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Historypin - We Are What We Do - Grades 4 to 12 - permalink -

This is a site created in partnership with Google as a project to help generations share and talk more through social networking. The concept is that young people ask older people to share their photos; these photos are then uploaded through Google maps to show the world as it once was. The older pictures can be compared to today's images through Google street view. In addition to uploading photos, stories can also be shared about the time period and the pictures. Historypin is still in Beta stage; however, there are plans for events throughout the world to launch the site in the near future.
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In the Classroom:
Use as an enhancement to research projects of family, historic events, and world cultures by finding and uploading pictures to the map. Use Historypin as a resource to compare and contrast different time periods in the same geographic area. Demonstrate on the interactive whiteboard or projector how different places have changed over time. Have individual students or cooperative learning groups create podcasts using PodOmatic (reviewed here) to go along with the maps. ESL students will appreciate the ability to upload pictures and/or learn about their country of original.

GotBrainy - Jack Yu and Nori Yoshida - Grades 6 to 12 - permalink -

TeachersFirst Edge review: For any technology user comfortable with watching video and/or using video cameras. The more adventurous users can create their own videos to share. GotBrainy is a vocabulary development site with a twist. User-created combinations of images/videos and text explain the meaning of the words. There are two areas: BrainyPic and BrainyFlix. GotBrainy has numerous user-created sentences to illustrate SAT/ACT vocabulary, with images depicting the word on Brainypics, or videos demonstrating the word on BrainyFlix. Anyone can access the Brainypic vocabulary “flashcards” or offer new sentences for the words, simply by supplying an email address. *Be aware, anyone can click “go on to the next flashcard” and be taken to a new word. The words are in random order, so you are not able to preview. Be sure to set guidelines with students about if they can/can’t click on the other virtual flashcards. With an optional (free) registration, you can vote on the sentences and videos, or you can create your own sentence/image combos or videos. Once fully registered, you submit your uploaded video depicting the word, which then goes into a “holding” area. That video then awaits approval by the website’s moderator before becoming available. Because of the layering of approval, this site mitigates safety (and accuracy) concerns for students or schools. Searching the site and simply viewing the videos does not require any registration or log-in. Note that BrainyFlix videos are actually hosted on other sites such as YouTube, TeacherTube, or SchoolTube and simply embedded in Brainyflix, so some might be blocked by school filtering.

Here is an example of a Brainypic.
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In the Classroom:
Skills needed: No special skills are necessary to enjoy the site or view the Brainyflix and Brainypics shared by others. If you wish to vote or create your own Pics or Flix , you must register as a user at the site. Registration is free but requires email. 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.

For still Brainypic images, you need to save and locate the image file on your computer so you can upload it to Brainypic. Brainypic also requires an image credit, so keep track of the photographer’s name and the URL where you found it if not using your own photo. Be sure to use Creative Commons licensed images to model ethical behavior! For Brainyflix videos, create and upload videos to a hosting site accessible from your school, such as TeacherTube (reviewed here) or SchoolTube (reviewed here). (Windows Movie Maker or iMovie are great, free tools for video). You need to know how to copy the embed code for the video. When done, you can share the Brainyflix video or Brainypic image via link or embed video from its original hosting location. Submitting the entry to Brainyflix or Brainypic asks for an email address.

Safety/Security Concerns: If you wish to have students create their own BrainyPics or Brianyflix, check school policy on using student email to establish accounts. You may want to use an extra teacher email account to set up a whole-class account for students to use, then have them initial their work so you now who did it. 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. Check your school policies about posting pictures of your school or students. If you post student videos or student-created Brainypics, obtain written parent permission to post student work, again within school policies. Any student visible in a video should also have parent permission in accordance with school policies.

Possible Uses: Learning support teachers may find this highly visual format for word study actually helps their students retain challenging words. Share a BrainyPic or Brainyflix daily at the start of class to build vocabulary. When voting on the Brainypics, you’ll find a place to mark that the sentence has usage errors. Find sentences with usage errors, and have your students correct the sentence on a projector or interactive whiteboard. You can also use this program to help your students learn SAT/ACT vocabulary. Have pairs or groups of students each create a video or a Brainypic for one of the words for the week. You or your students will have to upload the video to Schooltube or Youtube and then embed it on GotBrainy. Another idea for vocabulary review would be to make one video for all the words for the week, using the ready made images and sentences, and then post the video to your website for all to review whenever they want. Assign student groups to each take responsibility for one week of the marking period and produce their own Brainyflix as part of the marking period grade or require each student to create a certain number of Brainypics per marking period, sharing the links to the class products on your class wiki so students can vote on each other’s. The wiki will be the best vocabulary study guide EVER! Hold an awards ceremony for the Brainypics or flix that earn the most votes throughout the year.

