Staying Connected to Learning
Week 12 - June 8-12 2020 (FINAL EDITION)
Keeping students happy, healthy, and learning at home
As another school year comes to a close, so does Staying Connected to Learning. The team at St. Clair County RESA encourages families to continue reading, playing, and exploring together all summer long. For families interested in continuing the activities shared over the past twelve weeks, you can find past issues linked at the bottom of this newsletter. Contact Rachel Verschaeve with any questions you might have at verschaeve.rachel@sccresa.org. The RESA team wishes you a fun-filled summer!
Reading and Writing
Reading Strategy for Parents and Children: Phonological Awareness - Grades K-5
Connect through literature with the phonological awareness strategy. This strategy helps readers develop a critical building block of reading, hearing sounds in words.
1. Watch the PSA video about the phonological awareness strategy to help your child build foundational skills in reading.
2. Watch the phonological awareness strategy read-aloud modeled examples and practice along with your child. You’ll find examples for fiction and nonfiction.
Modeled Examples:
3. Select a book to read using the phonological awareness strategy.
4. Use the phonological awareness bookmark.
5. Add writing to your practice and help your child to fill out the journal pages.This week’s writing journal is interactive and includes phonological awareness games. (Feel free to download and print or just make your own journal at home and use the journal here to help guide you).
6. Be sure to remind your child to use their writing non-negotiables (Capitals and periods).
7. Repeat with a different genre. If your child chose a fiction book, try an information book next.
8. Continue practicing the phonological awareness strategy with your child using all types of text (books, movies, Twitter postings, news reports, etc.)
For more read-aloud fun, check out this collection of famous people reading various texts aloud or the Big List of Children’s Books: Read-Alouds. Or visit Science A-Z Discovery Museum to extend the reading from the middle grades read aloud for nonfiction.
For more literacy activities to do every day of the year, check out our Student Success Calendar or our Read-at-Home Book.
ELA: Storytelling - Grades K-12
- Listen to Dante’s Story. Then go to the Dante's Story Flipgrid and respond to the prompts.
- Now it is time to create your own story. This should be a story about “change.” Once you have your story written, go to the Storytellers Flipgrid and record yourself telling the story. If you need more inspiration on stories and storytelling go to NPR’s StoryCorps site and select a story or two you find interesting.
Reading: Informational Text - Grades 6-8
Issue 12 - June 12, 2020
SAT/PSAT Prep: Vocabulary - Grades 9-12
This week's vocabulary lists:
This week's vocabulary quizzes (you will need to create an account to access quizzes):
Mathematics
Basic Fact Fluency: Using Domino Math Mats - Grades K-3
Grab your dominoes! Your kids cab use these common game pieces to build their addition facts, using the familiar dice pattern. Head to the Domino Math Mats webpage for full instructions and printable materials. We recommend starting with our favorite - the Domino Flash Game.
Basic Fact Fluency: Domino Multiplication Games - Grades 3-5
Find some Dominos and print this score keeping mat (directions included), and you’re ready to practice your multiplication facts.
Math: Clocks - Grades K-3
- Show me half past 2.
- Show me a quarter to 4.
- Show me 10 minutes past 5.
Paper Plate Clock Activity for Learning to Tell Time
Math: Elapsed Time - Grades 3-5
Elapsed Time: Create your perfect summer day schedule
Use this timeline tool to help you keep track of your elapsed time. Start counting the hours first. For example, if I go swimming from 9 until 12:30, we would count from 9 to 10, then 10 to 11, and 11 to 12, and write 1 hour over each of those. Then from 12 to 12:30 we would write 30 minutes. Finally, we would add the hours and minutes, giving a duration of 3 hours and 30 minutes.
Science
Life Science: Plans and Animals - Grades K-3
What's Living in My Backyard?
Go outside and explore your own backyard with your little scientist, and discover all the the many critters living there. This website will provide full guidance for showing your child how to look for living things and how to investigate and document their findings.
Backyard Square Field Study
An outdoor field study offers your child the opportunity to develop their observation skills, knowledge, and appreciation for nature and science. With this activity, children will experience the diversity of animals and plants that share one habitat - their own backyard.
Life Science: Plants - Grades 3-5
Building and Understanding an Ecosystem in a Bottle
Using organisms found in your own yard and an empty 2-liter bottle, your child will create his/her own model ecosystem, while learning about and considering the many interactions within a real ecosystem, like: what is needed for organisms' survival, who are the producers and consumers, and where the organisms fit on the food web. This webpage will tell you how.
Career and College Corner
Career and College Readiness Checklist - Grades 9-10
Follow this simple checklist to help guide you over the next few months before you enter your sophomore or junior year:
Review the Blue Water College Access Network 9th & 10th Grade Checklist.
Identify items that need to be completed.
Make a timeline to complete the task prior to deadlines.
Mindfulness & Self-Care
Talking With Kids Regarding Current Events - Grades K-12
Coming Together: Standing Up To Racism - A CNN/Sesame Street Town Hall For Kids and Families How do I talk to my kids about race and racism? A Parent's Guide to Preventing and Responding to Prejudice