TeachersFirst Edge
New web 2.0 tools appear each day. Many of these tools were not originally intended for classroom use, but they can be powerful learning tools for today’s techno-savvy students and their more adventurous teachers. These sites appear (and frequently disappear) very quickly, launched by creative techno-geeks out there in the world.
Many of these tools require a higher-than-average set of teacher tech skills or some extra monitoring to assure student “safety.” TeachersFirst Edge reviews these "tools on the Edge,” carefully and with specific ideas for using them safely and effectively in teaching and learning. Reviews point out any safety or policy concerns for the tool and offer links to management tips for each concern.
This is the world your students already know. Try teaching in their vernacular. A little adventurousness makes for powerful learning.
See General Tips for using Edge Tools - a must for first-time users
Browse the full listing of detailed safety/school policy tips or save time by reading them as needed from each tool review.
Learn about school web filtering, a critical issue with many "Edge" tools
If you try one of these tools and find it especially useful, be sure to leave a comment on it to share your students’ successes with other teachers. If you know of another tool that teachers would find beneficial, please suggest it via our webmaster account, as a “suggested resource.”
Here's the Edge:
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Hoot - Hoot.me
Grades
9 to 12
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Hoot.Me is a Facebook application that changes Facebook into a big study session. Allow the app access to Facebook. Enter topics you are working on and team up with others ...more
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Hoot.Me is a Facebook application that changes Facebook into a big study session. Allow the app access to Facebook. Enter topics you are working on and team up with others users online. As part of this app, extra Facebook features that can be a distraction while studying are eliminated. Participate in video or text chats. The smart text editor can be used to enter complex equations easily. Build a study group with other Facebook users. Note: only a small fraction of schools allow Facebook access at school, so you may want to tell students about this app so they can use it at home for study groups.
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This site includes advertising.
tag(s): social skills (5)
In the Classroom
Encourage students to study together online using a tool with which they are familiar. If you can, test it out while at school, demonstrating to students how the application works. This would be useful for any type of collaboration project (much more practical than driving to each others' homes) or even for a study group.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Socrative - Socrative.com
Grades
4 to 12
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Socrative is a smart student response system -- the answer to not having expensive "educational clickers" in your classroom. Socrative is in beta at this time and is free. Their ...more
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Socrative is a smart student response system -- the answer to not having expensive "educational clickers" in your classroom. Socrative is in beta at this time and is free. Their apps work on tablets, smartphones, iPod Touch, laptops, and others. There is an introductory video demonstrating teacher and student logins and how your class will interact in real-time. You can create your own multiple choice, true/false, and short answer questions. You may also choose to use one of their ready-made activities as exit tickets, thoughtful questions, or games. See your students' responses in an Excel file or view online as a Google spreadsheet. Multiple choice questions are automatically corrected.
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tag(s): chat (18), polls and surveys (8), questioning (12), social networking (40)
In the Classroom
If you've ever wanted greater student engagement, increased student interest, and heightened discussion and interactivity in your classroom, Socrative is the answer. Students can give their input and express their views anonymously, if you wish.In any curriculum area, ask open-ended questions and display student responses with your projector or interactive whiteboard. Students could then use a tool like Thinkmeter reviewed here to vote on the options.
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Lose It! - FitNow, Inc.
Grades
5 to 12
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"Lose It!" is a comprehensive calorie counting and activity tracking tool; this website provides a free way to monitor calorie intake and output to lose, maintain, or manage health...more
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"Lose It!" is a comprehensive calorie counting and activity tracking tool; this website provides a free way to monitor calorie intake and output to lose, maintain, or manage health and weight. With great graphics and an available phone application, this tool is so versatile and easy that even younger students could learn to use it. The database of food includes restaurant, grocery, and generic food brands and types.
