Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Ready for a little get-away? Take the virtual tour of the Taj Mahal! Created by the Arm Chair Travel Co., and described by the New York Times as "Thrilling, Sumptuous, Exotic, ... with astonishing detail" this site is a very thorough trip through the beautiful Taj Mahal and its grounds. This site is so extensive and the visuals so gorgeous, it has to be seen to be believed. For example, click on the top of the Mausoleum to see a panoramic view of the city, or click on an interior view for a 360'? inspection of The Cenotaphs.

This site has "Downloadable Assets for Schools," and can be toured in English, French, Japanese, Hindi, or the Indian Native Language. There is inline text for the hearing impaired. The Taj Mahal tour includes 360'? panoramas, videos, narration, maps, music, text, and visits to areas that are off-limits to the public. Ancillary materials can be found at the bottom of the first page, and at the bottom of the tour page. A few of the titles are: Arches of the Taj Mahal, Calligrapy and Inscriptions, Islamic architecture, and The History of the Taj Mahal.

tag(s): india (32)

This site from the Denver Art Museum is just the ticket for arts-related lesson plans and ideas for your language arts, social studies, or visual art classes. Search lesson plans by age level, resource type, and more. Colorado standards are included. Or browse by image to find related lesson plans. Search artworks by country/culture, medium, period and region. Each of these categories has a drop down list with multiple items. There are highly motivating lesson plans to go with each piece of art. For example, "A Face to Remember - Mummy Case" looks at Ancient Egypt for grades 6 -12. "(Students) will research information about the ancient Egyptians and explore how their findings are visually represented on the DAM's mummy case. Students ...design a mummy case that reflects their personal values and beliefs." During this lesson students are introduced to two column notes for recording their research. The Early Childhood lesson entitled "Bubbles" has students look closely at a work of art using bubbles!

tag(s): art history (102), artists (84), images (263)

Free Clip Art by Phillip Martin is an extensive collection of clipart. All the clipart is free to use in the classroom, in newsletters or presentations. As long as the use is for non-profit, it may be downloaded and used free of charge. Categories included in the site are Language Arts, Science, Social Sciences, Holidays, School, A to Z, and More. Each of the above categories has countless sub-categories within them. No registration is necessary and the site is extremely simple to navigate. Of course you will want to model and require ethical use of these resources by giving credit to the source of clips in a small note or text box on your projects. There are some unobtrusive advertisements at the site.

tag(s): clip art (11), holidays (187), images (263), preK (270)

Take a journey through the life of Frank Sadoras. This site has a wonderful collection of photographs and biographical documents that chronicles Frank's life growing up on a farm in Illinois from 1898-1912. By using this site, you and your students will get a view of what life was like growing up on a farm as well as the photographic techniques Frank used to take his photos.

tag(s): agriculture (49), genealogy (8), photography (130), primary sources (117)

This site offers a bird's eye view of a medieval town in France. You can compare the ancient city to what remains in the present day. Other features of the site include artistic views of and information about men and women from the time the town was built. More anthropological and archeological information includes details about crafts, items used for daily life, markets and fairs, and details about civic life. You have the option of viewing the entire site in French or English. Eleven educational activities are also available at this site. Click on the "Learning" link (pencil) to find the many offerings.

tag(s): archeology (28), france (41), french (75), medieval (32)

Become a technology expert by learning from the best. View screencasts of great training videos for teachers. Find content to support in a variety of subject areas with tutorials and "how to" for a variety of sites. Subscribe to newsletters to receive updates of newly produced videos. Find "how to" videos of web 2.0 tools such as wikis, blogs, and other more complicated tools by clicking on "Web 2.0/ICT Videos."

tag(s): professional development (385), spelling (98), tutorials (52), vocabulary (238)

This site is the definitive list for yearly Caldecott Medal winners in the field of art and illustration in children's literature. Besides the list of the new winners and the accompanying honor books, the site provides access to previous winners from 1938 onward. Information about the Caldecott award appears in a side panel with links to other important medals in this field, including the Newbery (for excellence in children's literature).

tag(s): book lists (167)

Blabberize is a photo editing tool that creates talking animations or a video clip from a photo or other image. Browse the ready-made blabbers or create new ones. Upload an image from your computer, select an area to become the talking "mouth," and record sound using your microphone or upload a short .mp4 file from your computer. Make sure to "allow" access to your computer's microphone. Narrate your photo within the allotted 30 seconds, then save when complete. Options include marking your blab "mature" or "private" (not shown on the "latest" pages and other public areas). Share completed blabs via email or embedd in another web page, blog, or wiki. Users unfamiliar with copy/pasting embed code can simple share by the URL of the blab's page.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): animation (64), back to school (55), communication (129), firstday (22), images (263), photography (130)

This latest redesign of the Lascaux tour offered by the French government takes viewers on a video tour of the famous French caves. As you walk along, pop-ups label the drawings being viewed. An outline map on the right lower side of the screen shows the path the "walker" is taking, and also demonstrates where the viewer is at any given part of the tour. In addition to the video walk, information about the caves appears in "Chapters" which students can click on. The original version of this site is in French. The left sidebar offers the options of viewing the site in French, English, German, or Spanish. This link automatically opens to the English version of the site.

tag(s): caves (7), europe (84), france (41), maps (220), painting (54)

Many museum sites are little more than a set of on-line directions to get to the brick-and-mortar museum and a few promotional photographs. This site, however, is designed to be used as an online museum. You can start by searching the museum by geographic location or keyword. You can also search by time period from the "Teaching Kit" area. Or click on one of the featured exhibits which range from excavations of the CSS Alabama, the remains of an 18th century fleet sunk in New York's Lake George, to the HMS Serapis. A link to a "teachers' kit" gives information about ordering (free with the exception of shipping costs) a hands-on set of materials to keep and get free updates for as long as they would like to use it. For younger students, there is a slide show that introduces the concepts of underwater archaeology in an interactive whiteboard-friendly format (see featured exhibit: A Children's Introduction).

