Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

This site is dated but has good ideas to commemorate and teach about 9/11. Are you looking for ways to inspire meaningful discussions of September 11th and to help make sense of this tragedy? The Tribute World Trade Center Visitor Center of New York City presents awards to honor teachers who have created exemplary educational projects for students to express and sustain the memory of September 11th. Using the menu bar on the far right, this site shares their projects from the globe and involving all aspects of the arts and humanities, including history, language arts, visual, media and performing arts. Although this site is mainly designed for grades 5-12, there are some activities for younger elementary students found in the "Resources for Your Classroom" section of the site.

tag(s): sept11 (18), terrorism (41), terrorist (12)

This tribute to 9/11 is a series of interactive photographs that highlights the episodes that transpired from shortly after 8:00 a.m. when the American Airlines flight was hijacked and struck the first tower of the World Trade Center, to the aftermath when the pile of debris that was once the Twin Towers became flooded with volunteer rescue workers doing the indescribable heroic work of helping the surviving victims and recovering the remains of the human lives that were destroyed. Click your curser on the photographs to see it enlarged and read actual descriptions from flight attendants, survivors, firefighters, family members and others who were part of tragic history in the making. Under the photographs, on the lower right of your screen, you will see two small arrows; click there to see the complete timeline with short video clips. This is an opportunity to "relive" that day, almost minute by minute, as if you were actually there.

tag(s): sept11 (18), terrorism (41), terrorist (12)

Quiznator is a free, web-based worksheet, test, and any other type of learning document creator. Membership is free and is promised to always be free. You are able to access your creations online from anywhere! Email is required to join, however, verification is not required. Add your documents, test questions, and worksheets and let Quiznator organize and update them for you. This makes creating multiple version of the same exam quick and painless. This is a great way to back up files on the web for school!

tag(s): worksheets (71)

Published under Creative Commons license, Jamendo offers a great variety of copyright-free music. This makes a great addition to your technology resource list as both you and your students can use this site to create soundtracks for videos, use music in podcasts, and just download music to play for students during activities. Once you click on a song that you want to play or download, there is a screen that asks if you would like to make a donation to the musician. This is completely optional and not required to download. However, it may help you to discuss ethical music practices and copyrights with your students. One thing to keep in mind when using this website is that to keep the music, computers must have downloaded permission from your district. If this is a problem and this is a tool you want to use, try talking to your technology department and/or your administration for special, educational permission.

tag(s): copyright (43), sound (71)

At this site you will find a slide show with at least fourteen different programs you can use instead of PowerPoint for your lectures. Are your PowerPoint lectures boring you and your students? Take a look at this online slide show, and choose one of fourteen different programs to convert just one of your PowerPoint lectures. Not only is each program explained, but many have suggestions for integrating your lectures with the program. Take a look. Learn about some great web 2.0 sites (Prezi, TypeWith.me, Animoto, ToonDoo, and many others). Note that many of the tools mentioned are also reviewed on TeachersFirst in greater detail if you want to learn more.

tag(s): chat (41), comics and cartoons (56), digital storytelling (156)

Get to know the new $100 bill through this resource provided by the Department of Treasury. There is an interactive video quiz and an applet to design your own bill. The video quiz can also be seen with captions. In addition, there is a link to materials that can be downloaded for classroom use.

tag(s): currency (14)

TeachersFirst doesn't normally review lists of "links," but this hotlist from Fact Monster was good enough to pass our review team. The links here provide all kinds of ideas for classroom activities for Flag Day, including quizzes, puzzles, and a flag timeline. There's also additional information about the national anthem and Betsy Ross.

tag(s): american flag (8), american revolution (86), evolution (89), flag day (5)

This site from the Smithsonian provides ample information about the American Flag, as well as early American history. The Explore option on the site allows you to investigate and discover important facts about the flag and its creation. There is also a section about the National Anthem, as well as an interactive quiz about the early days of American government. A great site for Flag Day or early U.S. history!

tag(s): american flag (8), american revolution (86), evolution (89), flag day (5), national anthem (3)

Although this site may look pretty simple, it has some great information on the history and evolution of the American Flag. The site hosts images of all the flags, including the famous "Don't tread on me," flag from the revolutionary period. Besides images, each flag hosted on the site has a brief history accompanying it.

tag(s): american flag (8), american revolution (86), evolution (89), flag day (5)

