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I Fake Text - iFakeText.com
Grades
2 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): creative writing (126), text to speech (18), writing prompts (57)
In the Classroom
Have two characters from a book or two famous people text each other. Create short poetry using this tool. Provide some opening text and ask students to write their guesses of the other person's answers. Have students practice a dialogue or questions and answers. Create a fake text of a conversation and have students use inference skills to state what happened before and after the conversation. You could even use it as a writing prompt. Teach important texting etiquette using this tool. Use a fake text on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) to display word definitions in a fun way. Use this site with your ESL/ELL students (or those learning to read) and have the site READ the text to the students. The ability to use the "text to speech" makes this an easy tool for any age student to try! Tear down the boundaries of delayed reading. Create fake texts of homework or project reminders and post them on your class wiki or web page.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Wolfram Demonstrations Project - Wolfram Mathematica
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): addition (115), animals (277), architecture (79), computers (109), division (90), fractions (152), geometric shapes (126), gravity (46), logic (152), maps (214), money (106), multiples (15), multiplication (112), plants (140), psychology (59), statistics (113), subtraction (102), weather (162)
In the Classroom
Explain how to use the Demonstrations on your interactive whiteboard (or projector). Allow students to explore on their own classroom computers. (Remember to download the CDF player onto each computer or request it in advance from your tech department.) Challenge students to create a talking avatar using a photo or other image (legally permitted for reproduction). Use avatars to explain activities performed using a Demonstration. Use a site such as Blabberize, reviewed here. The beauty of the demonstrations is that it allows students to manipulate and "play" to view the impact of changes made, allowing many opportunities for classroom discussion. Ask students to predict the impact of changes using the manipulate command; then discuss the actual impact as it occurs.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Instant Google Street View - Nick Nicholaou
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): map skills (61), maps (214)
In the Classroom
Assign students various countries, regions, or continents to make comparisons. Identify the biological, geographical, cultural, and social issues that exist in the world, based on what the pictures show and what their research uncovers. Bring a greater understanding to current economic and environmental issues in many countries. World language (or world cultures) classes can help students understand the cultures of the countries where the language is spoken. Compare specific attributes of two countries using an online Venn Diagram, such as the one reviewed here. Another idea: have cooperative learning groups use this resource to create online books about the country of their tour using a resource such as Bookemon.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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ReadWorks - ReadWorks.org
Grades
K to 12tag(s): characterization (18), context clues (5), figurative language (19), guided reading (32), main idea (8), parts of speech (38), plot (15), point of view (7), reading comprehension (141), reading strategies (87), sequencing (17), Teacher Utilities (171), themes (16), vocabulary (240)
In the Classroom
Show students how to sign up and log in to ReadWorks using a projector or interactive whiteboard. Complete a sample assignment together. Use ReadWorks in blended learning or flipped classrooms leaving class time for asking questions and clarifying. Post the link on your website and consider assigning the Article-A-Day for at home reading. Rotate the subjects weekly and discuss the topic the next day in class. Consider using a back-channel tool such as GoSoapBox, for the discussion, so even your quiet and shy students feel comfortable participating, and you can get analytics after the discussion. Teachers of all subjects, but especially science and social studies, can find topics for students to read for their subject. Then challenge students to research the topic further. Differentiation can be accomplished easily by assigning to individual students, or you can create multiple classes, which would actually be small groups, who read at the same level or have the same topic interest. Once the students are familiar with the site use Nearpod, reviewed here to assign reading to groups at the same reading level. Older students, once they know their reading level, can their select reading. Check these to make sure students include all types of reading, and that they are challenging themselves. After several selections, ask older students to choose the topic they were most interested in, find resources to learn more about the topic, then extend their learning by presenting their findings using a multimedia tool such as (click on the tool name to access the review): Canva Infographic Maker, "Marq (Lucidpress), "Powtoon", or "Adobe Express Video Maker.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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BiblioNasium - Marjan Ghara
Grades
1 to 7This site includes advertising.
