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USA - MrNussbaum.com
Grades
3 to 8tag(s): cities (14), landforms (37), landmarks (19), maps (220), national parks (30), states (128)
In the Classroom
After students learn about states from this site, have them use the TeachersFirst 50 States to research more in-depth information on history and places to see. Consider having them make PowerPoint slides of an individual state. Combine the slides into a class show that can be printed as a book or opened from your teacher website. Or create a class wiki on the 50 states where all students can collaborate and add information and pictures from their family travel experiences, as well.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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Exploratorium Magazine Online: The Evolution of Languages - Exploratorium Magazine
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): greek (45), japan (62), japanese (53), latin (23), portuguese (21)
In the Classroom
What a fabulous tool to study the origins of language. Explore comparisons are made between English, Latin, Japanese, Classical Greek, Portuguese, and Sanskrit. This would be a great site to use during world languages week or as an introduction to a world cultures class. Gifted students would find it fascinating. Have students create a digital "dictionary" of particularly interesting words that have evolved in unusual ways, perhaps computer terms. They can make it in the form of anything from a word document to a wiki!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Cornell-Notes.com - Ryan Stewart
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): note taking (36)
In the Classroom
If you require a notebook for your course, this is the perfect tool. Share the link from your teacher web page so students can create their own, customized sheets. Be sure to demonstrate how it works, then "write" a sample set of Cornell-style notes by sharing it on your interactive whiteboard so students can see how to use them! Learning support and study skills teachers will love this one. Middle school science and social studies teachers should encourage a consistent note-taking system like this so all students can find what works for them. Perhaps try different variations until students figure out which is best.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The Home Front - Snaith Primary School
Grades
6 to 9tag(s): 1940s (70), 20th century (171), england (49), world war 2 (168)
In the Classroom
Assign students to navigate the site with a partner on laptops or in a lab, making a list of things that changed for the people at home in Britain during the war. Have them orally share "surprises" they discovered about the experience or write a "blog entry" from the point of view of a Brit during the war.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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What Do Maps Show? - USGS
Grades
4 to 8tag(s): map skills (64), maps (220)
In the Classroom
Be sure to visit the teacher's guide before visiting the individual lessons for helpful hints. The maps would display very well on an interactive whiteboard. Have students highlight or circle map elements and show with the pens how to find certain places. Since printables are included, you can have those at their seats work on their own copies of the same maps and show you their work, "earning" the chance to do it on the whiteboard.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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September 11, 2001 Documentary Project - Library of Congress
Grades
7 to 12In the Classroom
This site would be most useful to students doing research on the 9/11 attacks, but also could provide teachers with supplemental material for a lesson on the events of that date. Although teachers will remember the day vividly, most students were either not born yet, or young enough when it occurred that their memories will be clouded. Another use for this site is as an example of the power and necessity of primary sources in documenting any event. Compare these resources to accounts we have of Pearl Harbor and other major events as you ask students to conduct an interviewing project of their own, perhaps of local history. As an introduction and for students to get a feeling for the drama of the event you may want to use the video posted with live footage of an ABC broadcast as the events of 9/11 were unfolding. You can access the Encyclopdeia Britanica's version of the video on YouTube here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Gapminder - Gapminder
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): civics (130), data (212), demographics (13)
In the Classroom
The site would be best used on an interactive whiteboard, although computer-savvy students could access it individually. The world data presented might supplement lessons in economics, civics, world cultures, current events or modern history. Teachers should plan to spend a chunk of time previewing the site before using, however, as the interface is not entirely intuitive. There is a tutorial, but it will take some experimentation to discover the various ways to manipulate the data and present it graphically. There is also this page of ideas specifically for teachers. You can compare individual countries, or zoom into geographic regions. "Mature" teachers who learned bar graphs and pie charts may find the choices a little overwhelming, but with a little noodling around, will be able to graphically illustrate concepts in ways never before possible. Challenge your students to retrieve and use some of the data in support of an essay thesis, oral presentation, or debate.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Maps Home Page - David J. Leveson
Grades
4 to 9tag(s): latitude (9), logic (176), longitude (8), maps (220)
In the Classroom
Use this website as review for map skills. Place the link on your teacher web page for students to review at home or find al alternate presentation, especially if they have been absent. If you have quick learners, you may want to allow them to navigate the tutorial at their own speed, learning more than the "basics" while the rest of the class receives direct instruction.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Social Studies for Kids
Grades
1 to 8Note: an annoying audio ad plays when you first enter the site. Turn OFF your sound!
