Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

MindMup is an easy to use mind mapping tool. Click to create a new map. Double click the starter bubble to add your title. Use the tool box (top menu) to add or edit ideas. Use the mouse to drag and drop nodes. The mouse can also be used to scroll the map (drag the central node, or anywhere outside the map). As soon as you change a map, the Save button appears in the toolbar. Click it and your new map gets a unique URL. Every time you save, the map gets a new URL. Just copy and share the URL with colleagues and friends. Anyone can edit the map, but won't change your original copy. The best part of this simple/easy site: no registration required!

tag(s): concept mapping (15), graphic organizers (48), mind map (27), organizational skills (88)

Enter the engaging virtual world of Whyville filled with math, science, art, and literature activities. Create an avatar and join in constructive educational activities that promote socially responsible behavior. There are many activities to explore, and you can chat with other users. The Zero Gravity Chamber features angles and the principle of Newton's 3rd Law. In the Rocket Design Lab simulate rockets to test parameters such as nozzle size and pay load. The Engine Lab has 3 games that teach about electric charges and ion engines. Citizens must be aware of infectious illnesses and plagues that infect the citizens of Whyville. Join in the hot air balloon race to analyze vector fields to navigate hot air balloons. Go on an art treasure hunt around the world. At the dance studio design and choreograph your own dances. Visit the beach, the climate center, take a swim, or meet your friends at the playground or waterfall. Simulations change every time you enter Whyville. Earn clams, a salary, manage a bank account, get a pet, and read the daily news. Log-in (with email) is required to fully participate in this site. However, most of the site is accessible without registration. Don't miss this award winning website!

tag(s): aircraft (17), animals (294), dance (31), diseases (66), logic (161), money (113), motion (47), puzzles (149), recycling (45), social skills (22), vectors (16)

Turn your blog in to a PDF book featuring all your blog's entries and comments. This tool works for the following blog tools: WordPress, LiveJournal, and Blogger. Creating the PDF book is simple. Export your blog by following the directions given for each specific type of blog and then upload the file to BlogBooker. All your content and comments are assembled into a high-quality PDF file. Note that this process can take a few minutes or longer depending on the size of your blog. This is a great way to print your BlogBook or make an archive/backup of the blog. It could also be useful for students and educators as a way to save a blog as a portfolio item. At the time of this review WordPress, LiveJournal, and Blogger were all 100% FREE!
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tag(s): blogs (65)

Join lyrical rhyming adventures of history in poetry! Find poems summarizing famous people or periods from history. Explore the topics in the left sidebar: Ancient History, Middle Ages, British History, American History, Myths & Legends, and Pirates. The American History poems include: The California Gold Rush, The Statue of Liberty, The Moon Landing, The Voyage of the Mayflower, The Boston Tea Party, and a few others. Each poem includes additional facts about the event or people, along with drawings submitted by students. You will also find coloring pages, interviews, jokes, and more. Be aware: this site does include a lot of advertisements. At the time of this review, all advertisements were completely "kid-appropriate." However, it may be wise to advise students not to click on any of the links/pictures.
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tag(s): boston (10), california (17), dinosaurs (43), england (50), gold rush (15), greece (47), landmarks (22), myths and legends (37), olympics (45), romans (52), vikings (10)

Do your students have trouble filling in the bubbles? Create free bubble sheets for assessments. Carefully fill in the fields as you scroll down the page. Blank boxes will not appear on the test form. Change font sizes for the text, and provide directions in English or Spanish. Format your bubble columns and styles that best meet your assessment needs. Select a variety of other graphic styles that are not necessarily "normal" looking bubbles. Various styles of math grids are available. Choose from a menu of miscellaneous options to add some creativity to your test form. Include scoring boxes for evaluation and comments. Include registration marks for automated test marking machines. Select the "Test ID" option to reprint your form at a later date. The ID number will appear on your form. All data is saved for future retrieval (1-2 months). Create a test key by printing a bubble sheet on a clear transparency. Use a permanent pen to mark the correct answers on the test key.
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tag(s): assessment (147), test prep (69)

