Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

The Official website of Amelia Earhart is an informational website intended to honor the life, the legend, and the career of Amelia Earhart. The most extensive part of the site is the "Biography." Other portions contain her achievements, quotes, and photos. An interesting portion of the site is the News section which has links to recent stories and news articles about Amelia Earhart. Scroll down the "Home" page to preview the movie Amelia, you may want to share this with your class - or not. Preview beforehand.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): aviation (41), careers (140), famous people (19), flight (34), women (145)

This site offers a wonderful list of X (formerly known as Twitter) feeds to consider if you are just starting out or if you are adding to your feed related to history. The list is categorized by General, Media, Eductors and Students, Departments and Publications, Military, Historical Tweets, and includes the X (Twitter) name with a link and a short description. Feeds include the Library of Congress, quotes and sayings from Thomas Jefferson, and HistoryDay (see what happened on this day in history), and many more.

tag(s): congress (39), history day (39), social media (53), social networking (64), twitter (18)

This site has embedded videos from over 1600 documentaries located all over the internet. These videos are not necessarily "short" clips. Some are longer than 15 minutes. Search the videos via several methods: browse the library, most popular, recent videos, or by categories. The categories vary greatly and include the bullying of those with disabilities, 9/11, aftermath of the Japan Tsunami, import and export of oil, and countless other topics. Each video comes with a short explanation and ratings (out of 10 stars). Viewers can also leave their own rating. Many include suggestions for related videos. Be aware: some of topics may not be suitable for the classroom. Please preview before (or IF) you choose to allow students to peruse on their own. You may want to share only specific videos with the class. It has been noted that this website opens rather slowly at the busy times of the day. But it is WELL worth the wait. Note that videos are recommended for inclusion by the video creators, so there could be very strong bias in documentary presentations. What better way to challenge students to stop and ask, "What is the source of this information and can I trust it fully?"
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): archeology (26), biographies (95), bullying (48), disabilities (29), psychology (66), senses (20), sexuality (15), tsunamis (15)

Use JotForm to quickly build a professional online form. Build contact forms, surveys, and many other forms in a matter of minutes. Customize to meet your needs. Use the large, empty canvas by dragging and dropping elements. Generate and post your form online and receive an email for every survey response.

tag(s): polls and surveys (48)

This site contains 38 weeks of Geometry lessons provided in several formats to be easily used with interactive whiteboards. Dan Meyer is well known for his mathematics teaching methods and much of the material is hands-on, problem-based activities appropriate for any classroom. Lessons are in slide format and can be downloaded in Keynote (Mac) or PowerPoint (Windows). In addition, each week's lessons can be downloaded as a PDF. Each lesson contains slide notes for the teacher and weekly handouts are available for use. Textbook assignments reference Discovering Geometry; however, these materials can be used with any textbook or materials. Each week's lessons are also tagged making it easy to find other similar content within the site.

tag(s): angles (51), functions (51), geometric shapes (135), patterns (62), problem solving (224), test prep (69), tutorials (53)

Don't let the title mislead you! Find listening and reading activities for any listener who enjoys audio stories at a teen and adult level, including the advanced English language learner. There are short stories, books, radio scripts, and songs to listen to and read, as well as English idioms, sayings, and slang. You'll also find a Reading Comprehension and Test Preparation area with interactive activities to help students read and understand English and prepare for reading exams. Unlike many audio book sites, this one includes recent and popular selections for almost anyone, including teachers and parents! Don't miss classic radio shows perfect for discovering life in 20th century decades past.

tag(s): listening (94), radio (20), reading comprehension (149), short stories (18), test prep (69)

Looking for review materials for a variety of classes? Use for a wide range of curriculum topics. (A "learning object" is any kind of interactive activity, animation, video, audio file, etc, that can be used for learning.) This site is great for introductory, reinforcement, or review materials. Find most of the relevant topics by using the search bar. Choose from many subjects such as biology, biochemistry, chemistry, math, sociology, world languages, and written communication, among others. Gifted students or those who learn well independently can study Chinese and other topics not easily available in their school using WISC-Onkine.

tag(s): animals (293), business (51), cells (83), chinese (44), grammar (133), grammar review (31), life cycles (21), microscopes (10), plants (148), psychology (66), sentences (22), sociology (24), speech (68)

Create definition lists easily and completely. Simply enter the terms, and click "generate" to create a list of words with definitions. View synonyms, download as a document, or email your list to others. Be aware: there are no filters on this definition site, so ANY word (appropriate or not) can easily be searched by students. Use under teacher supervision with students likely to enter inappropriate terms for immature reactions.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): dictionaries (48), synonyms (15), vocabulary (239), vocabulary development (92), word study (60)