tag(s): classroom management (107), descriptive writing (41), independent reading (81), social networking (53), writing (307)
In the Classroom
Use BiblioNasium to manage an independent reading program from reading logs to tailored reading lists. Stack your virtual bookshelves with recommended or required reads: set reading goals, create challenges, and keep track of student reading by using BiblioNasium in your classroom. Your students can easily see what they have read, what they like, and what they plan to read. Be sure to have them evaluate the books they read using BiblioNasium to help others find their next book. Find books by Lexile reading levels with BiblioNasium's Search Field. BiblioNasium is partners with MetaMetrics''''''''''®, developer of the Lexile''''''''''® Framework for Reading. Knowing the reading levels of your students, you can set up leveled small groups for literature circles or nonfiction reading.Edge Features:
Includes an education-only area for teachers and students
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Includes teacher tools for registering and/or monitoring students
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Storyboard That - Aaron Sherman and Clever Prototypes, LLC
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): charts and graphs (165), creative writing (126), digital storytelling (150), writing (307)
In the Classroom
Enhance learning and demonstrate how to create a storyboard using Storyboard That on your interactive whiteboard or projector. As you and your students create a class story, show them the different selections of characters, settings, dialogue boxes and more. Show them how easy it is to edit anything in the frame. Have your students use "Storyboard That" for anything from brainstorming for a video story they want to create to a final copy of a story, report, comic, or poem. This is a highly engaging way to teach your students about story elements, dialogue, character development, etc. Challenge students to create a storyboard of a book or short story recently finished in class as a review of characters and story plot and extending their learning. World language students can create storyboards and label the images, or tell the story in the language they are learning. "Storyboard That" has a growing collection of lesson plans and you can also contribute yours. Math teachers can use the interesting storyboard characters to explain word problems and capture reluctant student's interest. Have your students complete biographies for famous people. Tell the story of different famous events in history or explain their understanding of cell division using this easy program that produces entertaining results. Autistic or emotional support teachers can have students storyboard interpersonal behavior skills.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be embedded
Comments
As of January 2013 teachers can now create a private classroom where their students data is secure and the teacher has more control. -Aaron (Founder/CEO of Storyboard That) *Editor's Note: this feature is available as part of the Classroom Portal Section which is a paid add on. This review highlights only the free portions of the site.Aaron, , Grades: 0 - 12
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Thou shalt not commit logical fallacies - Jesse Richardson, Andy Smith, Sam Meadon
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): critical thinking (141), debate (39), logic (152), persuasive writing (53), reading comprehension (141), thinking skills (57)
In the Classroom
Most academic writing presents a premise to be proved (an argument). When you first start to have your students try to understand logical fallacies, show them the online poster for logical fallacies and get them started trying to find these fallacies in their everyday lives. You could assign a fallacy a week and have students write in a journal, or a little tablet when they come across one. Or collect them on a class wiki with a page for each fallacy type. You could even have them make up their own logical fallacies. Have students create online posters on paper or do it together as a class using a tool such as Web Poster Wizard (reviewed here) or PicLits (reviewed here. After introducing logical fallacies, have students peer edit papers to make sure the writer is not trying to support one of these fallacies. Of course, any speech and debate, or media strategies class would benefit from a review this site. During political seasons, be sure to share this site for evaluating politicians' positions.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Thought Questions - Marc and Angel Hack Life
Grades
5 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): critical thinking (141), writing (307), writing prompts (57)
In the Classroom
This is the perfect site to start your students' day or end your day with them. Use these questions as writing prompts or quick writes. Penzu, reviewed here, is a quick and easy blog tool to replace paper and pencil and enhance learning. You may want to ask students to choose their favorite and form small groups to discuss their answers. Post some of the same questions on bulletin boards. Discussing or debating these questions would be a powerful community builder at the beginning of the year or when forming new small groups. To avoid the advertising, have your question on the screen before projecting it on your screen or whiteboard. If your class includes gifted students, they may react well to such thought-provokers. Encourage them to collect favorite prompts and responses in an "idea bin" such as Lino, reviewed here, to use at times when they are ahead of the class or need extra writing challenges.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Introducing Text Structures in Writing (5th Grade) - Utah Education Network
