514 parent-information results | sort by:
return to subject listingFaces of Learning - Q.E.D. Foundation
Grades
8 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): communities (37), learning styles (18)
In the Classroom
Encourage students to do a project about learning and post their results here, if policies permit. Share this link on your class web page and/or in a parent newsletter so they can better understand the nature of learning and its challenges. Use the self-assessment with any class -- without joining the site -- as you talk about study skills and finding individual strengths for studying and learning. Consider letting students form study groups based on the results. This is an ideal activity for early in the school year.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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ClassDojo - Sam Chaudhary and Liam Don
Grades
K to 8Please be aware that ClassDojo falls under the FERPA laws for "directory information" and "educational records." Any school getting funds from the Department of Education (public schools) is required to disclose to parents and get written consent to use ClassDojo with their child.
tag(s): behavior (46), classroom management (122), DAT device agnostic tool (147), game based learning (181), gamification (79), Special Needs (56)
In the Classroom
Consider using this program to reward a group of the week. Award points for positive behaviors such as participation, helping others, creativity, hard work, or create your own categories. Using ClassDojo for group behaviors will give immediate feedback to students if projected on your whiteboard or your projector. Use this tool to help your unfocused students stay on task. Share this site with students on the first day of school as you go over class expectations and your behavior plan for your classroom. Use ClassDojo to offer both negative and positive feedback to parents and students.Are you a regular education teacher with special education students mainstreamed into your classroom? Use Class Dojo to privately keep track of student behaviors and send a report to special education teachers or parents. This could be invaluable to a life skills, autistic support, gifted, or emotional support teacher who needs to track the behavior of each of the students as part of an IEP/GIEP. Alternative ed programs may find this tool very useful, as well, even up through high school.
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Dia de los ninos, Dia de los libros - American Library Association
Grades
K to 8tag(s): book lists (165), cross cultural understanding (167), literature (218)
In the Classroom
Put this site on your calendar for Children's Day/Book Day in April. Use the book lists as reference for multi-cultural offerings. Have your own "in class" Children's Day/Book Day. Make it a themed affair: multicultural, non-fiction, science-fiction, or whatever relates to your language arts/reading classes. Challenge students to read a book and then share the story by creating a multimedia presentation using one of the many TeachersFirst Edge tools reviewed here. Some tool suggestions are (click on the tool name to access the review): Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, Vevox, Animatron, Renderforest, and Canva Inforgraphic Maker. Ask older writers to create their own children's book using Bookemon, reviewed here, and read it with a younger reading buddy in honor of the day.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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MobileRead - MobileRead.com
Grades
3 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): audio books (24), book lists (165), ebooks (40), social networking (64)
In the Classroom
Consider sharing parts of this site on your interactive whiteboard. Expand your language arts classroom with a variety of books through free eBook resources. Give each student his/her own personalized book club to match interests. Enjoy your favorite interests too. Find the latest information on eBook technology.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Technology and Reading Ebooks in Education - Drs.Cavanaugh
Grades
K to 12tag(s): ebooks (40), reading strategies (101)
In the Classroom
Capture your student's interest in technology and reading with eBooks. Join the latest craze to promote life long reading. Join blogs to see what other teachers are doing. Use as a parent resource to help promote interest. Use as background information while writing grants or proposals for technology grants. Be sure to investigate the variety of classroom ideas for using technology and eBooks.Consider incorporating technology into your literature circles. You might want to start with a whole class novel, having students listen to certain chapters using an eBook. Have the "discussion director" for the group post questions on Canvas Free LMS, reviewed here with the understanding that they may answer the questions on Canvas, but these are "discussion starters" for the circle meeting in class.
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Springo Kids - Springo, Inc.
Grades
K to 5This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Have younger students use this site when doing research or information searches. You can feel more comfortable allowing students to search the web. Show them how to mark it as a Favorite or make a shortcut on classroom computers to access it directly. Share some of these activities on your interactive whiteboard or projector as a small group center. Allow students to explore the sites shared on their own.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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CurriConnects Book List: Books for Tough Situations - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12tag(s): difficult conversations (61), disabilities (31), divorce (6), eating disorders (7), emotions (48), social and emotional learning (96), social skills (23)
In the Classroom
Build student literacy skills and help students facing personal challenges. Reading about personally meaningful topics will help students work through them. It will also build the important reading strategy of connecting what they read to what they already know. Keep this list handy in your Favorites to suggest options when a student seems to need them. Since the list includes topics for all levels of maturity, you might want to share portions of it rather than the entire list. You may also want to tell parents about it during parent conferences or when situations arise. As always, allow students to self- select independent reading books from a list of options. Don't forget to share the list with the school and local libraries so they can bring in some of the books on interlibrary loan, if needed. Your school counselor will also appreciate this list. CurriConnects are a great help for teachers and parents who have lost school library/media specialists due to budget cuts.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Educreations - Educreations, Inc.
