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Kids Open Dictionary Builder - K12 Open Ed
Grades
2 to 12
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Kids Open Dictionary allows your students to 'use' this free dictionary, and it encourages your students to 'write' definitions as well. This wiki site invites you to edit and create...more
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Kids Open Dictionary allows your students to 'use' this free dictionary, and it encourages your students to 'write' definitions as well. This wiki site invites you to edit and create the dictionary. You may also use the Glossary tool to customize your terms for specific purposes. Choose multi-presentation modes for presenting your glossary. It's for kids, so it's safe. Their editors approve all postings before they go online. The sign up is quick. Check your school's acceptable use policy on student usage of internet sites that require a login. Registration does require an email. Rather than using your personal email, create a free Gmail account to use for memberships. If you plan to have students register individually, you may want to create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes. If you plan to have students register individually, you may want to create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes. Here is a blog post that tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service.
In the Classroom
Imagine the sense of accomplishment your class will feel if you allow them to submit definitions to this site. They become the Merriam Websters in your own classroom. Definitions don't need to be perfect as the online community will continually edit them. One drawback at the present time is that not all words have definitions. This site is still "under construction" and being built upon daily. Classes can get in on the ground floor in providing definitions for these incomplete areas. Assign cooperative learning groups to explore various vocabulary words in social studies, science, math, music, or art class. Have the groups add their new vocabulary words into the "Kids Open Dictionary." You may find the usefulness of this site in the generating of definitions for now. (This will be a moot point as the dictionary becomes filled.) As you study dictionary skills, work as a class on your interactive whiteboard to write definitions together and discuss the format of dictionary entries.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Fun Food Stuff - Tom Zinnen - BioTrek University of Wisconsin-Madison
Grades
K to 6
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This website provides teachers with several unique science activities, with minimal cost. Topics include making bubbles, DNA, making milk stiff and making butter. Use the top menu bar...more
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This website provides teachers with several unique science activities, with minimal cost. Topics include making bubbles, DNA, making milk stiff and making butter. Use the top menu bar and click BioTrek Outreach and slide down to BioTrek resources. This website is very basic, but has unique ideas. The activities teach basic scientific method and design of experiments vs. demonstrations. The DNA dance is a whole-class experience and introduces students to the complexities of DNA.
In the Classroom
Walk through some of the question/answers on a projector or interactive whiteboard, then ask students to investigate others in small groups at a computer before actually doing the experiments.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Madlibber - Sean Huber
Grades
2 to 12
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Madlibs have come a long way since 1953 when they were invented. This site has an online Madlib creator you can use in many different ways. It's easy to access, ...more
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Madlibs have come a long way since 1953 when they were invented. This site has an online Madlib creator you can use in many different ways. It's easy to access, and there is no registration needed. Just click on "create a new madlib" and you'll be presented with a template. There is a sample story so you get the idea of how to create one. You will also get to put in tags so you can find your Madlibber again. The site also lists current madlibs that others have created. Beware of some of the content of the already created madlibs, if you intend to allow students to use this site independently.
