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April 27-May 22

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Random House Children's Books and Mary Pope Osborne, author of the popular Magic Tree House series, have announced a new online program, aimed at keeping young readers engaged during the coronavirus crisis. Magic Tree House Home Adventures will run from April 27 to May 22, featuring weekly themed videos, crafts, games, reading challenges, recipes, trivia, and other activities tied to the series and its characters. Readers will also have access to videos of Osborne reading and answering questions from fans.

The program includes various elements to facilitate distance learning, such as writing prompts, cross-curricular activities, resource guides, plays and sing-alongs from Music Theatre International, clips from Listening Library, materials from Osborne's Classroom Adventures program, and more. Using the hashtag #MTHAdventures, families can enter for a chance to be featured on @RandomHouseKids' Instagram.

Osborne said in a statement, "Magic Tree House Home Adventures is my way of connecting with readers, parents, and educators during this challenging time. Random House and I have worked together to create fun, new ways to learn and play with Jack and Annie. I've always loved hearing from my readers and can't wait to interact with them in this brand-new way."

Since its debut in 1992, the award-winning Magic Tree House series has sold more than 143 million books worldwide and has been translated into 34 languages in more than 100 countries.

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Random House Launches Virtual 'Magic Tree House' Program

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Random House Children's Books and Mary Pope Osborne, author of the popular Magic Tree House series, have announced a new online program, aimed at keeping young readers engaged during the coronavirus crisis. Magic Tree House Home Adventures will run from April 27 to May 22, featuring weekly themed videos, crafts, games, reading challenges, recipes, trivia, and other activities tied to the series and its characters.

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Great for Earth day fun

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Illustrations by: Integration and Application Network, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science ( ian.umces.edu/imagelibrary) and Calvert Marine Museum.

Welcome to our Distance Learning Lab! With help from our wonderful partners, we have compiled educational resources which allow youto dive deeper into the world of coastal sciences and solutions. Due to the Coronavirus, many of us are staying home to prevent the virus from spreading. If you're looking for ways to continue learning during this time of uncertainty, start by clicking the links below. Scroll down to find resources on Clean Water, Coastal Investigations & Exploration, , Estuaries & Living Shorelines, and Marine Debris.

Follow along with one of our suggested learning guides. These worksheets highlight grade appropriate videos and offer review questions.

Keep up with current events by reading the Coastal Review Online! CRO is a daily news service that covers North Carolina's Coast. There is a link to Google Classroom on the left side of the screen.

There are many ways to help keep our waterways clean and healthy. Check out the videos and resources below to learn about water quality and simple ways to reduce water pollution.
Resources:
Join our friends up and down the coast to learn more about beachcombing, marine science, and coastal wildlife!
Resources:
Did you know that oysters are important for food, filtration and fish habitat? Learn about oysters by checking out the resources below:
Resources:
Estuaries are places where rivers meet the sea. Coastal North Carolina has approximately 12,000 miles of estuarine shoreline! Learn more about estuaries and how staff at the Coastal Federation work with others to protect animals and habitats in the estuary with living shorelines.
Resources:
Did you know that marine debris is litter that ends up in our coastal waters? Learn about marine debris and ways you can help keep the NC coast debris free! #debrisfreeNC
Resources:
Questions about the Distance Learning Lab? Please E-mail Rachel Bisesi at rachelb@nccoast.org

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Distance Learning Lab | North Carolina Coastal Federation

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Illustrations by: Integration and Application Network, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science ( ian.umces.edu/imagelibrary) and Calvert Marine Museum. Welcome to our Distance Learning Lab! With help from our wonderful partners, we have compiled educational resources which allow youto dive deeper into the world of coastal sciences and solutions.

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Watch Party for Invisible Boy - a story of Kindness performed in Charlotte - April 18

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Watch Party for Invisible Boy - a story of Kindness performed in Charlotte - April 18

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Available for 1 week after the performance April 20-24. Includes a teacher's guide.

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Here's a great at-home activity for you and your family. Join us on Saturday, April 18, for an online live stream presentation of "The Invisible Boy," our critically-acclaimed, world premiere musical production from earlier this season. This charming, uplifting story shows that "an act of kindness opens a world of possibilities..." ( The Charlotte Observer).

Watch Party Schedule

3:30 p.m. - Meet author Trudy Ludwig and illustrator Patrice Barton as they talk about their inspiration for writing this book and field questions from viewers.

4:00 p.m. - Watch the musical

5:10 p.m. - Meet the adaptors: playwright Chris Parks, composer Josh Totora, director Adam Burke and some of the actors as they discuss the creative process of adapting an award- winning book for the stage.

Watch on Not able to attend the watch party on Saturday? The show will be available to stream on this webpage from Monday, April 20 through Friday, April 24. Teachers: be sure to take advantage of the resource guide! This story of kindness shows that the smallest gestures often have the biggest impact.
Meet Brian. No one notices him. No one includes him. He just feels invisible. But everything suddenly changes when a new student named Justin arrives. A bit of creativity helps form a new friendship, unleashing Brian's lively personality and vivid imagination. This high-spirited musical, complete with fun songs and heartfelt humor, will help us all discover the possibilities that begin with a simple act of kindness. Themes: acceptance, kindness, self-esteem, exclusion and inclusion.
Book written by Trudy Ludwig, Illustrated by Patrice Barton | Adapted for the stage by Christopher Parks | Composed for the stage by Josh Totora

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Here's a great at-home activity for you and your family. Join us on Saturday, April 18, for an online live stream presentation of "The Invisible Boy," our critically-acclaimed, world premiere musical production from earlier this season. This charming, uplifting story shows that "an act of kindness opens a world of possibilities..."

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Join Harry Potter and journey into the wizarding world with our new site! Discover puzzles, quizzes, crafts and more to guide you through the very first book.

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You still needs CEU's or just want to learn how you can get credit for new learning check out this padlet.

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I’ve been Meeting students with Google Meet and they have really enjoyed it. We mostly just chat about their pets. But they have said it’s very helpful. 😍 I’m also asking students to complete a check-in form each day that asks how they are and how I can help. This has also received positive feedback. Some are overwhelmed while others are enjoying the freedom to make their own schedule.

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REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--()--In an effort to support educators, families and students impacted during COVID-19 school closures around the world, Epic today announced that they are providing all educators and librarians the ability to offer students remote access to the platform for FREE through the end of the school year, June 30, 2020, with no credit card required. Epic-the leading digital playground built for unmatched safety, discoverability and fun, reaching 20 million kids-is committed to empowering teachers across the globe withthe opportunity to keep students reading and learning remotely during these uncertain times.

Students will have anytime, anywhere access to Epic's high-quality digital library that includes over 40,000 books, read-to-me and audiobooks, videos and more, on all devices. Teachers and librarians can stay connected to their students by assigning books or collections and monitoring their progress.

An invitation from an educator can provide students with Epic's Remote Student Access, which can be obtained in 4 easy steps:

1. Visit your Roster Pageon a desktop computer.

2. Click the "Send Invite" button and enter the parent email address.

3. Click "Send Invite" and an email will be sent directly to the parent. The email will invite the parent to set up an account and connect to the classroom. This will be free of charge and no credit card will be required during signup.

"As the COVID-19 virus has continued to dramatically impact schools, teachers, students and families around the globe, we heard from thousands of educators working tirelessly to support their students and keep them reading and learning at home," said Suren Markosian, CEO and co-founder of Epic. "As more schools began to close, we knew we had to help. Thanks, in large part, to the support of our incredible publishing and content partners, we are in a position to keep teachers connected to their students, and to let kids continue to read and discover their passions wherever they may be."

More than one million teachers in over 90 percent of U.S. elementary schools use Epic, since the platform was built from the ground up just for kids and curated by a team of children's publishing experts. In addition, Epic's custom algorithm tailors content to each child's reading level and preferences, from over 250 leading publishers such as HarperCollins, Macmillan, Sesame Street, National Geographic Kids and Smithsonian.

About Epic

Designed for unlimited discovery and unmatched safety, Epic isthe leading digital learning playground for kids. With tens of thousands of high-quality books, audiobooks and videos from the world's best publishers, Epic reaches more than 20 million kids. No inappropriate content, ads or in-app purchases. Always free for educators.

The successful Epic! Originals series, enjoyed by millions of young readers, is now available in both digital and print formats.

Learn more @ getepic.com or follow us on social @epic4kids @epic4educators.

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Epic Announces Free Support for Educators, Students and Families Impacted by COVID-19 School Closures

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REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--()--In an effort to support educators, families and students impacted during COVID-19 school closures around the world, Epic today announced that they are providing all educators and librarians the ability to offer students remote access to the platform for FREE through the end of the school year, June 30, 2020, with no credit card required.

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These 12 Famous Museums Offer Virtual Tours You Can Take on Your Couch

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Google teamed up with more than 1,200 museums and galleries around the world to bring anyone and everyone virtual tours and online exhibits of some of the most famous museums around the world.

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A media coordinator collection of book readings by topic

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A media coordinator collection of book readings by topic

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SRE specials bingo of activities to do at home

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SRE specials bingo of activities to do at home

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We have a bit of a tradition here at Left Brain Craft Brain. Every February when the winter seems like it will never end, we warm things up with a bit of STEAM. And STEM, too, with 28 Days of STEM Activities and STEAM Activities for Kids. Be sure to follow along this month as I share 60+ Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, & Math projects that will get your kids and your classrooms excited about learning again. I've partnered with a huge crew of creative bloggers and we'll be sharing the coolest STEM & STEAM activities you'll see all year.

This post contains affiliate links.

Why Do Kids Need STEM & STEAM?

STEM is the abbreviation for Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math. In STEAM we add an A for Art, too. Both are integrated approaches to learning that encourage students to think more broadly about real-world problems. This interdisciplinary approach has helped create innovations like the iPhone, the original laptop computer, and is even revolutionizing cooking in third world countries, and improving air quality as a result.

It helps students ask questions, connect the dots, problem solve, think creatively, and be innovative. And not only can STEAM save the world, but it can also save our kids too by making their future bright. STEM jobs are expected to grow by 16% in the US between 2014 and 2024 compared to only 11% for other sectors*. And right now, science & engineering careers earn more than double the income of the median job in the United States.*

So let's get more science, technology, engineering, art, and math into our kids' lives. Ready for the fun?!?

You're Gonna Love 28 Days of STEM Activities and STEAM Activities for Kids

This year we're doing the weekly topics a little bit differently... I hear a lot from readers asking for a tech project or an art project for their kids or students. So this year we're going to round-up some amazing projects with a focus on each of the buckets in STEM & STEAM. But don't worry, they're still going to be integrated projects that check off more than one bucket!

Science Activities for Kids

Experimentation is one of the foundations of STEM. Check out these amazing science projects for kids!

Check out descriptions and pictures of all of these posts and more amazing Science Projects for Kids in this round-up!

February 1st - 6th

Need Help While School is Out?

Check out our Boredom Buster Activity Plan! I pulled together a TOTALLY FREE activity plan for you to do at home with the kids. It's filled with entertaining hands-on STEAM projects, printables, snack ideas, and most of all it's filled with FUN. Plus, you'll have all the supplies you need on hand (or in the backyard!).

Technology Activities for Kids

Coding, circuits, and computers, oh my! The world of technology is our children's future. Let's get them ready with some fun activities! You can see descriptions and photos of all these activities in 20+ Technology Projects Your Kids Will Love.

February 7th - 11th

Engineering Activities for Kids

Kids are born builders. Encourage those early skills with some engineering activities they'll love. You can see photos and descriptions of all these activities and more in 50+ Awesome Engineering Projects for Kids.

February 12th - 17th

Get the kids creative juices flowing with some amazing art projects that have some science and engineering built in.

Art Activities for Kids

Check out the entire pictures and descriptions for all the projects in this list of 40 of the Best Art Activities for Kids!

February 18th - 23rd

Math Activities for Kids

Don't fall for the worksheet trap for math! Hands-on activities help kids really internalize what they're working on and are a lot more fun. You can see photos and descriptions of all these activities in Math = Fun Math Activities for Kids.

February 24th - 28th

Looking for some more STEAM inspiration that you can use right now? Instant gratification style? Check out STEAM Explorers!! The coolest new creative experience for kids is here! Think digital magazine meets online project portal in a safe, kid-friendly environment. (No more worrying about what might be hidden in that YouTube vid!) All engineer, teacher, and mom approved. And most definitely KID APPROVED!⁣

What's included?⁣

A monthly digital magazine with cool themes that's fun to read

Hands-on, exciting projects the kids will love.⁣

Science, tech, engineering, art, and math learning YOU'LL love.⁣

Delicious recipes the kids can make.⁣

Fun printables and games⁣

Check out our latest Sports issue, inspired by your favorite sports and the athletes who love them!

All packed up in an easy-to-do package, ready for kids ages 6-12 to have fun.

Follow Along with 28 Days of Hands-On STEM

Want to stay up to date on all the cool projects? I'll be sharing them daily on the Left Brain Craft Brain Facebook page and pinning them to my Pinterest STEM board. Or come join the STEAM Kids Challenge on Instagram. We'll be posting new projects and cool ideas every day.

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28 Days of STEM Activities and STEAM Activities for Kids

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We have a bit of a tradition here at Left Brain Craft Brain. Every February when the winter seems like it will never end, we warm things up with a bit of STEAM. And STEM, too, with 28 Days of STEM Activities and STEAM Activities for Kids.

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With the recent outbreak of Ebola in Western Africa and the confirmed cases of Ebola in the United States, students are bound to have some questions. The following answers have been fact-checked with the information currently being provided to the public from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The "student" questions are in bold and the "teacher" answers are written below.

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With the recent outbreak of Ebola in Western Africa and the confirmed cases of Ebola in the United States, students are bound to have some questions. The following answers have been fact-checked with the information currently being provided to the public from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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COVID-19 School Closure: Prepare with These Handouts
Use these checklists to ensure you're prepared for possible school closures due to the spread of COVID-19. Included in this resources are two handouts, one interactive for digital distribution and one printable to handout,

The AFT is providing useful and regularly updated guidance for how teachers, school staff and local K-12 leaders can be prepared for the coronavirus. Make sure you ask the right questions to see if your school's or district's planning is comprehensive, clear and collaborative.

And while we recognize that schools are not just places where children and young people go for academic learning, but also places for nutritional support and social, emotional and health services, this checklist for distance learning preparation is focused on remote learning in the case of possible multiday school closings.

This resource is a part of the following collections:

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Preparing for COVID-19 School Closure: Interactive/Printable Handouts

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COVID-19 School Closure: Prepare with These Handouts Use these checklists to ensure you're prepared for possible school closures due to the spread of COVID-19. Included in this resources are two handouts, one interactive for digital distribution and one printable to handout, The AFT is providing useful and regularly updated guidance for how teachers, school staff and local K-12 leaders can be prepared for the coronavirus.

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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See ongoing mitigation guidance and prevention and support for administrators, teachers, staff, and parents in schools and child care programs.

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Tips for Designing an Online Learning Experience Using the 5Es Instructional Model - Dr. Catlin Tucker

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Covid 19 has educators and educational institutions worried about and preparing for possible school closures. What happens if students have to stay home for days or even weeks? How can we keep them learning remotely? What strategies and technology tools can teachers use to take traditional classes online?

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So, it's happening!

After years of other priorities, cautious baby steps, technophobia or technology integration as substitution of the way we have traditionally taught and learned... IT'S HAPPENING.

Many schools are being forced to close due to the spread of the Corona Virus, often with little or no preparation time. Administrators and teachers are working frantically to set up platforms and procedures to continue learning remotely.

I am focusing on two lenses through which to look at learning remotely. [Of course they is so much more to consider for schools, administrators, teachers, parents and students...]

1. Educators knowing how to teach remotely

2. Students knowing how to learn remotely

Of course, we can simply assume and aim for our teaching and learning to stay the same as it would in our traditional face to face classrooms, but we would completely ignore the potential remote learning has to amplify learning.

We have an incredible opportunity (among the many tragedies for some and many inconveniences for others due to the virus) to dive into remote learning and jump light years ahead by conducting action research and gaining hands on experiences. Learning how to learn how to get fit for new forms of teaching and learning. It is an incredible opportunity to document these new forms of learning and collaboratively and "crowdsourcedly" (is that a new word?) redefine teaching and learning for the future.

Please don't be satisfied to only replicate, substitute or downgrade face to face teaching and learning (lectures, worksheets, Ping Pong/Q & A Conversations, etc.) as you are exploring new horizons in remote learning.

This is the perfect time to allow yourself and your students to develop skills, literacies and fluency in amplified learning. By amplified learning I mean

extending classroom possibilities beyond the traditional face to face contact time and limitations.

usage of technologies that allow us to redefine the learning task (not just replicate what could be done without technology)

boost the potential of different media to communicate our ideas, thoughts and messages.

amplifying the pool of people we learn from. ... Traditionally our students have not had a long "reach" beyond the scope of our families, teachers and classmates.

strengthen our ability to collaborate, connect and communicate with others (whether they are our classmates, teachers, people we know or strangers)

synchronous and asynchronous (and a combination of both of these) remote learning.

magnify basic literacy of reading and writing beyond text on an analog platform to communicate our thoughts and ideas effectively by demonstrating global literacy, network literacy, information literacy, media literacy and by observing digital citizenship.

develop and strengthen our mindset around self-directed and self-motivated learning (heutagogy)

sharing our work authentically with a global audience.

deepen learning trough reflective and metacognitive practices

This is the perfect time to look at teaching and learning through the lenses of:

Platforms and Tools

Although remote learning is NOT about technology tools, we need them in order to communicate, collaborate, connect and share with each other. It is good, as a teacher and as a learner, to have several tools and platforms in your toolbox to use, to create and to amplify learning. Check out the following tools and platforms that allow you and your students to make their thinking and learning visible and shareable.

Remote Learning Activities or Projects to Join, Adapt or Create Your Own

Further resources on the Langwitches Blog to check out regarding amplification of learning

More resources to check out:

I will continue to update the above lists with ideas, activities, projects, tools and platforms as more teachers and learners are sharing their #remotelearning experience. Please use the #remotelearning hashtag on your social media posts, so we can crowdsource and pool our resources.

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So, it's happening! After years of other priorities, cautious baby steps, technophobia or technology integration as substitution of the way we have traditionally taught and learned... IT'S HAPPENING. Many schools are being forced to close due to the spread of the Corona Virus, often with little or no preparation time.

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How would you feel if someone said you need to change your whole approach to teaching immediately? Imagine if, instead of interacting face to face with students in your classroom, you had to create and deliver a virtual program.

Perhaps you'd feel nervous? Overwhelmed? Excited? Unqualified? Inspired? Or perhaps plain lost.

During April 2020, remote learning became a reality for over 90% of students worldwide. Teachers, students, families, administrators, departments, and whole communities are being forced to respond and adapt quickly.

Referring to COVID-19 (coronavirus), UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay warned,

...the global scale and speed of the current educational disruption is unparalleled and, if prolonged, could threaten the right to education.

The rates of school closures have soared in the last month:

In mid-February, China was the only country mandating school closures.

Two weeks later, 22 countries were closing schools.

As of April 3, 188 countries have implemented nationwide school closures.

If your school is still open, it's never too soon to calmly plan and prepare. Things are changing rapidly and exponentially.

Want a live update on school closures across the globe? Check out UNESCO's tally.

What's In This Post?

Our guide will give you insights into how educators around the world are approaching school closures.

Thousands of teachers worldwide are currently sharing snippets of their experiences via social media or their blogs. We've compiled, curated, and built on some common themes and ideas to create this extensive guide.
Click on the links in the menu below to help you navigate the post.
This post also includes a range of useful graphics to help you that you're free to use and share. If you use the images in your own work, please attribute our article and link back.

Here's a sneak peek of some of the graphics:

Let's dive right in to the resources!

Daily Structure Options

The first question educators might be asking themselves is what does a "school day" look like when it's no longer happening in a school?

Let's talk about timetables, hours, and the overall structure you might implement.

In most cases, your school day will have to be based on technology although some departments, such as New York, are open to the option of mailing out work the old fashioned way. This is a good fallback if technology can't be used but you may not want to get into the habit of only handing out packets (worksheets) if you can avoid it.

📌Note: It's important to find out about students' technology/internet access at home and we have a Google Form survey you can adapt to survey your parents towards the end of the post.

The old fashioned approach can also work well to complement online learning and is important for younger students. Check out the fabulous "Learning Boxes" staff in Vietnam put together for their young learners.

We'll discuss many useful technology tools further on.

The issue of daily structure and timetables is a major consideration and some schools are constantly tweaking their approaches.

Do you stick to your regular school timetable? You could, but many schools are finding a modified approach is more realistic.

Lessons can take longer for students to complete at home for many reasons including:

Technology difficulties

No teacher guidance to keep students on track, engaged, and informed

A busy household (multiple family members and responsibilities)

Varying degrees of parent/caregiver involvement (there can be barriers like language, competence with technology and the curriculum, parenting younger children, or trying to keep up with work responsibilities)

Illness (let's not forget the reason for the school closures)

Some teachers are finding what they could get done in one period of class requires two periods when it's online.

