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Dear Families:
This is a very uncertain time for families and educators.  I felt compelled to put this list together without knowledge on what will happen in the future!  I don't think it is a resource wasted because continuing learning during the summer is always important as well!  Just know how important it is to keep your child engaged in their learning process.  It is alarming to think about the very real possibility of students missing over 10% of the school year.  We depend on you to help teachers with this process.   I also understand the importance of stepping away from technology and lessening screen time. Although all of these resources above require screen time, please look into doing these activities as well!

Bake and cook using recipes!

Play store

Make gifts and write letters for those who can't get out

Draw or write a family tree

Garden

Do plays

Make puppets

Get outside and have picnics

Play board games

Do origami

Most importantly---read, exercise and get outside!

One key subject missing above is WRITING.  I strongly encourage you to have your student write in a journal every day.

For PreK-K students, have them finger write letters, their name, and easy words with finger paint, in shaving cream, or in sugar or sand boxes.  Form letters with playdoh or cut out letters with cookie cutters.

For K-1 students, dictate 1-3 sentences for students to write. Write about their day, write about a book or movie, or write a letter.  Help them sound out the words and write with correct letter formations. Write their teacher!

For 2-5 students, let them write 3-5 sentences, responding to books they have read.  Write friends or practice on typing websites.  Let them make book reports and research projects.

Writing is JUST AS IMPORTANT AS READING!   It's very important to continue to do this.  For young learners, there are lots of free writing paper templates you can print off.  It's ok for students to just free write on white copy paper.

I also recommend familiarizing yourself with Google Classroom and/or Seesaw. These are two platforms that might be utilized if we should have to go to a virtual classroom setting for an extended break.  I can provide documents on this if you would like them. Please email me.

Finally, keep on top of your child's social-emotional needs.  Anxiety could be high at this time.  Please reach out to your school counselor if you need any help with your child's social emotional needs.

Happy Learning!  I am here to support you!  Email any time.

Sarah Nieder
Reading Specialist

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For the Lover of Science and Social Studies:

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For the Lover of Science and Social Studies:

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Google Arts and Culture:
Lots of virtual tours to explore and street views of historical monuments, world wide.
https://artsandculture.google.com/explore?hl=en

Nat Geo Kids:
For all things science and social studies! Lots of interactive learning activities on this site.
https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/

Smithsonian Museums for Kids:
Expore and learn through the Smithsonian museums. Science and social studies games, live animal webcams, and learning activities.
https://www.si.edu/kids

Time For Kids:
Relevant and kid-friendly articles.  I know they are in the process of making all articles digitally available and lesson plans available through a newsletter signup.
https://www.timeforkids.com/

San Diego Zoo:
Come visit the country's best zoo!  Webcams, videos, activities and games to explore.
https://kids.sandiegozoo.org/

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Numeracy is important for students to develop logical thinking and reasoning strategies in their everyday activities. We need numeracy to solve problems and make sense of numbers, time, patterns and shapes for activities like cooking, reading receipts, reading instructions and even playing sports.

Math Playground:

Simple math games, logic puzzles, story problems for grades 1-6.
https://www.mathplayground.com/

SplashLearn:
With a free signup, students can do math activities for all topics in math.  Activities are for K-6.
https://www.splashlearn.com/parent-dashboard#/

Kahn Academy
Math lessons of all topics designed to help K-12 students succeed. Requires a free sign up.  Many teachers have already used this to provide extra practice with math at home.  The app is free!
https://www.khanacademy.org

Math Worksheets:
Basic math worksheets to print off and practice.
https://www.commoncoresheets.com/

Figure This!
Figure This! is a site designed to encourage families to practice math together. It includes fun and engaging math games and high-quality challenges.
https://figurethis.nctm.org/index.html

There are lots of math apps that are fun and interactive for kids! Most have a fee but might be worth the price for engagement and easy to use for practice.

Splash Math: In-App Fees
Prodigy Math: In-App Fees
Kahn Academy Kids: Free!
Math Kids: Free!
Moose Math: Free!

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ABC Mouse
ABC Mouse is geared for students PreK-2nd grade. Although it has a lot of activities for all subjects, I particularly like the reading activities, especially in phonics.
www.abcmouse.com

Starfall:
An engaging website that incorporates reading, math, poetry, games, songs, and many other activities.  Very user-friendly and can be downloaded for free as an app. For grades PK-3.
www.starfall.com

ABCYa:
Another engaging website that incorporates reading, math, art, and strategy games.  User-friendly and for grades K-6.
https://www.abcya.com/

Adventure Academy:
Mutiplayer online game (MMO) for students in 3rd through 8th grade. Adventure Academy brings learning to life as it builds critical knowledge of essential curriculum topics with thousands of learning activities in language arts, math, science, and social studies in a safe and engaging virtual world.

