Dear STEM K-8 Families:
I hope this catches you remembering which way is up in this fast swirling current we have been swept in together. We can predict that disorder, cancellations, and changes will continue, and for longer than we expect. The size and pace of disruption are unprecedented in our lifetimes. It’s going to take exceptional levels of collective compassion and discipline to minimize the scale of disaster.
Seattle Public Schools and STEM staff are scrambling to pull together both supplemental learning and support resources for families. As we move forward they will evolve, and become more organized and prioritized. I’ve pasted a long list of resources below as a start.
My thoughts are with you all. The bonds of community will continue to pull us through together.
Sincerely,
Ben Ostrom STEM Principal
Family Needs Survey
STEM K-8 support staff will work with families to locate services to address specific needs. Respond to this short survey to identify concerns or contributions your family is able to make.
STEM Family Needs Survey
Student Meal Support
Beginning Monday, March 16, SPS Nutrition Services staff will be distributing lunches from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. every weekday at 26 school sites throughout the city available for all SPS students. These 26 sites will become central locations for family and student resource distribution.
Internet Access
Comcast/Xfinity is offering free internet for eligible households for 60 days.
https://www.internetessentials.com/
Middle School Grades and Subjects:
A variety of assignments were sent home via email and posted on Schoology.
All students know how to log into Schoology.
Elementary Grades:
Supplementary assignments were sent home via email, posting to class blogs, and also some packets.
First Grade set up a Google drive with suggested activities: Google Drive: FIRST GRADE resources
Library Resources:
Mary Bannisters STEM Library Home Page:
Seattle Public Schools Online Resources
STEM Specialists:
We want to make sure you know that your child can access SPS resources at home! Student visit: www.seattleschools.org. From there click the Student Family Portals link at the top of the screen, then select the Student Portal button in the middle of the screen (yes, student portal 2x). From that screen they should log into CLEVER with their SPS username. John Adam Smith it would be1jasmith@seattleschools.org. Usernames are 1 followed by their first initial, middle initial, and last name (no spaces) and then @seattleschools.org. Students should know their password, they have been logging on with it at school; and at home it is the same.
From here they should be able to see the typing club and code.org icon – We highly recommend these. Both have self paced lessons students can do on their own (K-8); Code.org also has tutorials under Hour of Code for other options like Dance Party. Play Lab, and more. There are other resources on CLEVER as well such as Adobe Spark, Pebblo Go, and Tumble Books. Attached you will also find a menu of options from the STEM specialists for ways to continue learning at home. Mr. Holland, Mr. Avery, Mr. Schiavo, Mrs. Bannister, and myself put this together and hope that this gives you some ideas to keep practicing skills from our classes.
In addition to the resources available through CLEVER, we have also secured a subscription to Brain Pop for the duration of our closure; this includes Brain Pop Jr. and Brain Pop ELL. The username is stemowls and the password is owls2020
https://www.brainpop.com/
https://jr.brainpop.com/
https://ell.brainpop.com/
Each video comes with additional reading, a quiz, games, a worksheet, and a graphic organizer. This works on phones, tablets, and computers.
A Variety of Suggested Learning Activities and Resources Organized by Grade Bands
Suggested Learning Opportunities
Below are general learning opportunities for students and families to consider while away from school.
Preschool
Reading
- Read a Book, Ask a Question – Make reading interactive, ask questions about the book that can be answered verbally or nonverbally.
- Rhyme Time – Introduce rhyming words by reciting a rhyme or reading a rhyming book.
- Picture Book – Create a picture book using magazine pictures, your children’s drawings or family photos. Encourage your child to share their ideas about the pictures and write down their words. Share the book and ask question as you read together.
Mathematics
- Sorting – sort collections of items in your house by size, color and shapes. Items you can find include shells, buttons, rocks leaves.
- Matching – sort and match laundry items.
- Counting Collections – have your child count a collection of items you have in your house, such as buttons, toys, paper clips, etc.
