TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Dec 11, 2016

Here are this week's features. Clicking the tags in the description area of each listing will present a list of other resources with this topic. | Click here to return to the Featured Sites Archive

 

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Of the People: Art and History of the White House - Discovery Education

Grades
6 to 12
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Go behind the scenes for an in-depth video discussion of the art and history of the White House with White House Curator William Allman. The actual discussion begins after the ...more
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Go behind the scenes for an in-depth video discussion of the art and history of the White House with White House Curator William Allman. The actual discussion begins after the 14-minute mark on the video with an interview led by a high school student.

tag(s): art history (85), presidents (120), video (256), white house (15)

In the Classroom

Before viewing this video, challenge students to brainstorm what a curator's job is and what kind of artifacts they might find in the White House. After viewing, extend learning by having students create a simple infographic of important White House artifacts sharing their findings using Venngage, reviewed here. Ask students to curate their own collection of items such as things found in their room at home, a collection of items from your school, or a collection of artifacts from your hometown. Create a book featuring these items using Ourboox, reviewed here. Ourboox creates beautiful page-flipping digital books in minutes, and you can embed video, music, animation, games, maps and more truly redefining learning.

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WriteReader - WriteReader

Grades
K to 5
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The scientific research behind WriterReader is that one develops and improves reading skills by writing. With WriteReader, kids create their books, including text, pictures, and voice...more
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The scientific research behind WriterReader is that one develops and improves reading skills by writing. With WriteReader, kids create their books, including text, pictures, and voice recordings. Adults/Teachers have space on the page to write comments and make corrections. The interface is so simple that even a young child can use it successfully after some adult guidance. Open the Features tab on the top menu to see an index to all features categorized by Literacy Development, Easy Book Creation, Publishing and Sharing, and Teacher & Student Management, all with several links to explore. Click the Resources Center tab on the top menu to select Lesson Plans, Templates, Writing Prompts, Videos, and more. The basic plan offers 60 books and all the essential features. Register by email or your Google account. After logging in, use the menu bars in the upper right corner and find Guides, which has a Parent Letter, a Quick Start Guide, a Template, and a few other get-started items. For creating student accounts, you can enter students manually, or students can join the class with a class code. WriteReader has upgraded its page templates to support older students. US English, UK English, Dansk (Danish), and Svenska (Swedish) are available. There is also an introductory video on the landing page that will help everyone get started. This video resides on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, the video may not be viewable. WriteReader has added new premium features such as Read Aloud, Voice Search, Book Templates, and several others. For these, you must pay.

tag(s): digital storytelling (142), literacy (106), multilingual (63), reading strategies (96), science of reading (31), writing (315)

In the Classroom

WriteReader is so simple that very young students can use it successfully after a whiteboard or projector demonstration. While creating their books, students will be able to add images, multiple pages and delete pages, include voice-over, use color on the pages, view one page at a time or the entire book, and toggle between letters' names/sounds or no audio. Use this tool to design simple projects using student drawings to tell the story. Have students draw and annotate stories about their summer at the beginning of the year and share them with classmates. Students of any age love to draw, so why not have them draw their impression of what the message to the reader was after hearing a story and then explain it in writing? Nonreaders and ENL/ESL students especially will benefit from hearing the letter sounds as they begin writing in their new language.

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Labeley - Labeley.com

Grades
K to 12
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Create and design custom labels with Labeley. Choose from shapes, borders, backgrounds, and more to create your image. You need to create an account to save and work with finished ...more
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Create and design custom labels with Labeley. Choose from shapes, borders, backgrounds, and more to create your image. You need to create an account to save and work with finished designs. Once logged in, save your label and use provided links to share through social networking options. Another option for saving while logged in is to right click and save directly to your computer.

tag(s): digital storytelling (142), editing (93), images (270)

In the Classroom

Have students create images in Labeley to add to book reports and multimedia projects. Have students upload a picture of themselves doing their favorite activity and label it with amusing text or a favorite quote (or song lyrics?). Have them upload images that represent their interests and character traits using 4 Free Photos, reviewed here, from the public domain, or Morguefile, reviewed here, creative images freely contributed without concern about copyright. Of course, proper credit must be given. Create a picture for a character from a story and add text descriptions of character traits. For other uses, have students practice new words in a world language class by labeling and identifying images in that language. Create writing prompts using several annotated images. Have students create annotated images to explain key terms in science class.