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This site includes advertising.
tag(s): calories (7), fitness (36), nutrition (98), obesity (13)
In the Classroom
Try using "Lose It!" in health classes as early as fifth grade to help students become aware of how they spend their calories in a day and just how much they are consuming. Sometimes just this awareness is enough to help some kids stay healthier. Have students do a baseline record what they eat and do with no set rules for three days to a week. Have students analyze with their free weekly reports: what they consumed, how much, and what vitamins and other nutrients that they may need to increase. If students are comfortable sharing information with each other, have them compare reports to get a better and more realistic view of their intake. Have students create a plan to make small changes to diet and activity for a week at a time and then have them check their reports again. This could be a year long, month long, or two week long process. Depending on the incidence of childhood obesity or malnutrition in your area, you can adjust this to fit your needs. If you are concerned about student privacy, create an account for a fictitious person that the entire class can use to analyze hypothetical food intake and more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Talk and Learn - English-Portal
Grades
8 to 12
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This is a social networking site for English language learners. With a free registration, students can create their own profile, make new "friends," upload photos of their choice, chat...more
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This is a social networking site for English language learners. With a free registration, students can create their own profile, make new "friends," upload photos of their choice, chat using text, voice and video chat, create a "wall" similar to that in Facebook, practice English using a remarkable exercise bank, and play language games. Activities such as hangman, spelling power, crosswords, and more are available without creating an account or logging in. Creating an account allows full access to the social networking features of the site and is similar to Facebook. Registration requires a username, first and last name, email address, and birth date.
tag(s): grammar (161), social networking (40), word study (28)
In the Classroom
Check your school policies for allowing students to use social networks. This site is good practice for students using their English to follow directions to set up their profile as well as writing brief notes in English to communicate with their new "friends" on Talk and Learn. This may be a good site to provide to ESL/ELL families via your class website.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)
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Grabbabeast - Tangible Worldwide
Grades
1 to 8
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View various beasts and then create your own! Share your beast with others via an ecard or by saving on the site and using its unique URL. You can either ...more
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View various beasts and then create your own! Share your beast with others via an ecard or by saving on the site and using its unique URL. You can either make a unique "beast" or begin with a basic beast. If permitted, you can also share the beast on Facebook or as a tweet. Those wishing to save their creations must complete a free registration, but it is totally optional. You can also check out beasts made by others. Professional posters are available for a FEE (close that window!). If you email the poster to yourself, you can then print it for free.
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This site includes advertising.
tag(s): creative writing (53), creativity (53), fathers day (10), mothers day (11)
In the Classroom
Students can create ecards and send them out for birthdays, grandparent's, mother's and father's day. Student's can use the ecard part of the site to create a story about their monster and send it to the teacher, themselves, or anyone else. Through email your Grabbabeast will print, free. This activity would work well for individual or pairs of students in a lab or on laptops. This is a great find for gifted students or as a capstone project in which students imagine the various parts of the "beast" they create represent parts of a project they need to summarize. Use your creativity to imagine other uses for it. This site would be useful for ESL or world language students trying to learn vocabulary for parts of the body, colors, textures, patterns etc.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)
Premium version (not free) includes additional features or storage
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
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iCharts - iCharts, Inc.
Grades
2 to 12
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iCharts creates a new place to publish online charts (with interactive info on mouse-clicks) based on public or private data. Format charts as you see fit. Share charts using Facebook...more
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iCharts creates a new place to publish online charts (with interactive info on mouse-clicks) based on public or private data. Format charts as you see fit. Share charts using Facebook or Twitter or embed them in a website or blog. Clip and save iCharts that you like into your account. You can also browse all types of interesting charts made by others.
