Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

This site offers a collection of lesson plans, videos, photographs, songs, timelines, and other documents about the history of the labor movement in the U.S. The documents are a compilation from many prestigious sources including the Library of Congress, the National Archives, labor history from individual states, and labor museums. Click topics to explore such as Using Songs to Teach Labor History, Black Labor History, Women's Labor History, Religion and Labor, and several others.

tag(s): history day (39), labor day (5)

This large variety of drawings and photographs is a great resource for K-12 students and teachers. Either choose from drawings or photographs related to science, social studies, math, and language arts. These images will support classroom instruction, presentations, multimedia projects, websites, or reports. Useful tags will help you search for images. Educational use of Edpic images is free of charge.

tag(s): animals (295), digital storytelling (154)

Anne Frank in the World 1929-1945 is an online critical thinking unit designed to use the story of a young girl as a catalyst to understand the themes of discrimination, diversity, peace, and justice. It includes several worksheets, readings, images, lessons and objectives delineated for various grade levels, and exposes students to vocabulary and concepts related to the cruel realities that Anne and other victims of the Holocaust endured. What distinguishes this site from many of the others is the sensitivity to Anne's story from her viewpoint, which is invaluable because she was a teenager during the Nazi period and had many similar interests and concerns as today's teenagers.

tag(s): anne frank (10), holocaust (42), jews (33), nazis (8), remembrance day (5), women (151), world war 2 (161)

Create polls that can be answered online or through the use of text messaging. Voters submit answers by sending SMS messages to a short number. Poll everywhere tallies the responses which can then be accessed and viewed. Use the free plan for unlimited question and unlimited voters. Make it visual by creating a word cloud of the responses. Use the apps for PowerPoint or Keynote slides of the poll results and create charts that can be embedded into a web page. There are several other apps such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and ohers. Simple and easy to use!

tag(s): polls and surveys (49), quiz (67), quizzes (90)

This is a site created in partnership with Google as a project to help generations share and talk more through social networking. The concept is that young people ask older people to share their photos; these photos are then uploaded through Google maps to show the world as it once was. The older pictures can be compared to today's images through Google street view. In addition to uploading photos, stories can also be shared about the time period and the pictures.

tag(s): cultures (180), maps (220)

Lego Education Activities are designed to be rich, fun-filled, creative learning experiences. They offer educators a means to use LEGO sets as essential tools that engage students while challenging their creativity and enhancing their knowledge and comprehension. As a thinking teacher, you only need to look on the Teachersfirst Editor's Blog here to realize what a hot topic teaching creativity is and how it fits into the classroom. From role-playing and meeting the needs of early childhood development to theme-based sets for older students, LEGO Activities offer a multi-disciplinary approach to teaching. There are also specific sets designed to cover specific subject areas, including technology curriculum. As you browse the activities, you will find obvious connections to curriculum in simple machines and other science topics, as well. Stay current and find a lot more stimulating ideas by checking out the LEGO Education and LEGO Smart Blogs available from theLego Education Activities page.

tag(s): creativity (86), critical thinking (127), logic (161), problem solving (233)

This free audio book site offers classical literature and philosophy books in the public domain for download at no charge. In addition to typical classics, it offers recordings of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, some Mark Twain, and a few Christmas recordings for children including "Twas the Night Before Christmas," "The Gift of the Magi," and "Scrooge: A Christmas Carol."

tag(s): audio books (26)

This site from "Mr.Donn," hosts lesson plans, interactives, and other resources to supplement a unit on Ancient or Modern China. The resources are grouped by historical period, touching upon topics such as the Song Dynasty, Marco Polo, and the Communist Revolution. Though TeachersFirst does not usually recommend lists of resources, this site has so many it made the exception!

tag(s): china (81), evolution (89)

Though we don't often recommend "lists" of links, this site hosts 19 links to games about or related to Ancient China. The games vary in age level and topic, ranging from Tangram squares, to review games and Calligraphy how-to's.

tag(s): china (81)

This site from PBS is an accompaniment to the documentary by the same name. There are several clips of the movie available by clicking "The Film" link. You may want to preview the film clips before sharing them with younger students, as some are rather graphic. In addition to information on the film there are also maps, essays, and primary sources from Tiananmen Square and the following Beijing Massacre. For teachers using the film, there is additional information about people in the film, transcripts, and behind the scenes information. For those not using the film, there is plenty of supplemental material that could benefit a lesson on Tiananmen Square.

tag(s): china (81), communism (3)