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Toppsta - Georgina Atwell

Grades
K to 12
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Read, review, and discover the best books for all ages at Toppsta. Use the keyword search to find books or search for ages up to 18 years old and young ...more
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Read, review, and discover the best books for all ages at Toppsta. Use the keyword search to find books or search for ages up to 18 years old and young adult. Each book title includes a summary along with reviews submitted by site members. Reviews indicate the age of the reviewer and number of reviews. Login to Toppsta to save books to your wishlist or create your own book reviews. This site was created in the UK, so some of the pronunciations and spellings may differ from those in American English.

tag(s): book lists (159), independent reading (85), preK (254), reading lists (80)

In the Classroom

Share this site with students as a resource for finding books for independent reading. Include a link on your class website or blog for access at home. Present a new book each week to students on your interactive whiteboard or share your wishlist with your school's media center to include with book orders. After reading reviews, enhance student learning by having students create a video sharing their own book reviews. Use Adobe Creative Cloud Express Video Maker, reviewed here, for this video project. Have students or groups share their own book suggestions using Dotstorming, reviewed here. Dotstorming creates free online bulletin boards.

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The Bowers Institute: Design Challenge Learning - The Tech Museum of Innovation

Grades
2 to 12
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Design Challenge Learning offers several lesson plans correlated to Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards based on STEM concepts. Begin your search by choosing For Educators...more
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Design Challenge Learning offers several lesson plans correlated to Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards based on STEM concepts. Begin your search by choosing For Educators from the top menu. From there, find a menu on the left that has links to Lessons and Activities, Field Trips, Virtual Student Programming, and more. From Lessons and Activities you can browse content by subject and topic. Each lesson includes questioning prompts, vocabulary, standards, and information on core concepts.

tag(s): agriculture (49), architecture (64), commoncore (75), density (18), energy (131), forces (37), friction (9), gravity (42), heart (27), human body (93), magnetism (36), matter (47), motion (49), plants (141), simple machines (17), sound (74)

In the Classroom

Take advantage of the many free lesson plans offered at Design Challenge Learning to teach science concepts. Create a class wiki with additional resources for experimenting with science. Not comfortable with wikis? Check out the TeachersFirst Wiki Walk-Through. Have cooperative learning groups create podcasts demonstrating their understanding of one of the concepts. Use a site such as podOmatic, reviewed here, and then post them on the wiki or on your class web page.
 This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.

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The Mystery of Matter: Search for the Elements - Moreno/Lyons Productions & Oregon Public Broadcasting

Grades
8 to 12
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Discover the human story behind the periodic table of elements based on a PBS 3 hour-long series. This site includes links to view each episode in addition to many ...more
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Discover the human story behind the periodic table of elements based on a PBS 3 hour-long series. This site includes links to view each episode in addition to many supplemental materials. Learn about the seven scientists featured in the show and explore the creation of the periodic table through video and images. Also, explore how discoveries about atoms changed the scientific world forever. Be sure to go to the section for teachers featuring a teacher's guide, additional videos, and hands-on classroom activities.

tag(s): atoms (42), biographies (93), matter (47), scientists (62)

In the Classroom

If you teach chemistry, you will want to bookmark this valuable resource. View the videos and explore the site information together or flip your classroom and have students view the videos as an introduction to the material. If full episodes aren't available online in your area, you can still take advantage of the many resources on this site. Be sure to find the video library in the teacher's section with many clips from the original shows. Have students improve their learning by createing a Twitter Fictional Account, reviewed here, about one of the scientists featured in this series. Challenge students to redefine their learning by creating a timeline (with music, photos, videos, and more) using Timeline JS, reviewed here, to visualize the progression of the discoveries of matter.
 This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.

