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IPL: Literary Criticism - U of Michigan; Drexel U
Grades
9 to 12
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One of the most valuable (though visually plain) sections of the Internet Public Library, this site offers students reliable sources for literary criticism on the authors most studied...more
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One of the most valuable (though visually plain) sections of the Internet Public Library, this site offers students reliable sources for literary criticism on the authors most studied in high school. For most students, writing their first research paper is a daunting task and a great temptation to plagiarize from a vast Internet. Walking your students through the maze of biographical and literary criticism explained on this site can show them how to incorporate their own thoughts about a work with support from the academic world. They can search via the author's last name, by the title of the work, or by period in literary history. Students can also access the Online Literary Criticism Guide for assistance within the site or the Literary Criticism Pathfinder, a nice guide to directing students how to find resources within their own libraries.
tag(s): literature (214)
In the Classroom
You might choose an author and, using an interactive whiteboard or projector, have students find sources for that author and discuss their own ideas of his work in contrast to what others have said. Together, write a brief essay as an example. As a bonus, you get to show them how to cite the source correctly!You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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ESL Reading Lessons - 5 Minute English
Grades
4 to 10
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This teaching site has a variety of short readings at various levels that could be useful in an ESL, ELL, special education, or regular ed classroom. Some of the topics ...more
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This teaching site has a variety of short readings at various levels that could be useful in an ESL, ELL, special education, or regular ed classroom. Some of the topics include sentences with grammar errors, students must figure out what is wrong with each sentence. This is excellent practice for any student learning proper grammar. True/ false comprehension questions follow the reading in most cases. Most of the answers are provided at the bottom of the website - so don't scroll too quickly. Before the reading begins, students can study difficult vocabulary words presented in an attractive format. There are full units (with many mini-lessons): grammar, reading, vocabulary, listening, pronunciation, and writing. Some of the listening activities require Flash; however the rest of the site does not, making this site worth your visit.
tag(s): grammar (141), listening (117), pronunciation (33), reading comprehension (146), short stories (18), vocabulary (254)
In the Classroom
Use this site if you want your students to do additional reading. Project the topic, story, and questions on an interactive whiteboard or projector for group discussion. Have your students make up their own questions to go with the site. Have your students write up a similar subject relevant to their own culture and present it, along with questions to check for comprehension. This is a fabulous site to list on your class website for students to use for at-home practice.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Profile Publisher - ReadWriteThink.org
Grades
3 to 12
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Reading literature with complex characters worthy of analysis and individual profiles? Do your students need practice creating their own polished "profiles"? This tool creates professional...more
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Reading literature with complex characters worthy of analysis and individual profiles? Do your students need practice creating their own polished "profiles"? This tool creates professional looking profiles of students or for a character in a book, historical figure, animal, or scientific object/concept. Amazingly, you may choose to set up a profile for nonliving creatures or even abstract concepts. You simply type in the requested information into the boxes, and immediately, you have a perfect profile layout, ready for photocopy publishing. (Saving your profiles is not an option, so all must be printed immediately.) This site requires Flash. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
tag(s): literature (214)
In the Classroom
Teach Internet safety by having students create a mock profile to use on social networking sites. Printing out those profiles makes editing in small groups a breeze. Yearbook or newspaper staff may want to use this Profile Publisher to gain more information about people of interest. History comes alive when you profile historical figures or interview veterans and generate profiles of local heroes. Imagine students creating a blog entry by George Washington. Or ask students to profile a type of cell, an endangered animal, or a science concept such as climate change. With this tool and some creative thinking, anything is possible.Be SURE to warn students to PRINT before closing. The site does NOT save work. You may want them to draft their work in a saved document before pasting it into the profiler, just in case work is interrupted by a fire drill or the bell.
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Sleepover Planet - BBC
Grades
3 to 8
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This page has been archived, but the links still work. This highly motivating website demonstrates step-by-step how to prepare a school musical. The website includes lyrics, drama vocabulary...more
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This page has been archived, but the links still work. This highly motivating website demonstrates step-by-step how to prepare a school musical. The website includes lyrics, drama vocabulary terms, musical notations, scenery, props, and an introduction to various types of music (including calypso). There is a Directors link that includes curriculum information, a glossary, and more. Use the website to teach your class about calypso music, drama vocabulary terms, and many other details pertaining to music and drama. Some of the activities require Flash, but most of this doesn't.
