Curriculum Connection
Updates, Information, and Ideas for DCSC Staff
March 12, 2020
In order to be respectful of everyone's time, I have broken the newsletter down into information that staff "Have To Know" and information that is "Nice to Know." In addition, I have tried to break things down further by grade level or subject area. Please ensure you read and/or respond to anything in the "Have To Know" section that applies to a grade level or subject area you teach.
If you find any ideas, websites, books, etc. that you think are worth sharing out, please send them my way and I am happy to include them!
Morgan Walker
Director of Academic Services
Staff- I am confident that you will rock this next week of eLearning. I feel like I'm in a Rocky movie....but you have trained for this, you have great systems in place, you CAN do this! :-) Please reach out anytime with any questions or concerns. I will try to stay up on looking at your Schoology lessons to provide feedback as much as I can. Please bring on the rigor, be clear about your instructions, don't be afraid to introduce new content, and think about engagement. This update includes some tips that I hope will help as you are planning.
K-12 Teaching Staff
eLearning Reminders and "Must-Dos"
- ALL teachers should have an eLearning folder in Schoology. You can add either add folders inside that folder by date OR if you regularly post your lessons in Schoology every day, you can create an eLearning folder and just direct students to today's lesson in another spot.
- All eLearning work should be up for students by 9 AM every day. (It's ok to post it earlier than that.)
- Please answer parent/student questions that you receive by 2:30 PM by 3:30 PM.
- You will need to track attendance for each eLearning Day. Having at least one "task" for students to complete each day will be vital. I suggest tracking this as you go for easier organization when we return.
- Students will have the week we return from Spring Break to complete all eLearning work. An extension of this grace period may be granted if additional eLearning Days are necessary.
K-12 Teaching Staff
Sample eLearning Lesson Plan
I think it's easy to look at eLearning and think it fits a completely different mold than daily instruction in the building when students are in the same room. While it is certainly a different animal, thinking through the lesson plan template as you are planning for possible eLearning Days will ensure your lesson is rigorous, engaging, and beneficial to student learning. The longer we are out, the more vital this becomes. A sample lesson plan is below which I hope helps to illustrate an example of eLearning as it could be mapped out with our required lesson components. If you would like me to look through your lessons or suggest online activities you may be able to use to complete something you would normally do in the classroom, please don't hesitate to reach out anytime!
- Watch the TED Talk called "How to Start a Movement" to introduce the connection between leaders and followers.
Learning Objective:
- By the end of today's lesson, students will learn about two Indian leaders by comparing their leadership styles to determine which they feel was the most successful. To prove their understanding, they will compare these leadership styles to leaders from other time periods.
Mini-Lesson/Modeling/ Demonstrating/ Checking for Engagement/Direct Instruction (I do):
- Record a quick video explaining the lesson for the day, the objectives, and the directions for each portion of the lesson. (Will record with Screencastify)
- Ask students to read "Asoka vs. Shi Huangdi," a historical piece that asks students "Is it better to govern people by moral persuasion or by coercion, the carrot or the stick?"
Guided Practice with frequent checks for understanding (We do/You all do):
- Use the flipgrid link to record a video on our class page. Record a video with your thoughts: "Asoka vs. Shi Huangdi - How would you lead and why?" Limit your recording to 1 minute.
- Optional: Leave video feedback for at least one classmate after watching their video. Use the sentence starters: "I agree with you when you said ____ because _____." AND/OR "I feel differently than you do when you said ____ because _____." Keep your comments constructive, please.
Adjust/Enrich instruction:
- I will log in and watch videos to give video feedback as well. Any student that does not understand the concept will receive private feedback, I may also challenge students to think deeper about a portion of their answer.
Independent practice (You do):
- Students will fill out a paragraph-style question in Schoology responding to the following prompt: "Compare each of the Indian leaders you learned about with two other historical figures from any place and any time period. In your answer, explain why you made the comparison using details from the chapter you read."
