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Smithsonian Open Access - Smithsonian
Grades
K to 12tag(s): art history (102), creativity (81), images (255), primary sources (119), Research (79), sculpture (17)
In the Classroom
Think of Smithsonian access as your virtual museum of downloads to use without copyright restrictions. Search and find images to use for any need. Use the images in newsletters, teaching materials, student projects, digital books, and more. For example, include images on shared Google Slides, reviewed here, and ask students to annotate features using text or the drawing tool. Share the site with students to use when creating webpages using Site123, reviewed here, or to create posters in Canva Edu, reviewed here.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Text Giraffe - FlamingText.com
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): design (70), drawing (56), graphic design (49), images (255)
In the Classroom
Use Text Giraffe in a variety of ways to engage students and bring interest to any project. Have students design a logo to include as part of written presentations. Include a logo as part of a Google Slides presentation, reviewed here. Use in Google Slides to design an image that includes their logo then save as a JPG for use within other projects such as digital books or infographics.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Canvas - Free LMS - Instructure, Inc
Grades
K to 12tag(s): classroom management (107), Learning Management Systems (18), portfolios (21), remote learning (31), Teacher Utilities (182)
In the Classroom
Use Canvas to deliver remote instruction or as a supplemental tool for in-school instruction. Create courses to differentiate learning opportunities for students. Provide advanced courses for gifted learners, or add additional resources for students that need additional instruction in any content area. As students become familiar with using Canvas, encourage them to use the ePortfolio feature to share their educational accomplishments and reflect upon the learning process.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Fake News: Misinformation, Disinformation, and Malinformation - Pace University
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): digital citizenship (98), internet safety (115), journalism (72), media literacy (106), news (220), Research (79)
In the Classroom
Include this article with your other resources for teaching how to navigate online information. Include this website within a learning management system such as ActivelyLearn, reviewed here, to build a complete learning unit that includes articles, videos, and assessments that fully immerse and engage students in the learning activities. Enhance learning throughout the school year using Padlet, reviewed here, to curate and organize online information. For example, create a Padlet that includes a column for each of the four categories of fake news mentioned on this website, then ask students to share examples found during online use. Extend learning by asking students to become the teacher through presentations on how to recognize and avoid fake news. Provide a variety of options for student presentations including a comic creation tool like ToonyTool, reviewed here, Adobe Express Video Maker, reviewed here, to create simple video explainers, or use Wick Editor, reviewed here, and have students create a game to teach the hazards of disinformation.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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RecordCast Screen Recorder - PearlMountain Ltd
Grades
K to 12tag(s): tutorials (48)
In the Classroom
Use this handy screen recording tool in a variety of ways in your classroom. Record tutorials for students to demonstrate how to access and use online sites, create recordings for substitutes to explain how to find and use the software on your computer, or make a how-to demo on where to find information on your class website to share with students and parents. Help students understand how to use the different features of documents, such as creating a tutorial showing students how to format cells in Excel, add comments to a Google document, or find and insert images in slides. Share this site with students to use when analyzing websites as part of your ongoing digital safety lessons. Ask them to include a video as part of a larger multimedia presentation. After exporting their video, ask students to include it within a presentation created using Sway, reviewed here, or Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Design for Change USA - Design for Change
Grades
K to 8tag(s): charactered (77), climate (95), climate change (110), empathy (42), racism (79)
In the Classroom
Bookmark activities and podcasts shared in this site to use when teaching about racial bias, empathy, and climate. Download the educator's toolkit to use as an excellent resource for graphic organizers for students to organize information and plan action steps for multiple different uses. As a culminating activity, engage learners to share their ideas by creating digital books using Book Creator, reviewed here. Have students create books that include images, videos, and written text that share their ideas on steps to take to address social issues.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Free Templates - Template.net
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): graphic design (49), graphic organizers (53), posters (42)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this site as a time-saving option for a variety of classroom uses. Share with students to use when creating class projects. For example, choose a brochure for students to use to create and share book reviews, state research projects, or to document a science experiment. Include completed templates on larger presentations using Sway, reviewed here. In addition to presentations created using these templates, be sure to include videos, images, and more within students' Sway presentations.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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United States Holocaust Memorial Museum - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): europe (80), germany (25), holocaust (42), virtual field trips (130), world war 2 (167)
In the Classroom
Use these free materials as the starting point for any lessons on the Holocaust. Go on a virtual field trip of the museum to engage students' interest in the causes and outcomes of the Holocaust. Be sure to help students understand the personal toll of the Holocaust by visiting the "Who Were the Victims?" portion of the site. Organize your lessons using ActivelyLearn, reviewed here. Add articles, videos, and documents into an ActivelyLearn lesson to guide students through the learning process. Easily differentiate materials based on student interests and abilities within your ActivelyLearn unit. As a culminating project, and to enhance student learning, ask students to share what they learned using Odyssey, reviewed here. Ask students to create a story map for individuals involved with the Holocaust, or to tell the story of events leading up to the Holocaust.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Hamilton Education Program Online - Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): american revolution (84), poetry (190), songs (48), washington (33)
