• ELA
• HSS
• Social Emotional Learning
• Math
• NGSS

Sight Word Game

Playing games makes learning fun! If you are looking for an engaging way to review or teach your young student grade level sight words try playing the Sight Word Memory Game. It only takes paper, a pen, and your list of sight words! Remind your child to read the words every time they turn a card over. They will want to play this game often!

Story Corps Resource Explanation

Check out this resource from Story Corps that allows students to practice speaking and listening skills as they conduct interviews.  Recordings can be uploaded to the Library of Congress where they will join thousands of other stories. So, download the app and get started today.  Listen, honor, and share the stories that can be remembered forever.

Parts of Speech with Mad Libs

Do you remember playing Mad Libs as a child? This activity is an engaging way to review parts of speech with your child while also inspiring creativity. Collect the parts of speech needed to create your story, fill in the blanks, and read your new, silly story! This activity will bring on the giggles while also helping your child review or learn an important layer of reading and writing.

COVID-19 Journals UCBHSP

If you are looking for lessons that focus on students creating primary sources during the COVID19 Pandemic, this video will walk you through a great resource that can be used for all grade levels, students who need language support, and students with disabilities. Here is a link to the resource:  https://tinyurl.com/covid-journal-all, created by UC Berkeley History Social-Science Project. If you have any questions, please email her at tracy.canalez@icoe.org.

Question Formulation Technique (QFT)

Looking for a resource to inspire your child/student to ask questions?  Well, check out this crash course, and learn how to use the Question Formulation Technique (QFT)  at home or in the classroom.  Want more resources?  Click here to access more QFT resources to use at home or the classroom. 

Pomodoro Breaks

Do you find your kids are struggling to focus? Give them constant breaks and try a Pomodoro break (brain break). Here is a link to brain breaks you can try with your children as they tackle distance learning. Maybe you would benefit from a brain break, as you work on the various tasks you have yourself.

Lesh Model - Math

Help students continue to building their conceptual understanding of math topics through the LESH Model. Through modeling, writing, and number sentences students are diving into their math problems with rigor and creativity. This strategy can be used at all grade levels and with many concepts. Grab a piece of paper, think of a math problem, and dive in!

Math Game for Brain Break

Do you find yourself or your child needing a break from all the school work? Here is a fun little mathematics break you two can take as you practice addition or multiplication. There are many varieties that can be used, try integers with a high school student, or use both hands to make it more challenging. Watch this video to get some ideas on how this game can be used with your students at home.

Place Value

Looking for a distance learning activity to send out to your students? Check out these Google Slides that allow students to use digital manipulatives. This activity asks kids to demonstrate their knowledge of place value by manipulating place value blocks. Students also type in a number based on values they see. Send it out through Google Classroom for a quick math activity for all students.

Mental Math

Number Sense is the foundation for all higher-level mathematics and is defined by Jo Boaler as the ability to use numbers flexibly, for example, knowing that 17 + 9 is the same as 16 + 10.  This skill can be strengthened through Mental Math problems because 16 + 10 is much easier to solve in your brain, mentally.  This video will give you examples of how to incorporate mental math into your work with your students and/or your own children.  Give it a go!

Adding/Subtracting within 10

Can you figure out the missing number? Use this easy activity to get your student thinking about math and all of the different ways to create a number. The strategy can be duplicated with almost any manipulatives you have a home. Use it to keep your school-aged child’s math skills sharp.

Clothesline Math Activity

Looking for a fun activity to get your child/students excited about math, try some clothesline math activities. All you need is some string and the printed cards from this link to get them started. Don’t have a printer? Go to this link and create your own cards. The most important part are the math conversations around the activity.

Rekenrek

Do you need a manipulative for your child/student to work on their numbers up to 20? Here is a tool that you can create at home from everyday materials, called a Rekenrek. This arithmetic rack can help your child develop that crucial number sense, as they work on 1 to 1 number correspondence. Please watch video below to see how you can use this tool tomorrow and make your own.

Subitizing

Do student count objects one by one or do they group them? Many students will likely group objects by two’s or three’s.  This simple mathematical skill is important for students to build number sense.  Take a look at this activity to see how simple activities can be done at home to help students with what is known as subitizing. 

Subitizing Part II

Take a look at another way in which students can practice recognizing numbers in clusters. Remember this can be duplicated at home with any physical book, online readings or household objects. Enjoy!

What’s the Phenomena?

A great way to start NGSS lessons and pique curiosity is to use phenomena.  This video demonstrates a way phenomena can be introduced along with using interactive science notebooks and the “See, Think, and Wonder” routine.  This video was put together by John Lazarcik, ICOE NGSS Coordinator. Enjoy!

NGSS Lesson #3

This is the second part of yesterday’s crushed can phenomenon video.  First-Draft thinking and new knowledge are introduced today to help students revise their models describing  “What happened to the crushed cans?”  New knowledge is introduced in the form of another phenomenon that is similar to the crushed cans. Can anyone come up with an explanation of the cans?  Hope to hear from you soon.  Tomorrow’s NGSS video will introduce the question, “Do I have to touch objects to get them to move?”  This has been modeled in 2^nd and 3^rd grade classrooms. See you soon.

Science Lesson: Do I have to always touch things to get them to move?

Today’s lesson helps students answer the question, “Do I have to always touch things to get them to move?”  Watch as we have fun answering this question using magnets, water bottles, cloths, and videos.  Students get an opportunity to revise their answer if they choose to at the end of the video. Enjoy and watch for more science videos this week.

NGSS Lesson #2

Today’s phenomena can be used for 5^th grade, Middle School, and High School. Students will need their Interactive Science Notebooks we introduced yesterday and a talking stick which I explain during the video.  This is an excellent phenomenon to try at home and really engage your kids.  The use of models is introduced as way to help make kids thinking public.  I will complete this lesson in another video tomorrow.  Any feedback or ideas for videos would be welcomed. Enjoy!

NGSS Lesson: Where does the water go?

This video takes us outside as we try to answer the question, “Where does the water go?”  A small amount of water is poured on a hot sidewalk and we observe what happens over time.  The students are then asked the question and are given three choices to reply:

1. The water disappears
2. The water goes right to the clouds
3. The water goes to the air around us

I Notice, I Wonder, and It Reminds Me of

Today’s lesson helps students develop a mindset of curiosity and provides language tools to actively and directly engage with the natural world.  The “I Notice, I Wonder, and It Reminds Me Of” is an excellent protocol to get students to become better observers and notice things others don’t notice.  The protocol was created by beetlesproject.org.

The Candle Phenomenon

This lesson shows a demonstration of a cool phenomenon using regular household items.  Watch as the candle and the water respond to the glass being placed over it and try to make sense of what is happening and why it’s taking place.  Using the See, Think, and Wonder routine in your science notebook, offer your first draft thinking of the cause of the phenomenon. Have fun and we’ll see you again soon.