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): blended learning (37), homework (32), remote learning (56), Teacher Utilities (159), video (262)
In the Classroom
Use this resource to create homework help for students to peruse when they are stuck on their own trying to complete assignments. Create mini lessons for students to review or learn the material they may have missed. Consider allowing students to use your account to write a script and record mini lessons for use by other students. Even two recordings of the same lesson is valuable as information can be explained differently from more than one person. Be sure to include this link on your class website for students (and parents) to access at home.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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World Science - World Science
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): animal homes (57), animals (288), diseases (69), genetics (81), news (227), planets (112)
In the Classroom
World Science empowers your students to recognize that they too can ask questions, and they too can understand the latest science questions and answers. Inspire thinkers to find questions and seek answers. Set as your home page and always captivate your students. Use as a reference site to add the latest science news. Subscribe and send to each of your students emails. Reinforce the scientific method in everyday research. Have your classes create their own science news on your website. This is an excellent site for inspiring critical thinking skills and creative thinking. Be sure to include this site as part of your current events and curriculum in gifted and advanced classes.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Syvum - Syvum
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): creativity (90), critical thinking (117), logic (163), problem solving (225)
In the Classroom
As a teacher, get a free membership with some capabilities to manage your class such as creating your own quizzes and monitoring class progress. This is the sure-fire way to increase problem solving and creative thinking skills through gaming. Use as a whole class activity, individual, or reward time options. Expand the way gifted and advanced classes think! Put a link to this site on your class webpage, wiki, or blog.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Free Kids Books - Red Sky Ventures
Grades
K to 6This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
If you are not a primary level teacher, be assured all the ESL/ELL, world language, theme related alphabet books are completely customizable. A great way to use the resources with older, struggling readers is to tap into their interests and have them customize the resources.Create a class book with favorite activities, rhymes, names of books, or any way you choose to create classroom community. Make a special book for your school to welcome visitors or new students. Read the PDFs on the interactive whiteboard, projector, or at a center. Post as a link on your website for students to read at home.
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Literacy Connections - Educators Circle, LLC.
Grades
K to 6This site includes advertising.
tag(s): alphabet (52), literature (218), phonics (50), preK (263), readers theater (10), reading comprehension (147), sight words (22), spelling (98), word study (60)
In the Classroom
Make your reading and writing workshop come alive with a wealth of resources and information at your fingertips. Help your school volunteer program or business partnership with background training to work effectively with your students. Share this one on your website as a link for parents. Periodically revisit to be sure your language arts program has the most useful and meaningful components. Gifted and ESL/ELL programs will greatly benefit from additional ideas and fun activities for whole group instruction, centers, or even homework practice.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Smarthistory Art History Conversation - Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker with Khan Academy
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): art history (89), medieval (32), renaissance (38)
In the Classroom
A must for any art classroom, Smarthistory adds an extra dimension and deeper understanding to any history, social studies, or cultural studies classroom. Use the Smarthistory videos on YouTube to engage and enhance student learning. If the videos aren't viewable in class assign students to watch them at home; that's perfect for the flipped or blended classroom. If you are going to require students to watch the videos from home, consider using edupuzzle, reviewed here, to add your own voice or add questions within the video. Use in writing workshops to provide insights to art and culture and to into thoughts and feelings. Study written works alongside the art of past time periods. Bring unlimited, world-class resources to each class. Gifted classes will devour this website. Provide this link on your class website to offer students extra challenge and exploration.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Behavior Doctor Forms and Tools - Laura A. Riffel, PHD
Grades
K to 12tag(s): behavior (46), classroom management (122), organizational skills (89), parent conferences (21), parents (59), Special Needs (56)
In the Classroom
Read about positive behavior interventions and use this site as a resource for implementing the practices that you are comfortable with. If nothing else, try some of the "100 free ways to reward children." These simple ideas can mean a lot to your students. Check out the list of Character Education books. Educate yourself using some of the special education information available here. Be sure to share useful ideas with parents by sharing this link on you class web page or i newsletters. You may want to suggest specific ideas to individual parents at conferences.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Fiction Teachers - Meadowbrook Press
Grades
2 to 8This site includes advertising.
tag(s): poetry (191), readers theater (10)
In the Classroom
Jazz up your language arts class with fun, laughter and great readers theater scripts. Find links for other websites for more resources. Discover book resources to make your language arts workshop become the favorite part of your students' day. Use on an interactive whiteboard (or projector), at centers, for parent resource, or additional advice for tutors.After students have experienced two or three of the reader's theater scripts from this site, have them create their own script for a favorite story. Use the script writing tips found on Aaron Shepard's Reader's Theater Page reviewed here.
