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TeachersFirst: Lesson Ideas for Lincoln - TeachersFirst
Grades
1 to 12
5 Favorites
0 Comments
For Lincoln's birthday or any time of year, here are ideas to better acquaint students with the life, times, and work of the 16th president of the United States. These ...more
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For Lincoln's birthday or any time of year, here are ideas to better acquaint students with the life, times, and work of the 16th president of the United States. These ideas feature both technology-enhanced lessons and non-tech experiences. Choose from the lesson titles (sorted by level) to find lesson ideas best suited to your students and the subjects you teach.
In the Classroom
No matter what subject you teach, you can find something to fit in your plans for Presidents Day or the Lincoln Bicentennial. Use these ideas and adapt at will. You can even email an idea to your teacher colleague to save a friend time!You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Valentine's Day - DLTK
Grades
K to 5
1 Favorites
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This website provides a wealth of resources for any elementary school teacher. There are reproducible math worksheets (numerous subjects and levels), lots of challenging puzzles, writing...more
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This website provides a wealth of resources for any elementary school teacher. There are reproducible math worksheets (numerous subjects and levels), lots of challenging puzzles, writing pages, reading activities and puzzle worksheets. Plus they provide craft ideas, poems, recipes and cards. If you are planning your Valentine's Day lessons - this site is a must have!
In the Classroom
Save this site in your favorites, to visit every February for some Valentine's Day ideas.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Story Starters - Scholastic
Grades
K to 6
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Choose the genre for your story, then type your name and choose your grade level (K-1, 2, 3, or 4). Then get ready for the wheel to spin! You can ...more
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Choose the genre for your story, then type your name and choose your grade level (K-1, 2, 3, or 4). Then get ready for the wheel to spin! You can spin four wheels to get a very specific writing prompt. For example, Describe a vacation with a skinny cactus who loves country music. Each wheel produces a different part of the prompt. Each time the wheel spins, a new prompt is created. The prompts are created for the specified grade level and are highly creative. The Teacher's Guide that used offer learning objectives, specific lesson ideas, and printables was not working at the time of this review.
Be warned: the "spinning" page has some rather loud audio sounds. Either turn up the volume and enjoy, or hit the audio to mute the sound!
Be warned: the "spinning" page has some rather loud audio sounds. Either turn up the volume and enjoy, or hit the audio to mute the sound!
In the Classroom
Whether you are looking for a daily prompt for your students, or individual prompts for writing stations, you will find some creative ideas here. Share how to use this site on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Set up writing stations and have students use this site to find their prompts. Use this site to differentiate for your gifted students by allowing them to choose a prompt at a higher grade level. List this link on your class website for some writing practice or extra credit writing exercises.
This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.
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Prompts - Creativity-Portal.com
Grades
2 to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
This site offers writing prompts of many types, from written prompts to line drawings, to photographs, from story starters to articles on the imagination. With plenty of prompts available...more
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This site offers writing prompts of many types, from written prompts to line drawings, to photographs, from story starters to articles on the imagination. With plenty of prompts available at your fingertips, teachers will find inspirational starters in a form which will appeal to all types of students.
There is a submission option at this site. You are able to submit articles or projects, suggest websites with FREE learning content, creativity journey blogs, or inspiring success stories. Before you submit any students' work, be sure to check with your school's Acceptable Use Policy and always get parental permission.
There is a submission option at this site. You are able to submit articles or projects, suggest websites with FREE learning content, creativity journey blogs, or inspiring success stories. Before you submit any students' work, be sure to check with your school's Acceptable Use Policy and always get parental permission.
