Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

InstaNerd offers an endless stream of facts, providing you with smart, scientific and (a little nerdy) general knowledge. Click "Start" to begin. Continue clicking the next button (or even easier, use the arrow on your computer keyboard) to view new and nerdy facts. Sign up to get new facts in your email box once a week. Although content appears to be appropriate, be sure to preview facts before sharing with students.
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tag(s): trivia (18)

View the ever-changing borders of European countries through this time-lapse video. Beginning in 1141 with the domination of the Holy Roman and Byzantine Empires, watch borders change year by year until reaching Europe of 2012. This video provides an exciting, dynamic look at changes in Europe throughout the years.
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tag(s): england (49), europe (84), france (40), germany (27), italy (30), maps (224), russia (34), spain (13), video (267)

This tool is a great lesson plan resource for correlating art with other curricular areas! First, scroll down to Featured Resources, Resources by Subject Matter, or Resources by Grade Level. Curricular Areas include Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, STEAM, Social Justice, Critical Thinking, and several others. Click the resulting lessons to view a PDF that includes links to artwork images at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Common Core standards, and a detailed lesson plan.

tag(s): art history (107), artists (86)

Digital Citizenship offers a large number of resources for teaching digital citizenship for students of all ages, teachers, and parents. Scroll down the page to find categories for Online safety, Healthy online habits, Teaching and learning, and more to begin. Each section includes articles and resources for learning responsible digital citizenship. The site was created in Australia. American English speakers may notice some slight differences in spellings and pronunciations. The videos reside on sites other than Digital Citizenship. Some are on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.

tag(s): cyberbullying (44), digital citizenship (93), internet safety (116)

This video provides a short and simple explanation of the very complicated story of the credit crisis. The narrator provides the background of institutional banking and financing and takes viewers up to the events leading to the mortgage crisis. If your district blocks YouTube, the video may not be viewable.

tag(s): financial literacy (95)

Make a collage of your images into a variety of shapes. Download the free program for Mac OS, Windows, Linux, iPhone, and iPad. Drag images into the window and choose the collage shape (heart, characters, animals, and more) or create and customize your own shape. Collages do not show the company watermark, and you can export them to Photoshop. Click Help from the top menu bar and follow the demo video for tips and tricks.

tag(s): collages (17), images (263), themes (16)

There are plenty of simulation interactives for major life events such as pandemics, but what happens in everyday life? NationStates brings to life daily decisions. This multiplayer online interactive features you as the head of your nation to create and shape how you see fit. To get started, create your nation by giving it a name. Customize various aspects, such as the flag, history, and national animal. Then get into the heart of your nation: political, social, and economic issues. These choices determine the initial status of your nation. As you play, these problems will change with your choices. Every day an issue is presented and the choices you make affect the outcome of your nation. Your choices become the national law in your nation. Warning: There is one problem a day, but you can change that to two in your account settings. As you play, various aspects of your nation change and the type of government shifts (maybe even including anarchy). Choose to stay an independent nation or join others to create a region. Participate in the World Assembly (the pretend U.N.). View debates in the forum that actually touch on current events in the game and in real life. One thing to note: If you are not attentive to the issues that come up each day, the game ends quickly. The good news is that it takes very little time to view the issue, act, and see the result. Note: This interactive is loosely based on the novel Jennifer Government by Max Barry.
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tag(s): foreign policy (13), money (112), politics (118), sociology (23)

Learn where in the world cities are with Quizzity. Click the start button and a city and country will appear at the top. Zoom in on an area by clicking on the plus symbol. Once you have clicked on an area, two tabs will appear. The brown tab is where you placed the marker and the green one is where the city actually is located. Get six locations and see how well you know the cities of the world. No registration is required.

tag(s): cities (17), countries (73), map skills (64)