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Raising Fit Kids - WebMD
Grades
K to 12A free registration gives the member free tools like a Food and Fitness Planner, Vaccine Tracker, Symptom Checker, and many more. The registration information required is minimal and is legally appropriate for the age level.
tag(s): cooking (30), fitness (40), heart (27), myplate (18), obesity (8)
In the Classroom
Check school policy on setting up student accounts or work together with parents on this. Read the the articles together. Have students track and monitor their Food and Fitness over that time with the . planner provided. Tracking their own progress will be educational and fun! Keep a class "Workout Wiki" that can serve as a meeting place and neutral location to store exercise goals and nutritional changes. Maybe even include a recipe area for fit foods.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Lose It! - FitNow, Inc.
Grades
5 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): calories (7), DAT device agnostic tool (147), fitness (40), nutrition (137), obesity (8), social networking (64)
In the Classroom
Try using "Lose It!" in health classes as early as fifth grade to help students become aware of how they spend their calories in a day and just how much they are consuming. Sometimes just this awareness is enough to help some kids stay healthier. Have students do a baseline record what they eat and do with no set rules for three days to a week. Have students analyze with their free weekly reports: what they consumed, how much, and what vitamins and other nutrients that they may need to increase. If students are comfortable sharing information with each other, have them compare reports to get a better and more realistic view of their intake. Have students create a plan to make small changes to diet and activity for a week at a time and then have them check their reports again. This could be a year long, month long, or two week long process. Depending on the incidence of childhood obesity or malnutrition in your area, you can adjust this to fit your needs. If you are concerned about student privacy, create an account for a fictitious person that the entire class can use to analyze hypothetical food intake and more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Big Think - Big Think
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): brain (56), business (51), cross cultural understanding (167), environment (246), news (227), politics (114), psychology (67)
In the Classroom
Choose a story that relates to your topic that you are teaching such as science or even music with a story such as "How Music is Good for Your Brain." Share the story with your students. Discuss the writings, and then use it as a platform on how students should approach the things that they are learning in class. This way they develop critical thinking skills and extract the most important information and leave the accessory facts to the side. Assign specific articles to cooperative learning groups to read and explore together. Then have students create a multimedia project to share with the class using one of the many TeachersFirst Edge tools reviewed here. Some tool suggestions are (click on the tool name to access the review): Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, Vevox, Animatron, Renderforest, and Microsoft PowerPoint Online.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Readability Test Tool - David Simpson
Grades
1 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): independent reading (86), readability (5), writing (323)
In the Classroom
Use this tool to offer differentiated resources for the different reading levels in your class. At the beginning of the year, as you learn your students' capabilities, use this tool to find reading at the appropriate level to eliminate frustration. This is perfect for finding the "just right" level for your highly advanced/gifted students and those needing extra remediation. If you do discover that a website you want to use is over your students' independent reading level, you can still use it, just use Read Ahead, reviewed here as a guided reading activity for younger students. Read Ahead is perfect for introducing any reading passage to struggling readers, special education students, and ENL/ESL learners. View readability levels of websites before sharing with students to find appropriate reading levels for differentiation. On an interactive whiteboard or with a projector, test passages of public domain texts from sites like Project Gutenberg, reviewed here, by famous authors to see how their writing ranks when discussing their writing style.Why not have students put in the URL for their blog or wiki (or simply paste in a writing sample) to see the level at which they are writing? This is one way to encourage writing as a craft and challenge students to include more varied vocabulary and sentence structure in their writing.
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obooko - Tony Stanton, Sarah Bainbridge, Tim Johnson
Grades
7 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): creative writing (122), ebooks (40), mysteries (20), novels (32), poetry (191), religions (85)
In the Classroom
For your language arts class, obooko contains many examples of contemporary writing. Selections for critiquing and editing are readily available without hurting any class member's feelings. Look at examples for current ideas and places to begin brainstorming. Included are free templates for different types of writing. Have each member of your class become a published author! Use the titles as writing prompts or read only half of the story and have students finish it in their own way. Bring each student's story into the lives of many. Assign critiques using obooko. You might even create a school or class obooko literary magazine during poetry month.Library/media specialists may want to select certain ebooks to load on school iTouches for students to read and review. Start an obooko reading club with these free options.
If you are uncomfortable sharing here or school policy prohibits it, have your classes create a similar website (wiki) with published pieces from your school or class. Not familiar with wikis? Check out the TeachersFirst Wiki Walk-Through.
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