Shmoop: Shakespeare - Shmoop - Grades 6 to 12 - permalink -

Shmoop has an entire section just for William Shakespeare. If you click on his name at the top you'll be taken to his biography page. This address will also list the Learning Guides that Shmoop has developed for Shakespeare's works. All you need for your Shakespeare unit on one page!
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In the Classroom:
Introduce Shakespeare before reading any of his works by having the students do a jigsaw. Have students number off in groups of four. Three of the students should investigate two tabs each (exclude Citations and Opinions). One student should look only at “Best of the Web” since it is rather extensive. Have students get in their expert groups based on the tab(s) they will read and jot down notes. Once everyone has completed the work have them report out to their original group what they found that was important or interesting. Have groups create multimedia presentations to share with the class. Have your students create an interactive online poster ("glog") using Glogster EDU, reviewed here. Another idea, have students create podcasts using a site such as PodOmatic (reviewed here). Challenge students to narrate a picture of Shakespeare using a tool such as Voicethread reviewed here.

Smories - Lisa Swerling & Ralph Lazar - Grades 0 to 12 - permalink -

Looking for a place to publish your student's writing? Smories is a cool site to do this for your student writers. At this site you will find videos of students, 8 to 11 years old reading short stories. Click “Submit a filmed Smory” to submit a video of your Smory. Submitting a video of your Smory requires an email address. Writers can be any age, however narrators must be 16 or under. There is also a place where students sixteen and older may have their stories become one of 50 stories entered into a monthly contest. (Visit the “Submit a Smory” link). There are five winners a month, with a monetary prize. If you're a writer (established or aspiring), send in a story! Be sure to get parent permission to publish stories.
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In the Classroom:
This would be a great way to have your older students study word choice! Start by going to the "Writing Fix For Kids" (reviewed here) and look at the left column index to find "Six Traits" click on "Word Choice." At this site you will find several recommendations for picture books and chapter books to use with your students so they can analyze good word choice. Read a few of these, and ask the students to point out the descriptive writing that stands out for them. Then use a wordless picture book and have your students write a short story for an 8 to 11 year old that doesn't rely on the illustrations. From there your students can write their own short story, and have an 8 to 11 year old student read it while being video taped. You might consider pairing up with a local elementary or middle school teacher to have one of their students do the reading.

For younger students, use your projector or interactive whiteboard and project the student reader full screen. It would be like having a visitor come to your classroom at story time!

UVic's Language Teaching Clipart Library - University of Victoria - Grades 0 to 12 - permalink -

The University of Victoria’s clip art library is a small collection of images meant to assist with basic language instruction and development. The graphics are useful for developing the vocabulary of speech/language students or ESL/ELL students. There is a keyword search option and a topic gallery that contains subjects such as food, animals, and clothing. One draw back is that the images are typically only 100 by 100 pixels. The library does allow for free download of its .GIF images but if users post clip art on a website they need to add an acknowledgement to the UVic Humanities Computing and Media Center and Half-Baked Software.
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In the Classroom:
Create non-verbal task cards or visual directions for assignments with graphics from this library collection. Download imagery from a variety of different categories and create an interactive whiteboard or projector sorting activity. Have students decide what images have in common and then sort them into groups. Use online graphic organizers from sites such as Webspiration reviewed here. to sort clip art. The images are also excellent to design language-teaching flashcards, game cards, illustrate songs, add to worksheets or include on class websites.

WeboWord-Vocabulary Visually! - Vineesh Kumar - Grades 6 to 12 - permalink -

WeboWord is a vocabulary site that will work well for visual learners. Each word has a cartoon-like image that helps explain the definition of the word. Each word also has a sentence using the word in context, the parts of speech, and the definition. At the end of each week you will find an interactive crossword puzzle. You can subscribe to WeboWord and have the daily vocabulary word sent to your e-mail. The visual representation of the words is what makes this site outstanding. There are advertisements in the right column, but at the time of this review they dealt with words and dictionaries.
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In the Classroom:
This would be a good way to start your classes. Project the word for the day, and allow the students enough time to write down the information. You may want to make it optional about copying the drawing. Have the students take the interactive puzzle at the end of the week as a review or a quiz. Once students are used to this format, you could have groups choose words for the week from their reading and have them make a poster, or post on a class vocabulary wiki or website, using the information for the word and have an illustration depicting the word, whether it's a free hand drawing or an image from a magazine or the internet. Through you, your students can also submit their work to WeboWord for approval and publication.

