#edshelf

As you put together your lesson plans and presentations, sometimes the right photograph or illustration can go a long way. Here are some teacher-recommended resources of free stock photos and illustrations that may help.

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Creative Commons Search - Search through multiple sources, such as Google, Flickr, and SoundCloud, to find content with the Creative Commons license. FREE

Photos For Class - Find classroom-safe photos with the Creative Commons license and proper attribution. FREE

Edupics.com - Browse through a large selection of printable school-appropriate coloring pages. FREE

WorldImages - Explore the California State University IMAGE Project's database of approximately 100,000 free images. FREE

Free Historical Stock Photos - Look through this collection of royalty-free historical photos, such as Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King, etc. FREE

Want more? Check out these shelves of tools created by members like you.

Images for Educators - Curated by district library coordinator Charlotte Ballard.

Art Content Resources - Curated by the Expanding Technology in the Classroom department of USD475 Geary County Public Schools in Kansas.

Enjoy these great tools for educators and students! Looking for previous issues of the edshelf Weekly? All are available online.

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For many of us, the holidays are here. And for many of us, this is a time for gift giving. What better gift than an educational kit to spark a child's curiosity and creativity? Something that can challenge one's problem solving? Here are some (last-minute) holiday gift ideas to consider.

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littleBits - Build a wide range of electronic projects using a combination of hardware (this product's signature magnetic "bits" that snap together), software, and content. PAID

KiwiCo - Purchase a monthly subscription of do-it-yourself, age-appropriate craft kits for your budding tinkerer. PAID

Roominate - Assemble all kinds of interactive buildings using this kit of circuits, motors, and modular wired building pieces. PAID

Wonder Workshop - Program Dash, Dot, or their newest robot Cue to perform all kinds of fun tricks and useful tasks, like playing music and pushing toys into a pile. PAID

Osmo - Augment your iPad, iPhone, or Amazon Fire tablet with an Osmo kit and play numerous interactive, hands-on, educational games. PAID

Want more? Check out these shelves of tools created by members like you.

STEM/MakerSpace - Curated by the librarian at Hicks Elementary School.

Tools for Digital Making - Curated by middle school librarian Heather Lister.

Enjoy these great tools for educators and students! Looking for previous issues of the edshelf Weekly? All are available online.

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Creating a comic strip can be a fun way to tell an engaging story. Perhaps your class can craft a comic about their favorite book, animal, toy, or holiday.

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Toontastic 3D - Animate 3D cartoon models, record your voice, and select from dozens of soundtracks. FREE

Comic Life 3 - Create comics on your desktop or mobile device using this powerful, full-featured comic strip creator. PAID

Animaker - Craft animated comics and videos with this web-based tool and its pre-animated asset library. FREEMIUM

Paper Camera - Render photos and videos as cartoons, sketches, and other comic book effects using a variety of real-time filters. PAID

Superhero Comic Book Maker - Put together animated stickers with sound effects and backgrounds, then record your voice to create animated comics. FREE

Want more? Check out these shelves of tools created by members like you.

Comic Makers - Curated by teacher-librarian Joyce Valenza.

Digital Storytelling - Curated by AT facilitator Kay Bolen.

Enjoy these great tools for educators and students! Looking for previous issues of the edshelf Weekly? All are available online.

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Technology can be a great help to your daily instruction. Here is a set of student-tested, teacher-recommended classroom tools to supplement your preparation, lesson plans, and activities.

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RefSeek - Search for academic information in web pages and online books, encyclopedias, journals, and newspapers. FREE

JogNog - Select a pre-made, standards-aligned student assessment from this library of thousands. PAID

BookWidgets - Create and embed an interactive game or exercise into your iBooks Author project or website. PAID

HandBrake - Convert a video from any format to any other format with this open source desktop software. FREE

Super Teacher Tools - Find a variety of digital classroom tools, like a Jeopardy game, seating chart maker, random name picker, countdown timer, etc. FREE

Want more? Check out these shelves of tools created by members like you.

Classroom Tech Tools - Curated by French immersion teacher Diane Cartier.

Student Learning and Gaming Platforms - Curated by world history teacher Kimberly Dawn Albury.

Enjoy these great tools for educators and students! Looking for previous issues of the edshelf Weekly? All are available online.

Is there a topic you would like me to cover? Or a tool you would like me to share? Leave a comment and let me know!

