TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Apr 1, 2012
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
Smore - Shlomi Atar and Gilad Avidan
Grades
2 to 12
5 Favorites
0 Comments
Make beautiful online "multimedia" newsletters (flyers) to display on your smartphone, tablet or computer using Smore. You can arrange your content easily with Smores' drag and drop...more
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Make beautiful online "multimedia" newsletters (flyers) to display on your smartphone, tablet or computer using Smore. You can arrange your content easily with Smores' drag and drop editing. Add ready-made graphics, images from files on your computer, or images from the web. Quickly embed text, videos, and tweets, too. Choose from several attractive themes. Share your creations via email, URL, Facebook, X (formerlyTwitter), or print it to hand out or hang on a bulletin board. Check to see who has read your newsletter and who hasn't. The free account plan offers three total newsletter credits, 500 contact credits, and 200 email credits.
tag(s): design (81), infographics (56), multimedia (47), posters (43)
In the Classroom
Show students how to embed media into a Smore newsletter to create their own "infographics" transforming and displaying what they have learned from a unit of study. Use your interactive whiteboard and projector to allow student groups to present a flyer about a book they've read, news article, etc. Have them create campaign posters for fictitious candidates as you study about the election process. Smore allows you to preview as you work or return later to complete and publish your flyers. Add ready-made graphics, images from files on your computer or on the web. Offer Smore as one of the project options for your gifted students doing projects beyond the regular curriculum, especially those who are visual/artistic. Since this tool requires membership, you may want to use a teacher account for younger gifted students and be sure to get written parent permission!Allow students to create flyers for upcoming events such as Earth Day, Grandparents Day, Father's Day, Mother's Day, birthdays and anniversaries. Make holiday greetings to share.
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)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be shared by URL
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World Memory Project - U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and Ancestry.com
Grades
8 to 12
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See firsthand documents that paint the grim picture of the lives and deaths of the millions of Holocaust victims. The project which culminated in this site digitized thousands and thousands...more
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See firsthand documents that paint the grim picture of the lives and deaths of the millions of Holocaust victims. The project which culminated in this site digitized thousands and thousands of papers, photos and other memorabilia of the Holocaust and made them available online for free. In some cases, the documents are not available, but references to the articles are. Families of survivors, student researchers, and professional writers can use the historical documents available here. Easy to use search tools explain the process clearly.
tag(s): family (50), germany (26), hitler (6), holocaust (42), jews (30), world war 2 (160)
In the Classroom
Challenge your students and transform their learning using a site such as Timeline JS, reviewed here, to create an interactive timeline of individual families' involvements in the Holocaust or of the days of the Holocaust itself. Have interested students create a family tree using documents from this site.Timeline JS offers the option to upload and add photos, videos, audio, Tweets, and Google Maps making it interactive. Make World War II history more real with these actual accounts.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Learn English Kids - British Council
Grades
K to 8
5 Favorites
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This kids' branch of Learn English (created in the UK) contains interactives, short stories, crafts, songs, and even an opportunity for students to help their younger brothers and sisters...more
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This kids' branch of Learn English (created in the UK) contains interactives, short stories, crafts, songs, and even an opportunity for students to help their younger brothers and sisters learn English. A free log-in allows you access to printed versions of the stories (with questions), the ability to make comments, enter competitions, answer polls, and even create a "character." Another log in for teachers and parents opens up suggestions for teaching and using the resources of the site. Professionals can also find video tips and access to helpful articles. Access to the site is available in other languages such as Chinese and French, all aimed at teaching English. A text help feature using "BrowseAloud" opens up the English learning to students with vision or reading challenges. Note that vocabulary used is British, so you may need to explain a few words to US or Canadian students, e.g. "rubbish bin."
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): interactive stories (21), preK (266), songs (44), vocabulary development (92)
In the Classroom
Primary grade and preK teachers will find many useful interactives for basic skills like colors and phonics on this site, even though it is intended for learning English. Share the activities as a center or for extra practice for struggling students. Check with your administration about whether students can register individually for the site. Introduce this site to your class on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Make a shortcut to this site on classroom computers and have your ELL/ENL students use it as one of your learning stations. Teachers can print flashcards for survival English vocabulary such as clothes, food, parts of the body, jobs etc.; accompanying activities provide reinforcement for vocabulary. Learn English Kids changes weekly, offering weekly activities, opinion polls, learning through songs, playground fun, and more. The read-aloud stories are a wonderful option for beginning readers and even non-readers. Speech/language clinicians will join ESL and primary teachers in using the many activities on this site. It even has sorting activities such as fruits/vegetables (see "Food"). Although the interface is graphically appealing, by clicking on "Topics," you can find activities, songs, and games all organized by subject. There is also a large section for parents to help their child at home. Short stories and other interactive features of the site would work well with special education students, too. Be sure to share this link with parents of your ELL students if they have Internet access at home.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Re-Living the Wright Way - Tom Benson - NASA
Grades
3 to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
This site provides information and resources about the Wright Brothers, their flights, and the science behind their work. The site was created to celebrate the centennial anniversary...more
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This site provides information and resources about the Wright Brothers, their flights, and the science behind their work. The site was created to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the Wright Brothers historic flight. Although the site may appear simple in design, scroll down the page - it has many nooks and crannies to explore.
tag(s): aviation (41), flight (34), gravity (42), inventors and inventions (77), motion (50), newton (21), scientists (63), wright brothers (16)
In the Classroom
This site provides teachers with resources on the topics of Newton's Laws of Motion, The Four Forces of Flight, Lift, Drag, Thrust, Weight, Center of Gravity, Roll, and Pitch. View the videos using an interactive whiteboard or projector. Download the simulations to your classroom computers and have students work in groups to solve them. Have students work cooperatively to complete one of the many activities found on the site like building a model airplane. Students can then conduct an investigation to see whose plane can fly the farthest.
This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.
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