TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Sep 13, 2020
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
Alison - Mike Feerick
Grades
10 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): business (47), careers (139), chinese (44), coding (87), communication (136), engineering (117), french (73), german (48), literature (217), multilingual (63), OER (43), Online Learning (39), politics (113), psychology (67), sociology (22), spanish (104), STEM (259)
In the Classroom
Use Alison to find professional learning courses, learn the basics of a new language, or for personal development. Share Alison with students to learn skills not offered in school or share with ENL/ESL students to use when learning English. Use Alison with student cohorts interested in learning about a new topic or preparing for college-level courses.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Orli Shaham's Bach Yard - Orli Shaham
Grades
K to 4tag(s): crafts (50), makerspace (41), musical instruments (45), musical notation (35), rhythm (20)
In the Classroom
Use the activities found on this site to guide music lessons or integrate music into curricular areas. For example, use the lesson called Music and Animals to incorporate poetry and music into your animal unit. Gather the items found on the instrument making directions to create a maker space area for students to explore and experiment with different ways to create sounds. Ask students to document their steps with photographs, and when finished, ask students to create videos sharing their instruments using moovly, reviewed here. Create a digital class book using Book Creator, reviewed here, that includes all of the students' videos and other work created during your unit to share on your class website.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Developing Empathy - Equality and Human Rights Comission
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): character education (75), emotions (46), social and emotional learning (80)
In the Classroom
Include this lesson with others as part of character education and empathy activities. The starter activity includes students sharing a time they experienced different feelings. Use AnswerGarden, reviewed here, to post each question and ask students to share their response. This allows students to answer anonymously while still creating a visual word cloud with responses. Copy the embed code to include each of the word clouds on your class website or share using your AnswerGarden poll's link. Include all of the polls within one collaborative Wakelet collection, reviewed here, that includes students' responses to the other lesson activities including written reflections, analysis of your school's bullying policy, and discussions of how to recognize and encourage empathy in others.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Diversity Toolkit - National Education Association (NEA)
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): civil rights (193), difficult conversations (58), diversity (38), racism (76)
In the Classroom
Use this toolkit to identify different facets of diversity to include in your lessons about social justice and inequalities in society. Consider using Wakelet, reviewed here, as a resource to create and share your lessons with students. Create a Wakelet that includes links to your instructional resources, including videos, online information, and uploaded documents. Include in your Wakelet a link to a different collection that is created as a collaborative space for students to add text responses, videos and reflections. Have students upload a video into the collection directly from Flip, reviewed here. For example, visit this collection entitled "Diving into the Civil Rights."Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Talking About Race and Privilege: Lesson Plan for Middle and High School Students - National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): civil rights (193), psychology (67), racism (76)
In the Classroom
Include this lesson plan with your other resources when teaching lessons on racism and social injustice, either in-person or through remote or blended learning situations. Instead of using paper charts as mentioned in the lesson, use a digital chart creation resource such as Lucidchart, reviewed here, to create collaborative digital workspaces. Lucidchart includes several features that expand learning through the use of commenting, real-time collaboration, and colorful visual displays. Guide students in how to think through reflection questions using topics available in Thinkalong, reviewed here. Thinkalong offers an interactive multimedia format that guides students through investigations that lead them to contemplate possible solutions to serious problems.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Teaching 'The New Jim Crow' - Tolerance.org
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): civil rights (193), courts (19), politics (113), racism (76)
In the Classroom
Incorporate this free unit as a guide to teaching the sensitive topics of race and justice with or without using the novel. As you begin your unit, use AnswerGarden, reviewed here, as an anonymous brainstorming and response tool. Use AnswerGarden by forming open-ended questions such as "The hard part of talking about racism is..." or "The beneficial part of talking about racism is..." as a way to elicit student ideas without students being concerned about sharing ideas orally with their peers. Use AnswerGarden in various ways throughout the unit to gauge student ideas and responses to lesson topics. All of the lessons include essential questions and big ideas, use Flip, reviewed here, as a collaborative tool to encourage student conversations through Flip's video response options. Extend learning using podcasts as a format for students to share their learning about race and our justice system. For example, PodcastGenerator, reviewed here, for students to create podcasts to discuss different components of race relations and the justice system.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Healthy Digital Citizens: Helping Kids Stay Active & Safe in the Internet Age - Tennis Department
Grades
K to 12tag(s): cyberbullying (40), digital citizenship (83), internet safety (112)
In the Classroom
Include this resource with your other information for use when teaching online safety and digital citizenship. Share the information with parents on your class website or through email. Use the format of this resource to your advantage by sharing the different topics bi-weekly. Embed activities found on this site on ClassTools, reviewed here. Encourage student communication with parents as you share the topics. For example, the first topic is Open Communication. Use the Drag and Drop Quiz Generator to create a quiz for parents and students to take together based upon the communication suggestions found in the article. Upon completion of the quiz, use ClassTools to create a certificate to acknowledge the achievement.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Milanote - Milanote.com
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): collaboration (85), collages (20), creativity (92), curation (35), DAT device agnostic tool (143), graphic organizers (48), organizational skills (90)
In the Classroom
Use Milanote to organize ideas and resources for upcoming lessons and units. Collaborate with peers using a visual board to organize and brainstorm ideas. Share with students to use when planning collaborative projects, to share resources, or to organize notes. Don't forget to look at all of the templates, not just those found under the education label. Use mood board templates for students to creatively share images and ideas to describe the mood or setting in a novel. Take advantage of the storyboard templates to help students organize an upcoming podcast or video presentation. Use the brainstorming templates as a visual mind map to map out features such as parts of a plant or insect body parts.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Virtual Manipulatives - Toy Theater
Grades
K to 6This site includes advertising.
