Graphic organizers defined—that describes this site. Click on the links at the left to hone in on a particular graphic organizer, Venn diagram, or concept map. As well as defining the organizer or map and explaining their usage, some links show ‘real’ examples. This site does not typically offer worksheets per se, but shows examples of organizers that students can easily draw in their notebooks for quick learning. There is quite a bit of advertisement at this site, some difficult to discern from the actual site content. It typically is a reference site for educators only, so student access to these ads will generally not be a problem.
In the Classroom: Use this site to learn more about graphic organizers. Why not have your students create an online Venn diagram about a current science topic or literature unit? Use a tool such as bubbl.us(explained here).
TF Edge Tool: for the moderately adventurous technology user. Create collaborative mind maps (graphic organizers) using this online tool. See an example created by our editors. The example gives some ideas for uses of this online graphic organizer tool. The tool requires Flash. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
NOTE: There is an advertising area at the right side of the screen on this free tool. TeachersFirst has been in communication with the Mindomo creators to assure that the ad content will not be alluring or inappropriate in the classroom. They are extremely responsive and interested in making their online tool practical for teachers.
In the Classroom: The site requires membership (basic level is free). Have students create graphic organizers in cooperative groups as a study guide for unit content, to collect information for a group research project, or show examples of an important concept. Share and compare the organizers on an interactive whiteboard or projector in class and allow classmates to suggest changes. Skills needed: join the site, practice with the tools (don't miss the notes feature!). Save up to 7 "private" maps and an unlimited number of "shared" maps.
Make a map available online by saving and clicking "yes" for sharing, then clicking the Save by URL icon. This will copy the URL onto your computer's clipboard so you can paste it into a word doc or even your teacher web page. Imagine sharing several student made "study guides" in the days before the unit test.
Note that maps that are shared can be seen by the public, but not altered. You specify members who may collaborate and make alterations. For students to collaborate using this tool they must have individual memberships, requiring an email account. These memberships must be activated from their email. So, if students do not have email that is accessible from school, classroom use BY STUDENTS will be severely limited. Editor's note: we asked the Mindomo folks about spell check and student safety issues. They are still developing this tool, so they MIGHT address these issues at a later date.
Need a quick activity to enhance a literature lesson? Schools of California Online Resources for Educators amassed an activity bank of useful suggestions for teachers. Just click on the links at the left from this homepage, and you will find a wide array of teacher and student activities: Graphic Organizers, Journaling, Literature, and Rubrics. Although the site is intended for California teachers, most teachers across America will find the resources conducive to their state's requirements.
NOTE: SCORE Cyberguides announced that they are no longer checking links and maintaining these excellent resources as of April 2008 due to lack of funding. You will want to verify all links before using the cyberguide in class. You may want to use portions of this cyberguide in combination with other online resources.
In the Classroom: Use these fabulous resources to introduce your students to new styles of graphic organizers. Find many new ideas and approaches at this website to use to differentiate your curriculum and keep your students interested in the topic. Allow students to choose among several types of graphic organizers to use for a project, rather than having the entire class use the same format. Many of these organizers can easily be created on PowerPoint slides or in Word using Autoshapes, then right-clicking to "add text." They also work well in Inspiration software. Collect electronic copies of organizers on your classroom computer or teacher web page for students to see as examples in the future.
This handy online tool lets you create customized graphic organizers "on the fly" and print them from the web site. There is a paid version of the site, but this FREE tool lets you choose the type of organizer you want, customize the Title and Directions, and print. Organizer types include Venn diagrams, KWL, scientific method, and many more. Learning support teachers will want to use this for students to create study materials.
In the Classroom: Use these printed organizers as study support for any content area topic. Many are excellent options for reinforcing reading skills in the content areas, even for senior high students. Include this on your teacher web page so students can create their own organizers to study for tests or prepare presentations.
To make a new organizer, simply click "new," write title and directions, and print the small "print" icon. It may be easiest to take their default directions and change them for your purposes. Note that you LOSE your work when you close the page, so make sure you have printed first!
TeachersFirst Edge entry: for the moderately curious technology user. Research verifies the power of graphic organizers in promoting strong thinking skills and comprehension for all ages. Gliffy is a FREE online tool for creating graphic organizers without purchasing ANY software. Individuals or groups can create the organizers or the class can create them together, such as in a brainstorming session on a projector. You can assign students to "map" out a chapter or story or assign groups to create study guides using this tool collaboratively. Your students are certain to enjoy this tool and be forced to THINK in the process. You can export the graphic organizers to a blog or "publish" them on the web -- all for free. See an example of a published diagram/organizer made by our editors for more ideas.
In the Classroom: Skills needed: join the Gliffy site (free), play with the tools and toolbars to create diagrams, access help and FAQ to collaborate, publish, or embed diagrams in your blog or other web page. Easy to medium difficulty. Note: collaborators need individual email accounts to gain access. If your students do NOT have personal email, you may want to create group email accounts on Yahoo or GMail for which only YOU know the password and can log in for groups to work in class in order to avoid the safety and school filtering issues of student email access. This would also be a great tool for group projects in YOUR grad classes!
Find resources for teaching and modeling MANY reading strategies in your classroom, including handouts for graphic organizers and vocabulary development, all from this school-district site. Each strategy is explained and classified as before, during, or after reading and then linked to further information. This is a one-stop shop for teachers in every content area, as well as those reinforcing study skills for learning support students and helping students prepare for standardized testing. Each strategy includes suggestions for how to differentiate instruction, as well.
In the Classroom: Give students links from your teacher web page directly to the graphic organizer they must complete for homework. Then there is no excuse such as having the dog eat it! Files are all Acrobat files, and Acrobat Reader is a free download.
This time-saving collection of dozens of graphic organizers includes timelines, Venn diagrams, sequence charts, persuasion maps, and much more. Each is available as a ready-to-print PDF file. (You need Acrobat Reader- Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page). Available in Spanish.
This SCORE page offers teachers a comparison of several different graphic organizer strategies and software applications that are appropriate for different teaching situations. This page can be helpful in showing the variety of options available for concept mapping.
NOTE: SCORE Cyberguides announced that they are no longer checking links and maintaining these excellent resources as of April 2008 due to lack of funding. You will want to verify all links before using the cyberguide in class. You may want to use portions of this cyberguide in combination with other online resources.
Although some of the printables are available to members only, this site does includes some excellent FREE information on the history of the Olympics, maps, flags, Greek alphabet, writing activities, graphic organizers, "Invent a New Olympic Sport" challenge, and more. If nothing else, the printables offer some great ideas to implement in your classroom (for example, "Write a Sentence for Each Sports-Related Word").
In the Classroom: Take advantage of the ideas presented at this site (if you are a member or not). Share certain maps or handouts on your interactive whiteboard. Use this site to teach your students more about the history of the games.
Presenting information in a fresh way is always challenging. This writing instruction site teaches the basic constructs of the writing process and allows you to create a graphic organizer that matches your writing purpose. Text types include information reports, procedures, narratives, responses, descriptions, poetry, discussion, persuasion/exposition, explanation, and recount. Click on the type of text you wish to explore (there are brief descriptions with each type). There is a lot of information on the topics, many options to print, and some also include organizers, printable pages, and online writing. The printables require Microsoft Word.
