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Free digital access to picture books, with audio, and narrations in 43 different languages

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Free digital access to picture books, with audio, and narrations in 43 different languages

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Unite for Literacy provides free digital access to picture books, narrated in many languages. Literacy is at the core of a healthy community, so we unite with partners to enable all families to read with their young children.

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The South Dakota Department of Education is working with the South Dakota Department of Health to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the state and to protect citizens and children. A school's approach to managing COVID-19 should be common sense. It will involve many of the preventive steps schools already take to mitigate contagious illnesses.

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It was excellent! Her is her padlet. I will try to share the link, too.

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multi-lingual resources to share with parents

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Sharing COVID-19 Updates ELLs and Immigrant Students

It is essential to continue sharing information about COVID-19 with English language learner (ELL) and immigrant families, especially as it changes. Key topics include:

Basic information about the virus, how it spreads, and who it most affects, such as the elderly and people with certain underlying health risks

What to do if you are sick

Preventative measures such as hand-washing, not touching your face, and staying home if you are sick

Information about social distancing

Here are some strategies to support that effort:

Ensure that students are receiving reminders on preventative measures regularly.

Encourage teachers to use visuals, videos, and demonstrations with ELLs on steps like hand washing and that they check students' understanding of that information.

Ensure that families receive this key information as well. Keep in mind that families will have different preferences on how they wish to communicate:

Phone calls, texts, and social media: Many families may prefer to communicate via phone, text, or social media instead of email. They may also be sharing regular updates with their own networks through these channels.

Translated information: Many COVID-19 resources have already been translated into other languages. Check with your local public health office to see if they have information serving the immigrant families in your community. We have also compiled multilingual resources below. Note: Families with lower levels of literacy may not be able to read written hand-outs. Making information available in a variety of forms will increase families' access.

Community networks and media outlets: Some immigrant communities may have robust communication networks within parent groups, with local organizations, or through media outlets in their language. Collaborating with these networks can provide a valuable two-way benefit both in sharing information and learning more about families' questions, concerns, and ideas.

Health, safety, and basic needs: Considerations for immigrant families

It's important to keep in mind the following:

some immigrant families may not have access to medical care, insurance, or sick leave

lost wages in the event of school or business closures, along with reduced access to school meals for children, may have a significant impact on families' stability

many families may live with grandparents or other older relatives.

Learn more from the following:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Coronavirus Resource Center

This resource center is now available in multiple languages.

Fact sheets and poster center

Coronavirus fact sheets are now available in multiple languages.

It's important that schools share accurate information about coronavirus with all school staff and families, including families of English learners. These resources include multilingual fact sheets and infographics.

Infographics

FAQs, fact sheets, and glossaries

Videos

School district updates in multiple languages

Related Resources

Classroom resources

Resources for families

How you can help

Learn how you can help families impacted by COVID-19 school closures, lay-offs, and medical emergencies. You may be able to find more information about local organizations working in your community.
Photo credit: James Gathany/CDC

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COVID-19 Information for ELL and Multilingual Families

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It is essential to continue sharing information about COVID-19 with English language learner (ELL) and immigrant families, especially as it changes.

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This site has solid information that is translated into multiple languages on the left hand column. 

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This site has solid information that is translated into multiple languages on the left hand column. 

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COVID-19 is a type of coronavirus, which is a small germ (too small to see without a microscope) that can spread and cause illness in people. COVID-19 causes flu-like symptoms such as a dry cough, shortness of breath, fever, and body aches. COVID-19 mostly affects the respiratory system. While most infections are not dangerous, it can cause pneumonia (a serious infection of the lungs) and can be deadly in severe cases.

Coronavirus spreads from an infected person in droplets released when they breathe, cough, or sneeze on people, surfaces, or on food. It enters the body through the mouth, nose, and eyes. Once in the body, it begins to multiply and spread to other areas. Coronavirus can live in the body for 2 to 28 days before outward signs of illness appear. So people can have coronavirus and not know it, and transmit the virus to others. Coronavirus can live on surfaces and objects for more than a week. It spreads easily through contact.

Anyone can get coronavirus. Even if you had it and recovered, you can get it again. Adults more than 45 years old, especially the elderly, and people who already have illnesses, especially respiratory illnesses and weakened immune systems, are at greater risk to get coronavirus and experience more severe effects.

How can you prevent infection?

Currently there is no vaccine or specific medicine for coronavirus. Coronavirus is not killed by antibiotics or home remedies. Coronavirus can only be prevented by avoiding contact with it and cleaning frequently to kill it.

Wash your hands frequently with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand-rub.

Wash vigorously under running water for 20 seconds with soap, making sure to scrub beneath fingernails and cover the entire hand, wrist, and arm.

Always wash hands after using the bathroom, before meals, and after you cough, sneeze, or blow your nose.

Avoid touching your face without first washing your hands.

Clean surfaces (such as counters, doorknobs, etc.) that may be exposed to people with coronavirus, using alcohol or bleach disinfectants:

Alcohol: Isopropyl alcohol in a 70% concentration will kill the coronavirus germ quickly. Use it to clean surfaces such as countertops, doorknobs, and equipment. A 50% to 70% solution works best; do not use 100% because it will not work. If your alcohol is 100%, then add water in a ratio of 1 cup water to 2 cups of alcohol. First clean with soap and water, then clean with the alcohol solution and let it air dry.

Bleach: Bleach usually comes in a 5% solution. Add cold water (hot water will not work) to dilute it, using 2 cups of bleach in a 5 gallon bucket of water. First clean with soap and water, then clean with the bleach solution and let it air dry.

Clean objects that you handle frequently with disinfectants.

Wash clothing with detergents and hot water. If your washing machine has a pre-rinse cycle, be sure to use it.

About masks. Wear a surgical mask if you are sick so you don't spread your germs. If you are not sick, you usually do not need to wear a mask. If you are healthy and caring for a sick person with a suspected coronavirus infection, an N95 mask will protect you much better than a surgical mask, which gives very limited protection. To use a mask properly:

Before using a mask, clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water.

Cover your mouth and nose with the mask, making sure there are no gaps between your face and the mask.

Do not touch the mask while using it.

Replace the mask with a new one if it becomes damp.

Do not reuse masks.

To remove the mask, use the elastic straps behind your head to take it off (don't touch the mask itself), discard it immediately in a closed bin, and clean your hands.

Do not use a cloth over your face instead of a mask. The cloth will get damp from your breath, making it easier for the contagious droplets from outside to pass to you.

Monitor your health. If you are sneezing, have a dry cough, difficulty breathing and a fever, call your doctor or the local health official for instruction about how to get treatment. Because the severe danger from COVID-19 is inability to breathe (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome - ARDS), treatment for severe cases will include oxygen and a mechanical ventilator, available only in health care facilities.

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COVID-19 is a type of coronavirus, which is a small germ (too small to see without a microscope) that can spread and cause illness in people. COVID-19 causes flu-like symptoms such as a dry cough, shortness of breath, fever, and body aches. COVID-19 mostly affects the respiratory system.

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scroll down on this link, multiple languages information sheets

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Status of cases in Ontario

This web page will be updated with the most up-to-date information on the status of cases in Ontario, every day, seven days a week, at 10:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. ET.

¹Patient negative based on testing performed at Public Health Ontario (PHO) Laboratory and non-Public Health Ontario laboratories.
²Test results are pending
³Patient still testing positive and has not had two consecutive negative results greater than 24 hours apart
⁴Patient is no longer infectious based on two consecutive negative tests performed at PHO Laboratory at least 24 hours apart

Last updated: March 18, 2020 at 10:30 a.m. ET

New confirmed positive cases

Case information below may be updated as Public Health Units complete their investigations as of March 18, 2020 at 10:30 a.m. ET

Declaration of emergency

The province has enacted a declaration of emergency to help contain the spread of COVID-19 and protect the public.

As a result, the following establishments are required to close immediately:

all bars and restaurants, except to the extent that such facilities provide takeout and food delivery

all facilities providing indoor recreational programs

all public libraries

all private schools

all licensed child care centres

all movie cinemas

all theatres, including those offering live performances of music, dance and other art forms

all concert venues

Additionally, all organized public events of over 50 people are prohibited, including parades, events and communal services within places of worship.

These orders will remain in place until March 31, 2020, when the province will reassess for an extension or end the closures.

Coronaviruses

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that can cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more serious respiratory infections like bronchitis, pneumonia or severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

Coronaviruses are spread mainly from person to person through close contact, for example, in a household, workplace or health care centre.

Some human coronaviruses spread easily between people, while others do not.

Your risk of severe disease may be higher if you have a weakened immune system. This may be the case for:

older people

people with chronic disease (for example, diabetes, cancer, heart, renal or chronic lung disease)

The 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) causes a respiratory infection that originated in Wuhan, China.

The first presumptive case of this infection in Ontario was identified on January 25, 2020.

Current affected areas

The number of countries now reporting cases of COVID-19 has expanded and continues to change on a daily basis. The World Health Organization (WHO) is maintaining lists of affected areas/countries in their daily Situation Report, which can be found on the WHO website.

Anyone who has travelled outside of Canada should:

self-isolate for 14 days when they return. People who are self-isolating should not go to work

monitor themselves for symptoms of the 2019 novel coronavirus for 14 days after returning to Canada

contact Telehealth Ontario at 1-866-797-0000 or their local public health unit if they experience symptoms of the 2019 novel coronavirus

In addition:

Workers who have travelled and are part of workplaces that are essential to daily living are able to return to work as long as they do not have symptoms. However, they should self-monitor for a period of 14 days and identify themselves to their employer so that a plan can be put into place to ensure the protection of those workplaces.

Children under the age of 16 years who have travelled outside of Canada should also self-isolate for a period of 14 days. Parents should actively monitor their children's symptoms. Children who are self-isolating should stay at home and avoid social gathering points such as community centres or parks.

Learn about travel advisories related to the 2019 novel coronavirus.

Laboratory testing

Testing is being conducted at many laboratories across the province, in coordination with the Public Health Ontario Laboratory and the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg.

How Ontario is responding

Ontario is working with its partners in the health care system implementing a robust plan to monitor for, detect and, if needed, isolate any cases of the 2019 novel coronavirus. The Ministry of Health is taking several steps to ensure the health and safety of Ontarians. This includes:

monitoring hospitals for potential cases of the virus in individuals with travel history to areas under a travel health advisory for COVID-19

adding the 2019 novel coronavirus as a designated disease reportable under Ontario's public health legislation, enabling local public health units to quickly and effectively take all necessary measures to investigate, complete lab tests and do case and contact management to prevent and control further spread of the infection

ongoing planning with federal and provincial/territorial partners and readiness to coordinate with other provinces/territories

through the work of the Command Table, refining and finalizing plans for the implementation of enhanced measures to ensure the province continues to be prepared to respond quickly and effectively to any scenario, including: enhanced access to screening; expanding lab-testing capacity; and implementing new initiatives to keep the public and frontline workers safe

Symptoms and treatment

Symptoms range from mild - like the flu and other common respiratory infections - to severe. The most common symptoms include:

Complications from the 2019 novel coronavirus can include serious conditions, like pneumonia or kidney failure, and in some cases, death.

There are no specific treatments for coronaviruses, and there is no vaccine that protects against coronaviruses. Most people with common human coronavirus illnesses will recover on their own.

You should:

If you start to feel symptoms of COVID-19

Anyone who begins to feel unwell (fever, new cough or difficulty breathing) should return home and self-isolate immediately.

People who are self-isolating should seek clinical assessment over the phone - either through Telehealth Ontario (1-866-797-0000) or by calling their primary care provider's office. If you need additional assessment, your primary care provider or Telehealth will direct you to in-person care options.

If you need immediate medical attention you should call 911 and mention your travel history and symptoms.

How to protect yourself

Coronaviruses are spread mainly from person to person through close contact, for example, in a household, workplace or health care centre.

There is no vaccine available to protect against the 2019 novel coronavirus, but there are actions you can take to help prevent the spread of germs that cause respiratory illnesses.