tag(s): charts and graphs (168), decimals (84), fractions (159), measurement (125), money (119), number lines (33), number sense (70), place value (34), substitutes (27), tangrams (8)
In the Classroom
If you teach elementary math, this site is a must-have to include with your bookmarked sites. Include manipulatives from this site with blended learning and remote teaching lessons to provide students opportunities to explore and practice math content. Include a link to manipulatives and other student sites using Symbaloo, reviewed here, and share with students as a resource for practicing math concepts. Items to include might be instructional videos, online games, and other practice activities. Add manipulatives within a learning system such as Curipod, reviewed here, to create a complete online lesson that has opportunities for students to share and discuss their learning. Encourage students to share their findings by creating a screen recording using Free Screen Recorder Online, reviewed here. Ask students to conduct a math talk as a response to a teacher prompt after having the opportunity to explore and interact with the virtual manipulatives.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Where to? What next? - National Park Service
Grades
5 to 8tag(s): authors (103), family (53), famous people (21), genealogy (8), poetry (188), racism (76)
In the Classroom
Include this video and these lesson plans with your current poetry unit. Engage students by creating a Padlet, reviewed here, to learn more about Carl Sandburg and other poets. In your Padlet, post links to poems to read and watch as they are read by poets and entertainers. Find some ideas and examples to use at the Archive of Recorded Literature, reviewed here. Encourage students to collaborate as they plan and create their own poetry by using a shared whiteboard tool such as Draw.Chat, reviewed here. Draw.Chat doesn't require registration, invite collaborators by sharing the link. Use the whiteboard to upload images, create graphic organizers, and brainstorm ideas for poems. Share your class's poetry using PodcastGenerator, reviewed here, challenge students to create podcasts with short Twitter-like segments of up to 256 seconds each.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Be Fearless Be Kind - Hasbro Children's Fund
Grades
K to 5tag(s): bullying (49), conflict resolution (9), emotions (46), empathy (26), problem solving (225), school violence (10), social and emotional learning (80), social skills (22)
In the Classroom
Be sure to investigate the abundance of resources and information shared in this free toolkit for use in classroom lessons on social and leadership skills, empathy, and problem-solving. Several portions in the booklet include scenarios and questions for discussions. Extend student learning by challenging student groups to create weekly podcasts addressing common social issues along with suggestions for dealing with them. PodcastGenerator, reviewed here, offers free tools for podcasting. Use the resources and suggestions with character education activities throughout the year. Share ideas from this site with parents to use at home with their children. Create a class (or school) bulletin board with examples of students demonstrating empathy.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Google Arts and Culture - Google
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): art history (85), artists (77), museums (43), virtual field trips (80)
In the Classroom
Share this site with students and allow them time to explore on their own. Encourage students to find and share interesting art and activities with their peers. Use Padlet, reviewed here, as a collaborative tool for students to share items from this site. Ask them to include a link to a favorite portion, then add a comment on why they found it interesting. Include information from Arts & Culture when studying historical events to provide interest and perspective on that period. Have students use a map storytelling tool such as Google My Maps, reviewed here, to add information found on this site and others to tell the story of art around the world throughout history.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
Use the form at the top of the page to log in, or click here to join TeachersFirst (it's free!).
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
Close comment form