Be aware: the site was created in Australia, so some of the spellings may differ from American English. Also, there doesn’t appear to be a way to save students’ work, so be sure students print their work upon completion or copy/paste it into a word document that can be saved. This site requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Share this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Highlight a new “text type” each week. Take advantage of the interactives, printables, and tips presented. Have students try the online activities and print them out for evaluation. Have students share their writings on a class blog and respond to each other’s work.
This website is full of templates that are ready to use, just download and print. Many templates can be customized. Topics are too numerous to list. Sample topics include ice breakers, back to school, graphic organizers and parent-teacher communication.
In the Classroom: Check out the icebreakers for the first day of school, and back to school sections for many ideas and ready to use templates. Remember that if you want to SAVE a file from a download, you should RIGHT-click the link and choose "Save Target As" to save it to your computer.
Part of a larger site affiliated with the PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, this is a lesson plan overview focused on the upcoming midterm elections. It includes links to interactive maps detailing key races for the House, Senate, and Governor's Office across the US, along with an overview of the political context of midterm elections in general. Another link takes you to an overview of the larger issues affecting the November midterm elections (e.g. immigration, Iraq, energy) with the promise that these issue summaries will continue to be updated. There are PDF versions of graphic organizers that might be helpful for students in processing information about specific issues or planning projects related to the midterm elections. The linked sites are regularly updated.
Although this resource was created for the 2006 mid-term elections, the background information, graphic organizers, and maps are valuable for teaching about elections in general and for comparing elections as part of U.S. history. This site requires Adobe Acrobat. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: A superb overview for a Civics course, or modern US History course. The site would also be useful for any teacher who incorporates current events and wants a quick and dirty visual presentation explaining the importance of midterm elections. Finally, the separate "issues" sites provide a nice summary and would be helpful to teachers planning debates on any of these issues.
bubble.usGrade K to 12
- Kirill Edelman and Levon Amelyan- 1207
TeachersFirst Edge Review: for slightly adventurous technology users. This simple and free online tool allows you to brainstorm ideas – no special software! Bubble.us features some highly interactive abilities: saving your mind map as an image, sharing (emailing) your work with a friend, printing your organizer, creating colorful mind map organizers, embedding your work into a website or blog, and working with friends. You are able to "play" at this site without registering; however registration is necessary for saving, embedding, emailing, and other features. This site requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
Here is an example of a bubbl.us map embedded in a page. Click and drag on the background to read more, or try the zoom controls:
In the Classroom: Skills Needed: If you intend to save, email, or print your organizer you must join the site. Registration is free, simple, and requires an email address. You can start using the “membership” immediately and without confirming the email, though, which makes it quite convenient. Tip: rather than using your personal or work email, create a free Gmail account to use for memberships. If you plan to have students register individually, you may want to create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes. Here is a blog post that tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service. Experiment with the small icons on each “element” to change colors, drag, make new connections, etc.
Once registered (if you choose to do so), you will be taken to the work area. A box marked "Start Here" can be clicked on to type the subject of your mapping activity. By clicking Enter you create a new level (branch) within the map. By clicking Tab you create an additional branch on the same level as the current word. Save and set sharing (read-only or open access) in the area at the right. You can “send” a read-only link via email or copy the embed code from the Menu at lower right), but you cannot find the URL directly from your map. "Send" it to yourself via email to copy the actual URL. You may want to have your class accounts all be “friends” with you for easy sharing or simply have them "email" their finished work to you using the menu button.
Safety/Security Concerns: Check your school policies on student email subaccounts (Gmail), if you plan to have students use Bubbl.us on their own. You may want to use a teacher account and allow students to use it under your supervision. Be sure to obtain written parent permission before posting ANY student work online. Fortunately, there are no “see others’ work” links or other easy access to inappropriate content.
Possible Uses: 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 subject.
Some student project ideas: 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 achoose-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 them in. See more ideas in the embedded example above!
This TeachersFirst professional page includes extensive resources for Reading in the Content Areas, Graphic Organizers, Reading Strategies, Vocabulary Development, Elementary Reading, independent reading, and special topics reading lists. The page also includes a link for you to purchase books from Amazon and have TeachersFirst receive a portion of the proceeds. TeachersFirst is a free service of a non-profit since 1998. Why not shop through this link to help TeachersFirst continue its service to teachers worldwide?
In the Classroom: No matter what you teach, these resources will help you target reading and study skills for better comprehension and more.
DabbleboardGrade K to 12
- Dabbleboard, Inc.- 9627
TeachersFirst Edge entry: for ANY technology user. Dabbleboard (still in beta) allows you to make whiteboard drawings and graphic organizers in an online space you can share with others. Since more than one computer can "work on" the whiteboard at a time, students in multiple locations can add to the board at the same time -- or come back to a saved board to add to it later. The whiteboard includes freehand drawing, basic shapes (some that even pop in when you come close to drawing that shape), text tools, and simple colors. You can also upload images, drag and resize anything you draw or type, etc. If used as a whole-class activity, such as on an interactive whiteboard, you can save it by clicking SHARE, copying the URL so you can put the link on a class wiki, teacher web page, or blog so students or the class can revisit and change it later. The tool requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Skills needed: Join the site (free), but only if you wish to be able to SAVE dabbleboards. You can share them in real time without joining, but they are lost once you quit. Joining requires an email address. Use your memberships email or check school policies before allowing students to sign up using email. Another option is to create a free Gmail account to use for memberships. If you plan to have students register individually, you may want to create your own Gmail account with up to 20 subaccounts for each group of students (by code name or number) within your classes. Here is a blog post that tells how to set up GMail subaccounts to use for any online membership service.
Once you join, watch the quick video tour or play with the tools. Be sure you can locate tools to draw, resize, delete, drag, and group/ungroup items. Try uploading an image (make sure you have the RIGHTS to use it!). Your uploaded items remain in your library for later use. Note that to add text you simply click in the whitespace and start typing. It is easier to change text size and color BEFORE typing. To keep a board, simply click NEW. The old board will become part of your library at the left of the screen.
Safety concerns: Once shared, any dabbleboard can be seen and altered by others who know the URL. You will not have any record of who makes changes, so student-to-student "vandalism" is possible. Do not make student drawings "public" unless this is within school policies. Clicking "Make public" will add that dabble board to the public library. Others can copy any "public" work. Note that sharing by URL does NOT make a board public unless you click "make public."
Ideas for using this tool: Assess prior knowledge as you start a unit by generating a class dabbleboard. Save it under your class/teacher account to re-access throughout the unit, adding new topics and content. Make the URL available from your class web page for students to use as review or for learning support teachers to reinforce what has happened in class. Have student groups map out the content of projects. Encourage visual prewriting for the students who "think in pictures." Have students create review organizers or drag and drop activities to share with classmates. Brainstorm together over time or distance by letting students add ideas from home or collaborating from another school. Save your visual notes from a faculty meeting to reopen next time. Allow students to use a dabbleboard as their visual during speeches. Map the sequence of steps in a chemical reaction. Then share the URL for absent students to "see" what happened in class. Annotate design principles directly on top of an uploaded image or have students submit their own analysis of an image by sending you the URL for their dabbleboard. Have young students use a dabbleboard to draw out ideas before they can even write entire sentences. This one has endless possibilities!