Grades
4 to 6tag(s): process writing (35), reading comprehension (141), reading strategies (87), sequencing (17), writers workshop (32), writing (307)
In the Classroom
Print materials included with this lesson and use as an addition to a current writing and reading comprehension units. This would make an excellent addition to standardized test preparations to help students analyze and assess readings provided during testing. Extend this lesson beyond science texts. Use lesson components and ideas for social studies and all other non-fiction reading materials.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Newsola - Nick Nicholaou
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): countries (70), financial literacy (90), news (220), sports (84)
In the Classroom
Use this site to select current events for the day. Follow the same news thread for a period of time to look at changes and possible reasons for the change in the news. Be sure to check news stories from other countries for a different viewpoint on issues. Create a class discussion for the differences in viewpoints. Challenge cooperative learning groups to explore ONE of the subtopics (Showbiz, World, Finance, etc..) and present the highlights to the class. Have students make a multimedia presentation using one of the many TeachersFirst Edge tools.Comments
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UnShortenMe - Unshort.me
Grades
K to 12tag(s): browser (5), internet safety (110)
In the Classroom
Use this to access sites especially those shared with your PLN through RSS or Twitter. Many times, the original link is not blocked but the shortened URL is because of the shortener service's URL. Save this tool in your favorites to access when needed.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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My PBLWorks - Buck Institute for Education
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): problem solving (240), Project Based Learning (26), Research (79), STEM (328)
In the Classroom
There are a variety of projects presented at different grade levels. Don't hesitate to look at one that seems beyond or below your grade level. They are easily adaptable. For instance, the one by Biz World created for third through fifth grade students to experience entrepreneurship can easily be adapted to a product that high school students might be interested in such as earrings, designing a class ring, or a video explaining how to conquer levels in a video game.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Fakebook - Class Tools
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): back to school (55), book reports (26), creative writing (126), digital storytelling (150), firstday (22), social networking (53)
In the Classroom
Engage and create interest in classroom learning with Fakebook. Fakebook is terrific for creating interest in many subjects. Instead of a typical biographical report in social studies, students create a Fakebook page about their famous person. Write about presidents, founding fathers, famous scientists or artists, Civil War soldiers, and more. Have students create a timeline of any historical event (name the page for the event, such as World War II). Use Fakebook to outline a book, play, or film plot, then share with students while studying the material. To use Fakebook to study literature, create a page for the central character, the book's author, or the book's setting. For a unique twist in science class, create a Fakebook page for a periodic element or another science topic. Use the page to describe "the life" of that atom or element. In world language classes, have students do this activity (about themselves) in the second language they are learning. Create a Fakebook page for the first day of school to introduce yourself to students or at Open House for parents. Challenge students to create and share a page about themselves during the first week of school. Share a Fakebook page with students to demonstrate proper netiquette and social sharing. Be sure to share a rubric with students for all expectations of what should be included on their page. Make Fakebook one of the options for your gifted students doing projects beyond the regular curriculum. With no membership required, this tool is simple enough for younger gifted students with parent permission to post work to the web.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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ClassTools - Russel Tarr
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): essays (20), noregistration (81), qr codes (15), quiz (62), social networking (53), spelling (94), twitter (12), venn diagrams (12), vocabulary (240), word choice (13), word study (57)
In the Classroom
The possibilities abound in nearly any subject area. Be sure to check out all of the free templates to use. Use the many tools yourself or have your students create a Fakebook page or use the Z (still called Tweet) Generator to present information in any subject area. Create a Fakebook page about a famous historical person or government figure in social studies or science class. Share the Burger Diagram for writing essays. Use the Arcade Game Maker to create practice activities for students who need the extra help. Create a random word generator with vocabulary from a science or social studies unit to review before testing. Allow students to create Venn diagrams to be posted on the class website using information from current lessons. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here. Save this site in your Favorites on your teacher computer! Use the embed code or URL created when saving your project to include with other items such as maps, videos, and images within class presentations made using Sway, reviewed here or Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Infographic Visual Resumes (A Pinterest Pinboard) - Randy Krum
