Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Quiz Factor offers quizzes that are not about your typical "education" topics. There are both popular and specialist subjects. Some topic examples are: Animals and Nature, Cinema and Actors, Fashion and Design, History and Politics, Religion and Traditions, Science, Sports and Games, Technology and Manufacturing, and many more. At Quiz Factor you can climb the Leaderboards and win prizes. There are three types of quizzes: The Ladder, Time Trials, and True/False. You can also make your own quizzes. (At the time of this review, this feature was "coming soon.") This site is from the UK, and some questions in the General Knowledge section test facts you would know if you've been to the UK.

tag(s): animals (294), cultures (180), design (79), fashion (12), quiz (67), quizzes (90), radio (20), religions (95), sports (82), substitutes (25)

TED is the home of the award-winning TEDTalks video site, a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. In the beginning, the TEDTalks mission was to bring together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, and Design. However, its scope has broadened to challenge the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers to give the talk of their lives (in approximately 18 minutes or less). Find TEDTalks under the Watch tab on the top menu. At the time of this review, TED.com has more than 1,100 of the best talks and performances by speakers with powerful ideas from around the world. The talks are free and the collection continues to grow. The goal of the foundation is to foster the spread of great ideas, thus it aims to provide a platform for the world's smartest thinkers, greatest visionaries, and most-inspiring teachers, so that millions of people can gain a better understanding of the biggest issues faced by the world, and a desire to help create a better future. Easily search the site by topics, disciplines, newest releases, or most favorite. TEDTalks offers subtitles in various languages which enhances the accessibility for the hearing-impaired, and for those who speak English as a second language.

tag(s): cultures (180), politics (118)

Picturing Words is an online exhibit featuring 40 illustrated, rare books from history, science, and art. The illustrated books go back to the 1400's with illuminated manuscripts from The Canon of Medicine (980-1037) up to 1996 and The Graphic Alphabet. The categories include: Inspires, Informs, or Influences. Also included is a section on the process of illustration, detailed images, and examples organized by theme. Suddenly, you will notice illustrations!

tag(s): artists (84), medieval (32), primary sources (117), renaissance (38)

Find great information and interactive activities about the human body and brain on this exciting site. Choose from tabs along the top from Body and Brain as well as Nature, Planet Earth, and more. Click on the NOVA Education tab to find great lessons and ideas to use these materials for a variety of subjects and ages. View video clips as well as slide shows and other information. Preview these resources before sharing in class. Some parents/communities may consider some material controversial or inappropriate for younger students.
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tag(s): carbon dioxide (9), carbon footprint (5), earth (184), environment (252), human body (93), nuclear energy (20), nutrition (140), solar energy (34), space (222)

Here you will find a "kid-appropriate" search tool featuring countless general topics: Facts & Reference, Computers/The Internet, The Arts, Strange & Mysterious, Hot Topics, The World, Science & Math, Reading, Writing, Speaking, Nature, and several others. Within each of the main topics are subtopics. For example, in the Classroom section you will find English, Foreign Langauges, Math, History, Reference Tools, Shapes, Woodwork, Colors, Art, Religion, Philosophy, Social Studies, and Homework Help. There is a ton here to explore! The information includes articles and images/photos.

tag(s): alphabet (53), animals (294), animation (64), clip art (11), colors (63), comics and cartoons (55), cooking (32), crafts (64), creative writing (124), cross cultural understanding (173), cultures (180), dance (31), dinosaurs (43), disabilities (32), diseases (66), drawing (61), fitness (39), flags (18), folktales (34), geometric shapes (134), grammar (137), homework (29), insects (68), journalism (74), measurement (122), museums (52), mysteries (23), numbers (120), nutrition (140), oceans (149), operations (72), origami (14), painting (54), photography (130), poetry (193), psychology (65), rainforests (18), religions (95), search engines (48), seasons (37), sign language (10), social networking (61), spelling (98), sports (82), trivia (19), vocabulary (238), weather (160)

This New York Times site addresses many classroom needs. Scroll down the main section to find current event articles, photos, polls, and more. Find lesson plans by category, a student opinion section, contests, a daily news quiz, and timely articles connecting current events to thinking questions. Find many opportunities for a quick learning game or to express your opinion. There is even a student crossword. This site is frequently updated and includes a wide variety of subjects.

