TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Oct 13, 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
Ocearch - Ocearch
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): animals (285), marine biology (25), oceans (149)
In the Classroom
This site has information useful from elementary grades up, but you will need to partner weaker readers with stronger ones in middle grades or use the site as a whole class exploration for the informational text portions in elementary. The videos are great for all ages. When discussing ecosystems, be sure to mention sharks as a vital keystone species of the marine ecosystem. They are also an example of predator/prey balances, keeping the ocean ecosystem balanced as the top predator. Use clips of sharks in movies to discuss how sharks are portrayed and then use research to highlight how many human deaths are actually attributed to sharks vs. the number of sharks killed each year. Enhance learning by developing a food web of ocean ecosystems using Diagramo, reviewed here, or ChartGizmo, reviewed here. Research how other animals are tagged to learn more about their lives and how tagging sharks are different. Be sure to use the Tracking Activity drop down in the Global Shark Tracker to see the paths that the sharks have taken during the period of time you specify (one week or more has better data). Identify other animals in different ecosystems that carry a similar negative stigma and create a discussion around why they have that stigma.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald? - PBS - Frontline
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): kennedy (20), presidents (131)
In the Classroom
Students are often fascinated by conspiracy theories, and the mystery of whether Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone or was part of a larger plot to kill the President represents one of US history's most enduring. Certainly the site will be useful in a discussion of the event itself. However, it can be used more generally as a springboard for discussion of conspiracy theories themselves. See the lesson ideas in the Teachers Guide section. What evidence do we require to decide if something is true or not? Who can be trusted to tell the story of an emotional event? Is "seeing" always "believing"? How can resolve the fact that eyewitnesses do not all have the same recollection of the event? Have your gifted and highly able students do a special project investigating conspiracy theories in history and sharing them as a role play or video for the rest of the class.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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50th Anniversary of JFK Assassination - Associated Press
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): kennedy (20), presidents (131)
In the Classroom
This site represents a good "quick access" point for photos related to the JFK assassination. Use them to illustrate a discussion of the event, or consider asking students to analyze the perspective presented in the photos. What is the photo communicating? How have these photos influenced the way we remember this important event? Students might be asked to compare the photographic "evidence" that was part of the investigation of this crime with the resources that are available today when a similar incident occurs. For example, how is this documentation different from that which was used to identify the Boston Marathon bombing suspects? In English class, use the photos as prompts for students to write informational texts about the Kennedy Assassination in journalistic or historic styles. Since there is such fascination with the Kennedy assassination, you could use this as a chance to discuss purpose and audience, writing to spin the same information several ways.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Huzzaz - Huzzaz.com
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Create a classroom account and have students add videos for use with any classroom topic. Teach students to use tags you have approved so everyone can find the videos easily. Create and share video libraries for review and enrichment resources or to "flip" your classroom. Build a professional video library for sharing with colleagues during professional development sessions. Use embed codes for major blogging platforms to embed video collections directly into your blog or website. Embed codes also work well on a wiki, so you could embed a certain tag collection for students to review or learn.Edge Features:
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)
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
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Beyond The Bubble - Stanford History Education Group
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): 1920s (15), assessment (148), civil rights (200), civil war (136), cold war (31), colonial america (94), immigrants (33), immigration (66), racism (79), rubrics (35), slavery (78), thanksgiving (22), war of 1812 (15), womens suffrage (46)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this excellent site as a resource for Common Core social studies literacy assessments. Many of these activities (and videos) are ideal for your interactive whiteboard or projector. Share the interactive rubric BEFORE the lesson, so students are aware of exactly what is expected. Use activities and materials provided on the site to teach lessons in character education, bias, and racism. Create your own similiar activities. Explore this site during professional development sessions for ideas for rubrics and lesson planning. Click on tags for "same assessment type" to find additional assessments not in the main list.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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