tag(s): holidays (291), maps (220), presidents (151), renaissance (36), timelines (60)
In the Classroom
Use the current events segment as weekly discussion starter or assignment in your social studies class. Share this link on your teacher web page for students to access outside of class. To really build a stronger sense of current events, start a class year-long current events "log" on a wiki and have a differnet student write a "week in review" each week throughout the year, based on the current events provided here or others he/she may know about. Reading teachers may also want to use the articles on this site to teach informational text reading skills on an interactive whiteboard. Reading levels are challenging for grades 1-3. Teachers will need to provide help by reading aloud or partnering readers.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The American Experience - Hoover Dam - PBS
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): 1930s (40)
In the Classroom
This website was created to accompany the PBS movie "Hoover Dam", however it can also be useful independently to teach about the history of the Hoover Dam. Don't miss the Teacher's Guide. If you study geography, Hoover Dam is a fascinating study on the impact of WATER on human settlements. Include this as one of several web reources for students to research and discuss human interactions with and adaptations to landforms (in this case, desert).Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything - Assessment & Rubrics - discoveryschool.com
Grades
K to 12tag(s): assessment (140), rubrics (40)
In the Classroom
Although this website is plain vanilla (basically a list of resources). The list is phenomenal and includes an eclectic mix of many types of rubrics and assessments.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Rubric Maker - Recipes4Success
Grades
K to 12tag(s): assessment (140)
In the Classroom
Use these free rubrics with any grade level and any subject area. Note that in the free version you LOSE your work when you close the page, so make sure you have printed first!Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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The National Map - United States Department of the Interior
Grades
2 to 12tag(s): agriculture (53), climate (99), environment (246), geology (60), maps (220)
In the Classroom
Have your students work in cooperative learning groups to investigate the "dynamic maps". Assign each group a topic to explore (there are 7). Have the students research the information using the maps and then report their findings to the class, perhaps displaying examples on a projector or interactive whiteboard. In teaching any of the related subjects, using a projector to share a map will make the content more "real," such as displaying the butterfly layer in the map maker so students can see how the butterfly population their home state compares with other locations.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Quizlet: The End of Flashcards - Brainflare: Andrew Sutherland
Grades
3 to 12This site includes advertising.
tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (133), flash cards (47), Formative Assessment (44), quiz (58), spelling (92), vocabulary (255), word study (58)
In the Classroom
Membership asks for an email. Email allows you to notify others that you want to share a word list or activity with them. If students cannot have their own email accounts, consider using a "class set" of Gmail subaccounts, explained here. This tells how to configure Gmail subaccounts to use for any online membership service. This would provide anonymous interaction within your class. KEEP A LIST of students' usernames (non-identifying) and passwords, in case they forget them! If you already use Google Classroom with your students, it only takes a few minutes to get them set up with a Quizlet Class.Quizlet has a very thorough "Help Center" to get the idea of how the site works. Save your "sets" and decide whether you want them to be entirely public, just for you personally, or shared with a "group." The new version of "study sets" allows you to scan your notes with your phone or tablet and create study sets designed for your specific needs. You can now highlight main ideas, underline key concepts and bold important study terms to create custom content. Create your own groups for each class or subject. Be sure to note the fact that you can upload vocabulary lists by copying/pasting from various formats--- a time saver! Use this tool easily in your BYOD classroom since all students will be able to access it for free, no matter what device they have.
Content and English teachers may set up their personal network of users. Pretest your gifted students and allow them to "test out" of material they already know. Learning support teachers will want their students to create their own Quizlet sets and help learn them in the process! Teachers may create their own sets of words, or let students do the work for themselves and each other. Use the interactive whiteboard for quick flashcards or electronic testing using your sets. World language and ESL/ELL teachers will find many word sets already built and ready to use at this site. If you team teach with others at your grade level, take turns making the online Quizlets to accompany your science or social studies chapters. Be SURE to share this tool on your teacher's web page for students to use at home.
