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Caves at Lascaux - French Ministry of Culture
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): caves (7), europe (82), france (38), maps (221), painting (49)
In the Classroom
Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Since many of the functions work on mouse-over -- not click -- you may want to use a human being to operate the actual computer mouse, since many whiteboards do not "know" where you are mousing until you click! Then have students explore this site independently or in small groups. This is a great addition to a French or Art class. Challenge students in your class to narrate an image orally in French as they present it on the big screen or have them create their own narrated "cave paintings" using a tool such as ThingLink, reviewed here.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Pulitzer Center - Global Gateway - Pulitzer Center
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Share the Pulitzer Center Education site on your interactive whiteboard or projector to introduce students to powerful global stories, investigative journalism, and real-world issues. Teachers can use the collection of articles, videos, lesson plans, and multimedia resources to supplement instruction in social studies, science, English Language Arts, geography, journalism, and current events. The site encourages students to explore complex global topics such as climate change, human rights, migration, public health, and access to resources through authentic reporting and firsthand perspectives from journalists around the world. Resources can spark meaningful classroom discussions, research projects, debate activities, and cross-curricular reading and writing connections through statistics, maps, interviews, and analysis of informational texts. Teachers might use a featured topic as the basis for inquiry-based learning, digital storytelling, blog writing, podcasts, or collaborative projects that help students build empathy, media literacy, and critical thinking skills. The site also makes an excellent resource to share with families to encourage thoughtful conversations about world events beyond the classroom.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Teach MidEast - Middle East Policy Council
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): arab (9), maps (221), middle east (51)
In the Classroom
Use this site to help students identify misconceptions, discuss points of view, and search for information that is free from bias. Use many of these topics as springboards for projects, additional blog posts, public service announcements, letter and video campaigns, etc. Have cooperative learning groups create multimedia projects about one of the topics highlighted at this site. Gifted students, with their heightened sense of "fairness," will especially enjoy breaking through stereotypes using this site. Create a class wiki to discuss the topics. Not comfortable with wikis? Have no wiki worries - check out the TeachersFirst's Wiki Walk-Through. Have cooperative learning groups create podcasts demonstrating their understanding of one of the topics using a site such as podOmatic (reviewed here). Have groups narrate a photo using a site such as ThingLink, reviewed here. Challenge students to find a photo (legally permitted to be reproduced), and then narrate the photo as if it were a news report. To find Creative Commons images for student projects (with credit, of course), try Vecteezy, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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HIV and AIDS Resources - TeachersFirst
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Find ideas and more as you plan for upcoming lessons on this powerful topic.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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International Kids Club - Planet Pals
Grades
2 to 10In the Classroom
Use parts of this site when doing units on prejudice, diversity, and discrimination. Refer students to do research in some of the books listed here on those subjects. Have students interview people from other cultures to check the information given here on aspects of their cultures. Do they agree with what is said here? Even younger students will enjoy learning about flags and peace symbols. Make the craft links available for students doing reports on different countries or preparing for an International Day. Have students copy flags or other country symbols. Ask them to create their own "country" from these models. Challenge cooperative learning groups to research a specific topic at this site and prepare a podcast to share with the class using podOmatic, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Armored Penguin - Armored Penguin
Grades
K to 12tag(s): holidays (280), logic (165), puzzles (167), vocabulary (254)
In the Classroom
Need a puzzle to reinforce the words in a particular unit? You may find one already created. If not, it is simple to create and save to your computer or share via URL (remember, the online version is saved for 2 months). Use the "Quotes" page for great quotes of the day, the "Illusions" page for optical illusions, or the "Fresh Words" page to see what words can be made from a word, phrase, or collection of letters. Have cooperative learning groups create their own puzzle pages for a topic that they are researching or learning about in class, and use them to challenge their classmates or another section of the course. Have students create puzzles as a cost-free, printable gift for families on special occasions such as Mother's Day.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Great Debates in American History - Peter Pappas
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): bill of rights (39), constitution (104), foreign policy (15), immigration (85), migration (45)
In the Classroom
Teachers do not need to start from scratch to develop the themes, nor do they need to use Boorstin's book to use these activities. Use these handouts and themes to prompt traditional debates or challenge student teams to prepare position videos or multimedia presentations using resource images and texts, both from these files and from public domain files and other resources from the Library of Congress. Invite your students to choose from the many multimedia tools available online to present their position. See the TeachersFirst Edge for reviewed suggestions including Image Annotator, SchoolTube. or TeacherTube for videos, or podomatic for audio-only arguments. Embed the products on your class blog or wiki and let classes vote on the debate "winners."Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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350.org - 350.org
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): climate (95), climate change (112), earth (192), earth day (61), environment (249)
In the Classroom
View resources from around the world to look at the organized events conducted. Use these ideas to create a local event or identify the ways others have created communities around global climate action. Use information on the site to create Public Service Announcements, newsletters, or blog posts. Invite students to research sites on both sides of the issue, analyze them, and check information for accuracy. Create a blogging challenge or pledge for students to follow for forty days as a way to create change one family at a time. How about creating a 40 day class wiki about 350 and other global climate action? Not comfortable with wikis? Have no wiki worries - check out the TeachersFirst's Wiki Walk-Through.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Olympic Games - Enchanted Learning
