Educator Resources

Put the Visual Thesaurus to work in your classroom

I'm in mourning this week: my school is closing. Not the one I work in now, but Stella Maris High School, a small (ultimately, apparently, too small) Catholic girls' school, which I've always described as "on the beach in Queens." It really is on the beach — just about 50 yards from the sand. When we had fire drills, we dispersed to the boardwalk. Stella might be the only school in New York City where students were routinely chastised for wearing bikini tops under their uniforms. Continue reading...
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Ed researcher Robert J. Marzano suggests that we can help close the achievement gap by explicitly teaching subject-specific academic vocabulary to those students who are lacking the background knowledge to succeed in school. We urge you to check out this handy-dandy chart that demonstrates how the Visual Thesaurus can help you implement Marzano's six steps of vocabulary instruction. Continue reading...
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Edulinks

Useful sites for educators

All the News That's Fit to... Teach

These sites help educators incorporate current events into their teaching, across the curriculum. 

The New York Times Learning Network

TIME for Kids 

Scholastic's Upfront

NewsHour Extra's Teacher Resources

NBC News iCue

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Here's a reminder of our current contest, based on the different roles of historical figures. Enter and you can win a Visual Thesaurus T-shirt! Continue reading...
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Automatically create lists of vocabulary from any text using the Visual Thesaurus VocabGrabber.
Try it now!
Think you are a good speller? Take the Visual Thesaurus Spelling Bee and find out!
Click here to start.
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How can students use the Visual Thesaurus to learn the U.S. customary system of measuring liquids and to apply their knowledge in solving math problems? Continue reading...
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The Visual Thesaurus is an ideal teaching resource for children of all ages, with a visually captivating display that engages students in learning new words and concepts. To find out more about how you can integrate the Visual Thesaurus in your classroom, click here.

A federally-funded study has found that the Visual Thesaurus can significantly help students struggling with reading comprehension.

Read all about the research here.

Want to learn how to use the Visual Thesaurus to add some extra oomph to your classroom activities? Just click on the instructional videos above!

Calendar

Events for Educators
Nov 5 - Nov 8: VT @ AASL
The Visual Thesaurus will have an exhibit at the 2009 National Conference of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) in Charlotte, NC. Visit us at Booth #848! Click here for conference details.
Nov 20 - Dec 11: November-December WordMasters Challenge
It's time for the first WordMasters Challenge of the school year! Click here for details.
Nov 30: November Webinar for Educators
Our free monthly webinar helps educators get the most out of the Visual Thesaurus.  Continue reading...
Dec 21: December Webinar for Educators
Our free monthly webinar helps educators get the most out of the Visual Thesaurus.  Continue reading...
Jan 8: Word of the Year / Word of the Decade
The American Dialect Society will be selecting the Word of the Year at its annual meeting in Baltimore, MD. In addition, the ADS will choose a The ADS will also be anointing a Word of the Decade for 2000-2009. Visual Thesaurus editor Ben Zimmer will be participating as a member of the ADS Executive Council. Read more about the meeting here, and submit your entries for Word of the Decade here.
Jan 12 - Jan 15: VT @ FETC
The Visual Thesaurus will have an exhibit at the 2010 Florida Educational Technology Conference (FETC) at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL. Visit us at Booth #457! Click here for conference details.