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As more schools shut down to stave off the spread of the coronavirus, you might be wondering what the heck you're supposed to do with your kids home all day. If you're lucky, you can stay home with them-while juggling conference calls or paying bills at the same time. And if you can't, hopefully you can find help or set up a system to keep in touch with your kids throughout the day while they're home alone.

Here at Common Sense Media, we're all parents, too. And while the coronavirus is new to all of us, we have a bunch of ideas for how to keep our kids busy, entertained, and learning while they're home. With the help of our educational team, we've put together a template for a sample day geared toward tweens and teens with plenty of resources so you can pick and choose what works for you and your family. We hope this helps ease the burden of this confusing time. Hang in there.

Quick tips

Manage your expectations. Your kids will not be learning at the same pace or breadth as a usual school day. Figure two to three hours a day to start. Don't stress too much about this.

Make time for breaks and fun. All of us are anxious as we manage this new reality, so take any opportunity to relax and laugh together. It will make the hard stuff easier.

Set a schedule. Get everyone on the same page so you don't have to nag. Routines can be comforting for everyone.

Review schools' plans. In some cases, schools will have a very specific education plan during closures. Use their instructions as a guide for setting up your schedule.

MORNING

Math. About 30 minutes.
Watch a Khan Academy lesson and practice. If your math skills aren't what they used to be, visit Khan Academy's FAQ for tips on how to help your kid with math or get them started on self-directed learning. Here is their Quick Start Guide if you're ready to jump in.

Other math resources:

Reading. 30-60 minutes.
If your kid has a book they're reading in English class, make some progress on that. If not, choose one for fun. If you can't leave the house, Libby connects you to your local library. Punch in your library card number and you have access to a wide range of ebooks kids can access on their Kindle, tablet, or computer.

Other reading apps:

Physical education. 30-60 minutes.
Ideally you can get outside and go for a walk or throw a ball around. But if you're stuck indoors, you can follow along to YouTube exercise videos, set up an obstacle course, do some yoga or stretching, or try jumping jacks.

Just Dance 2020 helps tweens and teens work up a sweat while listening to favorite music (you'll need a game console to play it). It has some mature lyrics, so choose something different if that's a concern. More ideas:

MIDDAY

Connect with friends. 30-60 minutes.
Tweens and teens thrive on social connections, so make sure to keep these going even if you aren't allowing in-person time. If they're already on popular social platforms, this might be the time to re-negotiate any time limits so they can get their social fix virtually.

Houseparty is a group video-chat tool that, when used appropriately, can be a fun way for friends to connect and catch up. Other picks:

AFTERNOON

Creative time. 90-120 minutes.
Bring out the pens and paper! This can be a nice chunk of time off screens. Whatever your kid is into-piano, papier-mâché, playwriting-this is the perfect opportunity to let loose. Of course, there are lots of ways media and tech can support these interests if you choose.

YouTube has an endless amount of instructional content, including music lessons, DIY creators, painting (gotta love Bob Ross!), and more. Keep younger kids in family spaces so you can make sure they are finding quality content. More choices:

Chores. 15-30 minutes.
Every family has a different way of managing household responsibilities. But if you're finding this to be a particularly challenging time to get your kids to help out, you can try some apps that can help them stay organized and give some incentives.

Brili Routines is a task manager with a simple interface that works well for kids who need a little extra push to complete their daily tasks. Parents set up the tasks and then switch to the kid profile before turning it over. Kids earn rewards and learn to better manage their time. Other options:

EVENING

Family time. Hours and hours.
When kids are stressed, they're going to need even more chances to chill out, so this might be a time to relax rules about entertainment media. And while tweens and teens don't always tell you that they need your support, they do. Watching movies or playing games together can be an easy way to be together in a low-stress way. Here are some ideas:

Jackbox Party Packs are collections of games that groups can play using individual devices (phones, tablets, laptops). You can download the game via providers such as Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Comcast Xfinity X1, and the game network Steam-and then play it from the couch. You can even invite friends and family from afar to join the game while video-chatting. Also try:

OTHER RESOURCES

Helping kids stay focused
If you're concerned that your kid won't be able to stay on task while doing online work, you may need to get some tech help. Here are some options:

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How to Keep Kids Learning When They're Stuck at Home

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As more schools shut down to stave off the spread of the coronavirus, you might be wondering what the heck you're supposed to do with your kids home all day. If you're lucky, you can stay home with them-while juggling conference calls or paying bills at the same time.

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The thought ended almost before it started: "This is so overwhelming." It was all one teacher managed to type before she stopped short, vexed into silence, perhaps, by the sheer size of the problem. In the pregnant pause that followed, undoubtedly, every teacher tracking the unspooling thread-about the dizzying, rapidly escalating viral crisis that was closing schools across the country-recognized the chasm they were all facing as well, and took a deep breath.

In the next few hours, over 500 teachers joined two Facebook conversations about teaching during the coronavirus pandemic, spilling out their concerns and anxieties: What will we do if the schools close for months? How can I shift to online learning if we're closing tomorrow, or even in a few hours? How will special education students be cared for, and IEPs administered? What about children who have no internet access, or who will be required, as Keith Schoch thoughtfully noted, to "become de facto babysitters" for their brothers and sisters. "There is no digital divide, but there is a digital abyss, and America's rural poor are living at the bottom of it," said Anne Larsen, with devastating concision. What if, in the end, the school systems decide that online learning is working just fine, and never reopen?

The panic was all perfectly understandable.

But there were plenty of teachers in the mix who had weeks of crisis experience under their belts by that time-several in Hong Kong and Italy and the state of Washington, for example-and others who had long careers in online and distance learning. In the end, too, there were many fantastic, highly creative teachers providing strategies as fast as the obstacles appeared.

At the highest level, a shift in mindset would be required-even the most optimistic educators conceded the point. There are plenty of strategies and tactics we're covering at Edutopia-and we'll continue to-but here are the crucial emotional and psychological scaffolds that our audience agreed would be needed to teach in this new paradigm.

Expect Trial... and Plenty of Error

Start by being reasonable with yourself. It is, in fact, impossible to shift to distance learning overnight without lots of trial and error. Expect it, plan for it, and do your best to make peace with it.

"I can tell you, now that we're in week 7 of online learning, that much of what you will do will be trial and error," wrote Stacy Rausch Keevan, who was teaching in Hong Kong. "Don't stress about that-it won't do you any good. For my middle school English and humanities classes, I'm offering the same lessons I would normally do live, but in smaller doses."

Acknowledge the Extraordinary

Reset your baseline. We're all operating in the shadow of a global pandemic, and it is disorienting and limiting. Business as usual is unrealistic.

The real "points to consider" are not "the strict adherence to 'regular' conditions and norms," wrote Amy Rheault-Heafield in a reply to a question about how to structure distance learning like more typical learning experiences, "but how to provide a rich experience to all learners who are now without 'traditional' teachers standing beside them in classes."

So while you should try to provide "meaningful activities," cautioned elementary teacher John Thomas, "we should remember that on short notice-and because many of us have limited PD utilizing these tools-we can't tackle everything immediately. In other words, we should give ourselves the time and the permission to figure this out."

Reduce the Workload (for Yourself and Your Students)

If your district allows it, you should plan to do less. Students won't be able to work as productively, anyway-so if you can't scale back you'll be sending them work they cannot do-and your own life and family need added care.

"Feedback from students and families over the last 10 days in Italy is 'less is more,'" commented Jo Gillespie. "Consider that parents are trying to work from home, and siblings are vying for computer and Wi-Fi time. Try Google quizzes using Forms, a reading log, some short live sessions with teachers and classmates, maybe vocabulary extension, maths and geometry problems (but not too many). And that's probably enough."

And Keevan, the teacher in Hong Kong with weeks of experience, confirmed that time and distance play funny games during a crisis: "What would normally take you one class period to teach in the classroom will probably take you twice as long."

No Person Is an Island

Humans are social animals. Working from home, or worse, from quarantine, is isolating and often depressing for both teachers and students.

Make a concerted effort to speak to other colleagues and trusted professionals to provide emotional and psychological context to your work. Teaching at this moment is extraordinarily hard, and you'll need the virtual company of people who are experiencing what you are.

And don't forget to "reach out to students as often as you can," said Keevan, who still teaches classes live despite a (slightly inconvenient!) 13-hour time difference. Or you can facilitate peer-to-peer communication. John Thomas assigns pen pals in his first- and second-grade classes, so that kids with no internet can feel like they belong.

Everyone Thinks They Can't-Before They Can

Some degree of pessimism and self-doubt comes with the territory. Teachers in the Facebook thread advised more perspective-taking and being more patient with yourself: You know how to teach, and you will figure this out in time.

"We are in week 7 and I have three children of my own at home," wrote Salecia Host, a teacher in Tianjin, China, reflecting on the arc of her emotional response to the crisis. "Just take it day by day. It gets less overwhelming and more routine."

Try to remain calm-though you'll have a few moments where that goes out the window-and keep plugging away: "Being open-minded and flexible is key," said Kaz Wilson, who also works in China. "Everyone thinks you can't until you pause, talk it out with folks who are doing it, and know that you'll get through it."

Mind the Gap

Your work will be hard, but there are students facing more severe challenges. Students with no internet or no computer will need support, as will those with learning differences or other circumstances that make distance learning especially difficult. Supporting these students was on almost everyone's mind-it came up dozens of times in the Facebook thread.

"I'm in Italy. Our schools closed a few weeks ago without any previous warning. We shifted to online immediately. It is hard and exhausting," admitted Eleonora Borromeo, before providing a ray of hope. "Equity is an issue. Assessment is an issue. But the students are doing their best and giving us the strength to go on."

Solutions from our audience of teachers focused on the old analog approaches: paper-and-pencil tasks, workbooks and activity packets that can be mailed home, and updating parents and students via phone calls daily.

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Teaching Through a Pandemic: A Mindset for This Moment

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The thought ended almost before it started: "This is so overwhelming." It was all one teacher managed to type before she stopped short, vexed into silence, perhaps, by the sheer size of the problem.

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Industry News

Updated: Free Resources for Schools During COVID-19 Outbreak

(Updated September 14; originally published March 13) In response to the number of states, districts and schools that are shuttering schools to students over the next several weeks in response to fears about the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), education technology companies have stepped forward to help educators reach students in virtual ways. In many cases, the companies are making their paid services free through the rest of the school year; in other cases, they're lifting limits to services and/or adding premium features to what's free. The following list will be updated regularly as announcements are made. (If you know of a company that should be included on this list, please send details to [email protected] .)

