Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Carrd is a simple to use, one-page website creator. Think of it as similar to an online business card. Begin by choosing from available templates or start with a blank page. A quick page of instructions provides an overview of tools available to use, including adding images, links to social media accounts, tables, and more. When complete, save and publish to your unique carrd.co URL. Please check out the templates and published wording used. It may be inappropriate for your students.

tag(s): blogs (65), communication (129), multimedia (53)

HomeAdvisor presents a series of lessons, activities, projects, and videos for grades K-12 introducing young people to the world of construction. Choose a grade level band to begin browsing content. Topics include real-world activities such as viewing and building bird houses, scientific experiments to learn about erosion, and analyzing electric circuits.

tag(s): animal homes (57), animals (295), architecture (75), bridges (11), circuits (20), counting (60), electricity (62), engineering (129), erosion (15), geometric shapes (135), habitats (92), insects (69), makerspace (40), pyramids (21), simple machines (19), solar energy (34), STEM (297), water (102)

Create a poster (meme), postcard, or add captions to a photo. Also, resize and crop images. Save in medium or best quality to your device or download as a PDF or Word doc easily with Picfont. No registration is required. Choose images from your computer or device or select a picture from the gallery. Change not just the color and size of the font, but add an outline in any color and size, place it anywhere on the photo, and many more effects. Use Picfont to spice up social media postings; select to create a Facebook header, and a post with photos, a header for X (formerly Twitter) and an In-stream, an Instagram Post, a LinkedIn cover, or select from several ad sizes. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click features for directions about how to use the different features of Picfont.
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tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (147), digital storytelling (154), editing (93), images (263)

Stay current with information about the latest hurricanes and tropical cyclones. Find articles about the potential threat of current hurricanes, Hurricane Preparedness, and Cyclone Energy. From the drop-down at the top, click News and Blogs to find Videos, Weather Infographics and Photos, and more. Also find a Hurricane Archive with tracking maps and aerial photos for past hurricanes. From the top menu find many other weather issues, information about wild fires, and much more.

tag(s): disasters (37), hurricanes (32), weather (160)

Emoji Science takes the simple and understandable world of emojis to explain complex science concepts. Explore the Emoji Table of Experiments to find videos (with special guests), do it yourself science experiments, and more. The broad range of topics includes content such as super materials, the human brain, and plants. Scroll down the homepage to find the link to Emoji Education that includes lesson plans aligned to standards. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.

tag(s): climate change (99), energy (133), human body (93), magnetism (38), solar energy (34), solar system (110)

Ribbet is an online photo editing and sharing site that doesn't require sign-up, download, or installation. Follow prompts to upload images, then use Ribbet's editing tools to crop, resize, and fine tune the photo. Liven-up images with stickers, filters, or create collages and more with Ribbet's additional photo tools. When finished, download the picture to your computer or share to Facebook and photo storage sites using the links provided. Free registration allows members to save images and editing history to Ribbet.
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tag(s): editing (93), images (263), photography (130)

Nature Video YouTube Channel brings you the best and latest science news and information videos. Browse through to view the most recent and popular uploads or choose the playlists to view specific content. Playlists include topics such as technology, astronomy, and health. Be sure to subscribe to receive updates about new content. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.

tag(s): animals (295), anthropology (10), cells (83), climate (84), human body (93), planets (113), stars (71)

Though this blog has current articles, this particular 2015 article offers suggestions for the first of five activities for creating community in the middle school classroom at the start of ANY school year. Each activity offers students the opportunity to participate in a risk-free situation while getting to know each other and the teacher. Find the remaining four activities in the site archive on the left menu, In Case You Missed It, under July 2015.
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tag(s): back to school (55), classroom management (120)

UBC (University of British Columbia) Commons offers several guides for learning and sharing with digital tools. From the top menu click Academic Support, then choose Academic Integrity and Citations. Begin by choosing any guide of interest with topics including how to avoid plagiarism and a guide to properly citating online resources. Each guide provides an excellent description of the topic along with related resources and links. Some include videos and a FAQ section. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.

tag(s): citations (33), copyright (44), creative commons (28), digital citizenship (85), plagiarism (34), Research (87)

Write down your thoughts in an organized, structured way with Thought Plan. The simplicity of the features allows for easy use with flexible editing for personalized use. Register for an account to begin creating your first Thought Plan. Add a title, then begin creating a list of your main ideas. Share or download to your computer with the provided links. The introductory video resides on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, the video may not be viewable.

tag(s): gifted (66), organizational skills (88)

Edulastic provides free assessment tools to track learning and mastery of Common Core Standards and state standards. The program contains more than 2000 customizable assessments with automatic grading capability. Register to create an account, then begin using the assessment library and adding students to your class using a code, emails, or upload a data sheet. Be sure to take advantage of Edulastic's articles, training, and free webinar videos to learn about all the features included with this program. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.

