Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Clorox Classrooms is designed to help teachers or parents explain good hygiene practices and the importance of protecting yourself against "germs" and bacteria as well as where to find them in school and at home. Lesson plans, whiteboard interactives, and take home activities are all included here. Links lead to grants to be applied for by classroom teachers and coupons for Clorox products.
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tag(s): bacteria (22), diseases (67), hygiene (9)

This site contains how-to videos for kids. Topics include science, paper airplanes, cooking, origami, cartooning, puppets, music, dance, math, and holidays. A summary next to the activity title gives the appropriate level, the number of views, and a starred evaluation of the demonstration. Craft ideas and demos finish up the educational portion of the offerings. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.

tag(s): air (102), comics and cartoons (55), cooking (32), dance (31), easter (10), origami (15), preK (271), thanksgiving (24)

Are you looking for some "fresh" ideas to put an end to bullying in your classroom but are not sure where or how to start? Well, you are in the right place. This web site brings attention to No Name-Calling Week: an annual week of realistic educational activities designed to end all types of name-calling. No Name-Calling Week was inspired by the young adult novel, The Misfits, and presents an opportunity to address bullying as an increasingly, ongoing issue. Whether you are a teacher, student, administrator, counselor, or parent, there is an abundance of useful ideas, activities, and materials for elementary, middle, and high schools to promote anti-bullying awareness, and they are all free!

tag(s): bullying (48), character education (79), sports (82), tolerance (8)

This site was originally created for the Summer Olympics, but many of the activities are useful for the Winter Olympics as well. Although some of the printables are available to members only, this site does includes some excellent FREE information on the history of the Olympics, maps, flags, Greek alphabet, writing activities, graphic organizers, "Invent a New Olympic Sport" challenge, and more. If nothing else, the printables offer some great ideas to implement in your classroom (for example, "Write a Sentence for Each Sports-Related Word").

tag(s): olympics (45), poetry (193), puzzles (149), sports (82)

What is Watch Know Learn? Short for "You Watch, You Know, You Learn" it provides explanations for students. Finding bits of information to help students can be frustrating as resources are disorganized on the web and may be hard to find." Watch Know Learn" is a free site that organizes small video clips to help with the understanding of a variety of topics in subject areas. Search by age (3-18+). You can click and drag the age filter to the youngest and oldest ages to include. Videos are also organized by sequence of topics taught. The site is an ongoing project with input from educators and organizations interested in education of children. Registration is not required to view the videos. Creating and saving videos to the site, as well as commenting, require registration. You can monitor site recent changes and additions using the "Change Log."

tag(s): computers (109), crafts (64), decimals (85), environment (252), ethics (21), fractions (160), holidays (187), Juneteenth (22), scientific method (48), video (266), vocabulary development (94), writing (325)

This website offers a one-stop destination to all of your Olympic information. There are links across the top to learn about the athletes, sports, countries, and even a media player offering video clips and more. At the time of this review the media player had over 1,000 videos and nearly 10,000 photographs! This is an excellent site for research about the Olympics (both summer and winter). There is also a link to go back and learn about the past 46 Olympic games. Although there are no "student" or "classroom" links, this site truly has something for everyone: maps and geography, science behind the sports, research about events and countries, athete information, and more.

tag(s): olympics (45)

This simple PDF site, provides some wonderful ideas for classroom Olympic events. The site is ready to go and provides everything you need: information about ancient and modern Olympic games, illustrated instructions for each Olympic event, printable awards for students, and very detailed instruction about how to do the Olympics in your classroom. There are nine Olympic games included in this lesson. Some examples include Find the Mass Race, Straw Javelin, and Cotton Ball Shot Put.

tag(s): creativity (86), mass (19), olympics (45)

This creative lesson plan challenges students to participate in their own version of the Olympics. Students choose which activities they want to "try their hand at" and are required to keep score. Some of the classroom Olympic "sports" include Speedy Spelling, Tongue-Twister Tournament, The Math Meet, and several others. The lesson plan includes descriptions of all sports and standards. This site was last updated in 2008, but the activities are applicable during any year.

tag(s): measurement (122), olympics (45), sports (82), statistics (121)