Jump to:

Abre.io has made Abre Hub available free to schools permanently. The program provides a single place to post news and announcements and give quick access to software tools. Sign-up is intended for district representatives. https://abre.io/free/

The Academy of Active Learning Arts and Sciences and the Flipped Learning Global Initiative have published the "Rapid Transition to Online Learning," a roadmap for making the rapid shift to online learning during school closures. The resources include a checklist for administrators, another for IT managers, a transition plan and video tutorial for teachers and access to an international team of volunteers who have stepped forward to answer questions. The organization is continuing to seek volunteers for the program. http://aalasinternational.org/rtol/

The Academy of Art University is hosting a free series of online events, including guest experts in art and design speaking through Zoom, movie afternoons and nights, and virtual workshops on sketching and the use of various software programs. https://www.academyart.edu/admissions/upcoming-events/

Acer has put together a handy comparison table that provides an overview of remote learning tools. The chart specifically compares Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Zoom, for remote learning; and Facebook and YouTube for video conferencing. The information examines whether or not screen sharing is allowed, the maximum number of attendees, the maximum length of meetings and other features. https://eu-acerforeducation.acer.com/uncategorized/remote-learning-a-comparison-among-top-collaboration-tools/

Achieve3000 is offering free access to resources for differentiated literacy instruction. Educators can access three different programs. Achieve3000 Literacy at Home offers access to non-fiction articles at three reading levels with topics covering science, social studies and current events. Premium licenses for Actively , for grades 6 -12, provides thousands of texts, including contemporary and classic literature, with collaboration and discussion tools to facilitate interactive remote instruction for English language arts, science and social studies. For students without internet, the company is offering " Literacy Printable Packets," a set of text sets with 20 printable articles and questions. The company said those text packets add up to a month's worth of content differentiated for students who are at-, below- and above- grade-level in their reading abilities. Lessons can be downloaded and sent home by email or printed out. https://achieve3000.com/community-resources/remote-learning-2020/

ACT Academy is a free resource for personalized test practice for the ACT, Pre-ACT, Tessera and Aspire exams. The organization is also offering a feature for teachers to understand their students' mastery of math, English language arts and science concepts. https://academy.act.org/

ActivEd is offering free access to its "Walkabouts," platform with web-based lessons for students in grades pre-K-2 students that integrate movement with language arts, math and reading content and correlate to state learning standards. Students, teachers, and parents can access grade-level content. http://info.activedinc.com/covid

AdGuard is offering a free personal account to its ad- and tracking-blocker program for three months. The privacy protection software is available for Windows, MacOS, iOS and Android. To obtain a license key under this offer, register via this link and confirm the registration. Existing users may get an extra key by logging in through a special landing page. https://adguard.com/en/blog/stayhome.html

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Updated: Free Resources for Schools During COVID-19 Outbreak -- THE Journal

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In response to the number of states, districts and schools that are shuttering schools to students in response to fears about the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), education technology companies have stepped forward to help educators reach students in virtual ways. (Updated September 14)

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Okay, but seriously: How do you schedule your day with kids home from school?

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We've all seen (and chuckled at) the optimistic schedule plans. But here's how to create a daily routine that actually works for kids-and parents.

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Computer Science & Computational Thinking

Advanced Robotics Demystified in 4 Steps

By building and programming robots, kids of all ages can learn about computer science, mechatronics, coding, literacy, physical science, mathematics, healthy competitiveness, teamwork and perseverance, but in order to get there, instruction must be deliberate and rigorous. Follow these four steps to get your students on track.

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We help educators around the world use technology to solve tough problems.

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Talking to kids about the Coronavirus can be complicated. It's likely they've seen and heard a lot of information from friends and the media. They might be afraid, stressed or worried. If your children are already prone to anxiety, you want to calm their fears. However, you also want to be honest and make sure they're practicing good hygiene behavior. So how do start the conversation?

To help you navigate this difficult topic, we sat down with Dr. Rebecca Berry, PhD , a professor at NYU Langone and an expert in the field of child and adolescent psychiatry. She provides her advice on talking to children about the Coronavirus and explains why the most important thing is to stay positive and solutions-focused.

1. Have the Conversation

It's worth sitting down and speaking to your children about the Coronavirus. Dr. Berry explains, "At this point, it's probably important for families to have a conversation." That being said, she adds, "I don't want families to think this has to be a big discussion. In fact, this really can be just a quick discussion - a time to listen, to hear out concerns and maybe even to filter out myths that are being thrown out there and correct those with some helpful tidbits of information." (Think bullet points). "Here's what we know, here's what we're doing, here's how you emphasize good hygiene."

2. Control the Dialogue, and Don't Provide Too Much Information

As the Coronavirus develops, there are daily if not hourly updates. However, you don't have to share those updates with your kids. In fact, Dr. Berry explains, "Sometimes kids having too many updates about things makes it seem that some impending doom is happening." Make sure that, for kids, parents, rather than the media are controlling the dialogue. Dr. Berry says, "Sometimes, with certain kids, less is more because a lot of times media content is sensationalized or exaggerated or repeated in such a way that brings about a lot of fear for people."

She adds, "Providing too much information can be harmful in some cases, especially when it's not paired with brainstorming solutions." That is why, "It's important for parents to control the message and the dialogue as much as possible." So what exactly should that message be?

3. Make the Message Positive and Solutions-Focused

When talking to kids about the Coronavirus, make sure information always comes alongside some type of proactive action. Focus on the things that the family is doing (such as washing hands) as well as the things the community and the government are doing and explain how those things are going to keep people safe.

Dr. Berry says, "Especially for younger kids, that proactive action and some hope is going to be important. Because it makes the child feel that they have a way to manage uncertain times."

Still, you don't want to provide an unrealistic level of hope. Dr. Berry doesn't encourage saying things like, "oh this is nothing, we're going to be over it in a week." However, you don't want to be too negative because, she says, "a child doesn't know what to do with that."

The most important thing is that they know there is, "some movement toward a solution both on the family level, community level and national level."

4. Pitch the Conversation at an Appropriate Level

Dr. Berry says that, when talking to kids about the Coronavirus, "The level of detail or honesty that a parent gives their child will depend upon their age, temperament, maturity and cognitive ability." Dr. Berry adds, "The parent or guardian should have a sense already of who their kids are and the amount of information to give to them."

In order to pitch the conversation at an appropriate level, you might also start by asking the children what they already know and what they've heard about the Coronavirus. This would also be an opportunity to correct any misconceptions.

The level of the conversation should also depend on, according to Dr. Berry, "whether or not the child is coming in with a preexisting anxiety condition that might make them more likely to catastrophize what might happen."

5. Listen and Validate

Especially if your kids are already prone to anxiety, Dr. Berry explains that parents should first "Hear out the child and the concerns that they have." More importantly, do not dismiss those fears. Instead, Dr. Berry encourages parents to practice something she calls, "validation." She says parents should maintain a "matter-of-fact and calm" voice and say something like: "Listen, I understand that you're hearing a lot of things about what's going on and I can tell that you're worried about it."

Then, refocus them onto your solutions message. Say something like "[We] are here to make sure that you are protected and safe and that as a family we're doing everything we can to keep each other healthy. Let us know if you want to talk more about this."

After that, it can be helpful to encourage kids to refocus on their normal lives, activities and routines. This is what Dr. Berry recommends for any worries, whether they are related to the Coronavirus, climate change, or other catastrophes.

6. Focus on What They Can Do and What Others are Doing to Keep Them Safe

Remind children that it's not their responsibility to worry about the virus. It's only their job to make sure they are maintaining safe hygiene practices and continuing to wash their hands. According to Dr. Berry, "younger kids follow rules quite well," so it's likely that if you tell them to wash their hands, they will actually do it. If you want to go a step further, Dr. Berry explains that you can turn hand-washing into a game for younger kids. Encourage them to sing Happy Birthday twice while washing their hands, then "make it into a fun game for younger kids, in terms of maybe seeing how loud they can sing or how much soap they can get.

Then explain that others are also working to keep them safe. Dr. Berry says, "Especially with kids, we have to focus on what's being done on many levels, (both on the familial level, the community level, even the national level) to keep them safe." Dr. Berry encourages telling children "Here's what our family is doing, here's what the scientists are doing, and our country [is doing]."

Parents should remind kids, that "the people in big positions, like the scientists are figuring out a plan." It's those people's jobs to worry, not the children's.

Ultimately, when talking to kids about the Coronavirus, emphasize the solutions, reemphasize what everyone is doing to prepare, and encourage them to keep living their daily lives.
For more advice on navigating the Coronavirus outbreak, see our travel tips, our recipe for DIY hand sanitizer, and more. This story first appeared on newyorkfamily.com.

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How to talk to kids about coronavirus: Tips from an expert - amNewYork

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Talking to kids about the Coronavirus can be complicated. It's likely they've seen and heard a lot of information from friends and the media. They might be afraid, stressed or worried. If your children are already prone to anxiety, you want to calm their fears.

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Talking to Kids About the Coronavirus Crisis - Child Mind Institute

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What parents and other adults can say to kids about the coronavirus COVID-19. How to answer their questions and keep kids feeling safe.

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access twinkl usa's printable and digital teacher resources: worksheets

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Printable and Digital Teacher Resources | Twinkl USA

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Instantly access Twinkl's printable and digital K-12 teaching resources, including worksheets, eBooks, games, PowerPoints, Google Slides, and more!

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The SAG-AFTRA Foundation's Daytime Emmy-nominated, Storyline Online, features celebrated actors reading children's books to inspire a love of reading in millions of children worldwide.

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Run pulse-checks with quiz, polls and other questions to collect valuable student feedback. For example, pre-assess knowledge, or find out how students are feeling in general. Kahoot!'s visual reports on live games and challenges will help you with formative assessment: see how the class performed, identify difficult questions that need followup, and reinforce learning.

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Distance learning platform | Online learning features

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Run pulse-checks with quiz, polls and other questions to collect valuable student feedback. For example, pre-assess knowledge, or find out how students are feeling in general. Kahoot!'s visual reports on live games and challenges will help you with formative assessment: see how the class performed, identify difficult questions that need followup, and reinforce learning.

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With kids at home and parents looking for educational activities, many of our favorite authors are offering online read-alouds and activities on social media. We've rounded up over 50 of the best virtual author activities below!

