TeachersFirst - Featured Sites: Week of Nov 8, 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

 

Less
More

K-12 Student Project Resources for Teaching Remotely on Short Notice - TeachersFirst

Grades
K to 12
1 Favorites 0  Comments
Sometimes educators need short notice ideas for student projects that try to fill in instructional gaps with limited guidance or teacher support. This collection shares ideas and resources...more
Here is the direct link to share this resource review. Feel free to copy and paste this URL into an email or place it on your web page or blog so others can read this TeachersFirst review:

 Close Link

Sometimes educators need short notice ideas for student projects that try to fill in instructional gaps with limited guidance or teacher support. This collection shares ideas and resources to get you started with student projects, especially in remote learning situations. Browse through to find a variety of tools for students to "Show What You Know" for web-based formative assessment.

tag(s): assessment (131), Formative Assessment (44), professional development (290)

In the Classroom

Explore the free tools shared in this Wakelet collection to find formative assessment ideas for any grade level or subject. Take advantage of the tips, OK2Ask archives, and blog posts to learn more about the shared resources and how to incorporate them into your lessons.

Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member

Rating (click star to set rating):

Close comment form

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!).

Close

Less
More

Slido - Slido.com

Grades
5 to 12
2 Favorites 0  Comments
  
Slido is an instant question/answer and an interactive polling application. Create an account to begin using Slido. The free version allows you to crowdsource questions, share three...more
Here is the direct link to share this resource review. Feel free to copy and paste this URL into an email or place it on your web page or blog so others can read this TeachersFirst review:

 Close Link

Slido is an instant question/answer and an interactive polling application. Create an account to begin using Slido. The free version allows you to crowdsource questions, share three polls per event, and brainstorm ideas. After creating your session and questions, provide participants with the code to access your event. Other features include a word cloud option created from audience responses and the ability to crowdsource questions and upvote favorites, so they move to the top of the list.

tag(s): Formative Assessment (44), polls and surveys (40), quizzes (85)

In the Classroom

Use Slido to engage students and for use as a formative assessment tool. When introducing a new unit, use Slido as a pre-assessment to determine student knowledge and guide instruction. Use the anonymous feature to make it easy for students to ask questions in real-time without raising their hand and identifying themselves. Share Slido with students to use during presentations to interact with peers.

Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member

Rating (click star to set rating):

Close comment form

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!).

Close

Less
More

Z-A Quiz Generator - ClassTools

Grades
4 to 12
2 Favorites 0  Comments
  
Test students' knowledge of related items using this unique quiz creator. Create a quiz using a set of common terms or elements (presidents, types of animals, incorrect use of a ...more
Here is the direct link to share this resource review. Feel free to copy and paste this URL into an email or place it on your web page or blog so others can read this TeachersFirst review:

 Close Link

Test students' knowledge of related items using this unique quiz creator. Create a quiz using a set of common terms or elements (presidents, types of animals, incorrect use of a comma, etc.). Build your game by adding additional sets of items to add rounds. To play, divide students into teams and start the game. The alphabet appears beginning with Z and going backward, and letters begin to disappear. If the letter is in your set of terms it pops up into the appropriate place - think of Wheel of Fortune. When a player guesses why items are related, pause the game to hear their response. Continue playing if incorrect or move to the next round if correct.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): assessment (131), game based learning (263), quiz (61), quizzes (85)

In the Classroom

Use the Z-A Quiz Generator as a motivating way to introduce a new unit to students (even as a formative assessment for the class), or to review information before quizzes and tests. Instead of asking students to memorize a set of dates or events, help them by organizing the information into common features. For example, during a Civil War unit group together events taking place in different cities as a way to help provide context for students. Include a link to your quizzes on your class webpage or blog for students to practice at any time using the URL or embed code. Enhance technology use and learning by having students create their own Z-A quizzes to share with peers when studying for tests or use as an introduction with class presentations. When sharing student-created multimedia presentations, modify technology use by using a tool like Sway, reviewed here, to share their final projects including a Z-A quiz for viewers. This quiz generator is also a great resource to use during professional development sessions with your peers. Create a quiz to increase your viewers' interest in your topic as you begin your discussions or as a final activity to review information shared.

Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member

Rating (click star to set rating):

Close comment form

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!).

