Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Instantly grammar check any piece of writing using GrammarCheck's editor. Simply copy/paste your text into this website, and receive instant feedback. Click on the color coded information and find style suggestions, spelling errors, and grammar suggestions. There is a premium option with more features.
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tag(s): editing (93), proofreading (21), writing (325)

What is a .kmz file and how do you make one? A .kmz file, when opened, launches Google Earth and the files needed to view specific portions of the globe, map overlays, and other information. There are several ways to create a .kmz file to share with others for specific content to be learned. Thematic Mapping Engine provides you with a very simple way to create Google Earth .kmz files. This tool uses data from the United Nations to create maps of all types of development and environmental data. Follow the instructions in the yellow box along the right side of this tool. Select a statistical indicator category from the dropdown (for example, Life expectancy or population). Then, select a year or range of years, and the manner in which they would like the data displayed in Google Earth. Preview and download the .kmz file. Share this file on your blog, wiki, or web page. Click on and then download the file. Once the file is opened, Google Earth then opens and the data is seen within Google Earth. Note: Google Earth must be installed on student computers. Check with your technology department about the availability of Google Earth in your schools. See more information about Google Earth, reviewed here.

tag(s): climate change (99), diseases (67), earth (184), landmarks (22), news (229), population (51)

Join Tripp and his brother Ping on a mission around the globe. Register for this site and view exciting travel videos designed to teach English! The videos clarify difficult words. You can also see the city where you are traveling. After the short videos, answer questions about characters and words in the video. Listening activities include rehearing the text of the video and choosing the correct response. One activity demonstrates how underlined words are linked to a picture dictionary; the explanations for the words come orally. Although the changes to the next page are a bit slow, the game format motivates you to want to go on and find out what the next task is. The few free lessons on the site make it fun and useful.

tag(s): listening (93), multilingual (77), virtual field trips (128)

Discover a large collection of free to use images for presentations, slide shows, reports, and more at Free Tiiu Pix. The creator of this site designed all images available. Go to the image gallery to browse images sorted by categories. The categories range from Architecture, Food, Animals, Insects, Plants and more. Right click to save images or choose optional links for different resolution sizes. In addition to the image gallery, be sure to check out the slide presentation gallery including visually appealing PowerPoint presentations on many topics. From the Clip Art Gallery (with free clip art to use) there is also a link to Learn How to Draw Your Own Clip Art. These are FREE to use. However, be sure to read and understand the Terms of Use! Note: you must be 18 to use this site. So while this is an excellent site for teachers to find resources, this shouldn't be shared with students to use independently.
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tag(s): images (263), photography (130), slides (43)

Explore the world with this great online geography game using Google Maps (street view images). View the provided image, zoom in and out, and move around to explore the area to find clues for the location. When you think you know the place, click the location on the map to place a flag then choose go. Compare how close you placed your flag to the actual location versus other players averages.

tag(s): cities (17), context clues (5), continents (33), countries (73), images (263), map skills (63), maps (220)

edX offers access to many of the best courses offered at top learning institutions - for FREE! Institutions include MIT, Harvard, and Berkley. Classes are available to complete for a Certificate of Achievement or as an audit. Choose from courses with topics in many areas including computers, literature, and humanities. Each course listing offers a short description of the course, details about the university offering the course, estimated time involved, course staff, and available options for taking the course. Start any course at any time. Take the edX Demo course to get a good idea of how courses work and find out about the online learning experience.

tag(s): aeronautics (11), architecture (75), artificial intelligence (177), china (81), circuits (20), civil rights (209), computers (109), electricity (61), engineering (129), environment (252), evolution (89), folktales (34), greeks (46), magnetism (36), medicine (57), nutrition (140), poetry (193), psychology (65), religions (95), shakespeare (99), solar energy (34), speech (69), statistics (121), terrorism (41)

This interactive timeline shows the route Lincoln took to become the President. Use the links to dig deeper into Lincoln's life.
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tag(s): elections (82), lincoln (66), presidents (135)

Welcome to the 1800's and The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi. Find a ready-made unit (PDF from Glencoe) with information about the author and ideas for introducing the novel. In this unit, the novel is divided into several sections, and each section has, a Before You Read, Vocabulary Preview, and Active Reading activities. Towards the end, you will find suggested companion novels and short stories with ideas and questions that relate back to The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle.

tag(s): literature (221), literature circles (4), novels (34), reading comprehension (149)

This PDF explains the teaching strategies of Cubing and Think Dots. Cubing is an instructional strategy that asks students to consider a concept from different perspectives. Use ideas from the site to understand how to use cubes to differentiate teaching for various groups of students. Similar to cubes, Think Dots incorporates the idea of students constructing the meaning of concepts through the use of activity cards correlated to the roll of a dice. The PDF starts with an overview of Bloom's Taxonomy and its revision.