In the Classroom
Create a Madlib using Madlibber and share it with your class using your interactive white board and projector to reinforce curriculum topics such as types of plants or famous inventors. Either show the students how to make one about the curriculum topic, or have students operate the board/computer while others suggest words to fill in the blanks in one you have prepared. Madlibs can be used in so may ways: teaching parts of speech, reviewing for a quiz, introducing a new subject, or even as a "Cloze" reading story. Use this site as a station on one of the computers in your class. Put the direct web address (URL) for your Madlibber on your class web page, since some of the public Madlibbers may not be appropriate for your students. Give extra credit to those who work outside school to create classroom-appropriate madlibbers for others to use as review (and share the direct links on your class web page).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Inspirational Quotes for Teachers - Windows to the Universe
Grades
2 to 12
5 Favorites
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Inspire yourself and your students with Windows to the Universe Motivational Quotes. Although a rather simple site in appearance, there is a lot of "good stuff" here. Add creativity,...more
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Inspire yourself and your students with Windows to the Universe Motivational Quotes. Although a rather simple site in appearance, there is a lot of "good stuff" here. Add creativity, encouragement, and an atmosphere of excellence to your classroom and your life.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Post in the signature on your email, on your website, or even on your whiteboard! Encourage leadership, hope, and inspiration! Use quotes as a theme for writing prompts or even to relate to the theme of a story. Use the quotes as examples of figurative language. Add quotes to end of year picture CDs/DVDs. Use the quotes to inspire personal or classroom mission statements. Have students include a quote when turning in work, and explain how it inspired or helped them. Add music or art to explain a quote. During the first week of the school year, share this site with students. Challenge students to choose a "quote of the year" for themselves personally. Have students put the quote in their notebook, folder, or as a screen saver. Also, choose a few quotes to hang around your classroom. If you need more quotes, check out TeachersFirst's Bulletin Board Hangups.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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MindMeister - MeisterLabs GmbH
Grades
4 to 12
1 Favorites
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MindMeister is a free mind mapping program. It is easy to use online, on your mobile, or offline. Only the BASIC plan is free, allowing you up to 3 free ...more
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MindMeister is a free mind mapping program. It is easy to use online, on your mobile, or offline. Only the BASIC plan is free, allowing you up to 3 free collaborative mind maps. 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. There are many highly interactive features: printing, sharing (emailing), and collaborating with others in "real time."
In the Classroom
Use this tool easily in your Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) classroom since all students will be able to access it for free, no matter what device they have. Realize that you can only make 3 maps for free, but you can always delete old ones to make room. Play with the tools and toolbars to create a mind map; use toolbars to collaborate, publish, or print diagrams. Creating the organizers is of easy to medium difficulty depending upon how elaborate you desire your organizer to be (don't miss the notes feature!). A handy revision "history" helps you see what changes were made when. See the blog for helpful video tutorials and tips. Note: to use the "real time" collaboration feature, collaborators need individual email accounts to gain access.Note that maps that are "published" can be seen by the public (read only, so they cannot be altered). If a map is shared via a URL, only those that were "invited" to view the map will be able to see it. However, this does require each viewer to sign up (free) to MindMeister to be able to view this map. You can specify members who may collaborate and make alterations to a map that is not "published." You can also invite other members to view (but not change) unpublished maps.
The class can create organizers together, such as in a brainstorming session on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Or, you can assign students in cooperative groups to create a mind map as a study guide for unit content, to collect information for a group research project, or show examples of an important concept. Use this site for literature activities, research projects, social studies, or science topics. Use this site to create family trees. Have students collaborate together (online) to create group mind maps or review charts before tests on a given subject. Have students organize any concepts you study; color-code concepts to show what they understand, wonder, and question; map out a story, plotline, or plan for the future; map out a step-by-step process (life cycle).
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)
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
Includes teacher tools for registering and/or monitoring students
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How Do You Play - howdoyouplay.net
Grades
K to 12
6 Favorites
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Don't remember how to play certain games or need to find some new ideas? This is the site for you! How Do You Play contains instructions for many classroom-friendly games ...more
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Don't remember how to play certain games or need to find some new ideas? This is the site for you! How Do You Play contains instructions for many classroom-friendly games and activities. Choose from categories of active games, board games, classroom games, icebreakers, sports, and many more. Find instructions and information for great icebreaker questions/games, how to build the tallest tower, playing spoons, how to play a photo scavenger hunt, egg drop with teambuilding, life timelines, and much more. Each game or activity includes a list of materials needed, number of players, time required, and directions for play. Some directions for strategy games also include strategy options. Although many of the games seem juvenile, the team building and icebreaker options are even good for adults.