Close

Less
More

Sketchboard - sketchboard.io

Grades
K to 12
4 Favorites 0  Comments
 
Sketchboard is an online collaborative whiteboard tool that contains unlimited drawing space. The free plan allows up to 5 users, three private boards, and unlimited public boards....more
Here is the direct link to share this resource review. Feel free to copy and paste this URL into an email or place it on your web page or blog so others can read this TeachersFirst review:

 Close Link

Sketchboard is an online collaborative whiteboard tool that contains unlimited drawing space. The free plan allows up to 5 users, three private boards, and unlimited public boards. View the 3 step tutorial to learn how to add features and use the included features. Easily share your board with other participants using the provided link.

tag(s): drawing (56), iwb (27), painting (49)

In the Classroom

Allow students to create collaborative drawings as responses to literature. They can map out the plot or themes, add labels, create character studies, and more. Share the finished products on an interactive whiteboard, projector, or your class website. Have a group of students create a drawing so that another group can use it as a writing prompt. Use a board as a brainstorming or sketching space as groups (or the class) share ideas for a major project or for solving a real-world problem. Use this tool with students in a computer lab (or on laptops) to create a drawing of the setting in a story as it is read aloud. As an assessment idea, have students draw out a simple cartoon with stick figures to explain a more complex process such as how democracy works. If you are lucky enough to teach in a BYOD setting, use Sketchboard to demonstrate and illustrate any concept while students use the chat and drawing tools to interact in real time. If you are studying weather, have students diagram the layers of the atmosphere and what happens during a thunderstorm, for example. Introduce this tool to students who are working on group projects. Alternatively, have students use this to work as partners or as a small team to complete complex math problems or equations. Give students a problem by typing it on their board.

Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member

Rating (click star to set rating):

Close comment form

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!).

Close

Less
More

Google Forms - Google

Grades
K to 12
17 Favorites 0  Comments
 
Create forms for virtually any need using Google Forms, part of Google's online suite of document tools. Begin with included templates, or start with a blank form to create polls, ...more
Here is the direct link to share this resource review. Feel free to copy and paste this URL into an email or place it on your web page or blog so others can read this TeachersFirst review:

 Close Link

Create forms for virtually any need using Google Forms, part of Google's online suite of document tools. Begin with included templates, or start with a blank form to create polls, sign-ups, registrations, and much more. Choose from multiple response options including short answer, multiple choice, and check boxes. Options also allow you to incorporate images and YouTube videos directly into any form. You have the ability to make questions required or optional. Once shared, receive responses in real-time within the "Responses" tab or link to a Google Sheets spreadsheet.

tag(s): polls and surveys (40), spreadsheets (20)

In the Classroom

Take advantage of the flexibility of Google Forms to create surveys for parents and students at the beginning of the year to learn about student interests, create parent volunteer lists, and much more. Create sign in and sign out sheets for classroom library materials including books and digital equipment. Use Google Forms to set up and collaborate on lesson plans, include check boxes to standards, materials needed, and covered content. Google Forms is perfect to use for assessment purposes - create online quizzes and exit tickets. Have students use Google Forms to prepare and submit reading logs, brainstorm and collaborate with fellow students, create choose your own adventure stories, or schedule reading and writing conference times. Use Google Forms to set up and share rubrics for any project, have students complete the rubric and turn in with any completed assignment. The uses for Google Forms are as unlimited as your imagination; this is a must-have tool for all classrooms!

Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member

Rating (click star to set rating):

Close comment form

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!).

Close

Less
More

Pear Deck (formerly Edulastic) - Snapwiz

Grades
K to 12
1 Favorites 0  Comments
 
Edulastic has joined Pear Deck and provides free assessment tools to track learning and mastery of Common Core Standards and state standards. The program includes more than 2,000 customizable...more
Here is the direct link to share this resource review. Feel free to copy and paste this URL into an email or place it on your web page or blog so others can read this TeachersFirst review:

 Close Link

Edulastic has joined Pear Deck and provides free assessment tools to track learning and mastery of Common Core Standards and state standards. The program includes more than 2,000 customizable assessments with automatic grading. Register to create an account, then begin using the assessment library and adding students to your class using a code, emails, or by uploading a data sheet. Be sure to take advantage of Edulastic's articles, training, and free webinar videos to learn about all the features included with this program. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.

tag(s): assessment (131), commoncore (59)

In the Classroom

Create and use short quizzes to track mastery of concepts by all students in your class. Use this site to pretest gifted students. If the gifted students already know the material, allow them to advance to another topic. The quick feedback allows greater opportunity to focus on students who need additional help. Use Edulastic to monitor your teaching of Common Core Standards as well as focusing on student proficiency of content. Since student registration is via email, for young students consider using a "class set" of Gmail subaccounts, explained here; this tells how to configure Gmail subaccounts to use for any online membership service. Using Gmail subaccounts will provide anonymous interaction within your class.

Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member

Rating (click star to set rating):

Close comment form

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!).

Close

Less
More

Quizalize - Zzish

Grades
4 to 12
7 Favorites 0  Comments
  
Track learning in real-time with Quizalize. Student answers are color-coded on the teacher dashboard for ease in identifying who needs more help. Create scrambled word, multiple choice...more
Here is the direct link to share this resource review. Feel free to copy and paste this URL into an email or place it on your web page or blog so others can read this TeachersFirst review:

 Close Link

Track learning in real-time with Quizalize. Student answers are color-coded on the teacher dashboard for ease in identifying who needs more help. Create scrambled word, multiple choice questions, and ChapGPT quizzes, and each question can have a custom timer. View reports for each student's progress and learning gaps. Create a quiz or select one from Quizalize's growing library. Quizzes can be "gamified" by showing the teacher dashboard as a leaderboard to see progress against other contestents. Quizalize works on any device with a browser and Internet connection. Sign up with an email and password. Create a quiz, assign it to classes, get a code, give it to students, and let the fun begin! The free account provides 3 classes and 5 activities.

tag(s): differentiation (79), game based learning (263), gamification (94), polls and surveys (40), quizzes (85)

In the Classroom

Make a class challenge! Create practice quizzes to review the material just learned in class. Use an interactive whiteboard or projector for students to view the "leaderboard" (teacher dashboard) as in a game. Students score more points by answering questions quickly. As with other tools with a leaderboard, it is helpful to have a collaborative environment where competition is not the goal, instead working together and improving is important. Use Quizalize as a formative assessment and to differentiate to see what material needs more review with classes (or individual students). Use this tool often to obtain a snapshot of each student's understanding of content (subtopic/standards); quickly see who understands a concept and who needs some individualized practice. Share with students as a resource for creating quizzes for studying at home. When students are using surveys and polls for reports, introduce them to Quizalize since it works on any device. Share quizzes with your fellow teachers.

Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member

Rating (click star to set rating):

Close comment form

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!).

Close

Less
More

Formative - Newsela

Grades
K to 12
7 Favorites 0  Comments
   
Looking for real-time feed back from your classes? Use tests and quizzes to get immediate feedback with this tool. You can even upload a document to Formative for students to ...more
Here is the direct link to share this resource review. Feel free to copy and paste this URL into an email or place it on your web page or blog so others can read this TeachersFirst review:

 Close Link

Looking for real-time feed back from your classes? Use tests and quizzes to get immediate feedback with this tool. You can even upload a document to Formative for students to annotate. Enter questions that require a variety of answers including true/false, text answers, or student drawings. It will even mark answers for you! Setup a marking key and view instant data on who is correct. Students can create an account to get access to the materials you create. The site works on all devices and integrates with Google Classroom. Formative is aligned to many standards including Common Core, Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and many other common standards. Create a free account. All assignments are organized in the dashboard. Click on New Assignment to begin and choose to start from scratch or upload a document. Choose the type of question and even add content such as text, whiteboard, or YouTube videos. Be sure to set up a key for automatic grading and watch the live results as they come in. Formative is optimized to work on any device with a modern web browser and an Internet connection. Formative now has AI in beta. There are directions for signing up for the AI part of Formative.

tag(s): assessment (131), commoncore (59), personalized learning (10), playlists (5), polls and surveys (40), quizzes (85)

In the Classroom

Use this tool at the beginning of chapters or units to identify information students are already familiar with. Be sure to use this tool to check for understanding. Use as an exit slip, to identify material that needs to be retaught, or to locate specific students that need remediation. Students can easily see the choices and choose answers using a browser on a laptop or any device. Use this formative assessment tool to create pretests to offer to gifted students to "test out" of already learned material. Make it a class challenge! Project your quiz to the entire classroom using a whiteboard or projector. Use this tool often to obtain a snapshot of each student's understanding of content. Use this tool to give students the opportunity to predict the content of tomorrow's lesson based upon today's.

Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member

Rating (click star to set rating):

Close comment form

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!).

Close