TeachersFirst - What's Popular

This page shares the 25 resources most frequently marked as Favorites by TeachersFirst Members in the past 60 days. See what tops the list of TeachersFirst's database of well over 15,000+ educator-reviewed web resources. Find out what other teachers are excited about. Not a TeachersFirst member yet? See the time saving benefits of free TeachersFirst membership.
Trello - Fog Creek Software
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (146), graphic organizers (49), organizational skills (88)
In the Classroom
Use this site in the classroom for organizing any long term project such as a research report or collaborative projects. Create a board for each group with a timeline and assign parts for each project. Gradually release the responsibility from one project to the next, asking students to create their own task lists so they learn time management. Teachers of learning support and gifted will love this tool as a way to teach organizational skills. Share it with parents to support their organizationally challenged students. Yearbook or school newspaper advisors may want to consider this site for organizing and assigning tasks. Share this site with your school's PTA as a resource for organizing and planning school events.Wisemapping - Wisemapping Corporation
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): concept mapping (15), graphic organizers (49), mind map (28)
In the Classroom
Users must be able to navigate the icons for editing and creating a mindmap. Icons and commands are the same as in any office and free applications that most people use. View the free demo for an introduction of using Wisemapping. Use the demo editor to play with the tools and learn what they do. Note: the demo function does not allow you to save your creation as it is a sandbox area for learning. Allow students an opportunity to learn to play first without teacher direction as each person will find different ways to use wisemapping for their best benefit. Click on a set of words to edit the words, color, font, etc. in the bubble. Drag items easily around the screen by clicking and dragging the icon to drop into a new configuration. Add "icons" and flags anywhere on your mindmap. Add a "note" to a bubble anywhere. The note appears like a little sticky note on the bubble and expands when clicked on. Add a "link" to any of the text on the wisemap that leads to any link on the web you specify. Export as a scalable vector graphic (svg), PDF document, or image file. "Share" to work collaboratively with others. Users must have a login in order to share and publish. Click on the "history" of a wisemap to view the contributions of others.Assign sections of current curriculum topic to groups of students to map out and explain in detail. Link to outside web pages and pictures and create notes with additional study hints and information. Assign a different group to review information for accuracy and add additional information and explanations. Using this process, a wisemap of a chapter or unit can be created easily and efficiently while benefiting all learners.
There are countless possibilities at this mental mapping site. Demonstrate the activity 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 topic. Have students organize any concepts you study; 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. Be sure that they RENAME it before they start work to an individual name so you know who did it (they could EMAIL it to you!) or have them print their results to turn in.
Edge Features:
Parent permission advised before posting student work created using this tool
Requires registration/log-in (WITH email)
Products can be embedded
Products can be shared by URL
RZSS- Discovery and Learning - Royal Zoological Society of Scotland
Grades
K to 12tag(s): biodiversity (36), conservation (102), food chains (19), habitats (92), pollution (53), zoology (18)
In the Classroom
Using RZSS resources on different animal diets and habitats, students can create a food web for a specific ecosystem. Have them research how human activities, like deforestation or pollution, impact this food web. After researching an animal from the RZSS resources, students can create a mock conservation campaign, with slogans, images, and facts about why that animal needs protection. Students watch live animal webcams RZSS provides, like those featuring pandas, penguins, or tigers. They can take notes on the animals' behavior, movements, and interactions over a period using a resource such as Book Creator, reviewed here. Have students explore the RZSS virtual tours, videos, and animal fact sheets to learn about endangered species. They can then choose an animal and create a conservation poster to educate classmates about its habitat, threats, and conservation status. Students can present their posters to the class or create a gallery walk where they explain the importance of conservation efforts for each species.Numbers - Johnnie's Math Page
Grades
K to 5tag(s): counting (61), equations (119), factors (29), integers (21), numbers (121), place value (34), preK (286)
In the Classroom
Treat your students to these wonderful, ready-to-go activities. All are perfect for an interactive whiteboard or projector. This is also an excellent resource to use for additional practice, re-teaching skills, enrichment activities, or even advanced activities for your gifted students. Be sure to include this website as a link on your classroom web page.Using iPads for Literacy and Research in Kindergarten - Dr. Kristi Meeuwse