Consider a "Percentage" Approach

Most teachers who have some experience with online schooling realize that the pace is slower and expectations need to be reduced.

Some teachers provide and expect a certain percentage of the normal student workload. For example, an elementary student might have a 50% workload, although a senior high school student may be given a 90% workload.

Suggesting a percentage might give teachers and families a ballpark if they're wondering what to expect.

Synchronous or Asynchronous Learning?

A question that may come up a lot as you plan and tweak your approach to online learning is whether your program will be synchronous or asynchronous. That is, whether it will be conducted in real-time or whether students will complete tasks according to their own schedules.

Here's a quick comparison:

You might find a mix of both is a useful strategy. Your own unique situation, including your students' age, might have a big impact on this decision too.

For some families, asynchronous learning can be more convenient: if parents are working, they may have more time to support/supervise student learning outside of business hours.

Other schools are finding synchronous learning is a powerful way to keep the class connected.

If your teaching and learning program involves video then you'll once again face the question of synchronous (e.g. live conferencing) or asynchronous (pre-recorded videos or screencasts).

We'll dive in to the video options further on, however, let's take a quick look at how some teachers are weaving conferences and recorded videos into their weekly schedules:

Examples of how Video Conferences are Being Used:

A 10 minute video conference to begin the day.

A whole class video conference at regular times during the week (e.g. 30 minutes every Monday and Friday afternoon).

A whole class video conference to introduce important lessons or projects.

A video conference to check in with each individual student each week.

On-demand video conferencing - students can sign up during a teacher's "office hours" if they want to book a session.

Small group video conferences for students with similar needs.

Optional "live recess" to allow students to connect and hang out.

Examples of how Screencasts or Recorded Videos are Being Used:

A video introduction or screencast for key lessons (might not be possible for all lessons).

A short welcome video each morning and/or reflection video each afternoon.

A screencast to offer feedback on student work and progress.

Student created screencasts to demonstrate learning.

Let's look at some specific options for daily timetables.

More Flexible Option: Distribute a Daily "To Do List"

When schools decide on expectations, they often need to consider whether they should give lesson guidelines that can be completed at any time, or stick to a traditional structure.

For example, if you were offering a flexible program, you could build on a checklist like this:
Today you need to complete:
It's optional whether you give an actual time requirement (e.g. 30 minutes) or just a task, however, a time suggestion can be helpful so students don't spend either all day working, or not enough time on task.

More Structured Option: Distribute a Timetable

Alternatively, students might be issued with a structured timetable that all students will complete at the same time, e.g.

Factoring in time for catching up seems to be proving extremely useful for many schools. You might schedule learning activities in the morning and leave the afternoons free for catching up and offline pursuits. Alternatively, you could schedule one day a week for completing unfinished work or even have a weekly "screen-free" day.

Here's an example of a weekly screen-free day from Shekou International School in China.

#Grade4SIS has implemented a device free day each week during #onlinelearning... & I had so much fun creating this week's choice board for our learners! #choice #learnerprofile #SISrocks #ISSedu #flipclass #disted #mlearning #elearning @SISGeckos @ISSCommunity pic.twitter.com/tNoKEIzjjn

- Mr. Peter Damroth (@PDamroth) March 25, 2020

Rather than a daily approach, some schools are taking the whole week into account and giving projects or assignments that need to be completed or worked on over 5 days. Based on progress, a new plan might then be made for the following week.

Example: Kindergarten

Ashley in the middle east is not doing any live teaching via video conference due to cultural and religious reasons.

Ashley's team sends a weekly plan to the parents of their kindergarten students along with a suggested timetable. There are no expectations that the timetable is followed exactly due to parents working and a variety of family situations.

The planners are given out two weeks in advance to help families plan ahead. The links to learning tasks go to YouTube videos and Ashley's Office 365 cloud account of activities or readings. Ashley's kindergarten class also uses Flipgrid.

Example: 5th Grade

Laura Faulk at ASIJ (American School in Japan) is a 5th grade teacher who has recently started teaching online.

Her team created a daily planner using Google Docs. They share it each morning on a website that was created for their new distance learning program.

They are currently surveying families to find out whether they'd like to have the planner in advance.

The Google Doc planner has links to all the students' classroom and specialist work. The students are given a guide as to how long to spend on each activity.

The ASIJ team adapted their ideas from the work of Hong Kong International School (HKIS have a fantastic home learning website that is worth checking out too!).

You can follow Laura and her team on Twitter (@asij_g5).

Example: Google Slides

Some teachers put their planners on a Google Doc, or Sheet. Google Slides can be another awesome way to send out a daily plan and work (but even better if these Slides presentations are added to a blog, LMS, or website so they don't get lost).

You can include text, links, and videos of yourself teaching to a Slides presentation amongst other things.

One major benefit is you can copy and edit your planner so you don't have to start from scratch each day.

Check out this post by Alice Keeler for more advice on using Slides in remote learning.

We also have a beginner's guide to Google Slides on The Edublogger for a broader overview.

Here's an example from US kindergarten teacher Megan Peschke @MeganPeschke). Don't be put off by the age group. This idea could be adapted for any age!

Click here to view the Google Slides presentation in a new tab.

Instructions for Editing and Using Megan's Google Slides

1. Click on this link:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Bl534rtloR0AjD2wgfLPVrJs2Q6BDS9DEz2G2m9Fzgs/copy
2. You will be prompted to make a copy (screenshot below).

3. The Slides will be saved in your Google Drive.

4. You can edit the Google Slides to suit.

SlidesMania have also published a fantastic free weekly planner template that can be used in Google Slides or PowerPoint. Find it here.

Help Students Plan Their Day

Some teachers, especially those who are giving out ongoing assignments or projects, encourage their students to plan out their own days. You could give them ideas or a template.

Here is an example which you're welcome to copy and adapt,

People seemed to like the student planners a non-twitter teacher created for our #continuouslearning students, so here is blank version. Feel free to make a copy and make your own! https://t.co/3ZzKKpUA2F

- Rebekah Madrid (@ndbekah) March 5, 2020

Instructions for use:

1. Click here to open the Google Doc

2. Go to File > Make a copy

3. Type a name and choose where to save it

4. Click Ok

5. You'll then find an editable copy of the Google Doc in your Google Drive

How do you Plan an Online Lesson?

Once you have ideas on how your school day will be structured, you might start zooming in to the planning of actual lessons.

What do lessons look like when they're online rather than face to face?

Despite being physically distant from your students, you still want to be as present as possible virtually. Online teaching and learning isn't a "set and forget" situation.

Like all lessons, you may want to start with learning outcomes, and possibly success criteria (your school might already have a framework for this). The delivery of the lesson will be the part that might just look a bit different.

Remember, there's nothing wrong with keeping your lessons quite simple, and in many cases they'll be similar to what you'd do in the classroom, perhaps with more autonomy and technology.

For example, your normal lesson structure might involve a warm up, revision, an explanation, student activity that aligns to outcomes, then reflection. The same sort of structure is possible with virtual lessons.

Easily Adapting to Virtual Lesson Planning

Timothy Malan (@timothy_malan) is a middle school science teacher at an international school in Spain. He has created a detailed video to explain how a regular classroom lesson can be transformed into a virtual lesson. He reassures teachers that it doesn't have to be overly complicated!

The first 12 minutes of the video goes through the framework, and then Timothy dives in to an example lesson.

5E Model for Creating Online Lessons

Have you heard of the 5Es framework? It's an instructional model that's been around for 20+ years. Using the model, teaching and learning progresses through five phases: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate.

Author and educator, Catlin Tucker has published a post called, Tips for Designing an Online Lesson Using the 5 Es Instructional Model.

In her post, Catlin provides a simple framework that shows how the 5Es can be used to create online lessons. Catlin has also recorded a video for each "E" that explains the model further.

While the 5Es approach is far from the only way you can go about designing online lessons, it may be a useful framework for those who don't know where to start.

💡 Catlin also shares a good tip about using Google Docs to share lessons with students. Google Docs are easy to copy and edit. That means teachers can create different versions of the same lesson with minimal work. Any suggested videos, readings, or activities can be differentiated to meet the individual needs of learners.

Useful Online Tools

For some teachers, the technology part of virtual learning will be the scariest obstacle. Before we dive in to useful options, take a deep breath and remember:

Less can be more: you don't need to be using a huge range of different tools.

Start with tools students and teachers are already familiar with: there are probably some technology tools, apps, or platforms you've used in class that can be useful.

Remember, despite technology being a crucial tool for most closed schools, teaching and learning isn't about the technology. Try to focus on the core business of schools: relationships and learning.

Virtual Home Base or Online Platform: 3 Step Approach

There are some awesome tools out there for learning and creativity but first consider what you'll be using as your home base. When your classroom and school assembly halls aren't in use, your virtual hubs are more important than ever.

What will communication look like and where will learning take place? Here are three common steps you might see:

1. Communication will probably begin with information from the school district or state education department.

2. Then a school website might provide an overview of your plan for the whole community. (Need a better school website? CampusPress can help with that!).

3. From there, you could have individual class blogs or other approaches like a learning management system (e.g. Moodle, Canvas, or Google Classroom), a Facebook group (for older learners), Slack, or Seesaw.

Read on for more information and examples of this three-step approach.

1) District/State Education Department

Let's zoom out for a moment. When a school is to be closed and learning is transitioning to online, the first step is often clear communication from the top level - your district or state education department (if your school falls under one of these authorities).

Here's an example from Northshore District School in Washington state. They published a blog post on their district website to inform everyone in the school community of school closures.

It's an honest and dynamic announcement as they're still figuring out arrangements. The beauty of blog posts is you can keep publishing as more information is made available.

Of course, a blog post or website update may be followed up with a direct notification to families to ensure the news is received (e.g. SMS or email).

2) School Website or School Blog

A school website (or temporary site) can be an important next piece in the puzzle. It can provide an overview of your plan for the whole community to ensure everyone is on the same page, knows what to do, and knows where to seek help.

Website Example: YIS Continuous Learning Plan

Yokohama International School (YIS) in Japan has been closed since early March. They're becoming leaders in the community of global educators scrambling to find out how to approach school closures.

YIS has created a website to communicate a clear approach to their changed schooling format,

Although campus is temporarily closed, "school" continues as we engage students with experiences that continue the planned learning program and help them to stay connected with teachers and classmates. These learning experiences offer authentic opportunities to focus on key concepts, knowledge, and skills. They emphasize interaction and creativity, and involve a balance of on-screen and off-screen tasks that help connect to previous learning and the current curriculum.

Vice principal, Rebekah Madrid, explains the choice of the term "continuous learning",

For the first day, people weren't sure what we meant by "continuous learning". But now it makes sense for us. We didn't want online (because not always online) and we didn't want distant (because that's not the vibe we wanted). So continuous worked for us.

- Rebekah Madrid (@ndbekah) March 3, 2020

3) Classroom Hub: Blog, LMS, or Other Online Community

The third step is an online hub where you can distribute student learning tasks, share resources, gather feedback, and keep everyone in the loop.

While you could just email out assignments to students, there may be better options (emails can be better for one on one communication; they can get lost and can be hard to refer back to.).

You might already be using a learning management system or other platform (e.g. Seesaw, Sensei LMS for WordPress, Google Classroom) at school that you can continue to use after your school closes. If so, there is probably no need to reinvent the wheel! Go with what you and your students know.

But maybe you don't have a place set up already where you can post learning tasks and resources that students can use on a daily basis.

Google Classroom is a popular choice. If you want to learn more, check out this demo from Alice Keeler and Vicki Davis. This cheat sheet from Ben Cogswell also goes over the basics.

Consider a Blog For Your Classroom Hub

A blog is a free, basic, and flexible tool that acts as a classroom hub and more.

Here are some reasons why you might consider a blog as your online classroom while your school is closed:

A blog is a space you can own (you don't have control over some online spaces like social media).

It's a place where all the bits and pieces you create and explore in the online and offline world can be housed.

Blogs aren't just text and images, you can include videos, slideshows, infographics, podcasts, posters, polls, charts and more. Here are just six tools that allow you to create interactive learning content for your blog (online worksheets, games, and so on).

Blog content can be organized in a systematic way and searched for as needed.

Comments and forums allow two-way interaction.

Blogs can be public or private (learn more about the pros, cons, and options in this article).

💡 We have a post that compiles some examples of class blogs from a range of age groups and locations. You'll notice that there is a lot of flexibility in the way blogs are used.

Team 2 Eagles Blog Example

Becky Versteeg is a wonderful grade two teacher in Canada.

She is using her class blog to share daily ideas. Her posts include videos, printables,photos from students and fun ideas to try at home.

Class Blog And/Or Student Blogs?

You might be only interested in having a class blog to share learning resources and so on. Alternatively, you might want all students to use their own blog to complete learning tasks, publish online, reflect on their experience privately, or even connect with the world.

My Class is a free management tool from Edublogs that brings a class blog and all your student blogs/accounts together. It makes it easier for teachers to set up and monitor their classroom blogging program.

Learn more about My Class in this post.

Example: Art Blog

Here is an example of a fantastic blog with lessons for home art activities by Chris Gadbury.

One of the great things about the blogging community is you cannot only make your own blog but benefit from other educators' blogs as well!

Want To Start Blogging But Not Sure How?

Check out our Blogging 101 page. It includes a 15-minute tutorial video and all the help guides you'll need to get going!

Educators and students can set up as many blogs as they need using Edublogs for free (no ads or time limits). Compare all the features here.

Videos And Online Learning

You can come up with fantastic tasks for students to work on at home but your program will run so much better if students can still feel your presence as a teacher. Videos are such an important part of online learning and a great way to maintain relationships.

Your familiar face will grab students' attention while building engagement and understanding.

Nervous about being on camera? Don't worry! Just start small. It will be worth it. Many teachers are nervous to start and want to re-do their video over and over (some students are like this too!). It won't take long for you to realize your videos don't have to be perfect and students will appreciate your efforts.

Let's take a look at some options.

👉🏽 Note: If you want to look at using video more deeply, check out our new Educator's Guide to Using Video in Teaching and Learning.

Synchronous or Asynchronous Videos

There are two main options for sharing videos with your learners:

Synchronously: That means real-time streaming. It could be a live stream (like on YouTube) or an interactive video conference (like on Zoom).

Some synchronous videos can be recorded so they can be viewed again at a later date. This is useful if students can't attend the live stream, they have technology issues, or need to revise the content.

Asynchronously: That means you record videos that can be viewed (and reviewed) when it suits the student. Your videos could be a simple "piece to camera" or a screencast.

Screencasting is where you narrate a video recording of your computer screen. Sometimes it's just audio and sometimes you can see your face in the video as well.

The benefit of asynchronous videos is there are no time pressures, however, the connections that can be formed in synchronous video conferences can't be underestimated.

Popular Tools for Synchronous (Live) Video Conferences

There are many tools out there that allow you to connect with students via video. This can really help to unite the class.

Four of the most popular video-conferencing options for teachers and schools include:

Zoom - Robust software designed exclusively for video conferencing.

Google Hangouts Meet - The evolved version of classic Hangouts that's part of G Suite.

Microsoft Teams - Communication and collaboration platform that's part of Office 365.

WebEx - Cisco tool for video conferencing, online meetings, screen share, and webinars.

These tools all allow video conferences with screen sharing capabilities.

The teacher can start the conference and share the access link with the students.

Students can access the conference at the specified time using any device (e.g. laptop or tablet).

Some users like to use external microphones, headphones, or webcams, however, the camera and microphone attached to your device are probably fine for getting started.

Here is a quick comparison of the free/free education plans for Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts Meet, and WebEx Meetings:

Notes on Live Video Tools:

Safety comes first! Your school or district probably has advice about which video conferencing tool you should use and which settings should be employed. As an example, Zoom has released some best practices in this PDF.

Zoom, Meet, and Webex temporarily upgraded their free plans for educators but these offers have now ended for Meet and Webex. If your school Zoom account hasn't already been upgraded, you can apply here to remove the 40 min time limit.

Some teachers are also experimenting with live streaming on YouTube. For teenagers, it's a platform they're often already familiar with and they can comment in real-time.

Mix it up: Principal at International School of Dongguan, Todd Brink, suggested that, "One-on-one, small group, or whole group sessions are a must. Just like the classroom!" Video conferencing software allows these sorts of options.

Example Video Conferences From Teachers

Teachers at American International School of Guangzhou are doing a fantastic job of setting up engaging video conferences using Zoom.

Here are two examples that were recently shared on Twitter,

Using #zoom_us to create a collaborative story this morning ... once we had our order, can we work together to build a story one word a time? A myth about an earthquake that goes with our #unitofinquiry #howtheworldworks ? Even better! #AISGZ #onlinelearning #virtuallearning pic.twitter.com/W4EvYnGK2B

- Katie Robbins (@krobbins84) March 5, 2020

Another #zoom meeting with second graders. I think they only come to see a mess I make doing my science experiments. Today there were beans spilled all over my coffee table and the smell of vinegar is overpowering. Science #onlinelearning is still fun. #aisgz #pypchat #sciencefun pic.twitter.com/XSjc19ltCQ

- Inga Bela (@inga_bela) March 5, 2020

Jennifer Wathall is a teacher from Hong Kong who began teaching online earlier than most of the world. She shares her tips for teaching online, most of which apply to synchronous video conferences.

John Sowash shared these tips for running a virtual lesson on Google Meet (they can apply to other video conferencing tools as well).

Popular Tools for Recording Asynchronous Videos and Screencasts

There are a number of tools available to record screencasts. Like many online tools there are free plans and paid plans.

Let's compare four of the most popular screencasting tools teachers are using for recording lessons.

This chart compares the features of the free plans (paid plans have more features).

Note: As of March 12, Loom Pro is now free for teachers and students forever. The chart below has been updated.

Notes On Screencasting Tools

I've written a blog post specifically about Loom if you want to learn more. There are no age restrictions so students can use Loom if you want them to make screencasts.

You'll remember that Zoom is a popular tool for video conferencing. To record a screencast using Zoom, you start a meeting with yourself as the only participant and record the conference. You can't record if you're using the Zoom iOS app.

Record a Piece to Camera

Your videos don't have to be part of a video conference call or a screencast. You can record a simple piece to camera using your phone or webcam.

That is, a video of your happy self teaching and talking!

In our Educator's Guide to Video on The Edublogger, we outlined ten tips for recording a piece to camera. Read the full post (you'll find a PDF copy to download) or check out the summary below.

Video Editing

Made a video and want to edit it? Maybe it needs trimming, captions, or other effects?

For quick video editing on my phone, I love two free apps from GoPro called QuikStories and Splice. QuikStories puts everything together for you with music, transitions, and other cool effects. Splice is handy if you want to make more manual edits and don't necessarily want too many effects.

Try not to get carried away though, it can be a lot of fun creating videos but a raw edit is fine!

We have more advice about editing and other video tools in our Educator's Guide to Video in Teaching and Learning.

Example Videos from Teachers

This year 1 teacher from Tokyo International School demonstrates a wonderful reading lesson,

@Ms_SarahVaughan nurturing 'reading as thinking' remotely. #distancelearning keeping @tcrwp as alive as possible during this #peskycoronavirus @holleytcrwp @clemenkat pic.twitter.com/cWeCWnUBIX

- TokyoIS (@TISlearns) March 5, 2020

For older students, here is an example from two creative art teachers.

E-learning commenced today @TISLearns worried that Middle School Art & Design teachers Sara and @mandurubell Andrew might 'make it' as the next celebrity YouTube stars! If they earn their fortune and leave us what would happen to our Arts department and staff room giggles?! pic.twitter.com/ZQYpvpTLvR

- Christopher Frost (@FrostChrissy) March 4, 2020

For more tips on using live or recorded video in your online teaching program, check out this article from Richard Byrne. He has some great suggestions such as keeping your webcam on, using check-in questions, and using a $20 whiteboard.

Other Online Tools to Consider

So you have your home base set up, you've considered recording some videos to share with students, now what other online tools can you use to engage students and fuel their learning?

Here are some suggestions with a very brief summary of each. This list is far from exhaustive Leave your own ideas in a comment!

Create fun learning games for your students called Kahoots. Classes can play live against each other or students can complete the quiz at their own pace.

*Premium features are currently free for schools facing closures. Learn more.

A free tool that allows students to study information via learning tools and games (flashcards, quizzes etc). A new individual mode has just been replaced so students can play together while they are physically apart. The free account has advertising.

*Learn how to use Quizlet for remote learning here.

These short educational videos are fantastic for online learning. There's also BrainPOP Jnr. for K-3 and BrainPOP ELL for English language learners.

*Currently free for educators affected by coronavirus school closures. Learn more.

Online tool that allows you to make all sorts of graphic designs (perfect for communicating with students and families). Learn more about Canva in our guide on The Edublogger.

*Educators can get a premium account for free (not just during school closures).

A popular tool to create interactive YouTube videos to check students' understanding. Basic plans are free for teachers and students.

Design lessons with interactive question s, polls, quizzes, and formative assessments. Works with Google Slides.