The US Mint offers two thorough tours about the process of creating collector coins and circulating coins. On the first page of this site, you can choose which tour you would like to complete.
At the Collectors Coin tour, watch as coins are created and released into the collector population. Learn about the difference between collector coins and circulation coins. The US Mint tour takes guests virtually through how coins are made, the history of the Mint, the connection with the government, and how the coins are placed into circulation.
Both tours are thorough and the speaker is clear and to-the-point allowing for various age groups to benefit from watching the video. Choose from a video option or slide show format. This site requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Share the short videos (less than five minutes each) on an interactive whiteboard or projector during your money and measurement unit or as you study economics. Follow up with center time based on creating money and sorting as well as counting various types of money. Also include money from other countries for students to compare and contrast. Have older students summarize the video by using the classroom computer to create a flow chart about the money making process or a graphic organizer with the main points of the videos. This might be a terrific way to teach the study skill of graphic organizers! Students can present their documents on the interactive whiteboard or projectors. Include it on your teacher web page for students to access both in and out of class for enrichment or individual research.
It’s worth your time to explore some of the over 400 pages of educational activities for primary children linked from this site, created by a first grade teacher, John Rickey. No fees or passwords are required. Activities, games, and stories engage the young viewer with hours of learning fun. Make sure you open the activities into a new window tab, as many of them do not automatically do this for you (RIGHT-click on each link and choose “Open in new window”). This makes finding “Home” much easier. There are interactive stories and other L.A. activities, music, science, math, social studies, puzzles, art, and more. There are items “for sale,” but you need not even look there. This site has something for everyone. This site requires Flash and Java. Get them from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: Check out the “Free Stuff for Teachers” section for free downloads of graphic organizers and other printables. Math teachers, don’t miss all the electronic flash cards available. Don’t miss the oodles of science experiments and social studies projects to go along with your standards. Many of these activities are perfect companions for your interactive whiteboard or projector. Activities would also well on individual computers or as learning centers for cooperative learning groups.
Be sure to include a link to this website in your class newsletter and teacher webpage for students and parents to find at-home practice help. Have students write a "game review" of portions they find and like; then post the reviews on your teacher web page, as well.
This very simple little tool allows you to copy a LONG URL (web address), paste it into this web page, and get back a very short URL that fits far more easily on your teacher web page, in your handouts, or on your blackboard for students to enter.
In the Classroom: If you make a map in Google Maps, an online graphic organizer, a set of online flash cards, to anything else that allows you to share my emailing or copying a URL, this tools will save you from endless errors or emails full of ten-line URLs. Be sure to show your middle and high school students how to use it, as well. This will solve the problem of URLs that get split and no longer work when the text wraps around to another line.
Who says the chemistry department can monopolize the periodic table? This site highlights various charts, graphic organizers, tables, and other ways to express information visually. The presentation makes the sell (or better grade). Teachers, especially secondary school, will appreciate this page to show the various ways to make their students' presentations more meaningful. Those who teach advanced reading skills and how to interpret visual data will love all the examples, as well. Hold your mouse over each square of the periodic table to view each type of visual.
In the Classroom: Viewing this with the entire class will be more effective with the interactive whiteboard or projector. Teachers in any subject will find this site invaluable in teaching how to make strong visuals for oral or written presentations. What powerful evidence for multiple intelligences! Your visual/spatial students will LOVE this one, and others will learn to build that intelligence. Try these same strategies in YOUR PowerPoint presentations to communicate ideas visually, without being "powerpointless" at back to school night!
ARKive provides a well-organized opportunity for students to research various species of animals. The site is broken into two components: the Globally Endangered Chapter and the British Chapter. The site offers an alphabetized listing of animals along with detailed information, beautiful photographs, and vivid videos for each animal. Be sure to point out the Glossary located at the end of each animal section. This will help students with some of the more difficult vocabulary. Also make sure to note that the British Chapter is focused on animals found in Britain. TeachersFirst review team members found that the site servers are SLOW to open and reload pages, even on a fast connection. Be patient. It is worth it.
In the Classroom: Use this site as the starting point for individual or group projects. The site grants permission for educational download and use of the images (NOT on a web page), provided you include the copyright information with each image. Have students create sets of images to illustrate a report or make graphic organizers illustrating families of animals from your area and their classifications into kingdom, phylum, etc. Be letting students choose their own animals and examples, the task will have more meaning to them. Individuals can set up memberships (click My ARKive) to make "scrapbooks" of images and information. Membership requires a valid email address (info on your registration is sent there), so a whole-class or teacher account may be the easiest way to use it.
This lesson plan enables students to identify characteristics that are common to heroes, recognize heroes from many diverse cultures, and discuss how heroes can be any type of person who has accomplished an inspiring action. It offers this in nine 45-minute class lessons. The instructional objectives make it easy to pick and choose which lessons you want to do in the order in which you want to do them. It offers a great, classic base of Aristotelian hero qualities while also enabling you to bring the idea of hero forward into modern times.
In the Classroom: The links on the site itself offer ways to let students investigate on the web themselves at safe sites. Share the links as part of a web treasure hunt asking students to collect characteristics of heroes on their own and put them in a collaborative graphic organizer. What a great start to a heroes unit---one that you can revisit and add to throughout the unit. At the end of the unit, let them use the class organizer as the basis for their own "design a hero" challenge instead of a test.
By breaking down the process of story writing into six accessible steps, this site provides a good outline for a lesson on writing an original story. Getting ideas, organizing, filling in, writing, and revising are all covered here in upbeat but concrete sections with plenty of tips and alternative approaches. The patterns follow the story mapping you study in reading class, so you will be reinforcing story patterns as students write. The writer is a published author of books for middle school kids. Links provide fun breaks for kids and they include jokes, animal info, and word games. A more important link leads readers to steps for writing a book report.
In the Classroom: Use this site and its organized approach to teaching story writing to your upper elementary and middle school students. Include the link on your teacher web page for them to use as a reference outside of class, as well. Consider having students use a graphic organizer of a story map to plan their stories (make one for them or have them use one of the many tools you can find on TeachersFirst by searching graphic organizer on our keyword search.
This graphical online dictionary will make looking up words and figures of speech addictive, and visual learners will start to understand meanings as never before. The dictionary pulls it information from Princeton's WordNet, an opensource database built by University students and language researchers. A WORD OF WARNING: because the source of the words is a university, where speech is completely open, there are word included in this "dictionary" that are NOT classroom appropriate. Use it only under teacher monitoring.
The color-coded word "entries" display like a mind-map or graphic organizer, showing parts of speech in different colors and showing related words and phrases, as well. Be sure to look at the color key at the bottom to understand all the information presented. This site requires FLASH. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: Introduce new vocabulary before reading or starting a new unit, using this site on an interactive whiteboard or projector. The distinctions, examples, and relationships the site features for new words will help students build better connections and understanding as they read and study the words in classroom context. English teachers will love this as a learning tool for teaching distinctions between similar words. Just remember to use it in a monitored situation (see above).