As part of their extensive site for vocabulary, roots, and more, MyVocabulary.com has added a themed area for the Olympics. Find interactive vocabulary activities using Olympics-related vocabulary words. You will also find printable crosswords, fill in the blanks and more, all using the same theme words. This and other "themes" available on the site will make vocabulary development fun.

tag(s): olympics (45), sports (82), vocabulary (238)

The close relationship between promoting physical fitness and the White House can be followed through the many topics at this site: Learn the Facts, Eat Healthy, Get Active, Take Action, and Join Us. Some of the more specific topics highlight how to limit TV time, the importance of trying new fruits and vegetables, planting a garden, and more.

tag(s): fitness (39), myplate (18), nutrition (140), presidents (135)

Here is a tribute to baseball as an essential part of American culture. Learn everything you every wanted to know about each of the Major League ballparks, from seating charts to attendance figures, to the history behind former ballparks, you'll find it here. The site does include some minor advertisements.
This site includes advertising.

tag(s): baseball (32), sports (82)

This site offers an interesting mix of activities for all classes to use to celebrate the 100th day! Some are simple: songs, quick art projects, counting activities, or exercises. While others are more complex: learning to say hello in 100 languages, researching 100 African Americans who have made a difference (connecting 100th day activities to Black History month), and many others. This site is a basically a list of activities, but worth taking a look at.

tag(s): 100thday (9), black history (133), counting (60), writing (325)

The 100th day of school is creeping up on us, and to celebrate it in style, check out this list of 100 ideas - covering nearly all subject areas - for celebrating the event! This list includes many links to outside sites, all were appropriate (at the time of this review) and two were no longer active. Some of the outside sites require Flash.

tag(s): 100thday (9), counting (60), writing (325)

Bring the spirit of the games into your classroom! These nicely designed lesson plans, organized by grade level, address topics including characteristics of the ancient games, national anthems and customs, and women in the Olympic arena. Fun Olympic facts, information on health and exercise, and creative activities for learning about life in ancient Greece are also provided. Although these activities were originally created for the 2004 Olympics, nearly all of the information is applicable to any year of Olympic events (specifically, the summer Olympics). Some of the lesson plans and other activities require Adobe Acrobat. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.

tag(s): greece (47), olympics (45)

Although this site is no longer maintained, most links are working. Learn about exercise and eating healthy at this kid-friendly website. Tony didn't get chosen for the football (what Americans call soccer) team, and he is devastated. Come along with Tony and his friends to learn about how his choices kept him off of the team. Learn about the four food groups, nutrients, the importance of exercise, and several other topics about health and fitness. There is a link for teachers with objectives, curriculum standards, and more details about this interactive website. Other highlights include an online review quiz, drag and drop health activities, research and facts, tips for choosing the right food, and much more. Since this site was created in the UK, Americans may notice some minor spelling and grammar differences. A few activities on this site require Flash; however, there is still plenty of information to learn from making your visit worth while.

tag(s): nutrition (140)

The subtitle of this site, Cooking 4 Kids Online, says it all. From hundreds of "video recipes" to kid hosts, opportunities to submit your own recipes as Remote Reporters, featured recipes including healthy snacks, information about cooking utensils and supplies, lessons in cooking basics, and up to date previews of upcoming sections, this site motivates kids to learn to cook and eat in a healthy manner. You can teach basic weights and measures using healthy foods. Clever section titles make even eating veggies attractive to all kids.This site requires Quicktime. Get it from the Teacher's First Toolbox TeachersFirst Toolbox page..

tag(s): cooking (32), makerspace (40), nutrition (140)

All about sports: top sports news stories, sports polls, displays of readers' artwork, AND MORE, this site is sure to appeal to those reluctant readers and any sports lover. Users can get up-to-date statistics from the NBA, NFL, MLB, and NBA. Readers can enjoy sports jokes.

tag(s): drawing (61), news (229), sports (82)

American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance promotes and supports creative and healthy lifestyles through high quality programs in health, physical education, recreation, dance and sport, provides members with professional development opportunities that increases knowledge, improves skills, and encourages sound professional practices.