TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Jun 2, 2013
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
All Things Science - All Things Science
Grades
6 to 12
4 Favorites
0 Comments
All Things Science is an aggregator of short, top quality science videos for educational use. Search for specific content topics using the search bar. Browse through featured, most...more
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All Things Science is an aggregator of short, top quality science videos for educational use. Search for specific content topics using the search bar. Browse through featured, most viewed, or all videos. Interested in seeing how a germ travels with a sneeze and makes you sick with a virus? There is a detailed video on that topic and SO much more. Read short descriptions of videos before viewing. Share using social media links provided, with a direct url, or with the embed code directly onto your website. Free registration on All Things Science allows you to save videos to favorites, add comments, and upload video. Note that videos can be submitted by members, so it is advisable to preview before sharing with young people.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): animals (289), cells (83), climate (83), climate change (93), genetics (81), human body (94), medicine (56), scientific method (48), scientists (63), solar energy (34), solar system (109), space (217), video (263), weather (161)
In the Classroom
Save this site to use as a resource throughout the year with any science topic. Embed videos onto your classroom website for viewing at home or independently during class. (Embedding avoids displaying other areas of the site.) Have students create online posters after they learn about the topic individually or together as a class using a tool such as Web Poster Wizard, reviewed here, or PicLits, reviewed here. Extend learning by challenging cooperative learning groups to create similar videos about science topics being discussed in class using FlexClip, reviewed here. FlexClip is designed to allow you to create short animated or explainer videos to share on YouTube and other social media sites. Share the videos on a site such as TeacherTube reviewed here or on All Things Science, if permitted by school policies.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Forecast - Dark Sky Company
Grades
6 to 12
2 Favorites
0 Comments
Use this tool to find current weather for any location. The site senses your current location, or you can enter one. Find out your seven day forecast. But there is ...more
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Use this tool to find current weather for any location. The site senses your current location, or you can enter one. Find out your seven day forecast. But there is more: go back in time to explore weather for any location on any previous date. Explore what the temperature was the day you were born, the first day of school this year, or any other time. Dates go back as far as 1945. View current temperatures and forecast by adding a location to the search bar or choose the time machine to go back in time to view weather at that location for any date. View the hourly temperature along with wind speed, humidity, and visibility. Choose either Fahrenheit or Celsius displays.
tag(s): weather (161)
In the Classroom
Use Forecast as an interesting addition to any history lesson. Choose the location and date that you are studying to find what the actual weather was at that time. Dates go back as far as 1945. Have students debate the impact of weather on historical events. What was the temperature in Dallas on the day JFK was assassinated? The possibilities are endless! Have students compare temperatures from different years during your weather unit, then create an online graph using ChartGizmo, reviewed here. Have students research climate change questions using actual data from this site.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Preschool and Kindergarten Games - Sheppard Software
Grades
K to 2
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Choose from many preschool and kindergarten interactives to develop and reinforce basic academic skills. This highly colorful site includes: animals, alphabet, numbers, colors, and...more
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Choose from many preschool and kindergarten interactives to develop and reinforce basic academic skills. This highly colorful site includes: animals, alphabet, numbers, colors, and shapes. Most activities are very simple. Simply roll the mouse over objects to hear the object name and color, or click on arrows to view flashcards. Play alphabet activities to learn letters. Test your skills with a quick quiz. Choose from an extensive array of activities in the animal portion of the site sorted into categories of look, create, play, learn, find, and count.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): alphabet (52), animals (289), colors (63), geometric shapes (135), numbers (119), preK (263)
In the Classroom
Demonstrate games on your interactive whiteboard or projector before students play on their own. Demonstrate how to choose games while avoiding advertising on the site. Bookmark specific games or activities on classroom computers for students to explore and discover during center time. Be sure to share this site with parents for fun learning at home! List this site on your class website or in your class newsletter.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Dinosphere at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis - The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
Grades
K to 8
0 Favorites
0 Comments
Journey back 65 million years to discover and learn all about dinosaurs and their time on earth. Choose a section to explore from links provided: Dinos A to Z, Giants ...more
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Journey back 65 million years to discover and learn all about dinosaurs and their time on earth. Choose a section to explore from links provided: Dinos A to Z, Giants of the Jurrasic, Dino Comic and others. Above these categories click Educators in the upper right corner where you'll find lessons for grades K-8 and In-depth Units of Study, not only about dinosaurs, but Pirates, the Circus, Greece, The Health House, Dinosphere (in different grade ranges), Native Americans and the Natural World, Anne Frank, and many others. Be sure to check out the Blog. There is a menu on the left with many topics including dinosaurs.
In the Classroom
Have students create their own dino using the Build a Dino activity. Challenge students to draw and describe their dinosaur with an explanation of how and why different body parts were chosen. Use this as a descriptive writing piece. Create a class book of Dinosaur Creations! Choose from the webquests offered on the site for your class. Use webquests not only to learn about dinosaurs but also to sharpen research and debate skills. Extend learning by having students use a tool such as Zeemaps, reviewed here, to record where dinosaur fossils have been found. This site allows students to create audio recordings AND choose a location (on a map) where the story takes place.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Quandary - Learning Games Network
Grades
3 to 9
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Quandary is an online simulation in ethical decision-making while building a new colony on the planet Braxos. Face decisions without right or wrong answers but that have implications...more
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Quandary is an online simulation in ethical decision-making while building a new colony on the planet Braxos. Face decisions without right or wrong answers but that have implications on you and others in the colony. This activity was created for students ages 8-14. Login is optional to save scores or track and assess student performance or you can play as a guest. The game includes three different episodes with each containing different scenarios for decision-making. View information on the game, extension questions and more within the teachers and parents portions of the site. Find lesson plans, standards mapping (matched to Common Core ELA standards), and printable materials within the teachers section for classroom use. Don't miss the introduction videos explaining the site!