Grades
K to 3tag(s): descriptive writing (42), preK (286), Research (88), writers workshop (31)
In the Classroom
Use this article as a starting point to develop a research unit on any topic for students in primary grades. Engage students in the learning process by offering a variety of learning materials that appeal to different learners. Use a bookmarking tool such as Symbaloo, reviewed here, to curate and share online resources with students. Symbaloo is especially helpful for younger students because the linked icons make it easy to organize information into groups and provide a visual clue to the linked information. Enhance learning further using resources found at ReadWriteThink, reviewed here. Search for the Animal Inquiry Interactive, for example, to use in creating a graphic organizer sharing animal facts, including habitat, interaction with others, and more. In addition to using Book Creator, reviewed here, to create students' final projects, consider using WriteReader, reviewed here, for younger students and emerging readers and writers. WriteReader offers unique features, including the option for students to tell a story in their writing, while the "adult" version is shown below with correct spellings.Interactive 100 Number Chart - ABCya
Grades
K to 5This site includes advertising.
tag(s): 100thday (9), multiplication (121), number sense (68)
In the Classroom
Have students add up sums of counters placed onto the 100 chart. Use this site to teach younger students HOW to count to 100 and the value/idea of 100. Demonstrate multiples of factors when teaching multiplication facts. Use on the interactive whiteboard or projector when teaching number sense to highlight odd and even numbers. Highlight prime numbers when learning prime and composite. Make this an interactive whiteboard center for students to practice or challenge each other with multiples questions. Visual and tactile learners can get "in touch" with numbers!Edupic Graphical Resource - William Vann
Grades
K to 12tag(s): animals (293), digital storytelling (155)
In the Classroom
Create classroom lessons that are interactive and visual. The images on Edupic are useful for creating interactive whiteboard lessons such as sequencing the life cycle of a frog, labeling the phases of cell mitosis, or adding the dots on a the back of a ladybug. Visual representations will help ELL or ESL teachers explain concepts and key vocabulary. Use imagery to enhance multimedia posters on ThingLink, reviewed here, create digital stories, or bring a slide presentation to life.Eduaide - Eduaide.Ai. LLC
Grades
K to 12tag(s): artificial intelligence (186), assessment (146), Formative Assessment (73), rubrics (36), Teacher Utilities (203)
In the Classroom
Use Eduaide as a resource to quickly generate ideas for planning and preparing activities for any subject or standard and to differentiate activities to fit the needs of any student. After generating activities, use the provided tags to find project-based learning and scaffolding activities. Other options allow you to create questions for games like Jeopardy and Bingo instantly.Explore Live Cams - Explore Annenberg LLC
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): africa (170), animals (293), birds (46), fish (18), habitats (92), oceans (149), webcams (19)
In the Classroom
Bring lessons about animals to a whole new level when watching them in their natural habitat. Learn about elephants in Africa, bears in Alaska, and many more animals just through observation. Help students learn observation and research skills using webcams. Begin by sharing this site with your students and encourage them to select a webcam for their research. Another option is to focus on webcams based on geographic location or species of animals. Ask students to record notes digitally using Google Docs or Microsoft Word. Encourage students to include questions during their observations, then include links to additional information within their document. Take advantage of the snapshot feature or show students how to take a screenshot without having to register on the site. Enhance learning by asking students to annotate images using Image Annotator, reviewed here, to share observations, and include links to videos and additional information. If viewing webcams at the same time each day, use a screen recording tool like Free Screen Recorder Online, reviewed here, to record video observations for several days, then have students analyze and compare animal activity during that time. As a final project, and to extend learning, ask students to use Book Creator, reviewed here, to create a digital book about their observations that includes information from their notes, images, and video screen recordings. Of course, be sure to follow all guidelines for using digital content from online sources.Free Templates - Template.net
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): graphic design (49), graphic organizers (49), posters (43)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this site as a time-saving option for a variety of classroom uses. Share with students to use when creating class projects. For example, choose a brochure for students to use to create and share book reviews, state research projects, or to document a science experiment. Include completed templates on larger presentations using Sway, reviewed here. In addition to presentations created using these templates, be sure to include videos, images, and more within students' Sway presentations.Mural for Education - Tactivos, Inc.
