Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Make a poster in a snap using this easy tool. Just upload your photo, slice it, and your poster size images will be downloaded to your computer--ready for printing. View the site's gallery for poster ideas. The pictures are downloaded into a PDF file. Adobe Acrobat is required. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.

tag(s): photography (131)

This simple, "hands-on" website offers PDF files of numerous paper models of Polyhedra. The files are ready to print and share with your students. The various geometric solids include platonic solids, Archimedean solids, Kepler-Poinsot Polyhedra, and numerous others. The files are available in PDF format and require Adobe. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox.

tag(s): paper folding (3), visual thinking (8)

Art and world history come alive through this dazzling collection of the Yale University Art Gallery. The collections span time and continents: African art, American painting, sculpture and decorative arts, ancient art, art of the ancient Americans, Asian art, coins and medals, and early European, modern, and contemporary art. Each collection is easily viewed in a via individual picture format with detailed descriptions, which combine art and history. Scroll to the bottom of each collection to find a video about the collection. The video times vary from three minutes to over an hour. The "Kids and Families" section of the website has stories, activities, coloring books, and online jigsaw puzzles that could also be used in the classroom. The website includes resources for K12 educators has information for professional development and after-school programs and classes.

tag(s): art history (108), artists (87), coins (6), painting (54), photography (131), sculpture (18)

Africa Focus offers a wealth of digital images and sound recordings from contemporary Africa. This collection from the University of Wisconsin contains more than 3000 slides, 500 photographs, and 50 hours of sounds from 45 different countries. Click Search the Collection to see image categories which include artisans, buildings and structures, cities and towns, education, landscape, religion, and women. Sound recordings include drums, greetings, rites and ceremonies, songs, and signing. The site is easily searched by keyword or by subject heading.

tag(s): africa (170), air (99), architecture (84), black history (136)

This mini-lesson plan teaches children sequence, observation, season awareness, and creative expression. The children either make multiple drawings or cards which capture the outdoor scene of the present season. They also put the cards or drawings in sequential order. Children who can't write can dictate their comments to the teacher. As the children share their sequential stories with each other, they all practice listening skills, learn new vocabulary, and understand differences in points of view. Children can also take their classmates' pictures and cards and rearrange them and tell or write new stories.

tag(s): drawing (62), seasons (37), sequencing (17)

This is a wonderful site for high school educators who are interested in teaching the arts through theatre, music, art, or any of the humanities. It is a professional workshop site that offers 8 one-hour practical video seminars on how to teach the arts and on the passion of those who already do. The videos are free for streaming, but you can also purchase them as DVDs or VHS. You do have to register--for free. The self-described goal is a workshop to help teachers improve their teaching through seven different foci, including the diverse needs of students, instructional approaches, creating the appropriate learning environment to making the most of community resources, and encouraging students to be independent thinkers and creative problem solvers.

tag(s): creativity (87)

If you are teaching anything related to the Renaissance time period, this is a nifty site for studying costuming of the period. It gives detailed information on the materials, colors, and types of clothing worn in the Elizabethan era.

tag(s): renaissance (38)

To investigate Kidlink, click Teachers Room, and follow the directions on that page to register for free and see what the site has to offer. This website provides an online connection to students from various areas of the world. There are links provided for students, families, and teachers. The website is available in various languages - English, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, and Portuguese. Students can share stories, artwork, and more. The educational content includes life planning skills (careers), social studies (geography, government, history, etc.), writing, and many other academic areas. Free registration is required for each student and teacher. All content is monitored by volunteer moderators. What a fabulous resource to use in geography or language arts class. This website doesn't just teach students about countries throughout the world, but also allows students to interact with students of various cultures as they write and respond to each other in this safe environment.

tag(s): careers (183), communication (130), cultures (226)

Letter Zoo is a lesson idea geared to primary-aged students working on letter recognition. The site demonstrates how to create animals and other creatures using various letters of the alphabet (both uppercase and lowercase). It provides several templates as examples. This is a tactile way for students to learn the letters of the alphabet.

tag(s): alphabet (52)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City offers this site. View World Maps, Timelines, Thematic Essays, and more. Click on the "Works of Art" link to search by time period, geographical region, or thematic category. Time periods include 8000 BC to the present. Thematic categories include African, Renaissance, Colonial, Medieval, Modern, and more. The timeline features nearly every continent and many categories of art.

tag(s): art history (108), medieval (33), renaissance (38)

This Wikipedia-type dictionary includes more than 33,000 biographies on men and women from ancient times to today. Search by birth or death dates, professions, achievements, name or other keywords. Anyone can register to edit or add to a biography. If you do recommend this site as a source for research, be sure to have the discussion about its unknown authorship and usefulness as a general information tool but not as a "scholarly" resource.

