Curriculum Corner
March Issue
Online Resources
Did you know your children have a variety of online resources that they can access through hcpss.me? Each child has their own login and password that is provided at school. They use this password to login to the computers at school, but they can also login to these same resources from home, a library or wherever they have access to a computer. If you have difficulty accessing any of these resources, please contact myself, our media specialist, Marni Beyer or our technology teachers, Michael Kilberg or Sara Hedden. The following highlights some of these resources, including online books, artistic production tools and a Type to Learn program (for 3rd-5th).
MackinVIA
In order to demonstrate and share the resources available from a student's perspective, I have used my son's account. Thus, the school name at the top of the pictures and videos will indicate Rockburn, which is my son's school. When your child logs in, you will see our school name - Centennial Lane Elementary.
MackinVIA is one of the wonderful resources available on your child(ren)'s account. MackinVIA is a complete digital content management system providing easy access to eBooks, audiobooks, databases and videos. With just one login, users can view, utilize, and manage all of their digital resources.
What other resources are available?
Clever - With Clever, learning applications get a platform to easily connect with schools, and school districts have a central location to manage their technology. Some of the applications you can access through Clever include:
- MackinVIA - Information shared above.
- Digital Passport - The interactive, fun, and effective way to teach and test the basics of digital citizenship to 3rd-5th grade. Given the access our students have to a variety of online resources, this is a good place to start with your child.
- Newsela is a data base of current event stories tailor-made for classroom use. Indexed by broad theme (e.g. War and Peace, Arts, Science, Health, Law, Money), stories are both student-friendly and can be accessed in different formats by reading level. Use Newsela to differentiate nonfiction reading. One of the beneficial aspects of this application is that you can choose the grade level for any given text. This will ensure your child is reading at the appropriate level.
- Scholastic was founded in 1920 as a single classroom magazine. Today, Scholastic books and educational materials are in tens of thousands of schools and tens of millions of homes worldwide, helping to Open a World of Possible for children across the globe. **For this application, you will have to register for access to many parts of the site. It has books, games and videos available that are very engaging for our children.
- Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia, written collaboratively by the people who use it. It is a special type of website designed to make collaboration easy, called a wiki. Many people are constantly improving Wikipedia, making thousands of changes per hour. This application is a wealth of resources for research or any topic of interest to your child.
- Wixie is a publishing and creativity platform that allows students to share what they know through their writing, their voice, and their art. Students can create stories, brochures and more.
- Khan Academy - A personalized learning resource for all ages. Khan Academy offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard that empower learners to study at their own pace in and outside of the classroom. We tackle math, science, computer programming, history, art history, economics, and more. This is a great resource to help children (and their parents!) cement their understanding of concepts.
Type to Learn (3rd-5th) - ** At CLES, we use Typing.com. When you login to hcpss.me, Type to Learn is listed as one of the sites listed on the main screen, but Mr. Kilberg liked the typing.com application better for the needs of the students.
Remember you have to login to hcpss.me to access these resources.
https://hcpss.me/
Attention: Visual Learners - Please find images of the sites below to provide a clearer picture of the resources.
Centennial Lane Elementary School
Email: amanda_wadsworth@hcpss.org
Website: http://cles.hcpss.org/
Location: 3825 Centennial Lane, Ellicott City, MD, USA
Phone: 410-313-2800
Twitter: @hcpss_cles