Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Notepad is an online note-taking application that saves automatically to your browser's local storage without creating an account. Select the "Create a Note" link to start and begin typing. Each note saves separately onto your Notepad account. Click any of your notes to return to them and edit; format information using the codes found under the question mark icon at the top of your screen.

tag(s): note taking (36)

Discover how to use PBS Learning Media's primary source library through three activities shared on Teaching with Primary Sources. Topics include an interactive scrapbook of the Seattle World Fair, an investigation of presidential decisions using documents from the Presidential Library, and exploring the Civil Rights Movement using Library of Congress sources. Each activity includes correlations to National Standards. View state standards after creating your free account.

tag(s): civil rights (209), presidents (135), primary sources (117), Research (87), slavery (79)

Learn about an escape from slavery through the Underground Railroad with this interactive and materials from Scholastic. Begin the journey with a series of interactive slides that include featured text and related activities. Other materials available include a teaching guide, writing activities, and a printable transcript. Investigate further on this site to find related activities featuring Harriet Tubman and abolitionists on the Underground Railroad.

tag(s): civil war (139), slavery (79), underground railroad (15)

Google Drawings is a collaborative drawing tool included with your Google Drive account. This link will take you to the basic tool where you can make an original drawing. If you wish to use a template, select "file" from the top menu, "new," and then choose a Google Drawings template. Use the tools found on the site to add shapes, lines, text, and more. Import images from your drive or save Creative Commons images for use. Use the share option to send the links to others to edit (be sure that your settings allow others with the link to edit the document). To view the revision history for any drawing, select "file" and "see the revision history." Images automatically save to your Google Drive and can be downloaded to your computer by saving in a variety of formats, including JPG, PDF, and PNG. Use the publish option to create an embed code and embed it into your website.

tag(s): collaboration (93), drawing (61), images (263)

Five past presidents need your help with making serious decisions. Travel back in time to use the deliberation process to become a presidential advisor and provide information about your chosen best option. Each question includes a top-secret information guide, including background information and a variety of options. The end of the booklet, to be read after discussions, tells the story of the final decision made by each president. Each topic also includes a moderator's guide to facilitate discussion and review of the information and options available.

tag(s): 1900s (72), congress (40), presidents (135), russia (36)

Do you know when you're being phished? Can you spot fake information? Take this quiz to find out your ability to judge real from fake online content. Begin by creating a fake name and email, then proceed through a series of eight questions to determine phishing vs. legitimate content. After selecting an answer, the quiz explains to viewers how to validate content based on links found in emails, documents, and more.

tag(s): internet safety (114), STEM (298)

Do you need help learning how to use Microsoft and Google Suite Products? In Pictures provides a variety of tutorials using color accented screenshots. Choose a product to begin, go step by step through the tutorial, or select a task from the included list. Each tutorial shares complete directions to walk you through the steps to create, edit, and share documents. In addition to Word and Google documents, In Pictures provides tutorials for basic web coding skills and working with Virtual Private Network (VPN) software.
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tag(s): editing (93), Google (47), Microsoft (80), tutorials (52)

This site shares a list of 25 books that impacted the world, divided into several time period categories. The list starts with before 1000 CE and the Torah and finishes with 2003's The DaVinci Code. In addition to listing book titles, each mention includes a small indication of the type of impact along with a summary of the book. Download a complete infographic with all of the information at the end of the list.

tag(s): book lists (167), literature (221), novels (34), religions (95)

Check text up to 500 words in length for plagiarism using Quetext. Copy and paste your text to begin the evaluation and receive results within a few minutes. The plagiarism checker compares your work to large databases of books, web pages, and journals. View your score in the easy to read final report.

tag(s): copyright (44), editing (93), evaluating sources (29), plagiarism (34), writing (324)

Learn about basic financial concepts and the Federal Reserve's part of the process through these free, downloadable comic books created for middle and high school students. Many of the comic books also include lesson plans for middle and high school levels correlated to state and social studies standards. Download the comic books in color or black and white PDFs.

tag(s): banks (8), comics and cartoons (55), financial literacy (94), money (113)

