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40 Amazing Educational Virtual Field Trips: No Permission Slips Needed - Kimmie Fink
Grades
K to 12tag(s): virtual field trips (148)
In the Classroom
Virtual field trips can immerse students in diverse learning experiences that allow teachers to go beyond the boundaries of their classroom. Find a virtual field trip that is relevant or connected to an upcoming unit. Begin by conducting an anonymous poll using a tool like Poll Everywhere, reviewed here or Mentimeter, reviewed here showing images from one of the virtual field trips you've chosen. Display images showcasing significant landmarks, main attractions, or features of the location. Students can post their wonderings, insights, or prior knowledge about the destination based solely on the images. This can ignite curiosity and generate excitement as students speculate about where the destination is. After gathering students' responses, announce that you'll be "taking them there" virtually through an upcoming virtual field trip! During the virtual field trip, integrate presentation tools using Pear Deck, reviewed here. Incorporate interactive question slides throughout the virtual field trip to prompt students to reflect on their learning, make connections, and apply their knowledge. You can even intersperse the presentation with interactive quizzes, polls, or collaborative brainstorming sessions. You can use this to keep the field trip active and engaging rather than a passive sit-and-get activity. Wrap it up by challenging students to become virtual field trip creators! Let them select a destination they want to "visit" and design an ideal virtual field trip experience for their peers. You can provide a template or criteria for students to consider when planning their virtual field trips. Students can use creation tools such as Google Slides, reviewed here or Canva Education Templates, reviewed here to create brochures or presentations that outline the details of their virtual field trip. Then, set a time for their "field trip pitch day," where students present their virtual field trip proposals to their classmates!You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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40 End-of-Year Journaling Prompts to Inspire Reflection - Rosebud
Grades
3 to 12In the Classroom
Give students 1-2 short prompts (favorite moment, biggest challenge) and have them complete quick 5-minute writes. Post different prompts around the room. Have students rotate, responding to each with a sentence or sketch. Have students choose one big prompt, such as "How did you grow this year?" and write a structured response with a claim, evidence, and reasoning.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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40 Interesting Ways to Use QR Codes in the Classroom - Tom Barrett
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): qr codes (15)
In the Classroom
Choose one of the ideas suggested in the slideshow as a starting point for using QR codes. Try additional ideas one at a time. Share the slideshow with other teachers and split up the ideas for each to become an "expert" in one of the strategies. Share your experiences as you learn together. Challenge your students to dream up other uses for the codes. As a service project, students could create a QR code school "tour" or add QR codes for students to use while waiting in the cafeteria line to access nutrition information about today's menu.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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401 Prompts for Argumentative/Persuasive writing - New York Times
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): news (223), persuasive writing (50), writing (309), writing prompts (55)
In the Classroom
English/writing, social studies, and current events teachers are sure to find something here for their students to write about. Introduce a few of the prompts and the winning student editorials using an interactive whiteboard or projector to get students interested. Have students define what concise means and what it should mean in their writing. Point out the good writing habits of the student winners. Students should read the NYT's article(s) that give information about the topic of the prompt(s). At this time, you could have students choose a topic, or you could select several from which students could choose. You could also use one prompt a day as an opener or closer quick write. Another idea would be to have students respond on a class blog to the prompts and then make comments on each other's opinions. Haven't started blogging yet? Check out TeachersFirst's Blog Basics.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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4teachers.org - ALTEC.org
Grades
K to 12You will also find links to make your own rubrics (or adapt others), adapt or create problem-based checklists, find Webquests or Thinkquests, find tools for students to write persuasively, and you can view online lessons or create your own. Those are just a few of the resources you'll find at 4teachers.org. Enjoy 4teachers video channel to see tutorials and educational videos. You might also consider joining in a weekly teacher blog on structured topics and see the featured site of the week.
This site includes advertising.