In the Classroom
Use these writing prompts with your ESL or ELL students to get them to incorporate new vocabulary into a written piece. Share the on your teacher web page for all students to use as starters for blog writing or journaling. Have students share their own ideas of writing prompts, drawings, and photos that they feel may help others start writing. Submit students' work and ideas, after the proper precautions have been taken.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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ScreenPal (was Screencast-o-matic) - ScreenPal
Grades
4 to 12
7 Favorites
0 Comments
ScreenPal is your old Screencast-o-matic but with lots of new features, and an easier name to type! Use this simple and free tool to create a video recording of your ...more
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ScreenPal is your old Screencast-o-matic but with lots of new features, and an easier name to type! Use this simple and free tool to create a video recording of your screen to upload and share on a teacher web page, wiki, blog, etc. This is an easy way to create a tutorial from your own computer screen. When you visit sites that have tutorials on how to use their software, you are looking at a screencast. Use this site to communicate specific directions on how to use different applications in and out of the classroom. Audio is not necessary for the screencasts but may be beneficial, depending upon the tutorial. Free features include: unlimited recorder (videos), full video editor, audio recording & editing, access across devices, share and host unlimited videos, publish video channels, and automated captions.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
You will need to know how to use whatever computer software, website, or skill you are demonstrating. Following basic directions and managing browser windows or tabs are a must, as well as the managing settings of the computer being used. There are plenty of tutorials to explore for PC's, Chrome Books, Mac's, and downloading their apps.Use the symbols in the upper right corner of the page to start. You will also find your content there and under the personal (could be a white circle) icon find settings, tutorials, support, and of course, your log-out. Select Capture Screen Screenshots. As a first-time user files for the Screen Recorder will need to be downloaded to your computer. Follow the prompts as they appear. Choose the screen size when played and whether audio will be needed (audio can be tested here as well, which is recommended: settings may need to be adjusted for different microphones.) Open a new tab or browser window and enter the web address of the site (or software) that will be the subject of your screencast. Drag the black frame by clicking the line and dragging it in order to choose what will be recorded during the screencast. The microphone icon has a green bar that shows recording levels. A green arrow showing instead of a green bar denotes that sound is not being captured. The red button is used to start recording while the black "X" stops the recording. Once you stop recording, click on your screencast tab or browser window and preview your recording. You can then either upload or discard your screencast. At this point you can create an account easily. Save your screencast to a channel of your own. Use the embed code to place your screencast into a blog, wiki, or other site. You can also use a widget code to embed the screencast player into a website. Screencasts can then be made from your other site and will save directly to your screencast channel. Screencasts can be set to different levels of privacy and comments can be turned on or off.
Teachers who must request certificate approval by tech staff may want to try this tool at home and create some sample projects to convince administration of its educational value. Unless checked to turn off comments, this site will allow comments on your work. Many districts prohibit such interaction and steps should be taken to prohibit commenting from others. When using the widget, the tool does not attribute work to specific students. You may wish to have the students identify their work while creating the screencast. Screencasts will only be able to be viewed when using an embed code in a site, wiki, or blog. By marking the screencast "searchable," it can be available to the public. Recently created screencasts do not appear on the home page of screencast-o-matic. Students are able to self-register, but you may want to keep a record of logins and passwords for students who forget.
Make how-to demos for communicating instructions on using and navigating your class home page, class wiki or blog, or other applications you wish the students to use in creation of classroom content. By narrating how you want students to navigate through a certain site or section, you can eliminate confusion, provide an opportunity for students to use the information as a refresher for the future, and maintain a record for absent students. Software demonstrations add an increased flexibility with helping students who need it while allowing students to begin and work at their own pace. Added audio is a great asset for many students including learning support and those who might need to access the material in smaller "chunks." Use this site for students to give "tours" of their own wiki or blog page. The presentation of their web-based projects and resources can be more engaging. Use screencasts to critique or show the validity of websites, identify a resource site they believe is most valuable, or explain how to navigate an online game. Challenge your gifted students to create a screencast as a final project rather than a more traditional project. Social studies teachers could assign students to critique a political candidate's web page using a screencast. Reading/language arts teachers could have student teams analyze a web site to show biased language, etc. For a powerful writing experience, have students "think aloud" their writing choices as the record a screencast of a revision or writing session. You will probably need to model this process, but writing will NEVER be the same! Math teachers using software such as Geometer's Sketchpad could have students create their own narrated demonstrations of geometry concepts as review (and to save as future learning aids). Teachers at any level can create screencasts to demonstrate a computer skill or assignment, such as for a center in your classroom or in a computer lab. Students can replay the "tutorial" on their own from your class web page and follow the directions.