Fotor is an easy online photo editing tool that doesn't require registration. Upload any picture from your computer to begin. Choose from the editing choices provided. Select a template and use basic editing tools to automatically enhance, rotate, crop, resize, and adjust lighting on images. Choose from many effects such as vintage, sepia, and other color effects. Add frames, apply a splash of color, or add text. When finished, save to your computer. Share on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Flickr, or email with links provided. Other options include templates for creating collages, photo cards, and HDR images. All options are clearly labeled, and edits are available until you are happy with the finished result. Looking to create a collage? With Fotor, you can do that, too! At the time of this review, was available as an app for iPhone, Android and works on Windows and Mac.

tag(s): collages (17), comics and cartoons (55), editing (93), images (263), photography (131)

Explore this useful catalog of all free e-books available for Kindles through Amazon. It is quite extensive with many categories: Advice & How-to, Biographies & Memoirs, Business & Investing, Children's eBooks, Fantasy, History, Literary Fiction, Mystery & Thrillers, Politics & Current Events, Reference, Religion & Spirituality, Science, Science Fiction, Sports, Teens, Travel, and many others. At the time of this review, there were over 69,000 free eBooks listed on the site.

tag(s): book lists (167), independent reading (81)

Find and print many useful charts at Chart Jungle. Under Education, topics include story starters, homework charts, reading logs, and more. Chart Jungle also includes alphabet and number flash cards to print and use. Other interesting printables include the digestive system, clocks, and skeletons. Choose any chart to print directly from your computer. Although this site does include a lot of advertisements, there are many timesavers and treasures.
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tag(s): charts and graphs (171), classroom management (120), flash cards (44), handwriting (15), homework (29), organizational skills (88), presidents (135), printables (36), time (91)

Money as You Grow provides 20 essential, age-appropriate financial lessons--with corresponding activities--that kids need to know as they grow. Lessons are divided into different age categories and grouped according to different age requirements. Click on an age group: Young children (ages 3-5), School age children to pre-teens (ages 6-12), Teens to young adults (ages13, ages 14-18+). Once you choose an age group, click on the link to view activities, book titles, and reading guides appropriate for that particular age,

tag(s): financial literacy (94), money (113), preK (270)

Find free, scalable vector images created by a community of designers whose goal is to create a universal global language of symbols that everyone can understand. Vector files are images that do not Snappa, reviewed herehange or become fuzzy when you resize them. Communicating visually is powerful and easy using symbols like these. Move beyond language and cultural barriers in learning and communicating by using these symbols. You must set up a free account to actually download. Note: Many programs cannot use the file format (SVG) but some programs, such as Adobe Illustrator, can. Don't have a program to open the image? Download the image, then upload to the Media Converter (reviewed here) to convert the image. No need to open the file- just convert! Note that the use of these vector images is FREE if the artist(s) attribution is easily viewable and accessible (linked back to the artist's page on the Noun Project site). Many images are in the public domain with no attribution required. Ethical use would still give credit. If you do not want to attribute each time it is used, icons can be purchased for unlimited use instead. Be patient. This site is often SLOW to open and offers slow downloads because of the larger image files.
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tag(s): digital storytelling (154), graphic design (49), images (263), infographics (56), stories and storytelling (58)

Create a word search in a few easy steps. You can choose the size of the puzzle (10 x 10 to 100 x 100) as well as how many words the puzzle contains. You can also choose the highlight color, background color, font size and "word management." Word management allows you the choice of words being forward and backward, diagonal, up and down, and more. Options allow for the puzzle to be played online or printed out.

tag(s): puzzles (149), spelling (97), word study (59)

This website is for girls to learn about STEM careers and the various research and educational opportunities that exist for them. Famous women in STEM careers and other prominent women are a focus of this site. Learn about great STEM careers and how STEM impacts much of our world. Watch and learn from others, view video clips, take challenges, learn about careers, and more. Some of the videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.