*Pear Deck Premium is free for 90 days for schools affected by closures. Learn more.

Anchor.fm is a popular free service for recording, hosting, and distributing podcasts. Check out our guide on The Edublogger to learn more about using podcasting with students.

Create grids to facilitate asynchronous video discussions that are very engaging for students. This tool is totally free.

Padlet is an online bulletin board where you can display text, images, video, and more. Padlets can be embedded in blog posts. It used to be free but now there is a limit of three Padlets before you need to upgrade.

Students at the International School of Buscan recently used Padlet for a virtual art show!

Today's Grade 3 Virtual Art Exhibition on @Padlet is brilliant! #ISBlearning pic.twitter.com/rqJqwiN5Nt

- Simon McCloskey (@SimonJMcCloskey) March 5, 2020

Simple tool for younger students to create books or learning journals that combine text, images, audio and video.

*Schools that are closed for COVID-19 can get 90 days free of the premium plan. Learn more.

Cloud based video editing tool that allows students and teachers to get creative. Students could have fun responding to some of learning tasks as a video and can collaborate with peers on projects. WeVideo have also recently introduced screencasting.

*WeVideo For Schools free for schools affected by COVID-19. Learn more.

Real world texts at different reading levels with built-in activities.

*Free for schools affected by COVID-19 closures until the end of the 2020 school year. Apply here.

A curation tool that allows you to save, organize, tell stories, and share content from around the web. See the example Wakelet embedded below.

Read all about how to use Wakelet in this post.

More Ideas for Online Tools

To stay up to date with more useful online tools that teachers are using as they switch to online learning, follow this Wakelet by Erin Flanagan (@erintegration).

There's also a huge list of education companies offering free subscriptions due to school closings by Amazing Educational Resources that is updated regularly. You can check it out here.

A Note on Students and Books

What's a classroom without books! If you're going to be teaching virtually you might be wondering where to find reading material for your students. Some students might be lucky enough to have a lot of reading material at home. No doubt, many will not.

Here are a few ideas for sourcing digital reading material:

📚 Modern books/interface

Local libraries often offer free access to eBooks and audiobooks (e.g. OverDrive, Tumblebooks, Libby, BorrowBox etc.). Find out what your local library offers and tell families how to become members if they're not already.

Newsela - Real world texts presented so that children can access the same text at different reading levels (currently free for schools).

Rivet - Free app that families can download with thousands of modern leveled readers.

Epic - Digital library of modern books aimed at children under 12. Always free for teachers and librarians (and students can access it during school hours).

ReadingIQ - Similar to Epic. There are thousands of modern digital books for readers under 12. Access is free for closed schools - learn more here.

Oxford Owl - 100 free eBook readers for young children. Free but you need an account.

Story Shares - American not-for-profit group who shares stories online, that are aimed at older students who read below grade level.

📚Less Modern books/interfaces

Don't be put off by the "old school" designs of these websites. Many allow access to older works with expired copyright that can be ideal for classroom use.

International Children's Digital Library -- A collection of international books for children aged 3-13 presented in 59 languages.

Project Gutenberg - 60,000+ eBooks that can be downloaded for all ages (most are older works with expired copyright).

Faded Page - 5000 plus eBooks that are completely free to download. Not designed for children but there are many classics for older students (like Project Gutenberg they are mostly older works with expired copyright).

Open Library - Catalogue where you can borrow books for free (lots of options for older students).

Lit2Go - A free online collection of stories and poems in MP3 (audiobook) format with accompanying text. Includes many classics with expired copyright.

Sue Waters has written a post that shows exactly how to find and read eBooks. This is a helpful guide for both educators and students.

Can I Read Aloud to my Students?

This question is being asked over and over by the online education community in recent weeks.

Many teachers are keen to read aloud to their students using video, however, remember there may be copyright issues.

If you're in the USA, you should be covered by "fair use" as outlined by EdSurge.

Some publishers are now allowing teachers to read books to their students during school closure. Kate Messner explains here.

Pernille Ripp and Kate Messner have both written about other places to find online read alouds.

My favourite site for free read alouds (by professional actors) is Storyline Online.

Some authors are hosting their own online storytimes during the pandemic. Find the details in this post.

10 Tips for Virtual Teaching and Learning

Transitioning to online schooling is a learning journey for everyone. While everyone's circumstances are different, these tips might offer you some food for thought. Chime in with your own tips in a comment!

Here's a summary and read on for lots of ideas and examples:

1) Encourage Fun, Play, and Activity

In the traditional classroom setting, many teachers plan physical activity breaks for good health and productive learning.

Many PE teachers are leading the way, sharing their creative approaches to get students moving. If you follow the hashtag #HPEatHome on Twitter, you'll find a plethora of movement activities. Many are being added to a Google Drive of resources that you're free to access.

These PE teachers in Vietnam are sharing daily "Get Up and Go" videos with students. No doubt students love seeing their teachers on screen.

A PE teacher in China is using Flipgrid to teach dancing. Great to see parents getting involved too!

This made me smile. Mother and daughter working together on @flipgrid to learn the dance. It is great to see her mum supporting her during this unique e-learning time. note: this video has been posted with permission from both dancers #aisgzhpe #physed #elearning #movementmatters pic.twitter.com/KGqjx8Hky3

- Adam Tomassen (@AdamHPE) February 28, 2020

Well known Australian P.E. teacher Andy Hair has made up an easy game that his students can play while in lockdown at home.

If you haven't yet tried GoNoodle or Cosmic Kids Yoga (free on YouTube) I highly recommend them for elementary-aged students.

The only problem is, they still involve technology so you probably want to consider some options that give students a break from devices.

Minimizing screen time is becoming a big concern for parents and teachers.

Perhaps you could publish a daily challenge to keep students active and off screens? Take it a step further by asking students to send in a photo of their experience.

Here are some ideas. You're welcome to use this resource however you see fit.

📌 Download a PDF copy of the poster

Many teachers are also trying to set learning tasks that are offline (such as "hands-on" math for younger students - baking, measuring objects, shape hunts and so on).

British International School in Hanoi ran a LEGO Challenge and asked students to send in photos of their creations. What fun!

This teacher asked her students for their own ideas of how they like to spend their time offline.

Grade 4 came up with ideas to stay balanced and get offline sometimes during these days of #virtuallearning. They connected their tips to the #pyp #learnerprofile. They were thoughtful, funny, realistic and relevant. Thanks for the idea @ALMcCloskey #isblearning pic.twitter.com/fe2g4K56kE

- Laura-Claire Corson (@LauraClaire_C) March 3, 2020

2) Communicate Clearly and Frequently

When the school community is scattered, clear and ongoing communication is essential!

Ensure everyone knows how messages will be communicated and what channels they should be checking in on (e.g. email, LMS, blog, school website).

Make sure students and parents know how they can contact teachers for learning support and how they can get tech support. Some teachers are holding "office hours" (e.g. I am available for email support from 10am to 2pm daily; or "I am available for Google Hangouts Meet sessions from 12.30-1.30pm each day").

You might err on the side of overcommunicating to ensure everyone feels connected, supported, and confident.

Make instructions as clear and concise as you can. Effective communication will really pay off.

3) Seek Feedback Regularly

On the flipside of communicating, it's important to also seek feedback from students and families.

The team at Google recently made a suggestion that many closed schools are already trying out,

Using Google Forms, create mood check-ins for students to share their emotional state on a daily basis. Within the Form, students can request a conference with the teacher if they need extra support.

Jennifer Findley has created some great Google Form check ins that you're free to copy and use. There are forms for the start and end of the day.

This situation is new for most schools and families. Engage in a cycle of continuous improvement and refinement based on feedback from families, teachers, and students.

Check out our Google Form later in the post that can be sent to parents if planning for a school closure to find out about their devices, confidence, resources etc.

4) Give Choices

There's never been a better time to empower learners and offer choice. Online learning can offer a lot of flexibility so it's a great idea to take advantage of that.

By giving students some choice in the demonstration of their learning, you can also naturally differentiate and cater to a variety of learning styles and needs.

You've probably heard of a choice board? It's a graphic organizer that allows students to choose different learning activities. They're set up in a grid, perhaps with a choice of 9 activities. Some teachers like to include one mandatory activity.

💡 Kim from Seoul Foreign School created this photosynthesis choice board for her 8th grade students.

💡 US teacher Pernille Ripp created a " Choose Your Own Adventure " two-week exploration.

This, hopefully, continues the honoring of their individual needs and desires, while still helping them with their growth. There are different levels of independence for them to choose from, as well as choices for recording or writing their responses. There are different levels of teaching involved that will unfold once they select their choice.

Check out Pernille's post for more details.

💡 In his post on online learning, John Spencer presented an amplified version of choice boards.

John's variation goes beyond choosing topics or activities and allows for some student ownership of the learning targets and resources.

Something else to think about as you move forward and become more confident with online learning.

5) Set Up Guidelines

School guidelines are an important part of the transition process to online learning. These guidelines can be established even before your school has closed.

Not sure where to start? Check out this advice and examples from International Schools Services. You'll find online learning policies, parent guidelines and more.

Guidelines for students are also important but for a lot of students, a simple PDF with slabs of text won't be an effective way to communicate.

Yosef Tewolde in China shares a clear overview in a student friendly format.

VS basic ⁦@ncpa_china⁩ . Sending out tips for students each day in our VS daily bulletin. #onlinelearning #issedu #pulaoproud pic.twitter.com/R8bkTeZOHo

- Yosef Tewolde (@YosefTewolde) February 12, 2020

American International School of Guangzhou shared this appealing resource on Twitter about videos.

Here's another great example from teachers at Seoul Foreign British School,

#virtuallearning guidelines for primary students collab with @emcslack and Becca Cook. https://t.co/XCoRPuWNq7 #onlinelearning #sfs1912 @SFBritishSchool pic.twitter.com/zVH2jvtV1W

- Jill Zappia (@JillZappia) March 5, 2020

6) Ensure Teacher Wellbeing

This meme inspired by teacher Nancy Breau sums up online teaching pretty well,

It's crucial to consider teacher wellbeing. Teaching is hard enough in the traditional sense but moving online with minimal preparation or planning can be very stressful. In addition, some teachers are also trying to teach their own children whose schools have closed.

Effective leadership and communication are key. As a teacher, try to take care of yourself. Go offline at the end of the day, take breaks, keep moving, eat well, drink water, get fresh air... you know the drill!

Perhaps you could set up a little routine for yourself at the end of the day, This checklist for health care workers in the UK might give you some ideas.

Will Arnold is a teacher in Guangzhou, China, who wisely told me via Twitter,

My perspective from week 6 is that "how will teachers/staff be supported" should move to the top of the list. It's like putting your own oxygen mask on before you help others.

Touche, Will, touche.

7) Consider Student and Family Wellbeing

Switching to an online schooling program presents many challenges to students and families. Listening to families and sharing tips to ensure their wellbeing is very important.

There are many ways to go about this. You might be able to get the help of school counselors or welfare officers. Or, you might invite students and families to share their own tips on what they're doing to stay happy and healthy during this challenging time.

The International School of Busan shared a short video on their Twitter account with basic tips for families.

Staying healthy in a virtual learning environment. #ISBlearning pic.twitter.com/HdcwWWlxol

- International School of Busan (@ISBLearning) February 29, 2020

It's also important to remember that it can be hard to predict which students might struggle with the virtual school program. For example, students who generally thrive in the classroom may find the adjustment very difficult. Keep the lines of communication open and don't make assumptions!

Rebecca Barrett-Fox wrote an article called " Please do a bad job of putting your courses online " (hat tip: Raymond Rose in the comment section below). Rebecca does a great job of stressing that students and teachers are currently facing enormous and diverse pressures. The article is designed for higher ed but can definitely be extended to K-12. Show as much empathy as possible and keep things as simple as possible.

📌 Tips For Parents With Young Children

In terms of helping families switch to teaching their children at home, check out my post with 10 tips for teaching younger children - many of these apply to older students as well.

This is a guide that you can share with families for practical help and ideas.

You'll also find a sample home schedule (there is a blank version that can be downloaded as well).

8) Embrace the Online Community

School closures are fast becoming a global issue. You might have a million questions racing around your head but you're not alone. There has never been a better time to connect with the online communities of teachers who are keen to offer tips, support, and examples.

Facebook

There is a Facebook Group set up by Kirsten Durward that is very supportive and helpful. It's called Educator Temporary School Closure for Online Learning.

Click here to find the Facebook group and remember to answer the questions that pop up when you request access.

Also, use the search function or click here to find a breakout Facebook group. Due to the huge growth of the group, there are now many breakout groups that are regional, subject specific, year/grade specific.

No idea how Facebook groups work? We have a guide that will help!

Twitter

You'll also find some fantastic posts from community minded teachers on Twitter. Many teachers are using the hashtags #schoolclosures #virtuallearning and #onlinelearning. At this stage it looks like #schoolclosures is the leading hashtag?

New to Twitter? Check out our Ultimate Guide to Twitter to get started. It'll be worth it!

9) Keep Your Class Connected

Keeping your class connected can be a challenge when students are scattered around the community (and around the world in some areas).

As we've mentioned, video conferences are a good way to overcome this. While most video conferences would be lessons, consider adding in some fun conferences that are either structured (e.g. play a game together) or unstructured (e.g. live recess where students can just hang out).

If you're not using conferences, consider a tool like Flipgrid where students can respond to each other with short recorded videos.

You might be able to come up with ways for students to work on group projects together. This can add a layer of stress for students who might be struggling so of course, you'd gauge whether group work is a positive option.

Librarian ‎Jen Caressimo (@Zenkenjen) runs Virtual Spirit Weeks to bring the school community together. She invites you to check out her Google Drive of examples.

Camps and field trips are a great way to bring your class together. Did you know your class can also take virtual school trips. Check out this list of ideas from Freedom Homeschooling or this one from Mrs. Fahrney.

Maybe you can hold virtual assemblies for your whole school or year level, just like these folks in South Korea,

Today's virtual learning highlight - The PYP Assembly! Puppet shows, dance-offs, jokes and shoutouts. The PYP team broadcasting live to the Elementary School. What a fabulous way to end the week! I'm lucky to work with so many wonderful educators. #ISBlearning pic.twitter.com/JHFu0SA0zX

- Simon McCloskey (@SimonJMcCloskey) March 6, 2020

10) Keep it Simple 💓

The message you'll hear over and over from school leaders and teachers who have been at this for a while now is clear: keep it simple!

Don't overthink things and create complicated lessons.

Don't invest in expensive technology or reinvent the wheel.

Don't expect that you will be able to cover as much as you would in the classroom.

Just do your best. That is enough!

Obstacles and Issues Created by School Closures

The rapid school closures we're seeing across the world raise concerns for teachers, parents, students, and the wider community.

Some issues that are currently being navigated include:

Students/Families

Do all students have access to devices and the internet?

Who will look after students who are home from school? Are some students being left home alone?

How can parents manage their own careers? Do their employers allow them to work from home or have time off?

What about students who rely on getting free or subsidized meals at school? How can they be supported? What are the ramifications for farmers and food suppliers if orders are suspended?

Are there concerns with excess screen time and lack of physical activity?

How can students stay connected to peers?

How can students with disabilities or additional learning needs be catered for?

Teachers

How can educators juggle teaching if they have their own children home from school?

How can teachers maintain work-life balance?

Can teachers work from home or do they need to be on campus? Are teachers trusted and supported to work remotely?

Do teachers need PD? Can the transition to online learning happen immediately or does there need to be a bridge (for example, students are provided with work/a packet for a week while teachers set up the online learning program)?

What role will non-teaching staff take on?

Who will take classes if teachers become ill?

Will teachers continue to get full pay during ongoing school closures?

Schoolwide issues

Will testing and report cards need to be delayed? What other assessment and reporting concerns are there?

How is attendance monitored? For some, attendance or class numbers are linked to school funding.

Should teachers/administrators chase up students who aren't participating?

What will non-teaching staff do during school closures?

How should the school day be balanced with synchronous and asynchronous learning that's both online and offline?

How can individual students be catered for and work be differentiated?

How can you prevent all the student work from becoming a scattered mess? Are they going to publish items on a digital portfolio (e.g. blog) or something similar?

Will you face copyright issues if you try to use learning materials online (e.g. replicating textbooks or reading picture books aloud?)

For private schools with longer closures, will parents continue to be charged full fees?

What will the transition back to online schooling look like?

What sort of "gaps" may need to be filled if students miss out on essential learning or assessment?

Are their implications for senior students graduating and moving on to tertiary education?

Schools, teachers, and families may also face different issues depending on whether they are part of an international school, private school, or public school. Each situation is unique and throws up so many different variables.

As you can see, these issues are broad and complex. Perhaps at this stage there are more questions than answers.

Planning for a School Closure: Parent Survey

No matter where you live in the world, it's highly unlikely that you can now rule out the possibility of your school closing in the future.

Now is the time to plan. If you don't need that plan, great! However, many schools around the world are closing suddenly with minimal preparation. Teachers and staff end up scrambling to get their virtual learning programs together.

The first step in planning for a possible school closure may be to survey your parents and families. It's important to find out what technology, child care, and other resources they have available.

We created an example survey in Google Forms. You're welcome to use it or adapt it for your own school. You'll find instructions on how to make a copy under the Form below.

Instructions for Editing and Using the Google Form Survey

1. Click on this link:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1viFs7kqOmJOBs-vzVX6pCbhd8rgSda0K-00LAjqruLM/copy
2. You will be prompted to make a copy (screenshot below)

3. You can edit the Google Form to suit your own school

💡 Google Forms Tips:

Planning for a School Closure: Taking Home Resources

If your school hasn't closed yet and you're planning for an upcoming closure, you might be thinking about what you should take home with you.

Every situation is different but in some schools, no one is allowed on the campus once the school is closed. In other schools, teachers are actually required to work from the school (while students are at home).

If you'll be working remotely, you might think about taking home some of the resources listed on the graphic below.

Checklist for Administrators and Educators Facing a School Closure

This post has covered a lot of information and offered a lot of ideas and options.

The following checklist might be a useful starting point if your school is beginning to discuss an upcoming or possible school closure.

Of course, this is just a very simplified checklist for schools that are beginning to think about transitioning.

📌 Click here to download a PDF copy of the checklist

Over to You

We'd love to keep this post updated with practical information. Please leave a comment if you have any tips, questions, or examples. We want to hear from you!

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Resources For Teaching Online Due To School Closures

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This extensive guide will give you insights into how educators around the world are approaching school closures due to COVID-19 (coronavirus). Learn about options for structuring the school day, using video, and using online tools. You'll also find a checklist for schools facing a closure and tips for virtual teaching.

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Worksheets, word lists and activities. | GreatSchools

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Give your child a boost using our free, printable worksheets.

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Comic book creator shared "finish the comic activities"

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Comic book creator shared "finish the comic activities"

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The activities below are available for free download, and are to be used in educational and/or private settings. They may not be used elsewhere or for other purposes (such as for profit) unless explicit permission is granted.
Below will find: Blank Comic Book Pages, Special Activities, "Finish This Story!" Story Starters, "How to Draw..." Instructions, "Finish This Comic!" Comics, and Drawing/Writing Prompts.
More activities are being added to this page regularly, so make sure to check back for more. And if you like the activities below, don't miss my activity books, GIVE THIS BOOK A TITLE and GIVE THIS BOOK A COVER, available wherever books are sold!
Click on the numbers below to find a variety of different blank comic book pages. Each number corresponds to a different arrangement of panels on the page. Print out a few of each, or a bunch of one kind, and make your own comic!

Special Activities

Click HERE to download the above activity sheet!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheet!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheet!

Click HERE to download the Introduction to Hand-Lettering sheets!

Click HERE to download the above Thank You activities!

Click HERE to download the above Haiku Diary activity!

Click HERE to download the above Thank You activities!

Click HERE to download the above Earth Day activities!

Click HERE to download the above Earth Day activities!

Click HERE to download the above Halloween activities!

Click HERE to download the above Halloween activities!

Click HERE to download the above Halloween activities!

Click HERE to download the above Halloween activities!

"Finish This Story!" Story Starters

Click HERE to download the above "Finish This Story!" activities!

Click HERE to download the above "Finish This Story!" activities!

"How to Draw..." Instructions

Click HERE to download the above "How to Draw..." activities!

Click HERE to download the above "How to Draw..." activities!

Click HERE to download the above "How to Draw..." activities!

Click HERE to download the above "How to Draw..." activities!

Click HERE to download the above "How to Draw..." activities!

Click HERE to download the above "How to Draw..." activities!

Click HERE to download the above "How to Draw..." activities!

Click HERE to download the above "How to Draw..." activities!

Click HERE to download the above "How to Draw..." activities!

Click HERE to download the above "How to Draw..." activities!

Click HERE to download the above "How to Draw..." activities!

Click HERE to download the above "How to Draw..." activities!

Click HERE to download the above "How to Draw..." activities!

Click HERE to download the above "How to Draw..." activities!