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
Requires download/installation of software
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SchoolTube - Lightspeed Technologies
Grades
K to 12
7 Favorites
0 Comments
You can be as adventurous or not as you wish! This safe, free site lets students and teachers show off their talents by sharing their appropriate videos to be viewed ...more
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You can be as adventurous or not as you wish! This safe, free site lets students and teachers show off their talents by sharing their appropriate videos to be viewed all over America. With a simple registration, you can upload your classroom video, which then goes into a "holding" area. That video then awaits approval by the website's moderator before becoming available. Because of the layering of approval, this site poses no security concerns to students or schools. Not only can teachers and students upload videos, but administrators may also want to post welcome or informational videos to be viewed by parents and students. You may also wish to share some of these videos with your class. Teachers will find videos suitable for classroom instruction (and lesson plans). Use the search box at the top of the webpage to look for topics that relate to your current units of study. Searching the site and simply viewing the videos does not require any registration or log-in. There is a link to SchoolTube Games , as well.
In the Classroom
If you wish to upload your own SchoolTube video, you must register as a user at the site. Registration is free. Create and save your edited videos where you can find them on your computer. (Windows Movie Maker or iMovie are great, free tools for video). Then upload to SchoolTube. You can share the video via link or by embedding it in another web page. See our editor's SchooTube video here. If the teacher is the one uploading, the only potential concerns include posting videos with identifiable information or images about your students, school, or class. Check your school policies about posting pictures of your school. If you post student videos, obtain written parent permission to post student work, again within school policies. Any student visible in a video should also have parent permission in accordance with school policies. Students can use SchoolTube to share videos with sister schools, or to broadcast weekly news from their school or classroom. Students can also produce project videos on any curriculum topic. Try making "You Are There" videos about different events in history! Teachers may want to use this site to share ideas and lesson plans with other teachers across the nation. Make "how to" videos to share with parents and friends. Embed SchoolTube's video player into your school's website and encourage parents to view school news or clips from events they were not able to attend.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Remember The Milk - Remember the Milk.com
Grades
K to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Your busy life needs a manager. Now you have one: RememberTheMilk.com (also known as RTM). Don't worry about missing a date; any or all of these applications or programs will ...more
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Your busy life needs a manager. Now you have one: RememberTheMilk.com (also known as RTM). Don't worry about missing a date; any or all of these applications or programs will remind you: email, SMS, and instant messenger (AIM, Gadu-Gadu, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber, MSN, Skype and Yahoo) are all supported. Set up a free account in minutes. Secondary students will embrace this tool to remind them of tests or assignments or sporting events. List making has made it to a whole new level.
In the Classroom
Read the Blog at this site to learn many cool ways to interact with your personal computer an devices using RTM. Learning support teachers and teachers of disorganized gifted students may want to "model" using such an online tool to help middle and high school students learn better personal organization. Make a demo account for a "mythical" student and organize him/her together so students can see how it works. You will have to check school policies and access to some of the messaging tools, however, since some may be prohibited in your school. Learning support and gifted teachers will welcome this online tool as an engaging way for students to become better-organized. Give students a tech tool, and they just might try it!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Web Poster Wizard - 4Teachers.org
Grades
K to 12
8 Favorites
0 Comments
Use this terrific online tool for your students to create posters or short reports in a poster format. Create lessons, worksheets, or class pages and instantly publish them online using...more
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Use this terrific online tool for your students to create posters or short reports in a poster format. Create lessons, worksheets, or class pages and instantly publish them online using this free Web Poster Wizard. The teacher sets up an account (for free), and follows simple directions so students can upload images and write about their project or pictures. The site even includes management tools so you can keep separate classes of students and see their work by class.
Plan to spend some time reading through the directions and trying out this tool before you assign it to students. Teachers and students must register and login each time they use this tool. Students can share the URL for their posters with grandparents or parents to show off their good work!
Students will need to know how to locate and upload a file for an image (such as a digital picture) to place it in their poster. If you allow them to use images from the web, the tool asks them to give information on their image source, as well (hooray for ethical use of the Internet!). If you use digital pictures of students, be SURE that you do NOT use full names on the site. You should get parent permission for uploading any student images, even if anonymous.
This site includes advertising.
Plan to spend some time reading through the directions and trying out this tool before you assign it to students. Teachers and students must register and login each time they use this tool. Students can share the URL for their posters with grandparents or parents to show off their good work!
Students will need to know how to locate and upload a file for an image (such as a digital picture) to place it in their poster. If you allow them to use images from the web, the tool asks them to give information on their image source, as well (hooray for ethical use of the Internet!). If you use digital pictures of students, be SURE that you do NOT use full names on the site. You should get parent permission for uploading any student images, even if anonymous.
