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BouncyMaps - Mapping Worlds
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): population (49), agriculture (52), visualizations (16), religions (118), maps (222), minerals (13)
In the Classroom
BouncyMaps is an excellent way to help students visualize large numbers and provide perspective to data. Use the embed code found on the site to share on your webpage or download images and data using the provided links. Start a discussion using one of the regular maps and hover over countries to show details. After reviewing a standard map, switch to the BouncyMap to show how it changes based on data. This site is an excellent one to share with students to explore during computer centers or at home. After allowing students time to look on their own, ask them to choose one map that surprised them and discuss their findings. Ask them to research the information further with the goal of trying to learn why there are such differences between countries. When finished, ask students to share their findings by creating an infographic using Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here. When teaching world history, these maps provide context when teaching about major conflicts. For example, when teaching about tensions in the Middle East, refer students to the religious maps to help them understand how different populations of Jewish people and Muslims within that area are key to the conflicts.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Change Begins at School - Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility
Grades
K to 12tag(s): bullying (56), disasters (35), women (198), social and emotional learning (235), religions (118), holidays (292), diversity (62), politics (119), racism (85), conflict resolution (11), climate change (115), elections (92), Juneteenth (32), civics (141)
In the Classroom
Engage students in any of the provided lessons by starting with a simple poll using Slido, reviewed here. For example, ask students if they are familiar with the topic discussed, have experienced a similar emotion, or display an image on your whiteboard and ask students if they know what it represents. Enhance learning throughout any of the lessons by sharing additional resources using a curation tool such as Padlet, reviewed here. Add links to videos, articles, or online activities related to the lesson's content. As you complete lesson activities, extend learning by asking students to share their understanding by creating digital books using Book Creator, reviewed here, flyers made with Adobe Express for Education, reviewed here, or infographics created with Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Discussing Tragic Events in the News - Morningside Center
Grades
K to 12tag(s): disasters (35), social and emotional learning (235), differentiation (105)
In the Classroom
Bookmark this site to use as a resource for fostering productive class conversations as needed when discussing difficult events. Be sure to share this site with parents who are also dealing with students that are dealing with tragic events at home. After allowing time to reflect upon the events and your classroom discussions, some students may need additional time to process the information. Provide an additional outlet using IdeaBoardz, reviewed here. Create a Jamboard that allows students to add sticky notes anonymously that share their feelings or solutions to difficult problems. Curate resources for students (and parents) that include age-specific information such as news articles, videos, and background information using a curation tool such as Wakelet, reviewed here. Consider creating a Wakelet for parents and guardians with information to use at home to support students in meaningful ways. Provide students a creative outlet to share their emotions by suggesting they create short videos, flyers, or websites using the free tools found at Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here. Find more resources to help facilitate difficult conversations on this Special Topics Page.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Earth School - TEDEd
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): agriculture (52), remote learning (33), climate change (115), water (102), STEM (387), solar energy (35), oceans (142), forests (31), design (65), climate (100), recycling (51), Teacher Utilities (234)
In the Classroom
Bookmark this site as a resource for science and nature lessons to supplement current materials in your classroom. Because lessons were created for use in remote learning situations, they are perfect for including during elearning or digital learning days. Create an account and customize lessons to personalize activities to fit your curriculum and students. For example, customize lessons easily to change discussion questions to adapt to student abilities, then share the differentiated lessons to different groups of students. Extend learning by adding links to additional activities such as asking students to write a short blog post using edublogs, reviewed here, or create a cartoon based on the activity's content using ToonyTool, reviewed here. Extend learning for all students using Spotify for Podcastors, reviewed here. Begin by creating a discussion question, then share the topic with students. An idea would be to have small groups of students hold a podcast "conversation" about the topic.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Teachers' Guide to Cranky Uncle - John Cook
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): evaluating sources (61), DAT device agnostic tool (135), media literacy (140), digital citizenship (113), game based learning (294), internet safety (117), social media (65)
In the Classroom
Add this game to your toolkit of lessons and activities when teaching Internet safety and media literacy skills. The Teachers' Guide already includes many ideas on integrating the game into classroom lessons, as well as using technology to enhance and extend learning. Use these ideas as a starting point to build student engagement and help them understand the real-world applications for the information found in the game. For example, use the suggested Padlet, reviewed here, activity to compile quiz questions as suggested in Activity 5. After completing that activity, have students create their own videos, fake social media posts, or news articles that contain misinformation and create quiz questions for their peers to complete. Adobe Express for Education, reviewed here, is an excellent tool for students to use when creating websites, flyers, and infographics. As a final project, and to extend learning, have students share what they learned with others by producing podcasts using Buzzsprout, reviewed here, or digital books for younger students using Book Creator, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Creative ChangeMakers - Creative Visions