tag(s): note taking (36), persuasive writing (50), rubrics (40), spanish (112)
In the Classroom
This site is a great site to begin with basic understanding of technology in education. Tutorials explain many of the basics educators must have. Ready to use lessons, rubrics, and calendar resources are easily available. This is also a great site for Spanish resources. Share with colleagues to help boost your technology savvy classroom!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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5 Best Bell Ringer Activities for High School - iCEV
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): problem solving (285), questioning (37), Teacher Utilities (222), teaching strategies (83)
In the Classroom
Kick-off class with a reflective question or scenario from the blog to spark curiosity and get students thinking critically about the day's topic. Incorporate skill-building activities as bell ringers to reinforce previous lessons or prepare for upcoming content. Turn bell ringers into collaborative discussions or projects by asking students to expand on their answers or solve challenges together.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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5 Father's Day Ideas for Elementary Students - HMH
Grades
K to 8tag(s): fathers day (17), holidays (293), summer (53)
In the Classroom
Before school concludes, introduce this site to the class and let them know the link will be on your class website to share with their families after school is out. Try suggesting something interactive for the students to create besides the paper craft. For example, have students create online books about their fathers using Bookemon, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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5 Fun, Educational Ways to Celebrate July 4th with Kids - Learning Liftoff
Grades
K to 5tag(s): american revolution (96), crafts (114), enrichment (17), holidays (293), july 4th (19), summer (53)
In the Classroom
Conduct one of the suggested fireworks-themed science activities, then have students predict, observe, and explain the results using the scientific method. Read one of the recommended Independence Day books as a class or in small groups. Students discuss historical events, compare life in colonial America with life today, and write a reflection on what freedom and citizenship mean to them. Working in small groups, have students design a community Fourth of July celebration. They create an event schedule, design patriotic decorations or posters, develop a budget for supplies, and explain how their celebration honors the history and traditions of Independence Day.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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5 Metacognitive Tools to Reveal Hidden Learning - MiddleWeb
Grades
3 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): learning styles (23), personalized learning (13), social and emotional learning (203), thinking skills (137)
In the Classroom
Start a lesson with a "What I Think Will Be Hard Today" prompt, in which students jot down possible challenges before beginning a reading or math task. After completing an activity, have students fill out a brief reflection slip describing one strategy they used to learn, solve a problem, or understand a text more clearly. Create a Metacognition Journal on paper or using Book Creator, reviewed here where students record moments of confusion, document how they resolved them, and track patterns in their thinking over time to build ongoing learning habits.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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5 Minute Mystery - Mystery Competition, LLC
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): critical thinking (191), mysteries (28), reading comprehension (146), short stories (18)
In the Classroom
Use your projector or interactive whiteboard to show your students the directions for getting points by selecting the correct clues and solving the mystery. To begin with, as a class, read a mystery and discuss what the clues might be and whether they implicate or exonerate each suspect. Once the students have volunteered their ideas for which sentences are clues, submit them to see the score. The program will highlight the answers you should have had, if you got any wrong. Model for your students a discussion about why those are the correct answers and why the ones they submitted weren't. Eventually they can have this discussion by themselves in small groups. Those of you with multiple classes will want to create a league for each class. Eventually you can have small groups of students compete against each other by creating leagues. Have your students come to consensus about the clue sentences and who the real perpetrator is by voting using Tricider, or Vevox.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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5 Ways to Practice Nonfiction Text Features - Raise the Bar Reading
Grades
K to 6This site includes advertising.
tag(s): reading comprehension (146), reading strategies (87)
In the Classroom
Although many of the links to materials found on this site link to a paid site, the ideas are easy to incorporate without purchasing information. Use the ideas on the site to create your materials to fit your lesson needs. For example, use Google Slides, reviewed here to create and print visuals to display on your bulletin boards. Take your slides digital and add links to online learning resources to create a complete learning activity. Learn more about how to create interactive lessons using hyperdocs by watching the archived recording of the July 2019 OK2Ask Session: Believe the Hype! Using Hyperdocs for Innovate Instruction, located here. Find many different types of graphic organizers to use online or offline at the TeachersFirst Special Topics Resource Page, located here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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5 Ways to Use Padlet as an Icebreaker - Brent Warner/TESOL
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): back to school (56), firstday (27)
In the Classroom
Include these suggestions as part of your back-to-school activities to support building your classroom community, along with teaching students how to use Padlet. Extend learning by using students' responses as a springboard to a more intensive project. For example, by having students create a full timeline using MyLens, reviewed here, where they map out key historical events linked to regions where they have lived or their cultural background.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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50 Activities For Developing Critical Thinking Skills - Kapable
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): collaboration (139), critical thinking (191), thinking routines (61)
In the Classroom
