TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Aug 3, 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
The Global Read Aloud - Pernille Ripp
Grades
K to 12
The Global Read Aloud offers you a chance to share a book with other students from around the world. This program is in its fifth year and has had over ...more
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The Global Read Aloud offers you a chance to share a book with other students from around the world. This program is in its fifth year and has had over 200,000 participants. The Global Read Aloud is a six-week event that ends in November. Announcement of the book list and the author study selections occur each spring. Student involvement starts in the fall each year. Teachers, parents, and individual students are invited to join. Choose a book to read and sign up at the very beginning of each October. There is a Google form on the main page for registration. On this main page, you will find several suggested ways to participate: The Global Read Aloud wiki here, Padlet, reviewed here, and others.
tag(s): authors (108), collaboration (94), cross cultural understanding (176), guided reading (32), reading comprehension (150), reading lists (77)
In the Classroom
Start looking at The Global Read Aloud program before the school year starts. The author study can be useful for students who have difficulty reading chapter books. There are also picture books available for younger students. Choose the book early, or get your students involved once school starts. Have students vote for the book they want to read by using a program like Wheel Decide, reviewed here, or use Dotstorming, reviewed here, which allows students to write why they want to read that book. As you are reading the book, you may want to have small groups research and investigate the setting, author, inferences, references, and allusions to other books, history, and places. Researching and presenting their findings will help students with deep reading experience required by the Common Core Standards. Have students create a class wiki modeled after Book Drum, archived here, to highlight the features of the book they choose to read. The Book Drum archive takes a while to open. To learn more about using wikis in your classroom, check out the TeachersFirst Wiki Walk-Through.Fake iPhone Text - fakeiphonetext.com
Grades
2 to 12Fake iPhone text is a tool to create fake screenshots of a series of iPhone text messages. Enter your conversation including name and message. Click the link "Create" to view ...more
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Fake iPhone text is a tool to create fake screenshots of a series of iPhone text messages. Enter your conversation including name and message. Click the link "Create" to view the picture. Take a screenshot or copy the URL to share.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): creative writing (125), digital storytelling (155), gamification (85), writing prompts (61)
In the Classroom
Have students create texts between two characters from a book or two famous people. Create short poetry in text message form. Provide some opening text and ask students to write their ideas for the other person's answers. Use a text sequence as a prompt for creative writing. Have students practice creating a short dialogue or questions and answers. Create a fake text of a conversation and have students use inference skills to determine what happened before and after the conversation. Teach proper texting etiquette and digital citizenship using this tool. Use a fake text on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) to display word definitions in a new way. Create fake texts of homework or project reminders and post them on your class wiki or web page. Make fake text book promotions to share on the dust jackets.Digital Passport - Common Sense Media
Grades
3 to 5Digital Passport is an interactive, engaging, and effective way to teach and test the basics of digital citizenship designed for upper elementary grades. Create and add student groups...more
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Digital Passport is an interactive, engaging, and effective way to teach and test the basics of digital citizenship designed for upper elementary grades. Create and add student groups to assign, monitor, and customize assignments for students. This site consists of five topical modules covering privacy, cyberbullying, communication, creative credit, and search. Module Guides accompanying each lesson include complete guides and suggestions for teaching and using the activity. Be sure to download the Educator Handbook for a complete guide to effectively using the Digital Passport.
tag(s): cyberbullying (42), digital citizenship (90), game based learning (207)
In the Classroom
Create an account and assign activities to students to complete at home or on classroom computers. Share this site on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Have students create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from this site using a tool such as Word Clouds for Kids, reviewed here, for younger students, or WordItOut, reviewed here, for older students. Be sure to share Digital Passport with parents and other teachers as an excellent resource for teaching digital citizenship.The Fun Theory - Volkswagen & Goodvertising
Grades
K to 12The Fun Theory is a collection of experiments captured on video to find out if making tasks more fun can change people's behavior. One of the most popular videos on ...more
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The Fun Theory is a collection of experiments captured on video to find out if making tasks more fun can change people's behavior. One of the most popular videos on The Fun Theory is a staircase in a subway station. The stairs were converted into working piano keys as a way to convince commuters to take the stairs over the escalator. Another test uses a game-based scenario to recycle bottles. Students and colleagues at all levels are subject to the same ineffective carrots-and-sticks. Why search around for methods to motivate when fun is the key to unlocking a world of possibilities? A contest also encourages visitors to upload their own applications of The Fun Theory. After watching the videos, you will see the evidence that appealing to an individual's intrinsic motivation is better on many levels. Make the road less traveled FUN! The collection of Fun Theory videos is an excellent resource to support game-based learning in your classroom. If your district blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable.
