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BBC Learning English - BBC (British Broadcasting Company)
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): news (223)
In the Classroom
For teachers, there is a weekly lesson plan to accompany a selected news feature. The lesson plan includes highlighted vocabulary, a glossary, comprehension questions, a quiz, and links to more information about the subject of the story. This site is useful for far more than just ESL/ELL. Remedial reading teachers who struggle to find interactive comprehension activities will love the variety of reading selections and cloze passages, such as "Get That Job."You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Spy Kids - CIA
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): branches of government (70)
In the Classroom
Include this site when studying the three branches of government as a concrete example of one thing the Executive Branch does. Students could explore it on a "scavenger hunt" to learn answers to questions you pose, or the whole class could visit on a projector to learn about what the CIA does. If you ask students to research different government agancies, this would be a great reference site for them to use.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Dates That Matter - TeachersFirst
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): calendars (36), substitutes (25)
In the Classroom
Begin your social studies class once or twice a week by projecting a Dates That Matter entry and working through the guiding questions together as a class -- clicking Reveal one at a time to spark discussion before the answer appears. Use the Why It Matters links as extra credit or enrichment opportunities, or ask gifted students to investigate one entry per month and become the class "expert" on that event. Add a link to your teacher's webpage so students and families can explore it together outside of school. Substitutes will also appreciate this meaningful, discussion-ready routine that connects today's lesson to students' prior knowledge -- no prep required.Comments
This is a terrific site for daily writing and "Do Nows" for my ELA classes. In addition, the site can be used for Morning Meeting/Advisory.Patricia, NJ, Grades: 6 - 12
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Early Cultures: The Pre European Peoples of Wisconsin - Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): native americans (128)
In the Classroom
There are some nice PDF files for teacher use that compare and contrast the pre-contact cultures. This would be especially helpful in illustrating that the "native people" of North America vary widely depending upon time frame and geography. There are lesson plans and a very nice illustrated glossary of terms and artifacts.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Harvest of History - Farmers Museum
Grades
2 to 10tag(s): agriculture (54), new york (23)
In the Classroom
A comprehensive late elementary curriculum unit is outlined for teachers. There is a huge amount of information built into this site, and it could easily provide a lot of audio visual support to a unit on farming or on nineteenth century American farm life. The video clips and the interface are all extremely well done. There is reference to Native American farming (the Seneca). There is also a nice searchable index of primary sources, and it's not a list of moldy books, but rather a photo gallery of artifacts with documentation on usage, age, and provenance. Even a lower elementary teacher could use the videos on a projector to introduce the history of U.S. agrarian culture, and high school classes could study the economics of farming and create their own multi-media projects using the materials on this site.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Where in the World and What in the World is Money? - International Monetary Fund
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
This might make a nice kick off activity (10 minutes)to a unit on money--from an economic perspective rather than a counting perspective--or a unit about a country or society that uses a different form of currency.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Flickr - Flickr
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): images (272), photography (136), Storage (7)
In the Classroom
Create a free account and take a moment during setup to adjust your notification settings so you only receive the emails you want. Upload and organize photos for the projects you plan to use with students so they are easy to access year after year. You can manage privacy settings at any time, making images public when needed and switching them to private when they are no longer in use. Be sure that you are the copyright holder of any images you upload by using original photos you have taken rather than images from the internet. To use the site effectively, you will need basic skills such as taking and saving digital photos, locating and uploading files, tagging images for easy student access, copying and sharing URLs for collections, and adjusting privacy and sharing settings. Find other tools such as Big Huge Labs Captioner or Motivator to use with the photos.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Captioner - Big Huge Labs
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): comics and cartoons (67), communication (126), images (272), photography (136)
In the Classroom
Locate and upload digital image files or an URL for specific images. Navigate the tools of Captioner by following the simple directions. Monitor the "appropriateness" of images available on Flickr/the web. You might want to specify a tag or collection to work from for some classes. Upload your own set of digital images to Flickr ahead of time. Share also by downloading image to your desktop.Create a captioned sequence to explain a major concept, such as mitosis or narrative patterns. You could also have students create campaign ads, posters of important people, etc. Have an object explain a concept from its point of view (solar panel tells about itself), have a famous person explain his invention or accomplishment, show what a non-verbal creature or object, such as a cell, is thinking.
