Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

RefSeek is a different search tool for beginning researchers as well as those already knowledgeable about the process. Although this search engine appears "plain vanilla," it is a great option for research purposes. As they explain it, they "search the entire Web for freely available academic information, providing relevant results while filtering out most commercial content." This is different from Google's standard search. RefSeek looks through web pages, books, encyclopedias, journals, and newspapers for your chosen topic. With special search features, students can also limit searches to specific web pages, search two topics (either-or option) at once, and even include search words usually dismissed by academic searches (like "the" and "if"). After starting a search, click on Directory to limit searches to certain types of publications and resources, including quotations, almanacs and teacher resources.

This website provides descriptions and examples of myths, legends, and fables. The stories are from all around the world. The comprehension levels vary from early elementary school through primary (grade levels are listed with the stories). At first glance, this website may appear too juvenile for middle school students. However, many of the activities and stories are quite age-appropriate and would be both educational and enjoyable for middle school classrooms.

We're not sure how this collection of Silverstein poems and illustrations made it onto the web, but elementary students (and some older ones, too) are sure to get at least one belly laugh out of these verses.

Create online sticky type bulletin boards to view from any online device using lino. Click to try it first without even joining. The "Give it a shot!" button has a "How to" canvas has stickies explaining how to use lino. Join and create your own canvases to share stickies, reminders, files, and more. Change sticky colors from the menu in the upper right hand corner or use the easy editing tools that appear when the sticky is selected. Use the icons at the bottom of each sticky note to "peel them off," share, edit, and more. Create a group from your lino page to share and collaborate on canvases. You can also share canvases publicly so anyone with the URL can participate. This is a device-agnostic tool, available on the web but also available for free as both an Android and iOS app. Use it from any device or move between several devices and still access your work. App and web versions vary slightly.

Build keyboarding skills with these free online games. The bubble game with lower case letters is simple enough for very young ones, since they need only recognize single letters. As students progress, they can move on to more elaborate games involving words (free downloads) or try the online typing test (also free).

Though this site is now archived, the links and information are still good. This is a true on-line digital library, with information about the books searched presented in a library-type (MARC) format; items include title, author, keyword, subjects, notes, content vocabulary etc. Links to the digitized texts are offered in both pdf and jpeg form at the bottom of the page. The collection covers children's literature from 1850 to 1950 and more, only those items found in the Baldwin Library of Historical Children's Literature at the University of Florida. While not a comprehensive library in the sense of offering the classics of children's literature, the approach is instructional and the offerings well presented. Items are searchable by keyword, author, and title.

This lesson creates a wonderful interdisciplinary connection between creative writing and American history. After using a variety of resources to learn more about the American Revolution, students select an historical figure from that era, and compose an acrostic poem describing that individual's contributions. Aligned to National Standards.

Here's a selection of book and author sites compiled expressly for primary students. They provide quick access to a group of reading resources for first or second grade. Some can be used by students directly; others may require some help from the teacher or parent.

Teaching poetry can be a challenge in any school. Here's a site that offers both teaching strategies (lots of them!) and teacher-designed lessons on a variety of topics. If you approach the annual poetry unit reluctantly, take courage here.

This online game, specifically designed for blind or visually impaired children, was developed by PBS in consultation with the National Center for Accessible Media. It's a challenging memory activity that asks students to safely lead D.W. through a dark room to get a glass of water without stepping on a toy and waking baby Kate. To accomplish this, students must listen carefully to verbal descriptions that reveal the exact placement of each toy. Make sure that students select the "audio" option before beginning the activity. Headphones required.

The Poetry Archive is a comprehensive place for bringing poetry to life in your classroom. This resource provides lesson plans and activities for all key stages, built around authentic recordings that offer lively, engaging ways of unraveling the mystery of poetry. There are numerous internet sites that provide audio versions of poems; however this site provides access to the actual voice of the poets as they read their poems the way they intended them to be heard. Find out what they say about their own writing and the importance of hearing poems aloud. Browse all poems by title, poet's name, poetic forms, or themes. A full glossary of poetic terms is provided. There are various featured poets in residence, and there is even a link to a Children's Archive with favorite poems for younger students. The Poetry Archive includes a wide range of resources designed to help students learn background information on the poets and understand the context for their work.