tag(s): assessment (147), commoncore (73)

National Geographic offers this kid-centric site as a companion to National Geographic Kids magazines and Little Kids magazines. The focus is on information about animals, geography, and the natural world presented in a fun and engaging format. Use this busy interactive site for free, register to gain access to more content. Buttons on the home page lead to short videos, images, stories, polls, news bites, games, and activities. The site includes heavy advertising for the magazine subscriptions. A search box at the top right allows for exploration of the extensive content.
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tag(s): animals (295), blended learning (37), countries (73), endangered species (27), environment (252), plants (146), reading comprehension (149)

Explore the science behind the hidden world of nanotechnology, where you measure objects in the billionths of meters. Six videos offered by NBC Learn in partnership with the National Science Foundation discuss Nanotechnology at the Surface, Nanoelectronics, Nanoarchitecture, Nano-Enabled Sensors, and Nanoparticles, plus quantum dots and working in nanoscale. Videos are approximately 5 to 6 minutes in length with a transcript. Although part of a larger site that charges for access, these videos and lessons are all free. This video now resides on NBC Learn's YouTube channel. If your district blocks YouTube, it may not be viewable.
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tag(s): careers (156), chemicals (41), engineering (129), scientists (67)

Novel Engineering offers an integrated approach to teaching engineering with literacy. Learn about it through the short video on the home page. To find ideas, select the "BOOKS" link at the top of the page. Choose from several well-known books to find the engineering problem(s) in the book and possible solutions from students.

tag(s): engineering (129), problem solving (233), STEM (297)

Create and share beautiful digital content with Marq (formerly Lucidpress). After registering for a free account, follow the prompts to add a document type from the available templates. Short tutorials along the way help guide you on using available features. The easy drag and drop features allow you to personalize flyers, posters, presentations, and more. The free features allow you to include three documents.
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tag(s): digital storytelling (154), posters (43), social media (48)

CyArk offers an online library of cultural heritage sites using 3D and digital technology. One of their main goals is to provide a resource for saving representations before losing them to the natural progression of time, disasters, or other unknown factors. View offerings by theme or project for 3D images, photographs, and in-depth information about the site. Within the theme link, use the timeline to view by period, or use the dropdown boxes to choose by culture or country. CyArk also includes many lesson plans based on principles used in creating the website.

tag(s): archeology (28), egypt (56), environment (252), erosion (15), graphic design (49), mayans (23), photography (130), romans (52), speech (69), virtual field trips (128)

Gojimo is a quiz-taking app (and online site) for high school English, math, science, geography, and more. Although created for British students, quizzes are suitable for students in any country. Choose "Study Online" to begin using Gojimo on your computer or device, then choose a topic. Immediate feedback is provided to let you know if answers are correct. Each question also includes a short explanation of the topic. There is no registration to take quizzes; however, to save them and have your Gojimo results on any device, registration is necessary.

tag(s): quiz (67), quizzes (90), test prep (69)

Watch the growth of human population from 1 CE through 2050 with this interactive map and timeline. A five-minute video provides an overview of population growth, use the drop-down box to view the video in several different languages. Personalize your viewing experience to adjust features on the map with themes, overlays, and map dots. Click on the timeline below the map to view additional information about events throughout time. Choose the menu to find all the resources on this site, including several lesson plans.

tag(s): advanced placement (26), conservation (102), environment (252), population (51)

TRAILS is a free online, interactive student assessment using multiple-choice questions on a variety of information literacy skills based on 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th grade standards. This easy, flexible tool is for school librarians and teachers to identify strengths and weaknesses in the information-seeking skills of their students. TRAILS can be used for formative and summative evaluations in five category areas: Develop Topic, Identify Potential Sources, Use Search Strategies, Evaluate Sources and Information, Use Information Responsibly, Ethically, and Legally.

tag(s): assessment (147), digital citizenship (85), media literacy (109)

Designed as an interactive online course this site helps high school students develop the sophisticated research skills needed for college and careers, an important component of most standards. The formal research process is broken down into six steps: Asking Good Questions, Finding Information, Selecting the Best, Putting It Together, Your Presentation, and Making the Grade. Students work through a variety of activities linked from outside sites, including reading articles, watching videos, and completing worksheets. Each module is introduced by Voki avatars, reviewed here. Several popular research tools, such Zotero, reviewed here, and Evernote, reviewed here, are introduced. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.

tag(s): blended learning (37), citations (33), classroom management (120), digital citizenship (85), evaluating sources (29), inquiry (24), media literacy (109), note taking (36), organizational skills (88), plagiarism (34), Research (87), search strategies (22)