In the Classroom
Use this site to find games and activities for classroom centers or review activities. Icebreaker activities include options for the first week of school community building. Bookmark this tool for the first week of school or anytime that you want to experience some "team-building" in your class. This is a great site to use if you have weekly classroom meetings to build relationships among students. Share this site with students and have them create their own games based on research projects or as review for major tests. Challenge students to describe their "creations" using the models shown on this site. Share this site with parent helpers to find ideas for classroom parties.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Ninjawords - Phil Crosby
Grades
3 to 12
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A rapid-fire dictionary, this site gives you the definition of any word you type into the box. It also keeps a history of the words in a list on the ...more
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A rapid-fire dictionary, this site gives you the definition of any word you type into the box. It also keeps a history of the words in a list on the right as you look them up, a very useful tool. While the definitions are quite complete, including parts of speech and synonyms for most words, they are not comprehensive. A word such as "look" produces only 2 of the many definitions that could be applied to that word. However, entering in such words as "mercenary" or "ambiance" yields a great short, straightforward definition great for a quick check while reading. The site also provides the ability to enter a single listing of terms, separated by commas, and create a link to EXACTLY that list of definitions (as a glossary for a specific lesson, for example). See a sample created by the TeachersFirst editors here.
Be careful, since the site is nondiscriminatory and will give a response to any word you enter, regardless of the propriety of the word!
Be careful, since the site is nondiscriminatory and will give a response to any word you enter, regardless of the propriety of the word!
In the Classroom
Use the "random" button to generate a word of the day in an instant! Create pre-made word lists for students to access online from your teacher web page by entering them all , separated by commas, and clicking "Link to this page" at the end of the page. The URL that then shows in the address bar IS the URL to access that word list any time from any computer. Have students make personal lists of their own for individualized vocab study. Open Ninjawords as students read a selection in class--even in science or social studies texts, and allow students to take turns entering new words they encounter. If you have a projector or interactive whiteboard, the entire class can "see" the current "word wall" created by the history function. Or you can simply keep it on a classroom desktop to help those who need it. If you mark each "glossary" page as a Favorite on your computer, you can NAME IT "Chapter 3 Glossary" or "Amphibian Unit Glossary" etc and make it available for students to use any time. The history feature allows you to "track" whether students have entered inappropriate words. The history list seems to remain on your computer for a period of time, probably by leaving "cookies" on your computer -- in this case a useful thing! Use it on your machine to recall vocab from day to day for continuing lessons.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Teampedia - Seth Marbin
Grades
K to 12
4 Favorites
1 Comments
Teampedia is a comprehensive and collaborative resource for finding icebreakers, team building, and leadership activities. Browse through almost 100 categories on this wiki. Find trust...more
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Teampedia is a comprehensive and collaborative resource for finding icebreakers, team building, and leadership activities. Browse through almost 100 categories on this wiki. Find trust activities, getting to know you, and online/remote team building. Explore activities based on the group size involved. If you have a great activity and don't see it, add it to Teampedia by following the steps provided. Each game or activity includes a list of materials needed, number of players, time required, and directions for play. Some directions for strategy games also include strategy options.
In the Classroom
Use this site to find Icebreaker activities and options for the first week of school community building. Bookmark this tool for the first week of school or any time that you want to experience some "team-building" in your class. Use this site if you have weekly classroom meetings to build relationships among students. Share this site with students and have them create their own games based on research projects or as a review for major tests. Share this site with parent helpers to find ideas for classroom parties.Comments
So wonderful to develop creativity using tech. Love the idea of creating games based on research.Patricia, NJ, Grades: 6 - 12
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Forest Life - UPM
Grades
2 to 12
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Visit and listen to a forest and its wildlife without going outside. Listen to narrated portions or click on areas in the forest to learn about inhabitants. You can even ...more
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Visit and listen to a forest and its wildlife without going outside. Listen to narrated portions or click on areas in the forest to learn about inhabitants. You can even zoom in to learn more about specific topics. As you move through the screens, you will understand the meaning of sustainable forestry. Click on the map at the bottom to choose between various topics such as mature forests, bioenergy, and wetlands. Click on Sustainable Forestry to learn about topics related to the economic, environmental, and social uses of forests. The site creator, UPM, is a "...forest industry company. UPM consists of three Business Groups: Energy and Pulp, Paper, and Engineered Materials."
