TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Dec 7, 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
Worksheet Genius - worksheetgenius.com
Grades
K to 5
Worksheet Genius offers an extensive choices of worksheets content and options to custom create your own. Begin by choosing a topic such as English, math, or word lists to view ...more
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Worksheet Genius offers an extensive choices of worksheets content and options to custom create your own. Begin by choosing a topic such as English, math, or word lists to view options. Find various topics such as spelling practice (UK spelling!), thermometers/temperatures, math operations, and grammar. Most topics include several options for worksheets, including one to design your own. Once your worksheet is complete, select print. Your worksheet will print in PDF format. Having problems printing? Read the Print Tips in the bottom left red box. In addition to worksheets, Worksheet Genius provides a large selection of clipart free for use in educational settings. This site was created in the United Kingdom. You may notice some slight spelling differences in the instructions. This site contains advertising.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): addition (127), counting (61), decimals (85), division (96), fractions (159), handwriting (15), multiplication (119), negative numbers (13), number lines (33), numbers (120), phonics (52), place value (33), preK (291), rounding (8), sentences (22), spelling (98), subtraction (108), temperature (34)
In the Classroom
This worksheet tool offers many customization options, so it is easy to differentiate for ability levels within your class. Use worksheets from Worksheet Genius in learning centers. You can also make a touchable center by sharing them as a center on an interactive whiteboard. Share a link on your class website or newsletter for parents to use at home. Use Worksheet Generator for review before quizzes and tests.
This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.
Citizen Sort - Syracuse University School of Information Studies
Grades
6 to 12Participate in science activities through gameplay with Citizen Sort. Play Happy Match to help scientists classify photos while earning points, and Living Links, an AI-generated activity...more
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Participate in science activities through gameplay with Citizen Sort. Play Happy Match to help scientists classify photos while earning points, and Living Links, an AI-generated activity in which participants identify twenty species of animals in Serengeti National Park. Registration isn't required; creating an account allows users to save their game progress. Citizen Sort also offers a third game, Forgotten Island, but it requires Flash, which is no longer supported by current web browsers.
tag(s): animals (292), classification (22), insects (68), plants (148)
In the Classroom
Citizen Sort is perfect for use on your interactive whiteboard or projector during the appropriate science unit on classification. Play together and discuss options for identifying and classifying living things. Use Citizen Sort as a science center on classroom computers. Be sure to share a link to the site on your class website or blog for use at home. Have students create an online or printed comic demonstrating lessons learned using one of the tools and ideas included in this collection. Have students create an annotated image including text boxes and related links using a tool such as Thinglink, reviewed here.
This resource requires Adobe Flash.
MapFight - appspot.com
Grades
5 to 12MapFight is a clever tool for comparing the physical area of different countries and states. Use the dropdown boxes to select from countries and states available and then click compare....more
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MapFight is a clever tool for comparing the physical area of different countries and states. Use the dropdown boxes to select from countries and states available and then click compare. View an image with the two locations overlaid on each other with a short sentence comparing the sizes in kilometers. If you click on the name of the state or country you will be taken to a Wikipedia entry about the location.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): area (53), countries (73), map skills (64), maps (224), states (125)
In the Classroom
MapFight is perfect for use on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Use to demonstrate size differences in states and countries. Have students use this site when presenting state reports. Find a similar sized state (or country), then use the map as part of the presentation. Have a new student from another state or country? Use MapFight to begin discussion of comparative size of where they came from to where your classroom is located. Use this to give students a perspective on geographic size of earth features that they can't see by looking at a standard map. Use to discuss and informally assess prior knowledge as you start your study of states. This tool would be especially important when explaining the concept of map scale or square miles/meters. Use MapFight to compare locations students read about in Globetracker's Mission or books they are reading. Include it in discussions about the impact of a country's size on its culture in world language or cultures classes. Have students create a simple infographic sharing their findings using Venngage reviewed here. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram (reviewed here) to compare any two locations.Algodoo - Algoryx
Grades
6 to 12Algodoo is a 2D-simulation software to create simulation scenes using simple drawing tools like boxes, circles, polygons, gears, brushes, planes, ropes and chains. Interact with objects...more
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Algodoo is a 2D-simulation software to create simulation scenes using simple drawing tools like boxes, circles, polygons, gears, brushes, planes, ropes and chains. Interact with objects using click and drag or tilt and shake. Add physics to any simulation using fluids, springs, hinges, motors, thrusters, light rays, tracers, optics and lenses. Explore and play with gravity, friction, restitution, refraction, and attraction within each scene. Begin by downloading to your Windows or Mac computer following instructions on the site. Algodoo is also available as an iPad app. To make the most of all the site features, be sure to visit the Learn It link for a three-session tutorial to help understand the software. Videos on this site are hosted by YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable.