Wow - this website provides ready-to-use PowerPoint presentations on over 100 topics. The presentations were created by teachers - for teachers to use in their classrooms. This website organizes topics by general grade levels (K-5 and 6-12). Just to give you a taste of the uniqueness of these presentations, topics include such diverse topics as Shakespeare, "grammar goofs," active reading strategies, haunted house graphic organizer, phonics millionaire game, pronouns, and numerous others. Any language arts teacher is guaranteed to find something useful at this website. Do yourself a favor and check it out! You may need PowerPoint software to be able to view these files, depending on how the site creators save them. Note: while files are downloading, it may appear that nothing is happening and that the links are dead. Look for a tiny "downloading" icon in the lower left corner of your screen, and please be patient!
In the Classroom: Try these ready-to-go PowerPoint presentations on an interactive whiteboard or projector in your classroom. Some may also be well-suited for individual students to run on a single classroom computer for remediation or review. There are games, resources and a lot of information. The site includes a disclaimer asking to be notified if users find any copyrighted material. TeachersFirst recommends that you NOT download copies but instead use them online, just in case.
Learn to use Inspiration, the software that makes graphic organizers (and outlines)that make sense to your visual learners, using this printable pdf tutorial. You need Acrobat Reader to open and print it. The page provides a link to get Acrobat Reader, if you do not have it.This tutorial is supplied by the software manufacturer.
See a graphical representation of the United States Federal Budget, clickable down to the little details. Although you can order this graphic organizer as a poster, the online version allows you and your class to click and burrow down through the bureaucracy to see where the taxes go. Important note: Patience is worth it in waiting for this site to open (don't even bother on a dial-up). Requires the most current version of FLASH.Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
High demand can make this site slow to open fully. Be patient.
In the Classroom: Definitely place this link on your teacher web site for students to view with their parents at home. In class, consider assigning students to use the site to collect evidence for a debate on the size of government or simply open it and navigate as a class on an interactive whiteboard as you discuss the branches of government. You will be amazed what you find using this medium so "native" to your students.
This teacher friendly site has it all - thinking questions, facts, research activities and more! This site is designed for grades 6-8, but could be useful in grades 5-10. The students are taken back to the late 1800s by authentic pictures and creative learning activities. Topics include working women, railroads and other forms of transportation and mass production.
In the Classroom: Use the interactive graphic organizers for students to complete individual or guided learning experiences. These would also work well on an interactive whiteboard.
This information-packed site focuses on calendars through the ages. It includes sections on the astronomy of calendars (e.g. moon cycles), the history of calendars, differences among various international calendars, derivation of the names of the months, and loads of other trivia about calendars.
In the Classroom: Lots of great stuff for "did you know?" discussions or as an extension of a study of timelines and other graphic organizers of information. A few interesting visuals, but the strength of this site is in its information. Might be a good source for monthly bulletin boards or an enrichment area for gifted students.
This lesson plan, downloadable and viewable as a Word document, introduces middle school students to the literary element of theme and provides practice in recognizing themes in a variety of texts (provided). Assessment suggestions, graphic organizers, and links to supporting materials are included. Aligned to National Standards. You MUST have Microsoft Word to open this lesson plan. Unfortunately, TeachersFirst cannot give you the program for free. Turn off your pop-up and/or download blocker to actually open this file.(Look for the thin yellow bar across the screen, just below the address bar to enable the download, depending on your security settings.
Browse through this extensive collection of maps from 1500 AD to modern times and discover some incredible gems to supplement everything from a history lesson to a study of Shakespeare's plays. Start with the site's downloadable graphic organizer that guides students through map analysis. A series of questions and tips for interpretation accompany each type of map and help with understanding of orientation, legend, and scale.
In the Classroom: Use this site for a geography course, or in a world history course when discussing the importance of cartography and its many varieties. Use this site as an anticipatory set or “activator” to introduce a unit or lesson on a projector. Work through the examples as a class, highlighting the images and what can be observed in each. This is a great way to show students concrete examples of how maps are and can be used.
A Tale to be ToldGrade 4 to 7
- Martha Sullivan/Missouri Schoolweb- 5614
This Webquest challenges students, working in small groups, to read, share, and compare/contrast folk tales from different parts of the world. A printable chart is provided to guide the analysis, and a graphic organizer can be downloaded to help students organize their thoughts for the final activity - the creation of an original folk tale. Links to online fairytales are provided.
Browse through this collection of time-saving templates for everything from award certificates to calendars and graphic organizers. Edit the templates to fit your needs, then save and print as desired.
Here's a collection of resources that teachers can use to help students understand the effects of an active volcano on the surrounding habitats. You'll also find a nice collection of information on the history of the volcano itself. Worth a visit if you're planning a unit on volcanoes or national forests.
In the Classroom: Science teachers will love all the summary tables and resources offered on this site. In teaching about Mt St. Helens, many of the summary tables can actually be cleared and printed to allow students to use them as a graphic organizer to follow along a lecture. This site is also great for refreshing the events of that day as well as the volcanic history of the mountain. Save this site as a favorite on your classroom computer for easy reference.
Universe AdventureGrade 9 to 12
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory- 5229
Project this site in your classroom, and let your students be amazed! This interactive tour teaches students about the expansion of the universe, the Big Bang, dark matter, the evolution of the galaxies, and SO much more. Check out the cosmic calendar that compresses the history of the universe into one year. A glossary of space science terms is can be easily accessed from any portion of the tour.
In the Classroom: Introduce this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Then have students explore this site independently or in small groups. One way to insure students are following along with the content of the site is to create a graphic organizer or follow along to be turned in post-exploration. This site does a really good job of breaking down complex concepts into more manageable and understandable definitions. Use this site to review, to reinforce the major ideas or concepts.
If you have never used a WebQuest before, take the plunge and try this one! Faced with the task of discovering what information a time traveler to colonial America would need, students are asked to think creatively, work cooperatively, analyze information, and create a graphic organizer to represent their findings. Access to Hyperstudio or Inspiration would be helpful. Teacher notes, resources, and an assessment tool are provided. Created by Lori Abrahams.
The Life magazine web site offers many thematic collections of images from the 1930s through the 60s. While all are copyrighted, they provide elegant illustrations of what life was like in the mid 20th century. Try this one if you need illustrations for a lesson unit or subject area.
In the Classroom: Use this site as a means to search for images to be used in a visual discovery activity. Select 3-5 images from this site, to be placed on a PowerPoint presentation. Have students view images one at a time, while filling out a graphic organizer asking them to observe, infer and predict the events seen in the image. This activity is a great way to get students talking about the content in a way that's helping them review simultaneously. After students have seen all the images, a great way to review is to have students discuss what their answers were and how they came to find them.
The University of Virginia has gathered this collection of images documenting the slave trade and the lives of slaves in early America. Images are indexed by topic, and there are brief descriptions and source references for each image.