Read-Alouds for Elementary School Kids

These authors are offering read-alouds of their books and books by their favorite authors.

The author will be doing read-alouds on Instagram Live of her book Mae Among the Stars.

Reading one of her books each day on Facebook!

The author will be reading a book a day on Instagram Live. It does not appear that he will be adding the videos to his website at this time.

She is hosting DRAW ME MORE: a Read-Along/ Draw-Along activity on her website. She's already shared an 11 chapter, chapter book (reading level grades 2-4) called MASON & THE MEGA-NAUTS.

Author and illustrator of It Came in the Mail; Rot, the Cutest in the World; and upcoming Rot, the Bravest in the World. He has scheduled two read-aloud sessions on Facebook. March 18 (2 PM EST) and March 20 (5 PM EST).

Julia Cook, bestselling children's author, will be doing Monday and Friday readings on Facebook Live at 9:00 AM CST!

He is the grandson of famed sea explorer Jacques Cousteau, and a third-generation ocean explorer and filmmaker. He is the author of the Fabien Cousteau Expeditions, a series of graphic adventure novels for kids, the latest of which is JOURNEY UNDER THE ARCTIC. He will be doing a live Shark Story Time reading on March 23rd at 3:00 PM and will have a live Q&A on March 24th at 10:00 AM.

The author reads various Pete the Cat books daily at 12 PM EDT

Enjoy a reading of Falatko's book, Snappsy the Alligator (Did Not Ask to Be in This Book), by Stranger Things actor, David Harbour. This read-aloud comes with a teacher's guide.

Oprah Winfrey reads Godin's book, The Hula-Hoopin' Queen, which is accompanied by a handy teacher's guide.

The author has added a collection of videos of herself reading from her picture books on Instagram. You may also learn more about her books on her website.

Reads 3 chapters from "Miss Blake is a Flake" each day at 2:00 PM EDT, but you can also view archives!

Bruce has posted a series of writing tips videos on this page of his website and a read-aloud of my book, BIG BAD BABY, on YouTube, with more to come.

The author will be reading one book every day on Instagram Live. Can't make it? He'll also be posting the videos to his website.

Live every day at noon EDT on Instagram Live. Her stories stay up each day for 24 hours.

Activities and videos from the New York Times bestselling author of How I Became a Pirate and other amazing books.

Upcoming author Brittany Thurman reads aloud Medina's book, Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Boy.

A former classroom teacher, Messner has written more than three dozen books for kids. She's put together a library of distance learning resources for students, families, teachers, and librarians.

Author, illustrator, and founder of FableVision. Find Peter's weekday read-aloud events on Facebook at noon EDT, Monday through Friday.

Young kids will enjoy this great read-aloud of Where Are My Books? The author also provides a teacher's guide, drawing demos and shares a crowd-sourced music video based on the book.

Follow the story of A Bad Case of Stripes as read by Lord of the Rings actor, Sean Astin. Then, work through the helpful teacher's guide.

Learn the story of The House That Jane Built as read by The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina actress, Kiernan Shipka. You may access activity guides for teachers or for parents.

She is reading a chapter a day from her book Henry and the Chalk Dragon on Facebook live!

Virtual Author Activities for Middle School

Read-alouds and reading activities from favorite authors.

The author has put together reading activities around his Cogheart Adventures. He's even created Q&A videos on YouTube.

Sarah is adding readings, mini-lessons, and prompts to her page! Follow along and get inspired to get reading and writing.

Find Daily live drawing sessions on Facebook! Tony DiTerlizzi is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and illustrator who has been creating books for twenty years. He created The Spiderwick Chronicles with Holly Black, which has sold millions of copies around the world. His highly anticipated sequel to Kenny and the Dragon, KENNY & THE BOOK OF BEASTS, releases this fall.

Listen to a read-aloud of Henderson's The Magic in Changing Your Stars and then work through the writing challenge (with hints!) listed on author Kate Messner's site: Who is Ailey Benjamin Lane named after?

This official PDF teaching guide is a great learning resource for your middle schooler to think about and discuss the beloved Diary of a Wimpy Kid series!

Watch Knowles read the first chapter of her middle grade novel, Where the Heart Is, while giving students a fun writing exercise. She's also created guides for teachers and book groups on her website.

Author of the Lunch Lady graphic novel series, Krosoczka will be hosting a daily drawing webcast on YouTube at 2 PM EDT. You can also find videos on his website. Be sure to also check out his National Book Award Finalist, Hey Kiddo.

The author behind Enginerds has created some cool worksheets that will be updated every few days to keep kids entertained and engaged. These activities may be a good addition to your distance learning resources.

The author and illustrator has taken to YouTube to provide a glimpse into Chinese culture and a guide for drawing Chinese dragons.

Author of O ne for the Murphys, Fish in a Tree, and Shouting at the Rain, she has put together several videos for readers and teachers online.

He is reading a chapter a day from Book 1 of the Wingfeather Saga, On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness.

You may have to change the season or specific circumstances, but this collection of writing prompts is a great way to help your student build literacy skills, while giving them a chance to express themselves.

What better series for middle schoolers than the famous Harry Potter books? You probably loved them, and now you have the chance to introduce your children into the Wizarding World. Use this handy discussion guide that covers the first four books to bring an academic approach to your own little wizards' education.

Neal Shusterman is the New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty award-winning books for children, teens, and adults, including the Arc of a Scythe series. "With so many people working and learning from home due to the coronavirus (COVID-19), I wanted to give you all something special. Over the next few weeks, I'll be doing some readings from my short story collections: MINDQUAKES and MINDSTORMS." Available on Youtube.

The nonfiction science book author has created engaging video mini-lessons including a similes worksheet, researching skills, and more.

Mo Willems invites you into his studio every day for his lunch doodle! Grab some paper and pencils, pens, or crayons and join Mo to explore ways of writing and making together while he chats about his characters Pigeon, Piggie, and Elephant.

Virtual Author Activities for High School & Young Adults

Even more resources for tweens and teens.

The author of The Jumbies series has created videos of mini-lessons on comparative mythology and has added valuable distance learning resources, including downloadables for teachers and parents, to her website.

Due to public health concerns, these YA authors sadly had to cancel all in-person events for the release of BETWEEN BURNING WORLDS in March, and are connecting with readers through a virtual book tour.

Emily Dickenson

High school students may have discovered the timeless magic of Emily Dickinson. This teaching guide includes multimedia and discussion questions for The Essential Emily Dickinson collection.

Fans of the author of The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns? Here's a link to some discussion questions surrounding his works. Green has also co-created Crash Course, a website that provides high-quality educational videos for high school and college-level classes. Students, parents, and teachers alike could be entertained for hours without ever leaving the site!

Looking for writing prompts? This author has put together a list of prompts to get students thinking outside of the box.

To go along with his collection of youth novels, Hobbs has created resources and activities for teachers and librarians.

Check out the National Endowment for the Arts Big Read Learning Guide for Silver Sparrow by this NEA creative writing fellow.

Want to learn more about writing an etheree (a ten-line poem in which writers add an additional syllable with each line)? Scanlon has a video lesson all about them!

Ready to work on some poetry? It can be tough to know where to start, but Sidman has created a poem starters for teachers and students, and even has categories for Younger Writers or Older Writers.

Students or kids reading Thomas' The Hate U Give? You'll find some good distance learning resources for discussion questions and projects on this website.
Looking for more? We have over 130 online resources for learning at home here!

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The Big List of Children's Authors Doing Online Read Alouds & Activities

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With kids at home and parents looking for educational activities, many of our favorite authors are offering online read-alouds and activities on social media. We've rounded up over 50 of the best virtual author activities below! These authors are offering read-alouds of their books and books by their favorite authors.

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As a result of recent events, there is a strong need for virtual meetings to promote learning and keep in touch with our students. Zoom is a perfect medium as it is free and easy to use. Here are some important tips on how to effectively conduct an online learning session with and for your students using Zoom.

Switching to an online delivery format can seem overwhelming but we are going to focus on some basics that should have you up and running in no time and recording your lessons or holding virtual office hours with as little hassle as possible.
Tip #1 Prepare your lesson plan using a template:
Just like any good lesson, it is a best practice to start by defining what you will be teaching, determining how you will teach it, and how you will assess students' understanding. The FREE template you see here should be used to guide the development of your learning session. This is not intended to be a repeat of your formal lesson plan. The goal here is to organize your thoughts, expectations, and resources.

Tip #2 Make the appropriate adjustments to your Zoom meeting settings:

Very much like in the classroom you will want to establish some rules and protocols to ensure students are on task and not disruptive. Prior to your online session, log into your Zoom account and select "Settings" on the left side of your screen, and consider the following:

One: do you want students to appear in video? This can be great for creating a sense of community but can also be a distraction to other learners. Use knowledge of your students to determine if this feature should be turned on or off.

Two: mute participants on entry. It is probably a good idea to turn this feature on, especially if learners are not familiar with Zoom and/or learning in the virtual space. Background noise could affect the learning experience for some or all learners. Plus, you can unmute anyone at any time, and learners can still communicate using chat, raising their virtual hand, and by responding to polls or yes/no questions. There are a variety of settings you can turn on or off, so take a few minutes to set up your preferences.

As you become more comfortable with your online Zoom sessions, you can dive into things like turning on a whiteboard, saving chats, creating breakout rooms, and adding an end of meeting survey to assess learners' understanding.

Tip #3 Share your screen:

The best way to present your lesson is to screen share. This allows all learners to follow along with your presentation. Whether it be a PowerPoint or an online resource you are demonstrating and sharing your screen is a visual learning tool to reinforce what you are teaching. To screen share in Zoom simply click the green share button. Due to different internet speeds, you will need to pause and ask learners to acknowledge that they can see your screen prior to starting your presentation.

Tip #4 Explain communication options and expectations:

As this is likely going to be a new experience for many of your learners, be sure to include slides that illustrate how they can communicate with you and/or others during the session. Also, provide a practice question for each modality. For example, if I am permitting my learners to engage in the group chat, I would show the slide or explain how to use the feature and follow my explanation with an opportunity for them to demonstrate that they can use it successfully. I might say something like, "If you understand how to use the chat feature, type yes into the chat now." Then, pause, and wait for the responses to appear in the chat box. You may also want to remind students of appropriate behaviors when participating in the online session.

