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return to subject listingPlay - Kids CBC - Kids CBC
Grades
K to 1tag(s): game based learning (171), preK (254)
In the Classroom
These interactives will be a nice addition to any preschool, kindergarten, or first grade classroom. The interactive, Blooming Bubbles, will help your students count while they learn about what is needed to grow a garden. In "Busytown," young children can learn about the different parts of a town. Use the interactives on a whiteboard or in a computer lab. These are also good to use for center work. Be sure to turn up speakers to hear audio for whole class use or use headphones if using this site at a center. Why not list this link on your class website for families to explore at home.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Google Sites - Google
Grades
K to 12tag(s): wikis (15)
In the Classroom
Users must have a Google account or sign up for an account. View the controls in Google sites before creating to get an idea of usable features. Find great hints and tips about using Google sites here.Click "Create a new site" to name your site and begin the process. Choose from a variety of templates and begin building your pages. Click "Edit" on your page to bring up the editing options. Use the buttons on the editor bar to change font sizes, color, etc. Click "Insert" to view a drop down menu of a variety of content that can be included on the page. Use the other tabs such as "Format," "Table," and "Layout" to change other aspects of the page. Be sure to click the "Save" button when finished editing a page. Create a new page within the site by clicking "Create a page." Choose from a variety of pages that have different formats suited for a web page, announcements page, file cabinet, or list. Be sure to select where the page will be found such as the top level menu or as a subpage under a different page in the site. Click on "More actions" to bring up other menu items such as "Manage Site," changing page settings, moving or deleting a page, and more. Share your site with others and invite users who can also make changes on the site.
Use a Google Site to create a simple web page for communication with students and their families at any grade level. In middle and high school, use student-created site(s) as a way for students to collaborate and share with many of the same features as a wiki.
Comments
Very versatile for portfolios. Does take some work, not particularly well-documented.Frances, CT, Grades: 6 - 8
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Mapcrunch - MapCrunch
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): maps (208)
In the Classroom
Assign students various countries, regions, or continents to make comparisons. Identify the biological, geographical, cultural, and social issues that exist in the world, based on what the pictures show and what their research uncovers. Bring a greater understanding to current economic and environmental issues in many countries. World language (or World Cultures) classes can help students understand the cultures of the countries where the language is spoken. Compare specific attributes of two countries using an online Venn Diagram, such as the one reviewed here. Another idea: have cooperative learning groups use this resource to create online books about the country of their tour using a resource such as Bookemon,Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Embed Plus - EmbedPlus
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
If using student created video, please check with district policy about sharing student work on the Internet. If using with students, be sure to discuss what is considered appropriate/inappropriate annotations to make on videos. These videos may not play in districts where You Tube videos are blocked. As EmbedPlus uses its own wrapper around the You Tube video, it may be viewable in your district depending upon the filter being used. Be sure to test this before using with students. Note: The "real time reactions" option pulls in and displays public comments when you click it. Use the "enhanced embed" wizard and be sure to click the checkbox that deactivates this feature. You may wish to monitor these for possible inappropriate content.Use the controls to add annotations or student thoughts to sections of the videos. Students can make these comments on their own videos or on a different groups contribution. Use this just to add playback controls that allow for greater viewing of You Tube videos. Have students find a video (or assign one) and annotate it with curriculum related discussion, criticism, vocabulary, etc. Students can then embed this product in his/her blog or a class wiki or site. Don't have one of those? Consider using WebNode, reviewed here. Make an annotated video with question prompts in annotations and embed in wiki to share with your classes. Playback using the slow motion and zoom would be a great item to show on a whiteboard or projector.