In the Classroom: History teachers will find this one interesting as a primary resource. Within an ESOL class, these images would be great for a picture walk! Print out and hang 10-15 images around the classroom. Have students walk around the classroom spending a designated amount of time at each image. This works best if the teacher creates a graphic organizer to accompany the images, with specific questions being asked about the images. This would be a great way to teach students the content without worrying about reading levels and the like.
The BBC’s education site, intended for Keystage 3 (midddle school in the U.S.), has done a nice job of capturing the essential elements of the rock cycle from igneous creation on through the other stages. There are plenty of graphics and explanation, along with links to related experiments and activities. This one could work at a number of different grade levels.
In the Classroom: Share this site on an interactive whiteboard or projector or assume it as one of several rock cycle resources for students to navigate on their own before creating their own explanation of the rock cycle as a graphic organizer (try Bubbl.us (reviewed here), timeline (try xtimeline, reviewed here), or narrated series of images (try Voicethread reviewed here.
Bring a disease and a part of the world unfamiliar to students to their computer screen. Explore the "Malaria" link to understand where and how malaria is transmitted. Understand biology and health concepts through the real world study of malaria. This site also contains information on donating to malaria control and prevention as well as ways to stay informed of progress. You may choose to caution students about clicking on links not approved by the teacher or the school district. There are links to join the Facebook group and follow Malaria No More on Twitter.
In the Classroom: As you study diseases in general, use malaria as an example. Use the site to identify how malaria is transmitted and methods that can be used to prevent the transmission of the disease. Identify how the scientific method has been used in order to identify how a disease has been transmitted as well as treated or prevented. Compare information found about malaria to research other diseases and compare to other diseases and vectors. Students can create a conventional or multimedia project to display knowledge to others. Create graphic organizers to show the progress of the disease. Students can also create a wiki to show information or a blog for discussions with others. Not sure what a wiki is? Check out the TeacherFirst Wiki Walk-Through (reviewed here).
Many students may feel compassion for children in other countries and seek to help in some way. Use this site for ways to help those in other countries fight this terrible disease.
Learn a few Spanish words and educate your students on Mission life in California (1817) through this simple interactive site. While Annie tries to rescue her father, Bill, you will navigate your way through the halls of an old Mission by going into its assorted rooms. The rooms are labeled in Spanish, but no worries—there’s a diccionario to use if your students need one. In the end, by choosing the right way out of the Mission, Bill escapes.
In the Classroom: When studying about the various cultures in America, don’t forget the rich mission cultures in the West and Southwest. Spanish teachers will appreciate this site’s simplicity in teaching Mission-related Spanish words. Have cooperative learning groups investigate other missions or historical topics from the 1800s. Challenge student groups to create their own historical tale in this “choose your own adventure” style. Provide a template graphic organizer for the story options so they are able to organize it in the planning stages, then create one in PowerPoint with hyperlinks to the choices or on a class wiki using links to the places (pages) they choose.
What if you could travel back in time to the earliest days of American history? Through the Colonial America web quest, each student will take on the role of a farmer, slave, artisan or woman from the colonial time period. They will research the character traits using the web quest and organize the information with the included graphic organizers. In conclusion, each small group will come together and create a play in order to share the stories of our colonial American ancestors with the class. The webquest has not been updated for a few years, so it would be wise to double-check links before using it in class. This site requires Adobe Acrobat. Some of the outside links require QuickTime. You can get both from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: After completing the webquest, have a "Play Day" and invite family members, other classes, and administration to come to the classroom and watch the plays. Video record the plays and post them to the class web page for those who could not make it to class. Share the videos using a site such as Teachers.TV (explained here).
Be sure to list this site (and activity) on your class website. Ask parents to assist with character research at home by providing the web quest link on the class web page. Don't forget that parents may be able help with props for the plays.
If you haven’t been to seminars, college classes, or professional development lately, you may feel a little rusty on innovative study guides and strategies that will enhance learning. This site explains with clear language and no-frills web pages hundreds of ways to help our learners, from online test taking, memorizing, to managing stress and so much more. Another perk from this site is that it is available in over 20 different languages, so even limited English speakers can learn these helpful techniques. From this web link, you enter the “visitors center” where you grasp the impact this site has had on education. Millions of visitors benefit from its resources each year. Click on “index” at the top to access the page full of study guides and strategies options.
Each content area has successful resources that you can use.
Content areas include Preparing, Learning, Studying, Learning with Others, Online Learning/Communicating, Classroom Participation, Project Management, Research, Reading Skills, Preparing for Test, Science and Technology, Math, Resources, Vocabulary/Spelling, Writing Styles, Writing Basics, and Taking Tests. There are over 100 individual topics to explore: Time Management, Avoiding Procrastination, Learning with ADHD, Effective Study Habits, Peer Mediation, Problem Based Learning, Netiquette, Public Speaking, Citing Websites, SQ3R, KWL, Overcoming Test Anxiety, Ten Tips for Terrific Test Taking, Prefixes and Root Words, Seven Stages of Writing, and countless others!
There are some basic advertisements at this site. Flash and Acrobat Reader are needed for some of the links and can be obtained here: TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: This site is one to save in your favorites! There is so much here, it is hard to know where to begin. The language offerings provide opportunities for ESL and ELL students to learn study skills in their native language. This site could also be used in world languages classes.
Why not highlight a “study skill” each week using your interactive whiteboard or projector. Then have students TRY it. Most of the topics provide interactive learning or another assignment to help students practice the skill. Have students work individually or with a partner to explore the “topic of the week.” These life skills are so necessary, but hard to fit into the already crammed curriculum. This site does a nice job of integrating the study skills with curriculum content. Have students create their own multimedia projects about study skills using a current unit of study from your class.
Need a PowerPoint? Check this site first to find one on a topic you need from the vast array available. The free PowerPoints and interactive activities are easily downloaded. To find the FREE PowerPoint presentations, click on the FREE Presentations in PowerPoint Format link found directly under the red train. There are literally hundreds of topics (over 1,200 at the time of this review). Topics are listed in alphabetical order. There are so many topics: Plagiarism, Integers, Interjections, IQ Tests, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Graphic Organizers, Graphs, Gold Rush, the Bible, Economics, Amelia Earhart (and many other heroes), Descriptive Writing, Coral Reefs, Civil Rights Movement, Autism, Ancient Civilizations, Presidents, Louisiana Purchase, Money, Music Instruments, How to Write an Outline, Rosa Parks, Resumes, Terrorism, Vietnam War, and many MANY others. Primary teachers will appreciate simple activities on Dolch words and other sight vocabulary! Pages are arranged in topics such as "Plants and Animals," "World History," "Biology, Chemistry, and Physics," and "Problem Solving." Each page includes a vast array of subtopics. Other links on the page include "Greta's Game Station" and "Hannah's Help" which offers information on researching. Some of the links at “Greta’s Game Station” require Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Use these PowerPoints to provide background information for projects or further inquiry in class. For example, use a PowerPoint on cells to give background information. Create questions for students to answer while viewing the PowerPoint or add your own "lecture" notes while showing to a class. Remember that PowerPoint does not HAVE to be shown on a screen. Students can watch them as tutorials at a center or computer cluster. Learning support teachers will appreciate having an alternate way to present basic concepts to visual learners. Assign students a particular cell part to research more information about the part.