In the Classroom
Create excitement and awe of forest resources by using this site with an interactive whiteboard or projector. Use this site as a great way to explore the use of natural resources and habitats. Assign groups of students or individuals to find important information for reporting to class. Enhance learning by having groups create videos or infomercials using Adobe Express Video Maker, reviewed here. Share the videos using a tool such as SchoolTube, reviewed here. In lower grades, explore the forest together on an interactive whiteboard or projector, especially if your school is located somewhere far from forests. Ask students to share what they observe as you "visit" the forest together. Be sure to turn up the volume!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Pollinator Live - USDA Forest Service
Grades
K to 12
1 Favorites
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Build understanding of the important work of pollinators in our lives. Find great lesson plans that follow the National Science Education Standards for all grade levels (including pre-K.)...more
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Build understanding of the important work of pollinators in our lives. Find great lesson plans that follow the National Science Education Standards for all grade levels (including pre-K.) Find web based activities and lesson plans in PDF format. Also find gardening information and other resources. What a perfect way to grab your students' attention during the months of Spring. Although TeachersFirst does not usually review "hotlists," this topic-specific collection will be "all the buzz" in your classroom!
In the Classroom
When discussing insects and the role of pollinators, increase understanding of the insects that "bug" us and their commercial impact. Following use of some of the activities, research specific pollinators and the crops that benefit from them. With younger students, create a whole -class interactive book on the Power of Buzz using a tool such as Bookemon, reviewed here.
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Soil - Bureau of Land Mangement
Grades
1 to 6
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This Bureau of Land Management site explores on of kids' favorite topics- DIRT! Kids may know how to collect it on their clothes, but now they can learn more about ...more
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This Bureau of Land Management site explores on of kids' favorite topics- DIRT! Kids may know how to collect it on their clothes, but now they can learn more about soil's function in the ecosystem, as well as take a journey into various habitats present in the underground world. Click Learn from the stop menu to find categories like Kids, Teachers, and many others. Teachers will like the activities section, which provides ways for students to expand upon their web-explorations.
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Multiple Intelligences Posters - Marek Bennett
Grades
3 to 12
1 Favorites
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Find two downloadable images for 11 by 17 posters about multiple intelligences in comic form. The first poster represents the different types of intelligences, such as musical or linguistic....more
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Find two downloadable images for 11 by 17 posters about multiple intelligences in comic form. The first poster represents the different types of intelligences, such as musical or linguistic. The second poster breaks down steps to use when working with different types of intelligences. For full information, click the link that leads to the full six page essay about multiple intelligences. Also check out the link at the bottom of the page to "psst! teachers!" to another multiple intelligences comic book.
In the Classroom
Print and share posters to get your colleagues and students thinking about their own multiple intelligences. Be sure to maintain the attribution and copyright information on the posters. Explore with students learning about their own strengths in learning. Hang the posters in your classroom. Share information during parent conferences and professional development. Share posters on your board during back to school information sessions to help parents understand different types of intelligences. Encourage students to create comics of themselves using their most comfortable "intelligence" and use it as a locker decoration or on a class bulletin board during the first part of the school year. Use one of TeachersFirst's many comic/cartoon tools reviewed here.