In the Classroom
Include this resource with your remote learning resources for teaching social studies. Engage students in learning about the founding of the United States through the music and words of Hamilton. Include activities available through this site along with your selected videos, documents, websites, and more to create a complete online lesson using ActivelyLearn, reviewed here. Have students use Canva Edu, reviewed here, to create posters for the play using information learned from the primary sources included with this site. Extend learning even further by challenging students to write a play about the American Revolution using Genially, reviewed here, to create an interactive experience with videos, images, and more. For students who prefer drama and music presentations, ask them to share their learning with podcasts using Buzzsprout, reviewed here. Have students create podcasts telling the story as if they were a participant in the revolution and share their stories from different points of view.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Facing History and Ourselves - Facing History and Ourselves
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): bullying (42), civil rights (216), democracy (24), holocaust (42), immigrants (46), immigration (81), journalism (72), martin luther king (43), racism (79), religions (120)
In the Classroom
Discover the many free resources found on this site to include with your teaching units. If you find that some of the reading material is useful, but is above the reading level of your students, use a summarizing tool such as SummarizeThis, reviewed here, to break down large portions of text into manageable content. Include activities from this site as part of a larger unit using a learning management system such as Curipod, reviewed here. Use Curipod to build an interactive learning experience that includes videos, reading activities, quizzes, and images. Extend student learning by asking them to become the creators through sharing their knowledge with others. Provide options for students to create audio podcasts with Podcast Adobe, reviewed here, make explainer videos using Adobe Creative Cloud Express Video Maker, reviewed here, or use Google My Maps, reviewed here, to take viewers on a virtual journey through map locations.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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International Storytelling Center - The International Storytelling Center
Grades
3 to 12tag(s): authors (102), digital storytelling (150), stories and storytelling (68)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of this site's many storytelling resources to teach and share the art of storytelling with your students. Watch videos together and discuss how storytellers use different techniques to engage an audience. Use EdPuzzle, reviewed here, to create interactive video lessons by adding questions and notes to featured videos to guide students as they watch storytellers in action. As you encourage students to learn about storytelling, use activities found at ReadWriteThink, reviewed here, to help students plan and create stories. For example, use this lesson to create book trailers instead of book reports to guide students through a digital storytelling activity. As students gain confidence in storytelling, ask them to create a podcast series featuring their work. Buzzsprout, reviewed here, is a simple to use podcasting tool that offers up to two hours of free uploads per month.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Preparing Students for Difficult Conversations - FacingHistory.org
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): civil rights (216), journalism (72), media literacy (106), racism (79), social media (59)
In the Classroom
As an introduction to the lesson, one of the activities is to ask students to brainstorm a list of teens' news resources and a list of news resources used by parents or older people. Use Microsoft Whiteboard, reviewed here, or IdeaBoardz, reviewed here to create and analyze your lists. Use the whiteboard tools to create lists, Venn Diagrams, and add notes to extend student reflections on different news sources. Turn the Know-Heard-Learned Chart included in the lesson into an editable worksheet to use as a collaborative document to record student understanding of any events' timeline.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Talking to White Kids About Race & Racism - Safe Space Radio
Grades
K to 12tag(s): charactered (77), racism (79)
In the Classroom
Use this radio broadcast as a resource for addressing racism both in the classroom and at home. The program includes short segments with different guests, use the segments to divide information into smaller topics and big ideas. Share a segment with parents along with guiding questions found in the discussion guide and encourage them to use this information to address race in their home as you also address these ideas at school. Use Padlet, reviewed here, to curate and share additional resources for families. As students reflect upon the questions and discussions, have them use Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here, to create infographics with their ideas for addressing issues of race and racism. Use Google Drawings, reviewed here, as an alternative for younger students to create and share their thoughts through original drawings.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Say Their Names - Chicago Public Schools
Grades
K to 12tag(s): civil rights (216), courts (24), politics (120), racism (79)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this document as a guide to discussing racism in the classroom and as a link to many additional materials. Organize your resources using a curation tool such as Padlet, reviewed here. Use the shelf option in Padlet to create columns to organize information. For example, create columns to sort materials by grade levels or by type of content. As you teach lessons, use a mind mapping tool like Coggle, reviewed here, to organize and share complex information. Extend learning using Adobe Express Video Maker, reviewed here, to create student-produced explainer videos sharing their ideas on addressing racism, media literacy strategies, or steps to help others through difficult times.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Black Illustrations - John D. Saunders