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For schools in the Northern Hemisphere, it's time to worry about summer learning loss again. Fortunately, there are many resources to help students retain the skills and knowledge they learned during the school year. Here are some teacher-recommended resources to consider.

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KiwiCo - Receive a package of age-appropriate crafts and activity resources every month. PAID

Math Whole - Practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division easily with this simple mobile app. PAID

SimPop - Play with interactive simulations of science experiments on this site built by high school students. FREE

Reading Vine - Access a wide variety of reading passages and answer a set of related questions that can be filtered by grade level, skill, and topic. FREE

CodeMonkey - Learn to code in a real programming language with these fully-guided online lessons and video tutorials. PAID

Want more? Check out these shelves of tools created by members like you.

Summer Resources - Curated by first grade teacher Andrea Ripp.

Summer Links for Parents - Curated by instructional tech Kate Reece.

Enjoy these great tools for educators and students! Looking for previous issues of the edshelf Weekly? All are available online.

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Want to bring a dose of science with you on your mobile device? Here are some kid-tested, teacher-recommended science apps that will educate and delight.

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Science Today - Read the latest science news from this free resource by the California Academy of Sciences. FREE

Spacecraft AR - Interact with 3D models of NASA spacecraft, including the Curiosity rover, SMAP, Voyager, and more. FREE

Atoms in Motion - Play with this interactive simulation of atoms to understand how they attract, repel, and collide with one another. FREEMIUM

DIY Human Body - Learn about the human anatomy and its various systems using these hands-on activities that have been tested by educators, kids, and families. FREE

BBC Wildlife Magazine - See stunning photography and read informative articles about the natural beauty of wildlife from around the world. FREEMIUM

Want more? Check out these shelves of tools created by members like you.

Science - Curated by substitute teacher and instructional aide Jennifer D'Angelo.

Preliminary Chemistry - Curated by chemistry teacher Michelle Lucas.

Enjoy these great tools for educators and students! Looking for previous issues of the edshelf Weekly? All are available online.

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Sometimes a game can be a fun medium for delivering instruction. Sometimes a group activity can be an engaging method for understanding content. Put them together and you have social gaming, a field of gaming that requires social interactions and group collaboration. Here are some teacher-recommended educational tools for playing social games with your students.

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MinecraftEdu - Play a customized version of Minecraft tailored specifically for teachers and students. PAID

Votograph - Take a photo with your team that best represents a challenge phrase given by your teacher. FREE

Kahoot! - Engage in classroom quizzes using this game-based classroom response system. FREE

Klikaklu - Run around using your phone's GPS, camera, and advanced image matching technology to play treasure hunts. FREEMIUM

SMART lab: Learning Activities - Compete or collaborate with classmates in this suite of games. Requires the SMART Notebook Learning Suite. FREE

Want more? Check out these shelves of tools created by members like you.

Educational Games - Curated by South Vermillion Middle School.

Polling/Student Response/Formative Assessment - Curated by the Plano Independent School District.

Enjoy these great tools for educators and students! Looking for previous issues of the edshelf Weekly? All are available online.

Is there a topic you would like me to cover? Or a tool you would like me to share? Leave a comment and let me know!

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Teach your students to be global citizens with these engaging tools. From geography games to virtual tours to connecting directly with classrooms and students around the world, these student-tested, teacher-recommended tools will help your students increase their empathy for and understanding of other cultures.

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GeoGuessr - Play a geography game where you guess the location based on a randomly chosen Google Street View map. FREE

One Globe Kids - Watch students from around the world share with you their hometowns, languages, and cultures. FREEMIUM

PenPal Schools - Meet penpals while completing collaborative online courses about world cultures and foreign languages. FREEMIUM

Skype in the Classroom - Watch live video conferences with guest speakers and classrooms from around the world, or engage in virtual field trips and video lessons. FREE

Roundme - Create panoramic interactive virtual tours of your hometown to share with other classrooms and students around the world. FREE

Want more? Check out these shelves of tools created by members like you.

Global Issues - Curated by gifted interventionist Anthony Provenzale.

Social Studies World History - Curated by technology and history teacher Wayne Graydon.

Enjoy these great tools for educators and students! Looking for previous issues of the edshelf Weekly? All are available online.

Is there a topic you would like me to cover? Or a tool you would like me to share? Leave a comment and let me know!

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