- Play card games
- Homemade Floor Puzzle – use a piece of cardboard and have your child draw a picture. Cut the pieces into various shapes and sizes. Have child put pieces together.
- Color Search – look for items that are a color match. Hold up a colored object and you’re your child go on a hunt around your house to find items that are the same color.
- I Spy Shapes – look for items that are a shape match. Have child search for items in the house that are round, square, triangular, rectangular.
Grades K – 2
Reading
- Have your student read a “just right” book daily for 15-30 minutes
- Read aloud to your student and ask comprehension questions such as:
- What are you picturing as you read/hear this text?
- What are you wondering about?
- What has happened so far? / What have you learned so far?
- English Learners: Continue to speak, read and write in the language that is most comfortable at home.
- Visit the SPS Online Resources page to access online books
https://www.seattleschools.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=627&pageId=15858
- PebbleGo for K-2 students
Writing
- After reading a book or portion of a book, select one prompt to respond to:
- Write about what happened in the story.
- Write about your favorite part and tell why you selected that part.
- Write about what might happen next in the story.
- Write a story.
Mathematics
This is a great time to share with your student that math is everywhere. K-2 students should spend 10 minutes/day for math games and/or workbook practice.
- Count Everything: Counting is a powerful activity that students can do anywhere.
- Count in different ways, by 2’s, 5’s, 10’s. Start counting from different numbers, not just at zero. Celebrate landmark numbers – Clap or jump when you get to multiples of 10 like 10, 20, 30 etc.
- Play store! Count while you stock shelves or exchange and count pretend money.
- Talk about Shapes: Find, classify and sort shapes in your home. How many circles can you find, how many rectangles – and how many of those are squares.
- Measure everything. Use nonstandard tools like a shoe or even your hand to measure how tall a table is or how far you can jump.
- Point out fractions – share things – like a can of soup – between people. Each person gets a 1/2 or 1/3. Note how this new kind of number is less than one but more than none!
- Read Stories! Mathematize reading time. Most children’s books are ripe with opportunities to notice shapes, count objects, compare two things, notice how things change and grow, and to make predictions about what is going to happen based on the information we already have!
- Look at coins and determine how old they are using the date. Sort them from oldest to newest coin. If you have a large collection of coins arrange them into a bar graph based on year or the location, they were minted. What is the most common date or location?
Science
- Go outside and make observations. Look for evidence of animal habitats (i.e.: spider webs, bird nests, animal tracks, or leaves with insect bite marks, etc.)
- Look for evidence of spring in the plants (i.e.: flowers, buds, new leaves, etc.)
- Collect rocks or leaves from outside and let students think of creative ways to put the objects into groups. (i.e.: size, color, shape, texture) Ask students to explain why they chose the grouping they chose.
Grades 3 – 5
Reading
- Have your student read a “just right” book daily for 15-30 minutes
- Read aloud to your student and ask comprehension questions such as:
- What are you picturing as you read/hear this text?
- What are you wondering about?
- What has happened so far? / What have you learned so far?
- English Learners: Continue to speak, read and write in the language that is most comfortable at home.
- Visit the SPS Online Resources page to access online books
https://www.seattleschools.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=627&pageId=15858
- TumbleBooks for K-5 students
Writing
- After reading a book or portion of a book, select one prompt to respond to:
- Write about what happened in the story.
- Write about your favorite part and tell why you selected that part.
- Write about what might happen next in the story.
- Write a story.
Mathematics
This is a great time to share that with your student that math is everywhere. Grade 3-5 students should spend 10 minutes/day for math games and/or workbook practice.
- Measure, count, and record. Count how many jumping jacks or pushups can be done and how long it takes – or how long it takes to do 10 or 20. Play around with doubling or halving the time. Use non-standard tools, like a shoe, to count how far someone can jump – calculate how far 10, 15, or 20 jumps might take you.
- Build something together. Big or small, any project that involves measuring includes counting, adding, and multiplying. It doesn’t matter whether you’re making a clubhouse out of shoeboxes or building a genuine tree house.
