Featured Sites Week of: Aug 11, 2019 -
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
CurriConnects Booklist: The Artist's Eye - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
This CurriConnects features books about artists and their style and Caldecott winning authors who have unusual or beautiful layouts. Treat your students to the possibility of exploring...more
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This CurriConnects features books about artists and their style and Caldecott winning authors who have unusual or beautiful layouts. Treat your students to the possibility of exploring color and its power to communicate feelings and ideas, that art can be in the eye of the beholder, finding art (and joy) in the shapes of nature, different ways to look at perspective, and much, much more! This thematic list includes fiction and nonfiction, interest and grade levels, ISBNs for ordering or searching, and Lexiles (where available) to match with student independent reading levels to challenge, not to frustrate.
tag(s): artists (101), colors (64), drawing (58), perspective (33)
In the Classroom
This list will be a natural fit for anyone teaching art whether in elementary, middle, or high school. Use the books to introduce concepts in art and have students create digital sketchbooks about the styles and concepts they like. Replace the paper journal or sketchbook with one that can be accessed anywhere and never left behind. Use a digital "idea bin" collector like Padlet, reviewed here, that offers tools for creating shelves or grids to organize information about the concepts learned and post ideas and photos. Be sure to share this list of CurriConnects books about art with parents on your teacher webpage.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Of the People: Art and History of the White House - Discovery Education
Grades
6 to 12
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Go behind the scenes for an in-depth video discussion of the art and history of the White House with White House Curator William Allman. The actual discussion begins at the ...more
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Go behind the scenes for an in-depth video discussion of the art and history of the White House with White House Curator William Allman. The actual discussion begins at the 14-minute mark in the video, with an interview led by a high school student.
tag(s): art history (105), presidents (151), white house (14)
In the Classroom
Before viewing this video, challenge students to brainstorm what a curator's job is and what kind of artifacts they might find in the White House. After viewing, extend learning by having students create a simple infographic of important White House artifacts sharing their findings using Venngage, reviewed here. Ask students to curate their own collection of items such as things found in their room at home, a collection of items from your school, or a collection of artifacts from your hometown. Create a book featuring these items using Ourboox, reviewed here. Ourboox creates beautiful page-flipping digital books in minutes, and you can embed video, music, animation, games, maps and more truly redefining learning.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Pencil Code Gym - David Bau
Grades
K to 12
4 Favorites
1 Comments
Code your own art, music, and interactive fiction with Pencil Code Gym. The main language is Coffescript, but you can click the word Reference in the upper left corner to ...more
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Code your own art, music, and interactive fiction with Pencil Code Gym. The main language is Coffescript, but you can click the word Reference in the upper left corner to use HTML for writing tags in your code. Pencil Code also supports Javascript and CSS. Follow instructions to code using drag and drop blocks or text. Toggle back and forth between the two formats to view the different formats. Click the pencil in the upper left corner to see several resources including Materials for Teachers, Teachers Manual, Printable Activities, and several others. The wide range of activities make this site perfect for use with students of all levels of coding abilities. When complete, share finished projects on "GymStage", the sharing portion of Pencil Code Gym.
tag(s): coding (109), computational thinking (45), critical thinking (184), digital storytelling (167), drawing (58), geometric shapes (153), musical notation (34), problem solving (277)
In the Classroom
Create a link on classroom computers for use as centers. Use the text options for students to use with digital storytelling. This site is perfect for differentiating different levels of coding skills. Allow students to explore at their own pace, then share their creations with classmates. Extend learning by challenging students or groups to create videos explaining their creations using Adobe Express Video Maker, reviewed here, and share them on a site such as TeacherTube, reviewed here. Be sure to add a link to your class website for students to practice at home.Comments
Great resource for all ages, more appropriate for middle school and above.Melissa, , Grades: 0 - 5
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Philadelphia Museum of Art Teacher Resources - Philadelphia Museum of Art
Grades
K to 12
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This tool is a valuable lesson-planning resource for connecting art with other curricular areas. Teachers can scroll through the resources to find lessons that align with their instructional...more
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This tool is a valuable lesson-planning resource for connecting art with other curricular areas. Teachers can scroll through the resources to find lessons that align with their instructional goals. Curricular areas include Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, STEAM, Social Justice, Critical Thinking, and more. Each lesson opens as a downloadable PDF that includes direct links to artwork images from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, aligned Common Core standards, and a detailed, ready-to-use lesson plan that supports cross-curricular instruction.
tag(s): art history (105), artists (101)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this site as a resource for art projects throughout the year, especially if budget cuts have taken away your art teacher! Use this site as a way to get students interested in art and its relationship with other subject areas and its relevance in our life.
This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.