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Use images from this collection with any digital projects, and be sure to share with students to use with their digital work. These images are perfect to use with any projects that involve discussions and presentations on racism. Use images in a variety of ways such as to include in explainer videos created with Adobe Creative Cloud Express Video Maker, reviewed here, in digital books made with Book Creator, reviewed here, and in multimedia presentations made with Sway, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Lowdown: The Obama Years, A Retrospective Lesson Plan - PBS Learning Media
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): 20th century (168), black history (126), presidents (151)
In the Classroom
As you explore the interactive timeline together as a class or with small groups, use a simple polling tool like SurveyPlanet, reviewed here, to assess student understanding of the different events on the timeline. Use SurveyPlanet to add each event to a poll and ask students to weigh in on their opinion on if the event was an accomplishment or a setback to the Obama administration. Use an online curation tool such as Padlet, reviewed here, to organize and share additional resources with students to enhance learning. For example, create a Padlet with columns for each year of the Obama presidency and add online articles from different resources that discuss each event. Extend learning by asking students to apply their knowledge of the Obama presidency and compare it to another president's term in office using one of the storytelling tools found at Knight Lab, reviewed here. Scroll down Knight Lab's main page to find options that include a Storyline to tell the stories behind numbers, StoryMap - maps that tell numbers, and a timeline creation tool.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Todays News, Tomorrows Lesson - Share My Lesson
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): journalism (72), news (220), politics (120)
In the Classroom
Bookmark this site for use with any current events lessons and as a resource for finding fact-based information to use to help understand modern history. Most of the discussion questions ask students to defend a point of view based on the shared topic. Use technology tools to help students organize their thinking and share their questions and responses. Engage students in the learning process using Fiskkit, reviewed here, as a collaborative discussion tool for sharing online articles related to the topic discussed. Fiskkit offers tools for annotating and collaboratively discussing online information. Share student opinions and discussions using Gravity, reviewed here. Ask students to respond to the discussion question within Gravity using their fact-based research. Use the comment feature to encourage collaboration and student discussion. As a final project, extend learning by asking students (or student groups) to share their responses as part of a multimedia presentation that includes student writing, videos, maps, and infographics. Have students use a presentation tool such as Sway, reviewed here, or Adobe Creative Cloud Express for Education, reviewed here, to share their final projects.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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News and Media Literacy Resource Center - Common Sense Media
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): bias (27), journalism (72), media literacy (106), news (220), social media (59)
In the Classroom
Bookmark this site to take advantage of the many curated resources for teaching media and news literacy. Use a curation tool like Padlet, reviewed here, to save and share favorite resources found on this site with students. Use the shelf option in Padlet to create columns and organize information by topic, type of content, or for use by different groups of students. Enhance instruction by asking students to become creators of information as they share their learning. Have students use Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here, to create infographics to demonstrate different forms of media bias or to share facts learned from news articles. Extend learning even further by asking students to create blogs using edublogs, reviewed here, to demonstrate how to write and share the news using credible information and factual resources.Comments
This is such a valuable resource and it's so helpful to have one collection that I know has been vetted with accurate, useful information that teachers can use for themselves as well as with their students. I also love the "In the Classroom" section with suggestions for ways to use the information and resources.Peggy, AZ, Grades: 0 - 8
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Teaching About Race and Racism: Lesson Plans Resources - ShareMyLesson
Grades
K to 12tag(s): african american (117), black history (126), hispanic (53), jews (63), racism (79), segregation (20)
In the Classroom
Before sharing this site with students, find a lesson to use as an introduction. Then, show the lesson and its resources on your interactive whiteboard or with a projector, explaining to students all the parts of the lesson as you proceed through it. After this first lesson, enhance student learning by allowing them to choose what lesson or resource they would like to investigate next. Ask students to use Padlet, reviewed here, to register their preference for investigation. If more than one student is interested in the same lesson/resource, allow them to work together. Challenge students to share their extended learning with their peers in a multimedia presentation using Genial.ly, reviewed here, or Sway, reviewed here. Both Sway and Genial.ly will allow your students to create multimedia projects. With Genial.ly you could allow students to choose the type of interactive media they want to develop.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Students Rebuild - Bezos Family Foundation
Grades
K to 12tag(s): cross cultural understanding (177), disasters (35), sustainability (54)
In the Classroom
Participate in annual challenges to engage students and inspire them to learn more about global issues. Use the provided resources as a starting point for your art projects. Encourage students to learn more about the challenge issue by creating infographics using Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here. Create infographics together with younger students or ask older students to create their own to share with peers. Enhance learning by using Gravity, reviewed here to locate grid pals from the challenge country. Use Gravity to ask questions of students in both countries that encourage the sharing of ideas and understanding of each culture. Extend learning by asking students to use Sway, reviewed here, to share their knowledge and suggestions for solving global issues through writing, video, and other multimedia projects.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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