Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Bring Beatrix Potter's incredible artistry to life. This whole site is fashioned into a virtual popup book where you can meet the characters, watch videos of the stories, play games, and find fun things to make and do offline. Try to "Find Peter" (before Mr. McGregor does!), take part in an Easter egg hunt, collect snowflakes to earn special downloads, help Peter find his way through a maze, and play a vegetable picking game. Read character descriptions of each of Beatrix Potter's characters and even watch video clips of Peter Rabbit. Create an interactive Peter Rabbit puppet show and star in the puppet show by uploading a picture. Teacher's resources include six learning modules and printable posters and certificates.
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tag(s): authors (107), easter (10), eggs (5), holidays (187), literature (221), preK (270)

Bring the Magic Tree House books to life in your classroom with materials created just for educators. Scroll through this site to find activity guides for many Magic Tree House books and graphic novels; some include corresponding activities, such as crossword puzzles and matching games. The Educator's Guides provide grade-level suggestions, lexile level, and cross-curricular classroom connection ideas.
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tag(s): book lists (167), guided reading (33), literature (221), preK (270)

With the Mentimeter presentation tool, you can create free polls, word clouds, real-time question and answer sessions, and quizzes that provide instant feedback from audiences or classes. All of these can be in person, remote, or hybrid. After joining with your email address, your dashboard will appear. Use the top menu bar to find Featuresand then Q&A click it, and you can watch "How to Create" video (about 5 and a half minutes). Choose from various templates and themes, create a question and a set of answer choices, or participants respond with their words. When finished the slide will provide the URL and ID code for your presentation. Participants choose or enter their answers using a mobile device or their computer. You can generate a QR code quickly for the fastest linking. View results instantly (a plus for interactive presentations or classes). Results can also be embedded on a website. The most popular mobile platforms support Mentimeter. The free membership provides unlimited projects/polls. Each individual poll/project allows 34 Slide types, Q & A, Quick Layouts, and Collaborative workspace.

tag(s): assessment (147), Formative Assessment (74), polls and surveys (49), presentations (23), word clouds (13)

This site offers help with curricular needs of ESL/ELL students. From grammar to pronunciation to vocabulary assists, this site offers whatever you might need. Extra exercises are available in the areas ESL/ELL teachers need the most: grammar exercises, vocabulary tests, listening and video clips, idioms and phrasal verbs, and content based practice. Although the site contains a lot of ads, and one small optional section requires payment, it is very easy to use and search. Beginners' exercises include prompts from their first languages of Spanish and French.
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tag(s): grammar (137), listening (93), vocabulary development (93)

Students will have fun while improving their writing and grammar. At the time of this review, noredink's grammatical categories include apostrophes, subject-verb agreement, comma issues, sentence fragments, run-on sentences commonly confused words, phrases and clauses, and a lot more! The program provides differentiated instruction based on the questions students answer right or wrong. Click the "Product" tab on the top menu to read about more features. There are interactive tutorials to help students correct mistakes. Sign up with name, username, email address, gender, school name, and a password.

So, what's fun about learning this type of grammar? noredink asks students to pick their interests from Sports, TV shows, Musicians, and Miscellaneous. They will also be asked if they want them to use your friends from Facebook. When students are practicing or are taking quizzes, the program will use their interests and friends, and generate the questions around their interests and friends. The hope is that the content will be more interesting by including sentences with favorite celebrities, hobbies, TV shows, or even personal friends. Be sure to watch the introductory video. The program works on iPads as well as your regular computer.
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tag(s): assessment (147), capitalization (9), classroom management (120), differentiation (84), grammar (137), homonyms (8), homophones (6), punctuation (25), quiz (67), quizzes (90), sentences (22), Teacher Utilities (198), verbs (26)