tag(s): charts and graphs (113)
In the Classroom
This site is great for classroom work or teacher-created mapping. You will want to play with this tool before using it in class, but it is very simple to use. Use with any numerical data that is best shown in a chart. Collect data in a science lab, survey, or math class, and display it using different graphs to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using each graph type. In reading class, practice reading charts/graphs that accompany informational texts using the various examples here. Use for quick creation and sharing of graphs. Create charts together easily on an interactive whiteboard (or projector) when introducing the different types to elementary students, then embed your examples on a class web page for students to revisit. Have students operate the board so their peers can see how the tool works and give each other oral directions as they problem solve together. Then make the iChart site a small group center during math class for further practice on a computer or interactive whiteboard. Save this site in your favorites for quick retrieval any time students need to make a quick chart. For student practice, have them chart time spent on homework or hobbies, choice of favorite pet, etc. Reinforce good study habits in middle school by having students make charts of their average grades or time spent on independent reading.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Small QR - smallqr.com
Grades
6 to 12
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Interested in making a QR code, but think it is too difficult? Use this site for a quick and easy way to make a QR code of web links. Simply ...more
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Interested in making a QR code, but think it is too difficult? Use this site for a quick and easy way to make a QR code of web links. Simply enter the url. (Be sure that SmallQR is selected under Advanced options.) Save your QR code as a png image file and be sure to read the tips: a.make sure that the image is not printed too small and b. test the QRcode out before using it elsewhere.
tag(s):
In the Classroom
Create a QR code for your class site or blog and include it on handouts for Back to School night. Create a QR code scavenger hunt for students, making a webquest more engaging. Add QR codes to documents for students to check their answers to questions. Expand knowledge of a topic by adding a QR code to a site that expands upon what is in the textbook. Create a data chart accessible via a QR code. Students access the data and manipulate the information. Have students create a book trailer or review and affix a QR code to the outside of the book. Students may be more apt to read a book that has been reviewed by another student. Make a display completely interactive with a QR code that describes the assignment, the process, the research, student's reactions and more! Add extra help information to any assignment that asks students to solve problems. Create an online help tutorial accessible via a QR code, and place the code beside a similar problem. Link directly to a Google Map. Place QR code contact information for you and your school on contact cards to give to parents. Attach QR codes to physical objects around the room to provide information about the object. Place the links in a newsletter using QR codes instead of a series of words that need to be typed.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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SuperLame - Superlame.com
Grades
4 to 12
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Super-hero your images! Use this image editor to add speech and thought bubbles to photos and images. Upload your image (such as a photo from your digital camera or a ...more
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Super-hero your images! Use this image editor to add speech and thought bubbles to photos and images. Upload your image (such as a photo from your digital camera or a copyright safe image), add a text balloon, insert a sound effect (like kaboom!), and change the background or border. Save to your computer or email to yourself or others (note that the image is deleted from the website after 24 hours.)
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tag(s): bulletin boards (7), comics and cartoons (46), digital storytelling (30), images (99), photography (91)
In the Classroom
This would be a great way to make comic strips using images from class! Use in any subject area and for any topic to add a twist to your digital storytelling project. Have students create a comic rather than a traditional book report. The main character or a minor character could "talk" about the book. Or have students create comic strips to go along with science topics, math concepts, historical figures, and more. Have students email you the images/comics. Share the finished products on your projector or interactive whiteboard. Share the saved images on a class wiki or make a student generated bulletin board of comics.
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Vocabulary.com - Vocabulary.com
Grades
7 to 12
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Vocabulary.com is an individualized vocabulary development program. Your students will select definitions for several vocabulary words. Based on their answers, the program will predict...more
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Vocabulary.com is an individualized vocabulary development program. Your students will select definitions for several vocabulary words. Based on their answers, the program will predict which vocabulary words they don't know and instruct them from there. You can also type in a word to learn the definition. With more than 40,000 questions to help your students learn new vocabulary, time will not be wasted here. The vocabulary is chosen based on words that need to be mastered for success in an academic or business environment. The program will analyze student achievement and review words that the students originally missed to make sure they are retaining the words. Vocabulary.com is for students from elementary school through graduate school. You can register with an email address or via your Facebook account. Note: as with any dictionary tool, there is content that is intended for more mature users, including matter of fact definitions of swear words. Teachers will want to manage this tool as any adult dictionary and have logical consequences for those who look up words so they can giggle, etc.