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This site includes advertising.
tag(s): psychology (65), science fairs (20), scientific method (48), video (267)
In the Classroom
Are you looking to make learning fun? The Fun Theory collection of videos is a great collection of experiments to teach your class the Scientific Method. Use the videos to identify each step of the process. Share the videos on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Challenge your students to brainstorm their own Fun Theory ideas for school, home, or your community. In art or music class, brainstorm ways that you can use FUN methods to learn techniques. Use bubbl.us, reviewed here to organize your ideas. Host your own Fun Theory competition, and invite community and school board members to vote on their favorite experiment. Spice up your traditional science fair project with a fun and engaging fun theory experiment. Use Animoto, reviewed here or another presentation tool to show your Fun Theory experiment and results. Challenge your colleagues to create their own Fun Theory experiment to better the school environment for your students or staff. For Earth Day, make it a class project to design a Fun Theory way to change human behavior to promote greener practices. Explore these ideas in a psychology class about motivation or as part of a study skills unit so students find ways to motivate themselves for better work habits!Created Equal - National Endowment for the Humanities
Grades
9 to 12Four documentary films related to the Civil Rights Movement, available to stream either in part or in their entirety, form the centerpiece of this effort from the National Endowment...more
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Four documentary films related to the Civil Rights Movement, available to stream either in part or in their entirety, form the centerpiece of this effort from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The films cover time periods beginning with the Abolitionist Movement and continuing through the Freedom Marches and the turbulent 1960s. Explore the meaning of freedom and equality in the United States with relevance still today. There are teacher resources for using Created Equal in the classroom.
tag(s): bill of rights (34), black history (135), civil rights (217), civil war (140), cultures (211), emancipation proclamation (14), segregation (18)
In the Classroom
The documentaries, or the excerpts presented, are all available to stream from the site. While they may be too lengthy to show in their entirety during one class period, they have also been divided into clips according to themes. For example, Equality is part of the full video about Law and the Strategy of Nonviolence. This makes them more adaptable for classroom use. Share the videos on your interactive whiteboard or projector, or flip your class using edpuzzle, reviewed here, and have students watch clips at home and come back to class ready to discuss. eduzzle is a great way to take sections of videos and add your own voice or add questions within the video. Alternatively, you could use VideoAnt, reviewed here, to enhance student learning with students asking questions about the parts where they need clarification. The issues raised by these Created Equal documentaries may be easily incorporated into lessons related to the Civil Rights Movement, modern U.S. history, Black History Month, or civics and government. Use these videos as conversation starters in the classroom.A Research Guide for Students - A Research Guide
Grades
6 to 12Find a complete resource for how to write a research paper, including simple step-by-step directions, suggested resources, and ways to avoid plagiarism. This site also includes how...more
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Find a complete resource for how to write a research paper, including simple step-by-step directions, suggested resources, and ways to avoid plagiarism. This site also includes how to format a research paper, write footnotes, create endnotes, and make parenthetical references, with examples for all. There are tips for public speaking and how to use search engines.
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This site includes advertising.
tag(s): expository writing (31), literature (221), persuasive writing (58), plagiarism (34), process writing (37), Research (88)
In the Classroom
Use this site on a projector or interactive whiteboard to discuss and informally assess prior knowledge as you start a research project. With younger students, you may want the class to go through each step together before beginning the next step. However, let gifted students work ahead. The beauty of this site is that it is great for classroom differentiation for independent work. With older students, you may want to show them the different steps and have them start where they think they need help and share examples. Be sure to post a link to the site for students and parents to access at home.Virtual Piano - Crystal Magic Studio Ltd
Grades
2 to 12Just as the title states, Virtual Piano is a piano that you play via your computer. Adjust the different options to meet your needs and playing ability. Use Key Assist ...more
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Just as the title states, Virtual Piano is a piano that you play via your computer. Adjust the different options to meet your needs and playing ability. Use Key Assist to display notes on the keys or turn it off to look just like a regular keyboard. Choose from several music sheets to get started playing some familiar tunes. If you want to change the look of the keyboard, choose "change style" to view in several different colors. The Record option even allows you to play back your music and hear your creations.
tag(s): music theory (48), musical instruments (54), musical notation (35)
In the Classroom
Music teachers and students alike will delight in this site! Share this site on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Use this site to help students learn and practice piano and learn the keys. You don't even need to spend a dime to have a piano in your classroom. Use this tool in science class during units on sound to test different pitches and their frequencies.Greg Tang Math Games - Greg Tang
Grades
K to 6Greg Tang Math offers a nice selection of math games for elementary grades. Each game offers different levels and options for play. In addition to practicing basic math facts, these...more
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Greg Tang Math offers a nice selection of math games for elementary grades. Each game offers different levels and options for play. In addition to practicing basic math facts, these games promote thinking and problem skills through different game options. Try your hand at Math Limbo, Funny Numbers, ? Missing, and others.
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This site includes advertising.
tag(s): addition (128), calendars (37), division (97), fractions (160), logic (161), multiplication (121), subtraction (109), time (91), volume (33)