Knovio takes the pain out of PowerPoint presentations by bringing them to life with webcam and audio enhancement. Create a PowerPoint or Keynote presentation, upload the file, press record, and present to your audience. If you are camera shy, disable the defaulted webcam to just audio! Share with people you select through the site's private spaces or share to the world via your social network. When sharing through private spaces, you will need your audience's email addresses. Additionally, when your recipients view your presentation, you will receive an email confirmation of when the presentation was viewed. The free plan offers a 3 video limit and 30 minutes of storage.

tag(s): slides (43), video (266)

Explore, learn, and have some fun at this engaging site create by the National Film Board of Canada. The site is divided into seven different sections, each offering activities based on themes such as seasons, story telling, and experiments. Learn more about the site by following the tutorial on the Cuckoo section. Learn about the seasons as you explore Ludovic's area. Dog Run teaches about pet ownership and dogs in general. Be sure to check out the Fun Stuff section that contains a wonderful story boarding activity as well as several "create a character" options for storytelling fun! Account registration isn't required to use the site; however, creating an account allows you to save and access activities at a later time.

tag(s): digital storytelling (154), interactive stories (22), preK (270), puzzles (149), seasons (37), stories and storytelling (58)

Find interactives aimed at Pre-K through elementary. Each activity is labeled with the subject and level. Some games include choices of level of difficulty or skills to practice. Some of the topics include recognizing colors, shapes, numbers, and letters. There are also many keyboarding/typing practice activities, counting, holidays, and more. A few of the games are more entertainment than educational, but searching by level and subject avoids these. Although most games are in English, there is a large component of the site in Spanish (click the flag). American English speakers may notice some slight spelling differences in the British English on this site.
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tag(s): alphabet (53), colors (63), counting (60), holidays (187), keyboarding (28), numbers (120), preK (270)

Word Confusion challenges you to choose the correct word to complete the sentence from the pair of homonyms. There is no log in or password required, so just go to the site and get started. Do you hope for a lot of presents or presence? Do sentences have a clause or claws? There are two levels of difficulty to choose from which provide examples that might even stump the class wizards.
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tag(s): editing (93), homonyms (8), spelling (97), vocabulary (238)

Plant a question and watch it grow! This is a very easy to use poll creator that can be linked through class websites, blogs, wikis or any other online application. Simply type in a short question then copy the link to your site. All responses show up in the answer box below the question in a word cloud type of format. AnswerGardens can be customized to allow unlimited responses and a password. Although anyone with the link can answer a question, polls can be edited by the owner if any unwanted content is added. So watch carefully!
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tag(s): antonyms (12), polls and surveys (49), speech (69), vocabulary (238), word clouds (13)

Are you looking for fellow educators to follow on X (formerly Twitter)? If so, this wiki is a great starting point. Choose from many different categories of educators such as librarians, early childhood, professional development, and much more to begin your search. Each link leads to a list of educators to follow on Twitter along with a short description about themselves, simply click on the X (formerly Twitter) handle to go to X (formerly Twitter) and begin following. Be aware: there is a warning on the top of the main page that the wiki is now "locked down" due to spamming. You are still able to access all the links. You are not able to edit without joining.

tag(s): social networking (61), twitter (13)

The Children's University of Manchester contains excellent mini-lessons and interactive lessons for students on a variety of science, history, literacy, and art topics. Key stage 2 is roughly equivalent to grades 3-6. Topics include The Body and Medicines, Energy and the Environment, Ancient Egypt, The Earth and Beyond, Teeth and Eating, Microorganisms, the Brain and Senses, Talking Textiles, and Words. Choose a topic to learn more about (explained by a professor at the university). Then explore by choosing from activities on the sidebar. Activities include short videos, matching activities, slide shows, and more. Since this site was created in the UK, you may notice some slight spelling and/or pronunciation differences than in American English.

tag(s): body systems (40), brain (56), dental health (14), egypt (56), energy (133), environment (252), human body (93), medicine (57), organisms (15), root words (10), senses (20)

