Over the years, TeachersFirst has created a number of lessons and instructional units that have proven popular with our users. While these are all listed in the various TeachersFirst subject pages, we have also listed them here. We hope this list will simplify searching for those of you who have used these resources in the past, and that they will provide new users with a quick introduction to some of the material available on our site.

See it all!! The sites below are only a fraction of the content TeachersFirst has created over the years. If you'd like to see a complete listing of all our offerings, click here.

Globetracker's Mission: Finding Dewey   Globetracker’s Mission is a projector- or whiteboard-ready, episodic story in blog-style format, taking students in grades 2-6 on a world-wide journey as they learn standards-based world geography, landforms, and map skills in an engaging, interactive context. Episodes include annotated vocabulary terms and interactive maps and questions to practice map skills. Readers vote at the conclusion of each post, telling Geo and Meri what to do next. Classes may also post their own predictions for the next episode. All episodes have accompanying Google Earth™ placemarker files so your class can “tour” with Geo and Meri using Google Earth’s free, downloadable software. Complete tech tips, practical lesson ideas, and teacher information are included.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows    TeachersFirst offers a chapter-by-chapter set of activities for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." The ideas and activities, designed to be used after each chapter, ask students to respond, extend, discuss, create, and more. Suited for both individuals and entire groups, the activity ideas are interdisciplinary, with something for every interest. There is simply no better way for students to try new “After Reading" strategies. Don’t miss this great collection as a way to encourage your students to get the most from reading and re-reading a new favorite.

Inventors of the Industrial Revolution is an introduction to major inventors of the Industrial Revolution in the United States and England. There are interactive activities around more than a dozen inventors, timelines, an inventor's quiz, and a listing of other resources dealing with inventors and inventions. Useful as a classroom or independent study resource for middle and high school students, this unit can easily be adapted for upper elementary. The unit grew out of a winning lesson from one of our lesson plan contests and was revised in 2007 for greater interactivity and compatibility with interactive whiteboards.

Using Art to Define the Renaissance - This online world history lesson for grades 6-10 introduces the phosophies that formed the foundation of the Renaissance, and lets students spot those concepts in artwork of the period.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - TeachersFirst offers a set of chapter-by-chapter response activities for the most recent Harry Potter tale. Students use art, writing, and web research to answer questions or think about the issues in a particular chapter. Ideal for individual use, and many of these could serve as the basis for a group discussion on topics like loyalty and leadership.

The Rock Family - Here's a nice little lesson for second and third graders on the three basic rock types that uses Inspiration concept mapping software. Over three class periods, students investigate each type using web resources that explain how each type of rock is formed. Downloadable worksheets make it easy to use the lesson materials again and again. Aligned to national standards.

Figurative Language - This lesson teaches students to recognize and use personification and alliteration by asking them to visit several illustrative web sites, then create a simple Powerpoint presentation illustrating each figure of speech. The lesson includes links, downloadable "idea cards," and a Powerpoint template. Aligned to national standards.

Meet the Graphs - This interactive TeachersFirst lesson introduces students to bar and pie graphs using a sample spreadsheet. Students can enter their observations, then watch to see how the different graphs represent their data. The lesson includes teacher instructions, an introduction that can be presented using powerpoint or the web, and downloadable spreadsheet file. Aligned to NCTM standards.

Defining Middle Eastern Borders - TeachersFirst's comprehensive Middle East resource examines the interplay of cultural, political, economic, and religious borders in the mideast from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. This "Teachers Tool Kit" offers a wealth of primary sources, guiding questions, and an interactive timeline, all geared to helping students understand the underlying issues and tensions that have made stability in the mideast so elusive for over a century. Teachers can use these resources as a complete unit, or as part of their own curriculum.

Who Did It? is a multi-part science unit for middle or high school students that uses "crime" analysis and forensics to teach and reinforce basic laboratory skills. Each lesson includes a laboratory and procedure component, along with handouts and study questions. Extensive printable PDF files make this unit especially easy to implement in the classroom.

Writer's Workshop is a technique for making daily writing a part of the primary curriculum. The unit offers numerous strategies for incorporating writing into daily classroom routine in various subjects, and includes many examples showing what to emphasize in building a love of writing and communication in even the youngest students. Additional materials show how to extend Writer's Workshop throughout the elementary years.

The 50 States TeachersFirst's comprehensive state resource is a wealth of original content for students on history, geography and more. Students will also find links to information on famous people and places in each state. Some of our "places to see" are major landmarks, and some are not be the usual ones, in the hope that students will look "off the beaten path" to discover hidden gems.

Signs in Stitches and Song is a multi-lesson, interdisciplinary unit about the Underground Railroad for primary students. Concentrating on the codes and signal systems by which escaping slaves found their way northward, the unit includes language arts, science, music, geography and math components. The various elements can be used individually, or in combination. There are extensive illustrations, printable handouts, optional Flash animations, and suggestions for further study.

They had a Dream Too is a unit on overcoming obstacles for grades K-4. It offers profiles of several dozen famous people and asks students to research how one of these achieved success despite an impediment. The unit can be used as part of Black History month, a culminating project for a biography unit, or in any context studying accomplishments.

Our Martin Luther King unit for grades K-4 offers language arts, math, and science activities based around the principles of equality and non-violence which were the hallmark of Dr. King's career. Printable PDF files make this lesson unit easy to use in any classroom.

Biomes of the World is a unit that combines the basics on the world's different biomes with a "biomes treasure hunt" that asks students to research the characteristics of each biome. There are lots of ways for elementary or middle schoolers to use this unit, either in class or as part of an independent investigations.

More poetry! This on-screen presentation of The Highwayman - Alfred Noyes' famous poem - features pop-up guides to poetic devices and vocabulary. Students can use these to familiarize themselves with simile, metaphor, personification, alliteration, and the like. Then, ask students to spot these devices for themselves in the later verses. This one's a great on-screen activity.

Edgar Allen Poe - The Interactive Raven - TeachersFirst's on-line presentation of Poe's classic poem provides a built-in glossary, as well as notations on the use of common literary devices in Poe's text. Students can see these devices illustrated in the first half of the poem, then spot them on their own in the later verses. Makes the Raven come alive. The introduction requires the Flash player, available from the TeachersFirst Toolbox.

Our favorite history unit - Frontier Forts - offers elementary and middle school students a look at the role that frontier forts played in the American Revolution. Students learn how frontier children lived, as well as the differences between the Colonial and British soldiers and fighting styles. A list of discussion topics helps teachers integrate the content into their other lesson activities.

This unit is a tour of seven East Coast settlements and the web resources associated with them. Originally designed as a "summer tour," it also provides a one-stop source for comparative information about early settlements from St. Augustine north to Massachusetts. Choose your own depth; there are resources suitable for students from elementary through high school levels.

If you work with high school writers, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek offers a chapter-by-chapter reader's response "starters" for Annie Dillard's evocative book about the Virginia woods. Use as little or as much as you like; the "assignments" are intended to get young minds moving.

Not as strange as it sounds, Dante's Infernal Grammar couples an introduction to Dante's Inferno with a review of some of the more devilish elements of high school grammar. Author Brenda Walton lets students discover how teens can encounter some of the same personalities that appear in Dante's journey. Use just the grammar, just the narrative, or pair the two. You'll get surprising results either way.

TeachersFirst's unit on Christopher Marlowe has built its own international following. Built for high school students, the unit examines Marlowe's life and works, and looks at the relationship between his work and that of his more famous contemporary. The text, illustrations, and lesson ideas can stand on their own or enhance any Shakespeare study.

To Featured Sites