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The Color - TheColor.com
Grades
K to 2
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Find and choose from 100's of online coloring pages sorted into categories at The Color. Choose from holiday categories, colors, alphabet, occupations, continents, dinosaurs,...more
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Find and choose from 100's of online coloring pages sorted into categories at The Color. Choose from holiday categories, colors, alphabet, occupations, continents, dinosaurs, nursery rhymes, numbers, and much more. Click on an image to begin coloring. You can color online or print the page to color on paper. Share finished images via email using the link provided. Registration isn't necessary, but if you register you may save finished projects for later viewing.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): alphabet (46), animals (278), birds (47), colors (64), continents (29), dinosaurs (48), holidays (280), numbers (121), nursery rhymes (10), planets (124), preK (323), presidents (151), space (249), transportation (31)
In the Classroom
Bookmark this site as a resource for coloring pages in many different topics. Share a link to the site with parents for practice at home. Color pictures of the continents during geography lessons. Explore the dinosaur coloring pages during dinosaur month.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Coloring Squared - Cameron Krantzman
Grades
K to 6
5 Favorites
0 Comments
Are you looking to add some color to your math instruction? Need a break from the black and white worksheet? Coloring Squared offers free pages to teach and review math ...more
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Are you looking to add some color to your math instruction? Need a break from the black and white worksheet? Coloring Squared offers free pages to teach and review math concepts. Determine the solution and color the squares based on a key found on every page to reveal a pixel art puzzle. While the math may be puzzling, enjoy coloring the squares to generate a fun, pixelated picture. Aligned to the Common Core Math Standards, the free pages offer supplementary materials for counting, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, decimals, percents, and place value.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): addition (138), counting (66), decimals (94), division (109), fractions (178), multiplication (133), operations (71), percent (60), place value (43), subtraction (119), worksheets (70)
In the Classroom
Not every math solution is black and white. Add some color to your teaching and review. Coloring Squared activities are great for station work, enrichment, or support. Students can write short stories using their picture for a cross-curricular activity. Final pictures are great for math bulletin boards. Looking for assignments for students to complete after their math work is finished? Coloring squared will keep the students engaged. Send this link home for students to use (and print) both in and out of the classroom.
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Draw A Stickman - drawastickman.com
Grades
1 to 10
14 Favorites
2 Comments
Draw A Stickman is a delightful, entertaining site that encourages creativity and fun! This is a mini interactive story that has students reading and following directions, solving...more
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Draw A Stickman is a delightful, entertaining site that encourages creativity and fun! This is a mini interactive story that has students reading and following directions, solving mysteries, thinking creatively, and solving problems. Start by selecting an episode, then begin the adventure, you draw a simple stick figure and then bring him or her to life. Your figure is faced with several challenges; you must follow directions and draw several props for your stick figure to use. You will love the hero of the story (the character you created) and the villain (a dragon). Finished stories can be replayed or shared on Facebook or email. There is also an online gallery for students to explore and view others' creations.
tag(s): creative writing (123), digital storytelling (167), directions (9), drawing (58), interactive stories (22)
In the Classroom
Aside from just fun practice at following instructions, Draw a Stickman would be a great fictional story prompt. Students have the bones of a story and can fill in details, vivid verbs, adjectives, etc. to tell the story. This would be a good practice activity with writing sequences of "first, then, and next." Students can elaborate on their hero, the plot of the story, the details, the setting, etc. Students can write a moral for a story to add in the customized ending. These stories would be fun to share as a class...how wide a variety can come from the same basics? Share finished stories with a talking avatar using a photo or other image (legally permitted to be reproduced). The avatars can "read" the story. Use a site such as Blabberize, reviewed here. Teach story mapping easily with this activity: On an interactive whiteboard (or projector), students can go through the stick figure story together, labeling the different parts of the story (beginning, problem, climax, resolution, ending). This interactive can help students identify story elements, including setting, characters and plot. This site would also be perfect for multilingual students for practice in reading and following directions or for speech/language students to practice retelling a story from the visual prompts. Another idea: use this activity for verb/vocabulary practice in a world language class.Comments
This will be a great fill-in activity when my students finish their assignments. I can't wait to use it!Beverly, TX, Grades: 6 - 12
Love this! So creative. I know the kids will love it too and I think the learning activities sound very promising too.Jeannie, MI, Grades: 0 - 5
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Science Coloring Books - NIEHS
Grades
K to 2
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0 Comments
These lesson plans and activities from the National Institutes of Health, Department of Health & Human Services offer both online and printable versions of coloring books and pages...more
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These lesson plans and activities from the National Institutes of Health, Department of Health & Human Services offer both online and printable versions of coloring books and pages on science and health topics: from personal hygiene to environmental awareness. After you give a brief introduction to the visual spectrum of colors, you can select to color pages or to print a coloring book. Topics include dental health, plants, fitness, weather, healthy eating, and more.
tag(s): colors (64), drawing (58), environment (249), preK (323)
In the Classroom
Use this site as an engaging way to reinforce science concepts introduced in class. Share the printables with children to take home. Show children how the spectrum appears naturally in biology. You can also use the pictures as jumping off points for discussion. Another option that encourages creativity is a drawing game using javascript.
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