Be sure to see the classroom quiz game for groups, Quizlet Live (from the creator of Quizlet), reviewed here.
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
Multiple users can collaborate on the same project
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Project Based Learning Checklists - ALTEC: Advanced Learning Technologies in Education Consortia
Grades
1 to 12tag(s): assessment (140), Project Based Learning (29), rubrics (40)
In the Classroom
If you do not want to figure out the math and relative weights of a scored rubric, these checklists share project expectations in a simple list form. You must save the web page URL for your checklist in order to view it later. Include a completed project checklist link on your teacher web page for students and parents to refer to as they work on projects at home. Note: There is no database of other teacher-generated checklists. With very young students, you will want to use the "add your own" option to write very simple text for a checklist that they can read.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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American Centuries - Memorial Hall Museum Online
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): colonial america (86), england (49), slavery (80)
In the Classroom
Browse the collection for images and descriptions of specific artifacts. Explore themes like Shay's Rebellion, the lives of African-Americans in early rural New England, or the Civil War era in New England. Interactive activities let you look at Early American tools, examine artifacts using a 360-degree view, or see what clothing people wore (down to the underwear!) at the time. If you plan to share objects as part of a lesson, "collect" them in a personal collection so you can pull them up easily. Challenge secondary students to use the activity labeled "Create a chronology" to group artifacts from the collections to illustrate a concept, such as slavery, clothing, or background of an author, artist, or historical event. With younger students, use one or more activities on an interactive whiteboard or projector, or design a simple scavenger hunt within YOUR collection of objects to help students learn about colonial life and times. If you turn them loose on the entire site, you will never get them back.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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WildlifeDirect - WildlifeDirect
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): africa (162), animals (284), biodiversity (42), citizen science (44), conservation (98), ecosystems (112), environment (246), habitats (107)
In the Classroom
Have students choose an African species featured by WildlifeDirect and research its habitat, threats, adaptations, and conservation efforts, then create a biography-style species card with Trading Card Creator, reviewed here, which works especially well for people or concepts. Have small groups examine different WildlifeDirect conservation efforts, such as protecting elephants, reducing human-wildlife conflict, climate action, or conservation education, then post a problem, evidence, proposed solution, and remaining question to Padlet, reviewed here, for a whole-class comparison. Assign students a structured debate about a conservation challenge such as protecting wildlife habitat while meeting the needs of nearby communities. Require each side to use evidence from WildlifeDirect and distinguish scientific evidence from values, economic concerns, and advocacy claims.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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World News - WN Network
Grades
4 to 12tag(s): news (223)
In the Classroom
Share this site with your school's foreign language teachers. Have students do comparisons between English and foreign language versions of the news. If you teach writing, you can find controversial topics as writing prompts for persuasive writing among the articles, as well, and have students find facts to support their positions. Make this site available from your teacher web page for current events assignments. Reading teachers will want to use the articles on an interactive whiteboard to teach main idea and summarizing: highlight key words to use in a main idea or summary sentence you write together below the article.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Hyper History Online - The World History Project
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): biographies (97), politics (121)
In the Classroom
Use this site for context regarding what was going on all over the world at any given time, especially as you launch class discussion of a new topic or time period. Help students see relationships between what they know and what else was occurring at the same time. Use it to pose questions about how events and people may be related, as well. This site will work very well on a projector or interactive whiteboard.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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World Climate - Robert Hoare
Grades
5 to 12tag(s): climate (99), earth (189), earth day (61), environment (246), temperature (33), weather (172)
In the Classroom
Use the data along with world maps (or Google Earth) for students to draw conclusions about geographic features and weather or to collect weather data over a time period to compare seasonal differences between northern and southern hemispheres. As part of an Earth Day or climate comparison activity, have students create a color-coded climate data "globe" in small groups, showing major cities and their weather data by color. You can use basketballs and sticky colored contact paper to cut out continents and climate zones, or have students make the map on an interactive whiteboard using a globe projection and highlghter tools in different colors. Older students can use the raw data as part of study of climate and cultural differences, environmental issues, or related topics.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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