tag(s): news (228), vocabulary (238), writing prompts (61)

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)

Recently, a large archive of material has been released by the JFK Library focused on the life of John F. Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline. This site provides contextual information about these newly released records, as well as transcripts of oral history interviews. For example, you can now download previously secret audio recordings that were made during White House meetings, transcripts of oral history interviews with Jacqueline Kennedy, and a rich archive of other materials related to the Kennedy Presidency. This newly released material gives us insight into Kennedy's brief time as President, including his involvement in the Cuban Missile Crisis, his attitudes toward the Cold War relationship with the USSR and the build up of US troops in Vietnam. There are teacher resources and lesson plans that make use of the available archival material.

tag(s): history day (39), kennedy (20), presidents (135), vietnam (38)

What Happened When? This useful site allows you to aggregate a text timeline by date, theme or geographic area using links to Google searches, Google images and content from HistoryWorld (with which the site is affiliated). Enter a date or keyword(s) for the event(s). You will see a text list with icons that lead to related Google, images, and HistoryWorld info. Try exploring by themes such as performing arts and science and entering a year to see what occurred during the same year. While the overall visual impact is fairly bland, it's a great "quick and easy" utility for putting events into a chronological context. If you search two very diverse events, you can discover unusual convergences. Additionally, it can be the jumping off point for a more complex search by helping students make connections among ideas, characters and events that may seem unrelated. For example, this is a wonderful tool to explore decades of the twentieth century or periods in the arts.

tag(s): search engines (48), timelines (56)

Digg is a social news network similar in some qualities to Facebook and other such social media. You can post stories you find interesting and browse "Top Stories" which are more or less the most popular stories shared by others on the Internet. It is meant to share a snapshot of the most interesting, relevant, quirky, and fun content on the web! Once you sign up, you can start to Digg your own favorites. This site also features "Digg Dialogg" where members submit questions to notable leaders and community members decide on which questions will be asked, and interviews are shared on the site. Be sure to preview items that you wish to share. Noted were a few "violent" warnings at the time of this review, but the other 99% of the shared items were excellent for use in the classroom.

tag(s): debate (42), news (228), social networking (61)

Pinterest is a virtual pinboard that lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. Browse the site without registration. Type Edu or education in the search bar, and find two different Education results. Clicking a picture gives a description and the option to Follow or Comment. To create/add to your pinboards, register for free. If you have an account, you can Repin the picture to a pinboard you have titled and created within your account. Click on the image again to visit the original site of the image. Often this is just what you are looking for to learn specific details. You can also search Pinterest for specific items such as Guided Reading, File Folder Activities, or other classroom needs. Pinterest members can "follow" other users and see their new items as they add them to their pinboards. Use Pinterest on any device or computer, and there is a related Facebook app.

tag(s): architecture (75), cooking (32), creativity (86), DAT device agnostic tool (147), fashion (12), guided reading (33), nutrition (140), organizational skills (88), professional development (385), social media (48), social networking (61)

Investigate the world of art history accompanied by two professors at the Fashion Institute of Technology, Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker. Smarthistory started as a a blog featuring free audio guides, podcasts, and videos. Later it became an interactive exploration of eras, styles, and artists. Smarthistory has recently merged with KahnAcademy utilizing the same concept: that high quality education should be free and available to all. You can watch Smarthistory videos on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable in class.

tag(s): art history (102), medieval (32), renaissance (38)

Explore collections of primary documents from US History enhanced with tools for teaching. This site adds the ability to manipulate primary documents to build informative and challenging lessons. While a few of the documents and lessons are available for the casual visitor to the site, you need to register (and it's free!) in order to make full use of the amazing resources here. Once you have registered, you can access all the documents and use the activity builder to create lessons which use primary documents to teach sequencing, mapping, weighing evidence, interpreting data, and seeing the big picture. Please note that you do not HAVE to create anything, you can simply use what is already here. (And they do already have a lot to offer.) You will need to create a project if you want to package an activity that you can use now and again later.

tag(s): american revolution (82), civil war (139), digital storytelling (154), great depression (30), industrial revolution (22), primary sources (117), Teacher Utilities (198), westward expansion (39), world war 1 (77), world war 2 (161)