Tip #5 Include an icebreaker or warm-up that aligns to the objectives of the lesson:

The structure of a good lesson does not change just because it is online. Start with an icebreaker or warm-up question that is aligned to the content. This could be a question to activate prior knowledge, a hook to get them excited about the session, or an opportunity to express what they hope to learn. You might, for example, ask students to stand and complete a series of stretches or movements, pose a "What would you do if" style question, or unmute individuals and ask them to explain what they know about the topic or share an experience. Nonetheless, it should set the tone for a productive session and not take more than 5-10 minutes.

Tip #6 Build in interactions and wait time:

If learners are just listening to you talk, chances are they are going to lose interest. Don't take it personally, it happens. Consider how you can build in simple interactions to ensure your learners are engaged and paying attention. This is easy to accomplish in Zoom. Let's revisit the idea of chat, yes/no, and poll questions. Creating interactions using these features does not have to be tedious, it can be as simple as asking a question to elicit a response that demonstrates understanding.

While planning your lesson be cognizant of the type and number of interactions. If you are working within a specific time limit be sure to build in time for learners to respond to the interactions and to ask questions as they arise or set aside time for questions at the end of your session. Remember, these interactions are to keep the learners' attention and do not necessarily reveal evidence of a deep understanding. Though you can pose thought-provoking questions consider these interactions as formative assessments during your lesson. Evidence of proficiency, mastery, or application of knowledge should be evident in assignments, activities, and assessments you provide.

Tip #7 Introduce the objectives and present your content:

Now you are ready to launch your online session. As previously mentioned, you should start with an icebreaker or warm-up. Then, review the objectives that will be covered during the session and present your content. Since you are sharing your screen, it will be simple to teach from your PowerPoint, or create an interactive lesson using Nearpod, annotate on a document, or model how to complete a task on a website.

There are a million and one tools you can use, but the tip here is to keep it simple. Use what you know and what you are comfortable with. Remember, you can provide learners with a recording of this session so they can go back and watch it as many times as needed.

Tip #8 Reviewing objectives and formatively assess:

Before you end your online session, be sure to review the objectives you covered. Following the review, you should construct some sort of exit ticket that the students are required to complete. The exit ticket can be almost anything. You could provide a link to a Padlet for a discussion, create a survey or quiz using Microsoft or Google Forms, or get real-time results using Socrative. The options are endless, but again, try to stick with something you know and are comfortable using.

Tip #9 Provide learning resources for independent practice:

Leave your learners with opportunities to practice what they learned. Again, there are many out there you can use. Consider what you have available from your textbook resources. Are there any online components you can use? What websites do you use? Are there any online games learners can play? Keep in mind you can always have learners submit a screenshot of a completed activity.

While the transition to teaching using Zoom as an online lesson platform will likely come with a learning curve, expect there to be bumps along the road to success and remember to stay positive. You CAN do this! Best of luck as you embark on this new experience.

Quick Review

1. Prepare your lesson plan using the template. Not intended to be a detailed lesson plan, just the gist of what you will be teaching.
This document includes the following.

Objective(s)

Link or list key resources used

What tool(s) are you using to deliver the presentation? i.e. PPT, Prezi, Nearpod, etc.

Interactions in Zoom- chat, yes/no questions, polls, if appropriate.

Exit ticket

Next steps and links to Independent Practice resources

2. Make the appropriate adjustments to your Zoom meeting settings.

3. Share your screen.

4. Explain communication options and expectations.

5. Include an icebreaker or warm-up that aligns with the objectives of the lesson.

6. Build in interactions and wait time.

7. Introduce the objectives and present your content.

8. Reviewing objectives formatively assess. Provide learning resources for independent practice.

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9 Tips for a Good Distance Learning Lesson Using Zoom

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As a result of recent events, there is a strong need for virtual meetings to promote learning and keep in touch with our students. Zoom is a perfect medium as it is free and easy to use.

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For the next few weeks, Mindful Schools will be offering free mindfulness classes for kids! Join us online - for mindful activities, mindful movement, read-alouds - and let's have fun exploring mindfulness together.

Free Online: Mindfulness Class for Kids!

We are designing these LIVE online mindfulness classes with K-5 students in mind - AND please know that students and adults of all ages are welcome to participate. We are aware that many families are away from school and work, and we hope this is a resource that families can enjoy together.
What to Expect:

Fun and interactive activities for kids such as mindful eating, movement, and more

30 minutes of mindfulness and a restful break from the busyness of daily life

Experienced teachers from the Mindful Schools Training Team

It Takes a Village. Mindful Schools is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and we are relying on the generosity of our community to make this program available. Behind the scenes, there is a whole team that supports Christina, Alan, and our Teachers to design, produce and share these classes for your kids! If you'd like to support these ongoing classes and you have the capacity, please consider what you might spend on enrichment classes for your child and consider a weekly or monthly donation to Mindful Schools . We offer you our deepest gratitude.

Extra Credit!

Students, did you enjoy class today? Send us your notes, photos, and drawings to community@mindfulschools.org, or tag us online:

Educators and parents, tell us how we're doing. Your feedback is important to us so we can continue to create helpful resources for our community. Please email us at community@mindfulschools.org.

FAQs

What age group is this for? While we welcome all age groups including adults, we are designing these classes to be age appropriate for K-5 students. Friends, siblings, parents, and even grandparents are welcome to enjoy the class together!

Can I share this with my community? Yes absolutely - we hope these classes are a helpful resource for everyone in your school community.

How do I join the LIVE class? When you sign up, you will receive an email with instructions on how to join.

What if I can't make the LIVE class? If you're unable to attend the LIVE event, please sign up to be notified for future classes. We also plan to post recordings of past classes on this page.

Watch Our Past Classes

What Is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment - with openness and curiosity.

It has a variety of research-backed impacts, including reduction in stress, and improvements in emotional regulation, and focus. Learn how the benefits of mindfulness can be transformative in education.

About Mindful Schools

Mindful Schools - a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization - has trained more than 50,000 teachers, school leaders, and education professionals who are dedicated to preparing students with critical life skills to positively shift the outcomes for an entire generation. Please consider a donation to support our work.

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Free: Online Mindfulness Class for Kids! - Mindful Schools

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For the next few weeks, Mindful Schools will be offering free mindfulness classes for kids! Join us online - for mindful activities, mindful movement, read-alouds - and let's have fun exploring mindfulness together. We are designing these LIVE online mindfulness classes with K-5 students in mind - AND please know that students and adults of all ages are welcome to participate.

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scholastic is offering free online courses so your kids can keep learning while schools are closed  - cnn

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Scholastic is offering free online courses so your kids can keep learning while schools are closed

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As schools across the nation close because of the coronavirus pandemic, millions of students are stuck at home with their classes on hold. But before your child gets too excited about not having to study, rest assured, parents, Scholastic has got your back.

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With many of us facing the prospect of (or already managing) school closures I was thinking about which of the learning activities here at Childhood101 would be most useful for parents (and teachers allocating work to be done at home), and what sorts of toys or resources families are likely to have access to. My mind immediately turned to Lego - most probably because I could hear my own children playing with their beloved Lego collection at that very moment!

Lego is such a fun building toy and a great learning resource. Building a set straight out of the box is great for encouraging kids to learn to follow a sequence of instructions, and requires intense use of visual discrimination skills and fine motor skills. Then there's the creativity of free building with a collection of Lego bricks!

However, Lego is also valuable as a resource for a whole range of learning activities - everything from writing to spelling, math to science, social studies to art.

The collection of activities below has been collated with parents with children at home as a result school closures in mind, so many of the activities are open ended - meaning they can be used with children across a number of different grades or ability levels - you might just tweak the instructions, the amount of support you give, or your expectations of the final product, depending upon the age of your child.

The math activities are more specific to one particular grade or learning objective, but I have tried to include individual activities suitable across a range of grade levels so that all elementary/primary students have some fun Lego learning math activities at hand.

I hope you find these ideas useful.

25 Ways to Learn At Home With Lego: Elementary/Primary Grades

Literacy

1. Sight Words/Spelling Words Building

Use a permanent marker pen to write individual letters (one per brick) onto the side of small Lego or Duplo bricks (the square 4 stud bricks work well for this). Your child can then find the bricks needed for a word and assemble them in order.

If you need a set of sight words to use, try our free, printable Dolch Sight Words Flashcards.

2. Lego Barrier Game

This fun game is perfect for playing in pairs, and is fabulous for developing oral language communication skills.

You'll need two identical sets of 12-15 Lego bricks.

With each player sitting on opposite sides of a table, set up a large book, box or other barrier in the middle of the table - so that one player cannot see what the other is doing. Player One builds something using their own collection of bricks; make sure that Player Two isn't able to see what they are making. Then Player One needs to give Player Two a series of verbal instructions, one at a time, so that Player Two can re-create the same construction.

Have fun comparing the results once the construction is done! You can simplify this game with fewer bricks in each set, or make it more complicated with more bricks.

Extend the learning by then having your child write down the series of instructions for making their creation.

3. Lego Story Starter

Build 2 or 3 custom minifigs and a building or landscape setting, and use this as inspiration for writing a story. This could even be a multiple part drama that is added to over a series of days as your child plays with their figurines and setting.

4. Lego Comic Strip

Or use the minifigs and setting above as inspiration for creating a comic strip. You can find a set of great, free printable comic book pages over at Picklebums.

5. Stop Motion Animated Movie

Making a short stop motion animated movie is lots of fun. Your child could relate this activity back to the previous storywriting challenge, or even create a movie to accompany another area of study, for example science or social studies/HASS. You can find a short example created by a nine year old to accompany learning about the Australian Gold Rush over here at Picklebums.

This handy post from Tinkerlab explains the stop motion movie making process in more detail.

Science, Technology & Social Studies

Set a Lego building challenge, such as;
6. Build a structure that includes at least one moving element. 7. Build a tower that will hold a golf/tennis ball at least 15 inches/30cms off the floor.
9. Build a famous landmark: You can find a free, printable set of famous landmark picture cards to inspire your build here. Alternatively, try building a local landmark from your own community.
8. Build a vessel that will hold water without leaking.
10. Make (and test) the strength of a bridge: For challenge instructions, check out this post at Frugal Fun 4 Boys and Girls.

11. Build a balloon powered vehicle: you can see some examples here at Frugal Fun 4 Boys and Girls.

12. Build a marble maze: you can see a fun example here at Mama Papa Bubba.

You can find more simple, openended construction challenges in our free, printable set of Lego Challenge Cards.

