Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Find web lessons, videos, and downloads about timely and necessary financial topics. Learn about credit card financing, hidden costs, and paychecks. Each lesson begins with an introduction to the activity including questions to answer. Feedback is given to the questions, including an explanation of the correct answer. Use the print downloads for creating a budget to use as an activity in class.

tag(s): financial literacy (93), money (113)

Media4Math offers math resources including videos, tutorials, and more. Choose the tutorial tab to find many tutorials perfect for interactive whiteboard use on topics such as algebra tiles, solving equations, and linear functions. Choose the PowerPoint tab to download PowerPoints for Algebra Jeopardy, slope/function, and quadratic functions. Watch video tutorials for the TI-Nspire Clickpad and Touchpad at the Nspire tab. This site is worth a look for anyone teaching upper-level mathematics. Registration is required (with email) for some of the features. Also, be aware some of the videos are hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, then they may not be viewable.
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tag(s): angles (52), charts and graphs (171), equations (119), functions (52), geometric shapes (135), polynomials (20), quadratics (27), statistics (121)

Learn about the dirtiest, most dangerous, and tiring jobs during the Medieval times, Early Modern times, and Modern times. This site has a more dated appearance, but the content is interesting. Most of the information is provided in text form. Read short descriptions of jobs and rank them according to how dirty, dangerous, or tiring you think that they are. After ranking the jobs, take a short online quiz about information read. There is also the option to download a worksheet to use with the activities. At the beginning of the activity, the site asks for your full name. (A fictitious name could always be used.)

tag(s): 1600s (20), 1700s (36), 1800s (75), 1900s (72), careers (156), industrial revolution (22), medieval (32)

Discover a huge collection of interactive illustrations to help explain complex concepts in science, technology, art, math, and a range of other topics. Use these activities to create interactive visualizations. There are thousands of Mathematica Demonstrations. A demonstration is a Mathematica notebook that takes advantage of Mathematica's manipulate command. Use the manipulate command to create sliders or buttons or check boxes to change the values of parameters in the displays in the demonstration. The result is you control the animation. View demonstrations on topics ranging from odd and even numbers to odd and even functions, fractions to fractals, and from linear functions to linear algebra and linear programming. In addition to mathematical topics, there are demonstrations illustrating the time in different cities around the world, global demographic information, the solar system, and art and music concepts. You need to download the Wolfram CDF player to use and interact with the demonstrations.
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tag(s): addition (129), animals (295), architecture (75), computers (109), division (98), fractions (160), geometric shapes (135), gravity (43), logic (161), maps (220), money (113), multiples (15), multiplication (122), plants (146), psychology (65), statistics (121), subtraction (110), weather (160)

This free site provides a color-coded mashup of current news headlines, clickable to see the full articles. View various sections of the news separately by clicking on the colored icons along the top. Sort into World, National, Finance, Tech, Showbiz, and Sport. To read the full article, click on the brief story (in the box). Use the drop-down feature to search news stories in a variety of other countries.

tag(s): countries (73), financial literacy (93), news (229), sports (82)

Find videos recorded by professional educators. These are not just the humdrum lecture type videos you might expect. These are dynamic speakers, energized by their desire to share what they've learned and know. The videos are even more appealing because of the professional animators who worked in the background (with the educators) to get the message across to the audience. You can search these videos by "Lessons" (under "Discover") and from there by subject, "Collections," is organized by theme, or by "Exploration." Every video has a "Think" section with multiple choice and open ended questions. If you get a multiple choice answer wrong you will receive a video hint to help you get it correct. Every video has a Dig Deeper section with additional resources for exploring the topic. You can take one of these videos, a video from YouTube, or any other video with a URL and "flip" them to make them your own. You can change the title, put in instructions, discard or keep the questions, create your own questions. In other words, you can make the video your own, to suit your needs. Once you save the video it will have a unique URL so you can track the progress and participation of anyone using it. Don't miss such clever offerings as David Hunter's video about the importance of geography concepts in deciding "How do you decide where to go in a zombie apocalypse?" Ted-Ed is only part of the TED offerings. View the full TED site reviewed here. Be sure to look at the Discover and Create tabs on the top menu.