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Jewish - Holidays - Chanukah - Jacob Richman
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Make this treasury a starting point for multicultural study of holidays around the world or for a more in depth study of Jewish traditions. Assign student groups to learn about specific aspects of the holiday and share their findings on a class wiki holiday guide. Not familar with wikis? Check out the TeachersFirst Wiki Walk-Through. With younger students, share specific links on a projector or interactive whiteboard and give students a chance to share and compare their own holiday traditions with the ones mentioned. Use a tool like Padlet, reviewed here, to keep track of the comparisons. You could even use some of these resources in upper elementary or middle school as reading comprehension exercises during the holiday season: write a summary or formulate a statement of a text-based site's main idea.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Snowflake Bentley - Jericho Historical Society
Grades
3 to 8In the Classroom
Use this site as the starting point for individual or group projects about famous pioneers, weather research, or famous characters from books. This site is a perfect addition to any winter activities. Have cooperative learning groups investigate a specific section of this site and share their findings on your class wiki. Not comfortable with wikis? Have no wiki worries - check out the TeachersFirst's Wiki Walk-Through.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Madlibber - Sean Huber
Grades
2 to 12In the Classroom
Create a Madlib using Madlibber and share it with your class using your interactive white board and projector to reinforce curriculum topics such as types of plants or famous inventors. Either show the students how to make one about the curriculum topic, or have students operate the board/computer while others suggest words to fill in the blanks in one you have prepared. Madlibs can be used in so may ways: teaching parts of speech, reviewing for a quiz, introducing a new subject, or even as a "Cloze" reading story. Use this site as a station on one of the computers in your class. Put the direct web address (URL) for your Madlibber on your class web page, since some of the public Madlibbers may not be appropriate for your students. Give extra credit to those who work outside school to create classroom-appropriate madlibbers for others to use as review (and share the direct links on your class web page).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Classrooms Around the World - Matador Network
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): cross cultural understanding (156), cultures (132), photography (131)
In the Classroom
Use this site when discussing world cultures or economics. Use this site as an anticipatory set or "activator" to introduce a unit or lesson on a projector or interactive whiteboard. To avoid displaying certain content, you can selectively take screenshots (CTRL+PrtScrn on Windows, Command+Shft+4 on Mac) or copy images temporarily into PowerPoint slides or a whiteboard file-- with credit--to show them alone. Use it to jump off into a discussion or unit on some of the countries displayed here. Have students create original photo essays online following this model, using Have students create original photo essays online following this model, using Slidestory, reviewed here. Slidestory allows you to narrate the slides and images. Challenge students to find photos and then narrate the photos as if in a news report. To find Creative Commons images for student projects (with credit, of course), try Vecteezy, reviewed here. Other areas where this website might be useful are when you do units on world education, world poverty, etc. Have students do comparison/contrast essays using these photos as introductions to the differences between classrooms. Or have students compare/contrast using a site such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here. The many small details that differ from place to place would make getting details and examples easy. Ask students also to extrapolate differences in teaching methods just by viewing these photos.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Clothes Around the World - ELCivics
Grades
2 to 10tag(s): clothing (5)
In the Classroom
Use this site with beginning world language lessons; select appropriate slides from the cultures speaking the target language. Have students consult with relatives about other forms of traditional dress and draw their own color illustrations. Have students find photos and create a multimedia presentation to share with the class. Try Vecteezy, reviewed here, to locate Creative Commons images students may use. Challenge students to narrate a picture using Slidestory, reviewed here. Use the lesson plan as a jumping off point for student research projects on other countries and cultures. Younger students may enjoy printing the clothing slides and creating puzzles with similar shaped pieces. Mix the pieces and have students assemble the clothing correctly and name the countries involved.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Wylio - wylio.com
Grades
K to 12tag(s): creative commons (29), images (270), photography (131)
In the Classroom
Users must be knowledgeable about embed codes and how to use them in a site, blog, or wiki. Be sure to test out embedding a picture on your site to anticipate problems when students use Wylio. Use Wylio to find copyright-free pictures for teacher use in any subject area or for student use as soon as they learn to copy/paste embed codes. This tool would be a great asset to a photography or art class but can be used in any subject area. Use pictures that showcase life around us or in a Math class to show various Math functions in man made structures and nature. Use this site to take your geography class around the world (virtually). Have students create presentations in any subject area and narrate the pictures rather than doing a traditional oral report. Use a site such as Slidestory, reviewed here, to narrate the pictures. Speech and language in lower grades or ESL/ELL teachers could use pictures for vocabulary development and allow students to add words or sentences to go with the pictures. In Science, find pictures that represent various concepts and encourage explanations of these concepts for better understanding.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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ccMixter - Dig - ArtisTech Media
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
A music site that is not just for musicians and music teachers! Students in all classes can use files from this site when preparing multimedia class presentations that require music or background sounds. Use this site when preparing lessons on plagiarism, copyright, and the open source software concept. Musically inclined students who enjoy this site should check out ccMixter reviewed here for more enriching types of musical interaction and collaboration!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Venn Diagram Shape Sorter - Shodor
Grades
3 to 8tag(s): logic (163), problem solving (225)
In the Classroom
Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Then have students explore this site independently or in small groups. Ask students to create their own Venn Diagram and have other students guess the rule. Consider using a site such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram (reviewed here). Use the site to demonstrate Venn Diagrams that might be used with different subjects: Science - use to sort animals by different characteristics, Social Studies - sort countries by different types of rule over a given time period. The possibilities are endless.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Geography of Slavery in Virginia - University of Virginia
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): primary sources (113), slavery (75), virginia (14)
In the Classroom
Students will certainly gain a more concrete and visceral understanding of attitudes toward slaves when reading these advertisements. The concepts are not necessarily Virginia-specific! Use some of the "personal profiles" to help students get to know one of the runaway slaves or servants more intimately. Have students review the diary entries of slaveowners to cut through our modern interpretations of what plantation owners thought or believed. Use these primary sources to guide a frank discussion on the role of slavery in Virginia and the South prior to the Civil War. The site is also an important resource for students doing research on antebellum Virginia.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Tripline - Byron Dumbrill
Grades
4 to 12To create a new trip, you must register at the site. Registration requires a username, password, and valid email address.
