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25 Best Parks in the United States - Anna Smith, HTownBest
Grades
K to 12tag(s): geology (60), national parks (28), states (126)
In the Classroom
Share this article to engage students as they learn about the states and geographic features of the United States. Start with either the descriptions in the article or the interactive map as an introduction to your unit. Using the interactive map, take students on a virtual trip around the country by visiting the links shared to the national parks. If using the descriptions, use Google Earth, reviewed here, to locate each park. Many of the parks offer virtual tours provided by Google Earth. After introducing students to the parks, ask students to choose a national park that interests them as a starting point for a research project. Share resources with students on a curation tool such as Padlet, reviewed here. As students gather information, ask them to use Ideaboardz, reviewed here, to organize information. For example, have students create three sections on their Ideaboardz to organize information by animals, plants, and geography facts about the location. Extend learning by asking students to become national park project creators and share information from their research. Offer various multimedia options for student presentations, such as creating an interactive image using Genially, reviewed here, or video presentation created with Clipchamp, reviewed here. Once students' national parks projects are completed, use Google My Maps, reviewed here, to create a virtual class visit to the featured parks.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Exploring Chronicling America Newspapers - Library of Congress
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): 1800s (81), 1900s (79), journalism (73), news (220), newspapers (91), primary sources (119)
In the Classroom
Use this map to find historical primary source information by location for various classroom uses. Use the data to supplement your current curriculum; for example, see articles from different sites that discuss Civil War events to engage students in understanding and learning about varying perspectives of life during that period. Ask students to use images (including proper use of copyright) and annotate information to explain the featured events. Class Tool's Image Annotator, reviewed here, is an easy-to-use resource for adding hotspots to images that include a title, description, and links if desired. As an extended learning activity, ask students to share their understanding of the topic by creating an interactive timeline using templates found at Canva Timeline Infographic Creators, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Studysmarter.us - studysmarter.us
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): organizational skills (80)
In the Classroom
Studysmarter.us can help students to develop effective study strategies, manage their time more efficiently, and boost their academic performance. Students or teachers can create study materials and share them with study groups. Create a course syllabus, outlines, and planners with ready-to-use templates. The site also includes many free-to-use math, biology, and economics textbooks.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Cornell Notes - teachthought.com
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): note taking (30), reading comprehension (141)
In the Classroom
Teaching note-taking skills using Cornell notes will help students study and process information throughout their school careers. Teachers can begin teaching the concept using paper and pencil, then start to translate the note-taking skill onto digital tools such as OneNote, reviewed here, and Google Docs, reviewed here. This note-taking method would also be helpful while using tools such as Nearpod, reviewed here, and playposit, reviewed here, which includes a section for note-taking in lessons.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Juneteenth - The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): civil rights (216), emancipation proclamation (14), Juneteenth (22), slavery (78)
In the Classroom
Include the resources found on this site with your current Juneteenth resources. Consider organizing and curating your resources using Wakelet, reviewed here. Create a Wakelet collection for your professional use and a collection to share and collaborate with students. Engage students in learning using Perusall, reviewed here, to digitally annotate and discuss the primary source documents shared on the Juneteenth site. Use Perusall to create a flipped learning activity and have students view shared documents and provide comments and questions about the information. As students learn more about emancipation and Juneteenth, encourage them to learn about and share the stories of those featured in these lessons and their research. Enhance learning by having students produce podcasts that bring the stories of enslaved people to life using a free podcasting tool such as Buzzsprout, reviewed here. Buzzsprout includes many features that support easy use by students and educators, such as the ability to schedule the release of episodes on your choice of date and time and the option to add links to show notes.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Break Your Own News - Jon Cresswell
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): digital storytelling (150), images (253), newspapers (91)
In the Classroom
This site contains some ads that may be distracting; however, a quick lesson on avoiding them and engaging with only the desired content is all that is needed to keep most students from following advertising links. Add a link to the Break Your Own News Generator to your lists of other tools to use with images for many different purposes. One excellent tool for organizing and sharing resources with students is Padlet, reviewed here. Create columns in Padlet to organize different resources and then add links to make it easy for you and your students to find what they need. For example, engage students at the beginning of a new lesson or unit by creating a breaking news image to introduce the content. One example might be for a science lesson featuring simple machines with a headline sharing a runaway object that leads into your study of inclined planes. Extend learning and ask students to become creators and share breaking headlines to discuss new information they learned, share important information about story characters, or create a made-up headline about historical events. Include breaking headline images as part of multimedia presentations built using Google Slides, reviewed here, or Canva Edu, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Strip Background - Zygomatic
