TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Oct 19, 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
Just Flip A Coin - My Tech Tailor
Grades
K to 12tag(s): classroom management (124), probability (98)
In the Classroom
Although this site is extremely simple, you will find many classroom uses. Be sure to bookmark it for later use. Use Just Flip A Coin on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) to choose leaders of teams, decide between options for classroom games or activities, or decide between two book choices. Have students use an actual coin to flip and compare results with Just Flip A Coin for a math probability lesson.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Wall Street Survivor - Greg Isenberg and Rory Olson
Grades
8 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): business (52), financial literacy (91), money (114)
In the Classroom
Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Share articles on personal finance, investing, and more. Challenge students (or groups) to create their own Stock Market Leagues to learn about investing and trading. Use Wall Street Survivor as an after-school program for students to learn about finances and investing. Share this link on your class website for students to explore on their own. Your math-savvy gifted students and finance aficionados will love this one.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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EarthEcho International - Philippe Cousteau Jr.
Grades
6 to 12In addition to teaching materials, follow past EarthEcho expeditions with updates from the field. If your district blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable.
tag(s): environment (246), oceans (148), recycling (45), water (101)
In the Classroom
Create a link on classroom computers and share on your class website for students to explore expeditions on their own. To enhance student's learning ask them to complete one of the following: create an annotated image including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Google Drawings, reviewed here to demonstrate information found on EarthEcho, make a word cloud of the important terms they learn from this site using a tool such as WordItOut, reviewed here, or develop maps of explorations using MapHub, reviewed here. Students can add icons, URLs, text, images, and location stops with Map Hub!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Data Never Sleeps 2.0 - Domo
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): infographics (56), internet safety (112)
In the Classroom
Display this infographic on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) as part of your Internet safety lessons. Use the code to embed the infographic onto your class website. Use the information as part of a math lesson to extend from one minute to an hour, a day, a week, and so on. Have students look at the 2012 version of the same infographic, found here, and make comparisons. They could do some research for Facebook or one of the other programs to find out how many members there were in 2012 compared to 2014. From there they could come up with the average pieces of data a member generates weekly for that program/site. Share with your colleagues and parents as part of ongoing discussions about student Internet use.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Free Video Lectures - Free Video Lectures (FVL)
Grades
9 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): business (52), cultures (166), genetics (81), literature (219), medicine (56), oceans (148), psychology (65), video (263)
In the Classroom
If you are flipping your classroom, use videos from this site to introduce content to students. Embed videos onto your class website or blog for easy student access. Free Video Lectures is perfect for use with gifted students. Use videos to provide advanced instruction and lessons in content not offered in your school. Have students create a word cloud of the important terms they learn from a video using a tool such as WordItOut (reviewed here). Challenge students to create a presentation using Prezi (reviewed here) to show what the have learned.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Pacer's National Bullying Prevention Center - Pacer Center, Inc.
Grades
K to 10tag(s): bullying (48), character education (77), cyberbullying (40), digital citizenship (89)
In the Classroom
Introduce a bullying discussion in your class by viewing a video appropriate for your age group. Continue with a class discussion. Then, exchange paper and pencil and have students do a quick write about how they feel about bullying. Use a blogging tool like Webnode, reviewed here. If you are teaching younger students, use Seesaw, reviewed here. Begin a school and community-wide campaign against bullying by sharing this resource with your school leadership team, PTA/PTO, and other teachers. This tool would be a great project for the school's student council to undertake. There are a ton of resources; someone just needs to get this program going!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Rootbook - Rootbook
Grades
2 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): creative writing (123), digital storytelling (154), interactive stories (20), narrative (15), writing (324)
In the Classroom
To use Rootbook and save work, students will need an email account. If students cannot have their own email accounts, consider using a "class set" of Gmail sub-accounts, explained here. This will provide anonymous interaction within your class, and you (as the Gmail account holder) will be able to go into each Rootbook account to check progress. Begin by choosing a story and reading it as a class. Give the students scratch paper to create storyboards and have them continue the story. Then collect the papers and have them write their continuation again on someone else's paper. Next, ask students to end the story and switch again, and write their ending on this new paper. Doing this will help younger students understand the "branching" story line. If students are sitting in groups of four, they can just rotate the papers around for this activity. When students want to create their story on Rootbook, be sure to have them upload an image for the cover first and plan the story using a graphic organizer! As subject matter for stories in any curriculum area, tell a science story, such as the life of a butterfly or a history story such as what happened (and could have happened) at the Boston Tea Party.Comments
Offers skill development for teachers after not teaching language for yearsEllen, VA, Grades: 0 - 12
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Fun Activities for Your Kids - Delta Dental Insurance Company
Grades
K to 5tag(s): careers (140), dental health (14), preK (267)
In the Classroom
Have a mouthful of fun during Dental Health Month or any health unit on teeth! Have fun reading literature and poetry while exploring your tantalizing teeth! Add a taste more to your study of the senses, and watch children dig right in! Provide dental information for career day. Have students invent their own dental games. Students can create a quiz, guess a word, write a story, or even investigate career specialties.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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SurveyRock - surveyrock.com
Grades
3 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): polls and surveys (49)
In the Classroom
Copy/paste the link to the poll or use embed code to place in a wiki, blog, or a website. Be sure that students use the poll appropriately and that personal information is not offered in poll responses. Use polls to record quick responses to questions. Have students create a poll about their interests and allow time to analyze responses and report findings. Use this site to vote on correct answers in math class, project ideas for science or social studies, social issues in current events, and practically any other subject area. Encourage students to incorporate polls during class presentations. Provide options for students to gain confidence in generating and analyzing statistics they have created. Make a quick parent poll to include on a class website to keep the lines of communication open.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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