Saskatchewan Learning presents an all-inclusive site about the specifics of guided reading for grades 6 through 9. Teachers can find everything from pre-reading, during-reading, and post-reading characteristics to selecting appropriate literature, as well as any forms or templates that may be needed to implement the activities. If you are a new teacher or experienced with guided reading, this site can serve as a beneficial reference guide and framework. This site is “plain vanilla” but includes a lot of great ideas to implement in your classroom.
In the Classroom: If you teach reading skills to any middle school class, , including in the content areas, take a look at this website. Use the many ideas and printables available at this site.
This interactive tool allows students to create Three Circle overlapping Venn Diagrams. The opening page asks you to name the project and then label the three circles in the Venn Diagram. When you click NEXT a professional looking Venn Diagram will be created based on your project and labels. The interactive Venn Diagram allows you to generate concepts (type words) and place them in circle 1, 2, or 3 by clicking and dragging the word. You are able to place the word in any of the circles, or the overlapping areas. You are given the choice of creating a Venn Diagram or a list format of characteristics. The program allows you to edit and print (but not save) the finished Venn Diagrams. This site requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Use this handy tool to guide your students through the process of organizing information in Venn diagram form. Try to complete a Venn Diagram as a class activity with younger students. Then have students work on individual computers to create their own Venn Diagrams to correlate with a language arts, social studies, or interdisciplinary lesson. Have students print out their Venn Diagrams and share them with the class. Once they have mastered this skill and underlying concepts, allow them to create even more colorful Venn diagrams using colorful Autoshapes, circles, clip art, and text boxes on PowerPoint slides or using Inspiration software. Show them how to use color as a way to communicate meaning by color-coding, as well.
This online tool allows students to generate clear and easy to use "2 circle" Venn Diagrams. The opening page asks you to name the project and then label the two circles in the Venn Diagram. When you click NEXT a professional looking Venn Diagram will be created based on your project and labels. The interactive Venn Diagram allows you to generate concepts (type words) and place them in circle 1 or circle 2 by clicking and dragging the word. You are able to place the word in either circle, or the overlapping area. When inputting a concept word a text box is provided to type in a detailed description. There is also a demonstration video that shows how to type concept words and descriptions and how to drag and place the concepts onto the Venn Diagram. The program allows you to edit and print (but not SAVE!) the finished Venn Diagrams. This site requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: Use this handy tool to guide your students through the process of organizing information in Venn diagram form. View the demonstration video together on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Complete a Venn Diagram as a class activity. Then have students work on individual computers to create their own Venn Diagrams to correlate with a language arts, social studies, or interdisciplinary lesson. Have students print out their Venn Diagrams and share them with the class. Once they have mastered this skill and underlying concepts, allow them to create even more colorful Venn diagrams using colorful Autoshapes circles, clip art, and text boxes on PowerPoint slides or using Inspiration software. Show them how to use color as a way to communicate meaning by color-coding, as well.
In this activity, students learn word combinations and idioms. In a ladder sequence, students find the second half of a word combo by reading its definition and adding the second word.That, in turn, becomes the first part of the next answer. The goal is to get to the 7th word combo whose second half started the game. Clickable hints assist students with the first letter missing word. You are able to click on the clues (to get more letters) as often as needed to solve the puzzle. There are new puzzles every weekday and archived puzzles from previous dates. There are two difficulty levels. This site requires Flash. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.
In the Classroom: Demonstrate this site on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Use this site for vocabulary enhancement and understanding of idioms. Speech and language teachers may want to use it to teach word combinations, as well. Students can easily play this game in pairs. Since teachers can also print the blank activity, you can use it for a desk activity or homework assignment. After students get used to this idea, have them make their own word ladders on the interactive whiteboard, as a sequence of animated PowerPoint slides, or collaboratively as a graphic organizer using an online tool such as Gliffy or Mindomo.
Give your students the skills to analyze and evaluate information with Intel’s free “Showing Evidence tool.” “Showing Evidence” provides a visual framework to help students learn how to construct well-reasoned arguments and prove their case with credible evidence. Students are prompted to consider the quality of the evidence and the strength of the evidence to support their claim. When an argument is complicated, the components of the tool help students think through justifying a claim.
This web-based tool is accompanied by detailed lesson plans designed for elementary, middle, and high school students. A variety of subject areas and projects are ready to adapt for the classroom or implement as-is. Explore the project ideas, instructional strategies, assessment tips, and research to help you plan a project of your own. Registration is free and creates a teacher workspace in which to build the class project. The password-protected workspace is accessed through the internet where students log on with the teacher-created ID, team ID, and password. Students can access the project workspace from home or though other Internet access points such as the public library.
Be sure to disable your popup blocker, as the site needs to show popup windows during the project. This site requires Flash and Adobe Acrobat Reader. Get these tools from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: Teachers can use the comprehensive tutorial to learn the features of the tool and use the workspace to practice with the tool. Take advantage of the detailed unit plans that provide usable handouts and student work samples. Or just browse through several shorter project descriptions for project ideas that suit your classroom.
Make a shortcut to this site on your desktop and student computer desktops for easy access. Use the “Showing Evidence “tool to explore themes such as why do we explore, what happens next, is everything we read true, and what is freedom? Have student teams stage debates using their visual diagrams to show their thinking processes to the class using an interactive whiteboard or projector.
Develop your students’ thinking skills with Intel’s free “Seeing Reason” tool to analyze cause-and-effect relationships in complex systems. Students can use the Seeing Reason Tool to develop visual maps of the factors and relationships in cause-and-effect investigations. Student-created causal maps make thinking visible and promote collaboration as they work together to refine their understanding. Teachers can use Seeing Reason as a monitoring and observation tool, since the maps are visual representations of student understanding.
This web-based tool is accompanied by detailed lesson plans for different grade levels and subject areas. It provides a complete project, ready to adapt for the classroom or implement as-is. Explore the project ideas, instructional strategies, assessment tips, and research to help you plan a project of your own. Registration is free and creates a teacher workspace in which to build the class project. The password-protected workspace is accessed through the internet where students log on with the teacher-created ID, team ID, and password.
Be sure to disable your popup blocker, as the site needs to show popup windows during the project. This site requires Flash and Adobe Acrobat Reader. Get these tools from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: Help students analyze why a science experiment failed, why an animal became extinct, why a literary character acts as he does, or the factors leading to an economic or historical event. Teachers can use the comprehensive tutorial to learn the features of the tool and use the workspace to practice with the tool. Take advantage of the experiences of other teachers in eight detailed unit plans that provide usable handouts and student work samples. Or just browse through several shorter project descriptions for project ideas that suit your classroom.
Make a shortcut to this site on your desktop and student computer desktops for easy access or simply add it to the Favorites on your teacher web page for access from there.
Use the Seeing Reason tool to explore themes such as habitat conflict, neighborhood diversity, and decision-making with your students. Have student teams show and explain their maps to the whole class using an interactive whiteboard or projector. Students can access the project workspace from home or through other Internet access points such as the public library.