Everyday actions

Take these everyday steps to reduce exposure to the virus and protect your health:

wash your hands often with soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer

sneeze and cough into your sleeve

avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth

avoid contact with people who are sick

stay home if you are sick

Poster - What you need to know to help you and your family stay healthy
During travel

If you are travelling to an area known to have cases of coronavirus, be sure to avoid:

Social distancing

Everyone in Ontario should be practicing social distancing to reduce their exposure to other people.

Everyone in Ontario should do their best to avoid close contact with people outside of their immediate families. Close contact includes being within two (2) meters of another person.

If you believe you have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 symptoms, you should begin to self-monitor for a period of 14 days. This means that, in addition to social distancing, you should track how you feel. You should take your temperature daily and log any other symptoms that develop (e.g., sore throat, new cough). You can share these records with your primary care provider over the phone if you seek assessment services.

How to self-isolate

Self-isolating means staying at home and avoiding contact with other people to help prevent the spread of disease to others in your home and your community.

All persons over 70 years of age and individuals who are immunocompromised are advised to self-isolate for a period of 14 days. This means that you should only leave your home or see other people for essential reasons. Where possible, you should seek services over the phone or internet or ask for help from friends, family or neighbours with essential errands.

When self-isolating you should:

Stay home

Limit the number of visitors in your home

only have visitors who you must see and keep the visits short

keep away from seniors and people with chronic medical conditions (e.g. diabetes, lung problems, immune deficiency)

Avoid contact with others

stay in a separate room away from other people in your home as much as possible and use a separate bathroom if you have one

make sure that shared rooms have good airflow (e.g. open windows)

Keep distance

if you are in a room with other people, keep a distance of at least two metres and wear a mask that covers your nose and mouth

if you cannot wear a mask, people should wear a mask when they are in the same room as you

Cover your coughs and sneezes

cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze

cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve or elbow, not your hand

throw used tissues in a lined waste basket, and wash your hands. Lining the wastebasket with a plastic bag makes waste disposal easier and safer.

after emptying the wastebasket wash your hands

Wash your hands

Wear a mask over your nose and mouth

wear a mask if you must leave your house to see a health care provider

wear a mask when you are within two metres of other people

Poster - How to self-isolate.

Wash your hands often

wash your hands with soap and water after each contact with the infected person

use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available

Wear mask and gloves

wear a mask and gloves when you have contact with the person's saliva or other body fluids (e.g. blood, sweat, saliva, vomit, urine and feces)

Dispose of gloves and mask after use

Limit the number of visitors in your home

only have visitors who you must see and keep the visits short

keep seniors and people with chronic medical conditions (e.g. diabetes, lung problems, and immune deficiency) away from the infected person

Avoid sharing household items

do not share dishes, drinking glasses, cups, eating utensils, towels, bedding or other items with the person under investigation

after use, these items should be washed with soap or detergent in warm water. No special soap is needed

dishwashers and washing machines can be used

do not share cigarettes

Clean

clean your home with regular household cleaners

clean regularly touched items such as toilets, sink tap handles, doorknobs and bedside tables on a daily basis

Wash laundry thoroughly

there is no need to separate the laundry, but you should wear gloves when handling

clean your hands with soap and water immediately after removing your gloves

Be careful when touching waste

Poster - Self-isolation: Guide for caregivers, household members and close contacts

Information on the 2019 novel coronavirus for health care professionals

If you are a health care professional, learn how to protect yourself and your patients by reading our guidance documents and learning about:

screening

laboratory testing

treatment recommendations

occupational health & safety and infection prevention & control measures

Ontario news about the 2019 novel coronavirus

Statement: Death in Ontario Potentially Related to COVID-19 (March 17, 2020)

News Release: Ontario Enacts Declaration of Emergency to Protect the Public (March 17, 2020)

Statement: Ontario Takes Further Action to Contain the Spread of COVID-19 (March 16, 2020)

Statement: Enhanced Measures to Protect Ontarians from COVID-19 (March 16, 2020)

Statement: Statement from the Minister of Finance on the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Ontario's Economy (March 16, 2020)

News Release: Premier Ford Announces Job Protection for Workers during the COVID-19 Situation (March 16, 2020)

News Release: Statement from Minister Elliott and Minister Smith on the Social Services Sector's Response to COVID-19 (March 16, 2020)

News Release: Province Expanding Telehealth Ontario Resources (March 16, 2020)

Statement: Ontario Hospitals Asked to Take a Planned Approach to Ramping Down Elective Surgeries (March 15, 2020)

Statement: Statement from Minister Elliott and Minister Yurek Related to Ontario Parks Operations in Response to COVID-19 (March 15, 2020)

Statement: Statement from Minister Elliott and Minister Hardeman related to grocery buying habits and COVID-19 in Ontario (March 14, 2020)

News Release: Statement from Minister Elliott and Solicitor General Jones regarding Ontario's adult correctional facilities in response to COVID-19 (March 13, 2020)

Statement: Statement from Minister Elliott and Minister MacLeod on the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) (March 13, 2020)

Statement: Statement from Minister Elliott and Minister Romano on the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) (March 13, 2020)

Statement: Statement from Minister Elliott and Minister MacLeod on the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) (March 13, 2020)

Statement: Statement from Premier Ford, Minister Elliott, and Minister Lecce on the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) (March 12, 2020)

News Release: CORRECTION: Province Implementing Enhanced Measures to Protect Ontarians from COVID-19 (March 12, 2020)

Statement: Ontario Enhancing COVID-19 Protections for Long-Term Care Residents, Families and Staff (March 11, 2020)

News Release: Ontario Making it Easier for Public to Stay Informed about COVID-19 (March 9, 2020)

News Release: Ontario Confirms New Positive Cases of COVID-19 (March 8, 2020)

News Release: Ontario Confirms New Positive Case of COVID-19 (March 8, 2020)

News Release: Ontario Confirms New Positive Cases of COVID-19 (March 6, 2020)

Statement: Statement from Ministers Elliott and MacLeod on the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) (March 6, 2020)

News Release: Ontario Confirms New Positive Cases of COVID-19 (March 6, 2020)

News Release: Ontario Confirms New Positive Cases of COVID-19 (March 5, 2020)

News Release: Ontario Confirms New Positive Cases of COVID-19 (March 3, 2020)

News Release: Ontario Implementing Enhanced Measures to Safeguard Public from COVID-19 (March 2, 2020)

News Release: Ontario Confirms New Positive Cases of COVID-19 (March 1, 2020)

News Release: Ontario Confirms New Positive Cases of COVID-19 (February 29, 2020)

News Release: Ontario Confirms New Positive Case of COVID-19 (February 28, 2020)

News Release: Ontario Confirms Positive Case of COVID-19 (February 28, 2020)

News Release: Ontario Confirms Positive Case of COVID-19 (February 27, 2020)

News Release: Ontario Confirms Positive Case of COVID-19 (February 26, 2020)

News Release: Ontario Confirms Presumptive Case of COVID-19 (February 23, 2020)

News Release: Ontario Confirms Resolved Case of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (February 12, 2020)

News Release: Ontario's Public Health System Keeping the Public Safe (January 31, 2020)

News Release: Ontario Confirms Third Case of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (January 31, 2020)

News Release: Ontario Government Protecting Students from Emerging Issue of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (January 28, 2020)

News Release: Ontario Confirms Second Presumptive Case of Wuhan Novel Coronavirus (January 27, 2020)

News Release: Ontario Protecting Students from Emerging Issue of the Wuhan Novel Coronavirus (January 26, 2020)

News Release: Ontario Confirms First Case of Wuhan Novel Coronavirus (January 25, 2020)

News release: Federal Government Increasing Measures to Monitor Wuhan Novel Coronavirus Risks at Canadian Airports, Including Pearson (January 24, 2020)

News release: Ontario Takes Steps to Safeguard the Health of the Public Against the Coronavirus (January 22, 2020)

Information sheet (available in multiple languages)

The Ministry of Health has developed an information sheet about the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) to inform Ontarians about the virus, how they can protect themselves and what to do if they think they have contracted the 2019 novel coronavirus. The information sheet is available in multiple languages.

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Learn how the Ministry of Health is helping to keep Ontarians safe during the 2019 Novel Coronavirus outbreak. Find out how to protect yourself and how to recognize symptoms. Take a self-assessment Get information in other languages Contact Telehealth Ontario at 1-866-797-0000, your local public health unit or your primary care provider if you're experiencing symptoms of the 2019 novel coronavirus.

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Verbs, Action Verbs, Days of the Week

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continents, oceans, professions, questions, numbers, colors, nouns, adjectives

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PBS Learning Media resources for school closures, in Spanish

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PBS Learning Media resources for school closures, in Spanish

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Recursos de PreK-12 para Cierres de Emergencia | PBS LearningMedia

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Los maestros, los estudiantes y las familias estan preparando con el cierre de escuelas, y el equipo de los creadores de las lecciones y educadores de PBS LearningMedia se han unido para seleccionar una colección especial de recursos organizados por grado y materia.

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clothing, months, holidays, seasons, colors, common and proper nous

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LELLs Ready to Go_ Week 4 Created by Pamela Broussard

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Reading A-Z FREE through end of school year 

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Reading A-Z FREE through end of school year 

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In addition, we are also offering free access to Raz-Kids and Headsprout to those schools that don’t have these products today.* Educators, please register for a FREE subscription to Raz-Kids and/or Headsprout, valid through the end of the school year.

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Reading a-z Virtual Support for Learning During the Coronavirus Outbreak

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on-line teaching resources and ideas

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Here's What I'm Trying Out In My Daily Thirty-Minute Live Online Newcomers Class We Might Have Gotten Remote Learning Wrong. We Can Still Fix This School Year Four questions - and answers - about teaching English online
I've been sharing a lot of resources over the past week, and will continue to do so.

However, it can be overwhelming - to me and to readers.

This is a more narrow and focused list - just the resources that I think are the most useful - the "best of the best." I don't share anything that I think is not helpful and carefully curate anything I post on the blog, but it is possible to have too much of a good thing.

That's why I have a lengthy series of "All-Time Best" lists on different topics, and you can find them all here.

I'll continue to add to my other lists, and will slowly add to this one.

To access all the resources I've shared, go to:
The Best Video Tutorials On Teaching Remotely - Please Suggest More! The Best Advice On Teaching K-12 Online (If We Have To Because Of The Coronavirus) - Please Make More Suggestions! The Best Research Related To Closing Schools Because Of The Coronavirus THE FOUR BEST TOOLS FOR TAKING EXISTING VIDEOS & MAKING THEM INTERACTIVE FOR ONLINE LEARNING The Best Summaries Of Research About Online Instruction Great Resources For Creating & Going On Virtual Field Trips A Beginning List Of The Best Resources For Learning About Google Classroom "News-O-Matic" Is Definitely A Site I Would Consider Using With Students Right Now Ten Million People Applied For Unemployment In Two Weeks - We Better Keep That In Mind When We're Teaching These Are Great! Six Free Tools Teachers & Students Can Use To Learn English, Spanish & Other Languages During The Coronavirus Crisis THE BEST VIDEOS IN SPANISH TO HELP PARENTS & STUDENTS ACCESS TECH IN REMOTE LEARNING SIX POTENTIAL MODELS FOR SCHOOL SCHEDULES DURING THE COVID-19 CRISIS THE BEST POSTS PREDICTING WHAT SCHOOLS WILL LOOK LIKE IN THE FALL
Here are my choices for the "best of the best":

I've got to start with four of my previous posts: the first is one of the "Best" lists I just shared: THE FOUR BEST TOOLS FOR TAKING EXISTING VIDEOS & MAKING THEM INTERACTIVE FOR ONLINE LEARNING.

Another is HERE'S MY ONLINE TEACHING PLAN IF OUR SCHOOL CLOSES DOWN BECAUSE OF THE CORONAVIRUS, which I've updated since it was first published.
If You Are Teaching Theory Of Knowledge & Have To Go Online, Here Is The IDEAL Project For Your Students!
Finally, "Learning Packets" For Students During School Closures.
Brainpop IS Offering Free Individual Accounts For Students - What A Gift For ELLs & Others
You'll find nothing better than a guide published by Edublogs called RESOURCES FOR TEACHING ONLINE DUE TO SCHOOL CLOSURES:

Tips and Tools for Teaching Remotely is from Richard Byrne.

