Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Create impressive video presentations using your images and videos with Typito. Create and verify your account through email to begin. Use the site's dashboard to upload your images and video, add text, choose templates and layouts, and add music to personalize your work. Be sure to share the provided credits under CC Licenses for music and images used from the site. When finished, publish your video. After your video is processed, use the links to download, publish to YouTube, or share on social media platforms. Create up to 4 full HD videos.You can start right now! No credit card required. With the free plan you can create up to 4 Full HD videos a month with Typito branding. You can remove the branding for $10 per video project.
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tag(s): animation (64), communication (129), images (263), movies (54), photography (130), video (266)

vistacreate is a visual editor for creating social media images, banners, animated designs, infografics, timelines, videos, and more. Choose from vistacreate's extensive library of templates and photos (type in your theme) or use your own. Select the type of media to create to begin a project, open your workspace, and personalize different features. Click the Tutorials tab on the top menu to see How to Get Started and more. Create an account using email to download and share finished projects.

tag(s): digital storytelling (154), graphic design (49), images (263), infographics (56), posters (43), slides (43), social media (48), timelines (56)

StickK offers tools for achieving goals through the use of a Commitment Contract defining the goal, stating what it takes to achieve the goal, and involving others to maintain motivation to accomplish the goal. Begin by choosing a goal from the drop-down box and create your account. Follow the steps to create your Commitment Contract including specific goals and a timeline. Options include adding financial commitments to charities or others if goals aren't met and adding a referee to verify progress. Once you complete the contract, use StickK to track your journey through photos and an online journal.

tag(s): character education (79), organizational skills (88)

AutoDraw matches your online doodles with professional drawings using any device. Begin a picture, and as you add to the image, AutoDraw's algorithms offer possible matches for your attempt. Click on any of the matching images to replace your doodle with a completed drawing. Use the site's tools to add text, change outline and fill colors, and add shapes. When finished, download your creation as a PNG file to your device. Share your drawing using social media links or the URL.

tag(s): artificial intelligence (177), colors (63), drawing (61), images (263), painting (54)

Take a virtual 3D tour of the Apollo 11 Command Module, Columbia, home of the astronauts of the first manned lunar mission in 1969. Select from 27 slides to view different portions of the module, then use your mouse to move around the image. Each slide also contains a short description of the content shown. In addition to the 3D tour, this site includes many downloads including models for 3D printers and models for use with VR headsets. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.

tag(s): explorers (64), moon (73), space (222), STEM (297), virtual field trips (128)

Clipchamp provides a variety of free tools for creating and editing video. The free services include a video editor, video conversion, and webcam recorder. Create your account to begin a project. Follow the prompts to upload your media files. Use tools within Clipchamp Create to clip videos, change backgrounds, and edit your video. Choose Clipchamp Utilities to upload and convert videos to several different formats for social media use, edit or compress files. Clipchamp Utilities also provides resources for recording directly from your webcam.

tag(s): conversions (37), images (263), movies (54), video (266)

Bing Fun offers a selection of web-based mini games in a variety of formats like puzzles and trivia quizzes. Scroll down the page to choose from the available options including quizzes on current news and geography. Most quizzes offer several options for level of difficulty, the current news quiz allows students and teachers to select quizzes for several different weeks.

tag(s): logic (161), Microsoft (80), problem solving (233), puzzles (149), trivia (19)

Immersive Reader is a free Microsoft Learning Tool available for use with several Microsoft products including OneNote, Word, Outlook, and Edge. Immersive Reader dictates text and offers several options for personalization. Use the options to adjust the playback speed, highlight text during the audio reading, and adjust text size and spacing. Click on any word in your reading material to listen to the pronunciation. Additional options allow you to view words divided into syllables, use labels to color-code words by parts of speech, and increase the spacing between lines and letters. Use the line focus feature to highlight only small portions of text. Turn on the dictionary option to select words and view drawings representing the meanings. This tool is a wonderful resource for your special needs students and struggling readers!