"Finish This Comic!" Comics

Below you will find a collection of comics that are incomplete. Look closely at the pictures, then figure out what you need to add to complete the comic!

Click HERE to download the above incomplete comics!

Click HERE to download the above incomplete comics!

Click HERE to download the above incomplete comics!

Click HERE to download the above incomplete comics!

Click HERE to download the above incomplete comics!

Click HERE to download the above incomplete comics!

Click HERE to download the above incomplete comics!

Click HERE to download the above incomplete comics!

Click HERE to download the above incomplete comics!

Click HERE to download the above incomplete comics!

Click HERE to download the above incomplete comics!

Click HERE to download the above incomplete comics!

Click HERE to download the above incomplete comics!

Drawing/Writing Prompts

Below you will find some drawing prompt activity sheets. Completed drawings can also be used as creative writing prompts.

Click HERE to download the above activity sheets!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheets!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheets!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheets!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheets!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheets!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheet!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheet!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheets!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheets!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheet!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheets!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheets!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheet!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheet!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheets!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheet!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheets!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheet!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheets!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheets!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheet!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheets!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheets!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheets!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheets!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheet!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheet!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheet!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheets!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheets!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheets!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheets!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheet!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheets!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheet!

Click HERE to download the above activity sheet!

Click HERE to download the above Spanish version activity sheets!

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The activities below are available for free download, and are to be used in educational and/or private settings. They may not be used elsewhere or for other purposes (such as for profit) unless explicit permission is granted. Below will find: Blank Comic Book Pages, Special Activities, "Finish This Story!"

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Student Access: https://rockinresources.thinkific.com/courses/Free-student-version?ck_subscriber_id=175003366

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With many school districts offering online classes, the Coronavirus and flu forcing students to stay home, and homeschool becoming more and more popular, Rockin' Resources wants to make sure teachers...

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Digital Learning Archives | Rockin Resources

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With many school districts offering online classes, the Coronavirus and flu forcing students to stay home, and homeschool becoming more and more popular, Rockin' Resources wants to make sure teachers...

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150+ Educational Shows on Netflix - Homeschool Hideout

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Sick of shows that don’t stimulate your mind? Check out our list of over 150 educational shows on Netflix! Use them in your homeschool or just for fun!

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YouTube.com/learning is a destination designed to offer teens and adults quality learning content. Here you will find playlists that spark your curiosity and...

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NY times growing list of ideas and resources

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NY times growing list of ideas and resources

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Coronavirus Resources: Teaching, Learning and Thinking Critically (Published 2020)

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A page we will continue to update with ideas for working, at school or at home, with content from The Times and other reliable sources about this global pandemic.

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How to Teach Remotely with a Google Slides Hyperdoc

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People have been sharing such lovely ideas about how families can be doing interesting, engaging math at home. This page compiles examples from Twitter, with commentary about ways to extend or alter them for children of different ages. ( 6/5/20, 5/29/20, 5/22/20, 5/15/20, 5/8/20, 5/1/20, 4/24/20, 4/17/20, 4/10/20, 4/3/20)

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People have been sharing such lovely ideas about how families can be doing interesting, engaging math at home. This page compiles examples from Twitter, with commentary about ways to extend or alter them for children of different ages. ( 6/5/20, 5/29/20, 5/22/20, 5/15/20, 5/8/20, 5/1/20, 4/24/20, 4/17/20, 4/10/20, 4/3/20)

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Hello, friends! I'm Kate Messner, a former classroom teacher, forever-educator, and the author of more than three dozen books for kids. These include picture books like Over and Under the Snow, The Brilliant Deep, and The Next President; the Fergus and Zeke easy reader series; the Ranger in Time historical chapter book adventures; nonfiction like Tracking Pythons and Solve This: Forensics; and novels like All the Answers, Breakout, and . I'm happy that you found your way here!

This is a library of resources for kids, families, teachers, and librarians to make sure that reading & learning can happen anywhere this spring. Some of you may be out of school as communities try to prevent the spread of a virus known as COVID-19. Here's a great page from NPR that explains what that's all about, in a kid-friendly comic. National Ambassador for Young People's Literature Jason Reynolds shares "How to Fight the New Bad Guy in Town," a PSA for kids, on the StorySeeds podcast here. And this excellent & important post from author Laurie Halse Anderson does a great job explaining why we're seeing closings (and why that's important) for older readers.

Below, you'll find a growing collection of resources that include everything from first-chapter and picture book read-alouds (all shared with permission!) to drawing and writing mini-lessons. Be sure to check back often, as new resources will be added every day. If you'd prefer to browse learning-at-home resources by age group, my daughter Ella has put together the pages below, with even more resources, organized by grade level. (Thanks, Ella!)

Resources for grades PreK-2 (ages 3-7)
Resources for grades 3-5 (ages 8-10)
Resources for grades 6-8 (ages 11-13)
Resources for grades 9-12 (ages 14+)

Many teachers & librarians have also reached out to ask about permission to read books aloud to your students via closed platforms like Google Classroom, Zoom, and unlisted YouTube links. Individual publishers have been sharing their own guidelines for online read-alouds, and you'll find a round-up of those here.

Author Kate Messner shares a read-aloud of THE NEXT PRESIDENT: THE UNEXPECTED BEGINNINGS AND UNWRITTEN FUTURE OF AMERICA'S PRESIDENTS, illustrated by Adam Rex. Writing challenge: After the read-aloud, write your own presidential platform. What changes would you make to your country if you were in charge?

Author Kate Messner shares a read-aloud of OVER AND UNDER THE POND, illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal (shared with permission from Chronicle Books). After the read-aloud, look out your window - or step outside if you can - and see what hidden nature you notice!

Author Kate Messner shares a read-aloud of THE BRILLIANT DEEP: REBUILDING THE WORLD'S CORAL REEFS illustrated by Matt Forsythe. After the read-aloud, check out the Coral Restoration Foundation website. Learn more about the threats coral reefs are facing from NASA's Climate Kids page, and check out this page about how kids can help our oceans. Challenge: Make a poster or drawing to teach people about how we can all help coral and other sea creatures!

OVER AND UNDER THE RAINFOREST, Kate's book with illustrator Christopher Silas Neal doesn't come out until August, but we got special permission to share an early read-aloud! After the story, check out this page with more information on the wildlife of Costa Rica, where Kate did most of the research for this book. Writing challenge: Write a short article to teach people about your favorite rainforest animal!

Tracey Baptiste, the author of The Jumbies series, shares a mini-lesson on comparative mythology. She talks through how creatures from different mythologies have traits in common and encourages kids to find those similarities in the mythologies they come across. She's also sharing some reading resources such as D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths, The Element Encyclopedia of Mythical Creatures, and her own Jumbies Field Guide available at her website.

Author Debbi Michiko Florence shares a read-aloud excerpt of her chapter book JASMINE TOGUCHI FLAMINGO KEEPER, along with a writing prompt (and a peek at a real daruma doll)!

Author Leah Henderson shares a first chapter read-aloud of her middle grade novel THE MAGIC IN CHANGING YOUR STARS. Writing Challenge: Find out who Ailey Benjamin Lane is named after. (Hint: His first name comes from an African-American dancer & choreographer with the initials A.A. His middle name comes from an African-American farmer & naturalist who searches out the stars and who created an almanac in 1792. This person's initials are B.B.) Who could they be?

Author-illustrator Jarrett Lerner shares tips and techniques to help you draw ANYTHING and EVERYTHING!

Veera Hiranandani, author of the Newbery Honor winning book The Night Diary, The Whole Story of Half a Girl, and The Phoebe G. Green series offers a diary writing prompt to help you get to know your characters and create an inspired story!

Author Jason Reynolds shares a read-aloud from his MG novel, GHOST. In this chapter, the main character talks about world records, so after the read-aloud, check out this page from the Guiness Book of World Records, with some records you can try to break at home!

Author Kate Messner shares a read-aloud excerpt from TRACKING PYTHONS: THE QUEST TO CATCH AN INVASIVE PREDATOR AND SAVE AN ECOSYSTEM. After the read-aloud, you can learn more about invasive species from National Geographic and the National Wildlife Foundation. Also check out this article from New York State Conservationist Kids!

Kate also shared this article about the python scientists, with photos and infographics.

Author & illustrator Grace Lin teaches viewers how to draw a Chinese Dragon and shares some tidbits about Chinese culture! You can find more of Grace's reading & drawing videos on her YouTube channel.

Author Carole Lindstrom shares a read-aloud of WE ARE WATER PROTECTORS.

Author Jo Knowles reads from the first chapter of her MG novel WHERE THE HEART IS and offers students a fun writing exercise! For more about Jo and her books, or for teachers/book group guides that go along with her books, visit her website.

Kelley McMorris, who illustrates the RANGER IN TIME chapter book series, shares a video about how she illustrates a book cover. After you watch, try using Kelley's process to design a new cover for one of your favorite books!

Author and illustrator Debbie Ridpath Ohi shares a read-aloud of her picture book WHERE ARE MY BOOKS?, gives a drawing demo and challenges young readers to create their own imaginative squirrels, and shares a crowd-sourced "Where Are My Books?" music video. You can find lots of free, print-ready activities and other fun bonus info at https://www.debbieohi.com/wamb

Author Erin Entrada Kelly gives a peek into the notebooks for several of her novels, including HELLO, UNIVERSE. Writing challenge: What's in your notebook? Take a little time to write in it today, inspired by Erin's ideas!

Author Chris Tebbetts shares a read-aloud of the first chapters of STRANDED. Writing challenge: Choose a wilderness setting of your own - the Arctic, the desert, the rainforest - and imagine you're stranded there. How will you survive? Write an imaginary journal documenting your adventure. Check out these wilderness survival skills from Outdoor Life for ideas!

Author Nikki Grimes shares poetry selections from WORDS WITH WINGS. Writing challenge: Try writing your own poem today, in the style of one of Nikki's read-alouds! For more of Nikki's read-aloud videos and lessons, check out her YouTube Channel here.

Author Ann Braden shares a read-aloud excerpt from THE BENEFITS OF BEING AN OCTOPUS. Note: the octopus is a pretty amazing creature, so after the read-aloud, read up on them at this page from National Geographic Kids!

Author Kate Messner shares a read-aloud of UP IN THE GARDEN AND DOWN IN THE DIRT, illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal. After the read-aloud, read more about helpful insects here and check out these garden activities from KidsGarden!

Author Sarah Albee shares a STEM mystery, "Did the Doctor Do It?" as part of her series exploring the science and intrigue of poison throughout history. Check out more of Sarah's Poison videos here.

Middle grade and Young adult author, Paula Chase offers a mini-writing exercise to help students build stories around their unique traits.

Author Nancy Castaldo reads some of BACK FROM THE BRINK with tips how we can all use our voices through our writing to make a difference. Here's the link to the reader's guide for more activities.

Author Debbi Michiko Florence shares an early read-aloud excerpt of her upcoming MG novel KEEP IT TOGETHER KEIKO CARTER, along with a writing prompt!

Author & illustrator Grace Lin shares the first story from her early reader, "Ling and Ting: Not Exactly the Same!" You can find more of Grace's reading & drawing videos on her YouTube channel.

Author Kate Messner shares a read-aloud excerpt from RANGER IN TIME: RESCUE ON THE OREGON TRAIL. Writing challenge: Choose your favorite event in history and imagine how a search and rescue dog might be able to help out. Then so some research about your historical event, and write your own story about Ranger's adventures there!

Christina Soontornvat shares how she came up with the idea for her new middle grade fantasy novel, A WISH IN THE DARK. Writing challenge: Use Christina's model to brainstorm your own list of ideas for stories that might be inspired by a classic tale! And check out more videos from Christina here!

Author KA Holt reads an excerpt from her forthcoming middle grade novel-in-verse, BEN BEE AND THE TEACHER GRIEFER.

Author Mae Respicio reads a few pages from her upcoming middle grade novel, Any Day With You, and shares a quick, fun writing prompt. Writing challenge: Imagine you've been planning a beach day with your best friends. You're so excited to go but when you get there... everything goes wrong and not the way you expected it to! Describe what happens.

Author Elly Swartz shares tips on how to use the emotion in your life to create authentic characters! Writing challenge: Take a few minutes to journal about a day when you felt an especially strong emotion - joy or fear or excitement! How might you use those emotions in a fictional story?

Author Lisa Yee drinks water, reads the first chapter of Millicent Min, Girl Genius, and fumbles when she comes across a couple of lines in Latin. Writing challenge: Try rewriting a scene from this chapter from the point of view of another character!

Award-Winning author Michelle Cusolito shares a writing mini-lesson to help writers add more sensory details to their writing. You can find more resources related to Michelle's book FLYING DEEP: CLIMB INSIDE DEEP-SEA SUBMERSIBLE ALVIN here.

Author-illustrator Lita Judge shares a video about how a sketching trip inspired one of her picture books! After you watch, take your own mini-sketching trip. Go to your kitchen or your bedroom, your porch or your backyard, and sketch what you see. Observe closely!

Author Kate Messner shares a read-aloud excerpt from CHIRP, a mystery for kids that's set on a cricket farm! After the read aloud, you can learn more about entomophagy (eating insects as food!) from CBS Kids, and check out a real cricket farm's website!

Author Chris Tebbetts shares a video mini-lesson on how to create a good beginning for a story!

And another video writing workshop from Chris, called Four Elements of Character. (This is an 8-minute video where you pause & write sometimes, so the full activity will take about half an hour. Recommended for writers ages 10 and up.)

Author Aisha Saeed shares a read-aloud of her picture book, BILAL COOKS DAAL, along with a related activity!

Author Emily Jenkins shares a read-aloud of A GREYHOUND, A GROUNDHOG.

Author Lisa Schroeder shares a read-aloud excerpt from her MG novel MY SECRET GUIDE TO PARIS, along with a writing exercise!

Author Janet Fox shares a read-aloud of the first chapter of her MG novel THE ARTIFACT HUNTERS. Writing challenge: Try writing a short scene of your own in which something unexpected happens!

Author & illustrator Jess Keating shares some thoughts on where ideas for stories come from! (This is part of a series Jess shares on writing & you can find more on her YouTube channel.)

Author Chris Tebbetts shares a read-aloud of the first chapters of MIDDLE SCHOOL, THE WORST YEARS OF MY LIFE, co-written with James Paterson.

Poet Charles Waters shares poetry from DICTIONARY FOR A BETTER WORLD (by Charles Waters and Irene Latham)

Author Abby Cooper reads the first chapter of her middle grade novel, FRIEND OR FICTION.

Author Lynn Plourde shares some tips on starting an observation notebook!

Author-illustrator James Burks shares a video lesson on how to draw Squirrel from his graphic novel series, Bird and Squirrel!

Author Kristen Larson shares an engineering design activity based on her book WOOD, WIRE, WINGS: Emma Lilian Todd Invents an Airplane.

Author Liz Garton Scanlon shares a video lesson on writing am ETHEREE - a ten line poem in which each line is one syllable longer than the last.

Author-illustrator Karen Romano Young shares a video doodling tutorial. You can also check out Karen's #AntarcticLog comics, a weekly series of comics about Antarctica - as well as the Arctic and anyplace where climate change is being studied.

Author KA Holt reads an excerpt from her novel-in-verse, HOUSE ARREST. Mini-lesson: listen for as many poetic devices as you can find (metaphor, simile, assonance, hyperbole, etc.)

Author Jennifer Roy shares a video read-aloud from her historical novel YELLOW STAR, along with a writing prompt about looking for symbols of hope in tough times, recommended for ages 10 and up.

Author Laurel Snyder shares some thoughts on fiction and making up stories, along with a read-aloud of CHARLIE AND MOUSE OUTDOORS.

Author Caroline Starr Rose reads her picture book, A RACE AROUND THE WORLD: THE TRUE STORY OF NELLIE BLY AND ELIZABETH BISLAND. When you've finished listening, visit the article, How to Pack Like Pioneering Journalist Nellie Bly, Who Circumnavigated the Globe in 1889 with Just a Small Duffle Bag, to see what Nellie brought on her journey. Challenge: Plan your own trip around the world. What would you like to see? Where would you like to visit? Mark these places on a map.

Author Corinne Demas shares a read-aloud of THE DISAPPEARING ISLAND.

Author Lauren Tarshis shares a read-aloud of the first two chapters of I SURVIVED THE SINKING OF THE TITANIC. After the read-aloud, check out this link to read about Robert Ballard, the oceanographer whose team discovered the wreck of the Titanic more than seventy years after it sank.

Author & poet Nikki Grimes shares poems about one of her favorite cakes, Pineapple Upside Down Cake, along with five steps to creating your very own poem about your favorite food! For more of Nikki's read-aloud videos and lessons, check out her YouTube Channel here.

Author Sarah Aronson shares a read-aloud of JUST LIKE RUBE GOLDBERG. And here's a FlipGrip page where kids can share their projects and ask questions.

Author Chelsea Clinton shares an excerpt from her book START NOW: YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

Author Bruce Hale shares a read aloud of BIG BAD BABY.

Writing Challenge: Write about the same experience in multiple ways (letters, poems, illustrations, and screenplay).

Bonus challenge: Write positive affirmations for your family members.

Author Sayantani DasGupta shares a read-aloud of the first chapter of THE SERPENT'S SECRET.

Author Deborah Underwood reads INTERSTELLAR CINDERELLA (illustrated by Meg Hunt) and gives kids a mini-lesson on how to write their own fractured fairy tales.

Author Kate Messner shares a read-aloud of UP IN THE GARDEN AND DOWN IN THE DIRT and answers questions from kids in a "Family Book Club" video recorded earlier this year (thanks to Read-Aloud Revival for making this recording publicly available for learning at home this spring!)

Author-illustrator Brian Biggs shares a read-aloud of his EVERYTHING GOES board books.

Author Jessica Young shares a read-aloud of HAGGIS AND TANK (illustrated by James Burks) with a mini-lesson on sound words.

Author-illustrator Brandon Reese shares a read-aloud of his picture book CAVE DADA. And here's a link to download a coloring page, too!

Here's a fun challenge from author Laurel Snyder ... She's written a brand new book, but doesn't have any pictures for it. Will you help? She'll read you the story of The Beastly Collective, and you'll draw your favorite animals, while she teaches you some brand new words!

Author Christine Evans shares a read-aloud of Evelyn the Adventurous Entomologist, illustrated by Yasmin Imamura.

Author and illustrator Grace Lin shares a chapter from her book, The Year of the Dog. You can find more of Grace's reading & drawing videos on her YouTube channel.

Grace Lin teaches families how to draw a dog from the number 5 (just like in The Year of the Dog!)

Amy Guglielmo, co-author of POCKET FULL OF COLORS shares a read-aloud of her picture book biography of Disney artist Mary Blair. Art challenge: Collect a rainbow of colorful objects inside or outside as a fun follow up activity. Take part in the "Rainbow Hunt," and draw a picture of a rainbow to post in your window for neighbors to see on their daily walks.

Author Kerry O'Malley Cerra demonstrates an easy tool students can use to summarize. This tip can also be used for writers as chapter checks!

Japanese American author, Kathleen Burkinshaw reads a chapter from her MG historical fiction, The Last Cherry Blossom based on events in her mom's life as a 12 yr old in Hiroshima during WWII. Also learn a little about her mom's favorite Japanese folk tale. You can find a Discussion Guide on her website www.kathleenburkinshaw.co

Newbery Award winning author Meg Medina shares a writing lesson on Creating Tension.

Kerry Madden shares a read-aloud of ERNESTINE'S MILKY WAY.

Author Buffy Silverman shares On a Snow-Melting Day: Seeking Signs of Spring and a little science show-and-tell.

Author Diane Zahler shares a read-aloud of the first chapter of The Marvelwood Magicians and a writing prompt.

Abigail Rayner shares a read-aloud of The Backup Bunny.

Michelle Cusolito reads aloud her book Flying Deep: Climb Inside Deep-Sea Submersible ALVIN (illustrated by Nicole Wong) while Jeff Angeley of Southcoast Lessons provides live musical accompaniment. You can find more resources related to Flying Deep here.

Author Meg Fleming shares a read-aloud of her picture book, Sometimes Rain.

S.K. Ali, co-author of THE PROUDEST BLUE, shares directions for making a paper boat.

The niece and nephew of Cedella Marley read her book, Get Up, Stand Up, a picture book adaptation of one of Bob Marley's beloved songs that has a timely message for children: To counter injustice, lift others up with kindness and courage.

Author Lisa Yee talks about Bobby vs. Girls (Accidentally) and reads passages from the book. Writing prompt for today: Do you think boys and girls can be friends?

Would you rather be an #astronaut or #aquanaut? Perhaps you need more info to decide. Check out Jen Swanson's video below. Then make your choice and draw a picture of your suit!

Author Jo Watson Hackl Shows How to Take Your Reading to the Next Level by Exploring the Natural World of Your Characters.

Author Heather L. Montgomery reads-aloud chapters from SOMETHING ROTTEN: A FRESH LOOK AT ROADKILL.

