My favorite: BrainPOP

BrainPOP is my all time favorite website for introducing new topics to students. If you follow the CGI (Cognitively Guided Instruction) method, BrainPOP works wonderfully for the "Orientation" part of the plan. The videos are short, usually between 3-5 minutes, and give a great overview of a topic. You can sort movies by topic, standard, or key word.

I use them to introduce a topic, such as the Black Death in world history. First, I briefly explain the context of the movie, then we watch the movie. Finally, we do the quiz at the end. In order to get maximum student engagement, I have taught the students basic sign language for A, B, C, & D. All the students participate in the quiz and I call on one using my Rick Morris Classroom Cards app to call on one student to answer. My students really enjoy watching the movies, and like the friendly banter and humor of Tim and Moby.

There are also worksheets and graphic organizers that go with the movie, but in my effort to cut down on paper, I usually only use those for independent study packets or Saturday school.