13. Set a Rube Goldberg Machine Making Challenge

Rube Goldberg was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer and inventor and he is best known for his series of popular cartoons depicting complicated series' of gadgets arranged in a convoluted sequence to perform a simple task. You can see some awesome examples of Rube Goldberg inspired chain reactions here at Boys Life. While in reality your child's will be much simpler, it is still fun to have a go making your own!

My seven year old daughter explored Rube Goldberg machines at school last year and was so inspired by the process that she then started making them at home too. You can see an example of one of her machines below. The video is super short but I hope it will give you an idea that the big, impressive machines really can be simplified down for children. The objective of this machine was to knock the pen off the table - not a very noble outcome but prior to this she was using a similar machine to knock cat treats off the table to feed our kitten. Whatever inspires them, I say!

Lego bricks are a great resource to use in your chain reaction, they can be stood up on end like dominoes, or (depending upon which pieces you have you in your collection) you can make parts for your machine that roll or spin or fall. Other simple materials from around your home to add to your machine could include;

Dominoes

Marker pens (especially chunky markers)

Pieces of other construction sets

Toy vehicles

Cardboard tubes (raid the recycling!)

Plastic cups

String or yarn

Balls of aluminum foil

Roll of duct tape

Golf balls

Marbles

Building a Rube Goldberg machine is great for encouraging children to develop problem solving skills and perseverance. You can follow up by asking your child to draw and label a blueprint of the machine they've made, extending the learning even further.

14. Create a Lego model that informs others about a topic you are studying or interested in

Our (then) 11 year old chose to construct a Lego model as part of a school project researching the impact of an environmental issue - she chose coral bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef.

This was a great Lego build for encouraging her to think about how to use a range of Lego pieces in new and interesting ways, and how effective it would be in communicating a message. I think this is a simple building idea that can be easily adapted to other areas of study for those who have a well stocked Lego collection.

For parents, think about what you know about what your child is learning in science, social studies or even health, and ask them to build a model that teaches you something about what they have learned.

Mathematics

More than the other areas of STEM education, choosing suitable Lego mathematics activities for your child will largely depend upon their grade level and the curriculum used in your area. If your

15. Identifying Numerals

Challenge your child to build each of the numerals 0-9 using Lego bricks. It's not as easy as it sounds!

16. Pattern Making

Use Lego bricks of the same size to make repeated patterns. Start by making some simple 1:1 patterns for your child to extend, for example, red-blue-red-blue etc. Then try 1:2 patterns, for example red-blue-blue, red-blue-blue etc. Then try three colour patterns, for example, red-blue-yellow etc. Increase the complexity of the patterns as your child masters a previous combination.

Mix it up by asking your child to make patterns for you to continue.

17. Simple Addition

Lego is a great hands-on counting tool to use for completing addition and subtraction problems in the early grades. You can write a list of addition problems and then encourage your child to make two stacks of bricks and then combine and count to calculate the total. For example, for the equation 2 + 4 =, your child would make one stack of two bricks and one stack of four bricks and then combine the two stacks to make one tower of six bricks.

18. Tens and Ones

For children learning about place value, use individual four stud bricks as ones and towers of ten four stud bricks as tens. Set tens and ones building challenges such as "Can you make 26 using tens and ones? How many 10s did you use? How many 1s?"
Another simple addition activity using a common household game is Uno Flip with Uno Cards.
For another fun way to revise place value learning, click through to find out how to play Place Value War with Uno cards.

19. Measurement #1

You can use stacks of the same brick to measure almost anything! Your shoe, the width of the coffee table, your whole self! Count the bricks you've used and record the name and length of the item on a piece of paper.

20. Measurement #2

Add a ruler and set a measurement guided building construction challenge, for example, build a tower that is exactly 10 inches high.

21. Floor Plan

Older children can be challenged to create a floor plan of your house with narrow Lego bricks on a large baseplate (if you don't have a large baseplate, we have joined smaller flat plates to make larger building surface before. This is a technique many of the Lego set use so your child may already be familiar with the concept).

22. Times Tables Race

For this game you'll need a dice, 24 Lego four stud square bricks and a marker pen.

This game works for revising each of the times tables 1 to 12, but only one set at a time. First, choose which set of tables you will be revising - in this example we'll use fives times tables. Write one multiple of five on the side of each of the bricks so that you have two sets of the multiples for the five times tables - 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60. Pile these loosely in the middle of your playing area.

Played in pairs, the aim of the game is to be the quickest to build their tower with the multiples in order, in our example from 5 to 60.

To play take turns to roll the dice. Each player wants to roll a one first. Once you roll a one you can take a brick marked with 5 (in this example 1×5=5) from the pile. Then you want to roll a two. Once you roll a two you can take the next multiple brick from the pile, again in our example, 2×5=10, and add this brick to your tower. Then you want to roll a 3.

Continue in this way until you have rolled a six and then you will need to start your dice roll at one again but this time rolling a one is actually rolling a seven, so 7×5=35, a two is eight so 8×5=40. Continue taking turns in an attempt to build your tower (it can take many rolls to get the number you actually need!) up to 12x your multiple. First person to complete their tower is the winner.

Lego Art Ideas

23. Lego Printmaking

Print with Lego or Duplo bricks to create interesting pictures and patterns paint. You could use a stamp pad or squeeze some acrylic paint onto a paper towel or kitchen sponge - just so the paint is not so gloopy! Press the brick (stud size down) into the paint and then onto paper. Using your bricks to create a cityscape is particularly satisfying. Or try printing one of the landmarks included in challenge #9 above.

24. Build and Sketch

As an art form, still life drawings and paintings are not just about jugs of flowers! They can depict all sorts of inanimate objects - both natural and man-made. Create a still life scene out of Lego and then have fun sketching your still life onto paper and then colouring or painting it.

25. Mosaic Self Portrait
A few additional free Multiplication resources that are great for learning at home;
Grab an empty Lego base plate and your collection of small bricks and have a try at creating a mosaic self portrait!

These printable Multiplication Bookmarks are another free resource you might find useful for children learning to recite times tables.

Playing the BAM! learning game is a fun way to revise times tables with craft sticks. It's a super simple game to set up and play.

For children who are already quite adept with multiplications tables 1-9, you can also play Multiplication War with Uno Cards.

If you catch the Lego mosaic making bug, you can check out our collection of Lego Mosaic Ideas for Kids. The world map mosaic is our favourite!

Click through on the images below for more helpful learning at home resources;

Christie Burnett is an early childhood teacher, presenter, writer and the editor of Childhood 101. More importantly, she is a Mum who believes wholeheartedly in the value of children learning through play, the importance of quality early education, and the togetherness of family.

Read more of Christie's adventures at https://childhood101.com.

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Got Lego? Here are 25 ideas for learning at home with Lego for elementary/primary students

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With many of us facing the prospect of (or already managing) school closures I was thinking about which of the learning activities here at Childhood101 would be most useful for parents (and teachers allocating work to be done at home), and what sorts of toys or resources families are likely to have access to.

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It takes just 15 minutes of reading practice to substantially increase reading ability. Why not use this time away from school to do just that. We dug through all the best reading websites out there to find ones that are intuitive and fun for practicing reading:

ABCmouse.com has a Step-by-Step Learning Path with more than 850 lessons designed to take kids through the progression of learning to read. Free for 30 days, PreK-Grade 2

Reading practice along with phonics and games. $9.99 per month, K-Grade 6

PBS reading website with read-along folktales and fables, clever song videos of letter sounds, and many more stories to capture kids' attention. Free, K-1

Site for reviewing and sharing books makes reading a social adventure. Free, Grades 2-8

This fantastic digital library service helps kids with print-related disabilities read independently. Free and paid, PreK-Grade 12

This fun site has all kinds of games and facts about books. Free, Grades K-12

This addictive site tests kids (and you!) on your vocabulary knowledge. They also donate free rice to third world countries! Free, Grades 2-12

Any kids who love Harry Potter will adore this everything Harry Potter reading website. Free, grade 3-7

Stories, poems, games, and more. Free, K-Grade 5

Into the Book is a reading comprehension site that focuses on reading strategies teachers work on every day. Get practice using prior knowledge, making connections, questioning, visualizing, inferring, summarizing, evaluating and synthesizing. Free, Grades K-6

Khan Academy is widely known for its free math programs and assistance, but they also have reading for kids as low as first grade. Free, Grades 1-12

Reviews about books so you can choose the right ones. Free, Grades K-12

Learn about the alphabet including the shapes of letters and how to make them. Plus, other reading activities. Free, Pre-K-K

Phonics practice, spelling, and free eBooks. Free, 3-11 years

Reading Bear teaches beginning readers vocabulary and concepts while systematically introducing all the main phonetic patterns of written English. Free, PreK-Grade 1

Phonics, spelling, vocabulary, and reading practice for emerging readers. Free 2-week trial, PreK-Grade 1

Read Theory offers online reading activities for all ages and ability levels. The program adapts to students' individual ability levels and presents them with thousands of skill-building exercises that suit their needs. Free, Grades K-12

Literacy lessons that include comprehension and short passages to analyze. Free, Grades K-12

readwritethink has activities, games, tips, recommendations, and more for literacy. Free, grades K-12

Guided reading and other reading games for emerging readers. Free, PreK-Grade 1

Spelling City has spelling lists, tests, games, and practice activities. It also has the same tools for vocabulary. Some features are free, $34.95 for family membership, Grades K-12

Specializes in teaching children from preschool through third grade to read with the help of phonetics. Kids will learn songs to help them learn and have tons of practice putting it all together. $35, PK-Grade 3

Storyline Online has books on video and lessons aimed at strengthening comprehension and verbal and written skills for English-language learners. Free

Read-along site for younger kids with activities and free story videos. There are animated videos of stories and sing-a-long songs. Free, PreK-Grade 1

They just launched a news and current events magazine for middle schoolers. They are currently sampling it for free to schools and have created a digital version for teachers to use in their remote teaching curriculums. Free, Grades: 6-9

Lots of non-fiction articles on this site and you can level it by Lexile (reading) level. Free, Grades K-12

This fun PBS site that has videos about words and how they are used. Free

This amazing compilation of non-fiction brought to you by National Geographic Learning has been wow'ing kids for a long time. Many free issues, K- Grade 2
What's on your list of best reading websites? Share your ideas in Plus, the best math and social studies websites. our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook.

