Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

The close relationship between promoting physical fitness and the White House can be followed through the many topics at this site: Learn the Facts, Eat Healthy, Get Active, Take Action, and Join Us. Some of the more specific topics highlight how to limit TV time, the importance of trying new fruits and vegetables, planting a garden, and more.

tag(s): fitness (39), myplate (18), nutrition (140), presidents (135)

This gallery of World War II-era cartoons by Theodor Geisel, reveal the acerbic wit and political philosophy of the beloved children's author. The site also features audio and video clips from Dr. Seuss on his career and a brief history of political cartooning. Two lesson plans - focusing on the American themes and social messages addressed by Geisel - are available for downloading (and include McRel standards).

tag(s): comics and cartoons (55), dr seuss (12), world war 2 (161)

Here is a tribute to baseball as an essential part of American culture. Learn everything you every wanted to know about each of the Major League ballparks, from seating charts to attendance figures, to the history behind former ballparks, you'll find it here. The site does include some minor advertisements.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): baseball (32), sports (82)

Baseball and history fans will love this Library of Congress site with historical pictures that trace the heritage of our nation's pastime. Each page of pictures provides the historical context for the shot. The site also has a special presentation on Jackie Robinson and his historic breaking of baseball's color line.

tag(s): africa (148), african american (115), baseball (32)

Create maps -- for multiple reasons -- with ease. As you 'travel' through your geography or history course, create an ongoing map of the places you've visited and embed/post it on your blog or any webpage. Simply type in the title of your map, choose the land masses you wish to include, and then click on the correct boxes for your particular locations. When finished, click the You're Ready box at the bottom of the screen. Now scroll to the top to see what your map will look like. The embed code (geek-speak term for computer gobble-dee-gook that tells your computer how to find and display the map you have made) for your map is ready to copy and paste into your webpage. You can find the embed code to the right of the map. There is also a button to Reset and Start Over.

tag(s): maps (220)

This site offers a different perspective of the "festival of the dead" on October 31st. This site highlights Day of the Dead celebrations as they relate to Halloween. Although this site is text-heavy, it would be very useful in upper elementary grades and beyond. There are also video clips. The site includes background information, conclusion questions, and class activity suggestions. Very basic standards are included.

tag(s): halloween (32), japan (56), mexico (37)

Use this site to create polls for your students (or have students create their own). The polls are embeddable in your wiki, blog, or class website. The site is still in beta. You can create a name, an expiration date for the survey, questions (multiple choice, yes or no, and ranking), and input your email address to be informed as results come into the site. If you plan to have students register individually, you may want to create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes. Here is a blog post that tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service. Registration is not required to use this site. There are some advertisements and external links at this site (all appropriate at the time of this review). So if you allow students to use this site on their own, be sure to watch carefully.

tag(s): data (151), polls and surveys (49)

Take a short journey to learn about the Blues' history, including audio presented by the Kennedy Center. Begin by learning about the roots of blues found in songs and spirituals of Black field workers in the 1930s, then travel on a four-part journey through the decades to discover "new" blues heard in the music of modern artists such as Cat Power and Gnarls Barkley. Audio recordings are available to download to your device as an MP3 file.

tag(s): blues (22), chicago (4), jazz (16), louisiana (6), mississippi (5)

Need a PowerPoint? Check this site first to find one on a topic you need from the vast array available. The free PowerPoints and interactive activities are easily downloaded. To find the FREE PowerPoint presentations, click on the FREE Presentations in PowerPoint Format link found directly under the red train. There are literally hundreds of topics (over 1,200 at the time of this review). Topics are listed in alphabetical order. There are so many topics: Plagiarism, Integers, Interjections, IQ Tests, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Graphic Organizers, Graphs, Gold Rush, the Bible, Economics, Amelia Earhart (and many other heroes), Descriptive Writing, Coral Reefs, Civil Rights Movement, Autism, Ancient Civilizations, Presidents, Louisiana Purchase, Money, Music Instruments, How to Write an Outline, Rosa Parks, Resumes, Terrorism, Vietnam War, and many MANY others. Primary teachers will appreciate simple activities on Dolch words and other sight vocabulary! Pages are arranged in topics such as "Plants and Animals," "World History," "Biology, Chemistry, and Physics," and "Problem Solving." There are many professional topics on exceptionalities, as well. Each page includes a vast array of subtopics. Other links on the page include "Greta's Game Station" and "Hannah's Help" which offers information on researching.