Lit Tunes - Corndancer - Grades 5 to 12 - permalink -

Wow! Wow! At this site you will find lesson plans that connect grammar, literature, and music. Use music to teach students about sentence structure, plot elements, basic grammar, literary terms, and much more. You'll also find a database of hundreds of contemporary and classical literature titles connected to contemporary music. Click on "Connection" on the left to find music for every major work you will ever want to teach.
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In the Classroom:
Use the list to find literature you can use in your classroom. You may want to choose short stories or poems and their music so students will get the idea of how music and literature can fit together. Then have students choose appropriate contemporary music for an independent reading novel presentation or report. Have students figure out how they would divide up the book into sections. Then select a piece of (school appropriate) music that they think captures the feel or tone of each section. They record the pieces and possibly do voice-overs explaining what is happening in the novel during the piece of music and why they felt this piece of music fits the section of the novel. As a choice, students could use "podOmatic" to create podcasts (reviewed here). Or have students create Voicethreads reviewed here. Be sure to PLAY the music out loud as the student is talking. If you want students to “mix” music with their own computer, check out Garage Band (Mac) or Audacity (free download) available on Mac or Windows. Looking for more ways to use these audio tools? Take a look at a webquest explaining how these programs work (reviewed here).

Pullfolio - pullfolio.com - Grades 8 to 12 - permalink -

Teachers First Edge Review: For slightly adventurous technology users. Create an online portfolio created from your flickr set of specific photos. Choose your photos by choosing a set or a specific tag. Pictures are displayed in an elegant and beautiful format. Since Pullfolio is not flash based, the ipod/iphone app is another plus. Pullfolio instantly updates as you update your flickr set or continue to use the tag. Use the free version or go pro to use your own domain and access additional features.
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In the Classroom:
Skills required: Users must be able to add pictures to a set on flickr or use a specific tag for particular pictures. Register for an account using a password. Be sure to choose your username carefully as it becomes part of the url of your portfolio. Follow the directions to identify your flickr account with Pullfolio.

Safety/security: An email address is required for registration of this tool. 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. Have students create their own pullfolio, but why not create a class pullfolio that showcases student work? If using as a class pullfolio, pictures will not be attributed to the individual students. Create some way of identifying pictures to various students. Require students to tag their pictures with their initials as well or create a comment with their initials in the picture's description.

Possible Uses: This tool would be a great asset to a photography or art class but can be used in any subject area. Create a pullfolio of 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. Speech and language on lower grades or ESL/ELL teachers could create pullfolios for vocabulary development, tagging them for positions, feelings, etc. Involve students in taking the pictures, then share the resulting pullfolios for them to practice their new words.

I Spot a Story - Limor Elkayam, President and CEO - Grades 5 to 12 - permalink -

See news stories from different angles to build creative flexibility, writing skills, current events knowledge, and more. "I Spot a Story" has the typical newspaper categories to choose from, but what makes this site different are the high interest stories, the link to the original story, different “takes” on the same story, and sometimes a video about the story. You don’t need an account to use this site, but if you have one, you can “add another angle”, which means adding the information for another article or video on the same topic.
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In the Classroom:
Assign small groups of students to a category. Have the students choose one of the stories to present, one day a week. Older students could do some background research about the article they are presenting. Students could then present their background research and article to the class using your interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students include interactive elements in their presentations. Challenge students to narrate a picture using a tool such as Voicethread reviewed here. Another idea: challenge groups to create an online book using a tool such as Bookemon, reviewed here. At the end of the the week, have the small groups rotate to another category. ESL/Ell teachers can use these stories for vocabulary development and language skills in the context of meaningful events.