tag(s): vocabulary (230), vocabulary development (29), word study (28)
In the Classroom
Use this site as a learning center or station for students who finish their work early. Be sure to mark the site on classroom computers, making it easier for students to navigate there. Or, if you have access to multiple classroom computers, you may want to start your language arts lessons with five to ten minutes of work on Vocabulary.com. Once students have learned this program they can be totally independent. This is one to list on your class website for students/parents to access at home for additional practice.Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
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Tildee - tildee.com
Grades
4 to 12
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0 Comments
Create tutorials for anyone about anything using this tool! Start from an easy to use template and share your tutorial via a unique URL. Your tutorial can have text, screen ...more
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Create tutorials for anyone about anything using this tool! Start from an easy to use template and share your tutorial via a unique URL. Your tutorial can have text, screen shots, and videos. You don't need to register to start a tutorial, but if you want to save, edit or delete it, you'll need to sign up with your email address. Tildee is free. You can also view public tutorials by searching. At the time of this review, there were many well done Tildees on topics such as: How to Use Google Translate, Camtasia: The Beginnings, Glogster, How to Make Professional YouTube Background, and much more.
tag(s): assessment (27), tutorials (35)
In the Classroom
Tildee could become a very powerful tool in your classroom. Have students use it to demonstrate what they understand about any concept you teach. Tildee would be the ultimate in "show your work" to explain how students came to a conclusion. Students could use Tildee for persuasive speeches, or speech and debate by uploading facts, videos, and images to prove their point during their speeches. They can also use it to write sequenced directions. Students in history, math, science, art or music classes could showcase their knowledge by creating a tutorial about any topic: how an animal became endangered and the steps to reverse this, the major events that led up to the Civil Rights Movement, or the Holocaust, how to reduce a fraction, the cycle of a cell, or anything else you feel would be worthy of assessment. Physical Education teachers could create tutorials for any move for any sport or exercise, i.e. how to do a proper sit-up or push-up. Teachers can use this site to create tutorials for absentees and/or review and post the URL on your webpage.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Trap It - Gary Griffiths, Hank Nothhaft, Jr, David Schairer
Grades
4 to 12
1 Favorites
0 Comments
This site collects your choice of news you want to read. Scroll down to choose from pre-made "traps" or make one for your own interests. At Trap It you can ...more
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This site collects your choice of news you want to read. Scroll down to choose from pre-made "traps" or make one for your own interests. At Trap It you can create "traps" that contain only news stories of interest to you or your students. You can search topics. For instance, if you enter "space," you will get tons of sources for the space industry, outer space, etc. Or you can narrow it down to space station and select sources that focus only on that area. You can search your subject area, for example, science and get all news stories about science, or narrow that down to environmental science. You can create and delete "traps" at any time. You can share your articles of interest by using twitter, e-mail, Google+, or Facebook.
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This site includes advertising.
tag(s): news (124), newspapers (22)
In the Classroom
There are many ways this tool can be used. For example, a "trap" will display multiple articles related to a world issue or event. During election years, use traps for students to follow political races. Create a trap of most appropriate articles as a reading/writing prompt, sharing the trap's url on a wiki, via Edmodo reviewed here, or a class Twitter account. Students can read the articles and then discuss them, write a response, or summarize them as an assignment. Older students could create "traps" to show real world connections to curriculum, for example, articles about housing construction in math class, then discuss or write about the math skills required to build houses. They could create their own science "trap" collecting articles of interest related to plants, animals, vaccines, or diseases.Want to learn more about sharing and collecting class work on wikis? Visit the TeachersFirst Wiki Walk-Through. Looking for more ways to use Twitter in the classroom? Check out the TeachersFirst's Twitter for Teachers page.