Preparing to Take School Online? Here Are 10 Tips to Make It Work. is from Ed Surge.

The Educator Temporary School Closure for Online Learning Facebook Group is a gold mine!

Ideas for adapting group lessons to working on Zoom is by Sandy Millin.

5 Structures for Virtual School is from the great Tan Huynh.

#RemoteLearning Ideas with and for Younger Learners is from Langwitches.

MindShift published a great resource: Resources For Teaching and Learning During This Period of Social Distancing

Remote Teaching and Learning Guidance from The English College in Prague looks very helpful.

Estonia is renowned for its schooling and its online infrastructure. They've now made all their online tools available for free to schools around the world, and several of them look pretty exceptional.

I'm not a math or science teacher, but it's always seemed to me that using Legends of Learning would be the kind of way I'd want to learn both. They've just made their premium features free to teachers and students during closures. Read my past posts about the site here.

There are a few very good collections of tools providing free access to teachers and students affected by school closures.

Here's a list using Wakelet.
This is a crowdsourced Google Doc link
This list may be the best list of free tools.

The Blog de Cristina shared an incredibly easy video conferencing tool (our school staff has actually be using it to meet every day this week) called 8 X 8. Read her post about it. If you don't need Zoom's breakout rooms, 8 X 8 is the way to go. I'm also adding it to The Best Online Tools For Real-Time Collaboration.

Webinar Recording - Three Things We Can Do To Quickly Transition to Teaching Online is from Richard Byrne's blog.

I'm a BIG fan of Quizizz, and they have published The Quizizz Guide to Distance Learning.

Going Online: Nurturing Learning & Community During a Pandemic is from Ethical ELA.

MIT has created Full Steam Ahead, which shares some great lesson plans for students of all grades.

Thanks to Elizabeth Villanueva, I learned about this v ery useful Google Doc sharing resources to support immigrant students and their families.

14 Tips For Helping Students With Limited Internet Have Distance Learning is from MindShift.

This video shares a cool idea - basically, how to turn your phone in a document camera when you're on a video conference:

Google has unveiled a "Teach From Home" site that looks very, very useful.

Learning Keeps Going is a site that appears to be sponsored by multiple education organizations, and it, too, looks like it could be invaluable.

Cool https://t.co/QqzY5ikidt

- Remote Teacher (@remote_teacher) March 26, 2020

Actually, it's not a question - just don't https://t.co/thkuCgOd45

- Larry Ferlazzo (@Larryferlazzo) March 25, 2020

A Trauma-Informed Approach to Teaching Through Coronavirus is from Teaching Tolerance.

GUIDANCE ON CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE-SUSTAINING REMOTE EDUCATION is from NYU.

Culturally Responsive Teaching in the Online Classroom is from Learn Magazine.

I have sent announcements on Google Classroom, but what has really made all the difference in the world has been sending the same private message to each student "I just want to make sure you are doing okay - are you safe and healthy?"

- Larry Ferlazzo (@Larryferlazzo) March 26, 2020

DESE made this very good document to guide instruction during the stay at home time. Biggest take away...flexible opportunities, connections to home, and enrichment rather than trying to recreate school at home. Thank you, @MOEducation pic.twitter.com/EJ1SFidk3i

- Mike Szydlowski (@Szydlowskim) March 30, 2020

Resources to Support Special Populations During COVID-19 is from Bellwether Education Partners.

Good God, I'm finally done with our Mathematics K-8
Remote Learning Activities. I'd grateful for your help with the answer key (link is on the same page). https://t.co/21UlG1bDUF

- Fawn Nguyen (@fawnpnguyen) March 30, 2020

I was a guest on KQED Public Radio: California Teachers, Students Struggle with Distance Learning

In theory, you should be able to click the link on this tweet and get past the San Francisco Chronicle paywall. If not, click here:

Q&A: Teacher, author Larry Ferlazzo on California school closures, remote learning https://t.co/2638FXTWJ6 ⁦@jilltucker ⁩ interviewed me for SF Chronicle

- Larry Ferlazzo (@Larryferlazzo) March 30, 2020

Motivating distant learners: schools under coronavirus is by Harry Fletcher-Wood and is very good. I'm also adding it to Best Posts On "Motivating" Students.

Learn At Home is a very nice-looking site from the Utah Education Network.

I've written a lot about CommonLit, and it's on several "Best" lists. They've now released some fairly decent one-to-two week units for various grade levels, and are creating more. If you are an English teacher and are looking for some reasonably engaging off-the-shelf curriculum, I'd encourage you to take a look at them.

EDUCATING ALL LEARNERS DURING THE COVID-19 DISASTER is a new site to support special educators and learners.

ASCD Educational Leadership has just published a great open-access issue on distance learning.

12 Ideas for Writing Through the Pandemic With The New York Times is from The NY Times Learning Network, and is very good.

At Home with PZ are Project Zero thinking strategies specifically designed for use at home. I've written about Project Zero in the past at Project Zero's "Thinking Routines Tool" Is An Excellent Resource.
THIS IS THE BEST PIECE OF PANDEMIC TEACHING ADVICE THAT I'VE HEARD....
PBLWorks' new PBL For Remote Learning looks great.

Summative Assessment in Distance Learning is from Edutopia. It points out that performance tasks make a lot of sense in this situation. I can testify to that - many of my students prepared oral presentations (which many did with a partner), and it worked very well - especially for engagement! I'm adding it to The Best Resources For Learning About Performance Assessment.

How Teachers Want Emergency Distance Learning Improved is a new Edutopia article featuring several teachers (including me) from around the country talking about their remote teaching experiences.

"Without a doubt, the biggest takeaway is that ed tech is not the future... it is not going to replace the caring, the social-emotional growth and the academic needs that students..: get from being in the classroom with a teacher." ⁦@Larryferlazzo⁩ https://t.co/IqtZteZvXT

- Shane Safir (@ShaneSafir) June 9, 2020

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The "Best Of The Best" Resources To Support Teachers Dealing With School Closures

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Here's What I'm Trying Out In My Daily Thirty-Minute Live Online Newcomers Class We Might Have Gotten Remote Learning Wrong. We Can Still Fix This School Year Four questions - and answers - about teaching English online I've been sharing a lot of resources over the past week, and will continue to do so.

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Present Continuous, landforms, subject/pred, don't with commands

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household tools. possessive pronouns, transition words, story elements

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by Beth Skelton, writing ideas included

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shared on Leading ELs FB Page, grades k-8, multiple languages, writing ideas included

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using at home during school closures, for licenses and all kids.

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Parent Letters - Eng

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Parent Letter - Spanish

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Tennessee - Teaching ESL during School Closures

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Tennessee - Teaching ESL during School Closures

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good guidelines

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Welcome to Corwin's Online Teaching Toolkit! As many schools and districts are rapidly transitioning to online learning in response to COVID-19, this toolkit will provide you with the resources you need to adapt and provide exceptional online instruction for your students.

It's important to remember to stay calm and to maintain as much normalcy with your students as possible. They take their cues from you! As you'll see in this guide, many of our best practices for teaching and learning can easily be adapted for online learning. You do not need to start from scratch!

Take a step back to breathe and refocus. You've got this. See this short video from Caitlin Krause if you'd like a 1.5-minute guided breathing practice.

Stay Connected as We Update This Page!

For further resources to support leaders, please visit our Leaders' Online Toolkit. We will be updating this page in the weeks to come with more resources. Sign up to receive notifications when new resources are added.
sign up for notifications
Scroll or click to navigate:

Instructional Best Practices for Online Learning

Good news! Our best practices of face-to-face teaching still apply when teaching online. We do not have to start from scratch. The resources linked below will help you think through your current classroom practice and how it might best translate to online teaching.

Quick Tips

Well designed Learning Intentions and Success Criteria are still key in guiding student learning. For a quick refresher on creating Learning Intentions and Success criteria see this excerptfrom The Teacher Clarity Playbook.

During online lessons, maintain a balance between instructional time and student practice. Consider allowing online class time for students to complete work that you would normally assign for homework. Remember that students will be learning on a screen all day, so we want to mitigate the amount of time they have to spend online after school hours.

Encourage students to keep a physical planner to keep track of assignments and class schedules. During online learning, students are getting a lot of input with instruction and assignments posted online for all of their classes. This has the potential to be information overload. Writing down key information in their planners will force them to process and prioritize the tasks at hand.

Utilize the Learning Management System your school already has to post instructional content, the learning calendar, and assignments. There is no need to reinvent the wheel!

Resources
Setting Up Your Digital Classroom Making Use of Video Back to top ↑
Assessment in Online Learning

There are some new factors you may have to consider as you plan assessment for online learning, such as students' access to the internet and learning resources. However, these factors shouldn't have a huge effect on how we measure learning if we are employing best practices in assessment.

Students will have all of their learning resources at their fingertips, and we should embrace this instead of attempt to control or limit access for the sake of assessment. Instead, design assessments that measure higher level thinking and students' ability to transfer their learning - not the ability to recall basic facts they can easily look up online or in the instructional resources.

Use online tools to collect students' self-assessment throughout each unit. Because you aren't meeting with students face to face, this feedback will be crucial in your formative assessment process.

Make the most of your Learning Management System by designing assessments within the program and asking for students to share all deliverables through that system.

Resources
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Student Engagement in Online Learning

How do we get a sense of student engagement and learning when we aren't spending time with students face-to-face? This set of resources will help you plan to promote and assess student engagement throughout the online learning journey.

Quick Tips

Use online polls (like Poll Everywhere) to encourage thinking and participation during an online lesson

Engage students by asking good questions that prompt higher level thinking. Higher level thinking is crucial in online learning! Students will have the internet and all their resources at their fingertips. How can we design instruction and assessment that makes use of their access to those resources, and how can we ask questions in a way that promotes engagement and critical thinking skills?

If you are posting short instructional videos instead of hosting live online class sessions, consider asking quick questions in each video (with a specific time students must respond by) to ensure student participation. If a student doesn't send in a response, make a note to touch base with that student - this is a good opportunity to make sure all students have access to the online classroom environment.

Resources
Lean on Self-Assessment to Get Students Engaged in Their Own Learning Ask Questions that Will Engage Students in the Learning Take Brain Breaks!

Here are just a few [LINK] Energizing Brain Breaks [/LINK] you can do with students during an online class to get them moving and refreshed.
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Feedback in Online Learning

Providing students with ongoing, individualized feedback can actually be easier and more effective when using online tools! Here are some resources to help you design feedback cycles for online learning.

Quick Tips

Schedule miniconferences with individual students throughout each week. Use the self-assessment tools (linked in Student Engagement tab) to help students communicate where they think they are at in the learning journey. Their self-assessment will help guide you to give them appropriate and needed feedback.

Send students your plan for online feedback. When can they expect to touch base? What will you be providing feedback on each week? What are the ways you'll be providing feedback?

Resources
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Family Communication and Engagement in Online Learning

Your students' families will likely have a lot of questions about the online learning environment! The resources below will help you keep families in the loop and communicate important ways they can support their children's learning.

Quick Tips

Be proactive! If you get word that your school will be moving to online learning, send an update to your students' families as soon as possible. Use this email template to get started.

Let parents know how they should contact you. You may want all parent communication to come through your LMS or another platform so that internal communications and updates about your school closure are not lost in your email inbox.

Set a threshold grade that will determine when you should make additional contact with a student's family (i.e. if a student is currently receiving a grade under a B, I will make a call home)

Resources
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Connecting With Other Teachers Online

Finally, it's important to remember that YOU ARE NOT ALONE during this time! You can find new resources and support from fellow teachers online with the following resources:
Twitter/Social Media Hashtags Facebook Groups Other Online Resources Back to top ↑
Further Reading

If you'd like to read more, here are links to all of the books referenced in this guide:
Back to top ↑
Stay Connected as We Update This Page!

For further resources to support leaders, please visit our Leaders' Online Toolkit. We will be updating this page in the weeks to come with more resources. Sign up to receive notifications when new resources are added.
Sign up for page updates Back to top ↑

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Welcome to Corwin's Online Teaching Toolkit! As many schools and districts are rapidly transitioning to online learning in response to COVID-19, this toolkit will provide you with the resources you need to adapt and provide exceptional online instruction for your students.