Midomi - midomi.com - Grades 2 to 12 - permalink -

On this general music and music video site, students and teachers can find the name of a song they have forgotten by simply humming or singing into the computer mike. Note: when you click to sing or hum, you will get a message asking you to ALLOW or DENY permission for the web site to access your computer mike. IN some web browsers, the security settings may prohibit this. Test the tool on your computer to be sure it will work before assigning students to try it. It takes a little practice!
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In the Classroom:
Use this site for ear training. Play a reverse "Name that Tune" game to see how accurately the site finds songs. Try to find two songs with similar beginnings and see if the site can distinguish the two. Learn about other songs that have similar beginning melodies. ESL and ELL students can use this site and participate without knowing the English words for a song just by humming. Students can introduce their favorite songs this way.

Tagxedo - Hardy Leung - Grades 0 to 12 - permalink -

Teachers First Edge Review: For moderately adventurous technology users. Want a word Cloud with Style? Create one here! A word cloud is an image of words that show the most frequent word in a larger font than the others. Create a visual representation of a passage to pull out and identify important words or show the text in an interactive, visually appealing way. The resulting cloud pops out the words as you roll over them, so viewers can “see” each word separately. See a sample, created by the TF Edge review team. Explore the gallery for many inspiring examples, including some that use the customizable image shapes uploaded from your own computer (premium feature). Some features may change slightly after the beta phase, but developer Hardy Leung assures TeachersFirst users, "Even after beta you'll be able to save the animated version of the Tagxedo for free to your computer or to the web without the paid version. I may require a membership, though unlikely, but even then I'll make sure there is a free version for teachers and students."

Tagxedo requires Silverlight. The site will appear as a blank page with the "Install Silverlight Plugin" button if your computer does not have it installed. See your tech folks to allow download and installation of this plug-in if school computers do not have it and/or are "locked down."
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In the Classroom:
Skills required: NO membership required to create a cloud, though saving may require a (free) membership in the future, according to developer Hardy Leung. Click “Create” and then “Words.” Paste URL to “cloud” words from a web page or copy/paste (or type) a passage of words into the given field. (Repeat words to make them larger). Experiment with various settings and “themes” to create the different colors and shapes of the word cloud. Change the theme, shape, direction, layout, and other parameters easily. Click SAVE to easily download a static image of various sizes or take a screenshot using shortcut keys. Saved images do not have the cool “pop-out” feature (rats!), though the developer tells TeachersFirst that users will be able to download animated versions in the future. You can also save and obtain the direct URL to your animated cloud. Be sure to bookmark it or copy/paste the URL for safe keeping in a document, wiki, etc. During beta, the tool allows you to save and copy embed code, but this feature will cost money later.

Safety/Security: Use without registration or logins (for now). Save all works or URLS created immediately after creating! You can make your saved clouds visible to the public or not by choosing the “hide from gallery” option.

In the classroom: This is a terrific visual tool to share on an interactive whiteboard or projector. In primary grades. Enter a group of related words into the text box, such as sight words, words with the same spelling cluster, or vocabulary terms. Then have students roll over the words to read them aloud as they pop out (only works in the ONLINE version of the clouds). Paste in a passage or URL for a political speech to visualize the politician’s “message.” Analyze advertising propaganda by visualizing the language used in TV or print ads. Create word clouds of historical texts of inauguration speeches as time capsules of the issues of the day. Use this site as a way to help students see and memorize terms and important vocabulary, especially visual learners. Use it also when writing poetry or reading passages of great literature to “see” themes and motifs of repeated words and images. Have students paste in their own writing to spot repeated (and monotonous) language when teaching lessons on word choice. Students will be surprised to see what words appear to be dominant. ESL and ELL students will eagerly use this site since word order will no longer be a problem for them. Have students work in groups to create word posters of vocabulary words with related meanings, such as different ways to say “walk” or “said” and decorate your classroom with these visual reminders of the richness of language. Use themes and shapes that coordinate with the word cloud (for example, use a bird shape when creating a cloud about flight or a heart when interpreting a love poem. Consider using a word cloud as a first week of school activity where students discuss summer vacation or what they did over the summer. As a first day activity, students could also make a cloud with words about themselves, then have classmates guess which cloud matches which person.

For a free gift for special occasions, make word clouds about mom for Mother’s Day or Thanksgiving “I am thankful” visual poems. Share them by emailing the URL or in printed form.