Engage your students in higher-order thinking skills with a collaborative activity using Intel Education’s free Visual Ranking Tool. Visual ranking leads students though focusing, identifying, and refining criteria as they assign order or ranking to a list presented as a visual diagram. Students use a simple click and drag to organize ideas, explain their reasoning, debate differences, and reach consensus with each other. This web-based tool is accompanied by project ideas, instructional strategies, assessment tips, and research. There are also detailed lesson plans for grades 3-5, 6-8, or 9-12. Registration is free and creates a teacher workspace in which to build the class project. The password-protected workspace is accessed through the Internet where students log on with the teacher-created ID, team ID, and password.
Teachers can use the comprehensive tutorial to learn the features of the tool. The Try the Tool section has a demonstration workspace for teachers to practice with ranking a sample list and then comparing it to other lists. Take advantage of the experiences of other teachers in six detailed unit plans that provide usable handouts and student work samples.
Be sure to disable your popup blocker as the site needs to show popup windows during the project. This site requires Flash and Adobe Acrobat Reader. Get these tools from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: Make a shortcut to this site on your desktop and student computers for easy access or simply add it to the Favorites on your teacher web page for access from there
. Use the Visual Ranking tool to explore themes such as the role of friends, human migration, the impact of inventions, what’s fair, and career choices with your students. Have student teams show and explain their diagrams to the whole class using an interactive whiteboard or projector.
The Visual Ranking Tool can be used at any stage of a learning project. As a pre-activity or pre-assessment, it can help students discuss their prior knowledge and identify the things that they need to research or study further. As a mid-unit activity, it can help put new learning in a context that will be more useful in the next activity. At the end of a unit, Visual Ranking may be used to assess or reflect on learning. Students can access the project workspace from home or through other Internet access points such as the public library.
Come take a virtual tour of India - the home of 16% of the entire population of the world! This website features an interactive map with a sightseeing guide, historical timeline, native lingo, an online quiz, numerous pictures, and more. The website also features lesson plans, worksheets, maps, and graphic organizers. Certain activities at this website require Adobe Acrobat and/or QuickTime Player. You can get both from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: Pack up your suitcase, and take your students on this interactive tour using your projector or interactive whiteboard. Share the native lingo and have your students try to pronounce the various words. Challenge your class to learn more words from the language. Do a class research project by dividing the class into cooperative learning groups to research various elements of the country. Have a group of "politicians" examine the government of India. Have a group of "tour guides" learn about famous tourist attractions in India. Assign other groups to "be" architects, religious officials, and whatever other role you want your students to learn about. Have the groups create multimedia presentations or wiki pages to share their discoveries with the class.
This fabulous resource answers the question of how technology can be implemented with Marzano strategies to improve student learning. The site is divided into nine "chapters" that correspond to the research-based Marzano strategies. The chapters include Identifying Similarities and Differences , Summarizing and Note-Taking , Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition , Increasing Value in Homework and Practice , Using Non-Linguistic Representations , Incorporating Cooperative Learning Effectively , Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback , Generating and Testing Hypotheses , and Utilizing Question, Cues, and Advance Organizers . Each chapter includes a brief summary and then offers targeted and ready to use templates, graphic organizers, and online activities for implementation. The ideas and examples use tools already in the classroom: PowerPoint, Inspiration/Kidspiration, Word, Excel, Internet, etc. Clicking examples gives you information on using the technology or provides an interactive application to create your own for class use. Online Interactive games are also provided.
In the Classroom: Trying to figure out how technology fits into your well-established teaching methods? Use this site as a great review of the Marzano strategies and implement the ideas into your classroom. Use the activities to not just provide the information to students for students to uncover information and make connections through use of technology already available. Use the tools and examples to bring the strategies into your classroom!
This informative website offers students "faraway places at their fingertips." There are countries included from Africa, Asia, Central America, Europe, North America, South America, and Oceania. Some of the specific countries include Nigeria, Tanzania, Pakistan, Thailand, Costa Rica, Norway, Turkey, Alaska, Chile, Peru, Australia, New Zealand, and more. Each country's information varies a bit. Most include some "native lingo," a sightseeing guide, a history timeline, current news, and other educational bits of information. The website also features lesson plans, worksheets, maps, and graphic organizers. Certain activities at this website require Adobe Acrobat and/or QuickTime Player. You can get both from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: What a fabulous resource for independent research projects or country comparisons. Put the names of all of the countries into a hat or jar. Have individual students or small groups pick a country. Challenge the students to learn the native lingo, the geography and climate of the area, the history of the country, and more. Have the students create multimedia presentations to share with the class or have a World Cultures day.
If you don't have time to complete a large research project, use your interactive whiteboard (or projector) and take your students "virtually" to a different country every week. Spend 10-15 minutes navigating the website. Challenge your class to learn some of the native "lingo" and practice native phrases throughout the week. Use this site for background when reading folktales and stories set in far-off lands. If you have a chance to do a collaborative project with students across the world, start with basic background knowledge from this site.
Posted by the New Hampshire Concord Monitor Newspaper in the Classroom program, this website offers many interactive ideas that students can use either with a physical newspaper in front of them, with an online news service such as CNN, or with online editions of newspapers that you find here. The examples used all refer to the New Hampshire newspaper, but are easily adaptable to whatever topic you want the students to deal with. This site includes such varied activities as creating a database and writing recipes. It covers every section of a newspaper. Students could create their own classroom newspaper using some of these activities or simply create journalistic articles based on whatever topic you are currently teaching. This is adaptable to almost any grade level and subject area.
In the Classroom: Whether you use hard-copy papers or electronic editions, many of these ideas will work even better using technology: word processing, wikis, blogs (for editorials), graphic organizer tools, digital cameras, etc. Use today's tools to study this powerful medium as it goes through transition into an electronic world. Consider asking students to compare electronic vs. hard-copy newspapers and their pros/cons, as well.
This online tool allows users to draw on an electronic drawing board using drawing tools, stamps, text, and typical tools that show in drawing programs. While it may appear to be pure "fun," it can actually allow students or classes to collaboratively plan or discuss, especially visual thinkers who communicate by saying, "Let me draw you a picture." A drawing can be "saved" by sending the URL to yourself or another person's email address. When the recipient clicks on the link, the site plays the full drawing process of the drawing being "built." The recipient can then draw more and change the original sending it on to another or simply saving it. This tool would work well for small groups planning collaborative projects, such as students designing a display or collaborating from home on a project. Single users can draw out their ideas (and add text) then share them via email with others or invite others to collaborate. Need to design a science fair display? Prioritize or order the points for a small group presentation? This tool may prove the most effective for your group. The site requires Flash.
In the Classroom: This site will operate beautifully on an interactive whiteboard for whole class "drawing." Want students to show you that they understand the steps in a process? Give them the option to DRAW their answer and email it to you. You can "play" their drawing sequence to assess their understanding. Art teachers can ask students to show their understanding of design elements by creating simple drawings. Teach students to design logos using the simplest of tools. Teachers sharing study skills and discussing learning styles to help students determine what works best for them will want to share this as a visual option. Make this tool available along with other types of graphic organizers when you assign a project. Offer it as a visual pre-writing option for visual-spatial students. Don't forget to debrief to find out how students used the tools and who found it most effective. Note that the collaboration features require email or IM accounts, so younger students will not be able to use it from home. If your school prohibits accessing student email, allow them to send the completed drawings to your whole class email account (an extra teacher email account you make just for this type of use).
