloomz is a tool that has several free features that teachers need to communicate with their classroom community: share photos, schedule conferences, send reminders, and more. These features are all in one place. So don't use one program to share photos, one to send reminders, one to share calendar updates, and another to schedule volunteers and conferences. Just use Bloomz and do all of the work from the same site. Once you have signed up with your email, watch the introduction video and view the demo class to see how easy Bloomz is to use. This tool works with all mobile devices and computers. Be sure to check out Bloomz' Privacy Polixy to read about their FERPA and COPPA compliance.

tag(s): calendars (37), communication (129), DAT device agnostic tool (147), images (263), parent conferences (21), parents (57), Teacher Utilities (198)

Common Core Conversations is your place to find Common Core resources. The Standards, Resources from state education departments, free resources in all subject areas, using tech tools for learning the standards, and a section for parent information provides a great basis for your Common Core needs. Resources include: ENL/ELL, library, careers, family and consumer sciences. Join the online community to join in the conversations.

tag(s): commoncore (73)

Ducksters is a safe, extensive, educational portal for kids. Find a wide choice of content such as interactives, sports, movies, and music. Begin by choosing a category to explore choices. The study category includes extensive information such as world history, many biographies, science explanations, and information on all continents and many countries. Interactive subjects include math times tables, checkers, and guess the country. There is a TON here to explore.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): addition (129), african american (115), american revolution (82), animal homes (57), animals (295), artists (85), biographies (94), china (81), civil rights (209), civil war (139), cold war (30), continents (33), countries (73), data (151), division (98), egypt (56), elements (34), energy (133), environment (252), explorers (64), fractions (160), friction (9), geometric shapes (135), greece (47), habitats (92), human body (93), inventors and inventions (80), keyboarding (28), mean (19), median (16), mode (13), multiplication (122), planets (113), presidents (135), puzzles (149), recycling (46), renaissance (38), rome (37), solar system (110), sound (72), sports (82), subtraction (110), sun (71), world war 1 (77), world war 2 (161)

The Parenting Guides provide informative guides to child development from preK through High School. Choose from grade-level charts to view academic, health, and social guidelines with benchmarks and tips. Articles by noted experts offer up to date information and advice for parents and teachers of all grade levels. Don't forget to browse through the National Resources for local help with Mathematics and English, searchable by state.

tag(s): child development (24), learning styles (18), parent conferences (21), parents (57), preK (271), social skills (22)

Remind is a safe and easy way to send reminders to students and parents via text message. When sending a text, the site is set up so that students & parents do not see the teachers' phone numbers nor do the teachers see the students' phone numbers. Create an account. Any phone that can receive text messages will receive these. Communication through this site is safe and secure. You only see the names of your students, not their phone number, and they only see your name -- not your cell phone number. With Remind you can schedule reminders for the future, translate your message into 70 languages, send photos, PDFs, voice clips, and see who has read your messages. Be sure to obtain parental permission FIRST, as standard messaging rates apply. Be sure to click the Security Overview to read about Remind's FERPA and COPPA compliance.

tag(s): chat (41), communication (129), DAT device agnostic tool (147), microblogging (14), Teacher Utilities (198)

Give yourself a brain break using the interactive classroom resources at GoNoodle. These activities promote health, fitness, and mindfulness and are based on cutting edge research. These engaging games and activities provide short bursts of movement leading to improved focus and energy within the classroom. Sign-up using your Google account, or create an account with your email. Signing-up with Google, allows you to sign-in with your Google Classroom account. If you have multiple groups of students (or classes) start by naming your class(es), since each class will show progression on this tool. Choose from Topics, Activities and Routines, Channels, Skills and Knowledge, or New on GoNoodle (directions for registering and other features). Each title has multiple sub-categories. Some options are for paid memberships only. None of the games takes longer than five minutes. While most of these are physical tasks, a few are mental/logic activities. Time required for the activity is shown with each option. Registration does require an email address. If your district blocks YouTube, some activities may not be viewable.

tag(s): classroom management (120), fitness (39), logic (161), preK (271)

This very interesting site offers a musical look at the amount of time between finishers in several different Olympic events such as Alpine Skiing and Bobsledding. View each event and the winning time along with dots on a timeline representing the next finisher's times. Click the play icon to hear a tone representing each contestant crossing the finish line. This is an excellent visual and audio display of how close some events really are!
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): olympics (45), sports (82)

Welcome to the official home of the 2014 Olympic Winter and Paralympic Games. Explore the site to learn about Olympic events, the culture of Sochi, and view schedules for all events. Choose the mascots link to learn more about the Olympic mascots and their place within the Olympic games. Some portions of the site may appear in Russian, choose the link at the top of the page to view in English.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): olympics (45), sports (82)