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Duolingo is the world's most popular way to learn a language. It's 100% free, fun and science-based. Practice online on duolingo.com or on the apps!

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Search for local organizations that offer Mango

Thousands of organizations offer free access to Mango Languages - is yours one of them?

Enter your postal code to see if you have free access through your library or another local organization. And if you don't, please let us know.

Customer Support

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Thousands of organizations offer free access to Mango Languages - is yours one of them? Enter your postal code to see if you have free access through your library or another local organization. And if you don't, please let us know. Customer Support

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free subscription for one device

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ABCya! • ABCya! • Learning Games and Apps for Kids

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Educational games for grades PreK through 6 that will keep kids engaged and having fun. Topics include math, reading, typing, just-for-fun logic games… and more!

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online exercises

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2009-09-06 - ESL Games and Exercises Online - Vocabulary Games, Hangman, Snakes and Ladders, Wheel Game, Maze Games, Memory Games and more

2009-07-01 - Learn Chinese Online. Free Chinese Lessons for Beginners and elementary levels

2009-03 -7 - ESL Kids Lessons, Worksheets, Flashcards and phonics materials

2007-12-7 - Festivals & Holiday vocabulary Videos- Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving

2007-6-19: Pronunciation and intonations updates- Phonetic vowels video, vowels sounds mp3 download, free vowel sounds audio book for both students and teachers ( Teachers please phonetic worksheets here!!

2007-6-10 Fun English exercises with interactive online Crosswords, Word Search & Cloze exercises.

2007-1-7- Building vocabulary through prefixes & suffixes. See our Intermediate, Advanced & Grammar areas for interactive affixes quizzes. For teachers see English word formation Worksheets on the ESL Galaxy. 2006-12-20- Advanced/Upper intermediate quizzes updates. Interactive vocabulary and grammar quizzes for Advanced students have been updated.

English Media Lab, Free English Video Lessons

Beginner video lessons: Learn & teach country names, animal vocabulary, colours, clothes, days more...

Elementary video lessons learn vocabulary, related to jobs, clothes,months, vegetables, fruits more...

Higher level video lessons. use these videos to learn & teach vocabulary and grammar, adjectives comparatives, superlatives, travel, more..

ESL Grammar & Vocabulary quizzes, according to levels

ESL Online Puzzles , Gap Fills and Cloze Exercises

Business and Survival English

Business English Quizzes: self-grading vocabulary tests on a number of topics, Banking, negotiations, money idioms, money talk, business across cultures and many more...

Survival English: This section deals with English for travelers going to foreign English speaking countries, You will learn words related to going through customs, checking into hotels, travel luggage, passport etc.

Pronunciation Exercises and Listening

Pronunciation and intonation: English pronunciation and intonation exercises, phonetics, diphthongs,word stress quizzes, and more...

Listening Exercises: Listening exercises, though not many, for listening practice. Done with a variety of standard English accents. Practice listening here..

Commercial Area

Grammar Quizzes : Download Self-grading Quizzes for Offline Study

Powerpoint Lessons : Teachers of English would love these 50 Powerpoint lessons

Audiobooks(mp3 pdf) : Mp3 attached to this audio Readers- Download now!

Video Lessons & Podcasts: Download Videos on this site for Ipod use or for PC use

Worksheet ebooks : Download ESL lesson plan ebook with printable worksheets, board games, crossword puzzles, grammar, vocabulary and theme based lesson plans for TEFL.

Mp3 Downloads : Download tongue twisters to practice pronunciation

Classified Ads: Advertise a product, service or resume on this site. Advertise a banner or program.

EnglishMediaLab.com Partner Sites

ESL-galaxy.com: Free Downloadable ESL/EFL/TESOL/TEFL teaching materials .Printable worksheets, board games, crosswords, puzzle worksheets, theme worksheets,survival English worksheets,ESL PowerPoint Downloads. TEFL/TESL Teachers' first stop- Absolutely Free!!!

ESL Kids Lab: EFL/ESL kids resources for teachers, parents and kids. ESL kids videos, worksheets, PowerPoint downloads,Interactive quizzes for kids, TEFL/TESOL/ESOL/ESL/EFL resources for kids. Super Cool Site for kids. 100% Free!!!

ESL Fun Games and Activities for the classroom. ESL Powerpoint Games, ESL Board Games, Card Games, Interactive Games, Game Templates for your to build your own exercises.

Free Chinese Lessons - Chinese-ilab.com: Learn Chinese yourself on Chinese-ilab.com with videos, mp3 downloads and games.

Chinese Lessons online: For those interested in learning survival Chinese, this website will take you a long way with free podcasts, mp3 downloads and more.

New ESL Kids Lab: Fantastic Free Resources for ESL Kids, K-12 - PPT Videos, Flashcards, Handouts and Phonics

ESL Tower : There are grammar & vocabulary quizzes, crosswords, word search and several fun puzzles that make the learning and teaching of English easy and fun. Pronunciation is one area we have recently added more content. We have added phonetic vowel and consonant exercises in the form of videos, worksheets, self-tests and mp3 downloads.

External Links & Partners

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ESL, English Grammar Exercises, Video lessons,Quizzes, Vocabulary Exercises

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Free interactive Exercises for English Learners,online English grammar Exercises, vocabulary quizzes, tests,English grammar exercises,interactive ESL PowerPoint videos,ESL Videos, for kids, for beginners, intermediate, advanced, elementary levels

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vocab and grammar for beginning to intermediate levels

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Leveraging Games for Enhanced K-12 Primary Education in ESL, Math, and Science

In a world where screens have become ubiquitous, leveraging technology for educational purposes has never been more relevant. Enter the realm of online gaming-not just any gaming, but educational games designed for K-12 primary students. In this expansive guide, we will delve into the multifaceted benefits of using online games to enhance English as a Second Language (ESL), Math, and Science education. Get ready to play ESL games online, dabble in math adventures, and explore the fascinating universe of science games that are cool.

Play ESL Games Online: Transforming Language Learning

Games for ESL: More Than Just Fun and Games

When it comes to learning English as a second language, play becomes a powerful tool. Online games offer a unique blend of fun and educational content designed to help ESL learners grasp new concepts, from vocabulary to sentence structure, and even cultural nuances. Playing ESL games online creates a less intimidating environment for learners, allowing them to absorb language elements more naturally.

Building Blocks of Language: Vocabulary and Grammar

The most basic, yet crucial aspects of language learning, are vocabulary and grammar. ESL games often include exercises to match words with pictures, spell words correctly, and form sentences. This playful approach facilitates easier understanding and retention of language fundamentals.

Find Cool Games for Math: Making Numbers Fun

Why Play Math Games Online?

The conventional way of learning math-through rote memorization and repetition-often leaves students bored and unengaged. When you play math games online, you bring an element of fun into the equation, literally. Math games convert abstract concepts into tangible problems that require critical thinking. This makes it easier for young minds to grasp these concepts while having fun.

Math Gaming Categories

Whether it's solving puzzles, going on treasure hunts, or participating in virtual math competitions, online platforms offer a wide range of math games. You can find cool games for math that range from simple addition and subtraction to complex algebraic equations.

Play Science Games Online: Discover, Learn, Innovate

Science Games That Are Cool

How can you make science, often seen as a complex and challenging subject, enjoyable for primary students? The answer lies in integrating games into the educational process. When students play science games online, they experience hands-on learning that fosters curiosity and deepens understanding.

A Universe of Topics

The realm of science is broad, encompassing biology, physics, chemistry, earth sciences, and more. Online platforms often offer games for science that cover these various subjects, each designed to address specific educational standards and outcomes.

Primary Games for Holistic Learning
What Makes Primary Games Different?
When we talk about primary games, we refer to games explicitly designed for younger learners in the K-12 spectrum. These games are simplified yet engaging, covering the core subjects of ESL, Math, and Science. They are crafted to be age-appropriate, ensuring that students not only learn but also enjoy the process.
Primary the Games: Customization and Curriculum
The beauty of primary games lies in their customization options. Teachers and educators can tailor these games to align with the curriculum, making them an excellent supplemental learning tool.
FAQs: Why Are Games Important in Primary Education?
Q1: What is the significance of using games in primary education?
A: Games turn learning into an engaging and interactive experience. They help in improving focus, enhancing retention, and building problem-solving skills, all of which are crucial in primary education.

Q2: How can games be beneficial for ESL learners?
A: Games can offer a stress-free environment where ESL learners can practice language skills without the fear of making mistakes. They also facilitate better retention of vocabulary and grammar rules.

Q3: Are online math games effective for learning?
A: Absolutely! Online math games transform abstract concepts into interactive challenges, making it easier for students to understand and apply them.

Q4: Do science games offer practical knowledge?
A: Yes, many science games simulate real-world scenarios, encouraging students to apply scientific principles and learn through experimentation.

Q5: How do primary games align with traditional education?
A: Many primary games are designed to correlate with standard educational curriculums, making them an excellent supplement to traditional classroom teaching.

In conclusion, the digital age offers an abundance of opportunities to make learning a more engaging and enjoyable process. Whether it's ESL, Math, or Science, there's an online game tailored to make mastering each subject a thrilling adventure. So go ahead, enrich your primary educational journey with an array of games that not only educate but also entertain.

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Games for Learning English, Vocabulary, Grammar Games, Activities, ESL

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ESL Games Plus offers interactive online games for learning and teaching English as a Second Language. Our learning games are mostly suitable for teaching ESL Kids and Teenagers. There are activities for teaching and practising English grammar, vocabulary, sentences, listening and pronunciation skills.

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Focus on general vocabulary with speaking and listening challenges

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Learn a Language - Share a Language - LanguageGuide.org

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current events with listening and vocab building exercises

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Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin .

Jessica:

It's Thursday, December 21, 2017. Welcome to our weekly program, News in Slow English! Hello to all our listeners! Hi Joshua.

Joshua:

Hi, Jessica! Hello, everyone!

Jessica:

In the first part of our program, we're going to discuss current events. We will begin with a discussion about the vote on Thursday by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to repeal rules that ensure a fair and open internet, also called "net neutrality." Next, we'll talk about the Norwegian Parliament's decision to decriminalize all drug use. Then, we'll have a conversation about the discovery of a solar system that is more than 2,500 light years away. The discovery was made by NASA scientists using artificial intelligence developed by Google. And finally, we'll talk about a new item added to UNESCO's "intangible heritage" list -- the Neapolitan technique of pizza twirling.

Joshua:

Jessica, the repeal of net neutrality is a very serious thing. I would say it's terrible for many internet users and internet companies.

Joshua:

So, let's choose this story as the Featured Topic for our Speaking Studio this week.

Jessica:

Very good, Joshua. But now let's continue with the announcement. The second part of our show will be dedicated to American culture and the English language. In the grammar section of our program, we'll illustrate the use of today's topic: Superlatives. And we'll conclude our program with another English expression: "To get out of hand."

Joshua:

Very good, Jessica! Let's get started!

Jessica:

Yes, Joshua -- there's no time to waste! Let the show begin!

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News in Slow English | Learn English Online

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Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin . Jessica: It's Thursday, December 21, 2017. Welcome to our weekly program, News in Slow English! Hello to all our listeners! Hi Joshua. Joshua: Hi, Jessica! Hello, everyone!

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listening and vocab reading and matching, visuals - was kind of fun! I played it!

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Aims to help students and children to memorize English (US) vocabulary in an easy and efficient way by using images, pronunciation and games. Free and Fun!

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content vocab - fun games

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Math Games, Science Games, English as Second Language Games for Kids

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We support the school curriculum with games to practice core Math , English as Second Language (ESL) and skills for primary level children. Our games are fun and intuitive, allowing kids to drive the learning in the classroom and at home. Simply decide on a skill, pick a game and start practising.

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videos, kids must register but it is free.

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Do you want to learn English or prepare to become a U.S. citizen for free? Please enter your email address, name and a password.

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English activities that offer a range of great ideas for ESL teachers

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Welcome to Fun English Games for Kids! Find a wide range of free teaching resources that are perfect for students learning English, ESL classes and teachers looking for ideas online.

Enjoy interactive games, classroom activities, printable worksheets and more!