tag(s): adhd (28), differentiation (84), disabilities (32), dyslexia (11), Microsoft (80), multilingual (77), reading comprehension (149), Special Needs (53), text to speech (20)

Design Wizard is an online photo editor app. Create an account using email or login with a Facebook or Google account and verify with a link sent to your email. Choose the link to create a new design to access tools on the dashboard. Choose from thousands of templates and images to create designs for social media, cards, posters, book covers, and much more. When finished, use links to download or share. Note: a great deal of the preloaded content is not free; however, Design Wizard allows users to upload their own images to edit and share.

tag(s): design (79), graphic design (49), images (263), social media (48)

Engage in digital storytelling using the many features included at ABCYA Paint. Choose from the included tools to spray paint, draw, add stickers, and more. When finished, save as a PNG file to your computer or print.

tag(s): digital storytelling (154), drawing (61), painting (54), preK (270)

Explore the many resources shared by National Geographic at their home base created for educators. Monthly features highlight and share information related to current events. Select the "Teaching Resources" link to find ideas, activities, lessons, and units all searchable by grade and topic. Also, this section includes educational games and teacher guides. Choose the "Reference" link to find news and media information from the past plus current events. Be sure also to visit the "Mapping" section to find printable maps, mapmaking kits, and interactive maps.

tag(s): animal homes (57), biodiversity (36), climate (84), climate change (99), democracy (24), energy (133), habitats (92), map skills (63), native americans (108), oceans (149), planets (113), preK (270), space (222), stars (71), women (151)

The Young Scientist Lab features materials for parents, students, and teachers to explore a world of scientific innovation and opportunities. Click Science Starters to find materials for teachers that include lesson plans, interactives, and challenge support materials. For students, the site provides activities and features on scientists at work. Under Science Starters you will also find Science At Home with family activities with several engaging experiments to perform at home for students in grades K-8.

tag(s): careers (156), data (151), forces (37), light (56), magnetism (36), recycling (45), rockets (11), sound (72)

Find crafts, activities, and printables for kids at Woo! Search for materials by holiday, age group, or by using the keyword search bar. Resources just for teachers include lesson plans, templates, and poetry starters. Be sure to check out the recipe section for snack ideas and kid-friendly meal suggestions. This site would be a good one to leave for your substitute to use; it's high interest, no sign-in, thorough directions, and some have worksheets. This site does include some distracting advertisements.
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tag(s): holidays (187), Juneteenth (22), poetry (193), preK (270), substitutes (25), worksheets (69)

Do you need help finding interesting adjectives? Describing Words is your answer. Enter any noun into the search box to create a list of possible adjectives (and phrases!) to include. Click any word in the list to view a definition and select additional related words. Sort your list by usage frequency or by uniqueness. Other links provide more resources for related words to the one used initially.

tag(s): creative writing (124), parts of speech (39), writing (325)

Explore educational videos providing help with Google products on this YouTube Channel. The site provides playlists offering support for Chromebooks, protecting and using Google accounts, using Gmail and Drive, and much more. Choose individual videos or select playlists by topic to find up to date help in using Google tools. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.

tag(s): Google (47), video (266)

The Challenger Center provides lessons and resources dedicated to continuing the work of the Challenger mission and crew after the shuttle tragedy in 1986. Select the STEM Resources link to find lessons sorted by grade levels. These lessons include the lost lessons of Christa McAuliffe that were supposed to take place during her time in space. Other lessons take students on explorations of space travel through meal planning, finding coordinates, and locating and rescuing a lost teammate.

tag(s): careers (156), experiments (55), explorers (64), gravity (43), moon (73), solar system (110), space (222), stars (71), STEM (297)

Although this site has been decommissioned, there are several features listed below still available. This site shares stunning resources to learn more about the Hubble space telescope. Choose from the many resources sorted by topics including Celestial Lithographs, Tonights Sky Video, and more. Other Resources include a Public Lecture Series, NASA's Universe of Learning, The Hubble Heritage Gallery , Blog links, and more

tag(s): gravity (43), measurement (122), solar system (110), space (222), stars (71), statistics (121), STEM (297), telescopes (11)