Grades
K to 5tag(s): olympics (49), poetry (195), puzzles (167), sports (87)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the ideas presented at this site (if you are a member or not). Share certain maps or handouts on your interactive whiteboard. Use this site to teach your students more about the history of the games.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Watch Know Learn - Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi
Grades
K to 12tag(s): computers (114), crafts (110), decimals (94), environment (249), ethics (21), fractions (178), holidays (280), Juneteenth (32), scientific method (49), vocabulary development (103), writing (308)
In the Classroom
Search for videos relevant to your upcoming units or share the link with older students to search on their own. Use clips as engaging openings to units or as a review at the end. Have students identify the main points in the video and relate it back to class information. Students can use the examples on the site to create their own videos about a topic they have studied that could be beneficial to others. If you do join the site to submit videos (for more adventurous technology users), we recommend uploading, commenting, and participating in the project (the creation and growth of WatchKnow) as a whole-class collaborative activity. If your students create videos, critique them locally before submitting them to the site as the "bests" from your class.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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ScribbleMaps - Scribble Maps
Grades
2 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): directions (9), geology (60), landforms (35), landmarks (19), map skills (67), maps (221), space (249)
In the Classroom
Students and teachers will want to keep a written record or map URLS and passwords for future reference. Model this for students so they do not lose hours of work! Teachers can prepare partially-made maps or maps for students to make corrections and changes by giving the students the URL, then having them SAVE the map with a NEW ID. To SAVE the map with a new name and URL, click "Save map" in the menu, then enter your OWN map ID. Students could use a code including their initials, such as SJ12-3-09 for a map made by Sally Jones on Dec 3, 2009. Teachers should PASSWORD protect their originals so changes can only be saved under a new name. Similarly, if a student saves the map with a map password, they don't have to worry about other students vandalizing their work. But they DO need to remember the password! Wise teachers will keep a class list of maps and passwords for forgetful students! In primary grades, make maps of your local community together on your interactive whiteboard as you teach basic map skills. Create your own "key" with symbols you choose for playgrounds, etc. Have students help map locations of favorite playgrounds, grandparents' houses, stores, etc. as they gain basic understanding of map skills. Make sure you allow students to operate the tools! Save the map and share it as a link from your class web site (or embed it there). Keep names generic so it is "safe." Other ideas to challenge gifted student beyond the curriculum or elevate challenge for small groups include: natural resource maps, immigration maps, maps of civil war battles day by day, maps of key sites in the life of a famous person, artist, or author, maps of the settings in a novel, landform maps of a continent or state, "My life" maps of places important to an elementary student's family, annotated watershed maps of pollution sources, maps of the water cycle, maps of constellations in the night sky created by students to demonstrate understanding, maps of a dream community to be built in a vacant area (desert), including the water sources, etc. that will be needed, maps of a redesigned city/town on top of its current map. Teachers can provide map challenges or templates to be completed or corrected, including maps where students must label distances and cardinal directions between points (using map scale and skills). Or provide a teacher-created map with labels in the wrong places for students to correct the landforms, resources, etc. What will YOU do with Scribble Maps?Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Teaching Copyright - Electronic Frontier Foundation
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): copyright (42), plagiarism (34)
In the Classroom
Use when teaching essay writing and how to cite sources. Plan a unit on plagiarism using the resources on this site or incorporate them into your existing research units. Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Then have students do the activities on this site independently or in small groups. The culminating activity here is a trial; plan to use this with the entire class with each member having a distinct role.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Global Issues - Global Issues
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): cross cultural understanding (177), cultures (290), news (222)
In the Classroom
Use this site to raise awareness of global issues or as material to teach critical research or expository writing. Students can research other sources for information to verify or debunk the material in the article. Students can analyze information from various sources for bias and use of facts. Have students use this as one of several sources for support in persuasive essays or letters to the editor. Use the articles to practice important reading skills, such as main idea or summarizing, marking up the article on interactive whiteboard. Students can also post findings, viewpoints, and solutions onto a personal or class blog. Have cooperative learning groups choose a topic to research and become "experts" about. Have the groups create multimedia presentations to share with the rest of the class. Have students create a multimedia presentation using ThingLink, reviewed here. Challenge students to find a related photo (legally permitted to be reproduced), and then narrate the photo as if it is a news report. To find Creative Commons images for student projects (with credit, of course), try Vecteezy, reviewed here. Have students use a mapping tool such as Zeemaps, reviewed here, to create a map (with audio) where the global issues are taking place. Another option, have students create videos and share them on a tool such as SchoolTube, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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WordSearchFun.com - WordSearchFun.com
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): photography (136), puzzles (167)
In the Classroom
Share the relevant word searches on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Have cooperative learning groups practice spelling or vocabulary words by creating their own word search. List this site on your class website for students to use both in and out of the classroom. This is a great one for those word search lovers in your class. Why not have students use a whole-class account to make their own word searches to challenge each other with new vocabulary and terms?Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Sporcle - Sporcle, Inc.