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): careers (196), infographics (60), portfolios (21)
In the Classroom
Share this visual collection with students as an example of one way they can portray their strengths and interests to potential employers or college admissions offices. Don't wait until they are seniors, however. Middle school students in an art or career exploration class can create a resume infographic about themselves to use for summer jobs or even on a flyer to get part time work around the neighborhood. Not creative? Allow students to explore the "resumes" to learn more about digital careers and the credentials they require. In high school art classes, have students explore the hot topics in digital design by checking out the resumes. In history or literature classes, offer the infographic resume as a possible project alternative for students for literature study or researching a figure in history. They could create an infographic resume for their figure, literary character, or author. These examples can inspire them.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Poem Farm - Amy Ludwig VanDerwater
Grades
K to 8In the Classroom
Use this site on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) as inspiration for lessons in poetry writing. Share it on your teacher web page for enrichment. Have students create their own poems using this site as inspiration then augment classroom technology use by having them create podcasts of a poetry reading. Use a site such as podOmatic, reviewed here.Comments
It's impossible to have writer's block after visiting this blog--there are always so many inspiring writing prompts and ideas to try here. (And the blog has a very comfortable, inviting, homey feeling--feels like visiting a friend for tea.)janet, , Grades: 0 - 12
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Mail Chimp - Ben Chestnut
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): communities (37), DAT device agnostic tool (125), journalism (73), newspapers (91), writing (307)
In the Classroom
This is an excellent resource for schools and classrooms to manage newsletters. Your class can generate a monthly newsletter or create newspapers from a period in time and share them with parents, school principals, and the school community. Share this site with the person responsible for developing and sharing content at your school. Send a nice end-of-the-year message of thanks to parents with links for summer activities and even a year-end online slideshow. Send an informative beginning-of-the-year newsletter with classroom information and introduce yourself to parents. Send departmental information to parents through the MailChimp group feature, specifically to those who are involved. Use the merge feature to make emails personal. How much nicer would it be for parents to see news addressed to Dear Mr. & Mrs. Jones, as opposed to Dear Parent(s)? School counselors can share information about college and career fairs, important deadlines, and more using Mailchimp.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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CiteThisForMe - Cite This For Me
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): citations (30)
In the Classroom
A great site to recommend to students for use at home to build properly constructed citations. The free version is limited in the information saved to the user's computer for only seven days, so it would not work well for classroom use where students use public computers. It is simple and easy, and until academics across the world decide on one format, this allows us to digitally "attach" a dynamic image of the resource to scholarly work: a great tool!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Common Curriculum Planner - CommonCurriculum.com
Grades
K to 12tag(s): professional development (274)
In the Classroom
Use CommonCurriculum for all of your lesson planning. Copy and paste current lesson plans into the site to view standards that match your lessons. Share public areas such as homework with parents through the email option provided in the site. Use this site to align your lessons to the Common Core standards.Comments
Excellent planning tool. It helps organize my plans and share them with students. I can link to my files in Dropbox and then share those links with students -- no more uploading! Also, I can do long range planning easily. When I reorder my units, my lessons are automatically shifted around on the calendar. It's magic.Scott, , Grades: 1 - 2
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High School Journalism Initiative - Reynolds Journalism Institute
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): editing (85), journalism (73), media literacy (105), news (220), newspapers (91)
In the Classroom
This is a must-bookmark site for any high school journalism or English teacher and even as teacher background for Newspaper units at any level. Share resources with students. Download and use lesson plans. Assign groups of students different articles to read and present to the class. The News Literacy resources and feeds are also useful for social studies classes looking at the media and bias as they stay up to date with current events. Challenge your students to go past PowerPoint and make an online presentation using Animoto (reviewed here) or another reviewed presentation tool from the TeachersFirst Edge to share their findings.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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