tag(s): blended learning (37), business (52), design (79), literature (221), psychology (65), religions (95), Teacher Utilities (198), video (266)

People's Pie is a simulation where YOU control all of the money of the United States. Start by setting taxes to fund government programs. Set the age for citizens to receive entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare. Be careful; set taxes too high or entitlement age too high, and the citizens will be unhappy! Next, make funding decisions for services such as military, finances, and more while viewing citizen satisfaction along the way. Use available options for borrowing money, but beware of high interest rates! The goal is to make it through three budget years; however, the game ends early if citizen dissatisfaction is high. Use the Extension Pack to give your students a deeper understanding while using this gamebased learning activity. Although login and registration are available on the site, they aren't necessary to play the game. Choose "no thanks" at the prompt to begin play.

tag(s): branches of government (65), financial literacy (93), game based learning (205)

Let's Play Math! is a blog by a homeschooling mom that shares resources, ideas, and an excitement for teaching mathematics to all students. Find popular posts on the right-hand toolbar or browse by topic tag. Topics with the most entries are highlighted and in a larger font making them easier to find. Search within the blog using the search box included. You may also want to check out the link to the Best of the Blog. This includes some of the author's favorite posts sorted by subject and includes favorite games, puzzles, activities, and more. Although this blog was designed by a homeschooling parent, the information is useful in any math classroom setting.
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tag(s): mental math (19), preK (271), puzzles (149)

Looking for resources to use on your interactive whiteboard? If so, this site is a tremendous resource for all whiteboard users, not just those with a Promethean Board. View, search, and download from over 60,000 resources in all subject areas and grade levels. Use the Resources tab to search by state standard, content, grade level, or resource type. Register on the site to enable download ability as well as many other features such as saving favorites, reviewing resources, asking questions on the technical forum, following specific users, and uploading your own resources. Each resource includes a short description, grade level recommendation, file format, and size. Another great feature is the slide show included with each download for previewing different pages used on each chart.

tag(s): iwb (31), numbers (120), preK (271), resources (84)

Do Lectures are like TED Talk videos, inspiring talks from people who are changing the world. Choose to view talks about Big Ideas, Challenging Talks, Funny Talks, Informative Talks, Inspiring Talks, and Soulful Talks. Some examples of titles are Why Going Down Mountains is Harder than Going Up and Why is Beauty Such an Important Word? Search by topic (business, creativity, environment, food, sport, technology, or well-being) or by speaker. Learn more about lecturers by clicking the link to their bio, or find similar videos with the links included with each talk. Share videos easily on social networking sites with buttons included with each talk, or use the embed code to embed talks into your blog or website. Even more simply, copy/paste the url for the video to share it.

tag(s): business (52), careers (156), creativity (86), debate (42), environment (252), nutrition (140), psychology (65), sociology (23), video (266)

Find hundreds of useful charts and diagrams that illustrate philosophy, english, history, science, current events, and more for free, online viewing. You will find PDFs, posters, timelines, etc. Learn about topics such as: Most Famous Paintings, World Leaders Timeline, Muppet Voices Chart, New Seven Wonders, Human Evolution Timeline, and more. General "subjects" include Social Studies Charts, Most Popular Charts, Psychology Charts, Philosophy & Religion Charts, English Charts, Science Charts, and many others! The site is selling charts and downloads, but you can view the site for FREE. Zoom in to see details using the View menu in your web browser or touchpad zooming on Macs.
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tag(s): art history (103), charts and graphs (171), grammar (137), multiple intelligences (7), myths and legends (37), poetry (193), politics (118), psychology (65), religions (95), solar system (110), space (222), timelines (56)

A picture is worth a thousand words; a map with information is worth many thousands more. The World Atlas map powered by Esri is unique with its many layers of information. Layers include temperature data, habitats, volcano locations, natural resources, and more. The map uses street view and high detail aerial maps. Zoom into any aspect of the Earth, regardless of political boundaries (thanks to NASA, the World Bank, and Spotzi data). Browse from a variety of themes available including animals, temperatures, and tectonic plates. Use the search bar to zoom in to a specific area. Several tools are available along the top including a measuring tool.