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): civil rights (230), women (198), social and emotional learning (235)
In the Classroom
Include these free lessons in your classroom in a variety of ways. Use the content to help students understand the social causes that are important to them and how to engage with them. This site offers various methods for creating social-issue campaigns, including music, film, and persuasive writing. Use this information to differentiate learning opportunities for students with activities that appeal to their interests.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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World's Largest Lesson - Project Everyone
Grades
K to 12tag(s): social justice (45), substitutes (33), sustainability (60), environment (248), inequalities (27), STEM (387), energy (135), maps (222), cross cultural understanding (163), earth (187), engineering (136)
In the Classroom
Discover the many free educational resources found on this site to include in your lessons about global cultures, the environment, health, and technology. Use the activities and lessons found on the World's Largest Lesson to engage students in understanding and processing information related to serious global issues. Have students use a collaborative whiteboard tool such as FigJam, reviewed here, to brainstorm solutions to problems using the sticky note feature or to create mind maps and flow charts to organize further research. Enhance learning by asking students to create an interactive, choose-your-own-adventure story using StoryLab, reviewed here. Ask students to use information learned from their lessons to create a story that tells what happens if the Earth continues on its current course vs. what happens when suggested changes are implemented.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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A Starting Point - Chris Evans, Mark Kassen, and Joe Kiani
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): civil rights (230), branches of government (69), immigration (85), foreign policy (15), politics (119), elections (92)
In the Classroom
Share information from this site with students to demonstrate how to share different viewpoints on current events. This site also provides an opportunity to model how to use facts and information to present ideas and persuade others to consider opposing viewpoints. As students use these videos to compare and contrast viewpoints, use a curation tool such as Padlet, reviewed here, to share information from both sides. Use the shelf feature in Padlet to create columns to add content based on each side's viewpoint or use the map feature to add content found from different locations.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Close Up - Close Up Foundation
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): civics (141), environment (248), congress (37), constitution (111), civil rights (230), elections (92)
In the Classroom
Use materials from Close Up to supplement your current civics lessons. Assign groups of students different articles or podcasts to analyze and share with peers. Enhance learning using Edpuzzle, reviewed here, to add comments and questions to videos for student consideration. Use Wakelet, reviewed here, to curate resources including articles and podcasts to share with students. Upon completing your teaching unit, ask students to use Wakelet as a multimedia presentation tool to create and share their learning by including written work, images, and links to reference materials.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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A Looming Plague: The Fight to Contain a New Locust Invasion - Tara John and Bethlehem Feleke, CNN
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): weather (170), climate change (115), insects (64), africa (162)
In the Classroom
Include this interactive with lessons about African countries, climate change, weather, or insects. Engage students by exploring this site together using Microsoft Whiteboard, reviewed here, or IdeaBoardz, reviewed here to add notes, images, or create diagrams sharing students' thoughts. For older students, have them explore the site independently and share ideas on a collaborative whiteboard. Ask students to research the problems faced due to locusts and include information from previous infestations. As students conduct their research, use a collaborative site like Milanote, reviewed here, for groups to share articles, images, and brainstorm ideas. Extend learning further by asking students to become the problem solvers and share their suggestions for solving the problem both long term and short term. Provide options for groups to present their findings through various methods of digital media. For example, ask a group to use Google My Maps, reviewed here, to create a virtual tour of the problem areas and add images and notes with their suggestions. Have another group use tools found at Genially, reviewed here, to create a presentation that includes interactive images, infographics, and videos using templates found on the site.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Resources to Develop a Positive Self-Identity - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12tag(s): difficult conversations (53), bias (38), identity (48)
In the Classroom
Find resources to educate yourself and your students about various topics related to self-identity. This collection includes lesson plans, blogs, book suggestions, and interactives too. Share these resources with your colleagues and families.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Resources Related to Difficult Conversations - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12tag(s): difficult conversations (53), empathy (80), racism (85)
In the Classroom
Explore this collection to use to engage in difficult conversations in your classroom. Learn more about difficult conversations and empathy for others in some of the informational readings.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Resources Related to Empathy - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12tag(s): empathy (80), racism (85), perspective (34)
In the Classroom
Help your students to develop empathy for others. Share these resources with your colleagues and school parents by emailing the page or sharing the link from your school web page or on your school's LMS.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Resources on Racism and Discrimination - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12tag(s): empathy (80), black history (132), racism (85)
In the Classroom
