Oakland Schools Digital Learning
Newsletter - June 2021
In this issue you will find
- a P.A.R.T.Y. website to help you and your students celebrate the end of the school year
- an End of the Year checklist
- Five End-of-the-Year activities to use with your students
- a coding activity where students create a dance party
- Free, printable summer reading packets for students grades 1-12
- Tips on closing out your year in Google Workspace
- a link to our summer professional learning opportunities
Please reach out if you have questions about any of the information in this newsletter.
~Laura and Vinos
Wrapping Up the School Year
P.A.R.T.Y.! Website
End of the Year Checklist
This End of Year Checklist (2 pages long) will help you wrap up your classroom and prepare for your well-earned summer vacation. Ideas and resources provided in this checklist tool will help you and your students to:
- Give Thanks
- Say Goodbye
- Celebrate
- Create Keepsakes
- Close Up
- Look Ahead
Five End-of-the-Year Activities
This has been a school year like no other. Catlin Tucker has put together a list of "Five End-of-the-Year Activities" along with a brief rationale or explanation for each that you might want to consider using with your students to better understand what worked, what didn’t work, and what might need to be modified or adjusted before the next school year.
1. High/Low of the Year - a high/low structure for encouraging a quick reflection that provides insight into your students' experiences.
2. “Still I Rise…” Poem (Inspired by NPR) - creating a community crowdsourced poem about how the pandemic and this last year have changed us.
3. End-of-the-year Exit Ticket or Feedback Form - a quick way to encourage students to reflect on the year and provide valuable feedback.
4. Drive Reflection with a Powerful Thinking Routine - present students with the connect, extend, challenge thinking routine and ask them to use it to reflect on what they learned in your class.
5. Capture This Crazy Year in a Time Capsule
Ask students to create a time capsule (format or form their choice) to capture this moment in time.What artifacts from the last year can they collect to include in their time capsule?
Encourage them to collect little mementos or take photos to capture these special reminders of the last year and write themselves a letter to include in their time capsule. Tell them to imagine they are trying to describe their lives during the pandemic to their future selves. What was lost? What was gained? How did the pandemic impact their routines, school, sports, family, or life? The more specific they are, the more meaningful this time capsule will be in the future!
Code a Dance Party Activity
Code a Dance Party to end the year with some fun! Use this Hour of Code activity to have students code a dance complete with music and animation. Have students share their projects with the class and have everyone dancing out the school year. The site comes complete with teacher resources, lesson plans and even an unplugged activity for those without access to computers.
Summer Reading Packets
- High-quality nonfiction & fiction passages
- A level right for every reader
- Optional question sets & answer keys
Google Workspace
Summer Professional Learning
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Oakland Schools Digital Learning Twitter posts can be found at os_edtech.
When you are posting to Twitter about things related to digital learning and educational technology, don't forget to use the hashtag #oakedtech.
Using the hashtag will help Oakland County educators, who are interested in the effective use of digital learning, to connect and better collaborate with each other.
Oakland Schools Digital Learning Consultants
Laura.Cummings@oakland.k12.mi.us
248-209-2283
Vinos Kassab
Vinos.Kassab@oakland.k12.mi.us
248-209-2229