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The Story of My Life - Using Biographies to Enhance and Extend Instruction - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Browse this article to find activities and book lists for use in your classroom when teaching biographies. Take advantage of dozens of downloadable templates available from Free Templates, reviewed here to help students organize their biographical research. When students are ready to share their learning, use Adobe's Animate from Audio, reviewed here to create videos with animated characters that tell a story using the student's recorded voice. Watch this tutorial video to learn how to create engaging animated videos using your voice!You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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The Successful Web Reader - Neal Bastek-Content Developer-Colorado State
Grades
7 to 12In the Classroom
Reading is a cross curricular activity. Every teacher, not only English, language arts, and reading teachers, should teach or review these strategies with students before asking them to find information and read on the Web. The Successful Web Reader provides teacher and student-friendly, practical tips and information to aid "critical linking" and path following, effective scanning, avoiding distractions, and how to get the most out of a quick visit. Bookmark this website in your favorites. Choose from the many links of helpful information to project on your whiteboard at opportune times.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Teacher Toolkit - The Region 13 Educator Certification Program (ECP)
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Keep lessons engaging and interactive with these Tools. For instance use the Quiz, Quiz, Trade activity to get students up and to interact with questions for review before a test. To structure a meaningful discussion try the 5-3-1 activity. Use the Gallery Walk to review and get students discussing the unit or topic just finished. With the Gallery Walk, student groups could create posters (maybe a picture summary of something just read in class) and walk around observing and taking notes from others' posters. Or, to enhance learning, have students use Genially, reviewed here, to create digital posters that can include maps, surveys, video, audio and more. Then, have students complete a digital Gallery Walk, reviewing posters on each others computers. There are dozens more strategies for you to try at The Teacher Toolkit.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Teachers' Corner - The Teachers' Corner
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Although this site has a TON to explore, one of the best places on this site is the daily writing prompt section (find seasonal prompts at the Seasonal Items link). You can share them on your interactive whiteboard or projector with a picture and fact about the day and a question requiring a written answer. This is a great discussion starter or activating strategy with any grade level and it can already be posted when the kids enter the room or used as a prompt for blogging. Whatever subject area you teach, if you are looking for some new strategies to reach your students, check out this site.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Teacher's Response to Intervention Guide - Marcus Guido
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Pack this information away in your professional toolbox for classroom reference at any time. Share this article and infographic with other teachers in your school as part of your professional development activities. Print the infographic and post in your school's teacher lounge or other areas for common viewing.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Thanksgiving Story - Wilstar
Grades
3 to 6Note - there is a link to a YouTube video midway through the information on the page, students may need to be cautioned that it isn't part of the activity.
In the Classroom
Create a quiz for the information on this site using, Slido, reviewed here, and give it to your students before studying Thanksgiving to assess prior knowledge. Use the story page on an interactive whiteboard (or projector) for students to highlight key words and write a main idea sentence or do practice comprehension or notetaking skills during Thanksgiving season. Older students can read the site on their own at a classroom center and complete the quiz at the end of their session. After reading the story, ask students to write their own story from the perspective of one of the first Thanksgiving participants. Create a class book using their stories using a site such as Bookemon, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle - Glenco
Grades
5 to 12In the Classroom
Decide on the introduction activities, and possibly a companion story, you wish to use with The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. Of course, you do not have to complete them all, but it is nice to have choices and a backup. For students who have read The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle more than once, you may want them to read one of the companion novels in its place. If you do have students reading a different story, the class discussion could become very interesting comparing the elements and characters of each novel as a class. If you would like even more information about teaching The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle see the Shmoop unit for the same book. Shmoop Literature is reviewed here. You may want to offer your literature circle groups ready-made activities based on The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. This is an excellent book to read in a history class when studying the 1800's.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The True Size of... - James Talmage and Damon Maneice
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
The True Size of... is perfect for use on an interactive whiteboard or with a projector. Use to demonstrate size differences in countries. Have students use this site when presenting reports of nations around the world. Have a new student from another state or country? Use this site to begin a discussion of the comparable size of where they came from to where your classroom is located. This tool would be especially valuable when explaining the concept of map scale or square miles/meters. Use The True Size of... to compare locations students read about in Globetracker's Mission, reviewed here, books they are reading, or when reading with ReadingTreks, reviewed here. Include it in discussions about the impact of a country's size on its culture in world language or cultures classes. Use an online tool such a Canva, reviewed here, to create a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast different countries.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Tumble Podcast - Lindsay Patterson and Marshall Escamilla
Grades
K to 8In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this site to find informative podcasts. Podcasts can be an engaging way to promote interest in science topics as part of a listening center rotation or to enhance your current lessons. Enhance learning by downloading the transcript and creating a set of questions using an AI resource such as MagicSchool, reviewed here. Visit MagicSchool, select the Text Dependent Questions generator, add the requested information, and upload the PDF transcript to generate a set of comprehension questions based on the information in the podcast. Extend learning by asking students to create an infographic using free templates found in Adobe Infographic Creator, reviewed here or Canva Education Templates, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel - Season 1 - Benjamin Strouse Co-creator / Writer / Executive Producer
Grades
4 to 12In the Classroom