Select from two levels - beginner or advanced - and practice parts of speech with this interactive game. When students successfully complete a round of questions by identifying the correct word in each sentence, the grammar gorillas receive bananas. Very appealing.

This is a nifty site that includes a variety of children's book reviews, professional resources, and author pages from Avi to James Stephenson. Many of the review pages suggest activities to do with some or all of the books on that page.

Looking for a quiz tool that is better than all the rest? Quizizz is a free tool. It works on any device: web browser, iOS, Android and Chrome apps. You can access hundreds of ready-made learning quizzes or create your own. Join as a teacher, pick a quiz, and use the code for a virtual room to give to your students. Alternatively, you can create your own quiz on Quizizz, even importing questions from excel/CSV files with just a click of a button. Students use the code to enter and submit a nickname, code name, or numerical name (students do not have to register). Quizizz now has to be marked as trusted by an administrator to be able to use it with your Google Classroom account, even if you have been using it. With Google Classroom, students can join by signing in with their Google Account with just one click. Even better, if you assign a Quizizz through Google Classroom, all your data gets updated in your Classroom dashboard. You will get notifications when students complete assignments and their responses and grades show. Teachers can choose to make their quizzes public or private. Embed images with your questions. Check or uncheck the settings, including music. You can even duplicate an existing quiz to save into My Quizizz. A created Quizizz can have randomized or non-randomized questions.

Don't miss the memes that are displayed when students answer a question; these are sure to be a hit with students. You can also customize your Quizizz by creating your own Memes. Use images of the school mascot, students' pets, or favorite game characters to create a set of ten or more memes. Click the My Memes from the top menu, then the plus symbol. You are now ready to start. Be sure to Click "Start Game" after students have entered the code. Send the game link to students (or other teachers to use with their classes) by email, website, or social media. Set time limits of 30 seconds to 5 minutes for students to answer each question. This allows more time for more complex questions. Students earn points for speed and accuracy. Unlike other sites, both teacher and students can see the questions, answers, and the leaderboard throughout the quiz. Most other tools require the teacher to project the answers and leaderboard on a whiteboard. The leaderboard can be turned OFF in this tool as well. And, what is the best part of this tool? Two separate classes can play together using this tool. Quizizz works on any web-enabled device, including smartphones and tablets, and has an iOS app.

You can now email student reports to parents (even send the student reports to multiple/all parents at once), the main navigation bar has moved from the top to the left, and there is a search bar that you can access on all pages, and now you can search both your quizzes and your reports. Quizizz is now available in Spanish and will soon be adding other languages. Don't miss their new Jungle theme with music, backgrounds, and GIFs... oh my!

Spice up student writing with these printable stationery choices, featuring interesting and festive borders. The borders include many holidays and events as well as themes for primary users.(Options for older students are available from a link at the bottom.) Some designs seem slower to load than others. If you have trouble with one, click Stop and Back to select another design.

EZSchool is an educational portal that contains EZ worksheets, interactives, online study tools, and tutorials. Although this site is "busy" with clutter from some related advertisements, it is easy to navigate by grade level, subject, or more specific topics such as grammar, writing, and vocabulary for English, or word problems, geometry, and algebra for math, biology and chemistry for science, as well as Spanish, Japanese, and Hindi language activities. There are also SAT/PSAT practice questions with detailed answers. All materials are free to use, print, and distribute for use in the classroom or at home. The website is frequently updated with new activities. Weekly updates to the site are offered on the home page.
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This website offers a word scramble with words and phrases from fans.

Find digital images that are available for use without violating copyright. This search tool finds images licensed for use under Creative Commons licensing. While most major search engines have advanced features that allow you to filter out content by copyright privileges, the CC search website makes it easy and convenient. Be sure to READ the information about verifying licensing. The results provide extensive options that can be legally (and ethically) used in wikis, blogs, reports, and more, as long as you provide the attribution information. What a fabulous tool for students to use for interactive or traditional projects!

As part of their extensive site for vocabulary, roots, and more, MyVocabulary.com has added a themed area for Lewis and Clark's Exploration. Find interactive vocabulary activities using Lewis and Clark related vocabulary words. You will also find printable crosswords, fill in the blanks and more, all using the same theme words. This and other "themes" available on the site will make vocabulary development fun.