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27 Awesome Free (or Low-Cost) Websites for Practicing Reading

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It takes just 15 minutes of reading practice to substantially increase reading ability. Why not use this time away from school to do just that. We dug through all the best reading websites out there to find ones that are intuitive and fun for practicing reading: ABCmouse.com has a Step-by-Step Learning Path with more than 850 lessons designed to take kids through the progression of learning to read.

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classic 70's schoolhouse school house rock channel abc tv videos video series

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Disney and Kennedy Space Center Activities

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Disney and Kennedy Space Center Activities

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Big name attractions are bringing fun right to your home.

Disney and the Kennedy Space Center are stepping in to help keep students busy while schools remain closed.

"We have several parents here who are facing staying at home with their kids," said Dee Maynard of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. "When you're expecting them to be in school, you don't just want every day to be play day, you want some education in their too."

The kids are home for at least another month. Entertainment options are slim, but luckily for parents, some area attractions are coming to the rescue.
RELATED: Florida hotline activated to help find children free meals during coronavirus school closures
Kennedy Space Center has launched science lessons on Facebook Live.

"We are giving lessons on rocketry, from the Saturn 5 center. We're teaching people how to make rockets at home from recycled materials that are probably lying around the house."
(MOBILE USERS WATCH HERE)
Parents also have online access to activity sheets and experiments, making spare time educational but fun. The sessions will take place Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 9:30 a.m. ET for young kids. For older children, including those in high school, there will be programming starting at 1 p.m.

Disney is also offering online resources for parents.

"We're gonna go behind the scenes, with the artists and engineers and see how they design and build the world's attractions and characters for Disney parks."

With imagineering in a box, kids can learn how to build their own world, attractions and characters.

More information on Disney's online activities can be found at HERE and on the Khan Academy website HERE.

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Disney, Kennedy Space Center offering free online activities for kids during school closures

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Big name attractions are bringing fun right to your home. Disney and the Kennedy Space Center are stepping in to help keep students busy while schools remain closed. "We have several parents here who are facing staying at home with their kids," said Dee Maynard of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

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Learning math online isn't always easy! Luckily there are some great math websites for teaching math virtually We've gathered a list of teacher-approved sites that includes resources, games, freebies, and innovative programs for teaching math.

Here are the best math websites, according to teachers.
Note: This article has been updated to reflect free and discounted resources for online education during the COVID-19/coronavirus outbreak. Find other free online resources here.
Go to:

Best Math Websites: Comprehensive Math Programs
These websites provide standards-based math curricula, practice activities and games, assessment tools and instructive insights, and professional development.
From McGraw-Hill, a web-based assessment and learning system that uses adaptive questioning to determine students' needs. It also instructs students on topics they are most ready to learn. Grades: 3-12; cost: $

Along with textbooks, Art of Problem Solving has a stable of robust online resources, including videos, math problems from math contests, and online classes. Also features after-school enrichment resources. Grades: 2-12; c ost: $

BuzzMath focuses on helping middle schoolers practice their math skills. It contains high-quality problems, gives immediate and detailed feedback, and lets students progress at their own pace. Randomly generated values let students retry problems to obtain mastery. Teachers also receive detailed results that help them guide and monitor student progress. Grades: 6-9; c ost: Free demo with subscription plans for students and families.

This resource from England provides math videos, math practice questions, and worksheets with answers. Grades: K-12; cost: Free

This National Science Foundation-funded program helps students strengthen math skills, inspires a growth mindset, and encourages critical thinking. Students will learn to solve problems and explain their thinking using mathematician George Polya's four-step approach. Grades: K-12; c ost: Free trial

An award-winning series of math apps that harness the power of digital tools to create a better, deeper, more fun learning experience. Blogs, such as "Making Math Social" and "Saying No to Math Anxiety," are included as resources for teachers and parents. Grades: K-6; c ost: Free trial

An adaptive learning platform designed to complement classroom instruction and deliver results. Includes resources for teachers, student data reports, and instructive insights. Grades: K-8; c ost: Free 90-day trial with subsequent subscriptions.

Online learning digital curriculum for primary or supplementary instruction. Give students the support they need exactly when they need it. Grades: K-12; c ost: $ (Discounts during coronavirus school closures)

This site provides e-textbooks, answer keys, video lessons, and printables for students and teachers of algebra 1 and 2, geometry, and trigonometry. Grades: 8-12; c ost: $

We love the friendly competition and game-based content offered by First in Math. Kids gain skills practice and fluency as they play games targeted toward fact proficiency, automaticity, and logical thinking. Grades: K-8; c ost: Free trial with subsequent paid content

Allows kids to practice math at their own level and pace. Has more than 30,000 math questions, starting with a diagnostic that assigns material at just the right level. Front Row also features lessons, assessments, and reports for teachers. Grades: K-9; cost: Free for teachers; $ for upgrades and other features

GregTangMath strives to provide unparalleled math lessons for students as well as professional development for in-service teachers. Games, puzzles, and other resources, like free downloads, worksheets/word problems, math centers. Grades: K-6; cost: Free

This site, from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), features complete lesson plans, mobile games for students, interactive activities, and brain teasers. Grades: PreK-12; c ost: Free

High-quality educational resources for teachers and students. Excellent math tasks, videos, lesson plans, and problem-based curriculum modules. Grades: 6-8; cost: Free

Istation makes personalized learning easy with computer-adaptive instruction, assessments, personalized data profiles, and teacher resources. Includes digital lessons and face-to-face teaching strategies. Grades: PreK-8; cost: $

Make math about more than numbers! Engaging items, real-world scenarios, and unlimited questions. Individualized math practice. Teachers can choose the strand and set up students to work independently. Grades: K-12; c ost: $

Khan Academy is on a mission to give a free, world-class education to anyone, anywhere. Their personalized learning resources are available for all ages. Video learning segments are followed by practice activities. Grades: K-12; c ost: Free

Cloud-based curriculum for K-12 students, focusing on supporting both traditional and blended classrooms. Grades: K-12; cost: Free; $ premium version

Online learning space that is engaging, supportive, and designed to get kids interested in math while teaching state standards. Grades: K-12; c ost: Free trial for teachers and families; $ subscription

Through ongoing research, MIND Research Institute continues to investigate key questions about learning, mathematics, and how the brain works. ST Math is a PreK-8 visual instructional program that leverages the brain's innate spatial-temporal reasoning ability to solve mathematical problems. Grades: K-8; cost: $

Award-winning program finds and fixes learning gaps with the power of personalized learning. The three-pronged approach features personalized learning, pinpoint assessments, and interactive classroom. Grades: K-8; cost: Free version includes all curriculum, one test per year, and basic overview of student progress; $ for personalized learning license

Stepping Stones, from Origo, is a unique and comprehensive curriculum that combines print and digital materials. It features problem-solving activities, strategies, and practice. Teachers also have access to a professional blog that provides advice and support. Grades: K-6; cost: $

This organization helps students in low-income communities, together with teachers and families, harness the power of digital learning platforms to raise educational outcomes. The program features school workshops, instructional coaching, and professional learning communities. Grades: K-12; cost: $

Math games that tackle more than 1,200 crucial math skills in a fun and engaging way. Grades: 1-8; c ost: Free for teachers; $ for family subscription

Interactive, game-based learning world that motivates kids through rewards. Features include a daily challenge, step-by-step lessons, and parent connections. Grades: K-5; c ost: Free; $ monthly fee

Boost confidence, increase scores, and get ahead. Fun for enrichment or regular practice. Grades: K-5; cost: Free for teachers and schools; $ for family subscription

Math games that make learning fun! Engaging, evidence-based, adaptive learning. Focus on specific skills, target interventions, and make assessment easy. Grades: K-5; c ost: Free trial; $ subscription

Woot Math offers adaptive practice for teaching rational numbers and related topics, such as fractions, decimals, and ratios. Grades: 3-7; c ost: Free tier for teachers; additional features available for extra cost

Personalized math curriculum that includes digital lessons and small-group instruction. Also has online modules, workbooks and answer keys, and professional development. Grades: K-5; c ost: $

Best Math Websites: Interactive Tools to Use in Instruction
These sites offer engaging videos and tools to use in your daily math instruction.
Engaging animated learning videos, games, quizzes, and activities to encourage kids on their unique learning path. Grades: PreK-8; c ost: $ (Free for educators during coronavirus school closures)

A website that allows teachers to assign math practice content to their students. Students get immediate feedback as they complete the problems. Grades: Middle school+; cost: Free

An online graphing calculator that students can use for free. Includes a teacher-centric activity builder for creating digital math activities. Grades: 9-12; c ost: Free

Use hip-hop to teach math! Flocabulary offers songs, activities, and videos. Grades: K-12; c ost: Free trial; $ subscription

Another graphing calculator for functions, geometry, algebra, calculus, statistics, and 3-D math. Includes practice sheets. Grades: 9-12; c ost: Free

You know it; your kids love it. Why not use it to teach math? Engage your students with this game-based classroom-response system played by the whole class in real-time. Multiple-choice questions are projected on the screen, then students answer with their smartphone, tablet, or computer. Grades K-12; cost: Free 30-day trial; $ subscription

Run by the University of Regina in Canada, this site offers free resources for math teachers and their students, including a database where users can search for the answers to math questions. Their Mathematics with a Human Face page includes information about careers in mathematics as well as profiles of mathematicians. Grades: K-12; c ost: Free

Teachers know that one of the best ways to make sure learning sticks is through song. Numberock features ad-free music videos of songs about math topics, like fractions, money, and integers, produced by an Emmy Award-winning studio. Numberock also has anchor charts, worksheets, comics, games, and more. Grades: K-5; c ost: Some videos are free; free trial

Best Math Websites: Games and Activities for Students
Interactive websites that provide students with instruction and independent practice.
Two users play a game in which each player tries to connect four game pieces in a row (like game Connect Four). The players answer math questions to connect the pieces. Teacher chooses how much time each player has to answer, the level of difficulty, and the type of math problem. Grades: 2-8; cost: Free

Yes, math games can be cool! Check out the hundreds of games on this site and on Coolmath4kids. Grades: K-12; c ost: Free; $ ad-free version

Figure This! is a site designed to encourage families to practice math together. It includes fun and engaging math games and high-quality challenges. It even offers challenges in Spanish. Grades 6-8; c ost: Free

Funbrain has been helping students learn key math concepts and develop crucial skills since 1997. Students can choose from a slew of games. The best part? It's all free! Grades: PreK-8; c ost: Free

Hotmath provides homework assistance for high school and college students, using "worked out" examples of math problems. Grades: 9-college; c ost: Free

Your students will love fun math games like Speed Math Deluxe, Mystery Math, Place Value Game, and more. Grades: 3-11; c ost: Free

A popular game-based site for math online learning resources. It covers algebra, geometry, statistics, and more. Grades K-12; cost: Free during the coronavirus school closures.