This site allows you to safely share YouTube videos and crop the parts that you do not want from the video. The process is simple. Find a YouTube video that you would like to share with your students. Paste the link for the video into safe share TV, click to edit, and copy the link of your trimmed YouTube video. It can be pasted into powerpoint, webpages, social networking sites, and anything else you can think of! A safe and easy way to bring media into your class for free.

tag(s): safety (66)

Create your own piece of art using a style and technique similar to Jackson Pollack. Click on the screen to create art on the blank canvas. Just click your mouse and watch the painting begin. Using your mouse, drag and click to disperse paint. Left-click to change the color of the paint. Right-click to save the image to your device.

tag(s): painting (54)

This informative site gives an entertaining education about life in George Washington's 18th Century world. Click to learn about Washington's Treasures, Harpsichord Hero, Bombarding Yorktown, Jigsaw Puzzles, or the Archeology Memory Game. This site offers several educational games. An additional benefit of the site is that it is visually appealing and students can learn about the life of that time period by just looking at the images. The animation is fairly realistic. Some parts are read to the students; other parts they will have to read themselves.

tag(s): evolution (89), washington (28)

This site takes any quotation or poem and creates a "word cloud" (graphical display) of the words in a passage of text. Paste in any passage or the URL for any blog entry or web page (including newspapers online) to create a word cloud of the text. Enhance basic word clouds by using this site to create clouds in various shapes, use mouse rollover options, use font effects, and more. Elevate your word clouds into an art form. Once registered, change your password by clicking on the profile tab and entering your changes. Before creating a word cloud, agree to their terms that includes only using appropriate content. Copy and paste series of words or use the URL of a page where the words can be found. Choose a shape such as a heart, cloud, or geometric patterns. Choose a font as well as other options, and then click "Build the Cloud." Preview your cloud before saving. WordArt.com is free for personal and non-commercial use. However, you can only download Standard Quality (SQ) images for free.

tag(s): images (263), vocabulary (242), word choice (14), word clouds (13)

There are plenty of helpful sites to learn content. What makes this so special? Created by an uncle wanting to help his nieces learn material, Khan Academy has grown into a Creative Commons attributed site for helping all students. What information is available? Maybe one should ask: What are you looking for? View a vast array of videos on many topics: SAT prep, Algebra, Geometry, Chemistry, Biology, History, Trigonometry, Calculus, Economics, Brain Teasers, Banking and Money, Statistics, Finance, Physics, and more....Whew! The only problem? The videos are hosted on You Tube. If your district blocks You Tube, then they may not be viewable. Ed note: An alternative is to access Khan Academy through iTunes U FREE downloads, assuming you can load and access iTunes!

tag(s): atoms (43), cells (82), energy (133), functions (52), homework (28), matter (45), molecules (43), photosynthesis (21), respiration (11), structures (18)

StoryCorps is a nonprofit site where Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs can record, share, and preserve the stories of their lives. It is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind. At the site you can download a "Do it Yourself Guide", find resources for teachers, and a list of great questions. You can subscribe to their podcast, e-newsletter, and blog, or you can upload your own story or that of a loved one or friend for free. Each conversation is recorded on a free CD to share, and is preserved at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

tag(s): questioning (36), writing (322)

This site provides a comprehensive look at the Star Spangled Banner. The site lets you interact with the Star Spangled Banner by clicking on various "hot spots". You can play a game called Collect the Stars that requires you to collect 14 stars by answering quiz questions. You can sing your own version of the national anthem and contribute your own photos to the flag mosaic. There is also a link to educational resources (click resources). You can also click on the link at the bottom of the page "How to Use This Resource In Your Classroom."

tag(s): colonial america (95), flag day (5), williamsburg (8)

The Anne Frank House has been a museum since 1960. The history of the former hiding place where the Frank family and four other Jews lived in secrecy comes alive on this website. Starting with 1940 photographs of the building known as Opekta factory, see and learn how the office space was transformed into the Secret Annex where Anne Frank hid for more than two years until the betrayal and arrest by the Nazis. Find out about the four employees who risked their lives to make the hiding possible. The rooms of the Secret Annex have been preserved in their authentic state and salvaged documents and objects belonging to the eight people in hiding are on display. Three short films are included on the website to place the significance of this personal story in a historical context. See Anne Frank's hiding place in 3D and meet the people that helped those hidden inside. After clicking on the secret bookcase, you will be taken behind the scenes of the house to see how Anne and others lived in the communal room, the front office, the attic and more. View the painstaking ways that were taken to keep them safe, and by looking at the space where Anne ate, slept, and hung her pictures.

tag(s): anne frank (10), holocaust (43), remembrance day (5), women (154), world war 2 (163)