Author Heather Shumaker offers a weekly author chat called Fiction Friday. She shares tips and ideas for writing fiction, reads a short excerpt from her middle grade novel The Griffins of Castle Cary, adds in a mini writing lesson, a few corny jokes, and encouragement to young writers and readers.

Author Christina Diaz Gonzalez talks about finding writing inspiration from your own family history (video is in English and then in Spanish).

Kate Messner shares a read-aloud of HOW TO READ A STORY, illustrated by Mark Siegel & shared with permission from Chronicle Books.

Author Kimberly Derting shares a read-aloud of CECE LOVES SCIENCE with permission from HarperCollins.

Author & science teacher Anne Ruppert shares a try-it-at-home fingerprinting activity from SOLVE THIS: FORENSICS (by Kate Messner & Anne Ruppert, published by National Geographic)

Author Jacqueline West shares a read-aloud from The Shadows, volume one of her bestselling MG fantasy/mystery series The Books of Elsewhere, along with a writing activity for you (and possibly your pet!) that will help you think about character and dialogue. For more info and other videos, visit her website! www.jacquelinewest.com.

Author Carter Higgins shares a read-aloud of BIKES FOR SALE with permission from Chronicle Books.

Author Deborah Underwood reads FINDING KINDNESS, illustrated by Irene Chan (Godwin Books/Macmillan, 2019).

Author Melanie Crowder reads a chapter from her middle grade novel, Three Pennies, and shares a quick and easy craft to go with it. Writing Challenge: Think of one of your favorite books-does an animal make an appearance in the story? In Three Pennies, the author writes several chapters from the point of view of an owl (named Owl). Try to add a chapter to that favorite book you've got in mind, writing from the point of view of an animal in that story.

Author Cynthia Levinson reads The Youngest Marcher: The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, a Young Civil Rights Activist, illustrated by Vanessa Brantley Newton. Thanks to Simon & Schuster Kids for permission.

Loree Griffin Burns, author of books like Citizen Scientists and the upcoming picture book You're Invited to a Moth Ball, shares her favorite book of all time: The Flora and Fauna of Hosmer Street. It's not a book she wrote, but rather one she made with her three kids. For one year, Loree, Sam, Ben, and Cat committed themselves to getting to know their animal neighbors; what they found surprised them. In this video, Loree show listeners a few of their best finds (garter snake! walking stick! a skeleton!), what they learned (the more you look, the more you see!) and, of course, how to start creating The Flora and Fauna of Your Place.

Many people have heard of the secret network that helped many enslaved blacks escape to freedom in the North called the Underground Railroad. But how many of you have heard about the Overground Railroad? Author Lesa Cline-Ransome reads from her book, The Overground Railroad, illustrated by her husband, James Ransome.

Author Kathleen Blasi reads HOSEA PLAYS ON, which depicts a day in the life of street musician Hosea Taylor, who made his community better, with his open-hearted giving. After the read-aloud, you can take a look at the newspaper article that inspired Kathleen to learn more about Hosea Taylor and served as the research springboard for HOSEA PLAYS ON.

Author Laya Steinberg reads her picture book THE BEST SUKKOT PUMPKIN EVER and shares a seed planting activity.

Author Jewell Parker Rhodes shares a read-aloud of the first chapter of GHOST BOYS.

Roy Freeman shares a read-aloud of CORDUROY, written and illustrated by his father, Don Freeman.

Author Nancy Tupper Ling shares a read-aloud, along with a lesson on how to make a list poem about your favorite place in the world.

Author Sarah Scheerger reads her picture book, Mitzvah Pizza, and shares a story about the real-life pay-it-forward pizza place that inspired the story. Classroom activities for the story are found here.

Writing Lessons! Many families are using this time at home to work on writing projects that range from stories and poems to special interest research reports and even novels. Here are some craft lessons from authors to help with ideas & strategies!
Author Meg Medina shares a video lesson on creating tension. Author Jennifer Torres shares a mini-workshop on setting with a video and pages to download. Here's a lesson from author Paula Chase on writing dual points of view. Author Josephine Cameron shares creative writing tips about how choosing the perfect setting can help you shape the character, plot, and relationships in your story.
Additional Resources:

Want to see even more author & illustrator videos? Check out the Authors Everywhere YouTube channel, created by Susan Tan!

Check out STEM Tuesday from The Mixed of Files of MG Authors blog for weekly book lists, interviews, and activities.

Want to try writing some poetry today? Joyce Sidman shares an amazing collection of ideas to get you started.

Here's another poetry lesson from Kathryn Apel - writing a didactic cinquain!

If you're stuck at home, it's a great time to start a writer's notebook! Author & Poet Amy Ludwig VanDerwater has a whole collection of posts from different writers, called "Sharing Our Notebooks." Check it out -so many ideas here!

Author Madelyn Rosenberg shares a collection of writing prompts here.

Here's a collection of video mini-lessons from nonfiction author Melissa Stewart - great for teaching informational writing, including research, text features, text structure, rich language, voice, and revision.

Author & poet Laura Shovan shares a collection of poetry mini-lessons on her website!

The folks at Middle Grade at Heart share a list of MG novels with discussions questions & related activities here.

Author Victoria Coe has a playlist of writing lessons for kids with 25 lessons.

Author Sarah Darer Littman offers short readings and writing prompts on her website.

On the Kids Ask Authors podcast, you can hear author/illustrator Grace Lin and a guest author answer a kid question! Kids can submit their own book reviews, poems or jokes! https://www.kidsaskauthors.com Subscribe to the podcast here: http://ow.ly/8OPg30qr7WD

Erica S. Perl (@ericaperl) is doing a weekly Instagram live author event called "Winging It with Erica S. Perl" featuring read-alouds, writing prompts, and occasional shakings of a tail feather. Tune in every Tuesday at 2 pm EST and wish her good cluck!

The KidLit TV team, a group of diverse children's book authors and illustrators, has created a virtual library of FREE read aloud, drawing & writing tutorials, podcasts, art activities + reading resources for kids. https://kidlit.tv

Jarrett J. Krosoczka, author & illustrator, shares daily drawing lessons on his YouTube channel.

Author Kathryn Hulick invites you to investigate a ghost story as a scientist, based on her book STRANGE BUT TRUE.

New Books to Check Out!

In case you're missing your weekly trip to the library or bookstore, we also want to let you know about some new books out this spring!

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Read, Wonder, and Learn! Favorite Authors & Illustrators Share Resources for Learning Anywhere - Spring 2020

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Hello, friends! I'm Kate Messner, a former classroom teacher, forever-educator, and the author of more than three dozen books for kids. These include picture books like Over and Under the Snow, The Brilliant Deep, and The Next President ; the Fergus and Zeke easy reader series; the Ranger in Time historical chapter book adventures; nonfiction like Tracking Pythons and Solve This: Forensics ; and novels like All the Answers, Breakout , and .

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Grants

North Carolina Farm Bureau is happy to provide agricultural outreach grants to North Carolina teachers through our Ag in the Classroom . . . Going Local program. These grants value up to $500.

Going Local Grants help educators provide Pre-K through collegiate level students with valuable, real-world education and experiences directly related to the agricultural industry and the Common Core State and Essential Standards. Teachers practicing in private and public North Carolina schools, colleges, and universities are encouraged to apply.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION IS April 15, 2020.

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North Carolina Farm Bureau is happy to provide agricultural outreach grants to North Carolina teachers through our Ag in the Classroom . . . Going Local program. These grants value up to $500. Going Local Grants help educators provide Pre-K through collegiate level students with valuable, real-world education and experiences directly related to the agricultural industry and the Common Core State and Essential Standards.

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Classroom Ready PBS lessons reK-12 all subjects

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Classroom Ready PBS lessons reK-12 all subjects

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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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I am considered the gate-keeper for all elearning lessons. They are housed in my Google Drive. I created a SHARED DRIVE folder and gave all teachers in elementary access to the document you see below (by grade level). In our district we use COMMON elearning lessons instead of every teacher creating their own. WHY?? because we are not 1:1 in our elementary schools. Parents may be using an iPad, laptop, PC or even smartphone to do lessons. This commonality has proven very effective for our teachers and community.
​

The amount of collaboration to pull this off is immense and I am coordinating with many departments so communication is key. How do I communicate with my teachers and leaders district wide? ​
Video and email have been my saving grace. Below this segment I will have a snapshot of the communication I sent out last night in preparation for the short time they were allowed to get into buildings to print and gather materials. (parents were allowed to come in and get paper/pencil items from 3-6 today).

Here is the communication I sent out to staff at 11:00 p.m. the day before they could enter the buildings.

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I am considered the gate-keeper for all elearning lessons. They are housed in my Google Drive. I created a SHARED DRIVE folder and gave all teachers in elementary access to the document you see below (by grade level). In our district we use COMMON elearning lessons instead of every teacher creating their own.

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What is Cumberland@Home?
We are excited to announce Cumberland@Home! Cumberland@Home is a remote-learning opportunity to allow students to continue learning beyond the walls of our classrooms. All Pre-K-12 materials will extend learning opportunities previously taught by classroom teachers. These review materials will help deepen our students' understanding and prepare them for the end-of-year standardized assessments. While students are engaged in Cumberland@Home, assignments may be completed virtually for high school students via Google Classrooms and via paper and pencil assignments for Pre-K through 8th grade. These assignments will be provided prior to the Cumberland@Home day. Students will access Google Classroom the way that they have previously accessed it at school.

These items are for the enrichment and will only be graded for completion. All materials cover content that has been previously taught and serve as review and enrichment. These materials are not intended to be core instruction. EC teachers will be in contact with parents/guardians.

Best Practices for Cumberland@Home:
● Create a consistent schedule and learning space for your student
● Allow students to work on Cumberland@Home in increments of 20 - 30 minutes at a time (depending on age) for a maximum of 3 hours daily

Note: All work completed while engaged in Cumberland@Home is due to your child's teacher no later than three days after they return to school. Assignments will be assessed according to school and/or teacher expectations.

Pre-K through 8th-grade students will complete paper-and-pencil assignments. Pre-K through 8th-grade materials may be picked up at the following locations (beginning Wednesday):

Meal Pick-up Sites: http://bit.ly/mealpickup

Old Wilmington Road Neighborhood Resource Center at 229 Lincoln Drive, Fayetteville, NC 28301 (subject to operating hours)

Action Pathway Head Start in the Holland Homes Development, 3053 Enterprise Avenue, Fayetteville, NC 28306 (subject to operating hours)

Online: www.cumberlandathome.ccs.k12.nc.us

High school students will complete their assignments virtually via Google Classroom and Cumberland@Home.

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Published by Angel Hoggard on March 16, 2020

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What is Cumberland@Home? We are excited to announce Cumberland@Home! Cumberland@Home is a remote-learning opportunity to allow students to continue learning beyond the walls of our classrooms. All Pre-K-12 materials will extend learning opportunities previously taught by classroom teachers. These review materials will help deepen our students' understanding and prepare them for the end-of-year standardized assessments.

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SFUSD Math Elementary School Closure Lessons

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Cable giant Charter Communications will provide free broadband for two months to households with students, as a number of U.S. schools are shutting down because of concerns about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Starting next Monday (March 16), Charter will offer free Spectrum broadband and Wi-Fi access for 60 days to households with K-12 and/or college students that do not already have a Spectrum broadband subscription at any service level up to 100 megabits per second.

The move follows Comcast's announcement that it would extend free broadband to low-income families, also for a 60-day period, starting next week.

To enroll in Charter's free-broadband program, eligible consumers must call (844) 488-8395. The company said it will waive installation fees for new student households. Charter said it will partner with school districts "to ensure local communities are aware of these tools to help students learn remotely." In addition, the operator will open its Wi-Fi hotspots across its footprint for public use, free of charge.

For eligible low-income households without school-age children, Charter continues to offer Spectrum Internet Assist, a low-cost broadband program that provides speeds of up 30 Mbps.

"As the country works collaboratively to contain this pandemic, broadband internet access will be increasingly essential to ensuring that people across the country are able to learn and work remotely, that businesses can continue to serve customers, and that Americans stay connected and engaged with family and friends," Charter said in a statement.

Charter has about 29 million customers across a 41-state footprint. The cable operator noted that it does not impose data caps or usage surcharges on broadband service.

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Charter Offers Free Broadband to All Households With Students Amid Coronavirus Epidemic

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Cable giant Charter Communications will provide free broadband for two months to households with students, as a number of U.S. schools are shutting down because of concerns about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

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Brunswick County Schools is fortunate to have access to a large variety of resources for our students. In addition, many of our partners are extending our access to include additional grade levels and areas during this time. While our students are accustomed to accessing these resources in our classrooms and on our network, they may not be as practiced when accessing them at home.

Parents, if your child does not have access to a chromebook, laptop, iPad, tablet or other device at home, we will be checking out the devices for you to take home on Monday, March 16th, from 11am-4pm. If you have children at multiple schools, you can check out the devices for each of them from one location. You will just need to fill out a short form at the school for checkout.

The following videos were created in order to give parents and students brief reminders of how to access our resources and what is available. Many of these resources include content that students can review, practice or explore even without specific teacher assignments. During this time, we encourage our students to continue to grow in their skills and knowledge. Learning can take place anywhere, any time.

Most BCS student resources are accessed via our Clever portal. In order to log in to Clever, students will need their Google user ID and password. Student Google IDs always end in @netmail.bcswan.net.

CLEVER PORTAL: Click HERE for instructions on how students can access their Clever portal from home.

Below are the online educational resources available to students and videos to walk you through accessing them.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: Elementary School Resources and Video Tutorials on how to use them can be found HERE.

These include iReady, Discovery Education, Flocabulary, MobyMax, NC Wise Owl, Social Studies Weekly, Scholastic, Learning A-Z, Reflex, WeVideo, PebbleGo, BrainPop, BrainPop Jr, StarFall, Google Classroom, Imagine Math, Hello Smart! Click HERE to access the video tutorials.

MIDDLE SCHOOL: Middle School Resources and Video Tutorials on how to use them can be found HERE.

These include Discovery Education, Flocabulary, MobyMax, NC Wise Owl, WeVideo, BrainPop, Google Classroom, Edmentum, Lexia, Gizmos, News ELA, Hello Smart!. Click HERE to access the video tutorials.

HIGH SCHOOL: High School Resources and Video Tutorials on how to use them can be found HERE.

DIGITAL LIBRARY: Don't forget our digital library is accessible on a variety of devices by all students. Students can check out ebooks and audiobooks 24/7.

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Brunswick County Schools is fortunate to have access to a large variety of resources for our students. In addition, many of our partners are extending our access to include additional grade levels and areas during this time.

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Raise a reader by getting the best book recommendations, reading tips, and discounts delivered straight to your inbox.

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I am at our public library right now and it is deserted. Wisconsin was ordered to close their schools this coming week as more and more cases of Covid-19 pile up. The world is upside down.

As we prepare to switch to online learning, I have been thinking of the power of the read aloud. How having the social connection through shared books can bring us together. How doing a read aloud in this stressful time can calm us. And so as we plan for what we will do, I immediately thought of reading picture books aloud to my students and having them respond to them in a short paragraph through Google Classroom. However, there is one glaring problem; copyright violations, I don't want to break copyright by reading aloud a book and then sharing it with students. So instead, I compiled as many lists as I could find here featuring the creators reading aloud. Perhaps the list will be helpful to you?

Kate Messner has a post that details which publishers have given limited permission to read their books aloud following their guidelines, see the post here.

Indianapolis Public Library has a compiled list here with more than 100 titles

Storyline online has a compiled list right here with some great titles

Kate Messner is compiling videos right here featuring authors and illustrators sharing their work and resources

Susan Tan has a great video channel featuring writing prompts and read alouds

Kidlit TV has a great compilation here

Harper Kids Has their read alouds compiled here

Vooks Online are offering a free first year for teachers and have videos compiled here

Brightly Online has a compilation here

Storytime with Bill from Little Brown Books can be found here

Mrs. P's storytime can be found here

Debbie Ridpath Ohi is posting videos of her books as well here

Unite For Literacy has many stories read aloud in multiple languages compiled here

Free Kid Lit Visits and Authors Read Aloud compiled by A.Keene can be found here

Storytime from Space features astronauts reading aloud

I will keep adding resources here as I find them and as they are shared with me. If you know of any more, please share.

Take care, stay safe, and take care of others. We will get through this.

And by the way, if you can't feed your family in the coming weeks or months, please reach out to me. I will try to send you a giftcard for groceries if I can.
If you are wondering where I will be in the coming year or would like to have me speak, please see this page.

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Picture Books Read Aloud Videos for Lesson Use

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I am at our public library right now and it is deserted. Wisconsin was ordered to close their schools this coming week as more and more cases of Covid-19 pile up. The world is upside down. As we prepare to switch to online learning, I have been thinking of the power of the read aloud....

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Educational Documentaries | Netflix - YouTube

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For many years, Netflix has allowed teachers to screen documentaries in their classrooms: https://help.netflix.com/en/node/57695 However, this isn't possible...

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Sprint Free Devices No Monthly Charge.pdf

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MMS families, please use this as a starting point to access learning opportunities while classes are suspended.

Click on your grade level to find learning opportunities and teacher contacts for each subject area for the weeks of March 23 - 27 and April 6 - 9, 2020.

Each teacher will plan learning opportunities for one (or two) subjects at one (or two) grade levels. Students are just asked to do their best on the learning opportunities that are provided. If help is needed, please email the teacher that is responsible for that grade and subject level. This work is outside of what is regularly being completed in the classroom. We understand that in some cases circumstances will prevent some students from doing all of the learning opportunities provided. Students will not be penalized or fall behind if this work doesn't all get completed. It is, however, recommended that all students complete as much of the work as they can. There will be paper work available for all students as we know the technology and access to the Internet is limited.

The learning opportunities listed for March 16 - 20 are just for students not in attendance this week. Although, they are open to any student who would like to do some extra work at home.

Check back often as the plans will be updated regularly. It is recommended that parents/guardians set up a schedule for their children at home so they can spend 15-30 minutes per day on each subject area.

The goal for this MMS Learning at Home Hub is to make expectations transparent when students are working at home. Parents and children can both use this site to easily find directions so work can be completed at home with support as needed from MMS teachers.

Once classes are suspended our school goal is to maintain relationships and a connection to MMS . Each student will be matched to one teacher. That teacher will attempt to be in contact with their students on a regular basis while classes are suspended via email, the phone, Google Hangouts, or some other manner.

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MMS families, please use this as a starting point to access learning opportunities while classes are suspended. Click on your grade level to find learning opportunities and teacher contacts for each subject area for the weeks of March 23 - 27 and April 6 - 9, 2020.

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The BSD Teaching & Learning Department compiled strategies and educational activities that families can use to keep students engaged in learning in the event of a school closure.

Remote learning activities are organized by grade level and contain a combination of low tech and technology-based options across multiple subject areas, including consideration for student physical and mental wellness. English Language Development (ELD) options are also included.

Our goal is to provide a structure for at-home learning so families have some easy-to-implement activities to prevent regression and learning loss during an extended break.

Parent Letters

Waalidiinta iyo Masuuliyiinta Qaaliga,

Saraakiisha caafimaadku waxay hadda soo jeedinayaan inaan u diyaar garoowno xiridda iskuullada suurtagalka ah oo aan u qabanqaabinno sii waditaanka waxbarashada iyada oo la isticmaalayo waxbarashada qadka ah. Barashada qadka waxaa loola jeedaa in ardayga iyo macalinka ay kala meel joogaan sidaa darteedna kuma kulmi karaan fasalka caadiga ah. Haddii ay dhacdo in iskuulkeenu la xiro maalmo badan, degmadu waxay diyaarisay waxyaalo iyo tilmaamo si ay ugu sii wataan barashada guriga.

Waxyaalahaa waxaa laga heli karaa bogaan: bit.ly/BSDremotelearning

Waxaan rajeynaynaa inay waalidiinta naga kaalmeeyaan carruurta si ay u dhammaystiraan howlahaas. Qaarkood waxaa ku jiri doona in lagu barto aalad iyo teknolojiyadda, halka kuwa kalena aaney ku jirin; waxey la mid ah sida ardayga inta badan maalin dugsiyeedkiisa caadi ah tahay.

Waxaan aqoonsan nahay in howlahani aysan bedeleyn waxbarida fasalka. Ma jiraan waxyaabo cusub oo la tusi doono layligana lama sixi doono.

In kasta oo qaar ka mid ah waxyaalahaan hore loogu isticmaalay iskuulka, waxaan rajeyneynaa inay ardaydu haystaan fursado ay ku tijaabiyaan wax cusub ama wax lagu tuso qaab cusub oo barasho ah.

District Tools & Resources

Remote Learning Activities

Each day a new choice board will be posted with fun options to do at home.

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Remote Learning - Beaverton School District

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The BSD Teaching & Learning Department compiled strategies and educational activities that families can use to keep students engaged in learning in the event of a school closure. Remote learning activities are organized by grade level and contain a combination of low tech and technology-based options across multiple subject areas, including consideration for student physical and mental wellness.

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Arts Instructional Resources shared nationally

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Arts Instructional Resources shared nationally

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Arts Instructional Resources SEADAE (State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education) is working to build a repository of online instructional resources for the field.

