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Big Huge Thesaurus

— Big Huge Labs

K-11 0 favorites 0 promising practices http://words.bighugelabs.com/ Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:49 share

How It Works

This simple-looking online thesaurus is actually MUCH more than a quick-look-up. You can find synonyms, antonyms, similar words, and rhymes for any word you enter. A click on any of the words offered provides the same information for THAT word, sending you on word-paths through the English language. Innocent-looking links at the top of the page also provide hundreds of prompts for blog posts and stories, with enough choices to inspire any writer. Don’t let the boring white background and plain-text presentation fool you. This tool has magic powers to make words interesting to almost anyone. The database of words used to generate this thesaurus comes from "the Princeton University WordNet database, the Carnegie Mellon Pronouncing Dictionary, and suggestions from thousands of people on the internet just like you." See a special note to teachers below regarding student behavior!

In the Classroom

Keep this link handy among the resources on your class web page or wiki, and be sure to bring it up on your screen or interactive whiteboard to remind students of the rich tools it offers as you teach grammar, revision, poetry, essay-writing, or even letter and resume writing. With primary grades, share the rhyming words to help teach spelling and phonics! As students share in revising a passage or writing a poem on the interactive whiteboard, have this thesaurus available on another window to model their search for just the right word. Encourage students to look up any new vocabulary or terminology at the start of new science or social studies units so they can gain a broader "sense" of the words themselves through a constellation of synonyms and related words. Help students refine vocabulary by having them rank the various synonyms offered for a certain word, deciding which has the most positive or negative connotations. Offer the writing prompts for student journal or blog posts or creative stories. ESL/ELL students can explore new words with this tool, even practicing the rhyming sounds and noticing their varied spellings. Check out the Big Huge Labs educator account. Easily pre-register students to avoid creating logins, view and download their creations, and view the site advertisement free. You will find information about the <a href="http://bighugelabs.com/education.php">Educator Account</a> here.rn<br><br>rn<b>NOTE:</b> If students enter an inappropriate word, they WILL find classroom-inappropriate terms. As with use of any reference, your students need to know your classroom’s consequences of such activity. The options are no different from students looking up body parts or pornographic terms in a print dictionary or on Google.

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Tag(s): rhymes, thesaurus, vocabulary, word study, writing, writing prompts,

Cash Out

— mrnussbaum.com

K-4 0 favorites 0 promising practices https://mrnussbaum.com/cash-out-online-game Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:49 share

How It Works

Strengthen money skills using this interactive about making correct change. Select game play options including difficulty level (there are 3 levels), whether hints are displayed, and if the amount of change can be displayed. Players try to sell as many items as possible and making change along the way before the time runs out. Animal customers buy items and players click the coins to make the correct change and then click "give change."

In the Classroom

Reinforce student skills and give them practice in counting money and making change. Start out at easy levels with hints and work up to a greater difficulty level. This site offers great opportunities to differentiate for your students! Students can work in groups or individually. Have real coins available for those who need to feel and see the change before clicking the online coins the correct amount of times.

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Tag(s): subtraction, money, counting, coins, addition,

Sliding Block Puzzle Page

— Nick Baxter

K-11 0 favorites 0 promising practices http://johnrausch.com/SlidingBlockPuzzles/default.htm Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:49 share

How It Works

Challenge basic counting skills and problem solving using classic sliding puzzles. Not only will you find numerical sliding puzzles, but also colorful shape puzzles. Java applets make an interactive version of each puzzle appear below the "goal" you are trying to reach. There is also a targeted number of moves to reach the goal. There are many different types of puzzles, some more familiar than others. Be sure to be patient as puzzles load. Sometimes the interactive (drag to slide) portion does not appear right away.

In the Classroom

Share these puzzles on your interactive whiteboard (or projector) as a mind-bending challenge. Help students develop problem-solving skills such as thinking several steps ahead by offering the link on your class web page. Higher level and gifted math students can try to determine a formula for calculating the number of moves it may take to solve a puzzle. Give awards to students who accomplish the "goal" in the stated number of moves, then ask them to explain their strategy or think aloud as they repeat it on an interactive whiteboard. Offer a puzzle club for your mathematical/logical thinkers or simply develop visual thinking skills by sharing these challenges.

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Tag(s): logic, puzzles, logic, puzzles,

ESL Holidays Lessons

— Sean Banville

K-7 0 favorites 0 promising practices http://www.eslholidaylessons.com/ Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:49 share

How It Works

Look no further for holiday activities for your ESL and ELL students (or for reading/listening comprehension activities you can use with all learners! This site lists conventional and unusual holidays by month. Click the holiday you would like to feature to find a complete lesson including a tape script, an oral recording of the script, and a variety of review exercises. The printable activities include matching, several varieties of fill-in-the-blank, word choices, spelling, reordering events and sentences from the holiday information, and writing activities. An online clickable reading activity presents parts of sentences, so students must select which sentence part comes first. The screen changes when the correct part comes up, and students select the next part.