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obooko - Tony Stanton, Sarah Bainbridge, Tim Johnson
Grades
7 to 12
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Join the writers and readers of obooko, the free site to publish and read ebooks. Readers' Choice Awards of 2011 winner for free eBooks , obooko offers a platform to ...more
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Join the writers and readers of obooko, the free site to publish and read ebooks. Readers' Choice Awards of 2011 winner for free eBooks , obooko offers a platform to share your work and read the works of others. Become a reviewer and write comments on other ebooks. As authors, you retain all rights with no charges or contracts. This site is legal and does not infringe on copyright laws. There are numerous categories to choose from: Romance and Women, Crime, Religion, Thriller, Mystery, Teens, and much more! This site is not intended for children under 13. Some of the content may not be appropriate for the classroom. So be sure to preview.
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tag(s): creative writing (53), ebooks (7), mysteries (17), novels (12), poetry (160), religions (22)
In the Classroom
For your language arts class, obooko contains many examples of contemporary writing. Selections for critiquing and editing are readily available without hurting any class member's feelings. Look at examples for current ideas and places to begin brainstorming. Included are free templates for different types of writing. Have each member of your class become a published author! Use the titles as writing prompts or read only half of the story and have students finish it in their own way. Bring each student's story into the lives of many. Assign critiques using obooko. You might even create a school or class obooko literary magazine during poetry month.Library/media specialists may want to select certain ebooks to load on school iTouches for students to read and review. Start an obooko reading club with these free options.
If you are uncomfortable sharing here or school policy prohibits it, have your classes create a similar website (wiki) with published pieces from your school or class. Not familiar with wikis? Check out the TeachersFirst Wiki Walk-Through.
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 shared by URL
Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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JellyCam - Chris Dennett
Grades
4 to 12
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Interested in stop motion animation, but think it is too complicated? JellyCam is a free program for creating stop motion movies. Easily use images from your computer or ones captured...more
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Interested in stop motion animation, but think it is too complicated? JellyCam is a free program for creating stop motion movies. Easily use images from your computer or ones captured from your webcam. Select images, and then quickly arrange them into a sequence. Then determine how many images you want per frame. JellyCam is a free download. Adobe Air is required and is a free and simple install. View the demo video to learn more about the neat site! Unfortunately, JellyCam does not offer sound yet.
In the Classroom
Use JellyCam to show time consuming or difficult processes broken down frame by frame. For example, long games of Chess could be turned into a video that just highlights player moves. For Science, show processes such as diffusion and osmosis (drop food coloring in water and watch it spread over time) or create DNA models that you actually show moving performing a process one step at a time. In math, build geometric structures or find math in everyday actions. Create a stop motion of actors throughout a scene. Groups of students can create the dialogue that they imagine happening with the scene. Show the creative process in creating a work of art.
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QuietWrite - James Yu
Grades
4 to 12
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QuietWrite is a writing tool ideal for those who get distracted by all the colors, squiggly lines, and choices that appear on a word processor. At QuietWrite you'll find a ...more
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QuietWrite is a writing tool ideal for those who get distracted by all the colors, squiggly lines, and choices that appear on a word processor. At QuietWrite you'll find a very calming look, and by pressing the full screen view (F11) you can even get rid of the menu bar. Your work is saved every few seconds so the writer doesn't even have that distraction to think about. You don't have to make an account to use QuietWrite, but if you do it's free. There are several advantages to having a free account. Revisions are saved frequently, so you can see the history of revisions for a piece. This is handy if you delete something that you later decide you want to include. Another feature is the account settings. Here you can change the font, font size, background color, and color of the text. If you have an account, but don't sign in, you can just start typing. When you're done you can sign in, and QuietWrite will save that writing in your account for you. If you have a free account you will have an ad on your home page, but not on the page where you write.
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This site includes advertising.
tag(s): blogs (47), brainstorming (8), process writing (13)
In the Classroom
Having no distractions on the page when writing could help students with ADHD or those who are perfectionists. This program allows them to get their ideas down, then they can work on spelling and grammar in a word processor. With older students you may want them to use their email address and create their own account. QuietWrite would be good to use for brainstorming and "quick writes" when you want the students to get their thoughts on (virtual) paper and without worry about spelling and punctuation as part of the thinking process. Once students are done with their "quick writes" or brainstorm, if they don't have an account, they can copy and paste their writing to a word processor. This would allow them to save their "quick write" and, if they choose to develop it later, they can work on the spelling and grammar as a separate step.Challenge students to write a "blog" post from a soldier during a war that you are studying. Write a dialog between main characters from a piece of literature. Create poetry, study sheets, practice spelling words, and more. By sharing the URL, students can even collaborate on projects in any subject area!