tag(s): ireland (13)
In the Classroom
Use this website to prepare a drama and/or musical with your students. Or pick and choose smaller segments of the website to incorporate into your lesson plans. If you plan to have students write and perform short plays as part of a social studies or interdisciplinary unit, this site is a great reference. Share this lively website with your students on an interactive whiteboard or projector (be sure to turn up the volume).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Word Power - English Portal
Grades
8 to 12
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This is a great site to use for in-context vocabulary acquisition for ELL and ESL students. The site has over twenty general topics with banks of words and examples of ...more
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This is a great site to use for in-context vocabulary acquisition for ELL and ESL students. The site has over twenty general topics with banks of words and examples of how they are used in different situations, phrases, and idioms. Some of the topics include Cars and Driving, Family and Relationships, Soccer, Personal Finance, The Body, Shopping, Air Travel, and several others. Definitions and pronunciation of some expressions as well as their definitions precede examples of the expressions in a variety of sentences. After taking a look at the definition/pronunciation page, students can select a variety of checkups, including drag and drop, true/false, and fill in the blank. This site requires Media Player. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
tag(s): idioms (29), phrases (5), vocabulary (254)
In the Classroom
Check this page to see if any of the general topics has relevance to your lessons. Students can work on their own to increase their vocabulary knowledge of specific expressions used containing the topic focus word.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Talking About - English Portal
Grades
8 to 12
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This English language site is great to use for in-context vocabulary acquisition for ELL and ESL students. The site has twenty-five general topics with banks of commonly used words...more
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This English language site is great to use for in-context vocabulary acquisition for ELL and ESL students. The site has twenty-five general topics with banks of commonly used words and examples of how they are used in different situations, phrases, and idioms. Some of the topics include weather, telling the time, lies, cars, trips, letters, vacations, Christmas, and numerous others. Definitions and pronunciation (British) of some of the expressions are provided. There are also examples of the expressions used in a variety of sentences. After taking a look at the definition/pronunciation page, students can select a variety of checkups, including drag and drop, true/false, and fill in the blank. This site requires Media Player or Quicktime. You can get this plug-in from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
tag(s): idioms (29), vocabulary (254)
In the Classroom
Check this page to see if any of the general topics has relevance to your lessons. Students can work on their own to increase their vocabulary knowledge of specific expressions used containing the topic focus word. For example, at Christmas time, ESL and ELL students can add to their cultural knowledge as well as language usage by using the Christmas pages.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Gift of Gatsby - Anissa Hambouz & Javaid khan
Grades
8 to 12
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This site requires students to read a New York Times article about Gatsby (accessed through the site) and respond with a quiz and writing assignment. The entire activity ...more
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This site requires students to read a New York Times article about Gatsby (accessed through the site) and respond with a quiz and writing assignment. The entire activity is geared for comprehension of Gatsby in the urban classroom, but makes interesting discussion and learning in any classroom that teaches The Great Gatsby. Standards are included with the lesson plan.
tag(s): literature (214), new york (23)
In the Classroom
The article and the accompanying interactive quiz are online, so it is essential for students to do this in a computer lab or an Internet-ready classroom. The plan includes classroom discussion of the quiz after students take it, homework as follow-up, evaluation, vocabulary, extension and interdisciplinary activities, as well as links to related sites on great books and F. Scott Fitzgerald.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Snoopy - United Feature Syndicate, Inc.
Grades
3 to 8
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Find out all you can about Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang on Snoopy.com. This site provides a variety of great comic strips that can be applied to ...more
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Find out all you can about Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang on Snoopy.com. This site provides a variety of great comic strips that can be applied to many classroom lessons. The site also provides an Author Spotlight on Charles Schulz. There is also a link for fun and games with printable pages, puzzles, word problems, and other "fun" stuff. Some of the activities require Shockwave. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
tag(s): comics and cartoons (66)
In the Classroom
Have students utilize and manipulate comic strips for dialog-writing lessons, summarizing, predicting and retelling stories. Use comic strips for literature responses. School counselors will also like the Peanuts strips as conversation starters about feelings. You could even use an online comic strip maker, such as Make Beliefs Comix to create your own class or student comic strips after looking at some examples from Peanuts. Use your interactive whiteboard or projector to share the Fun and Games . Then have students work on individual computers or with a partner to try some of the educational activities.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Seashell Identification Guide - Seashells.com
Grades
2 to 10
5 Favorites
0 Comments
If students ever wonder exactly what seashells they managed to collect at the beach last summer, this is the site to use. Clear photos click to an even larger and ...more
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If students ever wonder exactly what seashells they managed to collect at the beach last summer, this is the site to use. Clear photos click to an even larger and distinct picture of many varieties. Along with the larger picture are the common name, scientific name, region found, and maximum size. Links on the page include more information about identifying shells, cleaning, preserving, and using as decorations.