Pikifriends - PikiPeople - Grades 6 to 12 - permalink -

TeachersFirst Edge entry: for moderately adventurous technology users. Set up blogging "pen pals," with "friends," and more in this safe social networking community of English-speaking students from around the world, ages 12-18. The community is a "walled garden" without public interaction. Created by a dedicated American ESL teacher working in Japan, Pikifriends has the teacher friendly tools to register students, help them learn safe blogging practices, and build English/writing skills as students interact in a safe "community." Although there are support materials (e.g. a complete curriculum, lesson plans, textbooks, and more) that have a cost, the online blogging tool is --and will remain-- free for students and teachers. The FAQ gives helpful background and details on how Pikifriends works. At the time of this review, the Student Guide was free by request. Pikifriends is designed by an experienced classroom teacher and includes many teacher-friendly features unique to free online tools. Kudos to an educator so responsive to classroom needs (and TeachersFirst review team questions!).
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In the Classroom:
Skills needed: The first person from a school to set up a Pikifriends account acts as the "school organizer" for that school, so you will want to work together with other teachers using Pikifriends. The organizer needs to be comfortable registering other teachers. Note that additional teacher registrations must be verified by PikiFriends email, so allow some time for this. Follow the steps in the "How to Sign Up" info on the home page to start a school account (FREE). You will also want to download and follow the Users Guide from the home page for basic info. Right now, registration involves contacting Pikifriends to provide school information, which they verify to establish your account.

Once you receive a log-in (allow 24 hours), use tools at the bottom of the screen to administer your school, add a grade, add classes, add students, and more. Those with teacher accounts manage only their own students. Our review team learned the hard way that editing class names, etc. requires clicking the little pencil once to say "edit" and AGAIN to make the changes "stick." Some terminology notes: The "Backstage" area is where members make changes to About Me, add posts (Pikifriends calls each post a "blog"), upload images, and more. "My stage" is the way others see your blogs and other info. Experiment with making a "blog" yourself and learn to use the proofreading tool, as well. The User Guide helps a lot.

Safety/security concerns: Because this is a school-friendly tool, there are few concerns. Check school policies regarding students posting work online and obtain parental permission if needed. You might want to share a simple parent letter explaining the safety of Pikifriends. Find an editable starter letter from TeachersFirst's Blogging Basics for the Classroom. Be sure to include Pikifriend's SAFE "friends" features in your letter, too, so parents do not balk.

Possible Uses: Pikifriends shares many ideas in a Wallwisher link on the site's footer. Find more blog ideas in TeachersFirst's Blogging Basics. Since this tool is specifically for an international community, you might want to ask cultural comparison questions as part of your world cultures class or exchange recipes in a Family and Consumer Science class. For thought-provoking discussions, have students blog about current events and how people feel about them, such as oil spills or international incidents. Teens will love the opportunity to express their opinions, and you can require supporting links or research, if it fits your curriculum. In science classes, have students compare climate data, information on local species, or energy and technology solutions from their communities. As you collaborate with other schools, you can easily conduct just-in-time mini-lessons on many Internet safety and good 'Netiquette' practices.

TeachersFirst's Study Skills Resources - TeachersFirst - Grades 3 to 12 - permalink -

This collection of reviewed resources from TeachersFirst is selected to help students learn their most effective study strategies. The collection includes specific study tools, reading strategies, review ideas, and notetaking methods that students and teachers can try as lessons in themselves or --even better-- as they go about the regular curriculum. Whether you want to use a graphic organizer, create your own electronic flash cards, or simply learn how to approach a test, there is a resource to help. Learning Support teachers and teachers of gifted will also want to share these alternate ways for students to organize and retain concepts, vocabulary, and more.
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In the Classroom:
Make learning how to learn part of your class routine at any grade level and in any subject. Feature one or more new study strategy each month and share this entire list as a link from your class web page for students and parents to access both in and out of school.

Go Animate - GoAnimate - Grades 9 to 12 - permalink -

Teacher's First Edge Review: for moderate to advanced technology users. Use Go Animate to create interesting and memorable cartoon type presentations. Students will have fun unleashing their imagination and delivering a message through creative animation. Flash is required. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.

Here is a very simple animation example:
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In the Classroom:
Skills needed: Create an account to login, but use the application right away (without waiting for an email confirmation). Video tutorials are available, and many functions are easy to figure out once you play with them. Choose from many templates or start with a blank screen. Create your cartoon using Saturday morning cartoon characters or a variety of other characters such as presidents, commercial characters, and many others. Add your images, such as faces or background pictures and customize additional characters, sounds, etc. Control length of sections, voices and sounds, and delete or add sections through the time line along the bottom. Save your creation easily and share to your favorite social or bookmark site; copy a link to share with others, or copy and paste the embed code into your wiki, blog, or website. Creations are saved in your account online and can be kept private or made public.