Use The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel to create engaging listening sessions. Play episodes during class, and as an option, have students follow along with the transcripts. Listening to this podcast is also an excellent opportunity for students to analyze the episodes' plot, characters, and themes. Encourage students to write their own mystery stories inspired by Mars Patel, integrating elements of plot development and character arcs.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Vortex: A Sorting Game - Class Tools
Grades
4 to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Develop Vortex activities to review any topic and save for use as a classroom center. Have students create review Vortex games as a study tool. Be sure to demonstrate how to make and share The Vortex before having students set up their own. Ideas for categorization activities are unlimited but can include categorizing types of animals, literary elements in novels, habitats, characteristics of geographic areas, and much more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Wonderment - Kidnected World
Grades
3 to 9In the Classroom
The Wonderment is a problem based learning adventure for each student around the world to communicate and collaborate with other students. This venue allows great lesson ideas for digital citizenship and digital footprints. Begin by choosing a path for the entire class and feature on an interactive whiteboard or with a projector. Have students work in small groups to choose their best response. Discussions can focus on creativity, problem solving, and collaboration between the group and others from around the world. In a gifted class, use as a way to challenge kids to break through the "right answer" and find the "best answer." Use this as a model for finding authentic needs in your community. Be sure to share a link to this tool on your class blog, website, or learning management system (LMS). Use this tool as the answer for the parents who always want more challenge and enrichment for their students at home. Be sure to share at a staff meeting to spread the wonder for other students and adults.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Includes Interaction w general public/ public galleries with unmoderated content
Includes social features, such as "friends," comments, ratings by others
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
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The World of Beverly Cleary - Beverly Cleary
Grades
1 to 7In the Classroom
Your class may want to send Ms. Cleary an old-fashioned snail mail letter, using her address at the bottom of her biography page. Instructions on how to have a successful Ramona party is at the bottom of the Fun and Games page. Have your students choose famous Cleary characters and compete answering the Trivia questions also found at Fun and Games. Include this page as a link from your teacher web page for students to access outside of class or when writing book reports.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Writing Site - Stephanie Krajicek
Grades
6 to 12This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Print articles to use in class for writing lessons in class. Use several articles and have students present information to the class. Have each student in your class read one article and report back to the class. Challenge students to create electronic "posters" or word graphics for adopted word using tools such as Piclits, reviewed here, or WordClouds, reviewed here. Another idea, use the articles as examples for students to write their own writing tips articles. Check the site weekly and share one article per week with students to use in writing journals.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Year We Had Two Thanksgivings - Marist College
Grades
5 to 12In the Classroom
Use information from the article and documents as part of any lesson about Thanksgiving. Share the documents as part of a unit on primary resources. Print and share documents with students and challenge them to present an opposing point of view or write a reply from President Roosevelt. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to compare and contrast different points of view. Have students use Fakebook, reviewed here, to create a "fake" page similar in style to Facebook "as" President Roosevelt or one of the writers of letters to the president.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Thematic - Thematic, Inc.
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
As you introduce this site to students, it is the perfect opportunity to remind students of the importance of providing proper credit when sharing media online. Share a link to Thematic on your class website for students to use when creating video presentations (with proper credit, of course). Ask students to create a slideshow using Renderforest, reviewed here, or other presentation software as a substitute for a written book report or research paper. For example, as students learn about states of matter ask them to find images on a sharing site like UnSplash, reviewed here, demonstrating the different properties and transformation of matter. Have students add text information to their slides and upload their slide presentation to YouTube as a video including background music found on Thematic. Be sure to have students include a slide with credits for all images and music included in their video. On a professional level, use this site to find background music when sharing images from your classroom with parents.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Theme Poem Generator - Read, Write, Think - International Reading Association
Grades
K to 4In the Classroom
This site is perfect for use on an interactive whiteboard (or projector) to introduce the concept of theme (shape) poems. Choose a theme and create a poem together as a class. Use as a teacher-led center and have groups of students create shape poems using this site. Print and display student-created poems on a classroom bulletin board. Enhance classroom technology use and challenge students to brainstorm words to go with chosen shapes prior to creating their poem using a tool such as Padlet, reviewed here, or to create a word cloud of terms about a theme before creating poems using a tool such as Word Clouds for Kids, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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ThemeSpark - David Hunter
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Use ThemeSpark for all of your lesson planning. Copy and paste current lesson plans to Theme Spark to match to standards. Collaborate with peers to create and develop standards-based lessons for your entire curriculum. This is perfect for when you need to have a sub, and for those teachers who must have a week of lesson plans on their desk for an administrator.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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They Had a Dream Too - TeachersFirst
Grades
1 to 4In the Classroom
Take advantage of the free lesson plans and activities offered on this site - a great resource for a Social Studies class.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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TheyDiffer - TheyDiffer.com
Grades
4 to 12In the Classroom
Bookmark TheyDiffer on classroom computers for students to use as a quick guide for exploring commonly misunderstood differences. Consider using Symbaloo, reviewed here, as a resource to curate and share bookmarked resources on classroom computers or share a link to your Symbaloo on your class web page. Use TheyDiffer as an example for students to enhance learning by sharing their comparisons of information or concepts. For example, as students compare life in the early 1900s to life in the 21st century, use the model provided for students to create infographics using Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here. Extend learning by having students include their infographics with other research and create Sway, reviewed here, presentations. Include videos, images, text, and more in Sway presentations to create interactive multimedia reports.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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