Curriculum Corner

Updates from Vicky McCann, ADW Director for Curriculum

Remote Learning

Dear ADW School Leaders and Educators,

While your school is facing closure, there are many digital resources for families to utilize while at home. Particularly when in-school learning isn’t possible, using research-based digital education programs at home can help children stay engaged, provide them valuable learning experiences, and maintain some continuity in their lives. These materials should include grade-appropriate reading lists, math packets, research and writing exercises, similar to the summer packet. Communicate 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.

Please encourage these preventive measures:

● Practice basic prevention, providing disposable wipes so that commonly used surfaces (e.g., light switches, keyboards, desks, remote controls, shared materials) can be wiped down by students and staff before each use.

● Be sure to have soap and paper towels in all handwashing facilities. Utilizing good hygiene habits can help prevent and slow the spread of the virus

● Wash hands with soap and warm water multiple times a day, for at least 20 seconds. Use hand gel

● Cover mouths with a tissue when sneezing or coughing. Throw away tissues immediately, or sneeze or cough into the bend of your elbow

● Do not share food or drinks

● Avoid handshakes

● Make an emergency contact list on paper for all students in your school

● Create a chain of communication for alerting staff, families, stakeholders, etc.

Family Resources

Share this ADW website with your families for additional resources.

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!

Contact Anne Dillon, Director for Special Education, DillonA@adw.org, with any questions.

Education Companies Offering Free Subscriptions

Click here for a list of many websites.

Sadlier Connect

https://sadlierconnect.com/@learnfromhomeschool

This is the link that the students will use to access SADLIER eBooks and other digital resources. There is no charge for access. All students will use the same User Name and Password:

User Name: SadlierStudent

Password: ReadyToLearn!

Once online, they will scroll down and find the book(s) they use. All they have to do is click on the book. Teacher access has not gone online due to security issues. Teachers can create their account at sadlierconnect.com. The credentials they will need are found on the copyright page of the teacher editions

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

FREE ABC Mouse, ReadingIQ, and Adventure Academy

If your school or district is facing closures due to the coronavirus, Age of Learning is providing free home access to ABCmouse and our other educational programs to all affected families. Interruptions in learning due to unanticipated events such as school closures can have significant negative impacts on children’s academic growth and development, as well as on their need for stability and consistency. Particularly when in-school learning isn’t possible, using research-based digital education programs at home can help children stay engaged, provide them valuable learning experiences, and maintain some continuity in their lives.

BrainPOP, BrainPOP Jr., BrainPOP ELL, BrainPOP Français + Español

Share our FREE username and password with your school community or click here to get your own.

https://www.brainpop.com/

Username: ADWSchools

Password: ADWSchools2020

This username and password provides free access to BrainPOP, BrainPOP Jr., BrainPOP ELL, BrainPOP Français, and BrainPOP Español. Once you’ve logged in, click on Moby’s head in the top left corner to see all of the content.

Free class set of Aleks Math Subscriptions

This ALEKS trial provides:

• Free 3 month subscriptions to use through the end of this school year – please identify the class you’d like to use it for and contact Shellene, your McGraw Hill rep: shellene.wyrick@mheducation.com

• There is no set up required by the teacher or administrator

ALEKS will help you to do the following:

• Identify and fill gaps quickly for struggling learners/intervention

• Allow your high flyers to soar

• Keep on level students engaged and accelerating through course content

• Provide robust reporting to support and differentiate for all learners; good for parent conferences, too

• Flexible to adapt to your standards and curriculum

• Adaptive and personalized learning with content from Grade 3 through PreCalculus

• Prepare students for classroom formative and summative assessments

• For more information and free daily, live webinars: www.aleks.com/k12

Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day With Catholic Kids

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.

Is it OK to use a disinfectant on my Apple product?

Using a 70 percent isopropyl alcohol wipe or Clorox Disinfecting Wipes, you may gently wipe the hard, nonporous surfaces of your Apple product, such as the display, keyboard, or other exterior surfaces. Don't use bleach. Avoid getting moisture in any opening, and don't submerge your Apple product in any cleaning agents. Don't use on fabric or leather surfaces.