Safety/Security concerns: Use Go Animate as creators have recognized its broad use in education and have created this education portal separate from the non-K12 world. Caution: check student creations during the process. Students will need an email address to create an account. Check your school policies about accessing/sharing student email on school computers. 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. Also check your district's policies on displaying and sharing student work. CAUTION! This site includes the ability for the general public to submit their own animations. Be sure to preview for content inappropriate for your classroom. You may want to limit use to whole-class activities or prohibit accessing the public portion of the site. The home page has loud music and links to many “public” animation projects, so firm policies and/or practices to avoid "exploring" these are vital.

Possible uses: Students can sum up debate ideas using animated characters or present simple concepts from researched material to introduce to the class. Students can tell book report stories, create fictitious stories or present ideas in a fun format. Challenge students to use this site to tell the history of political figures, historical figures, or historical areas. Use this site to teach about chemical properties, scientific figures or discoveries, or great moments in Science through animation. In language arts class, you can use this tool to apply concepts of narrative patterns or characterization. Teachers of gifted may want to assign students to create an entire animated series. ESL/ELL or world language students could create animations to practice their new vocabulary. Why not have students create a comic strip about their mom or dad for Mother's or Father's Day or honoring someone else special in their lives - - even the school custodian, nurse, or secretary!

Sentence Scrambler - altastic.com - Grades 1 to 10 - permalink -

This sentence scrambler allows teachers to type or paste in as many sentences as they would like and scrambles the words at random. Any punctuation typed in remains attached to the word it is next to. Students can then try to unscramble the sentences. Options include putting slashes or dashes between words to make them easier to distinguish. After typing/pasting the desired number of sentences, teachers should check the box marked "Add Numbers" in order to have the sentences separated and numbered. Sentences in Spanish can also be scrambled. Rearranging the words is not part of the interactive activity.
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In the Classroom:
ESL and ELL students will find this activity useful for practicing correct English word order. Primary teachers can also use it to teach basic sight words, sequencing, and inferencing skills with short sentences. After typing/pasting in the sentences, copy the scrambled word box on an interactive whiteboard or projector and have students write or type the paragraph in the correct order.

Triptico: e-learning Design and Training - Triptico - Grades 0 to 12 - permalink -

The tools in this site can be used to create a wide variety of customized interactive activities. Each game is shown as an image; so it is easy get an idea of what the resource looks like at a glance. Find explanations of the function and possible uses of each game type as you click on the sample picture. Some activities include: word matching, drag and drop connections (Link Up),various types of spinners where you set the options available, and many more. On the menu bar at the top of the home page there is an option that narrows the choices of tools by category. These games would be great to help students study and what kind of methods work for them.
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In the Classroom:
Use these ready-made timers and other “utility” items as part of almost any lesson. The activities you and your students create using these tools can be used with a projector and an interactive whiteboard or adapted for a computer lab or small group activities. For example: The Interactive Graph tool can be used to discuss a story that students have read. Set each axis as a topic that compares and contrasts elements of the story. Then have students contribute and place ideas on the graph and give reasons for their idea and placement. This can be done as a class activity or students can do this in groups and then share the graph with the entire class. Have students create review or practice activities for their peers or themselves. Many of the tools are created using list of words, numbers, and phrases. Type and save the lists ahead of time, then copy and paste the list as needed. This saves time and allows lists to be used again. On the menu bar at the top of the home page there is an option that narrows the choices of tools by category. ESL and ELL teachers will find many of the tools useful for creating lessons from simple vocabulary to more complex ideas. Early readers can make or practice with these activities. Share the link on your class web page for students and parents to make their own review games at home, as well.

StoryCorps - Dave Isay - Grades 4 to 12 - permalink -

StoryCorps is a nonprofit site where Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs can record, share, and preserve the stories of their lives. It is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind. At the site you can download a “Do it Yourself Guide”, find resources for teachers, and a list of great questions. You can subscribe to their podcast, e-newsletter, and blog, or you can upload your own story or that of a loved one or friend for free. Each conversation is recorded on a free CD to share, and is preserved at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
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In the Classroom:
Grandparent's day is in September. What better gift to a grandparent than to be able to spend time with their grandchild and tell them a story about an important time in their lives? Of course, you’ll want to prepare students with some interviewing skills and questions before they interview their grandparents, and show them how to record the interview with some type of recorder (tape recorder, cell phone, video camera, etc). This recording can then be submitted to StoryCorps and it will then reside at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

Students can also interview parents about their first memories of school, and what they remember about the grade that the student is currently in. Share these interviews during the first week or month of the school year. Not only can these interviews be submitted to StoryCorp, but students could then do a write up of their interviews and publish them in a classroom book of memories. Have students create online books to share with the class about their interview. Use a tool such as Bookemon, reviewed here. Or have students narrate a photo of the person they interviewed using a site such as Voicethread reviewed here.