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english games activities kids online educational learning fun cool free children students letters words puzzles spelling reading writing grammar play free teaching resources studying learn practice exercises

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Fun English Games for Kids - Free Interactive Learning Activities Online

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Enjoy a wide range of fun, interactive English games and activities that are perfect for kids learning English as well as teachers looking for free educational resources online.

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videos to help learn english

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learn english englishclass101 "english class 101" esl innovative fun free language learning

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Learn English with EnglishClass101.com - The Fastest, Easiest and Most Fun Way to Learn English Start speaking English in minutes with Audio and Video lessons. EnglishClass101.com is an online English language learning website. With us you'll learn to speak, read, and write English. You'll have fun learning with listeners around the world.

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A Library for the World’s Children

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ICDL - International Children’s Digital Library

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for phonics, leveled passages, audio, and various languages and cultures)

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Breaking News English - Easier News Lessons

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Breaking News English Lessons - 3,369 FREE Easy News English lesson plans. EFL/ESL graded news lessons, news in 7 levels, current events.

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requires a free registration/subscription for teachers and students

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For full functionality of this site it is necessary to enable JavaScript. Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your web browser.

World-class content

Access thousands of reading lessons and our comprehensive ELA curriculum, CommonLit 360.

Accessible for all learners

Tailor instruction to students' needs with text-to-speech, translation, and digital note-taking.

Actionable data

Track students' reading performance, set goals, and plan instructional next steps.

CommonLit
Digital Library

Discover thousands of free, supplemental lessons and quizzes in English and Spanish - all featuring great authors.

CommonLit
Assessment Series

Measure growth in reading comprehension with three benchmark assessments when you unlock our premium packages.

CommonLit 360 &
Professional Development

Support a successful rollout of our research-backed ELA curriculum with personalized webinars and on-demand trainings.

"

CommonLit has made a tremendously positive impact on my teaching practice. I'm very proud to teach CommonLit!

Jennifer Lane ELA Teacher

"

CommonLit definitely keeps me organized. It's easy for me to grade and it's easy for me to see students' reading growth increase throughout the year.

"

The CommonLit assessment questions are aligned to our ELA standards, which is extremely helpful when prepping for the state exam.

Teachers trust CommonLit to foster students' reading comprehension

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CommonLit | Free Online Reading Passages and Literacy Resources

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CommonLit is a comprehensive literacy program with thousands of reading lessons, full-year ELA curriculum, benchmark assessments, and standards-based data for teachers.

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The Global Storybooks Portal is designed specifically for teachers, parents, and community members around the world. It makes 40 selected stories from the African Storybook available in major national, immigrant and refugee languages of individual countries, regions, and groups.

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basic free subscription, leveled current events articles in the content areas

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It's time to improve literacy skills during social studies instruction and ensure that readers of all abilities have what they need to access grade-level social studies concepts.

Join us on Thursday, December 7 for a look at scaffolded materials that provide extra literacy support while building key social studies concepts and skills.

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Newsela | Content and assessment platform

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Content Aligned To National & State Standard, Flexible To Support Relevant Curriculum. Find the Perfect Piece Of Content For Lessons. Go beyond the book.

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an old favorite!

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ReadWorks | Award-Winning, EdTech Nonprofit Organization

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ReadWorks is an edtech nonprofit organization that is committed to helping to solve America’s reading comprehension crisis.

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another old literacy favorite

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Starfall Education: Kids Games, Movies, Books & Music for K-5 and above

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At Starfall, children have fun while they learn - specializing in reading, phonics & math - educational games, movies, books, songs, and more for children K-5 and above.

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Covid-19 info

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keep families informed

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As the new coronavirus (COVID-19) evolves and spreads globally, closing down public venues, shuttering people in their homes, and suspending schooling, many teachers are left unsure what to do. English language learners and their families can find themselves in a particularly stressful place if they don't have the language proficiency to fully understand the facts about the virus and discern truth from misinformation. Additionally, because the epicenter of the outbreak is located in China, some people identifying as Asian and Asian American have been the subject of racially charged bullying and aggression.

All of this means that it's crucial to provide our students-English learners and proficient English speakers alike-and their families with accurate and updated information that they can comprehend, whether you're still teaching face to face or all your classes have moved online. Here are some resources for teaching and learning to help you through this challenging time.

We'll continue to update this blog post as more information and resources become available.
Resources for Schools and Teachers Serving English Learners
★ NEW ★ Responding to COVID-19: Educator First Steps (The TESOL Blog)
Teachers are finding themselves having to adapt and change with new pandemic paradigms. Here's where to get started to avoid feeling overwhelmed.

★ NEW ★ 42 Free Online Resources for Schools Shifting Online During Coronavirus (National School Choice Week)
A list of free online resources for schools, educators, and administrators to help them navigate the new online education landscape.

★ NEW ★ 10 Strategies for Online Learning During a Coronavirus Outbreak (ISTE)
ISTE's professional learning networks have identified 10 key practices for successful online learning.

Coronavirus Resources (TESOL International Association)
TESOL provides a list of links from the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control, and others to help you stay updated on the virus.

Coronavirus: Multilingual Resources for Schools (Colorín Colorado)
This page includes multilingual resources, fact sheets, and infographics.

Coronavirus Information Sheet (Ontario Ministry of Education)
This information sheet is available in 28 languages.

Poster: Stop Germs, Stay Healthy! (King County Health Department, Washington, USA)
This poster illustrating the proper way to wash hands and stop the spread of germs is available in 22 languages.

Public Service Announcement (Minnesota Department of Health)
This brief video about coronavirus is available in American Sign Language.

Sifting Through the Coronavirus Pandemic (Infodemic)
Before you teach about coronavirus, it's important that you know the facts. This blog outlines the four steps that will allow you to sort fact from fiction on the web; these are great skills for teachers and learners alike.
For the Classroom: Teaching About Coronavirus
★ NEW ★ What Science Classes Are Teaching Students About Coronavirus (EdSurge)
This article shares ways some science teachers are taking new approaches to teaching students about pandemics, viral infections, and coronavirus.

How Teachers Are Talking to Students About the Coronavirus (Education Week)
This article shares a few ways to address the virus with your students without causing undue stress or panic, as well as a few coronavirus lesson ideas.

Just For Kids: A Comic Exploring The New Coronavirus (NPR)
This comic is a great way to engage students in the discussion-in particular those who would benefit from visual scaffolding. A printable and foldable version is available.

Coronavirus Lesson (BrainPOP)
This lesson includes a 4-minute video, reading about viruses, vocabulary terms to preteach, a graphic organizer to help students separate facts from fears, and more.

Lesson of the Day: 'What Is the Coronavirus? Symptoms, Treatment and Risks' ( The New York Times)
In this lesson, older students learn about the virus and how people are responding to it around the world.
Dealing With Coronavirus-Related Racism and Xenophobia
Speaking Up Against Racism Around the New Coronavirus (Teaching Tolerance)
This article covers the historical context behind racism around Asian American or Pacific Islander groups and how to interrupt racism and equip students with the skills to recognize and respond to bias.

Coronavirus: Protect Yourself and Stand Against Racism (Facing History and Ourselves)
This teaching idea provides an outline of facts about the virus, allows students to explore instances of coronavirus-related racism, and gives them the opportunity to become upstanders.

If you have resources about coronavirus or stories to share about teaching related to coronavirus, please share in the comments.

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As the new coronavirus (COVID-19) evolves and spreads globally, closing down public venues, shuttering people in their homes, and suspending schooling, many teachers are left unsure what to do. English language learners and their families can find themselves in a particularly stressful place if they don't have the language proficiency to fully understand the facts about the virus and discern truth from misinformation.

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stay up to date

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COVID-19 in South Dakota | Community Impact Map | News
Precautions to Avoid Illness | If You Develop Symptoms
Community Guidance and Resources
Businesses Impacted by COVID-19
For Medical Providers | SD Healthcare Provider Guidance
CDC Healthcare Provider Guidance | CDC Website

The South Dakota Department of Health (SD-DOH) continues to respond to the emergence of the novel coronavirus. We are working with the CDC and our healthcare partners across the state to protect South Dakotans from COVID-19.

Updates include:

FAQs: How it spreads, protecting yourself, symptoms/testing, pregnant women, & more.

Cases have been identified in South Dakota.

The number of cases and countries with infections worldwide is increasing and can be found on the WHO website.

Case counts and other information about the novel coronavirus can be found on the CDC website.

Travelers returning from High Risk Countries (See CDC Travel Advisories) should self-monitor for 14 days for novel coronavirus symptoms (e.g., fever, cough, or shortness of breath) and call their medical provider to discuss their symptoms.

COVID-19 in South Dakota

On March 4, 2020, CDC updated the clinical criteria for testing a symptomatic individual after evaluation by their healthcare provider. As a result, the South Dakota Department of Health (SD-DOH) expects the number of persons under investigation (PUI) being tested for COVID-19 to increase.

The number of PUI being tested does not reflect the level of risk to the public in the state. For more information about the outbreak, potential risks, and protective recommendations, visit the SD-DOH website or CDC website.
This table shows the total number of positive COVID-19 cases in South Dakota residents, the total number of persons that tested negative, and the total number of PUIs that are pending results.

As of March 18, 2020
*Positive test results are no longer required to be sent to the CDC for confirmation
COVID-19 in South Dakota

South Dakota Counties with COVID-19 Cases

Note: All cases had travel history outside South Dakota prior to illness onset. There is no community transmission at this time.

Age Group of South Dakota COVID-19 Cases

Sex of South Dakota COVID-19 Cases

These tables will be updated every day

Community Impact Map

Everyone has a role to play to get ready, stay healthy, and protect yourself, your family, and your community from COVID-19. The goal is to slow the spread of COVID-19 to reduce illness and death, while minimizing disruptions to daily life.

What does "community mitigation" mean?

Any actions that individuals, schools, businesses, and health care facilities take to slow the spread of the infection.

CDC has developed steps that can be taken based on the level of COVID-19 spread in the community. As more COVID-19 is spread in a community, additional preventive steps can be taken. Community spread is defined as three levels:

None: COVID-19 cases may occur in the community, but there is NO community transmission.

Minimal to Moderate: There is a single case of community-acquired COVID-19 in a county.

Substantial: There are five or more cases of community-acquired COVID-19 in a county.

NOTE: this data is best viewed on a desktop or laptop computer.

News

March 18, 2020 - COVID-19 Briefing for Municipalities and Counties

March 17, 2020 - Press Conference
Governor Noem and state officials provide updates on COVID-19 response efforts.

March 16, 2020 - Press Conference
Governor Noem and state officials provide updates on COVID-19 response efforts including support for small businesses.

March 16, 2020 - COVID-19 Guidance to Childcare Facilities (DSS)

March 13, 2020 - Press Conference

Governor Noem announces additional COVID-19 response efforts including declaring a state of emergency, recommending school closures for the week of March 16, nursing home visitation restrictions, and an executive order for state employee remote work.

March 12, 2020 - Press Conference

Governor Noem and Health Department Officials provide an update on South Dakota's COVID-19 response.

March 10, 2020 - Press Conference

Governor Noem, Health Department officials announce South Dakota's first presumptive positive cases of COVID-1

March 5, 2020 - Update Webinar for Healthcare Providers | Slides

March 4, 2020 - Informational Briefing for Senate Health and Human Services Committee

February 27, 2020 - South Dakota Prepares for COVID-19

Precautions to avoid illness

What can you do?

Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

Cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue.

Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

Refraining from touching your eyes, nose and mouth.

Clean frequently touched surfaces and objects.

Individuals at higher risk for severe COVID-19 illness, such as older adults and people who have chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease, should take actions to reduce your risk of exposure.

Create a family plan to prepare for COVID-19 and develop a stay at home kit with food, water, medication, and other necessary items.

Environmental Cleaning and Disinfection Recommendations (CDC)

South Dakota's healthcare system is prepared to identify and treat cases of COVID-19.

What To Do If You develop symptoms

If you develop symptoms:

Call your health care provider immediately and tell them about any recent travel or exposure.

Individuals who are concerned that they have COVID-19 should contact their healthcare provider via phone before going to a clinic or hospital to prevent spread in healthcare facilities.

Avoid contact with other people.