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): collaboration (94), graphic organizers (49), iwb (31), Online Learning (36), remote learning (54)
In the Classroom
Ask older students to create a Mural for Education account when collaborating on projects to share ideas and organize information. Have students use Mural for Education to develop storylines that include links and images to tell the story of events in history or retell novels. Ask students to use Mural to create mood boards to share the different works of artists or demonstrate different architecture types. Mural would be an excellent choice as a collaborative tool for large projects to brainstorm ideas, assign tasks, and document progress. Use Mural with students as part of your science experiments to share the steps of the experiment, document hypothesis, and add images and reflections upon the outcomes of the experiment. Mural for Education is an excellent resource for remote learning situations to engage students through the use of interactive content and chat. Use the breakout room option to allow for differentiation and group discussions.For the Teachers - For the Teachers
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): characterization (19), charts and graphs (172), constitution (99), differentiation (85), graphic organizers (49), inferencing (7), mean (19), measurement (123), median (16), mode (13), multiplication (121), patterns (61), place value (34), plot (15), reading comprehension (150), rubrics (36), sequencing (17)
In the Classroom
Be sure to bookmark this site to save as a favorite to find lesson ideas and activities throughout the school year. When planning for a substitute, look through the site to find useful ideas for lessons and planning organizers. There is so much material here to use, consider exploring the site with peers using techniques similar to a book study. Divide the site into sections to discuss at different times of your study. Organize your favorite materials from this site and your other resources using Padlet, reviewed here. Share your Padlet with peers to collaborate and create a useful time for organizing and sharing your favorite teaching materials. Supplement information included on report cards by using a site like Seesaw, reviewed here, to create portfolios for your students to demonstrate progress in reading, math, and other content areas. Include student-created projects based on activities found on For the Teachers.Workona - Quinn Morgan and Alma Madsen
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): collaboration (94), graphic organizers (49), organizational skills (88)
In the Classroom
Use Workona to organize projects for staff meetings, PTA events, Science or Math fairs, club or student council events, parent volunteer meetings, and more. High schoolers may want to use it to collaborate on large group projects. Workona is a great tool for teachers to stay on the same page when researching new curriculums or to prepare for professional development sessions. Secondary learning support and gifted teachers can share this tool with their less organized students. This program will help them develop coping/organizational skills, and they can set intermediate deadlines with reminders for long-term projects.Blank Game Board Templates - Donna Young
Grades
K to 12tag(s): printables (36)
In the Classroom
This site is a great way to add creativity to your teaching. Make games boards that can be used to review curriculum in any subject area. These games can be used as a center to support your curriculum. These boards aren't just for the teacher, have pairs of students work together to create their own games. Perhaps have them research a topic, then share the information with peers in the form of a game. Then have students exchange games for other pairs to play. This is a great way to differentiate an assignment by providing different versions of a game or having students create their own at an appropriate level of difficulty. For students who need more support, provide partially completed versions for them to "create" the rest from a word bank.Virtual Manipulatives - Toy Theater
Grades
K to 6This site includes advertising.