Organized by grade or subject, your students can play math games and get homework help. Grades: PreK-7; c ost: Free

In-depth lessons with videos, guided practice, interactive self-tests, and more. Grades: 5-12; c ost: Free

More than 425 math games, logic puzzles, and brain workouts for students to practice their math skills. Grades: 1-6; c ost: Free

Nearly 100 original math games, workshops, and practice modules, as well as math printables! Grades: 1-6; c ost: Free

This interactive, online tool helps students master basic facts. Set up as a whole-class or small-group competition, students earn ninja cards and track results on a ninja scoring poster. Two board games that teach operations are also available for purchase. Grades: 2-8; c ost: Free

This is a free intervention tool designed to fill gaps in students' mental calculation skills and empower them with number fluency. Students can earn ninja belts of different colors for their skill level. Grades: 2-8; c ost: Free

From PBS Learning Media, middle schoolers will love this entertaining video blog. Not only does each episode cover Common Core Standards, it makes math learning culturally relevant with pop-culture references. Grades: 6-9; c ost: Free

Students can create study flashcards, play learning games, practice skills, collaborate with other students, and more. Grades: 5-12; c ost: Free

Another resource to help students build fact fluency. Each game is tailored to students' ability levels. Grades: 2-6; c ost: Free trial; $ monthly subscription

Tons of fun and educational online math games, from basic operations to algebra and geometry. Grades: K-6; c ost: Free

Simple math test activities for teachers and students, from beginning math operations to calculus. You set the skill level, how many problems, and time limit. A report, which tallies right and wrong answers, is provided after each quiz. Grades: 3-12; c ost: Free

How would your students like to learn multiplication while shooting hoops? They can do that and more at Toy Theater, which teaches early math concepts through game-based learning. Grades: K-5; cost: Free

Xtramath is like a daily math vitamin. An interactive online tool that helps students practice and master basic arithmetic facts, it's quick and easy to use. Weekly emails provide progress reports for teachers and parents. Grades: K-8; c ost: Free

Best Math Websites: Resources for Teachers
Sources for teachers that provide lesson-planning resources and professional development materials.
Math worksheets for just about any area of study. Free downloads. Good for planning lessons, review, and independent work. Grades: K-6; cost: Free

This platform allows teachers to create technology-enhanced online math assessments from a huge question bank. Grades: K-12. Free Forever Teacher accounts always. Free access to Premium features through July 1, 2020.
Kuta Software
For teachers of pre-algebra through calculus. Create the math worksheets you need, exactly how you want them, in minutes. You can also create customizable homework, quizzes, and tests. Grades: 8-12; c ost: Free

A creative solution that aims to revive students' passion and interest in math. Mashup Math has a library of 100+ math video lessons as well as a YouTube channel that features new math video-lessons every week. A free e-book of math challenges is also available. Grades: K-8; cost: Free

Dynamically created math worksheets for students, teachers, parents ... anyone! Grades: K-10; c ost: Free

With their interesting lesson plans and quirky questions (e.g., "Do people with small feet pay too much for shoes?"), math class will never again be boring. Grades: 6-12; c ost: $ subscription

Tools for math teachers, including bell-ringers and drills, math tools and manipulatives, question generators, printables, and puzzles. Grades: K-12; c ost: Free

This National Science Foundation-supported project provides a large library of uniquely interactive, web-based virtual manipulatives and concept tutorials for math instruction. Grades: K-12; c ost: Free

TopMarks is a UK-based site that provides a database of resources for teachers as well as online learning games for students. Grades: PreK-8; c ost: Free

More than 1,500 video lessons ranging from middle-grade math through algebra 2. Grades: 6-12; cost: Free

VmathLive empowers students to master math content at their own pace in a motivating online environment. The learning is structured so students work sequentially through the lessons and can earn badges, trophies, and points. Grades: K-8; cost: Free until July, 2020
For more ideas, check out our collection of math articles. What's on your list of best math websites? Share your ideas in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook.

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64 Awesome Websites for Teaching and Learning Math

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Learning math online isn't always easy! Luckily there are some great math websites for teaching math virtually We've gathered a list of teacher-approved sites that includes resources, games, freebies, and innovative programs for teaching math. Here are the best math websites, according to teachers.

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Virtual field trips allow children to visit places around the world without ever leaving their homes. Through virtual field trips, they can visit other states, countries across the globe, and even other planets. This allows children to experience places they wouldn't get to see otherwise. Virtual field trips are also great for when you can't get out due to illness or can't afford to travel. Here are several free resources your family can use to take virtual field trips.

Free Virtual Field Trips

Anne Frank House - Take a 360-degree tour of Anne Frank's home in Amsterdam.

Buckingham Palace - Tour the famous London palace virtually.

Farm Tours - Learn about agriculture through these virtual tours of farms in Canada.

Great Wall of China - This panoramic virtual tour allows you to walk the Great Wall.

Holy Land Tour - Virtually visit Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and more.

Houston Zoo - Watch animals in several of their exhibits via live webcam.

The Louvre Museum - Explore exhibits at this famous art museum in Paris, France.

Mars - Explore the surface of Mars in a 360-degree view while learning about the planet and space exploration.

Monterey Bay Aquarium - Watch sea creatures in this California aquarium with the live animal cam.

Mount Everest - Explore the mountain through 360-degree photos and informative articles.

Mount Vernon - Take an interactive and informative tour of George Washington's home in Virginia.

National Aquarium - Take a virtual tour of this aquarium located in Baltimore, Maryland.

National Museum of the US Air Force - Take a virtual tour of this museum.

San Diego Zoo - Watch live videos and learn about animals, play games, and more on this interactive website.

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History - Virtually explore many current and past museum exhibits.

The Statue of Liberty - Learn about the Statue of Liberty through the videos and photographs in this virtual tour.

The Virtual Rainforest - Learn about the rainforest with this interactive tour that includes informative videos and articles.

Zoo Tours - This YouTube channel visits zoos all over the country.

AirPano - Visit locations all over the world virtually with 360-degree videos and photographs.

Discovery Education - This website offers a wide variety of virtual field trips.

360 Cities - Provides interactive 360-degree videos and images of locations around the world.

Sites in 3D - Tour locations across Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Kuwait, Yemen, and many other countries using 360-degree images.

Google Arts and Culture - View the art collections of over 500 different museums and galleries. Some of the museums also offer full virtual tours.

Google Earth - "Fly" anywhere in the world in seconds, explore hundreds of cities in 3D, take guided tours, and create your own maps and stories.

Google Maps Street View - Type in any address, select street view and explore the area. Not only can you take a virtual trip down the streets, but you can also "step" into many museums, landmarks, and other attractions. Here are some I've found.

The White House - Washington, D.C.

The Colosseum - Rome, Italy

Stonehenge - Wiltshire, United Kingdom

Palace of Versailles - Versailles, France

Wilson Island - Great Barrier Reef, Australia

This is just a small sample of the places you can tour with Google Maps. Search for other locations that interest your family and see if Google will let you take a peak inside.

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Virtual Field Trips | Freedom Homeschooling

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Virtual field trips allow children to visit places around the world without ever leaving their homes. Through virtual field trips, they can visit other states, countries across the globe, and even other planets. This allows children to experience places they wouldn't get to see otherwise.

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By NAfME Member Elizabeth Caldwell This blog was first published on "Organized Chaos."
We are living in unusual times, to be sure.

My school district, along with many others around the world, is closed indefinitely in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19 (known widely as Coronavirus). As we go through this time of uncertainty, I know many of us are scrambling to find ways to continue to provide music learning opportunities for our students without actually being in school. Whether you're hoping to move to online/virtual teaching, provide students with online resources, or put together no-tech resources for families without internet or technology access, here are some resources to help.

1. Virtual Teaching

If you're looking at setting up an online classroom or teaching virtually, Michelle from The Musical Rose has been teaching music virtually for a few years now, and she has put together resources for music teachers looking to teach online. Click here to visit her website, where you'll find links to her social media accounts where she is posting her most updated content, and click here to view the slides from her Facebook live presentation on using Zoom and Nearpod, along with general tips for online teaching (including general music and ensemble rehearsals!).

If you have a private lesson studio as well, Ashley Danyew has some excellent ideas and resources to transition private lessons and studio group classes to online teaching. Click here to read her post, where she outlines different online platforms for live lessons, pre-recorded videos, and activities to send home, templates for letters to send to parents, and other advice for private lesson teachers.

2. Online Resources

If your students have reliable internet and device access, there are plenty of resources available for music teachers, and many are being offered for free temporarily to support school closures or already offer free options! Check out each of these below to explore these options-obviously this list is not exhaustive, so feel free to share others you love in the comments on my blog or on Amplify:

Of course, there are plenty of online resources that can be used as tools or exploration opportunities:

For more ideas incorporating technology in music teaching, my top recommendation is Midnight Music. Katie has been involved in music education technology for years, and she has excellent resources and information on her website-go explore her site right here. You can also find more ideas in Facebook groups specifically dedicated to sharing ideas for online music teaching during school closures, so if you are on Facebook you can search for those as well.

3. No Tech Resource Ideas

For my district, we are preparing paper and pencil packets for students. We are not one-to-one with devices, nor does every family in our district have reliable internet access, so we have chosen to provide resources that can be accessible to everyone. If you are looking for student learning resources that don't require technology or internet access, Charissa from Music with Mrs. Dunc has a free take-home packet you can download here for elementary general music. The packet includes rhythm and pitch practice, composition, and more without any need for technology!

Here are some more ideas you can use with a range of grade levels:

Interviews: Have students interview family members about their musical backgrounds and interests. What is their favorite song right now and why? What instruments do they play? What does music mean to them? Who are their favorite artists? Students can record the responses they get and also answer the questions themselves.

Instrument invention: Have students invent a new instrument. They could draw a picture of it and describe how it is played, how it's constructed, and what it sounds like, or they could make one out of recycled materials.