In the Classroom
Use this site as a kick-off when students return to write their "What I Did on my Summer Vacation" papers. If you're teaching research skills, this site is a good place to start, since it is highly visual but definitive. ESL and ELL students can independently use this site since the vocabulary is limited to names, regions, and sizes. Biology teachers can use this site as a reference when teaching about classification.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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AstroViewer - Dirk Matussek
Grades
3 to 12
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AstroViewer is an interactive night sky map that allows you to pinpoint constellations and planets. The online interactive sky map is free. You can also download the trial version of...more
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AstroViewer is an interactive night sky map that allows you to pinpoint constellations and planets. The online interactive sky map is free. You can also download the trial version of the sky map for free or purchase the license key to unlock a full download. The free online sky map uses controls for time of night, month, or year, or position on the globe to easily find objects in the night sky. A 3-dimensional view of the night sky provides details even for beginners of Astronomy to find stars, constellations, and planets. View constellations see from other parts of the globe. Forecast constellations that will be seen months from now or those from past months. The frequently asked questions answer the most common questions when using sky maps or looking at celestial objects. Download a PDF manual for using AstroViewer. Other functions available include a mini-night sky button or night sky view that can be added to your existing class website. The site requires Java.
tag(s): planets (124), solar system (125), stars (80)
In the Classroom
Use an interactive whiteboard or projection screen to share this interactive "sky map" with your class. Identify the changes in constellation location through the months of the year. Track motions of planets across the sky as well as the differences between Southern and Northern Hemispheres. Use these in a presentation about the mythology or significance behind constellation names. Or turn down the lights and use the "night sky" as a writing prompt during a poetry unit.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Biography Maker - Jamie McKenzie and the Bellingham Public Schools.
Grades
4 to 12
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Writing biographies is a staple of English and history classes. This site takes students through the process in a way that will make reading them more palatable. It will also ...more
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Writing biographies is a staple of English and history classes. This site takes students through the process in a way that will make reading them more palatable. It will also help students delve deeper into a person's life , making it memorable for them. Divided into four groups (Questioning, Learning, Synthesis, and Storytelling), it helps students understand how to take facts and apply them to a real live person. It wraps up with the six effective traits of writing, reminding students that biography writing shouldn't just be a recitation of facts. The "learning" section does link students to Yahoo encyclopedias and Google (with search hints included), so be aware of that feature. This site serves as a guide for writing a biography of anyone (including students themselves).
tag(s): questioning (37), writing (308)
In the Classroom
All material at this site is copyrighted, so it must be viewed online. For students who do best with step-by-step instructions, this site is a gem! You might have one group research authors from a particular country while others do artists, musicians, scientists, etc. A class report from each of these groups would do a good job of encapsulating a country or area of the world within any given time period. Teachers seeking independent projects for students who "test out" of a unit can assign this site's step-by-step instructions as a meaningful alternate activity.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Academic Vocabulary - Averil Coxhead
Grades
6 to 12
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This visually unexciting site offers the creative teacher a way to produce individualized vocabulary lists for particular content or unit areas. Type or paste your own text and call...more
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This visually unexciting site offers the creative teacher a way to produce individualized vocabulary lists for particular content or unit areas. Type or paste your own text and call upon the sublists of academic vocabulary included in the site to generate text passages with academic vocabulary in boldface (they call it highlighted). You can then create your own exercises t practice these words. Once typed in, you can save texts for later use or compilation lists. It gives examples of use of the AWL Highlighter and AWL Gapmaker, so it is easy to understand. Open the "teaching" folder (in the left column) for an easy explanation of how to make this site work best for you. The concordances section shows a word in multiple contexts for students to discern meaning from context clues.