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Moment Garden - Chris Kundinger and Zachary Garbow
Grades
4 to 12
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This site allows you to create electronic/colorful timelines! Though Moment Garden was designed for families to record their child's timeline of events or family gatherings, this tool...more
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This site allows you to create electronic/colorful timelines! Though Moment Garden was designed for families to record their child's timeline of events or family gatherings, this tool can make an electronic timeline and slideshow on any topic. The "moments" are intended to be shared with others by URL. If you simply want them to see the timeline, you can provide the link (URL) via email or put the link on a web page. You can invite others to add to the timeline through their email address, if you wish. You must be a member (free) to add to a story or timeline.
tag(s): timelines (31)
In the Classroom
If you use this tool as a teacher-only, or whole-class account, you can keep a digital/timeline scrapbook of class events throughout the year. Make a timeline using local, national, or international current events. Make timelines as part of a unit in history, cell growth in science, and any project, story, or biography. Or look back in time and create a historical timeline, scanning old pictures or using copyright free images from the Library of Congress American Memory Collection.Have your students create biographical timelines for artists, musicians, writers from a certain period in history, the twentieth century in different countries, World War II timeline, Civil War timeline, timeline of insect stages, timeline of the rock cycle, of a plant or tree. Have students create timelines of the life cycle of migratory animals or even personal timelines. Students can work in small groups or individually. Want something more elaborate from your students? Have have them use Moment Garden for the timeline and Glogster, reviewed here, for their overall report. They can then show their timeline as a link on their Glogster report.
More ideas: Students could interview grandparents and create a timeline about their grandparents for Grandparents' Day. For collaboration, link up with another classroom in another town (or another country) to build a timeline that shares events in each local area so students can see what was happening at the same time in another location, maybe in the opposite hemisphere (compare weather and seasons!).
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PDF to Word Converter - Nitro PDF, Inc.
Grades
K to 12
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PDF to Word Converter is a convenient tool to take files that are currently in PDF form and change them to Microsoft Word documents. The advantage is that you can ...more
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PDF to Word Converter is a convenient tool to take files that are currently in PDF form and change them to Microsoft Word documents. The advantage is that you can edit a Word document to customize it. Type right into PDFs by making them Word documents. The FREE online portion of this site allows one conversion from PDF to Word at a time. There is no limit, just the fact that you must do each file separately. Pay attention to copyright when converting files. Give credit where it is due, and make sure that you note that the pdf form has been adapted. A downloadable version of the tool is available for a fee.
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tag(s): worksheets (26)
In the Classroom
Ever find really neat activity sheets, but feel they need to be tweaked a little to make them work for your classes? This tool helps you save time by allowing you to edit PDF files in Word to avoid reinventing the wheel. To use, simply locate the PDF file you want to convert on your computer (even if it is only in your download folder), enter your email address. Be sure to check your "junk filter" on your email in case it does not show up directly in your inbox. Click on the attachment and download your brand new Word file! Science teachers can take lab activities and refine questions or add instructions as needed for their classrooms. English teachers can add standardized test prompts to preexisting general worksheets to tailor the activity to suit their state's test needs. This is a helpful utility for students entering contests or completing applications offered only in pdf form.
This resource requires PDF reader software like Adobe Acrobat.
