Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

This resource allows you to create slide shows, greeting cards, scrapbooks, invitations, collages, and more. There is a free basic program, but there are paid upgrades available if desired. For educational purposes, the upgrades are not needed. Photos, videos, and music can all be added to your creations. A Smilebox template must be used to make your creations. Products made with this program can be shared to web pages and blogs, social networking sites, or emailed for free. Several themes in each category are free. You no longer have to download this program.

tag(s): blogs (65), images (261), movies (53), photography (119), slides (43)

Create authentic-looking magazine covers sure to attract double-takes. Simply upload a photo to create your cover. If you do not need to SAVE the photo for online access later, you do not even need to join the site. Covers you create can be downloaded as completed images or sent via email and other sharing tools (Facebook, etc). Photos can be uploaded from your files, Flickr, your website, or other photosharing sites. Fill in your desired text for the titles and sub-titles and choose colors for them. It's that simple. Click 'Create' at the bottom and you have a magazine cover that will leave others in awe. For more creative ideas using Big Huge Labs, go to the top of the page and click on Big Huge Labs Blog or Forum. Big Huge Labs offers MANY similar tools, such as Mapmaker, reviewed here. Of course, this site offers advanced options for a fee or with free registration, but neither is necessary.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): bulletin boards (15), collages (17), firstday (22), flickr (2), images (261), posters (43)

Create puzzles and other word games using this resource. Puzzle types include Word Search, Crossword, Word Scramble, Bagels (Interactive Logic Game,) and Math worksheets among others. There are also quotes, illusions, and more. Creating a log in is not required. Puzzles created remain for two months and can be saved as a pdf file on your computer. Many puzzles are already permanently archived and can be found by looking through the categories. Don't miss many holiday and calendar-event puzzles! Search puzzles of the day to find new and interesting puzzles to use.

tag(s): holidays (185), logic (162), puzzles (144), vocabulary (239)

Record a message and embed it into your favorite site or provide a link to share, for free. Send to a friend by entering your email and the email of the recipient. Share on many social media sites witht he press of a button. Recording the message is easy and embedding into a site such as a wiki or blog has never been simpler! No login or registration is needed. Although, if you choose to send a message via email, you must choose a password to use at the site. Vocaroos are stored on their server. Created messages can also be downloaded to individual computers. Visit their FAQ's for frequent questions and responses.

tag(s): communication (139), speech (68)

The title says it all: "Inspired Picture Writing!" Use this free drag and drop literacy tool to create great sentences inspired by beautiful pictures. Alternatively, add inspirational or humorous captions to pictures. "Lesson Plans" provides learning opportunities and examples for creating captions, compound sentences, or paragraphs. Video tutorials can be found under the FAQs tab. "Explore the Gallery" to see already-created PicLits as well as comments and ratings. After selecting a picture (or using the one they provide) and dragging a word onto the screen, choose different forms of the word by using the drop-down menu next to the word. Move your words anywhere on the screen for creative writing. You can also click "freestyle" instead to type in your own words instead of choosing from their list. Word lists change, depending on the image selected. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.

Registering for a PicLits account requires the use of an email address. PicLits can be used without an account but you are unable to save or blog about their creation without an account. A class account can be created instead of individual student accounts. However, it does not show which work is attributable to which student. You may want to require that students initial their contributions in order to get credit. All work on the site can be seen without a login. All projects are public. NOTE: Our editors regret that PicLits occasionally allows advertising on their home page to include images that are not classroom-friendly. Teachers should preview to determine whether or not your students can ignore the ads.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): creative writing (123), digital storytelling (153), images (261), sentences (22)

The Imagination Factory is a tool that can help teachers, students, and community members use creative ways to recycle by making art. The site offers a large compilation of activities and crafts made from what most people consider to be everyday trash. The site is easily searchable based on two search methods: by Category and by the Trash Matcher. Need a project for the beginning of the year? Look it up through the Category listing. Have old dryer sheets, dried markers, junk mail, and roll-on deodorant bottles you just don't know what to do with? Look them up by matching your trash to a project in the Trash Matcher!

tag(s): crafts (60), earth (185), earth day (60), ecology (102), recycling (45)

Create photo trading cards using images you upload or store on Flickr, Instagram, or Dropbox. Imagine having your students create study aides about famous people using images they draw and scan or photos of themselves impersonating the famous people, such as presidents, explorers, authors, and more. If you celebrate reading by having an "author's tea," why not follow up by asking students to make trading cards for the authors they "met"? Use a similar approach for famous historical figures or even for geometric shapes you photograph with the digital camera. If students write their own "biographies" of the shapes to study from, they will learn for sure! They can even trade each other for favorites.

tag(s): book reports (28), famous people (19), images (261)

The menu on the right side of this page reveals different types of hands-on crafts that are perfect for the elementary classroom. Tap into this resource for some unique ways to celebrate this time of year.

tag(s): christmas (38), crafts (60), holidays (185), Juneteenth (22)

Here's a ready source for thousands of art ideas, projects, and activities for primary students. Seasonal and theme activities provide primary teachers or parents with lots of instructional options. This site also includes a variety of craft projects.

tag(s): crafts (60)