tag(s): vocabulary (254)
In the Classroom
Use this tool (and save time) to create specialized academic texts and materials at varying levels. Check out the various word lists from the start to see if the vocabulary is what you need.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Kids' Vid - Mike Keating
Grades
3 to 8
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Leap into video production with help from the Kids' Vid site! Kids' Vid steps you and your students through the process with tips on scripting, storyboarding, shooting video, and editing...more
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Leap into video production with help from the Kids' Vid site! Kids' Vid steps you and your students through the process with tips on scripting, storyboarding, shooting video, and editing it into a visual masterpiece. The site has classroom ideas, short exercises for story writing and learning video shots, an online storyboard creator, and lots of useful help from experts and kids on how to make the whole process an exciting educational experience.
tag(s): tutorials (51)
In the Classroom
Start the activity by showing the student-produced videos on the web site. Use the resources on the site for a whole class jig-saw exercise. Assign small groups the task of learning one aspect of the process and then reporting and showing it to the rest of the class. Share the knowledge by creating working groups, which contain an expert from each aspect of the process. Use one of the many class ideas as practice activities for students to learn the finer points of video production before they start their masterpieces.Video is a great tool for authentic assessment - especially for ESL, ELL, and Special Education students. Think about letting each of your students create a short video about what they know for their parent conference meeting or Open House. Explore the realm of possibilities by having students develop and ask peers a "Question of the Week" and document the responses on video. Let students produce a walking tour of the school and key personnel as an introduction for new students. Post this video on the school website, but check the district and students' Acceptable Use Policies before videoing any student faces. You may want to ask your school's funding sources to consider purchasing a few USB plug-in "flip" video cameras that cost about $100 each so students can do these projects with an "indestructible" tool.
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The Enormous Kinder-Garden - Hubbard's Cupboard
Grades
K to 1
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The Enormous "Kinder" Garden is a lengthy theme unit for kindergarten classrooms that utilizes rich literature and tremendous cross-curricular activities. The unit touches upon several...more
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The Enormous "Kinder" Garden is a lengthy theme unit for kindergarten classrooms that utilizes rich literature and tremendous cross-curricular activities. The unit touches upon several learning styles and national standards. It is a detailed and user-friendly theme that will have children completely immersed. The literature includes The Enormous Watermelon, The Enormous Potato, Jack and the Beanstalk , and others. Try adding the site ChooseMyPlate (reviewed here) and healthy eating habits to weave the district Health curriculum into the unit.
tag(s): myplate (15)
In the Classroom
Have students go on a simple, primary web quest for additional information relating to the foods listed in the theme. Use time in the computer lab or in small groups on a classroom computer cluster.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Book Wizard - Scholastic
Grades
K to 12
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Wizards perform magical feats, and this book wizard proves to be equally supernatural. Claiming to be the first book search engine for teachers, it is built on a database of ...more
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Wizards perform magical feats, and this book wizard proves to be equally supernatural. Claiming to be the first book search engine for teachers, it is built on a database of 50,000 books from all publishers. Snazzy tools allow you to see the reading level of any book in several leveling systems, and use the BookAlike tool to see what books are similar to a particular well-loved book. Use the Discover New Books tool and you will find ready-made, themed lists. The Leveling Chart to find books by Guided Reading, Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA), and Lexile''''® Levels. This gives you the opportunity to buy them from Scholastic, but check your library first to find a free copy to use in class. Matching the right book to each individual student has never been easier.
tag(s): book lists (162), reading lists (76)
In the Classroom
Teachers, make sure your librarian and even parents know about this wonderful web tool. This could be set up as the homepage for several computers in the library, so students can plug in their levels, their interests, and then enjoy the book recommendations.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Owly Comics - Andy Runton
Grades
K to 4
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This cartoon/graphic novel site offers free previews of many wordless comic books and short graphic novels. You can select the regular length or mini-books. Some examples of the stories...more
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This cartoon/graphic novel site offers free previews of many wordless comic books and short graphic novels. You can select the regular length or mini-books. Some examples of the stories include The Way Home, A Time to Be Brave, Bee Nice, and several others. There are twelve lesson plans available for free download at the Teaching link. Pre-readers, ESL and ELL students, and those learning foreign languages will delight in making up the words to go along with the very expressive pictures here. The lesson plans at this website require Adobe Acrobat. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
tag(s): comics and cartoons (66), graphic novels (3), novels (34), vocabulary (254)
In the Classroom
Ask students to dictate captions for these stories, write the captions on strips, and put them with the printed pictures. For students able to write, have them write their own captions. Have a caption-writing contest among pairs of students in the classroom. Have ESL and ELL students write simple captions and learn the words for items in the pictures at the same time. Students in foreign language classes can generate desciptions or dialog to go with the stories. Special ed teachers will appreciate the opportunity for students to "narrate" the comics -- and possibly place pages in sequence -- to develop vocabulary. Use printable versions for take-home work with parents, as well. Challenge students to create their own wordless books. Don't forget to check out the twelve lesson plans available at the
This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.