tag(s): charts and graphs (172), decimals (85), fractions (160), measurement (123), money (114), number lines (33), number sense (68), place value (34), substitutes (25), tangrams (8)
In the Classroom
If you teach elementary math, this site is a must-have to include with your bookmarked sites. Include manipulatives from this site with blended learning and remote teaching lessons to provide students opportunities to explore and practice math content. Include a link to manipulatives and other student sites using Symbaloo, reviewed here, and share with students as a resource for practicing math concepts. Items to include might be instructional videos, online games, and other practice activities. Add manipulatives within a learning system such as Curipod, reviewed here, to create a complete online lesson that has opportunities for students to share and discuss their learning. Encourage students to share their findings by creating a screen recording using Free Screen Recorder Online, reviewed here. Ask students to conduct a math talk as a response to a teacher prompt after having the opportunity to explore and interact with the virtual manipulatives.Circlyapp - circlyapp.com
Grades
K to 12tag(s): charts and graphs (172), graphic organizers (49), organizational skills (88)
In the Classroom
Share Circlyapp on your whiteboard or screen when remote teaching as a visual tool for organizing and discussing any topic. For example, use the character map template as a starting point for discussions of actions and character traits of essential characters in any story or to analyze noteworthy people in history. Have older students complete character maps on their own as an assessment activity. Share with students who are working on group projects as an organizational tool for managing different project components. Ask students to include a completed Circlyapp image as part of a larger project or book report. Use and finish the book review template as a starting point for a book review project, then include the image with other parts of the assignment within a Sway presentation, reviewed here. Take advantage of the included opposite adjectives game template to create drag and drop matching activities for any topic. For example, create a sorting game for types of animals, geographic features, historical events by date, or pairing types of speech to different categories.Coloring Squared - Cameron Krantzman
Grades
K to 6This site includes advertising.
tag(s): addition (128), counting (61), decimals (85), division (97), fractions (160), multiplication (121), operations (72), percent (59), place value (34), subtraction (109), worksheets (71)
In the Classroom
Not every math solution is black and white. Add some color to your teaching and review. Coloring Squared activities are great for station work, enrichment, or support. Students can write short stories using their picture for a cross-curricular activity. Final pictures are great for math bulletin boards. Looking for assignments for students to complete after their math work is finished? Coloring squared will keep the students engaged. Send this link home for students to use (and print) both in and out of the classroom.Sonoran Desert Fact Sheet - Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Grades
K to 6tag(s): animal homes (57), animals (293), deserts (17), plants (147)
In the Classroom
Include this site as a student resource when teaching about biomes and habitats. Use an online flashcard maker, like Flashcard Stash, reviewed here, to create digital flashcards with features of different desert animals. Use an online tool such as Interactive Two Circle Venn Diagram, reviewed here, to compare and contrast features of different animals or biomes.Curriki - EnterpriseDB Postgre SQL company
Grades
K to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): graphic organizers (49), literacy (123), OER (43), operations (72), resources (83), rubrics (36), Teacher Utilities (203)
In the Classroom
Curriki has several ways to benefit teachers and students. Use Curriki as a resource listed on your website to have extra opportunities for additional practice or enrichment for parents and students. If you have a blended classroom, Curriki is the perfect tool to use for your students to access assignments. Use as a way to organize your digital resources. The lesson plan and Webquest templates are user friendly and promote best practices. While growing in your professional development by connecting with teachers worldwide, let your class learn with other classes worldwide. Curriki encourages you to think critically about your own lessons, and also the lessons suggested.Fun 4 the Brain - Natasha Oliver
Grades
K to 6tag(s): addition (128), division (97), fractions (160), grammar (138), multiplication (121), subtraction (109), vision (42)
In the Classroom
Share the games on your interactive whiteboard or projector. If individual computers aren't available, set up a computer cluster for students to explore this site. Allow students to practice skills for mastery, remediation, and reinforcement using the variety of games offered on the site. This is definitely a site to list on your class web page for students.Kaizena - Kaizena
Grades
1 to 12Start by highlighting a text selection, hit record, and provide your feedback. Writers will be able to listen to your feedback and revise or edit their writing as though you were face to face. Tag your highlighted text with keywords that can be tracked in a mastery-based rubric. You could tag conventional errors, mistakes, or selections that are amazing. Verbal feedback can be played on an iPad so students can listen in the best learning environment to meet their needs. Writers will progress as you enhance the writing process with explicit audio feedback. Kaizena can enhance feedback for written work for any school subject or even outside of school. With the free Kaizena you can create up to 5 lessons.