tag(s): 20th century (62), adhd (28), back to school (55), electricity (61), flight (34), inventors and inventions (80), literature (221), parts of speech (39), polar (10), politics (118), speech (69), states (124), war of 1812 (15), world war 1 (77), world war 2 (161)

Original illustrations of classic Christmas memorabilia highlight this no-frills site. If you need a quick explanation, with photos, about the origin of Christmas, Christmas trees, and evolution of Santa, this site will suit your purpose well. The four main topics include: Origins of Christmas, Evolution of Santa, The Christmas Tree, and Twas the Night Before Christmas. Students researching old customs will appreciate the simple approach.

tag(s): christmas (38), trees (18)

The Smithsonian's presidential biographies resource offers basic biographical information and images on all American Presidents, along with highlights of their administrations. Useful for both its content and its comprehensiveness. The site offers some basic information about all presidents (Washington through Obama).

tag(s): biographies (94), politics (118), presidents (135)

The White House web site includes short biographies of all the American presidents, suitable for introductory use or to compare presidencies. There are also a few facts about the presidents, presidential "firsts," and the various administration.

tag(s): presidents (135), white house (16)

Looking for some new tricks to teaching this genre (fairy tales, folktales, and Myths) to your students? Check out this site that provides lesson plans, interactives, class activities, reproducible pages, and more. The lesson plans and activities are divided by grade level (K-3, 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12). The site says that the lessons (for all levels) will take approximately one day/class period.

tag(s): air (101), folktales (34)

Celebrate great African-Americans from this complete link. Research those famous in medicine, politics, arts & entertainment, armed forces, and sports. This site is actually a downloadable PDF file of a Teacher's Guide with standards, objectives, printables, discussion questions, and specific activity ideas. The PDF file links to a site that provides a timeline of "prejudice to pride." Examples of activities include analyzing photos or poetry, research presentations, and writing exercises. This site requires Adobe Acrobat. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.

tag(s): africa (148), black history (133)

We know that today's students are far more accustomed to learning through images than students of the past. This site is a collection of the work of dozens of political cartoonists and is constantly updated to provide fresh content tied to the news of the day. The site is surprisingly deep, however, and has cartoon galleries that go back at least five years.

Teachers should be aware of several cautions however: Preview the cartoons collections for age-appropriateness; understand that the site does contain advertisements; and recognize that the images are copyright protected. Teachers are advised to post links to specific cartoons rather than trying to "cut and paste" the cartoons into websites or other documents.

tag(s): comics and cartoons (55), politics (118)

This site has letters written to Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt, during the Depression. Use them to teach lessons about that difficult time to younger students. These may serve as an important discussion tool in helping students understand the very real distress suffered by many families during the Depression. Click Teacher Resources to find lesson plans for grades 3-12, PDF docuements categorized as Human Meaning of the Depression, Children Turn to the President, Government Responds to the Young, and Magpie Sings the Great Depression.

tag(s): franklin (12), great depression (30), new deal (5), roosevelt (15)

This simple site offers several "Classroom Connections" to use in conjunction with a field trip to the museum. However, many of these ideas could easily be adapted into research projects or writing assignments for students in social studies or history class without a museum visit. All topics relate to Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War, or 19th Century Kids.

tag(s): civil war (139), lincoln (66), presidents (135)

This outstanding site examines America's most profound national experience through artifacts that are housed in the Smithsonian Institution. Twelve topics - including Slavery and Abolition, Appomattox, Life and Culture, Weapons, and Mathew Brady - link to virtual collections of objects that can be individually explored. A Civil War timeline is included.

tag(s): abolition (7), civil war (139), lincoln (66), slavery (79)

Art, history, and government teachers will all delight in this informative website about Lincoln. There are pictures, detailed information, and even podcasts answering some famous questions (such as Why Did Lincoln Grow a Beard). You will also see the works of Mathew Brady. Take advantage of the lesson plans (downloadable in PDF). Specific topics cover Whitman and Lincoln, Lincoln and Photography, Life Masks of Lincoln, and several more.

tag(s): civil war (139), lincoln (66), oil (22), presidents (135)