Curriculum Corner
Updates from Vicky McCann, ADW Director for Curriculum
Low Tech, No Tech
Dear ADW School Leaders and Educators,
Thank you for your dedication and amazing ability to transform your curriculum into this new teaching environment. As you are utilizing all of the tech tools, keep in mind that our students also need no and low tech materials, as well.
Keep communicating on a regular basis with the students and parents on homework assignments or other learning activities relating to the teachers’ areas of responsibility.
If you have ideas to share or need assistance with these strategies, please contact Vicky McCann, mccannv@adw.org, or Shannon Norris, norriss@adw.org.
STEAM At Home
Math Worksheets - No Login Requried
Young Minds Inspired Lessons
As the coronavirus emergency closes schools across the country, we and our partners hope that you will use the free educational resources available at ymiclassroom.com to enrich the home-based learning experience for students in your community.
All YMI resources are free and freely available — no registration required. Just click the Lesson Plans tab to find teaching materials and self-directed learning activities in all subject areas for students at all grade levels. Many of our lesson plans include virtual field trips, videos, and online activities that can be integrated into videoconferencing or used by individual students at home with any connected device. Click the Digital Resources tab to explore these interactive learning tools.
This Principal’s List of Things to Do During COVID Closures Is Going Viral for All the Right Reasons
These low-tech kid activities are great for elementary students.
FREE Printable Packets
Storytime Guides
National Science Teaching Association
Spanish link: https://t.co/0Rxshcocju?amp=1
Rediker Digital Learning Capabilities:
Give students access to the Portal in PlusPortals
Teachers, know what you can do with your TeacherPlus Portal
● create and share lesson plans with students and parents
● Create class pages with announcements, assignments, quizzes, discussions, files, and links.
Help your parents understand the ParentPortal better with PlusPortal Parent Interactive Guides
● uploading homework
● sending emails and messages
● accessing E-locker
PlusPortals Interactive Classroom Discussions
PlusPortals comes with a built-in discussion platform for teachers to interact with their entire classroom online. This easy-to-use feature allows teachers to post topics, include content (images, links, YouTube videos, etc.), set due dates, and manage discussion forums for one or more classes. Learn more about classroom discussions here.
Scantron Take Home Paper Packets:
Considering that not all students will have technology available at home, paper packets are especially important. Utilizing Scantron, you can create these printable packets and family study guides.
Skills Connection Online contains specific, comprehensive skill descriptions and study packets that function as tutorials designed for families who may need help in assisting their son or daughter at home. You can produce a home study guide that communicates the classroom subject matter using easy-to-understand terminology and descriptions.
- Click the Resources tab.
- Click Generate a custom test with Skills Connection Online.
- Choose a template, area, and grade level.
- Select skills for the test components by clicking the box next to the skill name.
Resources for Students with Disabilities
- Center on Online Learning and Students with Disabilities
- Understood.org – Coronavirus: Latest Updates and Tips
- Learning Ally – if your school or individual students have an account, please keep them reading!
5 Minutes with Raul Escarpio
Raul Escarpio has created a series of 5 minute videos that will be published on Youtube twice a week beginning Monday March 23 to help teachers and parents better navigate this new world of learning. In these short videos, he hopes to share strategies, resources, websites, documents, etc. on how to better assist teachers and parents with these students. Watch his first video below.
Printable Activity Packets
Visit CurriculumAssociates.com/AtHome for printable activity packs and guidance for you and your students’ families to support learning at home.
For teachers, Curriculum Associates online Teacher Toolbox is a great resource for additional lesson plans and PowerPoint slides if your classes are switching to a virtual format.
To activate your free pilot of the Teacher Toolbox:
Visit Teacher-Toolbox.com to register.
Log back in and click the View or Add License Code button at your sign in screen.
Then add this code: TryTBX2020
Inquiry-Based Projects
Article from Student-Centered World
An inquiry-based project allows the student the freedom to explore the content material from a lens that sparks interest within.
Step 1: Preparation
As early as possible, decide what particular standards you wish for your students to achieve during the school absence. This might be a bit tricky given we don’t know how long a school shutdown will definitively take, but you can give your best estimate as to what standards you would like them to master in a given time frame.
Step 2: Determine the baseline requirements
Decide, in very general terms, what you want to make sure they can show you to prove they mastered those objectives and give them that criteria on a piece of paper.
Step 3: Students have at it!
You don’t know what resources the students will have access to during this time. Maybe they’ll all have internet: great!
Maybe they won’t (in this case, make sure they all have a textbook or readings that you have given them that solidify the topic).
Then they can display their learning with whatever they have at their disposal.
- Posterboard? Awesome!
- Minecraft land? Sweet!
- Sculpture out of PlayDough? Perfect!
- iMovie trailer? Cool!
They can literally take whatever they have at their disposal to visually show what it is that they learned about the topic.
Depending on the level of your students, you can add a writing element or a FlipGrid recording. They could have to prepare to do a presentation explaining what they created when everyone returns.
Read more here: https://www.studentcenteredworld.com/school-absence/
Vicky McCann
Archdiocese of Washington Catholic Schools
Email: mccannv@adw.org
Website: http://adwlearn.weebly.com
Location: Archdiocese of Washington Pastoral Center, Eastern Avenue Northeast, Chillum, MD, USA
Phone: 301-853-4548
Twitter: @adwcurriculum