PBS Kids:
Educational games and shows from all your favorites at PBS
https://pbskids.org/

FunBrain:
Various games and activities for reading and math.
https://www.funbrain.com/

BrainPopJr.:
Animated, engaging videos and activities on various topics. I am still awaiting free access approval as I type this.  Please send me an email if you would like the passcode for free access to this side. I believe it is worth logging in for!
https://jr.brainpop.com/

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For the Kinesthetic Learner and Musician: 

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For the Kinesthetic Learner and Musician: 

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Fluency and Fitness:
If you want to practice reading sight words, as well as doing simple fitness routines, this is a fun activity for you!  The website is including 21 days of free access to all activities.
https://fluencyandfitness.com/register/school-closures/

GoNoodle:
Great site for activities with mindfulness and movement!  If you can't get outside, this is a great site to utilize inside.
https://family.gonoodle.com/

Jack Hartmann Songs:
Students love to learn math facts, letter sounds, and sight words through music and movement.  Jack Hartmann and Jan Richardson have teamed up to make learning fun!  Great for young learners.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVcQH8A634mauPrGbWs7QlQ

Classics for Kids!
This website explores composers, concepts of music and provides musical games and activities.  Lots of audio files to listen to.
https://www.classicsforkids.com/

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Don't forget to let your student explore his or her creative side.  If you don't have supplies, many can be purchased and delivered through Amazon. Some resources require very minimal supplies.

Art Studio Virtual Lessons:
An art studio with a blog is offering tutorials of art lessons, streamed at noon, central time.   Many of the projects sound really fun!
https://www.mcharpermanor.com/blog/

Art for Kids Hub:
Want to learn how to draw your favorite animal?  Or draw characters for a story? Art for Kids Hub is a great place to find a YouTube to learn how to draw practically anything!
https://www.artforkidshub.com/how-to-draw/

Hello Kids!
Drawing Tutorials and coloring pages.
http://www.hellokids.com/

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As we all know, reading at home is the most important activity you can do at home. Whether it's reading aloud,  partner reading, watching a read aloud on a website, or reading independently, it will keep your child engaged in a literacy-enriched environment, as they would be at school.  Please click on the link and refer to the caption with the link to learn more about the resource.

General Reading Resources:

Scholastic:
This is the best resource I have seen yet!  You will have to set up a free account (username: Learning20 | password: Clifford) but it is worth it! You can pick the grade level and then there will be a link to videos on the topic, a book to read, and do the activity to go along with the book and topic. It is user friendly and engaging.
https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/support/learnathome.html?caching

Reading IQ:
An advanced digital library and literacy platform for children through 6th grade that provides access to thousands of high-quality books.

https://www.readingiq.com/

Read Alouds:

Storyline Online:
You will recognize many of these famous faces as they read aloud their favorite stories!
https://www.storylineonline.net/

TumbleBooks:
This is a great database of books that are read aloud to the student.  They can also follow along with the text as the story is read.
https://www.tumblebooklibrary.com/Home.aspx?categoryID=77

Nook: Storytime Online (Barnes and Noble):
More YouTube videos exploring your favorite books, read by the authors and other celebrities.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Nook+Online+Storytime

Story Nory:
Audio recordings of classic literature, myths, fairy tales, and many more.
https://www.storynory.com/

National Geographic Explorer:
Listen and read scientific books. Lots of choices, engaging, and meaningful!  Great for science lovers.
https://ngexplorer.cengage.com/ngyoungexplorer/index.html

Phonics:
Various phonics activities can also be found on AbcYa and Starfall.

Reading Bear
Great phonics activities for early readers. Highly recommended for basic practice of phonological awareness skills.
https://www.readingbear.org/

Recommended Phonics Apps:
Although good apps usually cost money, students tend to gravitate towards touch devices and it is good for young children to manipulate sounds/word parts in words on a touch screen.  Although there's a fee, I feel many of these are valuable and might offer convenience through a phone or tablet.

Alphabytes: $1.99
Alphatots: $2.99
Articulation Station: Free!
Bob Books - Itunes and Google Play
Dr. Seuss ABC: $3.99
Endless Alphabet: $4.99
Learn with Homer: Free!
Pocked Phonics: $6.99
Skyfish Phonics: Free!
SuperWhy ABC Adventure: $2.99
Wonster Words: Free!
Word Wizards for Kids: $2.99
Writing Wizard: $4.99

Comprehension:

ReadWorks
ReadWorks is a free collection of reading passages.  The passages incorporate relevant, engaging topics in science and social studies.  You can sign up for free and click on the grade level on the left side.  From there, you can navigate a lot of articles. Comprehension and vocabulary questions are included.  This is great practice for state assessments.
https://www.readworks.org/

Who Was?
If you have Netflix, there are lessons to go along with the Who Was series.
Watch the series and answer the questions included in the lesson resources, learning about great historical figures along the way!
http://www.whowasbookseries.com/educators-resource/

If you find yourself wanting to know more about reading instruction and best practices in reading, I recommend checking out the website Reading Rockets.  There are many resources to help you help your young readers navigate reading.

https://www.readingrockets.org/

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I am glad you are here and I hope this presentation can help your child continue their learning at home during this extended break from school.  It's hard to believe it is out of the teacher's hands to be teaching in the classroom.  Having a break from academics for three weeks or more could definitely have an impact on student growth. Research shows that a student missing 10% or more of the school year (approximately 18 days) can have a negative affect on a student's performance.  This Padlet can hopefully help you keep your children on top of their journey in learning.  Please scroll down to learn more on how you can help your child still achieve academic growth during our extended break. You will find resources for reading, writing, science and social studies, art and fitness.  I have personally checked out each resource and believe it can be beneficial for all K-5 students. Many of these resources normally have to be purchased but are free at this time.  We are in this together and I am happy to help you at any time. Please email me if you have any questions.   Happy learning!

Sarah Nieder
Reading Specialist
snieder2018@gmail.com