In the Classroom

Use this site to help ESL/ELL students improve listening, reading, writing, and cultural knowledge. Invite an ESL/ELL student to present a holiday from their home country to the class using an interactive whiteboard or projector. Many of the review activities would also work well as reading comprehension practice on interactive whiteboard, especially if students use highlighters and pens to mark up the text passage to locate key terms, etc.rn<br><br>rnHave students create online holiday posters on paper or do it together as a class using a tool such as Web Poster Wizard (<a href="/single.cfm?id=7332">reviewed here</a>) or PicLits (<a href="/single.cfm?id=9822">reviewed here</a>). Share this site with families of your ESL/ELL students to learn more about American holidays.

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Tag(s): holidays,

Blabberize

— Mobouy Inc.

K-11 0 favorites 0 promising practices http://blabberize.com/make Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:49 share

How It Works

Blabberize is a photo editing tool that creates talking animations from a photo or other image. Browse the ready-made blabbers or create new ones. Upload an image from your computer, select an area to become the talking "mouth," and record sound using your microphone or upload a short .mp4 file from your computer. Make sure to "allow" access to your computer’s microphone. Narrate your photo within the allotted 30 seconds, then save when complete. Options include marking your blab "mature" or "private" (not shown on the "latest" pages and other public areas). Share completed blabs via email or embedd in another web page, blog, or wiki. Users unfamiliar with copy/pasting embed code can simple share by the URL of the blab’s page.

In the Classroom

If your students have never tried to make a Blabber, share the introduction blab on the home page on a projector or interactive whiteboard. Browse a few examples first to get ideas on how to make a mouth on your photo to move and "talk." Be sure to turn up your sound! Have a student demonstrate uploading an image from a safe and legal source. You may want to use a single, whole-class account you create with your "extra" email account. Be sure to spell out consequences of inappropriate use/content of blabs. Have students enter the site through the "Make" page link provided in this review to steer clear of the "latest" blabs. You may want your students to make their blabs "private" so they do not show on the public areas, depending on school policies. If you are implementing technology in your classroom, this is an augmentation tool.rn<br><br>rnBlab the homework directions on your teacher web page. Have your students use photos or digital drawings to "blab"! Have students draw in a paint program, save the file, and then make it "speak." Spice up research projects about historic figures or important scientists. Have literary characters tell about themselves. This tool is great for gifted students to go above and beyond the basics with an independent project. Create entire conversation sequences of blabs between people in world language or ESL/ELL classes (with students speaking in the language, of course), then embed them in a wiki. Have speech/language students make blabs to practice articulation and document progress over time. Promote oral reading fluency with student-read blabs. Create book "commercials." Have students blab what the author may have been thinking as he/she wrote a poem or literary selection or as an artist painted. Blab politicians’ major platform planks during campaigns for current events. Blab the steps to math problem solving. Even primary students can make an animal blab about his habitat if you set up the blab as a center. Make visual vocabulary/terminology sentences with an appropriate character using the term in context (a beaker explaining how it is different from a flask?) Students could also take pictures of themselves doing a lab and then blab the pictures to explain the concepts. This would be a great first day project (introducing yourself and breaking the ice). Share the class blabs on your class web page or wiki! Give directions to your class (for when a substitute is there). Use at back to school night to grab parents’ attention for important information.

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Tag(s): images, photography, firstday, animation, communication,

Math A Tube

— GreatEye.com

K-9 0 favorites 0 promising practices http://www.mathatube.com/ Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:49 share

How It Works

This site offers a ton of links to math videos with supplementary support problems. There are many topics, and most include subtopics: everything from rounding to exponents to decimals to pre-algebra! It is a very cool place to find homework help or an alternative teaching approach for various math concepts from things as simple as adding whole numbers to more advanced topics such as geometry. The site is divided by click-able math topics. The site does have some advertisements, but they are fairly easy to overlook. If your district blocks YouTube, the videos may not be viewable.

In the Classroom

Teachers could add this site to their class web pages to provide extra support. Specific videos can be shown on the interactive white board as part of learning centers to allow the math classroom to become more like a math laboratory. If you can’t find the specific topic you are looking for here, why not challenge cooperative learning groups to create a simple video teaching the new concept(s). Use a site such as TeacherTube <a href="/single.cfm?id=9419">reviewed here</a>, to share the videos.

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  • Donec rutrum congue leo eget malesuada. Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a. Curabitur aliquet quam id dui posuere blandit. Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a.
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Tag(s): statistics, ratios, money, homework, estimation, decimals,

Audio Pal

— Oddcast

K-11 0 favorites 0 promising practices https://www.audiopal.com/create Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:49 share

How It Works

Use this free site to create audio files easily for use in or out of the class. Record your own voice using phone or microphone, upload an audio file, or create audio from text to speech. Choose different voices, use the playback options, and update audio at anytime. Use your email to receive a link to your new audio file.