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#BetterTogether PD shared by West Smithfield

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#BetterTogether PD shared by West Smithfield

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#COVID19edu Lesson Plans for School Closures

Is your child's school closed for two weeks - or more? Do you want to continue your child's education at home while classes are cancelled? Maybe you are facing the challenge of online learning, e-learning, or virtual school, thanks to COVID-19, or maybe you've decided to homeschool temporarily until the crisis is over. If you're intimidated by the idea of trying to find things for your kids to do while stuck at home, the lesson plans, free curriculum, and activity ideas in this post will help you have a fun, educational, and memorable time with your kids.

These (clutter-free!) digital homeschool resources are also ideal for worldschoolers, expats, full-time RVers, missionaries living abroad, tiny-house dwellers, or homeschoolers on a very low budget. You'll need access to the internet, time to assemble all your resources, and consistent access to a computer, laptop, or tablet. But you won't need a separate schoolroom, rows and rows of shelving, or tons of money! At the time of posting, all the resources here are free.

100+ FREE Websites to Help You Learn at Home While Schools Are Closed (or Homeschool for the Rest of the Year!)

This list of websites is organized by subject, in roughly alphabetical order. I tried to differentiate between longer content like curriculum and lessons and shorter content like enrichment, but this often subjective, since many resources can be used in more than one way. You'll find apps, videos, songs, audiobooks, ebooks, printable books, interactive websites, games, and printable activities. I've tried to link to websites which offer many activities and resources, rather than link to blog posts with a single activity. Because of that, there are far more than one hundred lessons in this list. (ETA: Huge shout out to Marie of Faithfully Wandering for texting me so many of these links and resources!)

If I missed your favorite resource, or a resource you created, please do add it in the comments below.
[We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.]
FREE Multi-Subject Resources

Ellen McHenry's Basement Workshop (Extensive treasure trove of high-quality lessons and printable game, project, and activity PDFs. Don't miss!)

Scholastic's 20 Days of Reading and Learning (Lesson plans for 4 weeks. Material is organized first by grade, and then sequentially by day.)

Lucy's List of Educational YouTube Channels (An incredible master list of dozens of educational video channels.)

National Geographic Educational Resource Library (Sort by grade, content type, and subject.)

Old Farmer's Almanac for Kids (Designed for kids, with moon phases, weather, animal facts, and more.)

TEDed Lessons (Two separate sections - one for kids, and one for educators, with teacher-created lessons.)

Project Explorer ("Educational videos and lesson that inspire global citizens.")

Twinkl (Original ebooks, high-quality PowerPoints, and student printables. Due to COVID-19, Twinkle is offering parents and teachers a one-month ultimate membership FREE with code PARENTSTWINKLHELPS. How can you use Twinkl during a school closure? Read here.)

Newsela (Current events, social studies, and science articles. Due to COVID-19, Newsela is offering instant, free, access to all teachers through the end of the school year.)

NeoK12 (Kids' online encylopedia with large database of videos, articles, and quizzes.)

CK12 (Full digital courses for math, science, social studies, and English)

Khan Academy (Free K-12 education across all subjects.)

All-in-One Homeschool (Full grade online-based curriculum; faith-based.)

Seneca Learning (UK resources for middle- and upper grades, including geography, literature, and French. Lesson plans, videos, games, worksheets, and more)

Curriki (PK-12; curriculum, lessons and on-demand content, sorted by grade and subject.)

Ambleside Online's Homeschooling in a Crisis Plan (Uses materials freely available online to help you suddenly homeschool; faith-based.)

FREE Interactive Notebook / Paper Printables

The Notebooking Fairy (This site gives you free open-ended printables to encourage creativity. Create an interactive notebook by gluing papers, printables, maps, and more into a blank book. See also: 50 Things to Put in a Notebook.)

Interactive Notebook Labels (In it for the long haul? Label composition books and spiral notebooks by subject.)

Graph Paper Generator (Generate custom printable graph paper with dots, grids, triangles, lines.)

STEM Sheets ("Free customizable flashcards, worksheets, and diagrams." Amino acids, mitosis, roman numerals, and more.)

Life Skills Bingo (Taxes, sewing, tipping, and more. Includes clickable how-to links with lessons, and student worksheet to complete each activity.)

Have you considered a Kindle Unlimited subscription? It's the only resource on this entire list that's not free, but bottomless eBooks is certainly an attractive option as local libraries close their doors and everyone practices social distancing! Try your first month free.

FREE Art Project Ideas and Lessons
Art for Kids (Very simple how-to-draw tutorials, downloadable as one-page printable PDFs)
Deep Space Sparkle (Lessons include a video demonstration of the project as well as related printables.)

Tinkerlab (preK-12; many art and science project ideas for a wide range of ages.)

Half a Hundred Acre Wood (Includes links to coloring pages, copywork printables, and hands-on projects.)

Kitchen Table Classroom (Lots of great ideas and printable PDF lesson, like Color Theory for Kids)

Art History Kids (Email subscriber section has free art lessons.)

FREE Foreign Language Learning Enrichment

The Fable Cottage (Video and audio fairy tales and fables in multiple languages.)

The Italian Experiment (Website; Italian lessons for beginners. Also available: French, German, and Spanish.)

Duolingo (Website and app; 30+ languages.)

Mango Languages (Website and app; 70 languages. Many library systems provide free access via your library card number.)

Spot of Sunshine Chinese (Many, many fun Chinese-English learning activities you can do at home)

Chalk Academy (Hands-on learning for Chinese, Korean, and English. Check out this post on free multilingual books for kids.)

FREE Geography Lessons and Curriculum

Building Geography Skills for Life (Grades 4+; full text of student workbook as a 238-page printable PDF.)

Seterra (Online map skills quizzes)

Geography KS3 National Curriculum (UK Years 7-9 / Ages 11-14; videos, maps, worksheets, and games to teach geography)

FREE Geography Reference Materials / Maps

Interactive World History Atlas (See how borders have changed through history, ~3000BC to modern day.)

National Geographic Eduction Mapping Resources (Create, view, and print maps.)

PDF Quads from National Geographic Maps (Renders U.S. Geological Survey topographical maps into multi-page PDFs for easy printing.)

The True Size Of... (Drag and drop countries around on a map to compare their true size.)

d-Maps (The ultimate black-line outline map generator for easy printing.)

FREE Language Arts / ELA Lessons and Curriculum

NaNoWriMo Young Writers (Full writing curriculum for K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12, from the creators of National Novel Writing Month)

Writable (Hundreds of writing prompts and assignments, sortable by grade.)

36-Week Spelling Curriculum, by K12 Reader (Grades 1-5; printable)

K12 Reader (Grades K-6; printables, lessons, and worksheets for reading skills, grammar, vocabulary, and composition. Use the left sidebar to navigate by subjects.)

Albert Grammar (Grades 5-12; complete curriculum)

ReadWorks (Reading comprehension courses, printables, quizzes, and more.)

FREE Language Arts / ELA Enrichment

Grammar Songs, by Shurley English (A playlist of jingles designed to teach parts of speech and grammar.)

Poetry Icebreakers Lesson, by Evan-Moor (PK-6; three different printable lessons.)

Crossword Puzzle Generator (Enter words and clues and use this tool to make your own printable crosswords.)

Typing Club (Learn to touch type through games.)

FREE Math Curriculum

CK12 (Online video and practice, organized by grade level and topic.)

CK12 Flexbooks (Digital lessons with corresponding online practice, aligned to standards for a full grade math curriculum)

Centre for Innovation in Mathematics Teaching (CIMT) / Mathematics Enhancement Programme (MEP) Math Curriculum (Printable PDF lesson plans, student materials, and answer keys for full grade comprehensive math curriculum designed on a Hungarian / UK model.)

Zearn (Grades K-6, full online math curriculum includes digital lessons for students and PDF guides for parent/teachers)

FREE Math Enrichment

Prodigy Math (Grades 1-8; allows you to choose country, so the content aligns with your local standards. Integrates with Google Classroom, too.)

Math Games website (PK-8; simple web-based games designed to encourage fact fluency)

Exploding Dots by the Global Math Project (ages 10-adult; originally designed for using during Global Math Week, but can be used any time. Incremental lessons, printable PDFs, and virtual math challenge stations.)

Multiplication Facts Worksheets (Printable PDF matching activities for fact fluency.)

FREE Music Appreciation

Top 100 Classical Songs for Kids (Individual list of YouTube videos, organized by time period)

Classics for Kids (Designed for kids, this site offers composer biographies, worksheets, videos, music samples, and more)

FREE eBooks, Audiobooks, Reading, and Literature

Lit2Go ("A free online collection of [classic] stories and poems in MP3 audiobook format." Includes text, audio, and student activity PDFs.)

Glencoe Study Guides (Grades 6-12; full-length PDF study guides for dozens of titles by authors like Dickens, Tolstoy, L'Engle, Austen, Twain, and more.)

Podcasts for Kids (List of children's podcasts, compiled by Common Sense media.)

Aesop's Fables (eBook illustrated by Milo Winter, available via web or app.)

Open Culture's List of Audiobooks (Roundup of many titles, linked to various sources around the web.)

List of Picture Books On Video (List of dozens of children's book title read-a-longs available on YouTube, Vimeo, etc.)

International Children's Digital Library (Scanned books from around the world.)

Storynory (Elementary; streaming audio stories, poems, and music.)

Vooks (Early elementary; animated storybooks. Teachers and home educators get one year access, free.)

Hoopla Digital (Works with local library access; books, movies, and audiobooks.)

Overdrive (Works with local library access; ebooks and audiobooks.)

Libby (Works with local library access; ebooks and audiobooks.)

FREE Phonics / Reading Instruction

Teach your Monster to Read (Interactive game "covers everything from letters and sounds to reading full sentences.")

Storybots' Alphabet Jamboree (Learn the alphabet and letter sounds with this YouTube playlist of classic songs which pre-date the Netflix show.)

I See Sam (Early reader books in ready-to-print PDF format.)

FREE Reference Materials (Art)

Picture Study by Cottage Press (Easy-to-download PDFs of fine art, organized by artist.)

The Art Institute of Chicago (User-friendly galleries of famous art. Images marked "CC0 Public Domain Designation" can be downloaded and used for free.)

National Gallery of Art ("More than 51,000 open access digital images up to 4,000 pixels each are available free of charge for download and use.")

John James Audubon's Birds of North America (435 images available as free high-resolution download.)

Flowers, Plants and Trees (Nature illustrations from 1500-1900, from the New York Public Library digital collection, for free use and download.)

FREE Science Lessons, Curriculum, and Enrichment

Mystery Science (All the most popular free lessons, in one spot.)

Science Buddies ("Free project ideas and help in all areas of science.")

Physics Central Comic Books (eBooks about phsyics, with separate downloadable teacher's guide PDFs)

Science Snacks from the Exploratorium ("Fresh, exciting science activities based in amazing phenomena. Science Snacks are hands-on, teacher-tested, and use cheap, available materials.")

Glencoe Science Biology (500+ page PDF of a complete biology student book.)

STEM Resources from NASA (K-12; various learning modules and educator resources, including downloadable PDFs)

US Geological Survey Education (K-adult; "lesson plans and activities, maps, podcasts, online lectures, videos and animations, and much more.")

FS Nature Live (Tons of nature-based distance learning from the USDA Forest Service, including lesson plans, videos, and more.)

National Geographic's Explorer Classroom (Register to watch LIVE as scientists on field assignment speak from the field, directly to classrooms.)

Virtual Field Trips from Discovery Education (Video tours, and corresponding downloadable educator guides.)

South Pole webcam (See live weather and images from the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station.)

Mr. W's Music Videos (AP-level science content, set to catchy popular music.)

Inner Body (Website lets students explore human anatomy systems.)

National Geographic Kids (Interactive website designed especially for kids.)

Bottle Biology (Free lessons from the book of the same name; create mini ecosystems in plastic bottles.)

Periodic Videos (A video for each element in the periodic table.)

Biology 4 Kids (Online encyclopedia. Also, Chem 4 Kids and Physics 4 Kids)

FREE Study Tools

(This is a digital notebook tool which features the ability to create many individual notebooks/journals inside the app. You can also place images onto virtual notebook pages and mark them up. Paper is especially useful if you have an iPad and an iPad Pencil.)

Quizlet (This is a digital flashcards tool. Content syncs seamlessly between the app and the website.)

Genius Scan app (This offers an easy way to snap a photo with your phone and turn it into a PDF.)

FREE Social Studies and History Lessons, Curriculum, and Enrichment.

Reading Like a Historian (Grades 6-12; complete list of lessons here. Produced by Stanford University)

Glencoe World History (Full textbook, in the form of PDFs organized by chapter.)

Glencoe Civics Today (Full textbook in PDF and audiobook form)

Izzit (Grades K-12; free streaming videos, lesson plans, teacher guides, quizzes, and student material. Use this chart to find lessons by subject and grade level. Standouts: Pups of Liberty: Boston Tea-Bone Party lesson and Pups of Liberty: The Dog-claration of Independence lesson)

Election Day Unit Study from Sonlight Curriculum (Grades 8-12; free 40+ page printable PDF)

Magic Tree House lessons (Includes printable PDF teacher guides, lesson plans, extension activities to accompany the books.)

Library of Congress (Grades 3-12; lesson plans for educators based on Library of Congress primary sources.)

MET Kids Time Machine (Interactive website designed especially for kids, to explore history, art, and inventions.)

Liberty's Kids animated series (Playlist of 40 episodes for kids about early American history)

Ancient Greece/Rome coloring pages (Classical, black-and-white printable coloring sheets from National Geographic.)

Who Was...? App (Exploration app for kids, corresponding with the popular "Who Was...?" series)

Usborne Quicklinks: Encyclopedia of World History (Extension videos and links designed to accompany the book, but you don't have to own the book to use this feature.)

Usborne Quicklinks: Encyclopedia of the Ancient World (Extension videos and links designed to accompany the book, but you don't have to own the book to use this feature.)

FREE Theology and Bible Resources

Bible App for Kids (Bonus: supports multiple languages, so great for language learning.)

Scripture Memory System (From Simply Charlotte Mason; uses the spaced repetition method to help kids memorize verses. Downloadable verse cards and file box tabs.)

Songs for Saplings streaming music (Music based on Scripture and the Westminster Shorter Catechism.)
What did I miss? Feel free to add a link to your resource in the comments below. (If you don't see your comment appear immediately, don't worry. I'll manually approve links.)

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How to Homeschool for Free During a School Closure

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COVID19edu Lesson Plans for School Closures Is your child's school closed for two weeks -- or more? Do you want to continue your child's education at home while classes are cancelled? Maybe you are facing the challenge of online learning, e-learning, or virtual school, thanks to COVID-19, or maybe you've decided to homeschool temporarily until...

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As efforts to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus crisis ramp up, schools across the United States-including those in New York City, Washington, D.C., and dozens of states-have closed their doors, leading students, teachers and caregivers alike to seek out online educational tools. To help support this search, the Smithsonian Institution has launched a central portal highlighting an array of distance learning resources, from STEM webcasts to American history podcasts and comprehensive lesson plans. Offerings range from low- or no-tech (interviewing family members for oral history projects) to high-tech (diving into an interactive exploration module).

"The Smithsonian should have a prominent place in every classroom and home in America," says Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch in a statement. "Whether during the course of everyday learning or in a crisis like this, parents, teachers and students can rely on the Smithsonian's wealth of expertise and knowledge that is available for free at the click of a mouse."

Each of the Smithsonian's 19 museums, galleries, research centers and the National Zoo has its own webpage dedicated to educational resources. To help readers sort through the 1.7 million multimedia experiences available, Smithsonian magazine has curated the following list of eight online tools. Per the statement, residents of the nation's capital can access resources specifically tailored to D.C. Public Schools' curriculum; those further afield can use the Smithsonian Affiliate network's distance learning portal to find offerings organized by specific state. In the coming days and weeks, Smithsonian staff will continue to expand the Institution's digital presence, adding webcasts and organizing resources so that educators across the country can quickly identify the most relevant offerings.

Follow along with the #SmithsonianEdu hashtag, and browse the roundup below for a taste of the many tools available.

Smithsonian Open Access

Last month, the Smithsonian released 2.8 million high-resolution images from its collections into the public domain. These two- and three-dimensional artifacts, specimens and datasets-including a saxophone owned by jazz musician Charlie Parker, the Apollo 11 command module and a " creeping baby doll patent model "-are free for anyone to "use, transform and distribute," making them ideal candidates for educators and students in search of creative projects.

Examples of out-of-the-box applications abound: Ahead of the campaign's launch, artist Amy Karle sculpted nine 3-D printed models of the National Museum of Natural History's triceratops, introducing small changes in each one in the " spirit of bioengineering." Students mentored through Portland-based non-profit the N.M. Bodecker Foundation released music that adds a "contemporary pop culture twist" to the stories of prominent historical figures.

The Smithsonian Learning Lab's open access hub outlines additional ideas for students and educators: "You could include a CCO resource in an e-book," the page suggests, "or make it part of your new artwork, and you could sell those creations."

Because of Her Story

The Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative Because of Her Story campaignworks to "create, disseminate, and amplify the historical record of the accomplishments of American women"-a mission that holds particular resonance during Women's History Month. The main portal offers resources on such diverse topics as " American Women Athletes," " Entertaining Women on Stage and Screen," and " American Women Photographers;" through Smithsonian Learning Lab, students can explore the lives of five trailblazing women, including Muslim American athlete Ibtihaj Muhammad and disability rights activist Kitty Cone.

3-D Digitization

The Smithsonian's 3-D digitization portal features interactive models from a pantheon of fields. Users can browse collections of blue-and-white ceramics, numismatic specimens (also known as coins), and presidential portraits, among others. Twenty of these 3-D models are included in the new open access campaign and available for use in art projects or educational programs.

For those hoping to 3-D print miniature models of these artifacts, check out Smithsonian magazine's November 2019 guide, which features historical background on various digitized offerings, tips for printing specific models and more.

Native Knowledge 360 Degrees (NK360°)

The National Museum of the American Indian's Native Knowledge 360 Degrees (NK360°) initiative strives to change how Native American history is taught by " introducing and elevating indigenous perspectives and voices." As the campaign's website notes, "Most Americans have only been exposed to part of the story, as told from a single perspective through the lenses of popular media and textbooks."

NK360°'s curriculum builds on a framework of ten " Essential Understandings" outlined on the portal and in a free PDF publication. Lesson plans and learning experiences available through the initiative include a website dedicated to the " code talkers" active during World War I and World War II, a teacher's guide on the Chaski messengers of the Inka Empire, and an online lesson based on the question " Is a treaty intended to be forever? "

"Smithsonian Science How"

The National Museum of Natural History's " Smithsonian Science How" series invites students to participate in "free, interactive, live video webcasts" with Smithsonian experts. Participants can submit questions for researchers or interact with the webcast via live polls. Paired with "complementary teaching resources" and "aligned with national science standards," the 30-minute sessions air regularly during the school year. Currently, the next "Science How " webcasts are scheduled for April 9 (" Exploring Minerals and Gems with Geologist Gabriela Farfan") and May 14 (" What Makes Fish so Fishy? featuring Ichthyologist Adela Roa-Varón ").

If these livestreams won't work with your schedule, check out the museum's archive of more than 50 webcasts covering such topics as mummy science, demystifying microbes and mineral transformations. And remember to visit the museum's education page for additional content ranging from hands-on activities to posters and worksheets, science literacy resources, and subject guides.

America's Presidents

The National Portrait Gallery's America's Presidents portal is a digital companion to the museum's physical collection of presidential portraits. Users can browse portraits dating from 1789 to 2017, access 3-D models of presidential likenesses, and engage with educational collections created by curators and teachers around the country. Selected lesson plans include " Lyndon Johnson's Legacy," " Lincoln and Photography: A Closer Look," and " Looking at 'America's Presidents': Four Presidents through Portraiture."

In other National Portrait Gallery news, every Friday at 11 a.m., students and educators can tune in via the museum's Facebook page for Open Studio lessons with artist Jill Galloway. Storytime for children ages 3 and up will be livestreamed on Facebook Wednesdays at 11 a.m.

Additional examples of digital cultural resources from around the Institution include the Smithsonian American Art Museum's " Meet the Artist" video series; the NPG's " Portrait Spotlights"; and the National Museum of Asian Art's expansive Educator Resources, which take the form of curriculum guides, teaching posters, lesson plans and even Pinterest boards. Aspiring art historians can develop their analytical skills by comparing two James MacNeill Whistler portraits of British shipping magnate Frederick Richards Leyland, taking a closer look at Japanese artist Tawaraya Sōtatsu's Waves at Matsushima, or investigating the relationship between works of art and religious beliefs.

"STEM in 30"

The National Air and Space Museum's " STEM in 30" show is released online monthly. The 30-minute interactive webcast features discussions with curators, astronauts and scholars on topics including bees and aerospace, spy planes, World War II, and air traffic control. Students can engage with the program by participating in live polls and submitting questions for "mission debrief" question-and answer-sessions. An archive of more than 50 episodes-from " Your Ticket to Space: Commercial Spaceflight" to " The Science of Safety " -is available for streaming at any time.