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Audio Stories for Children - Light Up Your Brain
Grades
K to 5
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Chuck Brown, the host of Light Up Your Brain, takes readers on audio adventures of timeless classics such as Cinderella and Peter Rabbit, as well as other various stories. Mr. ...more
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Chuck Brown, the host of Light Up Your Brain, takes readers on audio adventures of timeless classics such as Cinderella and Peter Rabbit, as well as other various stories. Mr. Brown records the stories and provides them on his web site for FREE! The site also offers user-friendly directions for listening and downloading the stories.
In the Classroom
Use the stories during listening centers or as enrichment to a theme or shared/group reading during class. Play the stories on an interactive whiteboard or projector and have students draw pictures of the story. If copies of the story are available, have students follow along with a partner during the audio reading. Learning support teachers will like the option of offering stories in audio to help weaker readers.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Mysterious Places: Ancient Civilizations Modern Mysteries - Mysterious Places
Grades
4 to 12
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Students are always fascinated by the mysteries of the past, and wondering how those in ancient history managed feats of construction that would be difficult even today. Perhaps nothing...more
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Students are always fascinated by the mysteries of the past, and wondering how those in ancient history managed feats of construction that would be difficult even today. Perhaps nothing sparks student interest more than the phrase, "no one knows". This site seeks to explore several "mysterious places" in the world--places whose origins or purposes are lost to antiquity. Currently, the featured locations include Easter Island, Stonehenge, Chichen Itza, and the Maya. Each section contains stunning photography, and a variety of resources on the history and mystery of the site. A section entitled "educator link" promises lesson plans and other teachers' resources, but is not finished. The site offers great potential, some of which has already been realized.
In the Classroom
This site might be offered to students doing independent research or included as "real" mysteries during a reading or literature unit on mysteries. The information could augment a lesson plan from a standard text with its lovely photos. It could be an option for exploration by accelerated students who have completed a unit on ancient history. Teachers should be aware that there is an on-line forum as a part of this site which requires registration. Its content is completely peripheral to the site, and students should simply be instructed to avoid it.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Hubbard's Cupboard - a joyful journey into learning - Hubbard's Cupboard
Grades
K to 1
2 Favorites
0 Comments
Hubbard's Cupboard provides early learning through reading activities, math connections, and art projects. The activities are user-friendly and are geared toward primary students. ...more
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Hubbard's Cupboard provides early learning through reading activities, math connections, and art projects. The activities are user-friendly and are geared toward primary students.
tag(s): easter (8), eggs (4), holidays (280), literacy (124)
In the Classroom
Use the site as a guide for planning a traditional holiday celebration in your classroom!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Comic Creator - ReadWriteThink.org
Grades
2 to 12
17 Favorites
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Your students will create comics in minutes using this Comic Creator site. No log-in is required. Just type in the prompted information, such as the name of comic character, author,...more
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Your students will create comics in minutes using this Comic Creator site. No log-in is required. Just type in the prompted information, such as the name of comic character, author, caption, and of course, the dialog that goes into the speech bubble. The 'creator' chooses the number of panels, type of characters, style of speech bubble, and various props. Two actions are needed: clicking and dragging the items to go into the comic strip, and typing dialog into the bubbles. Then, presto....a genuine comic appears, ready for printing. The tool DOES support accent marks pasted from Word.
(Unfortunately, there is no way to save your comic masterpieces.)
tag(s): comics and cartoons (66), sequencing (18), summarizing (26)
In the Classroom
Instead of writing boring summaries, why not summarize through a comic strip. It's much like storyboarding, but the drawing has been left to the Comic Creator pros. Make a class book of the comics created throughout the year. That book will become the most read classroom book of all in an elementary classroom. Use comics to show sequencing of events. When studying about characterization, create dialog to show (not tell) about a character. Another idea - why not use the comic strips for conflict resolution or other guidance issues (such as bullying). Sometimes it is easier for students to write it down (or draw the pictures) than use the actual words. World language and ESL/ELL teachers can assign students to create dialog strips as an alternate to traditional written assessments.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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