tag(s): creativity (91), critical thinking (118), ethics (21), game based learning (182), social and emotional learning (96)
In the Classroom
Try this activity on your interactive whiteboard (or projector). Create a quick poll (with no membership required) using Poll Everywhere, reviewed here, to view students' choices of actions to take throughout the game. Challenge cooperative learning groups to create videos using Adobe Creative Cloud Express Video Maker, reviewed here, explaining what they learned and sharing them on a site such as TeacherTube, reviewed here, to explain the decision-making process for different scenarios.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Spific - The Finding Engine - Spific.com
Grades
6 to 12
0 Favorites
0 Comments
Spific is search engine designed to narrow down searches by the use of filters (they call them "refinements"). Although it is powered by Google's search algoithm, it is not affiliated...more
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Spific is search engine designed to narrow down searches by the use of filters (they call them "refinements"). Although it is powered by Google's search algoithm, it is not affiliated or endorsed by Google. Enter your search term as usual. Choose where you want results to come from among several categories. Categories include news and newspapers, Internet directories, dictionaries, videos, movies, and much more. Refine results even further by choosing specific newspapers or websites within results. A date range narrows news results.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): search engines (49)
In the Classroom
Use Spific to find online newspaper content quickly and easily or compare definitions from different sources. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram (reviewed here) to compare information from two different sites. Provide a link for students to use this site to make searching easier when working on book reports, research projects, or presentations. Demonstrate how to use the search on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) and point out how to narrow down results using links to individual sites. This site would be ideal to include in a search engine comparison for information literacy/fluency lessons.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium - Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium
Grades
K to 12
4 Favorites
0 Comments
Smarter Balanced Consortium provides resources and practice assessments geared toward Common Core standards in English language arts/literacy and Mathematics. Choose the Smarter Balanced...more
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Smarter Balanced Consortium provides resources and practice assessments geared toward Common Core standards in English language arts/literacy and Mathematics. Choose the Smarter Balanced Assessments link to view an overview of practice assessments, suggestions for use of the assessments, and discussion of items and task types. Find PDF's including Common Core standards and introductions to the standards under the K-12 Education/Teacher tab. The site is continually developing and working toward the 2014-2015 first school year implementation of the new assessments. Stay connected and informed of new resources by signing up for their email newsletter.
tag(s): commoncore (75), test prep (69)
In the Classroom
Find Common Core resources to use in your classroom and share within your building or district. Explore and view sample test items to use as models for building your own questions aligned to Common Core standards. Display sample test items on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) to solve and discuss together as a class. Challenge students to create their own similar questions for the class to try.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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History and Politics Out Loud - WyzAnt Tutoring
Grades
6 to 12
8 Favorites
0 Comments
Listen to famous speeches by influential leaders of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Choose from the list of leaders including Winston Churchill, Richard Nixon, and Martin...more
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Listen to famous speeches by influential leaders of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Choose from the list of leaders including Winston Churchill, Richard Nixon, and Martin Luther King, Jr, and many others. View a short biography and background along with links to a famous speech (or speeches) given by that person. Some speeches are audio only, others are YouTube videos. If your district blocks YouTube, videos may not be viewable.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): churchill (8), declaration of independence (15), inauguration (6), kennedy (20), martin luther king (45), persuasive writing (58), presidents (133), roosevelt (15)
In the Classroom
Share speeches from this site on your class webpage or blog for students to view at home. Share them with your class using your projector or interactive whiteboard. Have students use Fakebook, reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about a president, famous scientist, or nearly any other real or fictitious person after viewing and listening to speeches on this site. Use the text of speeches to create a word cloud; try WordClouds, reviewed here, to analyze a leader's priorities and emphasis. Use these examples as students prepare their own persuasive (or propaganda) speeches in English or civics classes. Teachers or ENL students can offer speeches with accompanying texts to help build vocabulary and listening skills.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Piazza - Pooja Sankar
Grades
9 to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Piazza is a free service to create collaborative message boards for use in classrooms. Track student use, add multiple instructors and or teaching assistants in each course, and collaborate...more
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Piazza is a free service to create collaborative message boards for use in classrooms. Track student use, add multiple instructors and or teaching assistants in each course, and collaborate on editing messages using Piazza's features. Piazza allows you to collaborate on responses to create one cohesive response instead of several similar individual responses. Create tags to label information such as quiz 1, semester review, or grading rubrics. Choose the statistics icon to view class participation, activity peaks, and question response times. Choose Try a Demo to explore features included with Piazza in their virtual sandbox. This tool seems to be aimed at college/university level classes but can be used with students over age 13 if you are adhering to your school's policies.
tag(s): chat (41), questioning (35), Teacher Utilities (159)
In the Classroom
Consider using Piazza as a resource in your classroom to increase student interaction with materials and each other. Library/media specialists could use this tool for online book clubs. Teach on a team? Collaborate with other teachers for assignments and more using this site. Create quick questions or even a short quiz using Piazza. You can also use this tool in your graduate courses!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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