Take a deep dive into the Holocaust with this interactive timeline and supporting standards-based lesson plans. Created for educators, Timeline of the Holocaust uses sound pedagogy to present the story of the Holocaust as a shared human experience. In addition to the timeline and lesson plans, this organization offers frequent webinars and online courses that support professional learning focusing on instructional practices for taking full advantage of all of the site's offerings. Registration is required to access most of the content. The videos on the timeline are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.

tag(s): commoncore (73), germany (28), hitler (6), holocaust (42), world war 2 (161)

Walk through the three major kingdoms of ancient Egypt using Describing Egypt, a beautiful, virtual reality, immersive tour. Each view is described with detailed information about the location as if you are physically there. Learn the stories from these locations--stories of their owners and their life and death--and follow the progression of art, culture, and architecture across Egypt's long and diverse history.

tag(s): africa (148), egypt (56), pyramids (21), virtual field trips (129)

Do you need help with creating bibliographies? ZoteroBib is here to help. Add any URL, book, title, or another identifier to begin. Choose from over 9,300 different style options to create a citation. ZoteroBib also includes an option for manual entry of information. When complete, copy the citation to your device's clipboard or generate a link to view online.

tag(s): citations (33), expository writing (31), persuasive writing (58), plagiarism (34), Research (87)

The Digital Civics Toolkit contains five high-quality modules and resources for teaching civic potentials of digital life. Topics include Participate, Investigate, Dialogue, Voice, and Action. Each module consists of a conversation starter with ideas for discussion questions, activity ideas, extension activities, some have a video, and closing reflections. Each module provides background resources for educators. If your school blocks YouTube be sure to look at alternatives for sharing the conversation starters and other videos on classroom computers.

tag(s): communities (35), cross cultural understanding (173), digital citizenship (85), journalism (74)

Collaborate with classrooms around the world through this story-telling project. Sign up to create your collaborative tale based on a book and told through five different activities (find these by clicking Resources). Work together with your assigned partner to define topics of study (each class chooses their own based on their own needs). Once started, participate in the five activities by completing each segment within 48 hours. The complete project takes place within a two-week time frame. Both classes use Adobe Creative Cloud Express, reviewed here, to share their final stories. To participate, complete the Google Form application on the Travelling Tales website.

tag(s): collaboration (93), cross cultural understanding (173), digital storytelling (154)

Learn about the history and significance behind many holidays through this video collection from PBS Learning Media. Begin browsing by choosing from fall, winter, spring, or summer holidays. Each section includes short videos explaining the history of the holiday. Learn about holidays such as Yom Kippur, Oktoberfest, Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos), Kwanzaa, Juneteenth, Father's Day, and many others! Each selection also includes links to standards along with additional links to supporting materials such as lesson plans or printable items. Not seeing a holiday you want such as 100 days of school? Use the search bar at the top!

tag(s): 100thday (9), back to school (55), chinese new year (5), christmas (38), cinco de mayo (10), easter (10), elections (82), fathers day (12), fire prevention (16), flag day (5), halloween (32), hanukkah (12), hispanic (36), holidays (187), july 4th (12), Juneteenth (22), kwanzaa (11), labor day (5), martin luther king (45), new years (5), pi (29), presidents (135), rosh hashanah (13), st patricks day (12), thanksgiving (24), valentines day (11), veterans (27), women (151), womenchangemaker (37), womens suffrage (52), yom kippur (15)

This interesting site features a look at major population changes in the United States from 1790 through 2010. Begin with the big picture, an animated image featuring population change per square mile over time. Scroll down through the site for additional maps featuring populations changes due to the Gold Rush and railroads, the Civil War, and America's infatuation with cars among others. Scroll further down to choose from links to maps by individual decades, regional population maps, and additional facts and data of different counties throughout the U.S.

tag(s): 1800s (75), 1900s (72), 20th century (62), civil war (139), data (151), gold rush (15), migration (45), native americans (109), population (51), railroads (14), STEM (298)

Check text for grammar and punctuation mistakes using Grammar Lookup. Type or paste any text then choose the Lookup button to view highlighted errors. Click on highlighted areas to see an explanation of the error, change and replace writing, or link to a further description of the grammar mistake.

tag(s): editing (93), grammar (137), proofreading (21), spelling (97), writing (324)