News and information from top thinkers and doers around the world, screened so that it is condensed to that which is significant, relevant, and applicable, that is Big Think. This website is a phenomenal source for information and news. The philosophy of Big Think is that as we "move to the knowledge era" that you will be able to better function if you know more and understand what you know. This website was awarded one of TIME magazine's best websites of 2011 for news and information. Please screen any articles that you wish to share BEFORE sharing with your students. Some content is NOT appropriate for the classroom. This is not a site you want to send students off to explore on their own.
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tag(s): brain (56), business (52), cross cultural understanding (173), environment (252), news (228), politics (118), psychology (65)

Join the writers and readers of obooko, the free site to publish and read eBooks. Readers' Choice Awards of 2011 winner for free eBooks, obooko offers a platform to share your work and read the works of others. Become a reviewer and write comments on other eBooks. As authors, you retain all rights with no charges or contracts. This site is legal and does not infringe on copyright laws. There are numerous categories to choose from: Romance and Women, Crime, Religion, Thriller, Mystery, Teens, and much more! This site is not intended for children under 13. Some of the content may not be appropriate for the classroom. So be sure to preview.
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tag(s): creative writing (124), ebooks (43), mysteries (23), novels (34), poetry (193), religions (95)

This site provides a wonderful chronology of mathematical information starting about 3000 BC on up to the 21st Century. Information can be accessed in several ways. Upon entering the site there is a timeline across the top and all information included is in list form on the main page, simply scroll through to view all items. Searches can be narrowed to defined time periods by mousing over that area on the timeline or typing dates into the blank box at the right of the timeline. There is also a link to a chronology index which leads to time periods already broken into smaller portions. Also available is a biographical index which can be used by time period, or choose female mathematicians or use the alphabetical index as an option.

tag(s): biographies (94), cross cultural understanding (173), timelines (56)

This site provides several collaborative science and engineering projects with various start dates. Projects are available for a full range of grade levels. The target grade level is listed with the project. Some projects at the time of this review included: The Global Sun (grades 5-8), Bucket Buddies (grades 1-5), Human Genetics (grades 6-12), Home Lighting in Developing Countries (grades 9-12), and several others.

tag(s): animals (294), engineering (129), genetics (80), light (56), plants (146), scientists (67), sun (71), water (102)

This PBS site is a reorganized collection of over 16,000+ public media offerings (including radio and photographs), arranged specifically for preK-12 teachers. You can search by subject (the landing page subject is physical education) and grade level across many subjects. After viewing three offerings, you must join (for free) to continue. Membership includes the option of saving favorites. Use the search box at the top to find correlations to state standards. The site is still in development, so material is being added frequently.

tag(s): alphabet (53), careers (156), dance (31), data (151), decimals (85), diseases (66), fitness (39), human body (93), mark twain (8), multimedia (53), music theory (46), percent (59), probability (99), problem solving (233), psychology (65)

This site offers many songs related to math, social studies, and science concepts. Science concepts include water & pollution, scientific inquiry, changes in matter, and much more. Math concepts range from order of operations to quadratic and exponential functions. After choosing a topic, you can listen to the song online, download the mp3, view lyrics, and possibly view an accompanying video. (Not all topics include the video.) Some topics also include a teacher guide with lesson suggestions. This site does mention that you can create your own videos. However, at the time of this review, that feature was not working.

tag(s): africa (148), area (53), atoms (43), bill of rights (33), branches of government (65), cells (82), civil war (139), constitution (96), elements (33), equations (119), exponents (35), factoring (25), factors (29), functions (52), inquiry (24), integers (21), matter (45), nutrition (140), oceans (149), order of operations (29), quadratics (27), rainforests (18), ratios (47), songs (46), sound (72), volume (33), water (102), world war 2 (161)

Learn a new language through music and lyrics! Choose English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portugese, Japanese, Russian, Greek, Dutch, Danish, or Romanian. Register for FREE and learn the new language. Each language has different activities: karaoke, interactive cloze activities, videos, and more. You can choose among three different difficulty levels. Some activities even have the option to "double click" to read a definition of a word. You also have the ability to submit your own songs and language activities to the site. Note that this site is fairly new and only ha a few hundred songs at the time of this review. Help contribute to the offerings!
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): cross cultural understanding (173), cultures (180), french (75), german (49), greek (47), italian (31), japanese (47), portuguese (22), russian (26), songs (46), spanish (109)