In the Classroom

If using a phone, understanding calling plans and additional charges is needed. You must know how to use embed codes to place audio files within your blog, wiki, or website. No login is required! Simply click the "Get Yours It’s Free" button. Choose the method to create the audio and preview and edit the file. Enter your email address to receive a link to your file. Click on the link to grab widgets. Copy the code and place in your blog or website. rn<br><br>rnThe tool does not show which work is attributable to which student. You may want to require that students mark their contributions in order to get credit. Consider using a class email account set up for this purpose. Be sure students understand the appropriate use of this email account. <br><br>rnClassroom use: Use this service to record audio of passages used in class, homework assignments, and other written material. Young students can practice reading aloud at this site (and listen to themselves), showing improvement in fluency as the year goes on. Have students use this site in place of a traditional book report. Have cooperative learning groups create a news broadcast and share it using this site. Use this site with ESL/ELL students just learning the English language. Use this site in world language classes for students to hear and learn the pronunciations. Place the embed code in a site that students can access outside of class for review, identifying directions, and listening to text. Speech and language teachers can use this tool to record student articulation and demonstrate progress through the year.

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Tag(s): communication, speech, text to speech,

Find a Book

— lexile.com

K-11 0 favorites 0 promising practices http://fab.lexile.com/fab/ Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:49 share

How It Works

This site allows teachers and students to go through four simple steps to find a book that has a lexile rating. The steps include entering a lexile range (if unknown: enter grade level and ease of reading), interests (similar to a keyword search), search of all items that come up, and list-making. rn<br><br>rnOne disadvantage of the site is that you can only enter a keyword when you get to the third step. After a book list based on interests appears, then you can search by keyword to make the search zero in on specifics. When teachers or students select books for a reading list, they can then click to see the complete list of books they have selected. Clicking on a book title leads to another screen, but it does not contain a book summary; instead, it has a list of other keywords for the book along with other book data.

In the Classroom

This site is great for teachers searching for books at specific lexile levels. Learning support and ESL/ELL teachers can find books to accompany units in content area classes but on the correct lexile level. Students can also use the site by entering their grade levels and what kind of readers they are. Use this site to differentiate the learning experience for all levels of students. Rather than having students complete traditional book reports, why not have them complete a multimedia project? Provide some choices such as a podcast, using PodoMatic (<a href="/single.cfm?id=8094">reviewed here</a>), interactive venn diagram comparing characters (<a href="/single.cfm?id=9413">reviewed here</a>), or online book using Bookemon (<a href="/single.cfm?id=10404">reviewed here</a>).

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  • Find interactive ABC's, colors, etc.
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  • Donec rutrum congue leo eget malesuada. Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a. Curabitur aliquet quam id dui posuere blandit. Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a.
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Tag(s): book lists, independent reading,

Write Rhymes

— Matthew Healy

K-11 0 favorites 0 promising practices http://www.writerhymes.com/ Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:49 share

How It Works

Need a rhyming word for those lyrics or poems? Simply type in your poem at this site. When a rhyme is needed, hold the Alt or Option (MAC) key over the word and click on the specific word that you want to rhyme, and a window of rhyme possibilities appears. Students may print their poetry, or, they may opt to save their typed creations to their own Word files. The site is simple, but it sure beats digging through a rhyming dictionary. Some of the words are difficult to read due to the background graphics.

In the Classroom

Demonstrate this site having volunteers share their poetry on your interactive whiteboard or projector. For advanced poets studying meter, discussing the multiple syllable options makes the task easier. You can also use this site as you teach common letter combinations and sounds with beginning readers. Enter a simple word such as “fish” or “bat” and Alt-click or Option-click for dozens of rhyming words to read aloud with a small group at your interactive whiteboard.

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  • Donec rutrum congue leo eget malesuada. Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a. Curabitur aliquet quam id dui posuere blandit. Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a.
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Tag(s): poetry, poetry,

The Biology of Plants

— Missouri Botanical Garden

K-3 0 favorites 0 promising practices http://mbgnet.net/bioplants/main.html Last updated: Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:49 share

How It Works

This simple site, generously illustrated with videos, explains the basics of plant life to elementary students, including information on how seeds germinate, plant parts, photosynthesis, pollination, seed dispersal, and plant adaptations. Terms are defined in clear sidebars, and text is well-illustrated in the silent video clips. Watch a seed germinate in time lapse or seeds blow into the wind. The videos require Quicktime. Get it from the <a href="/tools.cfm ">TeachersFirst Toolbox page.</a>

In the Classroom

The reading level for the simple text on this site is mid-elementary, so many students will be able to navigate it on their own or with a reading buddy. Introduce the site on your projector or interactive whiteboard. If your projector can zoom into the videos, you can share them in large groups. You can also have students explore the site as a science center or for review/reinforcement of plant terminology. Have students or small groups make their own illustrated plant life cycles on paper, PowerPoint slides, or in an interactive book using a tool such as Bookemon, <a href="/single.cfm?id=10404">reviewed here</a>.

Technology Heads-up!
  • Find interactive ABC's, colors, etc.
  • Donec rutrum congue leo eget malesuada. Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a. Curabitur aliquet quam id dui posuere blandit. Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a.
  • Donec rutrum congue leo eget malesuada. Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a. Curabitur aliquet quam id dui posuere blandit. Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a.
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Tag(s): earth, earth day, photosynthesis, plants, earth, photosynthesis, plants,
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