tag(s): engineering (129), STEM (298), women (151)

Instantly translate any word or phrase into hieroglyphics with this easy to use translator. Enter the word or words into the box then click to translate. Your hieroglyphic appears instantaneously. Hover your mouse over symbols to view a translation. Of course, hieroglyphics do not exist for many words we use today, so the suggested translations can be unusual, to say the least! Right click to print. Note: this site is very heavy with advertisements, demonstrate for students how to find and use the translation box while avoiding advertising.
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tag(s): egypt (56), symbols (15)

This free tool is an academic search engine that uses resources trusted by educators. Choose from various subjects at the top or enter your search term directly into the search bar. Infotopia uses a Google Custom search to find information that is appropriate for students.
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tag(s): search engines (48)

Enter the world of canine love. Find information on dogs, training, choosing a name, breed information, and more about raising a puppy/dog. Much of the information includes short video clips. You will also find poetry, book lists, and lesson plans to accompany books about dogs. Some of the books included: Because of Winn Dixie, Call of the Wild, Old Yellar, The Incredible Journey, Where the Red Fern Grows, Shiloh, Love that Dog, Sounder, and White Fang . Some of the videos require the QuickTime plug-in.
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tag(s): animals (294)

Find entertaining videos, web lessons, and downloads to support learning about dictionaries, thesaurus, and "How Words Work." Each video includes a short description of content and the skills addressed. Most videos are approximately three minutes long and include links to related web lessons and print downloads. This site was originally created for adult basic literacy students. However, many of these lessons could be useful with younger students learning the basics of vocabulary. Preview the video for appropriateness before sharing with younger students.

tag(s): antonyms (12), dictionaries (48), prefixes (10), reading comprehension (149), root words (10), spelling (97), suffixes (8), synonyms (15), thesaurus (22), vocabulary (238), vocabulary development (93), word study (59)

The Literacy Design Collaborative supports the development of literacy through a series of templates for use with text when writing. There are also templates for other subjects. Most templates address secondary levels; however, other offerings contain some elementary templates. Template tasks allow you to fill in the blank with learning skills addressed. When completed, you create and produce a high-quality assignment. Three collections are available by choosing the tasks link: the template task collection II, Common Core template tasks, and K-2 template tasks. Use links provided to view instructions and download templates in PDF format. Choose the modules link to view and download complete modules for instruction for English, Science, and Social Studies. Also available at the Literacy Design Collaborative is a series of videos demonstrating changing teacher practice and literacy. Most of the videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.

tag(s): american revolution (82), animals (294), biodiversity (36), canada (24), careers (156), china (81), civil rights (209), cold war (30), ecosystems (83), energy (133), evolution (89), gettysburg (15), gettysburg address (12), india (32), industrial revolution (22), lincoln (66), literacy (121), marine biology (31), photosynthesis (21), poetry (193), pollution (53), professional development (385), shakespeare (99)

See how many meteorites actually strike the Earth. Choose the map or table view. The map view shows bubbles. Hover over a bubble to identify the type of meteorite, size, and whether it was found or seen. Click on the table tab to see the actual numbers used to plot the graph.

tag(s): earth (184), space (223)

Quick Picture Tools offers 12 tools for editing and enhancing pictures. Choose from embossed text, frames, combining images, add text, blur, and more. Click on the editing tool you desire, then choose from options offered to edit pictures. When finished, click "generate image" to save to your computer. No registration needed!
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tag(s): back to school (55), firstday (22), images (263)

"Picturing U.S. History" helps you use visual evidence to learn about the past. The essays and lectures are very detailed and flexible. Find primary source media by clicking on the links in the essays and lectures; these include: photographs, drawings, paintings, political cartoons, print media, statuary, furniture, and collectibles. Additional links provide explanations of historical and culture behind the images used at the site.

tag(s): art history (102), black history (133), history day (39), painting (54), primary sources (117)