Follow the directions of your provider and public health officials.

Find Federally Qualified Health Centers in South Dakota
CDC does not recommend that people who are well wear a facemask to protect themselves from respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19. You should only wear a mask if a healthcare professional recommends it. A facemask should be used by people who have COVID-19 and are showing symptoms. This is to protect others from the risk of getting infected. The use of facemasks also is crucial for health workers and other people who are taking care of someone infected with COVID-19 in close settings (at home or in a health care facility).

Community Guidance & Resources

Community mitigation guidance from the CDC is available for:

Communities

Businesses

Behavioral Health

Are you a business impacted by COVID-19?

The Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED) is working diligently to find funding sources for businesses impacted by COVID-19.

Governor Noem has submitted for a declaration to make South Dakota small businesses eligible for the Small Business Administration's Economic Injury Disaster Loan Assistance Program. We will continue to reach out to businesses impacted once we hear back from the SBA.

The GOED is also looking at its funding programs to see how they can be flexible during this difficult time.

Visit GOED's website at sdreadytowork.com or call 605-773-4633.

information for Medical Providers

Medical providers who are concerned a patient may be infected with COVID-19 should:

There is a nationwide shortage of supplies needed to run tests for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The South Dakota Public Health Laboratory (SDPHL) was able to run tests for medium and high-risk patients on Monday, March 16. However, the SDPHL did not receive additional supplies as expected to run tests beyond March 16, and there is no timeframe of when these supplies will be available from the CDC and our commercial suppliers.

Clinicians are strongly encouraged to test for other infectious causes of respiratory illness, such as influenza and RSV. Note: Asymptomatic patients are not eligible for testing at the SD Public Health Laboratory.

Low
Fever OR Cough OR Shortness of Breath

None identified

Medium
Fever OR Cough OR Shortness of breath AND Elevated risk for severe infection**

None identified

Medium
Fever OR Cough OR Shortness of Breath

Identified risk

High
Fever OR Cough OR Sore Throat OR Shortness of Breath

Identified healthcare risk***

High
Fever AND Cough OR Shortness of Breath

Identified risk

*Individual meets the risk exposure criterion if they have one of the following: **Elevated Risk for Severe COVID-19 Infection:

Hospitalized patients

Older adults (65 years of age and older)

Individuals with certain pre-existing conditions (e.g., heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, and immunosuppressed)

***Any healthcare worker who was caring for or who had unprotected direct contact with infectious secretions or excretions of a suspected COVID-19 patient or laboratory-confirmed case within 14 days of symptoms onset.

SD Guidance for Healthcare Providers

Guidance on specimen collection and testing, infection control practices, and other considerations are available at:

SARS-CoV-2 Laboratory Requisition and PUI Evaluation Form (3/13/2020)

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) optimization strategies: Provides options for extended use, reprocessing, and reuse of the various PPE components given current shortages of PPE being reported in many areas of the country.

Public Health reminder: CDC urges healthcare facilities and clinicians to delay and reschedule elective ambulatory visits, surgeries and admissions, and routine dental and eye care to preserve staff, personal protective equipment, and patient care supplies, ensure staff and patient safety, and expand available hospital capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

South Dakota Public Health Lab website

Archived COVID-19 Conference Calls

SD-DOH would like to remind medical providers, hospitals, and laboratories that cases of COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, are considered immediately reportable in South Dakota (under Coronavirus Respiratory syndromes).

Important LISTSERVs for Healthcare Providers

The Department of Health maintains a variety of LISTSERVs that provide useful information on COVID-19, including current guidance and scheduled calls.

ATTENTION RETIRED OR INACTIVE MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS:

Governor Noem is reaching out to our state's licensed medical professionals (physicians, nurses, EMTs, etc.) who are willing to volunteer their services during this COVID-19 pandemic through the Department of Health's Statewide Emergency Registry of Volunteers in South Dakota (SERV SD). SERV SD coordinates the pre-registration of medical and health care professionals who may be willing to volunteer in the event of an emergency.

Whether you work in a health field or not, active or retired, if you have an interest in assisting your community or state during the COVID-19 pandemic, we invite you to join SERV SD. SERV SD will create a database of medical and health care volunteers who can be mobilized immediately in response to an emergency. Participation in a deployment opportunity is optional. You may decide at the time a call is made to volunteer if you are willing and able to respond.

Registering with SERV SD is easy. Go to https://volunteers.sd.gov/.

CDC Guidance for Healthcare Providers

CDC issued guidance to healthcare facilities in the event that illness is identified.

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South Dakota's The South Dakota Department of Health (SD-DOH) continues to monitor the emergence of the novel coronavirus. We are working with the CDC and our healthcare partners across the state to prepare for and respond to a potential case.

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Hit all four domains

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This is a great tool. Free!

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We express ourselves in different ways. On Flip, you can use our simple and fun built-in camera to record your thoughts, add effects and share within your Flip group as video, audio only or text in your web browser or mobile app.

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Flip is a video discussion and sharing app, free from Microsoft.

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Flip (formerly Flipgrid) is a video discussion and video sharing app, free from Microsoft, built for classrooms and beyond. Learn more.

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5-minute tutorial of how to use flipgrid.

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EL Toolkit to use with Dear Colleague Letter 

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EL Toolkit to use with Dear Colleague Letter 

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prompts for conversations following reading. use with partners or with parents.

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DOE's Website with Covid-19 Information 

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DOE's Website with Covid-19 Information 

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The South Dakota Department of Education is working with the South Dakota Department of Health to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the state and to protect citizens and children. A school's approach to managing COVID-19 should be common sense. It will involve many of the preventive steps schools already take to mitigate contagious illnesses.

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read - let's not leave ELs behind

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UPDATED
As the nation shifts to online learning during the novel coronavirus outbreak, language and access barriers may shut many of the nation's nearly English-learner students out of the learning process.

A December 2019 report from the U.S. Department of Education found that few teachers reported assigning English-learners to use digital learning resources outside of class, in part because of concerns about students' lack of access to technology at home.

The same report also revealed that teachers who work with English-language learners are more apt to use general digital resources rather than tools designed specifically for English-learners and that English-learner educators reported fewer hours of professional development with digital learning resources than did mainstream teachers.

Those findings suggest the spread of outbreak-related school closures could have severe consequences for the millions of students with limited access to digital devices or the internet, limited understanding of English, and limited ability to work independently without support.

"This crisis has emphasized the inequities and gaps that exist in our [education] system," said Kristina Robertson, the English-learner program administrator for the Roseville, Minn., schools. "This is a wakeup call about the value of having technology for all."

English-learner educators often offer tailored support for their students in class, something that is not available in many of the online programs schools have implemented, said Joseph Luft, the executive director of the Internationals Network for Public Schools.

The New York City-based network operates 28 high school and middle school campuses in New York city, the San Francisco Bay Area, the Washington, D.C.-area, and Minneapolis that educate more than 10,000 English-learners and newly arrived immigrant students.

The widespread closures have left teachers and administrators scrambling for ways to connect with students they may not see face-to-face again for weeks or months. In New York City, schools are closed until at least April 20, and perhaps the rest of year, Mayor Bill de Blasio said this week.

Education Week created an interactive map to track school closures across the nation: As of Wednesday, at least 39 states have closed schools to help slow the spread of coronavirus; the closures have affected more than 40 million public school students.

In some of the International Network's New York schools, teachers spent the weekend printing paper packets for student pickup. The organization has also created a network-wide resource for teachers to share curriculum ideas and suggestions for connecting with families.

"This makes online learning a lot more difficult," Luft said. "We're trying to be very creative but it's very hard to transition so quickly."
Language Barriers
Across the country, public schools educate about 4.9 million English-learners from hundreds of different language backgrounds. While the numbers for several other languages are on the rise, 76 percent of the nation's English-learners speak Spanish.

Many of the nation's largest school districts have had significant English-learner populations for years, but communication challenges even exist for many of those school systems.

In Seattle, where schools will remain closed until April 24, the district offers translations for materials in six languages: Spanish, Somali, Mandarin Chinese, Vietnamese, Amharic, and Tagalog. That still leaves some families out of the loop. The district has nearly 7,000 English-learners and they speak a total of about 160 languages.

"[English-learners] who don't speak one of the major languages have much less support," Judie Haynes, an author and English-learner-educator consultant, wrote in an email to Education Week. "All distance learning will probably be in English or Spanish unless another language group has a big concentration."

The state of New Jersey, where Haynes in based, has a concentration of Portuguese students and teachers that would allow their needs to be met at school, she said.

Roughly 40 percent of the 7,000 students in Robertson's district, the Roseville schools, speak a language such as Spanish, Hmong, Karen, Somali, or Nepali at home.

The district employs 11 cultural liaisons, whose duties range from providing interpretation and translations, advising students, cultural navigation, and working to bridge the language and cultural gaps that emerge between district staff and families.

The district also plans to establish a multilingual Facebook page to communicate with families and send daily robocalls and emails in multiple languages to inform families about meals and other efforts to support families.

"Families need to have somebody they trust to communicate what they need from schools, Robertson said. "They want to their children to be safe and have learning opportunities just like everyone else."
Banding Together
Colorín Colorado, a site for English-learner educators, has compiled a list of resources and suggestions for school staff and English-learner families. The guide includes tips for ensuring that families have access to information about online learning and that their district or school online-learning plans account for English-learners.

In addition to providing links to COVID-19 information in several languages, the site also offers tips on staying connected with English-learner families during the extended shutdowns by communicating with families via phone calls, texts or video chats and providing translated information whenever possible.

"We want to ensure immigrant and English-learner families aren't left behind," said Giselle Lundy-Ponce, an English-learner advocate with the American Federation of Teachers. "It's going to require a monumental effort."

In an ongoing online survey of teachers conducted by the site, respondents have reported that many of their English-learners don't have laptops or tablets to access online lessons; in some cases, they don't have internet access.

"We would like not to lose anything [in terms of learning progress], but that's not very realistic," Robertson said. "Some families are going to be left behind."

A longtime English-as-a-second-language teacher, Haynes started #ellchat about a decade ago. On Monday, the Twitter chat focused on online learning for English-learners during the coronavirus outbreak. The exchange focused on tools that could help students access online lessons and remain in touch with teachers.

TESOL International Association, an organization for teachers who specialize in working with English-learners, has also collected resources that teachers and administrators can use to help guide their discussions with students about this pandemic.
'Losing Ground'
Luft is especially concerned about a particular subset of English-learners: older students who are nearing graduation.

School districts have long struggled to meet the educational needs of these students, including refugee and immigrant students who often have gaps in their formal education. Laws allow students to enroll in traditional public schools until they reach age 21, but many times they're pressured to leave campuses or funneled into alternative programs.

Luft fears that, with extended school closures, some of these students may leave school without graduating, unless some districts waive exam requirements or amend state laws on how many days schools must be in session.

"It's just throwing another roadblock in their way," Luft said. "We don't know how long this is going to last. They're in real danger of losing ground."

Robertson has asked district staff, including the cultural liaisons, to monitor whether families have enough food and understand when to seek medical help during the coronavirus outbreak.

Staff in the district-which has a one-to-one computing initiative-were also pressing to get tablets to students as schools shut down Wednesday through at least March 27.

"You can digitize instruction, but education is about connections," Luft said. "We don't really know what this is going to look like over the next couple of weeks. I'm not looking for miracles; I'm just looking for people working to keep kids connected to school."
Photo Credit: Students Valerie Mejia-Terry, left, and Karina Medina, right, focusing during class at Spirit Lake Elementary School in Spirit Lake, Iowa, in 2017. -- Bryon Houlgrave /The Des Moines Register

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English-Learners May Be Left Behind as Remote Learning Becomes 'New Normal'

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UPDATED As the nation shifts to online learning during the novel coronavirus outbreak, language and access barriers may shut many of the nation's nearly English-learner students out of the learning process. A December 2019 report from the U.S.

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PBS Learning Media resources, in English

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PBS Learning Media resources, in English

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PreK-12 Resources for Emergency Closings | PBS LearningMedia

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As teachers, students, and families deal with school closures, PBS LearningMedia producers and educators have come together to curate a special collection of resources organized by grade and subject area. Find videos, lesson plans, and activities that support learning at home. Create a free account to save and organize content.