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): elements (31), literature (214), maps (221), phonics (53), presidents (151), vowels (6)
In the Classroom
Share specific activities on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Teachers should provide the address URL of the actual game to prevent students from accessing other games (or advertisements that you may wish to avoid). Use these interactives as individual activities or in groups to learn a variety of data. For example, play "Element by Symbol" to review the names of the elements of the periodic table by knowing the names of the symbols. This game entertained this science teacher editor and her chemistry student son for fifteen minutes. Enjoy other science games or in subjects such as Geography, History, or Literature. Use the unknown answers that are shown at the end to create study cards in order to improve scores the next time.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Official Website of the Olympics - Olympic.org
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): olympics (49)
In the Classroom
The possibilities at this website are endless. Use your interactive whiteboard or projector to share the MANY videos, information about the athletes, and many other activities. Use the site for research purposes about specific athletes or sports. Have students create multimedia presentations about events, athletes, or countries using this site. Create a class Olympics Wiki! Not comfortable with wikis? Have no wiki worries - check out the /content/wiki/TeachersFirst's Wiki Walk-Through.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Classroom Olympics - AIMS Education Foundation
Grades
1 to 5tag(s): creativity (87), mass (20), olympics (49)
In the Classroom
Use this FREE and READY TO GO resource to have the Olympic Games in your classroom. Print off the certificates for your students. Invite students' families to the games (if space permits).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Olympic Sports - Myvocabulary.com
Grades
4 to 10tag(s): olympics (49), sports (87), vocabulary (254)
In the Classroom
Share the puzzles on your interactive whiteboard or projector or make them available as links on your teacher public page. Have students (or groups) create their own illustrated dictionaries of terms using a tool such as Bookemon, reviewed here. As you add more vocabulary lists during the year, have them select their favorite 6-10 terms from each list to add to their "book."Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Museum of Underwater Archaeology - The Museum of Underwater Archaeology
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): oceans (142)
In the Classroom
Who isn't fascinated by treasure buried under the seas? This site will help you sneak in history lessons by engaging students in the process of underwater archaeology. The site also makes a strong effort to integrate various curriculum areas from art to biology along with the historical importance of various excavations. Students might also want to follow one of the underwater blogs with information about ongoing projects. Have cooperative learning groups create a multimedia project related to one of the blog stories. For visual students, use an online poster creator such as Padlet. Have students use a tool such as Zeemaps. Zeemaps allows students to create audio recordings AND choose a location (on a map) where the story takes place.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Life and Voyages of Henry Hudson - Ian Chadwick
Grades
7 to 12In the Classroom
Have the students make a cumulative map of all Hudson's voyages together in order for them to get a chance to become intimately familiar with the map making process. Try a site such as Zeemaps, reviewed here. Zeemaps allows students to create audio recordings AND choose a location on a map where each story takes place. Have each cooperative learning group focus on a different exploration. Compare their creations with the online map which has all four voyages combined. Assign students in a group each a few pages of an imagined journal Henry might have written on each voyage. The most interesting part will be to imagine what happened to him after people no longer heard from him! Use this site as the starting point for individual research papers. Encourage students to find other resources that contribute to their knowledge of Henry Hudson. Have students write a talk Hudson might give if he suddenly woke up today (like Rip Van Winkle). Or make it more Web 2.0 and have students write blog entries. The text passages on this site are also ideal for reading comprehension practice. Project them on an interactive whiteboard for practice in main idea, summarizing, and more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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