TeachersFirst's Editors' Choices for Poetry Month - TeachersFirst - Grades 0 to 12 - permalink -

This collection of reviewed resources from TeachersFirst is selected by our editors from the hundreds of reviewed poetry resources and creative tools listed on TeachersFirst. Now April can be Poetry Month in any classroom. Even if you teach science or math, there is a place for poetry in your curriculum. Poetry is as brief and economical as a number sentence, but with feelings or messages between the words. Why not throw some poetry lines amid your chemical or algebraic equations to connect with verbal/linguistic learners and spark a new way of seeing any subject? Take time to plan a “poetry break” using these ideas from the TeachersFirst Editors.
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In the Classroom:
Make Poetry Month a participatory experience. Have students compose a limerick explaining a science term or historic figure. Have students collect a list of words from your current unit. Then offer extra credit for a poetic interpretation to be shared as a daily "poetry break" during April. Use one of the tools featured here to share poetic visions of biology, geometry, and more during April. Cover a classroom wall with white paper for "curriculum poetry" during April. Encourage students to share poetry graffiti (classroom appropriate, of course). For more poetic ideas check out the "In the classroom" suggestions included in each review.

Stories Behind the Songs; Introduction - Jonathan Chase - Grades 8 to 12 - permalink -

This site is part of the Musicians United for Songs in the Classroom, (M.U.S.I.C.), nonprofit website that promotes the educational use of songs by teachers in all subject areas. Here, the use and study of songs extends beyond traditional general music classrooms. Lyrics are a timeless expression of the human experience that captures the history that shapes our people and culture. The creative process of analyzing and interpreting song lyrics helps students to develop critical thinking and media literacy skills. In each song entry you will find information including artists' commentary, discussion of corresponding songs, referenced and related works for study and comparison, music and lyric resources, and samples of classroom activities. Song lyrics are a powerful teaching tool that engage, excite and motivate young people. Some songs only include lyrics, while others include video an/or audio. All students can learn, but first you must get their attention. This resource is music to their ears.
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In the Classroom:
Many students' favorite past time, when not texting or social networking, is listening to their iPods. Why not use that venue to hook them into understanding the 'music of poetry?" Stories Behind the Songs; Introduction includes the music, lyrics, song-based lessons, projects, and activities for many popular songs and ballads that express universal themes of poverty, hunger, discrimination, and hope. Students listen to the music and examine the origins and inspiration for contemporary lyrics. Popular songs can be used in a classroom setting to facilitate meaningful discussions on a particular theme or topic. Songs also create an emotional hook and may be used as a springboard to introduce poetry, literature, and historic documents. Students enter the Song Guide by clicking on the song's title to enjoy the full authentic cultural experience the music and lyrics offer. Follow up with asking students to write poems or short essays describing their feelings and impressions of the lyrics, or have them create new poetic verses and images to accompany the music. Challenge students to narrate an image using a tool such as Voicethread reviewed here.

You Can Teach Writing - Linda Aragoni - Grades 7 to 12 - permalink -

Here you will find writing advice for different genres, prompts, advice for teaching thesis statements and so much more; all presented with humor and a very strong voice. Are you a new teacher? Is your school pushing "writing across the curriculum"? Are you an English or writing teacher who just wants verification and some new ideas or prompts? If you answered yes to any of these you must visit Linda Aragoni's You Can Teach Writing site! Linda is a teacher, editor, and professional writer whose writing site started out as a book. Linda puts out a monthly newsletter with all sorts ideas you can use in the classroom. The last one had a link for a slide show about how new words are made and suggestions for how to use the slide show in the classroom.
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In the Classroom:
This site is primarily for teacher use, but you will find yourself using what you learn here in your classroom, weekly, if not daily. This is definitely a site to save in your favorites. There are many ideas here.

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