K-12 Teaching Staff
Message from the Tech Department- Microsoft Word on Chromebooks
K-12 Teaching Staff
Google Meet- available ONLY until July 1
Due to many schools moving to eLearning Days, Google has released it's Google Meet feature to schools free of charge until July 1st. Google Meet is similar to Hangouts but with additional features. It allows you to get on and conduct a lesson or answer questions via camera and/or microphone. It also saves the session in your Google Drive so if a student wasn't able to tune in, they could watch the recording later. This would be a great way to interact with students should we need to use eLearning Days yet this year. Use Google Meet if you want students to be able to ask questions or answers live. Use a program like Screencastify (directions are in the previous Curriculum Connection update and I found a new video to explain how to use it here) if you just want to record a lesson or explanation and don't need two-way communication.
Simple directions for Google Meet:
- Go to your Google Calendar
- Set up an appointment (the time doesn't have to be exact)
- Click on the "Add Conferencing" button and click on "Hangouts Meet" (see picture below)
- You now have a link to a Google Meet session you can share with students in Schoology by copy/pasting into your eLearning/daily folder.
Here is a video you can watch that shows how to set up a Meet and some of the features:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prYMJGkSDak&feature=youtu.be
You can mute other participants if you don't want to hear students. You can ask students to leave their cameras/microphones off as an option as well. There is a chat box where students could ask questions as you presented something or you could have them come here to ask questions if they had them in a more informal way.
Try it out with a coworker to play around a bit!
**DCHS staff- If you decide to schedule video conference office hours for a specific class, please schedule your session/s during the class time you would normally have your students. You could also schedule a few informal periods during the day that you are available for questions from any of your classes. North/South/DCMS- If you decide to schedule video conference office hours/lecture time, please work with your grade level or building to ensure you are not overlapping with another teacher in your grade level. This keeps students from having multiple sessions going at the same time and needing to pick and choose.**
K-12 Teaching Staff
How do I know that students have viewed my Schoology lessons?
Inside your eLearning Day folder, click "options" and "student completion".
K-12 Teaching staff
Tech Tool- Flipgrid
3 Emojis Booktalk- What three emojis would best represent the book that you've been reading? Why? Cite 2-3 pieces of textual evidence with page numbers from your book to explain your answer. Your video should be 1-3 minutes long, and make sure that you also introduce the author and title of the book in your video and show the audience the book's cover.
Would You Rather Math-Would you rather..
Put $3 in the bank and have it triple each week for 4 weeks? OR Put $4 in the bank and have it quadrouple each week for 3 weeks? Make a choice and defend your decision with math! Explain what you would rather have to the class and remember to show us your reasoning with your work!
Reading Fluency Practice- 1. Read part of a book to our grid. Use your tips for reading fluently to make sure you are reading clearly and with expression. 2. Watch your video and think of one way you glowed and one way you could grow. 3. Comment on your video about your glow and next steps to grow. Be a fluency superstar by rereading your passage for improvement OR give a friend a compliment on their fluency!
2 Step-Equations- Choose 1 of the 2-step equations. Make sure you identify what problem you are doing, and show all steps as you explain. (you may want to work it out on a piece of paper and then show on the video the steps using your work shown). A video has been attached. 1: 3y – 7 = 8 2: 37 + n/5 = 45 3: 6m + 2 = -10
Figurative Language and Music-Why do poets/songwriters/rappers use figurative language, word play or literary devices? Students will explain their answer to the question and provide two different types of figurative language that are used by their favorite poet, songwriter or rapper. Also, students must explain why their favorite artist used a particular figurative language in their song.
The Impact of Art- Artists use their imaginations and communicate in creative ways as a form of expression. The art lives far beyond the years of the artist. Share your favorite work of art. What types of art are you interested in creating? What is the feeling you want people to experience as they look at your work?
K-12 Teaching Staff
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DCSC Curriculum Connection
Contact: Morgan Walker, Director of Academic Services
Email: mwalker@danville.k12.in.us
Website: www.danville.k12.in.us
Location: 200 Warrior Way, Danville IN 46122
Phone: (317) 745-2212
Twitter: @walker8208