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Before asking students to use Strip Background, demonstrate how to create and save images. Consider recording a tutorial using Free Screen Recorder Online, reviewed here, then sharing a link on student and classroom devices. Discussing copyright and fair use best practices is always an excellent idea when editing images. Use Strip Background to enhance students' presentations and stories. For example, remove the background from a student's picture and then add a background with them in a location or setting that is part of their project. Choose a background image of a city being studied, a different time, or a far-away setting like the moon, then place your student image on top. Resize the image to fit the scene. Include this image as a starter for class projects. Use images on top of book covers for book talks, create images for story characters and heroes, or use them for weather reports. The ideas for using this tool are only limited by your imagination and that of your students. Include the new images as part of larger multimedia projects created using Canva Edu, reviewed here or maps created using Google My Maps, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Narakeet - Gojko Adzic
Grades
K to 12tag(s): chinese (40), conversions (37), german (44), greek (45), italian (29), japanese (50), multilingual (74), portuguese (20), russian (24), spanish (103), text to speech (18)
In the Classroom
Although presentations are uploaded as PowerPoint documents, Narakeet is still easy to use with Google Slides. Upload your Google Slide presentations to the Free Office Online Apps, reviewed here, and save as a PowerPoint presentation. Use Narakeet to share information with world language learners to hear the text spoken in the native language. Use this site with ENL/ELL students to convert small pieces of text to their native language. Use this site with students who have difficulty reading, especially when working with more challenging passages and text. Use the video options to convert student presentations into videos, then share presentations on your class website. Narakeet is also a handy option to use when creating flipped learning lessons. Upload the lesson as a slide presentation, and then convert it to a video file for easy viewing by students.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Juneteenth Activities and Lesson Plans for Students - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Shaped Staff
Grades
K to 12tag(s): 1800s (81), civil rights (216), emancipation proclamation (14), Juneteenth (22), slavery (78)
In the Classroom
Include the teaching ideas and activities provided on this site with your other lessons on Juneteenth, Emancipation, or slavery. Engage students in learning about Juneteenth by sharing a timeline of events leading up to Emancipation and beyond, including the recognition of Juneteenth nationally. Create your timeline using the timeline creator Wikipedia Timeline Generator, reviewed here, provided by Class tools. Extend learning by asking students to share their understanding of Juneteenth using a presentation tool such as Genially, reviewed here, to create interactive images and presentations. Once you are signed in, members can search Genially's Inspiration area to find a reproducible template for a Juneteenth interactive image.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Free Comic Strip Maker - Adobe Express
Grades
K to 12tag(s): comics and cartoons (53), graphic design (50)
In the Classroom
Engage students by using the templates to display the day's vocabulary word, the math puzzle of the week, or a concept your students are learning in social studies or science, for example. Have students create comic strips for dialog-writing lessons, summarizing, predicting, and retelling stories. Use comic strips for literature responses. For pre-reading students, create a comic of pictures and tell the story based on the pictures/scenes. It's a good idea to require students to create a rough draft of their comic using Printable Comic Strip Templates, reviewed here. Make a class book of the comics created throughout the year. That book is likely to become a class favorite! Use comics to show the sequencing of events. For example, when studying characterization, they create a dialog to show (not tell) about a character. World language and ENL/ESL teachers can assign students to create dialog strips as an alternative to a formal assessment. Have students share all of their comics on your interactive whiteboard or projector.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Felt - Interactive Map Creator - felt.com
Grades
K to 12tag(s): map skills (61), maps (213)
In the Classroom
Visualizing data and creating maps just became easier for teachers and students. Help your students understand current events worldwide by creating a map and embedding it on your classroom website or learning management system. For example, use maps in science to track migration patterns, explore climates, or map weather events. Teachers of students aged 13+ years can have students create and edit maps in real-time from anywhere. Build upon your student's knowledge by adding layers to your maps to show new information. Teachers of younger students can create maps for student viewing to map a story or show animal habitats.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Free Video Downloader Online - Geekersoft
Grades
K to 12tag(s): movies (52), multimedia (55)
In the Classroom
Many schools and districts block YouTube; use this resource to download videos for classroom viewing. Share videos on classroom devices for students to view anytime, even when Internet access is unavailable. Use this tool to download and save videos you wish to show students, especially if they are blocked at school. Save video conversions to a USB stick for easy viewing on many devices.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Geekersoft PDF Converter Online - Geekersoft
Grades
K to 12tag(s): conversions (37), editing (83), worksheets (71)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this site for any number of classroom uses. Convert PDF worksheets to Word documents, then edit and change information to fit your needs. Differentiate learning by adapting information on a PDF document to fit the learning needs of students that need additional support or provide extended education for gifted and advanced learners. Take advantage of file converters such as this one to create unique class books. For example, after converting a PDF template to a Word document for students to create a newsletter about features of different states, convert each student's word document back to a PDF file using PDFaid, reviewed here. Then upload all class newsletters into one document using PDF to Flipbook Converter, reviewed here to create an online flippable book.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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AI PNG Enlarger - Background Generator