- Involve your student in the shopping. Talk about prices as you shop and estimate the cost by rounding to friendly numbers or use a calculator for more accuracy.
- Look at coins and determine how old they are using the date. Sort them from oldest to newest coin. Find the sum of their ages. Find the difference between the oldest and the newest. If you have a large collection of coins arrange them into a bar graph based on year or location where they were minted. What is the most or least common year or location?
- Count things and generalize to larger sets. Count how many beans are in one cup and estimate how many are in a larger bag. Count how many students are in their class and estimate how many students are home from their school or from the school district.
- Mathematize reading time. Most children’s books are ripe with opportunities to notice shapes, count objects, compare two things, notice how things change and grow, and to make predictions about what is going to happen based on the information we already have!
Science
- Keep a “Spring Changes” journal by making daily observations of the weather, plants, and animal changes that occur as the spring approaches. Draw pictures and write about what evidence you see of the coming spring season. Record the questions you have.
- Using household items, design and build the tallest free-standing structure you can build.
Grades 6 – 8
Reading
- Suggested reading time for middle school students is 30-45 minutes a day.
- Questions to consider while you read:
- What questions do you have about the text?
- What inferences and/or predictions are you making as you read?
- What connections do you have to the text?
- English Learners: Continue to speak, read and write in the language that is most comfortable at home.
Writing
Below are questions to consider during and after reading. Remember to use text evidence to support your responses.
- What is the main idea or theme?
- Who is the intended audience? How do you know?
- How is the text structured or organized?
- What is your connection to the text?
- What is the author’s purpose and/or message?
Mathematics
enVision workbooks should be taken home, if possible. Students may or may not be asked to bring these resources with them when they return to school. Middle school students should spend 30 minutes/day for math review and games.
- Teachers should advise students what unit they are currently in and the pages they can work through.
- Pages from prior units can be used to review content/stay fresh, including Mid-Topic CheckPoints, End of Topic Reviews, and Review What You Knows.
Game: 1-2 Nim
- Instructions: Nim is a two-player game. Start with a pile of 10 counters (paper clips, dried pasta, coins, etc.). On your turn, remove one or two counters from the pile. You must take at least one counter on your turn, but you may not take more than two. Whoever takes the last counter wins.
- Example Game: Start with 10 counters in the pile. Player A takes 2 counters, leaving 8. Player B takes one counter, leaving 7. Player A takes two counters, leaving 5. Player B takes one counter, leaving 4. Player A takes one counter, leaving 3. Player B takes one counter, leaving 2. Player A takes two counters, leaving 0 and winning the game.
- After you play several games, start the conversation around the question, “How do you win?” Record data for different variations (starting with 1 counter, 2 counters, 3 counters, etc.) and see if you can figure out a strategy to always win.
Game: Pig
Pig is a game for 2 to 6 players. Players take turns rolling a die as many times as they like. If a roll is a 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6, the player adds that many points to their score for the turn. A player may choose to end their turn at any time and “bank” their points. If a player rolls a 1, they lose all their unbanked points and their turn is over.
- Beginner Game: The first player to score 50 or more points wins.
- Advanced Game: The first player to score 100 or more points wins.
Project: Where do I see math?
- Have students consider the math they have done in middle school. Examples might be fractions, percent, ratios, solving proportions, proportional relationships, linear relationships, geometry, or any others. Have them record (pictures, video, drawing) places in their homes, or neighborhoods where they see this math happening. Have them write math problems about the math they see!
Science
- Read a news source on the coronavirus daily.
- Research the validity of the claims using expert sources, such as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), to identify inconsistencies.
- Based on your readings, why does the CDC recommend you wash your hands for 20 seconds and not touch your eyes and nose?
All Grades
Physical Education
Children and adolescents ages 6 through 17 years should do 60 minutes (one hour) or more of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily. It is important to provide young people opportunities and encouragement to participate in physical activities that are appropriate for their age, that are enjoyable, and that offer variety.
