April 17, 2022

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Featured EDTECH Resources Reviewed by TeachersFirst

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Celebrate English Language Day

April 23rd is an important day for English educators—it’s English Language Day (a United Nations observance), World Book and Copyright Day, and the birthday of William Shakespeare! Find resources to use in your Shakespeare lessons in this section. 

Grades 8-12

Shakespeare Uncovered

Learn through this series of lessons that uses video segments from the PBS series “Shakespeare Uncovered” to tell the stories behind some of Shakespeare's greatest plays. Access the complete lesson (including suggestions for use) and other activities.

Grades 9-12

Stick Figure Hamlet

Stick Figure Hamlet brings comic visuals and imagery to each act and scene of Shakespeare's classic work. Simply start at the beginning to view all cartoons or choose any act or scene. Motivate all students with this site.

Grades 7-12

Shakespeare Bookshelf

Explore this library of Shakespeare's works, organized into poetry, comedy, history, and tragedy shelves. Each work is bound in its own volume and placed in alphabetical order on the right shelf of the bookcase. Find stories to share with your class.

Grades 9-12

In Your Ear Shakespeare

Click “Chop Bard” in the navigation bar to view podcasts that explain Shakespeare in a way that students will find appealing and more relatable than reading it alone or aloud in class. This is an excellent option for auditory learners.

Grades 6-12

Shakespeare for Kids

Students will enjoy delving into the life and the works of William Shakespeare using this site’s full texts of plays in PDF format; interactive word games, challenges, and puzzles; historical lessons (some are interactive); and fun facts about the Bard.

Find Your Perfect Read

English Language Day aims to entertain and inform people about the English language’s history, culture, and achievements. One way that many celebrate this observance is with reading events. Use the resources shared in this section to find books for your students. 

Grades 6-12

Sync: Audio Books for Teens

Sync is a free, 16-week summer audiobook program for teens that begins April 28, 2022. Participants receive two thematically paired audiobooks or short stories weekly. Students can listen to a brief introduction to the book before reading.

Grades 4-12

Open Culture

Explore more than 1,000 free audiobooks in this collection, including classic and contemporary literature. Books come in various formats (e-books, YouTube, and more) that are listed with each entry. View the complete list alphabetically.

Grades K-12

Classic Books

View this collection of public domain books, including classic books for children and teenagers, from the Library of Congress. Peruse the 51 books for younger children, 6 books for teens, and 6 books for adults organized in alphabetical order.

Grades K-10

Young Adult Books Central

Visit this site where teens and tweens find and discuss books. Read reviews by teens and staff reviewers, author interviews, and chapter excerpts. Books include two ratings: one by editors and one by readers. There are also books for young children.

Grades 2-12

Digital Books

Check out these free audiobooks and e-books. You have several options: play the audiobook, download specific chapters for later use, open the file as an e-book, or open it as a free audiobook on iTunes. Many of the books are in the public domain.

This Week at TeachersFirst

Engage in some professional learning this week with an upcoming OK2Ask virtual workshop on Tuesday, a Twitter chat on Thursday, and a related blog post! We also kindly request your input in our weekly poll. 


  OK2Ask: Tech Integration Made Easy with Big Huge Labs image

Tuesday, 4/19, 7 PM ET

OK2Ask: Tech Integration Made Easy with Big Huge Labs

In this session, you will learn the primary uses of Big Huge Labs! Big Huge Labs allows students to create posters, trading cards, mosaics, magazine covers, and more that demonstrate their knowledge construction skills.

Plan for the use of Big Huge Labs in your instructional setting »


  Twitter Chat: Images image

Thursday, 4/21, 8 PM ET

Twitter Chat: Images

Come and tweet with us using the hashtags #OK2Ask and #TeachersFirst. We will discuss using images in the classroom to enhance instruction and explore image resources for students and teachers.

Share image integration ideas for the classroom »


  Classic Children’s Literature and Classroom Reading Lists image

Infusing Technology Blog

Classic Children’s Literature and Classroom Reading Lists

Modernizing traditional reading lists for diverse learners is an issue that many educators are currently debating. In this blog post, you’ll find book lists, activity suggestions, classic book suggestions, and more.

Find new ideas in this blog post »


  Weekly Poll image

Share your thoughts with our community

Weekly Poll

This week our poll asks, “As we celebrate Shakespeare's birthday, what does your class do related to the Bard?” Submit your reply and view the responses of other educators.

How do you celebrate Shakespeare? »

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TeachersFirst is a collection of curated, classroom-ready content and ideas — including teacher-authored reviews of thousands of web resources. Built-in guidance from seasoned professionals makes effective classroom technology use trouble-free. TeachersFirst is made available free to K12 teachers by The Source for Learning, Inc., a nonprofit that has been providing educational resources for more than 40 years.