tag(s): maps (208)
In the Classroom
Suggested uses on the Tripline site are to use along with moments in history such as Paul Revere's ride and Lewis and Clark's expedition to demonstrate stops along their path. Other classrooms uses would be for students to create a Tripline map of their summer vacation to use as an enhancement to a regular report, map out your favorite sports team's schedule, historic state sites, map out where characters in a novel travel around a city, state, country. and world using images to enhance the setting, and much more.Registration does require an email address. Tip: rather than using your personal or work email, create a free Gmail account to use for memberships. If you plan to have students register individually, you may want to create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes. Here is a blog post that tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service.
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CurriConnects - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12tag(s): book lists (159), independent reading (85), reading lists (80)
In the Classroom
Share CurriConnects as links on your class web page or wiki or share them with school and local libraries where students can select books to accompany what they are studying. Explore the many ideas TeachersFirst offers for using CurriConnects in your classroom. Be sure to share these lists with ENL/ELL teachers for reading selections to build student vocabulary and understanding of curriculum.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Thanksgiving Story - Wilstar
Grades
3 to 6Note - there is a link to a YouTube video midway through the information on the page, students may need to be cautioned that it isn't part of the activity.
tag(s): holidays (159), pilgrims (12), thanksgiving (24)
In the Classroom
Create a quiz for the information on this site using, Slido, reviewed here, and give it to your students before studying Thanksgiving to assess prior knowledge. Use the story page on an interactive whiteboard (or projector) for students to highlight key words and write a main idea sentence or do practice comprehension or notetaking skills during Thanksgiving season. Older students can read the site on their own at a classroom center and complete the quiz at the end of their session. After reading the story, ask students to write their own story from the perspective of one of the first Thanksgiving participants. Create a class book using their stories using a site such as Bookemon, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Testmoz - testmoz.com
Grades
K to 12tag(s): quiz (67)
In the Classroom
Skills required: Be sure to remember the password for your tests, as well as the unique URL. It would be wise to copy/paste them into a document you keep somewhere for reference. Users are unable to access the tests without the URL. Be sure to not share this ahead of time. Items in Testmoz are not made public.Use where automatically graded tests are required, such as for formative assessments to check student understanding. Use as a "ticket out the door" to see what students know at the end of class. Be sure that this is the medium you want to use for testing. Be flexible with students who find it difficult to take online testing. Entering all the material ahead of time can be time consuming, so this may not be the best format for long tests. Use this quiz application to create study quizzes for review for students to complete as homework (or during class time). Have students rotate to create daily check quizzes for their peers (earning a grade for test-creation). Learning support students and others who need a little extra review might like to make quizzes to challenge each other or themselves. Have students who are preparing to give oral presentations in any subject prepare a short Testmoz for their peers to take at the end.
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geoGreeting - Jesse Vig
Grades
1 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): architecture (64), maps (208)
In the Classroom
Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Introduce students to Google Maps by creating messages with geoGreeting. Art teachers can use this tool to show the flexibility of letter forms created by real objects via satellite view. Primary reading teachers may even want to expose students to alternate letter forms created from satellite views! Use this site to expand your students' understanding of geography. Create messages, then explore and research the buildings and areas that are used in the creation of the message. Have students work with a partner to research a building and create a multimedia presentation to share with the class. How about an interactive online poster using Genial.ly, reviewed here, or narrate a picture using a tool such as ThingLink, reviewed here. If you want to use another geography tool, have students use an online mapping tool to create their own "tour" for the class. Try a tool such as Tour Builder, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Sweet Search - Dulcinea Media, Inc.
Grades
K to 12tag(s): search engines (49), search strategies (23)
In the Classroom
Provide Sweet Search for your students to find some of the best student friendly material on the web. For older students, evaluate Sweet Search with other search engines to determine which provides the best information.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Timelines: Sources from History - British Library
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): europe (75), literature (217), politics (113)
In the Classroom
This site is excellent for research projects or to provide visual context to your curriculum in social studies, world cultures, world history, literature, art, or western heritage classes. Offer this set of timelines as a research source for history, social studies, and literature classes. Show students these timelines on an interactive whiteboard. Or have students research various topics on their own using this fabulous tool. Pique their interest by letting them browse to find out what else happened at the same time as events in the standard history curriculum -- then ask WHY. Challenge cooperative learning groups to create online posters displaying their findings using an online poster creator, such as Padlet (reviewed here).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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