Learning from Home You Can Create Right Now

Like many others, I'm home today because school was cancelled in response to the Corona Virus.  At the time of writing, it's for 1 day, but no one knows when that will change and I like to be prepared when I can.  It sounds like there will be a limit in place to how many days we need to make up if we are off for an extended period, so I'm thinking ahead to how I can help my students learn at home. Although we have Google Classroom and Google Hangouts, quite frankly we don't know how to use them yet (neither to parents).  And I'm not sure if they are designed with first grade in mind.  So although I may research them later on, I decided to work with programs our families are more familiar with.

First, our school does have MobyMax.  I know there are other programs as well, so if your district has one of those, do a deep dive and spend some time learning more of the features.  I won't focus on it in this post because I want to focus on things you can start on your own if your school cancels.

Compile Learning from Home Resources 

 

Next, I created a Google Slide of ideas for parents.  I let parents know I was trying something new with "Learning from Home" and made it sound like the activities were optional because that's where our district is at today.  Of course I encouraged enjoying books at home (I say this every chance I get, haha).  Then I went on YouTube to link a story for kids to listen to.  Then I typed in "online clock games for kids" and found a fun one to link (not just a quiz style game).  And finally, I got the YouTube link for a song about coins that I was planning to show in class today.

Then, I created a Google Form with a survey about the types of activities the kids tried.  For each activity I used the format of "on a scale of 1 to 5" so I can get a sense of what's working best and what I should maybe not focus on in the future (if need be).  I added 4 questions at the end:
1.  Could you print worksheets at home?
2.  Would you be interested in trying "science experiments" if I wrote out directions?
3.  Do you have paper at home if I gave a writing prompt?
4.  Comments are welcome (open ended)

I put a link to the survey within the Google Slide.  Then I sent out a link to parents.  I use ClassTag, but you could use the Remind App or Email. 

My next step will be to look into a free program called EPIC.  This is a reading program in which students can read books at their level.  The catch is it can only be accessed for free during school hours.  Parents who want to use it at home need to pay to play.  But of course, if school is cancelled, I assume students can access it during school hours!  I admit I haven't tried it yet, but if we do cancel school for more than just today, that will be the next thing I look into. 

If your district has tried "Learning from Home" and you teach primary students, what have you tried?

[Updates:  Hours after writing, our district canceled school for 2 weeks.  I registered for EPIC and it was very quick and easy.  I was able to create a pdf of the parent letter for my own class (our unique log in code) for parents.  I do not yet understand how "kids are leveled" in the system.  I'm wary of giving that information anyway, so that may be for the best.  I left off their last names to help protect privacy.

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