Set up stations with different types of challenges (logic puzzles, real-world scenarios, ethical dilemmas). Have students rotate through stations, collaborate, and explain their thinking process at each station. Have students identify a real-world problem (at the school, community, or global level) and create a solution plan. They must research, evaluate options, and present their reasoning using CER (claim, evidence, reasoning). Give students a topic connected to your ELA or social studies unit. In small groups, students can take different perspectives and support their claims with evidence.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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50 Mini-Lessons for Teaching Student Research Skills - Kathleen Morris
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): citations (32), Research (91), search strategies (19)
In the Classroom
Bookmark this page to use as a reference when teaching research skills. Consider using this site as a beginning outline of research skills to teach throughout the year then divide each topic into a unit for planning purposes. Use digital tools to reinforce and enhance the lessons. For example, when using the ideas for teaching how to clarify questions, begin with choosing a topic idea. It states to write as many questions as you can for an idea such as koalas. Gather student ideas on your whiteboard, then create a word cloud using Wordsift, reviewed here, to highlight recurring ideas and thoughts. Use this information as a starting point for research, and ask students to share online information into Padlet, reviewed here. Ask older students to use Fiskkit, reviewed here, as a collaborative tool for sharing and discussing online articles. Fiskkit includes tools for sharing online articles and adding highlights and notes with others. Upon completion of research projects, ask students to share their learning using a multimedia presentation tool like Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here. Have students include original work, images, videos, and more to share their research projects.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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53 Reflective Journal Prompts for Students - Journal Buddies
Grades
1 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): critical thinking (191), journals (27), thinking skills (137)
In the Classroom
Students can use Book Creator, reviewed here to write their journal entries. Have students answer their journal prompt with a comic using a Free Comic Strip Maker by Adobe, reviewed here. Students can use ScreenPal, reviewed here to create a video journal entry.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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550 Narrative Prompts - NY Times - New York Times
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): creative writing (126), writers workshop (30), writing (309), writing prompts (55)
In the Classroom
These prompts are not just for language arts teachers. Science and Social Studies teachers will find many prompts to use in Beliefs, Politics and Current Events, and other categories. Digital storytelling incorporates many Common Core Standards and is a possibility in any classroom. To incorporate digital storytelling into your class use a tool like Visme, reviewed here, or challenge students to create a Found Poem from the news article using Word Mover, reviewed here.Take advantage of the many ideas on this site for a class blog and student bloggers. Create a link to the list on classroom computers for student use when looking for blog suggestions. After writing about several different prompts, challenge students to choose one and create a short story or poem. Want to learn more about blogs? Check out TeachersFirst's Blog Basics.
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6 Essential Thinking Routines you Need in your Repertoire - Thinking Museum
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): brain (59), inquiry (38), perspective (33), podcasts (173), puzzles (176), summarizing (30), teaching strategies (83), thinking routines (61), thinking skills (137)
In the Classroom
Display several images, artifacts, or short text excerpts around the room. Students can rotate in groups, using the See, Think, Wonder routine at each station to record their observations, interpretations, and questions on sticky notes or a shared Padlet, reviewed here. After reading a story or historical event, have students "step inside" the mind of a character or figure. Next, they can write or record brief reflections from that person's perspective, describing their thoughts, feelings, and motivations. Using Creative Questions, students can brainstorm inquiry-based questions related to a class topic (e.g., "What would happen if...?" or "Why does this matter today?"). Post them on a question wall to inspire deeper research or writing projects.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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6 Questions Teachers Should Ask Before Implementing AI - Forbes
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): artificial intelligence (347), evaluating sources (54), professional development (298)
In the Classroom
Discuss this article during grade or content level meetings, or as part of staff meetings. Introduce the information to students by presenting brief classroom scenarios in which AI could be used (e.g., writing assistance, tutoring, grading). In small groups, have students discuss the proper use of AI using simplified versions of the article's six guiding questions. Have students design posters that explain how to use AI safely and responsibly, focusing on privacy, originality, and ethical use. Posters can be displayed in the classroom or shared during a technology lesson. Students can complete a writing or problem-solving task on their own, then compare it to an AI-generated version. They reflect on what humans do better, what AI does well, and when teacher feedback is most valuable.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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6 Ways to Use Snapchat in the Classroom - Mud and Ink Teaching
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): reading strategies (87), social media (64), teaching strategies (83)
In the Classroom
Have students take a photo of a quote or page from their independent reading book and use Snapchat (or a similar app) to annotate it with emojis, drawings, and commentary. After reading a short story or chapter, assign students to use a series of Snapchat-style images and captions to retell the key plot points, with a focus on narrative structure and tone. Have students choose a recurring theme or symbol from a text and create a series of annotated snaps that illustrate how it develops across the story, using quotes and images.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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60 Heartwarming Father's Day Crafts - We Are Teachers
Grades
K to 5This site includes advertising.
tag(s): crafts (114), fathers day (17)
In the Classroom
Have students create a paper toolbox (or decorate small boxes) and fill it with "tools" (cut-out shapes) representing positive traits their father or a father figure has, such as a hammer for strength or a level for fairness. Students can write an acrostic poem using the word FATHER or DAD, then decorate a card with their poem and a matching design. Host an in-class "Father's Day Fair" where students display their crafts and read their poems, cards, or stories aloud.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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