tag(s): oceans (149)

This collection of PDF lesson plans centers around 3 main topics: how we get our food, what the Fair Trade movement is doing for farmers and eaters, and what co-ops are. The complete curriculum is downloadable and printable, and the daily lessons at this site offer support and extra activities. One lesson, translated for Spanish teachers, offers students an activity so they can understand "What's Fair?" One of the most exciting parts of the website is a collection of videos of Dominican children talking in Spanish about cocoa production! The lesson plans include a variety of activities for students and include projects in math, writing, civics, research, geography, art, music, and international culture.

tag(s): air (101)

Discover a slick way to find Creative Commons pictures (pictures you are ALLOWED to use without copyright problems, simply by giving credit). Vecteezy searches for creative commons images and locates those with licenses that permit use in other activities and projects. Enter text or tags, and Vecteezy does the rest, providing thumbnail images for you to choose from. After you search, be sure you have checked the box in the LEFT sidebar of the search results, specifying that you want Creative Commons images, NOT commercial ones. Click to search again, if necessary. Choose from the results that appear below the dotted line. (Those above the line are images you must pay for!) Click on the image you like and double-check the license information under item 1 to be sure it is available for non-commercial use with attribution and can be used for "derivative works." Click the image itself to copy and paste its URL to use in image credits. Remember that Creative Commons DOES require that you give proper credit!
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): creative commons (28), images (263), search engines (48)

Looking for a clever way to display a title? Enter your words, and this site will look through flickr pictures to create titles from individual pictures. Note that ads display throughout the site as well as while the images are loading. Simply take a snapshot of the words (use print screen for PC or command-shift-4 on a Mac) or drag each letter image to your desktop. Alternatively, use the embed code provided. Don't like one or more of the letters? Simply click each letter and a new one will be generated. See an example here.

tag(s): images (263)

Use this searchable blog to locate images within the public domain for you to use on web sites, in multimedia projects, and more. The site provides complete source information on each image, as well as its rationale for treating the image as "public domain." Public Domain images are not subject to copyright restrictions, so you may use them in places that do not qualify for "Fair Use," such as on open web sites, blogs, etc. Though we are not legal experts and this review should in no way be deemed to be legal advice, our editors found that the evidence of public domain seems credible on this site. The site does include extensive advertising and links to non-education topics and blogs, the collection is very useful for teachers of any level or subject. Note: Because of extensive advertising and links, teachers should spell out specific consequences for following these non-educational links and may want to limit use of this site by students to times when you can monitor directly.

tag(s): clip art (11), images (263)

Use a variety of tools and colors to create unique and original digital art. Choose one of 20 patterns, and use the cursor to move across the screen. The buttons are found at the bottom of the drawing box. Save as a JPG or PNG file on your computer with one click. Our editors found this site to be very addicting!

tag(s): artists (84), design (79), graphic design (49)

This intriguing site has the you choose an "answer," and then the computer asks 20 questions trying to determine what your answer is. The answers to the 20 questions aren't just YES or NO; they also include SOMETIMES, PROBABLY, IRRELEVANT, and others.

When you arrive at the site, click your language (there are MANY languages from which to choose). Enter your gender, age, and location (optional). Then choose the "game" you wish to try. Some are more commercial (Disney, The Simpsons, or Star Trek). Others have educational value (Harry Potter, Earth, or Classic, Famous people). This is an interesting and challenging activity. There are disclaimers that the "game gets smarter" the more you play because the game compiles facts over time. It is involving and entertaining to play. The site does include some advertisements.

tag(s): back to school (55), firstday (22), trivia (19)

Create a Glitter Globe to teach Newton's first law or density in your classroom! Looking for a great demonstration? Want a short activity your students can create within twenty minutes or less? The Glitter Globe activity uses inexpensive everyday materials and has clear instructions.

tag(s): density (17), newton (21)

Use Pixenate for quick online photo editing. This free resource requires no registration as there is no image storage, only editing for saving elsewhere. Upload pictures from your computer or enter the web address from somewhere on the Internet. Pixenate cautions users to follow copyright when editing web pictures. Once uploaded, use simple tools to edit the picture such as: undo, select, zoom, crop, resize, flip, rotate, color balance and tools, smooth, brighten, straighten horizon, remove red eye, brighten teeth, or draw lines and shapes. Choose more entertaining effects such as lomo effects, lens filters, adding clip art, creating heart shaped photos, and other effects. Edited pictures can be uploaded to flickr or saved to disk.

Be aware: students should be cautioned that the site sells services to make the photo into a gift (obviously, for a fee!). Other ads may appear on the page, as well.

tag(s): editing (93)

Need to create a quick logo? This logo generator is fast, easy, and free to use. No registration is required. Enter your text and click "options" to customize your logo. Options include a list of fonts, two gradient colors, and one outline color, and text sizes. View your logo before downloading as a png image or generating an embed code. You will need to know how to navigate finding images saved on a computer or using embed codes with various sites or blogs. Here is an example created by the TeachersFirst editorial team:

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tag(s): graphic design (49)

Not sure what sites exist for your topic? Start here and find sites listed by icon for Art, Encyclopedia, History, Languages, Science, Writing skills, Music, and numerous other topics. Whether you are searching for research information, enrichment, or tutorials - check out this site. Notice that TeachersFirst is among the "faves" for teaching!

tag(s): dictionaries (47), literature (221)