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
PNG images often lose quality when enlarged; using this program offers the opportunity to retain image quality for multiple applications. For example, increase the size of PNG images when creating presentations made with Google Slides, reviewed here, or to include images on web pages created on sites such as Carrd, reviewed here. Share this site with students for book reports, research presentations, or any other digital writing projects to enhance the quality of finished work and provide additional options for including images.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Journalism in Action - PBS Newshour Classroom
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): 1700s (32), 1800s (81), 1900s (79), 20th century (169), american revolution (84), civil rights (216), civil war (141), immigrants (45), immigration (78), journalism (73), mental health (56), presidents (145), Research (79), vietnam (39), womens suffrage (63), world war 2 (165)
In the Classroom
This site is a must-have for middle and high school social studies teachers. Allow several days for students to complete individual case studies; if time is an issue, assign portions of a case instead of completing the entire activity. Another option is to share a case study as an ongoing flipped learning activity to complete over two or more weeks or as a supplement for gifted students to use as an independent learning activity. If assigning as a long-term activity, ensure students complete the registration and save their work. Then, as students complete the final activity of writing a news story, share their articles as a PDF using PDF Convertor, reviewed here, then upload all of the PDFs to the PDF to Flipbook Converter, reviewed here, to create a flippable magazine that includes all student-written articles.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Ditch That Textbook - Matt Miller
Grades
K to 12tag(s): assessment (127), blogs (69), Formative Assessment (42), Google (21), professional development (273)
In the Classroom
This resource is a treasure trove for new and experienced teachers, bookmark and save it for use throughout the year. If you are looking for the latest teaching trends, take advantage of the many templates and ideas shared through the blog. For those wanting to try new ideas, begin with the free templates that make it easy to introduce gamification and interactive activities into any classroom. Ditch That Textbook is an excellent site to use for ongoing professional development. Choose a blog post or activity monthly to discuss with peers and implement in your classroom. Use a curation tool such as Wakelet, reviewed here, to share and discuss resources found on Ditch that Textbook along with your ideas as a way to easily access your favorite ideas.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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National Museum of the American Indian - Smithsonian Institution
Grades
K to 12tag(s): explorers (63), native americans (116), primary sources (119), professional development (273), thanksgiving (25), westward expansion (41)
In the Classroom
Be sure to bookmark this site for use with lessons on Thanksgiving, using primary sources, or when teaching about Native Americans. Consider using curation tools such as Padlet, reviewed here, or Wakelet, reviewed here, to organize resources for easy retrieval. Padlet and Wakelet are also handy when sharing information and resources with students. As you begin your lessons on American Indians, begin with a formative assessment to gauge your students' understanding of the topic. Use an easy online quiz tool such as Baamboozle, reviewed here, to engage students in your learning activities. As you continue in your lessons, continue to motivate and engage students using Wooclap, reviewed here, to review information either in class or as a homework activity. Instead of testing to assess knowledge upon completing your unit, offer students the opportunity to share their understanding of content in various ways. Examples include creating an infographic using Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here, an explainer video made using Clipchamp, reviewed here, and an interactive map built using Google My Maps, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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TEACHFLIX - Ditch That Textbook
Grades
K to 12tag(s): coding (90), computational thinking (37), computers (109), digital citizenship (86), engineering (135), noregistration (81), problem solving (240), social and emotional learning (126), STEM (328), virtual field trips (129)
In the Classroom
Use this curated collection of videos to engage students in lessons in all subjects. Use edpuzzle, reviewed here, to enhance the video content by adding comments, questions, and more within the video. Create interactive lessons with videos from this collection, formative assessments, and other interactive content using Pear Deck, reviewed here, to present material in a deeper, more robust manner. Upon completion of your lesson, extend learning by asking students to share their learning using a simple web page builder such as Straw.Page, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Picryl - GetArchive
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): creative commons (26), images (253), primary sources (119), search engines (42)
In the Classroom
Share this link with students and make it available on classroom computers. Consider using a curation tool such as Skloog, reviewed here or Symbaloo Edu, reviewed here, to share Picryl and other sites easily with students. Picryl provides an excellent opportunity to include lessons on copyright and fair use. Find many resources that teach and provide an understanding of fair use at the TeachersFirst Copyright and Fair Use Resources Special Topics Page located here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Native American Heritage Collection - PBS LearningMedia
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): native americans (116)
In the Classroom
Use this collection during Native American Heritage month to dive deeply into studying America's Indigenous people and culture. Teachers can enhance learning by downloading videos and creating interactive questions using tools such as Edpuzzle, reviewed here. Resources from this collection include support materials that you can use with Kami, reviewed here, or upload to your learning management system. Many included resources have comprehension or discussion questions that classes can discuss digitally with tools such as FigJam, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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