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Inspire My Kids - Mike Stutman and Kevin Conklin
Grades
K to 12
3 Favorites
0 Comments
Find inspiring, age-appropriate, real-life stories, videos, and projects to share with children and teens. The site hopes to help these students take positive actions and become the...more
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Find inspiring, age-appropriate, real-life stories, videos, and projects to share with children and teens. The site hopes to help these students take positive actions and become the best people they can be. Stories offer great examples of values like courage, determination, honesty, humility, kindness, responsibility, and tolerance. The stories range from incredible kids inspiring other kids, to amazing animals demonstrating admirable qualities, to the invention of inspirational social causes. Stories are searchable in several ways - by values, topics, age range, and format. Formats include articles, podcasts, reference, and videos. Under Educators investigate the lesson plans categorized by grade levels. You can also sign up for the site's newsletter including updates and new article information.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Share stories from the site on your interactive whiteboard or projector when learning about character traits such as sportsmanship, perseverance, and responsibility. Use the site as a resource when problems arise in the classroom such as bullying, intolerance, or special needs awareness. Have students use resources from the website as models for writing their own articles or enhance learning with the challenge to create a podcast. Use a site such as podomatic, reviewed here. Use the stories as models for writing activities and essays. Your students could also draw inspiration from this site to create values comics. Have students create printed comics (or rough drafts) using Printable Comic Strip Templates, reviewed here, or exchange paper for a digital online comic with one or two characters. Use ToonyTool, reviewed here. Students can create an online comic strip by using Make Beliefs Comix, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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NASA Mars Exploration Rovers - NASA
Grades
4 to 12
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The home page for the mission of the Sprit and other rovers offers a variety of up-to-date mission reporting, background material for all user levels, and a collection of current ...more
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The home page for the mission of the Sprit and other rovers offers a variety of up-to-date mission reporting, background material for all user levels, and a collection of current images. If NASA is true to form, additional sections will appear as the missions progress.
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Cinco de Mayo Resources - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12
3 Favorites
0 Comments
Find resources and activities appropriate for Cinco de Mayo in this collection from TeachersFirst. ...more
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Find resources and activities appropriate for Cinco de Mayo in this collection from TeachersFirst.
In the Classroom
Use these resources to connect Cinco de Mayo to your curriculum in almost any subject or select one or two ideas to highlight along with your regular lessons.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Sea World Parks and Entertainment - SeaWorld/Busch Gardens
Grades
K to 12
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This site, created by Sea World and Busch Gardens, offers a lot of information about a variety of animals. There are animal infobooks, toolboxes, sound clips, photos, "Ask Shamu," Wild...more
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This site, created by Sea World and Busch Gardens, offers a lot of information about a variety of animals. There are animal infobooks, toolboxes, sound clips, photos, "Ask Shamu," Wild World adventures in a safari and zoo, lesson plans, vocabulary, games, a teacher's guide, and more. There are lesson plans for grades K-12 (click the Animal Info and Just for Teacher's on the top menu).
In the Classroom
Use your interactive whiteboard or projector to share the neat interactives and soundclips at this site. This site is also great for research projects, science lessons, and more. Be sure to check out the Just for Teacher's link for some great lesson ideas!
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Newsela - Matthew Gross
Grades
2 to 12
19 Favorites
2 Comments
At the start of the school year for 2023-2024, Newsela made some significant changes for their FREE or LITE version of the program! Now they offer four leveled news articles ...more
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At the start of the school year for 2023-2024, Newsela made some significant changes for their FREE or LITE version of the program! Now they offer four leveled news articles at five reading levels for teachers to choose from. The articles will be available for four weeks; Newsela Lite is free for any teacher to access four pre-selected news articles, select and lock reading levels for students, see alignment to state standards, schedule assignments and set due dates, access students' quiz scores, and respond to students' writing prompt submissions and annotations. Many of these features were on the "premium" account until the 2023-2024 school year.
Incase you're wondering - Newsela features current events stories tailor-made for classroom use. Click "Products" on the top menu and slide down to browse content in subject areas (social studies, science, etc.). Stories are student-friendly and can be accessed in different formats by reading level. Use Newsela to differentiate nonfiction reading. Newspaper writers rewrite a story four times for a total of five Lexile levels per story. All articles have embedded Common Core-aligned quizzes that conform to the reading levels for checking comprehension, customizable assignments, writing prompts, and annotations. An account is required to use Newsela, both for teachers and for students, but students sign up using a teacher or parent-provided code rather than an email address. Click the Resources tab at the top to find guides and short webinars. Teachers can create classes and assign reading-level specific articles to individual students or download printable PDF copies of the article in any of its reading-level versions. There is no outside advertising.