tag(s): business (52), diseases (67), ecology (103), environment (252), natural disasters (18), natural resources (37), resources (84)

Like the looks of Infographics but wish it were as easy as creating a Powerpoint? This website aims to empower you to easily create infographics in a short time. It is worth the free registration to gain access. Create beautiful Infographics by creating a title and then choosing a template or color scheme. Create your own templates using a range of color, label, and font choices. Click on the elements on the template to change the words, add widgets, create charts, and more. Use the slider along the top right to move between edit mode and preview mode. Go beyond traditional charts by including word clouds, treemaps, bubble charts, and more. Click Save as Template (helpful in creating labels and examples for students to follow) to save your style for later. Click Publish to make the Infographic public or private. You can save the Infographic as an image, share via URL, or use an embed code to place on a wiki, site, or blog. Click on your dashboard to view additional templates shared by creators and to find your Infographics. With the free plan you can create 5 infographics.

tag(s): data (151), infographics (56), posters (43), vocabulary (238)

Where's George? let's you track the travel of dollar bills through circulation. Enter the serial number on the bill, enter a current zip code, and learn where their bill has been. Choose from two options on the site: find out where a bill has been or enter a current bill to begin tracking from its current location. Finding where a bill has been gives a list of known cities, states, and countries. It also includes travel time, distance, and speed of its journey. Email registration is necessary to follow the travels of a bill and receive notification of current location. One word of caution: it may be wise to enter serial numbers of bills before sharing with the class in case they have been in locations that may need to be screened. Also, be aware this site contains advertisements. At the time of this review, there was a questionable advertisement. Please preview and OPEN, before sharing with your class.
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tag(s): currency (14)

What is a credit score? Why is it important? How do you build a credit score? Find answers to these and more with this puzzle/infographic. Follow through the puzzle to find out what information is used in a credit score and the best way to build your credit.

tag(s): banks (8), financial literacy (93)

Save the planet, one load of laundry at a time with Project Laundry List. This website is dedicated to encouraging people to use clotheslines and other sensible alternatives to wasteful energy consumption. Don't miss the Cost Calculator: a spreadsheet that you download to your computer, enter the amount and type of laundry you do, and automatically calculate energy and water costs of clothes care. It even shows your washer's carbon dioxide emissions! The calculator suggests easy ways to reduce costs, which, in turn reduces your impact on the environment. In the Programs Education section, find "The Clothesline Plan." It provides strategies about how to get involved with the clothesline, cold water washing movement. Featured here, among other good laundry history resources, is also "National Hanging Out Day" which is used to educate and create awareness about energy savings through the use of clotheslines.
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tag(s): earth day (60), ecology (103), environment (252), holidays (187)

Have you ever wanted to see your own face on a dollar bill? Use this online image editor to personalized bills with your own picture. Just upload your picture (or any image) using the photo link at the bottom of the page. Images can be moved around within the picture frame, and there is an option to adjust the image size by zooming in or out. Save the edited image by right-clicking the image and selecting "save" to download the output image to your computer. Then print the dollar bill with your image. The site offers currency from many different countries from Antarctica to Yugoslavia, and you can create posters, decks of cards, and more.
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tag(s): currency (14), financial literacy (93), money (113)

Teach students how to manage money using the resources and tools available at Money Management International. Be sure to investigate the resource section where you'll find calculators, articles, quizzes, infographics, videos, and lesson plans. The lesson plan section contains over 50 lesson plans and activities for classroom use. Many appealing stories for children and adolescents are the focus for the financial explanations and advice. The lessons are quite thorough including objectives, assessments, extensions, and printables for activities. Another useful resource on the site is Youth and Money found under the Financial Education link. There is a great section for teens to explore when considering buying a first car, as well as videos from kids offering money advice to adults. This site is worth spending some time exploring for the many resources offered.
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tag(s): financial literacy (93), money (113)