tag(s): critical thinking (137)

This fabulous website about wolves and habitats in Yellowstone allows participants to "live" as a wolf, raise their young, explore the wilderness, go hunting, and survive. Students can work alone or with partners, as they learn about wolves in the wild. Students can consult biologists, write original stories, create drawings, and more. This is the first episode; future installments are expected in late 2008. Students and/or teachers must register (free)to use the program. We recommend using a single class/teacher registration or parent/student written agreements for student registrations in order to prevent inappropriate postings "clever" students might make on the community discussion boards. There are also detailed lesson plans (click on Wolf Info > classroom activities). The lesson plans include national science standards.

tag(s): animal homes (57), animals (293), zoology (18)

If Arthur and his friends sit on your bookshelf, bookmark this interactive and safe PBS website. The site offers numerous activities, polls, information about your favorite Arthur characters, and many other educational activities. Some examples include Moonlight Mazes, Arthur's Park, and numerous others.

tag(s): letter writing (20), nutrition (140), writing (323)

Leonardo da Vinci is one of history's greatest geniuses. This site looks at Leonardo's work in ways that highlight how comprehensive and interdisciplinary his impact has been. Of course, you can examine his individual works of art, but this site is organized along threads, which you can access through a traditional menu or through an interactive web. Follow Leonardo's influence in math, through his inventions, in his understanding of the human body or his examination of the natural world. There is an abundance of information to learn on this site, however, there are also some just-plain-fun flash-enabled games to play like making the Mona Lisa smile broadly by correctly answering questions about her, practice mirror writing, or see if you can power his glider across a ravine.

tag(s): renaissance (38)

This fascinating site allows you to build your vocabulary and other knowledge while providing free grains of rice to the hungry throughout the world. This is a nice interactive way for kids to practice vocabulary and basics in chemistry, math, art history, geography, and world languages. Subjects available (via the link in the page footer)include checmical symbols, world language and English vocabulary, multiplication, world countries on a map, capitals, and famous paintings. Read the FAQ to find out where the money comes from and more.

tag(s): multiplication (120), symbols (16), vocabulary (241)

Explore everything you ever wanted to see and read about Picasso using this fabulous online collection. See a biographical timeline with images of the artworks intermingled, explore the works up close using an "explore" tool, and compare works side by side by using the checkboxes and "compare" button. Whether you are trying to inspire an art project with some visuals before turning students loose with their own materials or are teaching a lesson in art criticism, this site is a treasury. A few of the resources open a little slowly simply because of the large volume of information that is loading. The tool seems to work best when you go in through "biography."

tag(s): picasso (5)

Wow, this website is amazing! Exploring Africa brings Africa into your classroom through numerous interdisciplinary lessons. There are 20 modules (within 4 general units of study). The general units include "Why Study Africa," "Studying Africa Through the Social Studies," "Studying Africa Through the Humanities," "Regional Perspectives," and "Country Case Studies." Each module contains a teacher version that includes objectives, focus questions, activities, background information, and more. These teaching and learning activities all follow the "5 E's" format: Engage, Explore, Explain, Expand, and Evaluate. The website also provides links for specific country information and current events.

tag(s): africa (170), diversity (46)

This site contains a nice collection of online picture books, some for very young children but also some for older children. Those with high-speed connections should click on the teapot to access the best view of the books. Ms. Palmer wrote and illustrated this variety of offerings. The gallery also shares illustrations from a variety of older texts. You can also view books in progress and enjoy coloring sheets. Share this site with your aspiring readers and artists to help them appreciate the role illustration has in creating attractive texts.

Art teachers and graphic design instructors trying to provide many examples of analogous and complementary color schemes will love this site. Your young artists will be fascinated that people are actually PAID to create and forecast new color palettes for all kinds of design and other applications. This site is a sharing space for professional color designers to post new color schemes they have created for architecture, web design, print, advertising, and any other use. It is the real world equivalent of a on line color "jam session." The home page often features a color scheme on a current topic, such as color inspirations from a seasonal picture.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): design (80), graphic design (50)

This site covers the Victorian period (roughly 1837 through 1901) and addresses everything from political and social history to gender matters, authors, periodicals, philosophy, religion, technology, and more. Since this covers much of the development of industry in the Western world, it is an invaluable source for studying the arts and humanities. History teachers who study the Industrial Revolution will like this site for its connections between technology and other areas of society. Note that music is included in the "theatre and popular entertainment" section. The composer of every high school student's favorite theme song, "Pomp and Circumstance," is included among the profiles. Can you find him/her?

tag(s): evolution (89), industrial revolution (22), victorian (16)