Check out the Big Huge Labs educator account. Easily pre-register students to avoid creating logins, view and download their creations, and view the site advertisement free. You will find information about the Educator Account here.
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NewsHour Extra Lesson Plan: Immigration Reform - PBS
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): civics (129), immigration (85), migration (45)
In the Classroom
The essential questions (labeled "My Point of View, parts 2-3") are a nice guide for helping students see this issue from multiple backgrounds.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Around the World in 42 Hand Gestures - Work the World
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): communication (126), cultures (290), infographics (73)
In the Classroom
ENL/ESL teachers will appreciate this free infographic hosted by Work the World. Be sure to save it as a favorite on your classroom desktop to allow for easy retrieval later on.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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WorldWise Schools - Teaching About Culture Lesson Plans - Peace Corps
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): cultures (290)
In the Classroom
Search for lessons on a specific region as you teach about it or use these selections as general readings for comprehension. Consider using a guided reading activity with a tool like Hypothesis, reviewed here. Hypothesis is perfect for introducing any reading passage to struggling readers, special education students, and ENL/ESL learners. The lessons may also be helpful in getting to know students who enter your classroom from other cultures. The lessons would be very helpful in developing background knowledge to understand cross-cultural literature selections in a language arts class.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections - Dave Leip
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
Use some of the interactive maps on a projector or interactive whiteboard or enter into the discussion boards as a class with ONE shared posting and watch the responses as a group. Share this link on your class website for students and parents to use at home.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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NewsHour Extra Lesson Plan: Checks and Balances in Supreme Court Nominations - PBS
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): supreme court (33)
In the Classroom
There is a really nice "balance of powers" exercise that goes way beyond a simple discussion of the Supreme Court. Students look at all three branches of government and determine which branch has power in a variety of contemporary situations. This lesson plan is good as a stand-alone, but also provides a lot of jumping off places for further discussion and adaptation. Use a projector, as the plan suggests, to share the short video clips, available in several formats.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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NewsHour Extra Lesson Plan: The United Nations and Reform - PBS
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): civics (129), united nations (7)
In the Classroom
The information provided is fairly dense, and the issues and discussion of reform are probably beyond the scope of a general history class. However, the historical information would be useful for a more general audience, and the questions related to reform would be suitable for an upper level class on civics, government or modern US history.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Be A Historian - Industrialization - Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area
Grades
5 to 10tag(s): industrialization (12)
In the Classroom
Use the interactive graphic organizers for students to complete individual or guided learning experiences. These would also work well on an interactive whiteboard.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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American Writers - C-Span
Grades
6 to 12In the Classroom
You can pick and choose not only which author you want, but what information you want to use. You can choose short video clips shown on a projector either as a lesson in themselves (using the suggested questions or ones of your own); you can create a webquest using a combination of both this site and other sites linked from it; or you can use this as a straightforward internet lesson, using the material presented on the site itself. It is easily expandable to history and you can watch the video, a video clip, or read the transcript. Video requires Real Player.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Calendars through the Ages - Institute for Dynamic Educational Advancement
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): calendars (36)
In the Classroom
Lots of great stuff for "did you know?" discussions or as an extension of a study of timelines and other graphic organizers of information. A few interesting visuals, but the strength of this site is in its information. Might be a good source for monthly bulletin boards or an enrichment area for gifted students.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Cultures and History of America - Library of Congress
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): aztecs (10), explorers (65), mayans (32), spanish (112)
In the Classroom
Use portions of this site on a projector in class or spend a day on a "web hunt" with students answering questions you give them to find within the site. There is plenty to explore.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Klondike Gold Rush - Seattle Unit National Historic Park - National Park Service
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): gold rush (18), westward expansion (42)
In the Classroom
Teachers in upper grades could easily pick and choose from these lessons to flesh out a unit on the Gold Rush. The link to "History and Culture" takes you to a Washington State data base of photographs and newspaper clippings that could provide good primary source material for classroom use or for History Day projects on the Gold Rush.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Blog Basics for the Classroom - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12tag(s): blogs (82)
In the Classroom
You could use this step by step as the framework for a self-directed or "buddy" professional development project. Share it with your principal or professional development coordinator. USe the strategies and ideas here to start a blog for your class or for each student. Don't miss suggestions for a Teacher as Blogger so you can model blogging, too.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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