TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Jun 1, 2014

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

 

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Brainly - Michal Borkowski

Grades
7 to 12
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Brainly is social networking site for homework help. Use this tool on ANY device! Created for students of all ages, Brainly allows you to post questions and also respond to ...more
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Brainly is social networking site for homework help. Use this tool on ANY device! Created for students of all ages, Brainly allows you to post questions and also respond to other questions. The site's point system encourages you to return and participate within the network. Use the "Ask a question" box to post any homework question. Choose a subject and type the question. View questions others ask by browsing latest questions or within subject categories. View questions and responses without creating an account. However, an account is required to post questions. Registration requires an email address or Facebook account. Although Brainly states that it is a homework help site for all ages, registration requires that users be 13 years or older.

tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (147), homework (32), social networking (64)

In the Classroom

Share Brainly as an online homework help resource with your students. If you aren't comfortable with students receiving too much homework help, ask students to let you know when this resource has been used and have them provide feedback with what was learned. This is also an excellent opportunity to talk about reliability of your information source and rechecking to be sure an answer is correct. If they see the responses as "hints" more than trustworthy answers, they will learn well. Often students learn best from each other. Encourage your students to provide answers for other students through Brainly. Offer bonus points for debunking any Incorrect answer they find at Brainly and submitting it to you! List this resource on your class website or wiki. You may have to explain to parents that this resource is allowed, as long as students realize that any answers they receive should be rechecked.

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The Places We Live - Jonas Bendikson

Grades
6 to 12
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Visit four of the world's poorest slums through this powerful collection of stories, images, and sounds. Following the introduction, choose a city: Caracas, Venezuela, Nairobi, Kenya,...more
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Visit four of the world's poorest slums through this powerful collection of stories, images, and sounds. Following the introduction, choose a city: Caracas, Venezuela, Nairobi, Kenya, Jakarta, Indonesia, or Mumbai, India. Hear each family's story by choosing from images at the top of each page or view the slideshow including images, audio, and facts about the region.

tag(s): africa (142), cross cultural understanding (165), india (25)

In the Classroom

Be sure to include The Places We Live with any unit on poverty around the world or in a general world cultures class. Share this site on your class web page for students to access both in and outside of class for further exploration. Have students create a simple infographic sharing their findings using Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here. Have students create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from this site using a tool such as WordItOut, reviewed here. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to compare life in your area to the life of teens shown here. Share the images, with no sound, as writing prompts for students to imagine themselves in the slums. What would their lives be like? What would be the same or different? What could they do to help their family to get out of those living conditions? Is there anything anyone can do to help?

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Spell Up - Google Chrome

Grades
3 to 12
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Practice spelling a new way with Spell Up. This activity requires the Chrome browser. Allow your computer's microphone to connect to the website to begin. Choose from beginner, intermediate,...more
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Practice spelling a new way with Spell Up. This activity requires the Chrome browser. Allow your computer's microphone to connect to the website to begin. Choose from beginner, intermediate, or expert level to play. After hearing the word to spell, say a letter and wait for it to appear and continue on until the word is completely spelled (wait to speak when you see the orange dot). Correctly spelled words become part of a tower of words. Incorrect words fall off the screen with the opportunity to try again. Options within the game include a dictionary to hear the definition of words, a keyboard to hear letter pronunciations, and a translator to translate words into many different languages.

tag(s): spelling (98), vocabulary (238)

In the Classroom

Demonstrate HOW to use this website on your interactive whiteboard or projector (with your mike nearby!). Divide your class into teams and test out the site together. Create a link to Spell Up on your class website or blog for students to play at home. Use Spell Up at varied levels for different students to differentiate challenges for your students. Share this link on your class website for students to use at home (especially for spelling practice during the summer).

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Bees: A Honey of an Idea - Canada Agriculture and Food Museum

Grades
3 to 9
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Learn about the fascinating world of bees with this beautiful and comprehensive site. Begin your exploration as you choose from different categories such as What is a Bee?, Pollination,...more
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Learn about the fascinating world of bees with this beautiful and comprehensive site. Begin your exploration as you choose from different categories such as What is a Bee?, Pollination, Life in a Hive, or The Beekeper. The entire site is also available in French. Explore each topic as you view images and descriptions of the life of bees. Find the Glossary link near the top of each page to view a selection of vocabulary words and definitions. Be sure to view the Activities page including recipes, crafts, printable activities, and an image gallery.

tag(s): insects (68)

In the Classroom

Be sure to share this site during any unit on insects or careers. As news stories tell us about the rapid demise of honeybees and the resulting danger to our food supply, step back to see what bees are all about. Allow older students to explore on their own. Younger students will benefit from viewing and reading together on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students create an annotated image including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Thinglink, reviewed here. Have students use Fakebook (reviewed here) to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about a week in the life of a beekeeper. Use the glossary as a resource for differentiated spelling lists each week. French teachers may want to use this site as a reading experience!
 This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.

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Giza 3D - Dassault Systemes

Grades
6 to 12
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This tool is a stunning 3D reconstruction and tour of the Giza pyramids, Sphinx, and other structures. Watch a guided tour both around and inside the structures. This tour also ...more
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This tool is a stunning 3D reconstruction and tour of the Giza pyramids, Sphinx, and other structures. Watch a guided tour both around and inside the structures. This tour also shows structures at various points in history. To view in 3D, the 3D Lifeplayer needs to be installed. Note: This site may take a little time to load.

tag(s): architecture (65), egypt (49), pyramids (18)

In the Classroom

View this site in the classroom using a projector or interactive whiteboard. View the reconstruction of these artifacts from information collected during its discovery. Use the 3D tour to view the Necropolis, join a guided tour of the monuments, and look at the collected objects reconstructed from the site. Bring the history of Egypt to life. This is a powerful tool to show the role of Archaeology in reconstructing history. Compare this site to the work of archaeologists at Jamestown or other historic locations to talk about different techniques of science used to reveal history.

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