3 Sites every teacher should try this year

Newsela is a site that offers a wide variety of current events articles for students to read. Users can browse for articles by searching one of their eight categories and many articles come with ready made quizzes. What separates Newsela from other sites is the ability to set the articles to varying reading levels. Any article can be set for lexile levels ranging from a low of 530 up to 960 which is an invaluable feature in today's heterogeneous classrooms. The site is free to use but they do offer additional features for a fee.

_________________________________________________________

Kahoot is a great tool for creating formative assessments and review games for students of any age and it will be an instant hit as soon as you use it with your students. Creating Kahoots is very simple and intuitive and it allows you to add text, images and even  videos. Kahoot doesn't require any student information and kids simply use a special code to join your game. Kahoot also allows you to add YouTube videos to play at the beginning and when the game is over you can download your student's results to see how they did.

___________________________________________________________

Tackk is a great site where students can easily create online posters that can be shared via email, social media or be embedded onto a webpage or blog. As soon as you arrive on the website you can start creating your poster by editing their ready made template. The site is simple to use and users can easily add a title, body text, pictures, videos, and even songs. Content can be added from YouTube, Instagram, Vimeo, Sound Cloud, Hulu, and Spotify. Tackk is free to join and it is one of those great websites that anyone can use and students should enjoy.

4 websites for creating student projects

1- Mural.ly
Mural.ly is a fantastic online tool that appears to be intended for business but would work really well in the classroom. The site allows you to create online poster like presentations by adding pictures, text, websites, documents, and a host of other bells and whistles. The site also allows others to collaborate on the poster with you by a simple email invite and then they can join in. Mural.ly is a great resource for group projects and it is free to join and free to use.

_________________________________________________

2- Word Draw
Word Draw is a site that offers free professional looking templates for newsletters, flyers, labels, and resumes. The sites newsletter templates are categorized for education, business, family, holidays, and by month. The templates must be downloaded and are compatible for all versions of Microsoft Word.
These templates can also be utilized for a class newspaper, projects or even reports. If you desire professional looking documents and newsletters then head over to Word Draw and their excellent selection of Word based templates.

_____________________________________________

3- Tackk
Tackk is a site I wrote about in one of my first blog posts and I thought it was worth mentioning again. Tackk allows you to create online posters that can be shared via email, social media or be embedded onto a webpage or blog. As soon as you arrive on the website you can start creating your poster by editing their ready made template. You can easily add a title, body text, pictures, videos, and even songs. You can add content from You Tube, Instagram, Vimeo, Sound Cloud, Hulu, and Spotify. Creating an online poster with Tackk is so easy to do. Check out their Tackkboard to see what other people have created. Teachers could also use Tackk and have students create online posters as a project. Tackk is free to join and it is one of those great websites that anyone can use and everyone will enjoy.

_____________________________________________

4- Picovico
With Picovico, you can turn simple photographs into cool videos. Once you sign up (it's free) you begin by choosing a video template and then adding your pictures from Facebook, Flickr, or your computer. You can set the order of your pictures, add captions to them and add text slides if you wish. Next you add music, either from their library or add your own from your computer. Your last step is to add a video title and any additional text and you're done. Completed videos can be uploaded to You Tube or Facebook and can even be embedded into a website or blog. The site does have a 30 picture maximum but that is long enough for most people. If you like making great videos and sharing them with friends and family then give Picovico a try.

Tackk - An Easy Way to Create and Share Online Posters

Tackk is a site I wrote about in one of my first blog posts and I thought it was worth mentioning again. Tackk allows you to create online posters that can be shared via email, social media or be embedded onto a webpage or blog. As soon as you arrive on the website you can start creating your poster by editing their ready made template. You can easily add a title, body text, pictures, videos, and even songs. You can add content from You Tube, Instagram, Vimeo, Sound Cloud, Hulu, and Spotify. Creating an online poster with Tackk is so easy to do. Check out their Tackkboard to see what other people have created. Teachers could also use Tackk and have students create online posters as a project. Tackk is free to join and it is one of those great websites that anyone can use and everyone will enjoy.

Cool Web Finds

As the teachers in my building can attest, I have been regularly sharing many of the websites that I have recently discovered. In order to simplify matters for anyone who has enjoyed the sites I have shared, I have decided to start using this blog as the new and permanent way to share my discoveries. So without further delay, here is my latest edition of "cool web finds."

We have all had moments where we feel down on humanity or even worse, down on ourselves. Reading the stories at Helpingothers.org will help restore your faith in humanity and perhaps inspire you to "pay it forward."

If you are looking for a website to make you smile go to Waveatthebus and see a real life dad wave goodbye to his son's bus while wearing a different costume each day. 

At Retronaut you can view  memories, pictures, advertisements, and videos from your life or even your grandparents childhood. This site is a great place to reminisce and social studies teachers could  certainly use this site in their instruction at some point.

Speaking of memories, Moment.Me is a place where people can share their pictures and videos from weddings, parties, concerts, or other special days. 

At a site called tackk, users can make amazing online posters using pictures, text and video. Check out their samples page to see some of the possibilities. This site could be used for invitations, advertisements, or school projects.

Finally, I am a sucker for strange and unusual gifts. With the holidays just around the corner why not check out Greenhead. This is a site that offers the latest in unusual gift possibilities with items for just about any taste.