- Aerobic: Most of the 60 minutes or more per day should be either moderate- or vigorous intensity aerobic physical activity and should include vigorous-intensity physical activity on at least 3 days a week. Some aerobic activities include brisk walking, running, climbing stairs, jumping jacks, playing basketball, and dancing.
- Muscle-strengthening: As part of their 60 minutes or more of daily physical activity, children and adolescents should include muscle-strengthening physical activity on at least 3 days a week. Some muscle-strengthening includes squats, leg lifts, and sit-ups.
- Bone-strengthening: As part of their 60 minutes or more of daily physical activity, children and adolescents should include bone-strengthening physical activity on at least 3 days a week. Some bone-strengthening activities include push-ups, push-ups against a wall, and jumping.
A single session of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity can reduce blood pressure, improve insulin sensitivity, improve sleep, reduce anxiety symptoms, and improve some aspects of cognition on the day that it is performed. Most of these improvements become even larger with the regular performance of moderate-to vigorous physical activity. Other benefits, such as disease risk reduction and improved physical function, accrue within days to weeks after consistently being more physically active
Resources for Physical Activity Boosts:
Resources for K-12 Learning
Student Online Resources
Visit the SPS Online Resources page to access online books
https://www.seattleschools.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=627&pageId=15858
- PebbleGo for K-2 students
- TumbleBooks for K-5 students
Schoology
The following information is intended to communicate possible ways the Schoology Learning Management System (LMS) can used by SPS teachers to support students who are absent from school. Please consider our recommendations as suggestions for best practice. For your convenience the links to internal/external resources are provided.
SPS teachers use Schoology in many ways to support student learning:
- Posting assignments
- Administering quizzes, entry tasks, and exit tickets
- Extending student discussions
- Hosting documents
- Communicating important calendar events and due dates
Students use the Student Portal, (Clever) to access Schoology from home,
https://seattleschools.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/communities/dots/insttechnology/ESPYaGOjvUpBjXjfx6SRwX0BuCs0VnnbxMXwEjq-OV8TVQ?e=jknpJh.
Families use the Schoology Registration Steps on the SPS website to set up their Schoology parent accounts,
https://www.seattleschools.org/cms/one.aspx?portalId=627&pageId=999612.
Additionally, Schoology’s Help Center hosts everything students, teachers, and leadership need to know about Schoology, https://support.schoology.com/hc/en-us/articles/206621517-Getting-Started-on-Schoology-For-Instructors.
Seattle Public Library
Additional Free At-Home Learning Resources:
| Free At-Home Learning Resources |
| Literacy |
Mathematics |
|
Scholastic Learn At Home
- Free online resource
- No login required
- Includes vocabulary, text with audio option, and additional activities to “Continue the Learning Journey.”
Instructions:
1. Go to Scholastic Learn At Home
2. Scroll down to select your grade level
3. Begin on Day 1!
4. Ask your child questions about what they learned.
Council for the Great City Schools Parent Roadmaps to CCSS (ELA) These parent roadmaps for each grade level provide three-year snapshots showing how selected standards progress from year to year so that students will be college and career ready upon their graduation from high school. Available in English and Spanish.
https://www.cgcs.org/Page/328#:~:text= |
Math For Love
- Goals include providing opportunities to enjoy mathematics and improving student conceptual understanding while exercising skills and fluency.
- Includes lesson plans and Math games
Instructions:
1. Select the appropriate grade level to download the PDF packet:
Math For Love Kindergarten
Math For Love Grades 1 & 2
Math For Love Grades 3 & 4
2. Some games may require additional materials that are not provided.
Council for the Great City Schools Parent Roadmaps to CCSS (Math) These parent roadmaps for each grade level provide three-year snapshots showing how selected standards progress from year to year so that students will be college and career ready upon their graduation from high school. Available in English and Spanish.
https://www.cgcs.org/Page/244 |
Common Sense Media Recommendations for Entertainment
| Age-appropriate media suggestions to keep the whole family engaged.
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Resources for at-home learning
Tools to help parents and caregivers keep kids focused and learning at home.
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| Stress-management resources
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