Hand-washing dance choreography: Have students choreograph a short dance routine incorporating the different ways we're recommended to wash our hands (scrubbing nails, between fingers, etc). Check out this one for inspiration.

Listening log: Have students write down music that they hear each day. Depending on the age, they can also record information about the songs, like the title/artist, genre, mood, time signature, tempo, instrumentation, etc., or they could draw a picture in response to the music.

Singing log: Have students write down songs that they sing each day. They can sing along with a recording, sing by themselves, or sing with their family.

Soundtrack of my life: Have students create an imaginary album that shows who they are. They can make a list of song titles, and for each song describe the music-this could be done either by asking students to come up with their own imaginary songs or by having students find existing songs that would describe aspects of their personality/life. Students could also design an album cover to go with it, write liner notes, etc.

Instrumental / choral practice: Of course, if students have sheet music for choir songs, instrumental method books, recorder music, etc., then they can practice their music! Include tips for independent practicing, fingering charts, etc., to help students maintain productive practice.

4. Professional Learning Opportunities

With more flexible schedules and some extra time on our hands, this is a great time to do some reflecting and learning ourselves! Elisa from Music Ed Mentor has compiled a list of online professional learning opportunities for music teachers in this post, and you can find more ideas including book and listening recommendations in these posts below:

With all of the information and debating swirling around, let's remember to be deliberate and compassionate. Let's all help each other as we forge new paths-please share ideas in the comments on my blog or on Amplify to help other teachers support their students!
About the author:
NAfME member Elizabeth Caldwell has been teaching elementary general music and choir for over a decade and cannot imagine ever doing anything else. She is also the author of the website, Organized Chaos Music, where she regularly shares organization strategies, lesson plans, and other ideas to encourage purposeful creativity in the music classroom. She holds her B.M.E from Wheaton College (IL) and her M.M.E. from Boston University, and was named Teacher of the Year in 2018. She has presented on lesson planning, restorative behavior management, effective recorder teaching, world music, National Core Arts general music standards, and other music education topics at conferences around the globe, and teaches an e-course on lesson planning through her website.

Follow Elizabeth on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Pinterest.
Did this blog spur new ideas for your music program? The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) provides a number of forums for the sharing of information and opinion, including blogs and postings on our website, articles and columns in our magazines and journals, and postings to our Amplify member portal. Unless specifically noted, the views expressed in these media do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the Association, its officers, or its employees. Share them on Amplify! Interested in reprinting this article? Please review the reprint guidelines.
Catherina Hurlburt, Marketing Communications Manager. March 17, 2020. © National Association for Music Education ( NAfME.org)

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Music Teacher Resources for School Closures - NAfME

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By NAfME Member Elizabeth Caldwell This blog was first published on "Organized Chaos." We are living in unusual times, to be sure. My school district, along with many others around the world, is closed indefinitely in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19 (known widely as Coronavirus).

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Weather Break with Storm Team 8 airs at 10 a.m. this week on WFLA Now

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) - Florida's public schools are shut down this week due to the coronavirus pandemic. So WFLA's Storm Team 8 is bringing the fun of meteorology to students at home!

Every morning, Storm Team 8 will host a Weather Break at 10 a.m. on WFLA Now. Each Weather Break with Storm Team 8 will feature a different science lesson exploring the most fun and fascinating topics in meteorology.

For kids who have ever shown interest in weather or becoming a meteorologist themselves, Weather Breakwill give them insight from some of Tampa Bay's most experienced meteorologists - including Leigh Spann, Ian Oliver and Amanda Holly.

During the first Weather Break on Monday, Leigh and Ian explained how clouds develop. They also identified the most common types of clouds we see in the Tampa Bay area.

Parents, if you're looking for a way to keep your children busy and want them to continue learning while they're off from school, you can watch Weather Break with Storm Team 8 every morning at 10 o'clock. It will be available on the WFLA app, WFLA.com and the WFLA Facebook page. Our meteorologists will even answer questions on Facebook Live!
LATEST ON THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC:

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Storm Team 8 hosting meteorology lessons for students stuck at home during coronavirus pandemic

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Weather Break with Storm Team 8 airs at 10 a.m. this week on WFLA Now TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) - Florida's public schools are shut down this week due to the coronavirus pandemic. So WFLA's Storm Team 8 is bringing the fun of meteorology to students at home!

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Social studies takes a look at the different branches of human society. What better time to push our kids and students to explore humanity? School is canceled for the foreseeable future, so if you're looking for the best social studies websites, you've come to the right place. We've compiled a list of things that are not only informative, but also fun and interactive. We've categorized over 40 best social studies websites as follows:

Social Studies Lessons

This site is free, open, and online to connect students with 13.8 billion years of history.

This fantastic YouTube channel provides an engaging glimpse into some of the most notable events and developments in history.

The creators of Crash Course have also created a second channel geared towards younger students. This bi-weekly show is meant for elementary school kids and covers topics ranging from Earth science to chemical reactions.

Need a list of some great history websites? EdTechTeacher has done the hard work and compiled them all for you!

It's hard to beat the National Library of Congress. It's one of the best social studies websites and even features an entire portal just for teachers.

Use the online tool to access countless primary source documents to enhance learning. Find lesson plans and more on the Educator Resources page.

This colorful site contains lessons that meet national and state standards as well as STEM and College and Career Readiness goals. They've even got lessons on coronaviruses!

The Reading Like a Historian curriculum promotes historical inquiry while engaging students. The lessons are designed to explore a central historical question and include a set of primary documents for students of various reading skills.

It's easy to see why we've included this on our list of the best social studies websites. Studies Weekly Online allows you to create customized, standards-based curriculum for social studies and offers a free trial.

TCI offers the full package! You'll find resources to help you better prepare, present, assign, grade and teach-even through distance learning!

The Ashbrook Center at Ashland University worked with the National Endowment for the Humanities to develop web-based lesson plans for U.S. history and American government teachers.

This site is designed to help K-12 history teachers access resources and materials to improve U.S. history education in the classroom and through distance learning.

Teaching Tolerance is dedicated to reducing prejudice, improving intergroup relations and supporting equitable school experiences for our nation's children. There is even a special module specifically designed for the racism surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.

A nonprofit organization that has developed an array of programs for schools, teachers, and students that now operate in all fifty states, including a website that features more than 60,000 unique historical documents.

A portal to world history websites including Women in World History, World History Sources and more.

Museum Tours

Explore three floors of the Boston Children's Museum on this virtual tour which includes fun stops at the Explore-a-Saurus and Japanese House exhibits.

Located in the heart of London, students can explore this iconic museum with exhibits dedicated to everything from Egyptian mummies to the Rosetta Stone and Egyptian mummies.

This is definitely one of the best social studies websites around! Use Google's Street View feature to tour the world-famous Guggenheim museum, including works of art and the breathtaking spiral staircase.

The Street View tour of this California museum gives students access to European artworks that date back as far as the 8th Century.

Travel to Paris might be out of the question right now, but students can virtually walk through this gallery which includes works from Monet, Cézanne, Gauguin, and more.

Scope out two incredible online exhibits through Google: one dedicated to American fashion and another featuring a collection of works from Dutch Baroque painter Johannes Vermeer.

Dig into the archaeology and history of Mexico's pre-Hispanic heritage with a virtual tour of 23 exhibit rooms, including artifacts from the Mayan civilization.

South Korea might be on the other side of the Pacific, but you can still visit one of the country's most popular museums through this extensive virtual tour of Contemporary art from Korea and more.

This historical museum in Germany provides a virtual glimpse of ancient artifacts including the Ishtar Gate of Babylon and the Pergamon Altar.

Explore the masterworks from the Dutch Golden Age, including works from Vermeer and Rembrandt. Google offers a Street View tour of this iconic museum, so you can feel as if you're actually wandering its halls.

Vincent Van Gogh is one of the most iconic painters of all time, and this virtual tour allows visitors to marvel at the largest collection of his artwork.

Virtual Field Trips

Go beyond the classroom walls and explore some of the world's most iconic destinations-no permission slips required.

Embark on a virtual field trip that covers three main components: coastal wetlands, algae, and lake sturgeon. The videos are short and targeted at middle schoolers.

Even through a virtual tour on a tiny screen, students will be dazzled by the magnificence and wonder of this thousands-year old fortification system.

There's so much to see at this iconic New York museum-even on a virtual tour. From couture ball gowns to a history of music, students will be captivated by the 26 online galleries.

These wonderful virtual field trips allow students to explore a coastal rain forest or the coral reefs in the Dominican Republic and so much more.

Check out the fantastic behind-the-scenes videos and stories. Then, be sure to check out the great list of activities and downloadables.

The Seattle Aquarium hosts a 30-minute virtual field trip. Students can learn about the animals and the food web that can be found in the Puget Sound waters.

This incredibly cool and responsive website allows students to explore more than 60,000 stars, watch sunrises, search for planets and more!

These self-guided virtual tours give students and up-close look at permanent, current, and past exhibits.

The 2020 Census is coming up, and this site is a great resource for showing kids how census data is collected and used.

Perfect for K-8 social studies students, this site includes curriculum content, online learning videos and quizzes along with a list of the corresponding national and state Standards.

The best way to experience Yellowstone is to visit. The second best way is to explore the cool interactive maps and, of course, the livestream of the Old Faithful Geyser eruptions.

Social Studies Games and Simulations

Dive into engaging civics and law-related education programs. Students of all grade levels can learn more about the values and skills essential to being a responsible citizen.

Choose articles based on reading level, so you can use these articles for various age and skillsets. Schools and districts closed due to the outbreak can request free unlimited access to Kids Discover Online.

This free, core academic website delivers videos, animations, and simulations for middle-school and high-school students.

This pick for best social studies websites allows students to "watch episodes, play games, and sing along to your favourite Horrible Histories songs!"

iCivics provides tools to help students learn about civic life. Teachers and students can access printable lesson plans, interactive digital tools, and award-winning games.

Established by Congress, this interactive website provides free online resources for remote students of all ages who are learning more about the Constitution.

This site empowers learners to explore their own interests and collaborate with others to bring ideas to life.
Looking for more online resources for learning at home? We've built a list with over 130 resources here.

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Best Social Studies Websites for Kids & Teens

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Social studies takes a look at the different branches of human society. What better time to push our kids and students to explore humanity? School is canceled for the foreseeable future, so if you're looking for the best social studies websites, you've come to the right place.