Alternative Air and Space Museum educational resources include How Things Fly, a website that examines the four forces of flight; a geography quiz; and a lecture archive.

History Explorer

The National Museum of American History's History Explorer tool allows educators to search a broad database of resources, including lessons and activities, museum artifacts, books and interactive experiences. Those interested in World War II can peruse " Japanese American Incarceration: The Diary of Stanley Hayami" or " Women in World War II," while those searching for more high-tech options can explore the multimedia-heavy " American Enterprise: Market Revolution 1820s-1850s" and " American Enterprise: Tough Business Decisions" modules. The museum also has two original podcast series-" History Explorer" and " Prototype Online: Inventive Voices "-both of which offer accompanying activity or teacher guides.

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Eight Digital Education Resources From Around the Smithsonian

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As efforts to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus crisis ramp up, schools across the United States-including those in New York City, Washington, D.C., and dozens of states-have closed their doors, leading students, teachers and caregivers alike to seek out online educational tools.

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Boston Renaissance Charter list of resources

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Boston Renaissance Charter list of resources

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The New York Academy of Medicine Library

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Having Chromebooks and G Suite can supercharge learning in class. Information is at students' fingertips. They can create digitally with what they learn. They can share, collaborate and make connections.

But for many students, when that Chromebook goes home, all of that changes.

Many students don't have Internet access at home. Some statistics based on U.S. census data:

Nearly 3 million U.S. students don't have home Internet

17 percent of U.S. students don't have access to computers at home

18 percent of U.S. students don't have home access to broadband Internet

This is an especially important issue as more and more schools turn to elearning days. Students don't come to school during cancellations for weather or other reasons. They complete work from home so the school day counts and doesn't have to be made up.

Go offline to engage students in elearning day activities

Thankfully, there's an option to keep powerful digital learning on track.

Chromebooks -- and computers using the Google Chrome web browser -- can do a lot when set up to work offline. Even without a WiFi connection, users can ...

access specified files in their Google Drive

create new files and edit existing files in Docs, Slides, Sheets and more

access webpages saved through a service like Pocket

take pictures, record webcam video and screencast video with Chrome extensions that work offline

NOTE: I'm not a fan of homework. I quit giving homework as a teacher, and there's this book I co-authored about ditching it. Just want to get that out of the way. But if you feel homework must be assigned (and I can't change your mind), using offline access gives you many, many more options.

So ... how can you get your students ready to thrive with their devices at home? Let's use three steps ...

Step 1: Tech set-up

To make the most of devices with no Internet connection, there are just a few steps you'll need to take.

What your students will need

Internet access. You have to be online to set everything up to go offline.

The Google Chrome web browser. Chromebooks already have this. If your students don't have Chrome, it can be downloaded here.

The Google Docs Offline Chrome extension. This will set Chrome up to work offline.

Storage space. Google will need to save synced files to your students' devices. That's how they can access them offline.

Turn offline access on

1. Open the home page for Docs, Sheets or Slides. Pick one. Doesn't matter. (Note: This is different from creating a new doc, sheet or slide presentation. Not the file ... the home page.)

2. Click the three lines menu button in the top left corner. Click "Settings".

3. Turn on "Offline". (Once you do this in Docs, Sheets or Slides, it's done for all of the apps. You don't have to do it again in the others, too.)

4. Next time you're offline, just open Google Drive (drive.google.com) to open an existing file. Or create a new file in Docs, Slides, Sheets or Drawings with the "New" button in the top left.

This makes your most recent files available offline. If you want to make sure an older file is available offline, just open it and click "File > Make available offline."

Practice it to make sure it works! Have students turn off their WiFi in the bottom right corner of their devices. Then try to load what you want them to access offline. If it doesn't work, you can troubleshoot with them in person.

If you find that you're not able to work offline -- maybe because it's turned off by your Google admins -- here's the support page they need to enable it. (It's really quick and easy ... just turning on a feature.) Here's a Google support page about using offline access for users.

Step 2: Apps to use

There are a LOT of apps to choose from when working offline. Here are some examples:

Google Docs, Slides, Sheets and Drawings

Screencastify (Chrome extension) -- Record video of your screen and/or your webcam with audio. Saves to Google Drive when back online. (Or download the .webm video file to your device just to be safe.)

Google Chrome "Save Page as .." -- Open an article to view while offline. Click the three dots in the top right corner of the screen. Choose "More tools" and "Save page as". (Or Ctrl+S.) Save the webpage on your device as a webpage file you can open offline.

Pocket (Chrome extension) -- Save articles, news stories, blog posts and most text-based pages to be viewed offline. If you have the Google Play Store for Android apps, you can download the Pocket Android app. It will sync and download everything from your Pocket account that it can (mainly text-based items) for viewing offline.

Awesome Screenshot (Chrome extension) -- Capture an image of your screen while offline. Draw on it, add text and more. Save it as an image file or PDF. Or record video of your screen and download it as a .webm file.

Kami (Chrome extension) -- Annotate PDF files and documents. Download a PDF while online. Annotate while offline. (Note: I wasn't able to download the file or upload to Drive while offline. Taking screenshots of annotations to turn in later could work.)

Camera by TurnCameraOn.com (Chrome app) -- Activates webcam to take a picture. Right-click picture (or two-finger tap) and choose to copy or save image.

Emoji Keyboard for Google Chrome (Chrome extension) -- Copy and paste emojis into your work. Fun for creative writing and emoji poetry.

AudioRecorder (Chrome extension) -- Record an audio file as a .wav file and save to your device.

In addition to these sites, apps and extensions, you can always download files to your device to access later. That includes PDF files, images, videos and more. They live in the downloads or files folder of your device.

Step 3: Plan lessons for elearning day activities

Now that you know what your students can do with their devices while offline, what kinds of elearning day activities can you plan with them?

Here are some ideas ...

Engage students in memorable elearning day activities offline

Really, many of the ideas from our G Suite ideas page can be done as offline elearning day activities. Check them out and find something you like!

Remember, with any of these activities, doing a short test-run with students can help avoid problems. Have them turn WiFi off on their devices and check if an idea works before sending them home to do it.

Student work doesn't have to get boring while offline! Set up their devices to go offline and let their creative learning thrive!
For notifications of new Ditch That Textbook content and helpful links: Interested in having Matt present at your event or school? Contact him by e-mail! Is Matt presenting near you soon? Check out his upcoming live events!

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How to use Chromebooks offline for elearning day activities, homework - Ditch That Textbook

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Having Chromebooks and G Suite can supercharge learning in class. Information is at students' fingertips. They can create digitally with what they learn. They can share, collaborate and make connections. But for many students, when that Chromebook goes home, all of that changes. Many students don't have Internet access at home.

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Social emotional learning isn't just something that should be practiced and taught at school. SEL skills are life skills, of course! These include skills like empathy, self-control, and decision-making.

Before I even get started, while I was writing this post, I decided to also create a set of SEL printables you can send home with parents and families right away. Of course, if you're a parent looking for extra activities, I would encourage you to use them on your own, too! They include four choice boards covering skills like responsibility, friendships, strengths, and managing emotions. You can download your free printable SEL activities here.

It's important to mention that you don't have to be an expert with social emotional skills to teach and practice them with kids. Even small activities, like reading books and playing games, can strengthen social skills and teach kids important skills along the way. This matters.

Whenever you are doing a new activity, it's important to let kids know what skills they are working on. This makes every SEL activity more purposeful and targeted. For example, if you are playing board games, just briefly remind kids that they are working on important social skills like taking turns and showing fairness. This can lead to a good conversation about what those skills mean and why they matter.

Here are some SEL activities you can encourage parents to try, or do with your own children!
Empathy in Action
Skills targeted: Empathy, Perspective-Taking

How to try it: Spend some time watching a show or movie. At any given time, pause and discuss how the characters are feeling. You might ask: "How are they feeling?" and "How would you feel if that happened to you?" Use this conversation to build on considering how others feel, discussing social cues, and caring about their emotions.
Acts of Kindness Challenge
S kills targeted: Kindness, Empathy

How to try it: Use this free printable random acts of kindness challenge to encourage kids to be kind to others. For each kind act they do, have them color in the picture. Another option is to have them give an example of each kind act before they color it in.

Just Chat!
Skills targeted: Self-Awareness, Conversation Skills, Relationships

How to try it: Start by asking kids questions about anything from their favorite foods and activities to what three items they might bring on a deserted island with them. Many questions can help work on conversation skills, turn-taking, and self-awareness. You can start with this free printable list of conversation questions or consider these social emotional learning task cards to chat and focus on the skills more explicitly.

Mindful Breathing
Skills targeted: Mindfulness, Coping Skills, Managing Emotions

How to try it: Let kids know that they will be practicing mindful breathing. Explain that mindful breathing is just focusing on breathing in and out to help calm our minds and bodies. There are many different mindful breathing exercises to try out. One of my favorites is "Cool off the pizza." In this activity, have kids pretend they have a hot slice of pizza in front of them. Slowly breathe in to smell the pizza and breathe out to cool it down. Another one of my favorites is bubble breathing. If you have bubbles on hand it is even better, but you can also pretend! Practice breathing in and out as you blow bubbles. Learn more about other ideas to practice mindful breathing.

Mindful Scavenger Hunt
Skill targeted: Mindfulness, Attention

How to try it: Explain that mindfulness is learning to focus on the present. This can help our minds and bodies feel calm and in control. On your own, create a list of 10 or 12 items you want kids to find. Note that this can be done inside or outside. For example, if outside, you might want them to find a plant, a pine cone, something blue, and something bumpy. If inside, you might want them to find something yellow, something in the shape of a square, and something that makes noise. You can create your own scavenger hunts (or skip the prep with the ones I've made), so it's entirely up to you and what you have! Give kids time to find these items and have them write them down on a piece of paper to document them.

Kindness Share
Skills targeted: Kindness, Confidence

How to try it: Discuss what it means to be kind and give compliments. come up with some examples together. Then, have each person (kids and adults) write their name on a piece of paper. Pass that paper to your right. When you get someone else's paper, write something kind and thoughtful about that person.

Organize It
Skills targeted: Planning, Organization

How to try it: Discuss what it means to be organized and how we know when something is organized and tidy. Gather a set of supplies for each child or team. Set the timer to a certain amount (five minutes, for example) and see if the child can return those items to the correct spot.
Mindfulness 5-4-3-2-1
Skills targeted: Mindfulness, Coping Skills, Self-Regulation

How to try it: Explain that kids will be practicing mindfulness, which is a skill that helps us stay calm and in control. Have kids look around their room to find 5 things they can see, 4 things they can touch, 3 things they can hear, 2 things they can smell, and 1 thing they can taste. This is a grounding exercise that can help manage tough emotions and provide a mental reset when needed. After giving it a try, you can move to another room and try the same. More free mindfulness activities and ideas can be found here.

Optical Illusions
Skills targeted: Perspective-Taking

How to try it: Find any optical illusions online or use this free printable worksheet. Have kids review the optical illusions. First, have them think about what they see and write it down. Then, share. Kids should quickly notice that what they see isn't always what others might see. Explain how optical illusions are like situations; sometimes you and someone else can see the same situation in different ways. As a follow-up, kids can find their own optical illusions online.
SEL Read Alouds
Skills targeted: All SEL skills (varies depending on book)

How to try it: Choose any read aloud. As you read through the book, stop and discuss the social emotional skills embedded in the book. One skill that carries across all picture books, for example, is empathy. You can talk about how the character might feel, what they might be thinking, and how you can tell. Depending on which book you choose, many different social emotional skills can be discussed from confidence to decision-making and beyond. Grab this free printable SEL Read Aloud List to help you get started.

Board Games
Skills targeted: Turn-Taking, Sportsmanship

How to try it: Use any board games you have on hand, such as Monopoly or Candy Land. These games can help support a number of skills, including taking turns, having conversations, and showing good sportsmanship. Check here for some other ideas for social emotional games you can use.
Mindful Coloring
Skills targeted: Mindfulness, Coping Skills

How to try it: Set the tone with some calming music. Have kids color or doodle quietly as they breathe in and out. Note that you can use any coloring pages or books on hand, or grab these free printable mindful colori ng pages to start.

Charades
Skills targeted: Social Cues, Emotions

How to try it: Discuss that our body language and facial expressions can often hint at what we're doing and how we're feeling. Have each person or child come up with an activity, such as making a sandwich, and then act it out. See if others can guess the activity. Note that you can also do this with emotions, by having kids act out different emotions and seeing if others can correctly guess.
Journal Writing
Skills targeted: Emotions, Self-Regulation, Self-Awareness

How to try it: Explain that writing in a journal can help express our feelings and thoughts. Set the timer for 5 or 10 minutes, and have each person just write what is on their mind. Give time for kids to share their thoughts afterward if they want. Another option is to use open-ended prompts for kids to write about. You can learn more about mindful journaling here as well.

Inspirational Quotes
Skills targeted: Kindness, Perseverance, and many more

How to try it: Find a couple examples of your favorite inspirational quotes. This will vary depending on the age level of the children. For example, you might read, "No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted." Discuss the quote and what it means. Then, give a topic and have kids find or create their own quotes on that topic. Have them write them down and share them. You can even have kids design their own posters for the quote.
Practice Positive Affirmations
Skills targeted: Positive Thinking, Confidence, Self-Love

How to try it: Explain that positive affirmations are kind and supportive words we say to ourselves to lift us up. For example, before a big test, we might say, "I can do this!" Ask kids to think of their own positive words they might say. Use this free printable positive affirmation s list to have kids find their favorite positive self-talk statements. Practice saying them, writing them down, and creating cards for each of their favorites.

I-Spy
Skills targeted: Attention, Mindfulness

How to try it: This is probably a game you've played before, but it's important to mention because SEL skills can be easily integrated! Start by saying, "I spy with my little eye....". For example, you might spy something green. Have kids stay just where they are and look around for the item. Instead of just guessing, it's helpful to have them ask questions that really cause them to think. For example, they might say, "is it something you can play with?" and "is it something you can write on?" After giving some time for questions, allow the child to guess what it is. Whoever guesses it right can by the next to spy something.

Need more ideas? I've put together a massive list of 100+ FREE social emotional learning activities, printables, ideas, and more. Use it for yourself or share it to help someone else in need.

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10+ Social Emotional Activities for Home

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Social emotional learning isn't just something that should be practiced and taught at school. SEL skills are life skills, of course! These include skills like empathy, self-control, and decision-making. Before I even get started, while I was writing this post, I decided to also create a set of S

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Hi there! 👋🏽

This page has moved. You can find all six of our printable non-screen activity sheets here.

Pobble provides award-winning digital tools for teaching writing. Teachers, sign up now to receive exciting lessons full of writing activities to engage your children each day!

Sign up for Pobble here!

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Simple and fun non-screen activities that children can do at home

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What can teachers and parents do when there's no school? Online learning from home is great and offers children opportunities to develop...

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All categories Archives - Growing Book by Book

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With the recent announcement of school closures through Monday, March 30th, we will move to our at-home learning model for all students on Tuesday, March 17th.

Elementary students received their packets before leaving on Friday, March 13th, but may transition to online learning in the event of a prolonged absence. Students in grades 3 through 5 can pick up Chromebooks from their home school Monday, March 16th between 9:30 am and 2:30 pm. We will make other opportunities to check out Chromebooks to students as the days progress.

Our 6th - 12th Graders will be using their district-provided devices to access Canvas for online learning.

Please use this site to access resources to support this transition.

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With the recent announcement of school closures through Monday, March 30th, we will move to our at-home learning model for all students on Tuesday, March 17th. Elementary students received their packets before leaving on Friday, March 13th, but may transition to online learning in the event of a prolonged absence.

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Entertaining readings with activities included.

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

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No one is surprised by the increased discussion around planning for the use of distance learning as a continuity plan for most universities and schools. Distance learning is very different: you can't just digitize yourself/lessons or mail a packet home and expect it to work. If you find yourself suddenly in need of taking your classes to a fully virtual environment or distance learning situation and are not sure where to start, the Friday Institute's Professional Learning and Leading Collaborative is here to help!

1 | Be proactive and realistic

How will your students connect with you? What if the internet is an issue? No computer in the home? Disrupted schedules? Accomodations and IEPs? Consider collecting information that will help you communicate and confirm contact information. If you already use communication tools with students and/or an LMS, keep using them. Otherwise, consider alternatives with your students that are both equitable and can enhance communication and collaboration.

2 | Consider your needs and the needs of your students

What physical materials would be beneficial to your students while you are apart? What will support learning and teaching? Resources such as textbooks, workbooks, manipulatives, content magazines, and additional reading materials apply. This should be a collaborative experience, so don't forget to let the students choose some reading for enjoyment too. If you are looking for digital alternatives, now is a good time to start collecting and/or creating resource repositories.

NOTE: It is important to limit the number of new tools and methods being introduced, distance learning is a big enough lift itself. Be strategic in choosing and using digital tools that you may not have used before, and while tech tools are offering free services for now, it does not mean you have to use them.

3 | Keep fostering relationships and building empathy - even online

We make connections by seeing the faces of those we know, not just hearing their voice! Video is a powerful way to continue to build relationships and connections with and between your students in a distance learning situation. Research tells us your students want to see and hear you (and each other), not be taught by a clip you found online. Consider making your own videos and asking students to make their own too. And don't forget to create office hours for yourself and/or open class hours so synchronous connections and conversations can still be made.

4 | Create communities of inquiry

Using discussion spaces to keep students connected is essential. If you are already using something with your students, such as a Learning Management System from your district - be consistent and keep using it. You also want to create robust discussions and require students to leave critical feedback on at least 2 to 3 peers in order to spark deeper learning and collaboration. Be transparent about your expectations for feedback. Model your expectations as often as possible. Remember, students need to be educated on how to give feedback to one another, especially in a virtual space.

5 | Avoid Isolation

Creating opportunities to connect "reluctant" participants will be difficult in your new distance learning community. When asked about their greatest concerns about learning, some students shared they would be stuck watching videos and reading articles for every class - leaving them bored and isolated. Be creative in how you are sharing and teaching information to kids and build in synchronous activities as much as possible to increase engagement. Try to utilize the pedagogical strategies that work in your regular classroom in the virtual environment.They will still be impactful.

6 | Provide timely feedback and encouragement

When learning online, students are more likely to get discouraged when they can't ask you or a peer for help as easily as in the regular classroom. Set reminders for yourself to send out encouraging messages both to the full group and to individual students. When students submit work or engage in activities, be responsive and supportive. Personalize the feedback as much as is realistic. If they feel you care about their involvement, and see you are involved yourself, they are more likely to continue to engage and absorb what you are sharing and learning.

Studies of effective teaching and learning have shown that learners want to know where they stand in regards to their work. Providing answers to the following questions to help provide quality student feedback.

What can the student do? (Give genuine praise!)

What can't the student do? (focus on one skill that is critiqued versus multiple errors)

How can the student do better? (provide a model and example)

And don't forget to invite the students to give YOU feedback as well.

7 | Check for understanding regularly

Students need to be held accountable more often in a distance learning situation than in the regular classroom, as you can't see them actively learning as easily. Check for understanding regularly with short, small formative and summative assessments. For more complex tasks and problems, ask students to record or write out their thinking.

Additionally, prepare to schedule one-on-one conferences with your students to check-in and discuss the assessment(s) together to foster continued relationship building and to create goals and expectations collaboratively.
KEY THINGS TO REMEMBER

Less is more.

Give explicit instructions in both written text and in video.

Specify expectations with rubrics/ checklists, etc.

Use your teacher gut and teach from a place of empathy - Suddenly learning from home will be a shock to students too. Some will have limited internet access, significant disruptions from their home environment, and may not have their basic needs met, such as meals. Consider what is realistic and what your students can handle.

This is a lot -and we must remember to be flexible and adaptable.We base these recommendations on the iNACOL standards, in collaboration with blended/online learning strategies and research.

Let the Professional Learning and Leading Collaborative team at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at NC State University would like to be your thought partners as you plan and implement your transition to distance learning. We are here to help.

And due to the outcry for support, we are orchestrating regular check-ins and synchronous support during this trying time: We call it FI Connects - a community of educators supporting one another.

During these virtual discussions, the PLLC team will share best practices and resources, but we will also spend time facilitating role-alike discussions for you to collaborate, share, and ask questions of your colleagues from around our nation in an effort for us to lift the load together.

For more information, go to go.ncsu.edu/ficonnects.
Professional Learning and Leading Collaborative ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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7 Essentials to Support Your Distance Instruction

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No one is surprised by the increased discussion around planning for the use of distance learning as a continuity plan for most universities and schools. Distance learning is very different: you can't just digitize yourself/lessons or mail a packet home and expect it to work.

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We have set up a special coupon code that unlocks Unlimited access through April 30. Please feel free to share the below instructions with your teachers.