This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Some uses for this simple tool: book reports (take a digital photo of the book cover), biographical posters of famous people (images from the web), "all about me" posters, posters about community members such as veterans of World War II whom students interview and photograph, author posters, fictitious character studies, science posters on processes or terms with accompanying digital pictures to illustrate, etc. The possibilities are endless. Once students know the tool, they can use it over and over.Teachers, make sure you select the archive option to keep student projects live online for more than a month. Use the Teacher Feature option to create one web page of your class' archived projects. You will want to put your created web page link prominently on your class homepage.
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Think Tank - ALTEC at the University of Kansas
Grades
4 to 8
2 Favorites
0 Comments
The next time a research project comes along, send students to this site to help them get organized. Think Tank is designed to assist in the development of topics and ...more
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The next time a research project comes along, send students to this site to help them get organized. Think Tank is designed to assist in the development of topics and subtopics for reports and projects. After defining their subject or perusing a list of suggestions, students are asked to narrow the scope of their project by choosing from a collection of subtopics. Results may be printed.
In the Classroom
Share this site with your students before a new research project is assigned. Have students explore the site on individual computers while you model how to navigate the site on a projector or interactive whiteboard. Use this site to help students narrow down their research topic.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Pics4Learning - Tech4Learning,Inc.
Grades
2 to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
Pics4Learning offers free, safe images for educational use. Find pictures using the search feature or by choosing from the categories listed on the home page. Download selected images...more
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Pics4Learning offers free, safe images for educational use. Find pictures using the search feature or by choosing from the categories listed on the home page. Download selected images quickly using the included links to download to computers or Google Drive. Although it isn't required, each image also includes the citation for attributing work to the source.
This site includes advertising.
This site includes advertising.
In the Classroom
Use images from this site with any classroom activities including research papers, blogs, and multimedia presentations. Have students create a simple infographic using images from this site using Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here, or Venngage,reviewed here. Include images from Pics4Learning when creating screencast explanations. Use a tool like Free Screen Recorder Online, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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CyberBullying - Bill Belsey
Grades
2 to 12
0 Favorites
0 Comments
This portal site is loaded with links, information, and resources to use in your classroom to teach about this timely issue. Although it is a Canadian affiliated site, information applies...more
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This portal site is loaded with links, information, and resources to use in your classroom to teach about this timely issue. Although it is a Canadian affiliated site, information applies to all youth around the world. Highlights of this site include fact sheets (in PDF format), examples, warning signs, links to more resources, and others. Especially take note of the Resource tab on the top menu. Sliding down to Students find Tik ToK, Digital Dating Abuse, Cyberbullying Fact Sheet: Identification, Prevention, and Response, an several others.
In the Classroom
This is a great site for computer teachers (and regular education teachers using computers in their classrooms) to share with their students and parents. Please review the "What Can Be Done" section with students. Cut and paste, then laminate the rules into small posters to be hung near all computers. Create a notebook of cyberbullying facts, and include the fact sheets at this site. Be sure to share the link with parents and your PTO/PTA, as well.
This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.
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TeacherTube - Teacher Tube, LLC
Grades
K to 12
4 Favorites
0 Comments
Move over YouTube! Teachers now have their own place to learn and to teach: TeacherTube.com. Since this site is designed specifically for education, there is not as much concern about...more
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Move over YouTube! Teachers now have their own place to learn and to teach: TeacherTube.com. Since this site is designed specifically for education, there is not as much concern about "public" contributions and appropriateness for school! Teachers will find videos suitable for classroom instruction, such as Ben Franklin chatting with a group of students, or there are also professional videos ideal for staff training (such as Classroom Strategies for Differentiated Instruction). Search and view videos or click on the subject area that interests you, and then click on a video to view. To leave comments, save your favorites, or upload your own video, you will need to register. It's all free. Obviously, this isn't a site for students; however, there are many educational videos suitable for all subject areas that you could share with your students. If your school blocks streaming video sites, consider accessing this site and choosing videos at home, or they may not be viewable.
