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Immigrant Stories - Immigration History Research Center Univ of Minnesota
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): immigrants (34), immigration (68), migration (45)
In the Classroom
Have your ESL/ELL students share their stories here (with permission from parents) when doing a biography writing unit. Have all students search for stories of immigrants whose ethnic background resembles their own. Have each student choose one story to read about and share a quick multimedia project with the class, such as a simple online posters using PicLits, reviewed here. Ask students who have a relative who is an immigrant to interview them, and then use a tool such as the 3 Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to compare the experiences. This could be done using a story from the same country, or other countries. Use stories from this site as a writing prompt for a poem or digital story about an aspect of immigrant life, asking students to put themselves in the immigrant's shoes. For presentations of digital stories challenge students to use Presentious, reviewed here. This tool allows narrating and adding text to a picture. For the advanced digital atudent and teacher challenge them to create their story as a game using Pencil Code Gym, reviewed here.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Military History Now - NH Mallett
Grades
8 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): battles (18), famous people (19), veterans (27)
In the Classroom
Military History Now is an excellent addition to any history classroom. Share information from posts with students to add background information to any topic. Encourage students to browse the site on their own to find little-known facts to share with others. Have students create an interactive image including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Genially, reviewed here, to share information learned.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection Stories - National Museum of African American History and Culture
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): african american (110), black history (130), cross cultural understanding (172), cultures (172)
In the Classroom
Share stories from this collection to provide a personal look at events from African-American history in the United States. Use stories as an example, and ask students to find additional artifacts from the National Museum and research to discover the story behind the item. Have younger students use Kiddle, reviewed here, a kid-friendly search engine to find documents about their particular object. Younger students could bring an item from their home to tell the story of its history. For either of these ideas, enhance student learning by encouraging them to create online books for sharing the stories using a tool such as Ourboox, reviewed here. Ask students to find local residents with knowledge of historical events to come talk to your class about the "behind the scenes" story, or set up a Zoom meeting with an African-American leader. Use these stories for informational reading in your Language Arts classroom, and as a wonderful resource to use for covering the informational reading standards required with the CCSS.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Google Forms - Google
Grades
K to 12tag(s): polls and surveys (49), spreadsheets (23)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the flexibility of Google Forms to create surveys for parents and students at the beginning of the year to learn about student interests, create parent volunteer lists, and much more. Create sign in and sign out sheets for classroom library materials including books and digital equipment. Use Google Forms to set up and collaborate on lesson plans, include check boxes to standards, materials needed, and covered content. Google Forms is perfect to use for assessment purposes - create online quizzes and exit tickets. Have students use Google Forms to prepare and submit reading logs, brainstorm and collaborate with fellow students, create choose your own adventure stories, or schedule reading and writing conference times. Use Google Forms to set up and share rubrics for any project, have students complete the rubric and turn in with any completed assignment. The uses for Google Forms are as unlimited as your imagination; this is a must-have tool for all classrooms!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Vanishing: The Extinction Crisis is Far Worse than you Think - CNN
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): animals (295), conservation (97), earth (184), earth day (59), endangered species (27), habitats (90)
In the Classroom
This site is perfect for use on interactive whiteboards as an introduction to any unit on animals, habitats, or earth conservation. Explore together, then allow students to explore in depth on their own. Have students either individually or as groups choose a topic found on this site to research further. If you are new to integrating technology you may want to have students create a presentation using Visme, reviewed here. Looking for something different? Have students use Microsoft Sway, reviewed here, to create an interactive presentation including charts, videos, and images.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Microsoft Learn - Microsoft
Grades
K to 12tag(s): collaboration (91), Microsoft (80), preK (269), professional development (377), social networking (61), STEM (289), virtual field trips (119)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the many resources on the site for use in your classroom and share with peers. . Enroll in the self-paced courses and tutorials to learn how to use Microsoft tools such as OneNote, PowerPoint, Teams, and others. Enroll in the online courses for personal learning in many topics or share with others in your building and learn together. Earn certificates and become a Microsoft Innovative Educator. Include all courses as part of any professional development plan.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Great Fire of London - Museum of London