To activate Screencastify Unlimited access, follow these instructions:

Visit this page and click "Redeem coupon" (under the Next Billing Date)

Enter code CAST_COVID

Click "Activate License" (no credit card required). Ignore the Next Billing Date - that will be incorrect

Here's a quick video that demonstrates these steps.

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Making slime is one of the activities on our STEM at home menu. Making slime is a great way to teach about states of matter. It is also a fun way for students to learn about chemical reactions.

To make slime you will need the following ingredients:

Materials Needed:

Follow the Steps:

1. Pour one 5 ounce bottle of glue into the mixing bowl.

2. If the glue is not already colored add a few drops of food coloring. (optional)

3. Next add 1.5 Tbs of baking soda to the glue.

4. Finally add 3 Tbs of contact solution to the mixture and stir.

Have your kids observe what changes occur to the mixture once the contact solution is added. What state of matter do they observe? They should take note that the liquid glue mixture has changed to solid slime.

For more step by step instructions for making slime with photos see this blog post.

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Free STEM at Home Challenges and Resources - Carly and Adam

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Making slime is one of the activities on our STEM at home menu. Making slime is a great way to teach about states of matter. It is also a fun way for students to learn about chemical reactions. To make slime you will need the following ingredients: Pour one 5 ounce bottle of glue into the mixing bowl.

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In order to encourage reading and classroom read-aloud experiences, and to support schools and public libraries forced to close by the escalating COVID-19 outbreak, Penguin Random House is permitting teachers, librarians and booksellers to create and share story time and read-aloud videos and live events, according to the following guidelines:

For Teachers and Educators providing distance learning to students in a virtual classroom setting:

Story time or classroom read-aloud videos in which a Penguin Random House book is read aloud and the book is displayed (for picture books) may be created and posted to closed educational platforms such as Google Classroom, Schoology, Edmodo and Discovery Education, in order to replicate the read-aloud book experience that would otherwise be available to educators in the classroom.

If a Teacher or Educator plans to share a story time video by recording a video, uploading it to a YouTube channel, and posting a link to that YouTube video inside a closed educational platform, that YouTube video must be designated as "Unlisted" (not "Public") when uploading. See screenshot for how to choose "Unlisted" while uploading on YouTube.

These story time and classroom read-aloud videos may be hosted on the educational platform and/or YouTube (as an "Unlisted" file) until the end of the current school year, after which we request that they be removed from the educational platform and/or from YouTube, unless this permission is extended for the next school semester.

For Booksellers and Librarians who wish to provide a story time reading or other read-aloud experience to young people who would otherwise visit the library or bookstore in person:

Story time or read-aloud live events in which a Penguin Random House book is read out loud and the book is displayed (for picture books) may be streamed live, in real time, on social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook Live, Twitter, and Instagram.

These story time or read-aloud live events may not be maintained in the archive of the social media platform and appropriate measures should be taken to ensure that videos of the live events are not retained. Because these platforms automatically archive live events by default, when your event has concluded, please locate the recorded live video in your account (YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) and delete it. See screenshot for how to delete a live video from YouTube after it has concluded.

Reporting requirements - We ask that all educators, librarians and booksellers please notify us via email (addressed to StoryTimeTempPermission@penguinrandomhouse.com) when you post or stream a story time or read-aloud video or live event, providing the following information:

Name and address of the library, school, or store

Title, author and ISBN of the book that is read

Contact information for the individual responsible for the reading

The educational or social media platform on which the video or live event is posted or held and a link to that video or live event

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Penguin Random House OKs Online Storytime, Read-aloud Videos

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In order to encourage reading and classroom read-aloud experiences, and to support schools and public libraries forced to close by the escalating COVID-19 outbreak, Penguin Random House is permitting teachers, librarians and booksellers to create and share story time and read-aloud videos and live events, according to the following guidelines:

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Burroughs Welcome teacher of year lessons

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Burroughs Welcome teacher of year lessons

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Under the leadership of Mariah Morris, the 2019 Burroughs Wellcome Fund North Carolina Teacher of the Year, a cohort of educators is compiling daily resources for distance learning. It is called T.O.Y. Time.

At 9 a.m. each day, an elementary lesson (grades K-5) will be posted, and then at 9:30 a.m. each day, a secondary lesson (grades 6-12) will be posted on Morris' YouTube channel. You can find the lessons below.

We will be updating this article with the latest lessons daily. If you are an educator who would like to participate by submitting a video, click here for the guidelines.

Grades K-5: States of Matter

Grades 6-12: Avid Strategy

Grades K-5: Creative Thinking Exploration

Grades 6 - 12: Bracket Challenge Review Activity

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Distance learning lessons from our teachers of the year

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Under the leadership of Mariah Morris, the 2019 Burroughs Wellcome Fund North Carolina Teacher of the Year, a cohort of educators is compiling daily resources for distance learning. It is called T.O.Y. Time. At 9 a.m. each day, an elementary lesson (grades K-5) will be posted, and then at 9:30 a.m.

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As schools are forced to close because of the outbreak of COVID-19, we understand that you need guidance on how to deliver instruction remotely. And we want to support you and provide answers on using HMH K-12 Instructional Materials during this difficult time, including in forms and formats appropriate for virtual classrooms.

If you (or your school/district) is/are a current authorized user of HMH K-12 Instructional Materials, until June 30, 2020 you may use those HMH instructional materials for all of your current educational needs, in all forms and media of remote instruction. This permission includes, without limitation, performing and posting video, audio and recordings (including read-aloud recordings and streams) of HMH K-12 programs and products, using and displaying the HMH K-12 materials on television, and scanning limited selections for remote, virtual classroom usage. If you are using a public platform like YouTube please take the additional step to make the settings non-public (private or unlisted).

To be clear, if you follow these guidelines, you don't need to ask for separate written permission from HMH. But if you have questions about the COVID-19 remote learning permission stated above, please direct your questions to https://customercare.hmhco.com/contactus/Permissions.html.

We only ask that after this limited permission expires on June 30, 2020, you delete or disable these videos/recordings/scans of HMH programs and products, including those posted to private platforms.

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At-Home Learning Resources | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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As schools are forced to close because of the outbreak of COVID-19, we understand that you need guidance on how to deliver instruction remotely.

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Plasma Games has DONATED our National Science Foundation award winning resource, Sci-Ops: Global Defense, to North Carolina teachers to help them during this COVID-19 crisis.  Sci-Ops fuses rigorous science standards with real-world applications and in-demand STEM career pathways -- all inside of entertainment-quality gameplay that students and teachers love! Sci-Ops delivers best-in-the-world results and is backed by independent North Carolina State University research. Can someone please let your chemistry, physical science, and 8th grade science teachers know they can have free access or forward this to someone who can? All teachers need to do is send an email to support@plasma.games and we will set up their account. We are hosting webinars on Friday at 11:00 and 3:00 for optional teacher training.  Here is the Google Hangout link: meet.google.com/vjn-fczt-mnd

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.

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In an effort to provide support to you during the statewide closure of K-12 public schools, the Digital Teaching & Learning team at NCDPI has organized remote teaching and learning resources and created options for NC educators to connect and learn with colleagues. Below you will find links and information for these resources and communities.  Please know that this information should not supersede your public school unit (PSU) recommendations.

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This LiveBinder provides an organized collection of resources for the adopted 2017 ELA NC Standard Course of Study. We hope this binder will help to inform your district's professional development or add clarity to current initiatives. We will continue to update this binder as we learn of more resources that will assist educators in implementing our standards.

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NC Office of Early Learning - Digital Remote Learning

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NC Kids is a digital library with online books available in ebook, video, and audio formats. The library collection ranges from beginning reader to young adult. You can also access these books on the go with the Libby App from NC Kids. A library card is required in order to borrow books from this digital library.

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Create a standalone learning module, lesson, assignment, assessment or activity

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Find College Students to Tutor K-12 Students

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Find College Students to Tutor K-12 Students Upgrade from Skype or FaceTime and meet your tutor in our next-generation digital classroom that makes online tutoring personalized, effective, and collaborative. Personalized learning in 70 subjects: Find College Students to Tutor K-12 Students Upgrade from Skype or FaceTime and meet your tutor in our next-generation digital classroom that makes online tutoring personalized, effective, and collaborative.

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2 weeks worth  fun simple science experiments

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2 weeks worth  fun simple science experiments

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Our readers have told us they are half looking forward to time at home with their kids, and half nervous for entertaining them all day long, for an extended period of time.

To keep the learning going, try one of these science experiments each day. They each take about 30 minutes, and use super simple ingredients from around the house.

Fill one glass with clear soda, and another glass with water. Place the raisins in each glass, and watch how they dance in the glass with clear soda. Then collect items from the around the house and predict if they will sink or float in each cup. How many did you get right?

All you need are some dirty pennies, vinegar, and dish soap for this fun experiment. To make it even more fun, see if other liquids will clean the pennies.

Website: https://www.highlights.com/parents/family-activities/what-cleans-old-penny

Got some celery in the fridge? Put some into a cup of water and add food coloring. Watch how plants change color!

Website: http://www.teaching-tiny-tots.com/toddler-science-celery-experiment.html

Learn about why oil and water don't mix with this simple and fun experiment.

How fun does this look? One reader said this kept her kids busy for an hour.

ABCmouse's science curriculum starts by exploring things that children can see in their own environments or tend to be interested in, such as weather, plants and animals, and the sun and moon. They are offering a FREE 30 day trial! Check it out >>

This is a real crowd-pleaser, and your kids will be begging to do it over and over again! All you need is baking soda, vinegar, and food coloring.

Gather some everyday household scents and little containers for this fun mystery game.

Put scraps of different cloth, like velvet, wool, cotton, or leather; metal objects, wooden spoons/toys, pieces of aluminum foil, and any other interesting objects into a "feely bag", invite students to place hands inside, feel & describe different textures

With some water, food, coloring, and sugar, your kids can learn about solutions and mixtures in a colorful new way.

Have students search for natural objects in nature and bring them into the classroom to closely observe and paint. Discuss the natural colors and features of these objects. They'll be closely observing natural phenomena, looking for signs of life and growth, and using their senses to experience natural materials.

Dump out a selection of metal objects onto the table and ask your kids to help you "clean up" by using the magnets to pick up different objects and sort them into containers. They'll learn which objects are attracted to a magnet and which are not. They will also practice skills of classifying and sorting.

Gather a range of materials (within reason) and put them in a muffin tin. Ask your kids about how temperatures can get high, especially on hot days. Ask students to hypothesize about what will and won't melt. Then put it to the test!

Use test tubes or cups, thin strips of kitchen paper towels, water, and food coloring to create a chain that looks like a traveling rainbow. Kids learn about absorbency and color mixing.

Website: https://parentingchaos.com/crawling-colors-color-mixing-science-experiment/

Challenge your kids to build their own boat out of LEGO bricks. It's a great way to get them thinking about engineering and design. For an added challenges, only give them a certain number of pieces. Once everyone has finished building, put the boats to the test in a tub of water. Add pennies a few at a time to see how many each boat can hold. Talk to students about how weight and design matter. Reflect on good designs and help them understand why they worked well.

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Two weeks worth of fun and easy science experiments | Milwaukee With Kids

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Our readers have told us they are half looking forward to time at home with their kids, and half nervous for entertaining them all day long, for an extended period of time. To keep the learning going, try one of these science experiments each day.

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BEST places to find everything you need for school at home with Prek-8th grade! FREE Printable worksheets to practice math, literacy, science, & history.

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A blog about easy to use educational technology in primary and middle school grades.

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To start it off here are a few tasks I have selected for you, as I think they would be fun to do at home.

A few games for learning multiplication & addition facts, conceptually & visually:
multiplication:
How Close to 100 and Tic-Tac-Toe Products
addition:
Tic-Tac-Toe Sums

And some always great for everyone tasks:
Ice Cream Scoop and Four 4's

This may be a good time to take one of our online courses which have all been recently released on new platforms. We have the free course for students in English and Spanish - How to Learn Math. Many districts have sent this to parents to take, so they are on board with the latest research and thinking on maths learning - and now might be a good time for that. Parents and students could take it together at home. This is the course that significantly increases student achievement (see link below).  We also have our two teacher courses: How to Learn Math for Teachers and Mathematical Mindsets. I am busy now writing a new course for this summer. It is for all teachers (maths and others) and is called "21st century teaching and learning". It is sharing new ideas for teaching with a special focus on the exciting ideas from data science.

To learn more about our data science initiative, this is a Stanford press-release which includes a video to watch that outlines the new plans in under 3 minutes.

Online courses:
How to Learn Math for Students
How to Learn Math for Teachers
Mathematical Mindsets

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I’m happy to share that Newsela licenses are now live for your entire learning community through June 30th, with Newsela ELA, Newsela Social Studies, Newsela Science and Social Emotional Learning.  We have activated for your district to help support you all at no charge to help with COVID-19 distance learning .  Also feel free to include Newsela in your NC e-learning plans if you’d like, as many other NC districts have done this week.  We are here to help – here’s how to get started with staff and student access:

A couple of notes:

·  Teachers will see that their existing accounts are automatically updated when they log in – no action necessary for active users

·  Teachers that do not have any type of existing license linked to your district, please direct them to the immediate links below to get started.

·  Instant access for non-licensed teachers (LINK HERE)

·  Getting Started with Newsela toolkit (LINK HERE)

Quick tips:

1. Find Content HERE

2. Text Set Assigning:

·  Teachers can assign the entire collection/text set to their classes (not just individual texts!)

·  Support articles/links on assigning/using text sets here:

·         Newsela Class Text Set for Elementary Students

·         Teach with Newsela: Text Sets (video)

·         Text Sets and Collections

3. Tutorials to get started:

·  Newsela ELA

·         Video: Introducing Newsela ELA

·         Video: How Newsela Works: Finding Content in Newsela ELA

·  Newsela Social Studies

·         Video: Introducing Newsela Social Studies

·         Video: How Newsela Works: Finding Content in Newsela Social Studies

·  Newsela Science

·         Video: Introducing Newsela Science

·         Video: How Newsela Works: Finding Content in Newsela Science

·  Newsela Social Emotional Learning

·         Guide: Newsela Social-Emotional Learning: Remote Learning Activities

Additionally, we’ve published and curated content to help teachers educate students on pandemics, stay informed on COVID-19, get simple tips for staying safe, and dispel myths and misinformation. It’s all from trustworthy sources, and all published at 5 reading levels to help all students access this important information.

- Newsela Text Set: Coronavirus: Resources for Students

- Newsela Social Studies Unit: Past and Present Global Pandemics

- Newsela Science Text Set: Are Viruses Alive?

Lastly, we understand that offering content and technology are helpful but we want to make sure you and your district are fully prepared to use Newsela to support instruction while navigating the complexities of distance learning. With that being top of mind we have prepared the resources below. We will continue to iterate on our distance learning materials and ensure all teachers, admins and parents who may need them have access.

- Distance Learning Toolkit for Administrators

- Remote Teaching Toolkit

- Newsela Remote Learning Resources

- Remote Learning Office Hours

Of note – if students have access to an iOS or Android device, the Newsela student app is available to work in “offline mode!”  Meaning students can sync intermittently if equity of Wi-Fi access isn’t readily available on a consistent basis.  They can work on their assignments in offline mode, and sync back once they have access to a Wi-Fi hotspot again perhaps weekly, bi-weekly, etc.

If you need technical support with your account, please contact our Support Team via our online submission form here: Contact Newsela or click Let’s Chat to connect directly with a support representative.  Should you have any other questions, please feel free to reach out to me directly.   Belton, Arin, and I are happy to get on a call as well to discuss any district specific needs you may have.  Belton and Arin are both former educators, and have a wealth of knowledge with how to utilize Newsela for cross-curricular distance learning.

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Chicken Little

A modern adaptation of the classic tale: What happens when a completely normal chicken believes everything he reads on the internet? This story is written in the present tense, because it's a good thing to learn.

The Bird and the Whale

Our first ever original story, about a bird and a whale and their shared love of little fish. Inspired by a song by Tom Waits, and an episode of Adventure Time.

The Three Little Pigs

The classic tale of shoddy building materials, DIY folly, and the perils of emparedados de tocino (a.k.a bacon sandwiches). No pigs or wolves were harmed in the making of this story.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Why you should probably lock your door when you go out for a walk, even if you live en medio de un gran bosque. Why are the three bowls of sopa different temperatures when they were poured at the same time? Science, is why.

Little Red Riding Hood

A deeply troubling investigation into what happens when you let your children walk somewhere alone: Caperucita Roja eats fresas, picks margaritas and talks to el Gran Lobo Feroz on the way to Grandma's house. (Warning: Contains highly improbable medical scenes.)

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Spanish Children's Stories - The Spanish Experiment

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A modern adaptation of the classic tale: What happens when a completely normal chicken believes everything he reads on the internet? This story is written in the present tense, because it's a good thing to learn. Our first ever original story, about a bird and a whale and their shared love of little fish.

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https://jlg.ipublishcentral.com/bookshelf

Username/passwords are below:

FREE access Junior Library Guild Digital Online Reading Platform!

With JLG Gold Standard eBooks for Elementary, Middle School and High school students, JLG Digital gives you and your readers unlimited access* to read books online from any device.

There is no limit to the number of users who can access the books, so tell your home-bound students to click to their hearts' content! Titles enter and exit the digital stream regularly, so there are always new picks available.

Enter the school-level book stream of your choice:

Elementary
Username: JLGELM
Password: JLGFREE

Middle School
Username: JLGMID
Password: JLGFREE

High School
Username: JLGHI
Password: JLGFREE

JLG Digital Home: https://jlg.ipublishcentral.com.

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JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser.

Looking for activities and resources to keep students engaged during this new-normal of school closures and social distancing? As the collection-development partner for school and public libraries across the nation, it's our honor to offer you these free resources to help keep students' brains busy and blossoming.
In the true spirit of our beloved libraries, these resources are available to ALL!
Feel free to share these resources on your webpage, social media, school website, newsletters, or other communications. And check back regularly as new resources are added!

FREE access to our JLG Digital online reading platform!

With JLG Gold Standard eBooks for Elementary, Middle School and High school students, JLG Digital gives you and your readers unlimited access* to read books online from any device. There is no limit to the number of users who can access the books, so tell your home-bound students to click to their hearts' content! Titles enter and exit the digital stream regularly, so there are always new picks available.
Enter the school-level book stream of your choice:

More Virtual Resources

Live Virtual Author Visits
Stay tuned for a schedule of upcoming Live Virtual Author Visits perfect for sharing with your homebound students! JLG authors, illustrators, publisher partners, and educators are coming together to bring you and your readers exclusive webcasts that will engage, entertain, and educate.

Middle Grade Magic: April 8, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. ET
A great resource for librarians and educators, JLG and countless other members of the kidlit community will host live online booths, webcasts, author talks, and informational sessions at this free virtual event from School Library Journal. If you are unable to attend live, the entire online event will be accessible to experience on-demand.

Want notifications about new resources and upcoming webcasts? Click here and we'll keep you in the loop!
If you have any questions or challenges accessing these resources, please chat with us (in the lower right corner of your screen) or email us at customerservice@juniorlibraryguild.com. *With free, unlimited access, some functionality (like highlighting pages, bookmarking, reviewing usage, etc.) may not be available.

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JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. Looking for activities and resources to keep students engaged during this new-normal of school closures and social distancing?

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Green Hornet Virtual Library - Pine Level Elementary School, Pine Level, NC by Karen Parker | This newsletter was created with Smore, an online tool for creating beautiful newsletters for educators, nonprofits, businesses and more

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West Clayton read aloud/discussion Resource

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West Clayton read aloud/discussion Resource

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People Reading Books to Kids During the Coronavirus Break

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This group is dedicated to the period during which schools will be closed during the fight against the spread of the Coronavirus, COVID-19. Here's the plan. Record yourself reading an entire book...

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Resources from Common Sense Media for Parents and Educators

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Resources from Common Sense Media for Parents and Educators

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You're already a trusted source of information in your school community. And now families and students are looking to you for additional support as school closures become the norm. Common Sense can help you prepare with remote teaching resources, family education materials, and research-backed strategies to ease stress and encourage learning.

Looking for at-home learning and media resources to share with families? Find them here.

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Resources for Educators During the Coronavirus Pandemic | Common Sense Education

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You're already a trusted source of information in your school community. And now families and students are looking to you for additional support as school closures become the norm. Common Sense can help you prepare with remote teaching resources, family education materials, and research-backed strategies to ease stress and encourage learning.

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As the coronavirus continues to spread, schools, libraries, and museums are closing, and everyone is encouraged to stay close to home. If there is a COVID-19 outbreak in your area and you are taking precautions to keep your family safe and prepared, these tips and resources can help keep kids entertained, engaged, and learning while they're stuck inside.

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Resources for Families During the Coronavirus Pandemic | Common Sense Media

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As the coronavirus continues to spread, schools, libraries, and museums are closing, and everyone is encouraged to stay close to home. If there is a COVID-19 outbreak in your area and you are taking precautions to keep your family safe and prepared, these tips and resources can help keep kids entertained, engaged, and learning while they're stuck inside.