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free till end of school year

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Free online library with audio books, read alongs, as well as young adult novels that are able to be read on computer and tablet. Students check out books by using their school assigned log-in information.

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Open a world of reading. Try Sora, the new reading app for students, by OverDrive.

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More than ever before, the world is searching for 'how do teachers do it.' Whether in a classroom or at home, we are grateful to everyone helping to keep students learning.

To teachers everywhere, thank you for all that you do.

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Giving teachers and families the tools and tips they need to help keep students learning.

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Mexican teacher who has an extensive YouTube channel with good short videos for grammar and pronunciation, explanations in Spanish and practice too.  Cutesy but OK for adults too if they like it.

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CURSO COMPLETO DE INGLÉS - NIVEL PRINCIPIANTE - YouTube

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Aquí podrás encontrar nuestros vídeos en orden para que puedas estudiar con la secuencia correcta. ¡Espero te sirva! - Si te interesan nuestros cursos presen...

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similar to screencastify but gives more option in the free version. Travis Lape give a webinar (skip past his check-in with his teachers)

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infographic

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excellent article

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The Do's & Don'ts of a Quick Switch to ...arry Ferlazzo - Education Week Teacher

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Notification of School Closing with Plan to Instruct 

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Notification of School Closing with Plan to Instruct 

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How is ELD being documented?

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Get credit for learning all this new stuff. :-) 15 CEUs

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PD Bingo - Distance Teaching Spring 2020

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ELA and Math common core/state standards langauge/vocab approach, so supports our standards. free during this sch closure time.

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Empowering teachers to provide the education that every student deserves.

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Someone shared this link that Nearpod is giving free access. Check it out.

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Nearpod is an award-winning student engagement platform with ready-to-run interactive lessons for K-12 teachers. Explore interactive lessons and interactive technology for the classroom that students love.

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SD State-Wide Title III Distance Learning Guide

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SD State-Wide Title III Distance Learning Guide

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Considerations for ELD Distance services from your State-Wide T3 friends

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EL Distance Learning Guide Sp 2020.docx (2)

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thank you, Julie Olson... through the #SDEducators Facebook page.

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How to take a pdf and let students fill it in

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CAL Webinar, about an hour long

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extension for grid view

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Google Hangouts Meet is a great video conference tool for connecting people... but what about when there are a lot of people in the meeting?

Normally when you are in a Google Meet video conference, you can only show at most 4 people at a time. You do this by clicking the three dots button in the bottom right corner and choosing " Change Layout", and then selecting the " Tiled" view. But what if you want to see everyone in the Meet?

Thankfully there is a free Chrome extension called " Google Meet Grid View" that allows you to see everyone in the meeting, no matter how many people there are. See below for details on how to install and use this helpful extension, including a short 6-minute video with step-by-step directions.

Tutorial Video (6 minutes)

Note: See all of my Google Meet help videos here:

A Few Quick Notes...

First because this is a Chrome extension, you would need to be using the Google Chrome web browser, and you need to be using a PC, Mac, or Chromebook. Extensions do not work on mobile devices, so this Grid View tool would not work on an iPad or iPhone or Android tablet or phone (although see a trick further down).

Also, if you are using a school account, it is possible that your tech folks may have automatically pushed this extension out to you, so that it is already installed for you.

However, if you are using a school account, it is also possible that your school may have blocked the extension or may not allow you to install extensions. As always please contact your school tech team for questions specific to your school account.

Installation

To install the " Google Meet Grid View" extension do the following:

Go to the extension's page in the Chrome Web Store - "Google Meet Grid View"

Click the "Add to Chrome" button to install the extension.

Give it permission to install.

And then that is it! The extension will now show up in the top right corner of your web browser.

Using Grid View

Now that the Grid View extension is installed, anytime you are in a Google Meet you will now see a new button in the top right corner of the Meet window (next to the " People" and " Chat" button).

Simply click on this button to turn Grid View on or off. Once you turn it on you will now see all of the participants in the meeting.

There are a few options you can adjust in the drop-down menu below the button.

"Only show participants with video" - If you check this box then Grid View will not show anyone who has turned off their webcam or who doesn't have a camera to begin with.

"Highlight speakers" - If you check this box then anytime someone is speaking, a yellow box will appear around their them in the grid. This can help make it easier to see who is talking.

"Include yourself in the grid" - You can check or uncheck this if you want to see yourself as well or not.

Note: Keep in mind, this extension is only changing the view for you, and not for the other people in the meeting. Each person controls their own view. For other people in the meeting to see the grid, they also need to install the extension one time, and then they can turn the Grid View on or off for themselves.

Grid View for Mobile Devices

As mentioned earlier, Chrome extensions do not run on mobile devices, so you can't install Grid View on a phone or tablet. Having said that, there is one trick you could do as the presenter to let other people see the grid, even if they are on a phone or tablet. What you could do is turn on grid view for yourself, then share your screen with the other participants.

To do this...

Click the "Present Now" button in the bottom right corner.

Choose "Window"from the pop-up menu.

Select the window that has your Google Meet screen.

Finally click the "Share" button.

Now the other participants will see your shared screen, which has the grid view turned on, so they will be seeing the grid! This would work no matter what device they are using including phones and tablets.
Don't forget to stop sharing your screen when done by clicking the presentation button again and choosing " Stop presenting".

Google Meet Grid View is a great extension to help everyone in a meeting or classroom feel like they are more connected with the group.

Post by Eric Curts. Connect with me on Twitter at twitter.com/ericcurts

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See Everyone with the Google Meet Grid View Extension

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Google Hangouts Meet is a great video conference tool for connecting people... but what about when there are a lot of people in the meeting? Normally when you are in a Google Meet video conference, you can only show at most 4 people at a time.

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Great wellness ideas are included!

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Thank you for sharing, Jean.

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Grading Students During the Coronavirus...hat's the Right Call? - Education Week

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Yvonne mentioned this 7-steps during the webinar. This link is to the resource for this 7-steps. Larry Ferlazzo is the speaker. You will LOVE this video!!!! only 6.5 minutes long.

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I just completed posting an eleven-part series on how teachers can best support students learning online.

And more are on the way, including a multi-part series near the end of April where both educators and students will reflect on their first month of teaching and learning online.

Today, I'm sharing a video that Education Week produced where I summarize some of the recommendations that teachers made in that eleven-part series and share a few of my own.

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Education Week American Education News Site of Record

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I just completed posting an eleven-part series on how teachers can best support students learning online. And more are on the way, including a multi-part series near the end of April where both educators and students will reflect on their first month of teaching and learning online.

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5 steps for eLearning

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Post YOUR OWN  ELD Lessons on this Padlet link...

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Post YOUR OWN  ELD Lessons on this Padlet link...

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please share your lessons and ideas here on this link. click here and it will take you to a padlet you can post on.

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Montana PBS - unplugged pdf of teaching ideas - AWESOME! 

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Montana PBS - unplugged pdf of teaching ideas - AWESOME! 

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scroll down a bit on this page to get to the bingos I showed you in the zoom meeting. :-)

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MTPBS + Idaho Public

Learn how to support students during school closures with MTPBS + Idaho Public TV.

Spanish prek-12 resources

Muchos de estos recursos son bilingües. Para encontrar la versión en español, seleccione Español en el menú desplegable que se encuentra cerca de la imagen y la descripción del rec

REACH | PBS LEARNINGMEDIA

This self-paced interactive reading program helps engage parents and children as at-home reading partners. Designed by classroom reading specialists and designed for grades K-3.

MontanaPBS Partners with OPI to Support Students at Home

MontanaPBS partners with OPI to support students learning at home with free online resources and a revised broadcast TV schedule of educational programs beginning Monday, March 30.

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MTPBS + Idaho Public Learn how to support students during school closures with MTPBS + Idaho Public TV. Spanish prek-12 resources Muchos de estos recursos son bilingües. Para encontrar la versión en español, seleccione Español en el menú desplegable que se encuentra cerca de la imagen y la descripción del rec REACH | PBS LEARNINGMEDIA This self-paced interactive reading program helps engage parents and children as at-home reading partners.

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Bingo Boards

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send one home each week, partner reading, a bit of grammar and vocab. short and sweet!  https://www.stickyball.net/esl-dialogues-and-conversation-activities.html

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more from our friends at this resource, some good tips and ideas

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Posted by SupportEd Team

On April 6, 2020

0 Comments

Note: This post is a guest blog written by Dr. Eugenia Krimmel. Dr. Krimmel is the founder of CollegeESL.com and an ESL Instructional Coach at Commonwealth Charter Academy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Countless schools across the country are temporarily closing their brick and mortar facilities to help minimize the spread of COVID-19 with many schools moving instruction online. As disruptive and unwieldy as that may be for teachers and students in general, confusion caused by the sudden switch may be compounded for English learners (ELs) and their families. While educators can find a plethora of articles and how-to guides about teaching K-12 content online, little is written on educating ELs in a distance learning environment. Those seeking a better understanding of K-12 ESL education are advised to look to cyber or virtual schools that have been grappling for many years with the realities of teaching content and language to students whose English skills are still developing.

My work as the ESL Instructional Coach in a fully online public cyber charter school based in Pennsylvania, Commonwealth Charter Academy, involves tackling this very challenge. As a 30-year veteran of ESL teaching, I couple sound Second Language Acquisition (SLA) principles with the capabilities cyber environments allow to help guide those I coach. Together, my partner teachers and I are creating innovative ways to forge effective pathways in this "new frontier of ESL".

This blog post will share points to consider when beginning to teach ELs in a virtual setting, technology logistics, and strategies for effective distance learning of K-12 ELs.

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1. Points to Consider When Beginning to Teach ELs in a Virtual Setting

When we look at students' assets, we should begin by expanding our view beyond what we are required to do according to federal regulations to see more than the language achild uses to communicate, the level of English proficiency, and performance on state-approved assessments.

Broadening our perspectives and a deeper understanding of our students can greatly help us to build more successful programming. To do this, it's critical to learn as much as we can about students' and families' personal, social, cultural, and life experiences and partner with them on behalf of their children's academic and social-emotional development. This information is invaluable for building programming that capitalizes on students' and families' strengths and assets and welcoming and valuing their participation. Whether we do this in a school registration office, in a welcome center, while families are taking a tour of the school, or in a classroom or home visit, it's critical to demonstrate a genuine interest in partnering with families and honoring, valuing, and acknowledging the many strengths that they share with us.

The following suggested questions are intended to bolster our efforts from the start :-

School Policies. Check your school's policies regarding copyright laws, electronic communications, and equitable practices for any cyber learning suggestions you present.

Trusted Translation and Interpretation. Send ELs and their families written or video how-to guides for such extensions or apps like Google Translate , Microsoft Translator , or translation within Microsoft's Immersive Reader to name a few.
TalkingPoints.org is an app that seamlessly translates messages back and forth in the preferred languages of the sender and receiver. Your school's phone-based contract with an on-demand interpretation service may also serve you well in phone conversations with parents and students. Such services have to be pre-arranged by schools with companies like TransPerfect . These service providers are paid sites and have not endorsed this blog in any way.

Please note that any electronic transmissions can be subject to your state's Right-to-Know law; therefore, I stress you check with your school or district's policies before use. Here's an of Pennsylvania's information.

2. Technology Suggestions

Internet Alternatives and Workarounds. This is one of the first thoughts that came to mind for me; what if a student does not have access to the internet or has no computer at home? Normally we would say go to the public library or community center where computers are free for public use, but amidst an outbreak, this is not advisable and many libraries are already closed. Three possible alternatives and/or workarounds include:

Phone capabilities: You could email and text students and/or families if they have phones. Because many of our ELs and their families do not yet read English, I advise using translated messages through various browser translation extensions mentioned previously.

Temporary free providers: Comcast and Spectrum recently announced they would provide free internet services due to COVID-19 school closures.

Paper packets: Paper handouts created and/or compiled by the teacher are better than nothing at all. You can have them available to all students without phones who come to pick up "grab and go" meals at the local school during the closure.