Find resources to educate yourself and your students about various topics related to racism and discrimination. This collection includes lesson plans and interactives too. Share these resources with your colleagues and families.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Civics in Real Life - Florida Joint Center for Citizenship
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): supreme court (37), courts (27), holidays (292), constitution (111), presidents (155), electoral college (24), elections (92), politics (119), civics (141)
In the Classroom
Because this site offers weekly downloads, it is a great addition to use in any social studies classroom for civics lessons or providing ongoing civics discussions throughout the school year. Engage students by creating groups to explore concepts even further throughout the year. For example, divide your class into four or five groups, then have each group rotate throughout the month to take the information from a weekly update and conduct further research. Use Padlet, reviewed here, to curate and share each of the activities for students to revisit and review the content. Take advantage of tools such as Google Slides, reviewed here, to focus student groups on learning activities. Create a slide template that includes students' areas to answer questions, reflect upon finding, and share resources used. Extend learning using podcasts as a final project for students to discuss and share their researched topic. Buzzsprout, reviewed here, is an excellent option for podcasting in the classroom because of the free features that include adding links and lists to podcasts and the ability to schedule podcasts release for your chosen date and time.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Fake News: Misinformation, Disinformation, and Malinformation - Pace University
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): Research (94), media literacy (140), digital citizenship (113), news (221), journalism (73), internet safety (117)
In the Classroom
Include this article with your other resources for teaching how to navigate online information. Include this website within a learning management system such as ActivelyLearn, reviewed here, to build a complete learning unit that includes articles, videos, and assessments that fully immerse and engage students in the learning activities. Enhance learning throughout the school year using Padlet, reviewed here, to curate and organize online information. For example, create a Padlet that includes a column for each of the four categories of fake news mentioned on this website, then ask students to share examples found during online use. Extend learning by asking students to become the teacher through presentations on how to recognize and avoid fake news. Provide a variety of options for student presentations including a comic creation tool like ToonyTool, reviewed here, Adobe Express Video Maker, reviewed here, to create simple video explainers, or use Wick Editor, reviewed here, and have students create a game to teach the hazards of disinformation.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Design for Change USA - Design for Change
Grades
K to 8tag(s): charactered (87), racism (85), climate (100), climate change (115), empathy (80)
In the Classroom
Bookmark activities and podcasts shared on this site to use when teaching about racial bias, empathy, and climate. Download the educator's toolkit as an excellent resource of graphic organizers to help students organize information and plan action steps for multiple uses. As a culminating activity, engage learners to share their ideas by creating digital books using Book Creator, reviewed here. Have students create books that include images, videos, and written text, sharing their ideas on steps to address social issues.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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SpeakUp! - Martie Gillin
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): social and emotional learning (235), social media (65), eating disorders (6), drugs and alcohol (29), diseases (59), sexuality (16), cyberbullying (52), bullying (56)
In the Classroom
Share the resource guides with parents and students on your class website to use when facing any of the covered topics. Use Padlet, reviewed here, or Wakelet, reviewed here, to curate and share helpful guides for parents and students within one collection. As you and your class discuss problems that face teens, ask students to use Canva Edu, reviewed here, to share what they learn. For example, have students create posters to display in the classroom that include the dangers of drug abuse and include tips for helping someone that displays signs of drug abuse. Ask other students to design and share infographics that include facts and figures discussing cyberbullying, along with suggestions on how to respond to bullies.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Preparing Students for Difficult Conversations - FacingHistory.org
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): racism (85), civil rights (230), media literacy (140), journalism (73), social media (65)
In the Classroom
As an introduction to the lesson, one of the activities is to ask students to brainstorm a list of teens' news resources and a list of news resources used by parents or older people. Use Microsoft Whiteboard, reviewed here, or IdeaBoardz, reviewed here to create and analyze your lists. Use the whiteboard tools to create lists, Venn Diagrams, and add notes to extend student reflections on different news sources. Turn the Know-Heard-Learned Chart included in the lesson into an editable worksheet to use as a collaborative document to record student understanding of any events' timeline.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Say Their Names - Chicago Public Schools
Grades
K to 12tag(s): racism (85), civil rights (230), courts (27), politics (119)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this document as a guide to discussing racism in the classroom and as a link to many additional materials. Organize your resources using a curation tool such as Padlet, reviewed here. Use the shelf option in Padlet to create columns to organize information. For example, create columns to sort materials by grade levels or by type of content. As you teach lessons, use a mind mapping tool like Coggle, reviewed here, to organize and share complex information. Extend learning using Adobe Express Video Maker, reviewed here, to create student-produced explainer videos sharing their ideas on addressing racism, media literacy strategies, or steps to help others through difficult times.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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