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): 1600s (20), england (52), fire (22), fire prevention (16), fire safety (16), game based learning (191), gamification (80), great britain (16)
In the Classroom
This site is perfect for use on an interactive whiteboard (or with a projector) to understand the background and impact of the Great Fire of London as well as what life was like in 1666. Include this as part of any study of this period of time in Europe. Share this site during fire prevention week as an example of how society has learned about the dangers of fire and adapted building safety throughout time. Allow students to explore the site independently or in small groups, then compare and contrast life in London then to modern life. Improve and expand learning by having students create a multimedia presentation using Visme, reviewed here. Visme allows you to narrate your slides. Challenge students to find a photo (legally permitted to be reproduced), and then narrate the photo as if it is a news report.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Infographic Portal - infographicportal.com
Grades
K to 12tag(s): digital storytelling (153), infographics (56), professional development (377)
In the Classroom
Click on any infographic link to see it in full along with additional information including the image source and a link to download and save to your computer. Take advantage of the infographics on this site for both classroom use and professional development. Introduce a topic by sharing the Infographic and allowing time for students (or peers) to identify various items they notice about the chart. Allow students the chance to think-pair-share and list questions for further understanding. Choose a new infographic each week to share on your classroom website. Make curriculum content more real with infographics students can relate to. Consider creating Infographics of material students are learning in class for better understanding and connection with other topics and the world around them. Have students create a simple infographic sharing their findings using Infogram, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Taskade - John Xie & Stan ChangKhin Boon
Grades
K to 12tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (146), note taking (36), organizational skills (88), video (264)
In the Classroom
Create checklists of steps in a project. Place all notes in one place, so you do not forget. Use this tool easily in your Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) classroom since all students will be able to access it for free, no matter what device they have. They could use Taskade for assignment information, reminders, and more. Consider setting up a class account that can be used by all students. Spell out the use of the site and what is allowed and not allowed -- and the penalties. Set up separate accounts for student groups who can then share their notebook with other groups.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Name Picker Ninja - Zack Vogel
Grades
K to 12tag(s): classroom management (118), gamification (80), preK (269)
In the Classroom
The obvious use for this tool is for selecting students to answer a question or do an activity. Other uses could include forming groups/pairs or creating seating charts. Allow students to use it when it's time to choose the next student. Instead of names, enter activities for P.E., rainy day recess activities, the next book your class will read together, or anything where you need to make a choice. Save your lists as a template with a Word doc or PDF so you can copy and paste them for reuse later.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Podcast Generator - Alberto Betella
Grades
1 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): blended learning (36), communication (129), podcasts (103), video (264)
In the Classroom
Create regular or special podcasts to share on your class web page or wiki. Create a mini gallery of images taken during a lab or a portfolio of images from photography, art, or any other class. Add music and share as part of a digital portfolio. Looking for even more ideas? Use this tool in your blended or flipped classroom to record class assignments or directions. Record story time or a reading excerpt for younger ones to listen to at a computer center AND from home, adding a touch of blended learning to your classroom! Have readers (perhaps older buddies) build fluency by recording selected passages for your non-readers. Launch a service project for your fifth or sixth graders to record stories for the kindergarten to use in their reading and listening center. Challenge students to create "you are there" recordings as "eyewitnesses" to historical or current events. Make a weekly class podcast, with students taking turns writing and sharing the "Class News," encourage students to create radio advertisements for concepts studied in class (Buy Dynamic DNA!). Invite students to write and record their own stories or poetry in dramatic readings. Language students or beginning readers could record their fluency by reading passages. Allow parents to hear their child's progress reading aloud, etc. Compare world language, speech articulation, or reading fluency at two points during the year. Challenge your Shakespeare students to record a soliloquy. Write and record a poem for Father's or Mother's Day (or other special events) and send the URL as a gift to that special person.If you have gifted students who lean toward the dramatic, this tool is simple enough for them to create dramatic mini casts without needing a video camera. Have students upload their own images and write a drama to accompany them, showing what they have learned in independent learning beyond the regular curriculum.
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asymetrica - Aysmetrica Labs, Inc.