Tech Buddies. ELs may have used laptops in school or have their own, but they may not have had access to various programs and features needed for this new scenario. If their parents do not have computer experience or know technological English, you can assign ELs an online tech buddy to show them how to turn on the translation extension for example. This virtual tech buddy can be a same-language student or a tech savvy classmate.

Provide Keyboard Practice Links. Did you know keyboards are not all the same? Not only can you switch the settings within your laptop or device to a different language keyboard but keyboards themselves are sold with their language-specific arrangement of character keys and letters. Your EL may use an electronic device with a non-English keyboard at home. This may cause an EL to hesitate to chat online because they may type slowly. If you feel your EL needs practice to become a more fluent English key-board writer, you can send links to typing games such as TypingGames.Zone .

Clear and Frequent Communications. Send ELs notices and reminders through email, text, and social media if allowed. Announce virtual class times, assignment reminders, and links to important information such as how to contact your school's Tech Support. Teachers are busy preparing, uploading, and managing the distance learning environment, so be sure to direct ELs to your school's Tech Support. Also, see that your school's Tech Support personnel have access to the on-demand translation and interpretation services to effectively assist non-native English-speaking students and families.

Platforms for Live Streaming. If you live stream lessons, you may wish to consider a live streaming platform, including but not limited to:

Note that zoom has a "translate recorded session transcripts" feature that helps connect the teacher's English speaking with the written transcript in the student's preferred language in "real time." It follows along the spoken script by highlighting the phrases as the teacher speaks, which is a great way for ELs to learn academic language. Please check with your school or district to ensure any platform you use falls within their security guidelines.

3. Strategies for EL Distance Learning

I'll next describe the two types of cyber learning environments-synchronous and asynchronous-and considerations for ELs.
Two Types of Cyber Learning Environments for ELs At-A-Glance
There are advantages and disadvantages to synchronous and asynchronous instruction. In a nutshell, asynchronous lacks the variations in human interaction that allow for language acquisition through negotiated meaning and social clues. Synchronous lacks the time for ELs to process receptive input and the rehearsal time needed to produce English as a second or new language. For these reasons, I recommend that a quality conversion to online EL instruction requires a balance of the two.

Balance of Synchronous and Asynchronous Instruction. Balanced cyber instruction for ELs utilizes all 4 domains in delivery of instruction in order to develop ELs' SWRL - skills of Speaking, Writing, Reading, and Listening.

To that end, a program cannot be only asynchronous read-and-write tasks, nor is an effective ESL instructional program only live synchronous lessons with little opportunity to develop literacy skills. The balance of how much of each type rests in our understanding of SLA research. Beginner ELs need more comprehensible input through physical modeling and visuals. Total Physical Response (TPR) activities in live synchronous lessons as well as through asynchronous tasks provide this learning opportunity. While more advanced students can comprehend written content better, they still need oral language practice. I recommend that you plan your program and/or lessons according to your ELs' proficiency levels:

Model, Model, Model! Establish and model virtual classroom rules and expectations. If your instruction or assessments involve an asynchronous discussion task, for example, be sure to post a model of acceptable and unacceptable response. Simply writing "good idea" or "I agree" does not demonstrate the student's ability to meet the task objective. Teachers also have to model class dialogue through sentence starters and frames like Talk Moves you can show on the screen share or white board in the virtual classroom. Flipgrid is an asynchronous platform that will benefit ELs because they can both listen to classmates' and teachers' oral responses as well as record their own spoken responses. Lesson Creation, Organization, and Collaboration Platforms.

Lesson Creation, Organization, and Collaboration Platforms. Teachers can provide visually engaging content instruction, practice, and assessments through a multitude of free and paid subscription platforms that allow teachers to create a full lesson or short presentation of mixed media to engage ELs in learning for enhanced comprehension. Cyber schools often use these web-based resources and platforms to curate, create, organize, and collaborate learning experiences:

Nearpod : a student engagement platform

and many more

Learning Resources for ELs.If you have not explored these resources already for your ELs, now is a good time to become more familiar with the features and contents of each which will assist language and content learning. Some examples include:

Moving from a brick and mortar classroom to a distance learning environment can be a daunting task on "both sides of the desk." With some planning with SLA principles in mind, teachers and ELs can grow and learn together in this new frontier of education for ELs.
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For a more comprehensive list of websites beneficial to EL instruction in both distance learning and traditional classroom environments, review the comprehensive list Deerfield Beach School District (FL) assembled. Very impressive!

Note: has newsletters and fact sheets for EL students and parents about the COVID-19 outbreak in English, Spanish, and Chinese.

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Practical Strategies and Resources for EL Distance Learning - SupportEd

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Note: This post is a guest blog written by Dr. Eugenia Krimmel. Dr. Krimmel is the founder of CollegeESL.com and an ESL Instructional Coach at Commonwealth Charter Academy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Countless schools across the country are temporarily closing their brick and mortar facilities to help minimize the spread of COVID-19 with many schools moving instruction ...

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From our friends at Grammar Gallery

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Use this idea to create your own. Once per week - phone conversation about the pic.

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simple, easy to use, just a little focus on eng.

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There is an English version, too, on this site.

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Biblioteca Nacional de Manipuladores Virtuales

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Biblioteca digital que contiene applets en Java para enseñar matemáticas (K-12)

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Resources to discuss pandemic with children

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Resources to discuss pandemic with children

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supports families and caregivers

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Draw Me Safe: Coloring and Conversation about a Pandemic

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Use Ricardo Morales' "What to Do in a Pandemic... Our Cousins Know" coloring series to be creative, pass the time, relieve stress and engage in family conversations with children about how to stay safe and well during the coronavirus pandemic.

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TESOL supporting ELs during Distance Teaching

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TESOL supporting ELs during Distance Teaching

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As teachers and students from all over the world have been fast-tracked into virtual classrooms, educators need to take a closer look at our response to the anxiety and stress that learners are experiencing during this process. As teachers of English learners (ELs), we need to examine what we can do to support our students' social-emotional learning (SEL) in the virtual classroom. Here are six SEL practices for teachers who are teaching remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
1. Set up your teaching space to help students feel connected.
Technology use for remote learning can whittle away at the human connection that exists in brick-and-mortar classrooms. It is especially important with your ELs, who feel they have a connection to you. If possible, decorate your teaching space with familiar objects from your classroom. One of the problems I've been hearing from teachers since schools closed is that many of their students do not have access to WiFi. It is crucial for teachers to make contact with their students if at all possible, even if their students don't have Internet access. Larry Ferlazzo, a high school teacher in California, says that he reached some of these students by contacting their friends. Some school districts have purchased mobile hotspots so that all of their students can become connected.
2. Build a (new) connection to your students.
Treat the online classroom as if it were the first day of your school year so that your ELs can feel secure in the virtual learning environment. Address your students at the beginning of each session about how they are feeling. Give them time to meet your pet or introduce you to a sibling. Flexibility in scheduling is crucial. My daughter, Jen Clark, is a special education teacher in Connecticut. She's currently teaching her students live on a video conferencing platform. Her grouping of students is flexible. Some have direct instruction twice a week and others five times. Some students are taught in groups and others have 1:1 instruction, depending on their needs. Jen plans to hold social lunches where students can check in with her as needed. All of these strategies would work well with ELs.

Teachers also need to pay attention to the language they use in their virtual classrooms. Using asset-based language fosters your ELs' feeling of safety, where "trustworthiness, collaboration, empowerment, and acknowledgment of students' personal, social, cultural, and life experiences are present." For example, you may want to tell a student you feel proud of the good work she has been doing with her math homework ( Zacarian, Alvarez-Ortiz & Haynes, 2020).
3. Link SEL to academic topics.
Introduce flexible tasks, such as journaling, that allow ELs to work at their own English language development level. Entries can be written accounts, photos, or drawings. Journaling is a great way to have students keep a record of their lives during this momentous time in history. Teachers can also develop activities that help students detach themselves from their anxieties. Ask them what they would do to help someone who is really anxious about COVID-19. This gives the students an opportunity to distance themselves from their own anxiety and talk about emotions. Teachers could brainstorm ideas with a small group of ELs.
4. Develop positive self-talk.
I'm a big believer in helping students learn positive self-talk. Model your own self-talk and show how you flip negative thoughts by looking at the positives. An example would be to tell students, "I am nervous about teaching online. I haven't done this before, and I know I will make mistakes." Let students know that it's okay to make mistakes and that you'll all learn how to do this together. Express how excited your are to learn a new skill. Help ELs write their own positive script. Their narratives can be developed in English or in their first language.
5. Give your ELs brain breaks during your online sessions.
There are different types of brain breaks. They can be whole body movement, a group activity or game, or a mental challenge. Play music and have students get up and stretch or do jumping jacks. Be forewarned that you will need a strategy to get your virtual students back on task. I would suggest that ending the music can be their signal to stop. An elementary ESL teacher I know employs deep breathing to help students relax using a Hoberman sphere. Mental puzzles can also give your students a brain break.
6. Practice teacher self-care.
Five thousand teachers responded to a survey given by The Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence at the beginning of March 2020. According to Marc Brackett in his recent blog, the top five emotions that teachers reported when they answered the survey are that they were feeling anxious, fearful, worried, overwhelmed, and sad. The reasons given for this response were two-fold. Many were worried about the COVID-19 virus and whether their friends or family would be affected. Others were anxious about the double stress of teaching online and taking care of their families. Many teachers have children who are learning remotely, and their time is stretched thin. Research shows that anxiety affects attention, memory, and learning. It affects relationship building and health. If a teacher feels anxious in the classroom, virtual or face-to-face, ELs may not feel safe enough to learn. Teachers need to take time every day for themselves to safeguard their own social-emotional health.

I realize that this is a huge task for teachers who are struggling to teach the curriculum to students who are also learning English and dealing with a new learning environment. Our ELs need us at this time, and investment into their social-emotional health is well worth our time.

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Supporting ELs' Social-Emotional Learning in a Virtual Classroom

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Anxiety and stress deeply affect learning outcomes. Here are six social-emotional learning practices for English language teachers who are teaching remotely.

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Shared on Dakota News - partnering with Multi-Cultural Center in S. Falls

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Shared on Dakota News - partnering with Multi-Cultural Center in S. Falls

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link to Covid info videos in many languages

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There are more than 100 languages spoken in Sioux Falls. Making sure those people have the information needed during this coronavirus pandemic is important.

Dakota News Now is partnering with the Multi-Cultural Center of Sioux Falls to help provide information about COVID-19 for different nationalities.

Dakota News Now has recorded information about COVID-19 in 10 different languages. You can find links to those videos and text below.

አማርኛ اَلْعَرَبِيَّةُ русский язык bosanski/босански, српски/srpski, hrvatski Af-Soomaali

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covid-19 information in 10 different languages

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COVID-19 information in 10 different languages

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There are more than 100 languages spoken in Sioux Falls. Making sure those people have the information needed during this coronavirus pandemic is important. Dakota News Now is partnering with the Multi-Cultural Center of Sioux Falls to help provide information about COVID-19 for different nationalities.

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Build Oral language dev.

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9 Ways to Put “Social” in #SocialDistancing: Language Learning Activities at Home #LanguageApplied

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This is what Angie.thomas@k12.sd.us showed us today.

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Getting Started with a Showbie Teacher Account

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Imagine Math - time to check it out. :-) or advance your knowledge in using Imagine Learning. (if you are doing PD Bingo, use this as a substitute in one of your boxes.)

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Learning more about MATH and Literacy (get your admin to join!)

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SD Imagine Learning MAth:Literacy Event Invite Overviews Spring 2020

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10-20 minute webinars on specific topics. check it out!

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Classroom Q & A Archives | BAM! Radio Network

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An award-winning English and Social Studies teacher at Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento, Calif., Larry Ferlazzo is the author of Helping Students Motivate Themselves: In this show Larry pursues practical answers To Classroom challenges.

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How could you tie language development to this? :-)

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Spanish_ Daily Routines Letter for Parents_Caregivers (1)

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found on Advocating for ELLs FB page - catriona_moore@dpsnc.net

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English_ Daily Routines Letter to Parents_Caregivers - Google Docs

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Resource from Brenda Mendoza on Advocating for ELLs FB Page.

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imagine online learning in a language you don't understand

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Coronavirus Is Making School Harder for Immigrant Students - The New York Times