In the Classroom
If you are looking for a specific topic, save time and use the search option If you wish to add comments or upload your own Teachertube video, you must register as a user at the site. Create and save your edited videos where you can find them on your computer. (Windows Movie Maker or iMovie are great, free tools for video). Then upload to TeacherTube. You will also receive comments on your uploaded videos. If the teacher is the one uploading, the only potential concerns include posting videos with identifiable information or images about your students, school, or class. Check your school policies about posting pictures of your school. If you post student videos, obtain written parent permission to post student work, again within school policies. Any student visible in a video should also have parent permission in accordance with school policies. The most common classroom use would be viewing many videos that match curriculum content. Rap math, visit Anne Frank's historical locations, or view a grammar lesson--these are just a sampling of videos that you may want to use to enhance your curriculum lessons. Use your interactive whiteboard or projector to share the videos with the class. Use the site's videos as an anticipatory set to a new unit or lesson on a specific topic. Have your students create their own TeacherTube video together as a class on any lesson/topic that you are teaching. Have a contest for the best videos and upload the winners to the site (within school policies, of course). Once the class has videos hosted at TeacherTube, you can also embed them in your class bog or wiki for easy sharing with those in your extended online "community."Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Spore Creature Creator - Electronic Arts, Inc.
Grades
2 to 12
7 Favorites
0 Comments
Use Creature Creator to make interesting and imaginative animals. Your students may recognize it as a tool for making characters for the Spore video game, but it is actually a ...more
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Use Creature Creator to make interesting and imaginative animals. Your students may recognize it as a tool for making characters for the Spore video game, but it is actually a useful tool for learning, as well. Use a pre-made creature or create your own custom creature. Add carnivore features to your creation that include mouths, ears, eyes, arms, hands, feet, and legs. Weapons such as horns, spikes, and clubs can also be added to the creature as well as wings. Change the position of the features and alter them through unbelievable joint changes which then alter how your creature walks and moves. Paint your creation when done and place it in its woodland environment. The creature can walk, show emotion, have offspring, and make sounds. Use the software to take a picture, record a movie, and make an avatar. By adding a description and tags, your creation can be uploaded to the spore website or to a You Tube account. Here is the first Spore tutorial , which is hosted on YouTube. If your district blocks YouTube, it may not be viewable.
Creature Creator is a free download but is a limited version of the original purchased program. The purchased program provides many more choices for the features and environments used to make the creatures. The download is available for both PC and Mac.
Creature Creator is a free download but is a limited version of the original purchased program. The purchased program provides many more choices for the features and environments used to make the creatures. The download is available for both PC and Mac.
In the Classroom
User needs to be able to download and install the free program. Easy to use interface. Start with a blob, which you manipulate into a shape, pulling its spinal cord in any direction with the mouse, before adding a head, limbs and various optional extra body parts. Choose your part by using the onscreen catalog. Manipulate it further by changing the position of joints or through adding or deleting segments. Add a background and move your creature by dragging your mouse for it to follow. Continue to alter your creature to get the movement or features needed.Pressing "H" brings up the spore guide which includes topic categories such as "Welcome to Spore," "Getting Started," "Build Mode," "Test Drive," and "Paint Mode."
Check your district policy on downloading and installing of programs. Check with your IT department. Teachers who must request software installation by tech staff may want to try this tool at home and create some sample projects to convince administration of its educational value.
Uploading pictures and videos of creations to You Tube or the spore site may expose students to advertising as well as inappropriately created creatures. You may want to send students directly to URLs for their own projects, maintain the creatures on the classroom computer itself, or use Teacher Tube to upload the creations. Uploading creatures enables outsider comments without teacher control. Outsiders can interact or mark the creations as favorites. Many school policies prohibit such interaction, so be sure to check your school policy. You will want to discuss these features in the context of Internet Safety or establish specific written class rules and consequences for interacting with outsiders. Student work can be saved as a picture and printed, as well, for sharing and showing. Check your school policies on whether student work may be displayed online and what information is permitted, then enforce that policy with your students.
The tool does not show which work is attributable to each student. You may want to require student initials on projects in order to get credit.
Use Creature creator to create an unusual creature as a class project. Create a classification system of all the class creatures to demonstrate biology classification skills. When discussing the groupings in the Animal Kingdom, use Creature Creator to create a new organism for that group. Use the tool to create a class creature with adaptations to a specific environment. Have students create a creature and then write a story or poem about it and how it lives. Have students create a creature as a self-portrait of personality or other traits the students possess. Students can design and draw habitats that would house their creation including the calculation of the volume and area the housing would require. Use a classroom projector or white board to share/create creatures in class and discuss specific features of the creatures.