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 (263), movies (54), photography (130), slides (43)

This is another incredibly rich site, so much so that it's difficult to know where to start in describing it. Designed to be a resource to those teaching history, the site is divided into three main areas: teaching materials, history content, and best practices. The teaching materials section includes these topics: Reviewed Lesson Plans, Teaching Guides, and English Language Learners. The history content includes website reviews, multimedia resources, links to museums and historical sites and other resources. The best practices section looks at how one thinks as a historian, advice on using primary sources, and tips for those teaching history. There are brief video introductions to the site focused on different instructional levels (elementary, middle school, and high school). Tucked in the corners is a weekly history quiz, video interviews with historians, and an NHEC blog.

tag(s): history day (39), primary sources (117)

Created by a former elementary gifted education teacher, this is a blog that focuses on primary source documents and websites. Because it's a blog, the site has a series of keywords down the right margin, and features dated entries about various topics. Like other "old places," it's made to explore, noodle around in, and generally lose yourself. While the site might not necessarily be a great resource to students themselves, teachers will find it fascinating and possibly inspiring for teaching ideas and student projects, all using primary sources. Inspire a love of history with the "things" that bring it to life.

tag(s): primary sources (117), resources (84)

Worldmapper is a collection of world maps, where territories are re-sized on each map according to the subject of interest. There are nearly 700 maps. Maps 1-366 are also available as PDF posters. Use the menu bar at the top to find a map of interest. There is also a series of maps on the visualization of the world's population using a new mapping technique: Worldmapper Population Atlas. Be aware: parts of this site open slowly.

tag(s): maps (220), politics (118)

This fascinating site is based on an exhibit of American Revolutionary spy letters from the William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Explore some of the fascinating items on the left menu with items like Stories of Spies and Letters, Secret Methods and Techniques, a Timeline and others. The Gallery of Letters link on the right provides a brief description of each letter and links to more information about the stories of the spies in the letter or the secret methods used to make the letter. This site is rich with primary sources, taking students back in time!

tag(s): evolution (89), history day (39), primary sources (117)

This site offers a creative way to teach landmark Supreme Court cases. The site provides nine historical court cases for students to argue. Each case is a separate interactive. In each activity, students play a lawyer representing one side of the case. Using supporting documents, students must choose the best argument for the side they are representing. After signing in, click Download the Teacher Resources, and a box will pop up. From the box, you can select SCOTUS PATH.pdf, ArgumentWars20_Guide.pdf, Game Extension Pack ELL_Guide.pdf, and Arguement Wars Extension Pack.pdf. The Extension Packs add relevance for students through PowerPoint slides. Students "win" the game and case if they score more points than their computer-generated opponent.

tag(s): constitution (96), game based learning (205), supreme court (27)

In this interactive role playing game, students take on the role of a lawyer starting a law firm. Students take on cases, hire lawyers and try to grow their business. To be successful, they must understand constitutional amendments. Students can earn prestige points by successfully interacting with clients and winning cases. In order to have a thriving law practice, students have to hire lawyers that are familiar with various amendments. Lesson plans and after-activity PowerPoints are provided.

tag(s): bill of rights (33), constitution (96), game based learning (205)

This site is a civic education program that encourages students to be involved in the electoral and policy making process of the US government. Through interactive multimedia, the site offers technology-based civic education resources that foster long-term civic engagement. There are parts of this site that are available to non-members, while other features are "member only." Membership requires name of school, email, and address. Teachers and curriculum leaders can sign up for a free account, and approval takes 2 - 3 days. Once approved, you will have access to several multimedia rich content areas.

tag(s): congress (40), elections (82), senate (10)

Teachable Moments provides lesson ideas and plans for "just in time" events happening around the world. All of the activities foster a positive classroom environment and focus on critical thinking. Lessons can be found for elementary, middle, and high school students. Lessons contain some combination of text, links, video, and audio. Some lesson plans available at the time of this review included Islam and Islamaphobia, Just How Broken is the Senate, and many others. All lessons are presented in a "standard" lesson plan format and provides the time needed for each portion of the lesson. The offerings can also help misinformed or alarmed students to better understand events in a context appropriate for their age, unlike the screaming headlines they may hear on the television or elsewhere on the web.

tag(s): black history (133), democracy (24), politics (118), social and emotional learning (102)

This site contains links to many different sources for rubrics. You can search by grade level, subject, or type making it easier to find an appropriate rubric.

tag(s): assessment (147)