The U.S. National Slavery Museum is a "work in progress" still in the planning stages, but this site already has some valuable resources available to teachers. The link to "Center for Learning" takes you to some extremely complete downloadable lesson plans on slavery in the U.S. If you use the download, you can get the plans for free. The site would be worth checking back on as the museum itself gets closer to construction. This site requires Flash and Acrobat Reader. Get them from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page..
In the Classroom: The lesson plans include graphic organizers, transparencies, and vocabulary lists and are linked to standards. These lesson plans could easily be incorporated into units on the U.S. Colonial or Civil War eras or could stand alone as a special focus.
This virtual fieldtrip takes students on an underwater adventure to the Biscayne National Park. The field trip has three distinct parts. The first part is the journal, which is presented to the students first (and requires Adobe). The journal provides numerous questions for students to search for the answers while they visit their destinations, plus a web to fill in missing terms. Part two is the virtual journey itself (which requires FLASH). There are many interactive activities within the "journey". Part three is "ask the experts" which provides past questions and answers. This is a very well done website and extremely useful if your class is studying the ocean, coral reefs or other marine biology topics.
In the Classroom: Use an interactive whiteboard or projector to take your students on a virtual journey to Biscayne National Park. Be sure to print out the journal questions first to help your students focus on the content. The graphic organizer in the journal would work well as an interactive whiteboard summary activity.
This highly visual site gives visitors an unforgettable tour of the brain and explains the functions of its three main parts. Formatted as a self-paced slideshow, the site also provides an intense explanation of the effect of Alzheimer's disease on brain tissue. Roll your mouse over the colored text on each slide to view the specific region described.
In the Classroom: Create a basic Web hunt or graphic organizer to guide students through the slideshow and encourage them to focus on the vocabulary and descriptions. The visual component of this resource helps students understand the logistical as well as functional aspects of each major region of the brain.
Explore a virtual rainforest to get an up close and personal view of its composition and inhabitants. Students can choose the method of discovery they would like to use to investigate the jungle – structure, cycles, or survival. Each path is filled with multimedia surprises that introduce visitors to the sights, sounds, and smells of this mysterious and uncharted territory.
In the Classroom: This site lends itself to independent exploration, but you'll need to provide some direction – in the form of a Web hunt or graphic organizer. Use to introduce a student research project or to provide data for the creation of a "rainforest" in your classroom.
Learn about a pivotal event in American history while strengthening research skills. This lesson plan combines primary source documents authored by the Wright brothers with newspaper accounts of the Kitty Hawk accomplishments. Students are asked to compare and contrast the two sources to identify discrepancies and isolate the most reliable documents.
In the Classroom: Take advantage of the free lesson plan that's offered on this site! There is even a pre-prepared graphic organizer that is available to help students catalog the information.
This site brings the many faces and struggles of the Civil Rights Movement into focus with riveting images by photographer Charles Moore. These moving scenes of riots, segregation, and triumph will make an unforgettable impact on your students. Use to generate reactions and open discussion in a 20th century American history class.
In the Classroom: Take some of the more powerful images in this site and use it to create a visual discovery activity. Open the site on the interactive whiteboard or projector, and go through the images one at a time - giving enough time for students to analyze and interpret the images individually. Have students focus on observations, inferences and predictions they can make from the images. This activity works best if used with a graphic organizer.
The Underground Railroad experience is detailed in this multimedia site that examines the explores its routes, stories, and history. An interactive map shows slave states, free states, and paths and waterways used by the Railroad. Follow the Stories link for poignant narratives from ex-slaves.
In the Classroom: Note: ONLY use the flash site, not the html site - the html link is faulty and brings you to a different domain. Beyond that, this site is an excellent aid for teaching about the Underground Railroad & Slavery. There are interactive maps that can be used on the interactive whiteboard or projector to guide a lecture or class discussion. There are also testimonials and images of slaves who ran away, along with the exhibition itself. Both would make for great exploration activities if a guide or graphic organizer was prepared to accompany it. Take advantage of this amazing site.
He's more than just a pretty face on the $10 bill! Alexander Hamilton's life and influence are examined in this site that presents a timeline of events during and after his life, highlights from his writings, and a biographical gallery of his peers. Visitors can even test their knowledge of his life and accomplishments with a twenty-question interactive quiz. This is probably more information than your students need to know about Mr. Hamilton, but the site provides a unique approach to understanding some significant events in American history.
In the Classroom: Use this site as a introductory activity for a lesson on the founding fathers. Introduce this site on the interactive whiteboard or projector before allowing students to explore it on their own. We recommend creating a graphic organizer or follow-along for the website to insure students are getting the most out of it. What is great about it is that it provides students with a lot of historical and biographical information about Hamilton. This would be a great resource for a US history or Civics class.
These eight, high-quality mini-movies highlight true stories of historical significance using scenes and portraits from Early America. Titles include "The Ben Franklin Story," "Declaring Independence," "The Treason of Benedict Arnold," "Paul Revere - Messenger of the Revolution," and more! Project in the classroom, or take your students to the computer lab for an impressive multimedia experience. A high speed connection is a must!
In the Classroom: Use these quick videos as a way to either review or introduce the American Revolution in your classroom. There is a lot of material in here, so we recommend creating some kind of graphic organizer or follow-along to help students digest and remember what's important.
Though not designed specifically for students, this site, containing a wealth of information on ways to minimize dangers to people from forest fires, includes many examples of how man and his environment can be at odds with one another. In addition to the scientific issues involved in fire control and prevention, this site would contribute to a discussion on ecosystems and encroachment into wilderness areas.
In the Classroom: As your students study about safety or environmental issues, include this site as a resource. Ask students to create a fire pro and con list as they discuss the more obvious safety issues of fire and the balancing role that fire can play in renewing habitats and nature's cycles. Use a graphic organizer tool such as bubbl.us (reviewed here) to map out the many impacts that wildland fires can have.
TF Edge Tool: for the moderately adventurous technology user. Create collaborative mind maps (graphic organizers) using this online tool. See 
Find resources for teaching and modeling MANY reading strategies in your classroom, including handouts for graphic organizers and vocabulary development, all from this school-district site. Each strategy is explained and classified as before, during, or after reading and then linked to further information. This is a one-stop shop for teachers in every content area, as well as those reinforcing study skills for learning support students and helping students prepare for standardized testing. Each strategy includes suggestions for how to differentiate instruction, as well. 
Part of a larger site affiliated with the PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, this is a lesson plan overview focused on the upcoming midterm elections. It includes links to interactive maps detailing key races for the House, Senate, and Governor's Office across the US, along with an overview of the political context of midterm elections in general. Another link takes you to an overview of the larger issues affecting the November midterm elections (e.g. immigration, Iraq, energy) with the promise that these issue summaries will continue to be updated. There are PDF versions of graphic organizers that might be helpful for students in processing information about specific issues or planning projects related to the midterm elections. The linked sites are regularly updated. 