Grades
2 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): multilingual (73), reading comprehension (149), reading strategies (96)
In the Classroom
Install aysmetrica on classroom computers for student use when reading text-heavy online content. aysmetrica may be especially helpful for ESL/ELL and special education students to use as an aid in reading and comprehending text. Share text on an interactive whiteboard or with a projector using aysmetrica as part of a lesson on reading skills to demonstrate "chunking" of text.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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eMargin - Birmingham City University
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): collaboration (91), note taking (36), questioning (35)
In the Classroom
eMargin is a great tool for you (or your students) to annotate research and information on the Internet or from personal documents. Create teacher annotations or question and answer comments on pages. Ask comprehension questions or guiding questions for places you send students on the web. Ask questions that students can complete as homework to show that they accessed the web resource assigned. This tool would also be a powerful way for students to point out bias on a web page or for art students to comment on images and design elements. Create writing prompts by adding questions or comments to a webpage and sharing it with students.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Text Mode - omarr.com
Grades
K to 12tag(s): media literacy (107), multilingual (73), reading comprehension (149)
In the Classroom
Install Text Mode on all classroom computers for use throughout the year. Turn distracting images off when sharing web pages with a projector or on an interactive whiteboard to help students focus on content. Use this tool in technology training with students to share how images, videos, and ads change the look of web content. Share how adding images helps viewers understand the content. Text Mode is excellent for use with ENL/ELL and special education students as a method for focusing. Share web pages with images to help students get the big picture, then remove images to deliver and understand the content offered.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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SMMRY - smmry.com
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): learning disability (21), Special Needs (53), summarizing (23)
In the Classroom
Introduce SMMRY to students working on research projects as a way to quickly determine content and viability of using websites. Use to differentiate instruction with students. Use with learning support students as a resource to make content easier to understand (and shorter to read). Use SMMRY summaries when teaching how to summarize in an ENL class. Compare the summary you create as a class or in small groups with the "automated" one. Are there subtleties or important distinctions that this tool misses? As a challenge for your more critical thinkers, have them try to figure out what signals the tool uses to create its summary.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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iBoske - Ana M. Martin
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): concept mapping (15), debate (42), graphic organizers (48), mind map (27), persuasive writing (58)
In the Classroom
Use iBoske for many kinds of societal, political, or environmental discussions and decisions, such as paper or plastic bags, support fracking or not, etc. Use in literary discussions of alternatives faced by characters. Use in preparation for debates or persuasive writing. Generate a list of actions and alternatives and create the decision matrix. Consider using this tool for a project occurring in student neighborhoods. For example, the removal of a field and trees or the changing of the landscape for a proposed development. Use the decision-making matrix in iBoske to determine why the decision to proceed happened or should happen.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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JuxtaposeJS - Knight Lab
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): history day (39), images (260), local history (14), photography (121)
In the Classroom
Use JuxtaposeJS to highlight then and now images of any location or building. Compare current cities to images taken many years ago. Compare and contrast pictures of major war battles to how they look in the present. Highlight changes in photographs over time. Compare and contrast changes in plants or animals. It may take some practice getting images to align properly; however, it is worth the time to create the visual presentation provided by this tool. Upload finished images to your class or student's websites. If you don't have a website, try a simple web page creator like Carrd, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Pic4Carto - Adrien Pavie
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): images (260), map skills (59), maps (215)
In the Classroom
Use any part of this map for your school projects. Share the maps on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students create stories about visiting in these places to share with others. Challenge students to create a digital presentation on a map location rather than write an essay or present a paper poster. If you're just beginning the process of integrating technology in your classroom, use Prezi, reviewed here, which is much like PowerPoint or Keynote but allows for "zoomable" content. If you are more experienced in the integration of technology, try Lucidpress, reviewed here, where students could produce a variety of products. If you teach geography, Pic4Carto is a must; it is also helpful for showing students WHERE a story or news event takes place. If you have a new road in your area, share the difference between this map and older ones found online.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Genially - Genially
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): artificial intelligence (169), charts and graphs (171), communication (129), digital storytelling (153), gamification (80), images (260), infographics (56), interactive stories (21), multimedia (51), posters (43), video (264)
In the Classroom
Click Create to find a category from which you want your students to work; present several using a projector or on an interactive whiteboard. Show the interactivity to students. Then, create one together as a class to try out the tools (don't forget to name it). Keep it simple or add all the bells and whistles. Preview as you work or return later to complete and publish. Of course, you will want to model and teach appropriate documentation of any sources of images and media you use and to use copyrighted works legally.There are limitless ideas for using Genially in the classroom! Here are just a few: Ask students to create their own Genially as a new way to assess understanding of a concept or unit of study: you could even provide links to images and raw materials they may use (especially if you have students who need extra scaffolding), and they can work with them to sequence, caption, and write about the pieces. After a first project where you possibly suggest "building blocks," the sky is the limit on what they can do. Even the very young can make suggestions as you "create" a whole-class interactive together using a projector or an interactive whiteboard. Consider making a new project for each unit you teach so students can "recap" by visiting the presentation long after the unit ends. Save student projects from year to year as examples, possibly even awarding prizes for "best" examples. Have upper elementary or middle school students create an interactive project to help "little buddies" two or three grades lower to understand a concept.
Comments
This is a wonderful interactive poster replacement for Glogster.Shirley, CA, Grades: 6 - 12
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Wakelet - Jamil Khalil
Grades
K to 12tag(s): bookmarks (43), collaboration (91), communication (129), curation (32), DAT device agnostic tool (146), multimedia (51), news (228), personalized learning (9), playlists (7), social media (48), social networking (61)
In the Classroom
The possibilities for using Wakelet in the classroom are endless! Create collections with tips for writing in different genres, current events, information about specific countries or cities, math games, and much more. Have students set up their own wakes as part of a research project. Put together a wake scavenger hunt to introduce a new unit or as a review at the end of a unit. Share wakes on your class web page for student use at home to review and practice class content. Having the ability to have a cover image and background for your wakes makes them much more interesting and easily identifiable, especially for young or visual students!Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
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