tag(s): communication (130), editing (93), process writing (37), writing (325)
In the Classroom
Editing and revising are better with audio feedback. Provide explicit details to improve student performance. Students can record peer edits and share audio recordings with classmates. Classroom time is more efficient and effective when students can listen to your feedback before meeting face to face. Have students highlight passages of text and provide their reflections on the selection. World language classes can speak text or respond to questions in their new language. Learning support students will better understand audio feedback on their writing than detailed comments written in "teacher-ese." This is a great tool for students to highlight poetry and record their thoughts and feelings on the text. Students can highlight and record their thought process as they solve math word problems. Highlight and record opinions on current event articles. Highlight an entire passage of text to model reading fluency. Students can listen and read along with the recording to help with phrasing and expression. Highlight text and model fluency for ESL/ELL students. Highlight assessment questions or text for lower-level readers to provide a level playing field in the classroom. Challenge students to provide audio feedback to their peers on passages where they would like to know more, questions they have as readers, and positive feedback on passages they enjoy.Miro - Miro
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): collaboration (94), graphic organizers (49), iwb (31)
In the Classroom
Ask older students to use Miro as a collaborative tool for projects. Have students use Miro to develop storylines that include links and images to tell the story of events in history or retell novels. Ask students to use Miro to create mood boards to share the different works of artists or demonstrate different architecture types. Miro is also an excellent choice for use as a collaborative tool for large projects to brainstorm ideas, assign tasks, and document progress. Use Miro with students as part of your science experiments to share the steps of the experiment, document hypotheses, and add images and reflections upon the outcomes of the experiment. Miro is an excellent resource for remote learning situations to engage students through interactive content and chat.Fuel the Brain
Grades
K to 5tag(s): fractions (160), money (114), numbers (121), preK (286), puzzles (149)
In the Classroom
The interactives are perfect to use on interactive whiteboards or projectors. Use activities as an introduction to new units such as making change, counting on the number line, or recognizing numbers shown with base 10 blocks. Save this on your desktop on all of your classroom computers. List this link on your classroom website or blog. This is excellent enrichment and/or advancement for gifted students. It could also be used for extra practice for struggling students. This site is definitely one to save and revisit often.MindMup: Zero-friction online mind mapping - Gojko Adzic, Damjan Vujnovic, David de Florinier
Grades
K to 12tag(s): concept mapping (15), graphic organizers (49), mind map (28), organizational skills (88)
In the Classroom
This free organizational tool can be used in classrooms at every level. Use this tool to help organize learning units and share the organization on screen so students see how pieces fit together. Share the unit map with other teachers, students, or parents. Highlight goals, objectives, learning tasks, assessments, and resources. Share before your unit, and expectations become very clear. Use as a yearly overview for parents at the beginning of the year at Open House. Let parents see the multiple ways their child will be assessed through the year. Have students use this tool for direction in problem based learning situations. Use this tool in science for collecting data, experiments, or science fair outlines. Use the tool in writing class to make writing guides for narrative or expository writing. In reading use for predictions, sequencing of stories, inferences, or organizing genres of books each student has read. Have students map multiple ways to solve a single problem in math class. Have students keep daily requirements or schedules with readily available resources as links. Let students enjoy taking notes from content based classes. Have a student scribe create the notes each day and share with the class. Have student groups map the current unit before the test as a review activity. Or use an ongoing map as a whole class visual diagram of concepts learned, adding new knowledge throughout a unit. Don't miss the chance to color code to "sort" ideas and concepts!Venn Diagram - 3 Circles - ReadWriteThink
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): graphic organizers (49), venn diagrams (15)