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Engrade - Engrade
Grades
3 to 12
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Engrade is a comprehensive grade book program complete with tools to create quizzes, wiki pages, calendars, flash cards, create discussions and send messages to and from students, parents...more
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Engrade is a comprehensive grade book program complete with tools to create quizzes, wiki pages, calendars, flash cards, create discussions and send messages to and from students, parents and administrators. The best part is all of this is free and both FERPA and EU Safe Harbor compliant. Student information security is a top priority for this company. This is a great way to slim down the number of log-ins and passwords students must have. Instead of using three different log-ins and passwords in three different programs for grade book, online tests and quizzes, and wikis, it is one stop shop. This site could help you save time and confusion for both teachers and students.
In the Classroom
Sign up for an account (email required) and keep track of student scores, create quizzes for students, and make discussion boards for online conversations about things that happen in your classroom. Quizzes can be graded from the grade book program, directly entering the scores into your records. Be sure to provide this information (link) on your class website for parents to access.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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skrbl: easy to share online whiteboard - ruveka.com
Grades
K to 12
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Skrbl is an online, sharable whiteboard. It can be used to collaborate online in real time simply by sharing the board URL with colleagues or classmates. It can do ...more
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Skrbl is an online, sharable whiteboard. It can be used to collaborate online in real time simply by sharing the board URL with colleagues or classmates. It can do much of what a real white board does but all while your audience is in different parts of the cyber world. This collaborative feature provides the opportunity to discuss appropriate sharing of information and the dangers and safety precautions for using online interactive tools. Be cautious when sharing information and even your own URL. The boards can be shared online or saved as html. Email an invitation to any live board.
In the Classroom
Try introducing this tool to students who are working on group projects. Or have students use this to work as partners or small team to complete complex math problems or equations. Give students a problem by typing it on their board. Then have them work through it together, noting all of their reasoning and steps of work along the way. Have them "turn in" their work by url or post the url on the class wiki to compare with others. Use a Skrbl board as a brainstorming or sketching space as groups or the class share ideas for a major project or to solve a real world problem. Starting a board does not require registration, but saving it to "My Boards" does.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Pearltrees - pearltrees
Grades
6 to 12
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Pearltrees.com is a great place to organize, share, and store websites for current, future, or collaborative use. More than a standard social bookmarking website, Pearltrees allows...more
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Pearltrees.com is a great place to organize, share, and store websites for current, future, or collaborative use. More than a standard social bookmarking website, Pearltrees allows you to create trees of sites to show relationships or even the order in which to browse websites. It is extremely simple to sign up, free, and easy to use once you have joined. To use it, you can install an add-on to your browser, use a bookmarklet, or just use your home spot to paste in websites that you want to add to your own pearl tree. There are "big pearls" that function as folders for multiple strands of Internet pearls.
In the Classroom
In the simplest form, Pearltrees could be used to store links for classes that you are teaching or taking. More creatively, however, you could use this site to create a guided online field trip from one site to another. Even try pairing Pearltrees with the use of a highlighting style website such as Webklipper reviewed here, to direct students to the information on the site that you, as their teacher, want them to see. Try turning the tables on your students, and have them create a Pearltree for short research projects or as a working bibliography for their research papers.Edge Features:
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 shared by URL
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
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Caffein - Caffein Team, Nota, Inc.
Grades
7 to 12
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Create a video chat room site quickly and easily. Choose the name of your room and invite others through the sharing of a link. Video chat rooms are private by ...more
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Create a video chat room site quickly and easily. Choose the name of your room and invite others through the sharing of a link. Video chat rooms are private by default and can be changed easily. Share your chat room easily by link, embedding, or sharing on Twitter or Facebook. Controls for the chat room are easy to find and use.
In the Classroom
Some schools may block this tool. If you set up a room for currculum use, you may be able to request that specific url be unblocked. Use this tool as an easy video chat when collaborating with other students in different schools. Set up a chat space to interview older people about events in history. (You may need to have someone tech-savvy help set up the webcam at their end.) This resource would also be beneficial for students who are home for an extended illness or on vacation when discussion with group members may be necessary. Use this tool in any subject that requires collaboration and video chats. Save this link for snow days when you would like to set up a quick update chat with your students. You might even have webcam parent conferences!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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