tag(s): blooms taxonomy (7), differentiation (84), learning styles (18), professional development (385)

WikiWand is a browser add-on to enhance the look and use of Wikipedia. Follow links to add the extension to Chrome, Safari, or Firefox. Once installed, WikiWand adds an easy to use table of contents to the side of the screen, easier to read typography and a handy preview-on-hover feature. Personalize your screen by changing fonts and size of fonts.

tag(s): media literacy (109), writing (325)

Classmill allows you to create your own online classes by uploading videos, links, files, and images. Create your account to start your own class or explore classes already online. When creating a class choose from privacy options such as invite only for attendees. Add content within modules for each class using tabs to upload or embed information. Once your content is complete, use the "Ready" toggle switch to make it accessible to participants. Use the "Invite" button to invite users using their email address.

tag(s): classroom management (120)

Do you need to choose items in a truly random way? If so, this site is for you! Random.org offers many different categories for receiving randomized information. Choose from the links for random lists, coin flippers, dates, passwords, dice rolls, and much more. Follow directions on each page to set the form and receive results. There is also an app for both Android and iOs devices.

tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (147), gamification (83), probability (99), resources (84)

Venture over 12,000 years into the past to look at the first people to live in the Canadian regions of North America. This site from a B.C. museum offers different levels of information, videos, and interactive media about the first peoples and their migration across the land bridge from Europe. The site is available in both English and French language. Instructor materials support use from primary to post-secondary levels. Watch native video greetings in several languages, learn about settlements, the geography and change of the actual water and land masses, the archaeology and dating of artifacts, and much more. The Site Map offers a good way to see the scope of the offerings.

tag(s): archeology (28), native americans (109)

Here is an excellent site for finding images for non-commercial use that will have the proper citation downloaded with it. Find a photo you want to use. Click the download link under the picture. The downloaded image will have the appropriate attribution information with it. Note: right clicking on the photo will not produce the attribution information. Our editors found all photos to be "class appropriate." However, it is always best to use caution with image searching. Provide students with clear guidelines and expectations.

tag(s): images (263), photography (130), search engines (48)

Explore two interactive maps to find the number of "ideal" summer days per month (70F -90F degrees) or Temperature & Rain averages in over a thousand cities in the United States. Click on any state and choose a city to view graphs displaying monthly averages of summer days for each place. Select the Temperature & Rain Averages map to see a graph of any city displaying average high and low temperatures, as well as inches of rain per month. Remember, if the temperature is above 90F, the amount of "ideal" summer days may be less in that state. Comments from this site can be shared on Facebook.

tag(s): seasons (37), temperature (35), weather (160)

This impressive infographic shows information about Viking or Nordic Mythology. Find short explanations for Yggdrasil, Asgard, Vallaha, Odin, Thor, Freyr, Frigg, Loki, Midgard, Valkyries, and Hel. Click on the infographic to make it smaller or larger.

tag(s): myths and legends (37), vikings (10)

Explore an Inventor's Workshop through the eyes of Leonardo da Vinci. Click Menu in the upper right corner to choose different areas of this site like the Inventor, the Scientist, the Artist, and more. Discover elements of machines, gadget anatomy, linear perspective, and the golden ratio. Also included on the site are activities for having students sketch and build their own inventions. Other portions of this resource take viewers deeper into the world of Leonardo by providing perspective on Renaissance times, exploring his special way of writing, and discovering Leonardo's activities in different Italian cities.

tag(s): artists (85), inventors and inventions (80), italy (30), leonardo davinci (3), renaissance (38)

Take an interesting look at mathematicians from around the world as honored on stamps with this very comprehensive site. Browse through more than 100 alphabetical listings of mathematicians along with the date of stamp issue, country, and a link to an image of each stamp. In addition to mathematicians, information is also included for other mathematics related stamps such as those featuring an abacus and the metric system.

tag(s): biographies (94)

Learn about the ancient Nordic Gods by using this simple, yet thorough, site. Learn about Tyr, Thor, Freya, Odin, and others. Click on a god's name and find out where and what s/he reigned. Learn about Yggdrasill, the World Tree, and Asgard where the gods lived. See the meaning of Germanic, Old English or Old Norse names.

tag(s): myths and legends (37), vikings (10)

Use this site as a reference to learn about Egyptian Gods. Find out about Egyptian monsters, some myths tied to nature, and the Egyptian number system, too. At the bottom of the page are links to more resources for Egyptian Gods.

tag(s): egypt (56), myths and legends (37)