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Libib - Javod Khalaj

Grades
K to 12
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Do you have a home library of cookbooks or magazines with recipes you want to try? How about a classroom library? Libib is a tool for cataloging books and other ...more
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Do you have a home library of cookbooks or magazines with recipes you want to try? How about a classroom library? Libib is a tool for cataloging books and other media in the cloud. Organize books, movies, music, magazines, and video games using Libib's cloud cataloging features. Catalog your media, then add tags, leave notes, and share with others. Gather opinions about current books and movies. Scan items or search using ISBN numbers to add cover art and other pertinent information automatically.

tag(s): book lists (159), DAT device agnostic tool (143), preK (254)

In the Classroom

Libib is perfect for organizing and cataloging your classroom book collection. Use the tag features to organize your collection by genres, subject, authors, or any way you need. Tag books for specific students or reading levels. Post a link on your web page and share Libib with your students as a way for them to give opinions on current books and movies.

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Glean - Digital Literacy Teaching Tools - The Public Learning Media Laboratory

Grades
6 to 12
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Small but mighty, this site has several lesson plans for the digital classroom. Use, share, and help create digital literacy lesson plans using Google Docs at Glean. Also, use the ...more
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Small but mighty, this site has several lesson plans for the digital classroom. Use, share, and help create digital literacy lesson plans using Google Docs at Glean. Also, use the hashtag #lessonhack on Twitter to follow the development of ideas and the lessons. Use the drop-down menu for Lessons to view plans for Media, Data, Information, Network Literacy, and also find Security and Privacy lessons. Find plans already created that include, To Teach Memes, Teaching Media Making, Terms of Service, and there are several others about the Internet and IPs. One lesson on Safer Sexting states, "This is not intended to condone sexting; rather it is designed to provide young people (at risk through their sexting behavior) with digital literacies and personal practices to mitigate negative impacts of the sexting they've done."

tag(s): computers (105), digital citizenship (83), internet safety (112), media literacy (102)

In the Classroom

Computer Literacy teachers and those responsible for teaching Internet safety in any course are sure to find a lesson they need. Take advantage of these free lessons to educate students about the basics of the Internet from safety to reading the terms of service to creating or sharing memes. After these lessons, challenge students to create a simple infographic about what they learned using Infogram, reviewed here. The lessons and (some of) the descriptions include resources you may want to share with parents and school counselors so they can have a conversation about the topics with their students. Discuss topics on this site as part of Internet safety lessons. Share this site with school counselors as a resource for teens facing online safety issues.

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Epic! For Educators - Suren Markosian and Kevin Donahue

Grades
K to 6
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Epic! offers thousands of high-quality free books for educators teaching grades K-7. Create an account using your education email to begin. Add up to 30 student profiles to your account...more
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Epic! offers thousands of high-quality free books for educators teaching grades K-7. Create an account using your education email to begin. Add up to 30 student profiles to your account to receive personalized recommendations based on reading ability and interests. Students can freely access books on any device, but only during the school day. Educators receive feedback including time spent reading, page flips, and books read. Students earn badges and rewards as they reach milestones. Resources include classroom posters, lesson plans, teacher tips, presentations, and letters to parents in PDF format. Find educational videos by Smithsonian, Blue Wonders, Animal Wonders, and Encyclopedia Britannica. Epic! also offers titles in Spanish. Tutorial videos reside on YouTube as do some of the educational videos. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): classroom management (128), DAT device agnostic tool (143), ebooks (38), movies (51), reading lists (80), video (256)

In the Classroom

Create your free educator account and share with students as part of your reading activities. Adjust reading preferences and profiles as students increase skills or change interest in reading materials. Be sure to share with parents to use at home. What a wonderful, engaging way to keep students accountable for reading at home and for remote learning.
 This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.

Comments

Wendy, OK, Grades: 2 - 4

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