Though this site is about storyboarding for videos, the storyboard template and concepts can be used for any storytelling (books, comics, short stories, etc.). Try out this tool demonstrating storyboarding concepts. You can build your own storyboard using resources from the free media library. Be sure to watch the introductory video (2 minutes) to understand some of the terminology used on this site. Choose Storyboards by hand from the top menu bar. Follow the directions for reviewing "shot types." Next, scroll down the page to find a script "The Deal" and a "shot list" for beginners. Print the storyboard, and continue following directions. Then, watch the eight and one half minute on digital storyboarding. Your created script that can be embedded, linked, or shared. Be sure to check out the many instruction videos included on the site for tips on creating storyboards. Registration with email is required to share and save storyboards.

tag(s): comics and cartoons (55), digital storytelling (154), images (263)

Practice alphabet recognition, sound/symbol relationships, and early reading skills through printable activities. Activities are geared towards the preschool and young elementary school child. Print games that practice rhyming and upper and lowercase letter matching. Print and share stories or use the phonics lessons and activities about consonants, vowels, and more. Additionally, the site provides activities for early education topics such as animals, colors, and shapes. All activities are in PDF format and most are available to print in either black and white or color. Printables are certainly not "high tech," but sometimes they are just what you need.
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tag(s): alphabet (53), phonics (51), preK (270), printables (36), sight words (23), sounds (43), spelling (97)

Explore culture through interviews and discussions taped by people from countries around the world. The interviewees vary in age and social economic status. Find cultural snippets by area of the world; each country has many offerings organized by subject. The index also offers the same pages organized by topic. Video pieces are also divided into different grade levels: elementary, middle, and high school. Written text accompanies each video clip so you can read what you are hearing. Some interviews are in English. However, most are in the language of the country and translated into English. There is a disclaimer on the site that reads, "... be aware that these videos reflect actual authentic speech, with all the stops, starts, and hesitations that come with everyday conversation. We have not corrected grammatical errors, and the videos sometimes show highly colloquial language, local slang, and region-specific speech patterns."

tag(s): cultures (180), interviews (17), journalism (74), video (266)

Use this free site to create a private chat room where you can watch videos with others at multiple locations in real-time. Create a chat room and use the link to send to others. Use the Facebook app to post to Facebook. Watch the video synchronously while making comments in the chat window. Note: Members of the chat can change the video at any time, and it will change for all those in the private room. You can lock this function by going to settings, find this function, and choose between All members or Moderators only. Want to save the chat? Copy and paste to share later or use screenshots (command/shift/4 on a Mac or print screen on PC.) Save your room and go back later to view the chat and watch more videos with your friends. You can monitor the chat the same way you did for changing the video, moderators only. See How to Use Watch2Gether to find which video formats are supported.

tag(s): blended learning (37), chat (41), differentiation (84), Online Learning (36), remote learning (54), social media (48), video (266)

Create gif animations easily from uploaded images using this site. Images can be uploaded from computer files, pulled from Flickr, or pulled from YouTube videos. Choose up to four images, select size and speed, then select the continue button in the right-hand corner of the screen. Images can take up to a few minutes to process before seeing the resulting gif. When the animated gif is created, share using links on the page to many popular social sharing sites or download to your computer.
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tag(s): animation (64), images (263)

Anki is a flashcard creator with a twist. The program is used everyday, and each response is rated as Easy, Very easy, Good, or Again. Very easy questions won't be shown again for 7 days, Again responses will be shown again during the same session. Choose the number of flashcards to use for each session, time to spend, and number of questions to be offered. Search by topic to find readymade flashcards or create your own. This program needs to be downloaded to your computer following the onsite directions. Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and Linux versions are available.

tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (147), flash cards (44), test prep (69)

This simple (yet fantastic) survey creator uses images for the multiple choices instead of text. Video tutorials on the site demonstrate how to create a survey; however, the process is easy to follow. Click on Create a survey, choose a title, layout, and theme and start filling in your survey questions. Upload a picture for each response, and personalize the survey as desired. Completed surveys can be shared via url, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter) or embedded into websites or blogs. Up to 100 responses are allowed using the free version.

tag(s): polls and surveys (49)