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bubbl.us - Kirill Edelman and Levon Amelyan
Grades
K to 12
14 Favorites
1 Comments
This simple and free online tool allows you to brainstorm ideas and create concept maps with no special software! Bubble.us features some highly interactive abilities: saving your mind...more
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This simple and free online tool allows you to brainstorm ideas and create concept maps with no special software! Bubble.us features some highly interactive abilities: saving your mind map as an image, sharing (emailing) your work with a friend, printing your organizer, creating colorful mind map organizers, embedding your work into a website or blog, and working with friends. You are able to "play" at this site without registering; however registration is necessary for saving, embedding, emailing, and other features. NOTE: the free version only allows you to SAVE three maps, so you will want to save your completed maps as images, then deleted them from your membership to make room for more freebies.
In the Classroom
Click "Start Here" to type the subject of your concept map. Hitting your Enter key creates a new level (branch) within the map. Tab creates an additional branch on the same level as the current topic. Experiment with the small icons on each "element" to change colors, drag, make new connections, etc. Save and set sharing (read-only or open access) in the area at the right. You can "send" a read-only link via email or copy the embed code from the Menu at lower right), but you cannot find the URL directly from your map. "Send" it to yourself via email to copy the actual URL.There are countless possibilities at this mental mapping site. Demonstrate the tool on an interactive whiteboard or projector, and then allow students to try to create their own graphic organizers. Use this site for literature activities, research projects, social studies, or science topics of study. 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 color-code concepts to show what they understand, wonder, question; map out a story, plotline, or LIFETIME; map out a step-by-step process (life cycle); map a real historical event as a choose-your-own-adventure with alternate endings(?) based on pivotal points; plan a "tour" for a "thought museum." Use this mapping website as an alternative to a traditional test, quiz, or homework assignment in literature or social studies: have students demonstrate their understanding by completing a graphic organizer about the main points. To minimize the number of maps on a free account, have students screenshot or print their results to turn them in. See more ideas in the linked example above!
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david, TX, Grades: 9 - 12
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TeachersFirst Wiki Walk-Through - TeachersFirst
Grades
K to 12
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There is nothing twicky about a wiki. Learn about this online collaboration tool: what a wiki is, how you might use it in your classroom, how to explain it to ...more
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There is nothing twicky about a wiki. Learn about this online collaboration tool: what a wiki is, how you might use it in your classroom, how to explain it to parents and administration, and how to get started. There are over 50 examples of activities you can do with a wiki and links to a free tool to get started. A fresh revision of the Walk-Through in 2008 includes comparison reviews of the top three wiki tools for education. We even give you the downloadable handout to send home.
In the Classroom
This is listed as a TeachersFirst "edge" entry, but our step-by-step walk-through takes the edge off and makes your wiki a walk in the park. Check it out now, while there is still FREE classroom wiki space available from the three wiki tools we review in detail.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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ESL Reading Lessons - 5 Minute English
Grades
4 to 10
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This teaching site has a variety of short readings at various levels that could be useful in an ESL, ELL, special education, or regular ed classroom. Some of the topics ...more
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This teaching site has a variety of short readings at various levels that could be useful in an ESL, ELL, special education, or regular ed classroom. Some of the topics include sentences with grammar errors, students must figure out what is wrong with each sentence. This is excellent practice for any student learning proper grammar. True/ false comprehension questions follow the reading in most cases. Most of the answers are provided at the bottom of the website - so don't scroll too quickly. Before the reading begins, students can study difficult vocabulary words presented in an attractive format. There are full units (with many mini-lessons): grammar, reading, vocabulary, listening, pronunciation, and writing. Some of the listening activities require Flash; however the rest of the site does not, making this site worth your visit.
In the Classroom
Use this site if you want your students to do additional reading. Project the topic, story, and questions on an interactive whiteboard or projector for group discussion. Have your students make up their own questions to go with the site. Have your students write up a similar subject relevant to their own culture and present it, along with questions to check for comprehension. This is a fabulous site to list on your class website for students to use for at-home practice.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Snoopy - United Feature Syndicate, Inc.