tag(s): friction (8), geometric shapes (132), gravity (42)
In the Classroom
Download and use Algodoo for an interesting science center. Share with students to use at home, and then allow experienced users to become "experts" for helping other students. Use Algodoo as part of a Science fair project. Challenge cooperative learning groups to create videos of their creations and share them on a site such as TeacherTube, reviewed here.Flying Classroom - Flying Classroom
Grades
K to 9Join a journey to eleven countries and three continents as part of a global STEM learning adventure aligned to Next Gen and Common Core Reading standards. The site navigation itself...more
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Join a journey to eleven countries and three continents as part of a global STEM learning adventure aligned to Next Gen and Common Core Reading standards. The site navigation itself takes a little "exploration," but the time is well worth it. Learn about locations around the world as you explore science and technology at each stop along the way. Learn about the captain and crew under Flight Briefing. Follow the clickable flight route under Flight Tracker. Take a flight tutorial at Fly with Us (under Flight Briefings). Explore videos on the Blog and under Flight Briefings. Watch the intro video on the home page. Some of the videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, they may not be viewable.
tag(s): aircraft (17), animals (292), architecture (84), ecosystems (85), endangered species (27), flight (34), oceans (149), STEM (312), volcanoes (55), weather (160)
In the Classroom
Incorporate this expedition into your units on continents, exploration and explorers (to compare modern exploration with historic expeditions), or science units on flight, energy and more. See the Blog for specific scientific explorations your students can read in groups or as a class. Include this resource in a unit on scientists and what they do. Include some of the readings as informational texts that will generate high student interest. This is a great resource for your gifted students in a regular classroom to extend curriculum and share what they have learned with classmates. For more background for teachers, see the Executive Summary under "About." Have students use a class account to create maps using MapHub, reviewed here. Students can add icons, URLs, text, images, and location stops! Middle school students can use Fakebook, reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook about any of the people on Captain Barrington's journey.Code - Hadi & Ali Partovi
Grades
K to 10Code.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding access to computer science education and increasing participation by young women and students from underrepresented groups....more
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Code.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding access to computer science education and increasing participation by young women and students from underrepresented groups. It offers free, standards-aligned curricula for K-12 students, including courses like Computer Science Fundamentals for elementary students, CS Discoveries for middle school, and CS Principles for high school. The platform provides interactive tools such as App Lab, Game Lab, and Dance Party to make coding engaging and accessible. Educators can access comprehensive teaching resources, including lesson plans, videos, and assessments, as well as professional development opportunities like self-paced and facilitator-led workshops. Code.org also hosts the annual Hour of Code event to promote global participation in computer science.
tag(s): coding (87), computational thinking (41), computers (109), critical thinking (137), problem solving (233), STEM (312), women (154)
In the Classroom
Have students participate in a fun, self-paced Hour of Code activity, such as "Minecraft", "Dance Party", or "Frozen" coding tutorials. Using Storytelling with Scratch or Sprite Lab, students can code their own interactive short stories featuring characters, dialogue, and choices. Students use Game Lab to build a simple, playable video game. They can design the characters, code interactions, and add sound effects. Teach a lesson from Code.org's Internet Safety or Digital Citizenship units, which help students understand how to behave responsibly online.Museum of Endangered Sounds - Brendan Chilcutt
Grades
4 to 12We all know about endangered plants and animals, but what about endangered sounds? The Museum of Endangered Sounds offers a collection of sounds unfamiliar to many young people. Click...more
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We all know about endangered plants and animals, but what about endangered sounds? The Museum of Endangered Sounds offers a collection of sounds unfamiliar to many young people. Click on any thumbnail to hear sounds such as the ka-ching of a cash register, dialing a rotary phone, the sound of dial-up Internet, or the click and winding of a film camera. Although the collection is quite small, it is worth a visit for a trip back to the past! Warning: the clip with TV Snow features a provocative photo. You may want to avoid that example with an immature audience.
tag(s): 1960s (26), 1970s (10), 1980s (7), inventors and inventions (81), sounds (43)