Incase you're wondering - Newsela features current events stories tailor-made for classroom use. Click "Products" on the top menu and slide down to browse content in subject areas (social studies, science, etc.). Stories are student-friendly and can be accessed in different formats by reading level. Use Newsela to differentiate nonfiction reading. Newspaper writers rewrite a story four times for a total of five Lexile levels per story. All articles have embedded Common Core-aligned quizzes that conform to the reading levels for checking comprehension, customizable assignments, writing prompts, and annotations. An account is required to use Newsela, both for teachers and for students, but students sign up using a teacher or parent-provided code rather than an email address. Click the Resources tab at the top to find guides and short webinars. Teachers can create classes and assign reading-level specific articles to individual students or download printable PDF copies of the article in any of its reading-level versions. There is no outside advertising.
In the Classroom
Achieve two goals here: help students improve their reading comprehension and keep them current with what is happening in our nation and the world. When assigning articles, choose to have the class read at one reading level, or choose individuals and set the reading level for them. There are five categories from which to choose. You may want to set up different articles at different learning stations on the computers in your room. Have the students rotate daily through the stations, completing one or two a day until they have completed all five articles. Since Newsela is cloud based, even absent students can complete the missed work easily. If you and your students are teaching and learning remotely, or you have a blended classroom, Newsela will work perfectly for those! Teachers of gifted students can use this site to accelerate or enrich reading for students. Find each student's individual levels for reading nonfiction. Teachers of Learning Support and ENL//ESL students will love this alternate way for their students to meet nonfiction/current events requirements.Comments
This is an excellent article. Thanks for sharing this information. Please keep sharing content like this.Cassandra, IL, Grades: 0 - 12
This is an excellent site and allows differentiation while everyone is reading the same text.Renee, NC, Grades: 0 - 5
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HubbleSite - NASA
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1 to 12
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NASA's comprehensive Hubble telescope site includes six major sections targeted to different student audiences. There are games and introductions for elementary students, as well as...more
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NASA's comprehensive Hubble telescope site includes six major sections targeted to different student audiences. There are games and introductions for elementary students, as well as images and more detailed information for older students. If the galaxies are your destination, this is an ideal starting point.
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Build a Fish - John G. Shedd Aquarium
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3 to 6
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The concept of adaptation is explored in this interactive activity that challenges kids to build a fish by choosing physical characteristics that will enable it to survive. But there's...more
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The concept of adaptation is explored in this interactive activity that challenges kids to build a fish by choosing physical characteristics that will enable it to survive. But there's more. After releasing the fish into the reef, students must drive the fish around to search for food and avoid being eaten by something else!
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The National Parks: America's Best Idea - PBS
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4 to 12
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Ken Burns has been busy again, this time creating a film about the US National Parks. This site carries many clips and even the full length film. There are many ...more
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Ken Burns has been busy again, this time creating a film about the US National Parks. This site carries many clips and even the full length film. There are many resources here about the US National Parks. To make the site more collaborative, you can submit a story and pictures about a visit to a national park. There is an extensive bank of other web resources as well. There are also lesson plans available at the "Educators Link."
In the Classroom
Share the film (or clips) on your interactive whiteboard or projector. One section of the site enables you to design a national park postcard to email to a friend. Groups of students might research individual national parks (links to the NPS site appear on this site) and circulate their own postcards to other groups. Students can also "collect" national park badges that can be cut and pasted into personal or class websites. You could also have cooperative learning groups create multimedia projects about various National Parks. Alter student learning by having students create online posters or do it together as a class using a tool such as Web Poster Wizard, reviewed here, or PicLits, reviewed here. If you are near a park, your students could redefine their learning and create an online park tour to share with others far away! Try a tool such as Adobe Spark For Education, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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