Grades
3 to 8
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Find out all you can about Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang on Snoopy.com. This site provides a variety of great comic strips that can be applied to ...more
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Find out all you can about Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang on Snoopy.com. This site provides a variety of great comic strips that can be applied to many classroom lessons. The site also provides an Author Spotlight on Charles Schulz. There is also a link for fun and games with printable pages, puzzles, word problems, and other "fun" stuff. Some of the activities require Shockwave. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom
Have students utilize and manipulate comic strips for dialog-writing lessons, summarizing, predicting and retelling stories. Use comic strips for literature responses. School counselors will also like the Peanuts strips as conversation starters about feelings. You could even use an online comic strip maker, such as Make Beliefs Comix to create your own class or student comic strips after looking at some examples from Peanuts. Use your interactive whiteboard or projector to share the Fun and Games . Then have students work on individual computers or with a partner to try some of the educational activities.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Biography Maker - Jamie McKenzie and the Bellingham Public Schools.
Grades
4 to 12
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Writing biographies is a staple of English and history classes. This site takes students through the process in a way that will make reading them more palatable. It will also ...more
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Writing biographies is a staple of English and history classes. This site takes students through the process in a way that will make reading them more palatable. It will also help students delve deeper into a person's life , making it memorable for them. Divided into four groups (Questioning, Learning, Synthesis, and Storytelling), it helps students understand how to take facts and apply them to a real live person. It wraps up with the six effective traits of writing, reminding students that biography writing shouldn't just be a recitation of facts. The "learning" section does link students to Yahoo encyclopedias and Google (with search hints included), so be aware of that feature. This site serves as a guide for writing a biography of anyone (including students themselves).
In the Classroom
All material at this site is copyrighted, so it must be viewed online. For students who do best with step-by-step instructions, this site is a gem! You might have one group research authors from a particular country while others do artists, musicians, scientists, etc. A class report from each of these groups would do a good job of encapsulating a country or area of the world within any given time period. Teachers seeking independent projects for students who "test out" of a unit can assign this site's step-by-step instructions as a meaningful alternate activity.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Kids' Vid - Mike Keating
Grades
3 to 8
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Leap into video production with help from the Kids' Vid site! Kids' Vid steps you and your students through the process with tips on scripting, storyboarding, shooting video, and editing...more
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Leap into video production with help from the Kids' Vid site! Kids' Vid steps you and your students through the process with tips on scripting, storyboarding, shooting video, and editing it into a visual masterpiece. The site has classroom ideas, short exercises for story writing and learning video shots, an online storyboard creator, and lots of useful help from experts and kids on how to make the whole process an exciting educational experience.
In the Classroom
Start the activity by showing the student-produced videos on the web site. Use the resources on the site for a whole class jig-saw exercise. Assign small groups the task of learning one aspect of the process and then reporting and showing it to the rest of the class. Share the knowledge by creating working groups, which contain an expert from each aspect of the process. Use one of the many class ideas as practice activities for students to learn the finer points of video production before they start their masterpieces.Video is a great tool for authentic assessment - especially for ESL, ELL, and Special Education students. Think about letting each of your students create a short video about what they know for their parent conference meeting or Open House. Explore the realm of possibilities by having students develop and ask peers a "Question of the Week" and document the responses on video. Let students produce a walking tour of the school and key personnel as an introduction for new students. Post this video on the school website, but check the district and students' Acceptable Use Policies before videoing any student faces. You may want to ask your school's funding sources to consider purchasing a few USB plug-in "flip" video cameras that cost about $100 each so students can do these projects with an "indestructible" tool.
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ESL Writing Wizard - Nick Ramsay
Grades
K to 6
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This site allows teachers to make their own practice worksheets in D'Nealian, Zaner-Bloser style, or cursive form. . Each prints out with the full word, a dotted word, and ...more
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This site allows teachers to make their own practice worksheets in D'Nealian, Zaner-Bloser style, or cursive form. . Each prints out with the full word, a dotted word, and blank lines. Create your own word lists for children to practice or use some created and submitted by other teachers. The site also provides alphabet practice and a management tool for you to save your completed worksheets. This website is quick and simple to use. There are some unobtrusive advertisements at this website.
In the Classroom
Use the cursive option with even your advanced level ESL and ELL students, some of whom have only learned to write English by printing. With ESL and ELL students, combine writing practice with survival word lists, such as colors, numbers, days of the week, months of the year etc. Use this for extra practice for your students learning to print or learning cursive. Although this site was created for ESL and ELL students, it would be useful in any elementary classroom learning printing, cursive writing, or even spelling words. For kinesthetic practice with any students, project the worksheet on an interactive whiteboard for use with a finger as a "pencil." Children with special needs will find this kinesthetic option very helpful and engaging.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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