AAGT – Tools for Home-based Learning During School Closures

0
Resources

UPDATE: Governor Doug Ducey and Superintendent Kathy Hoffman jointly announced the closure of all schools through the remaining of the 2019-2020 School Year. See the announcement.

Arizona Association for Gifted and Talented is here as a resource to parents, students and teachers. We will be updating this post with links, enrichment ideas and resources for our gifted students. If you have anything you would like to add to this post, please comment below or email director@azgifted.com.

We are all in this together!

 

 

Resources from AAGT Partners

AAGT Membership Perk

Renzulli Learning and the Arizona Association for the Gifted and Talented (AAGT) have established a partnership to share their resources with homes and classrooms for gifted, talented, twice-exceptional, and all students. Renzulli Learning helps to increase a child’s engagement in learning by focusing on their strengths, empowering children as they direct their own learning, leading to increased self-efficacy and increased self-confidence.

Educators – AAGT Member Educators are invited to sign up for a Renzulli Learning classroom 6 month free trial. Through your free trial, you will have access to our Renzulli Learning Enrichment for All Students Course, which includes a certificate of completion from the University of Connecticut for nine contact hours, a $1,000 value.

Parents – Renzulli Learning is pleased to provide AAGT family members with a one-year free subscription to Renzulli Learning Home Edition, a $49 value. If you are a family, please fill out the form on this page using the promo code you were provided when you registered with AAGT to get started today. You will need a code in order to redeem this offer, if you are a current member, email officemanager@azgifted.com or director@azgifted.com to receive the code. If you are not a current member, sign up for membership here, and a code will be emailed. to you.

 

Resources from AAGT Exhibitors

To help support students and parents during this time we are offering 100,000 FREE Student Aptitude™ Quizzes during the month of April.

Student Aptitude Quiz allows students (13+) to discover how they learn best. Each student also receives tips and tricks for overcoming obstacles to learning and reducing stress. Parents can use the information to understand and support their kids at home learning.

Students and parents can take advantage of this free offer using the steps below:

You can see more information about the offer in the press release below:

Read Press Release

Fusion Academy is continuing all classes through our virtual programming during this time. Fortunately, Fusion Academy has been teaching virtual classes for more than a year and have already taught more than 11,000 virtual classes this year alone. We have the infrastructure in place and feel confident in our ability to serve students with limited disruption to their education. In the event you are concerned about your child’s academics during this unknown time, please know we are still actively enrolling new students. New students will be enrolled into our virtual programming with the option to switch to in-person classes once it is safe again. We also offer virtual tutoring sessions for students who need extra support with their academics while at home. Learn More

Please contact Fusion Director of Admissions and Outreach, Mackenzie Douglass, at 480.233.3733 or MDouglass@FusionAcademy.com to learn more.

 

Parent Toolbox During the COVID-19 Era

Free Webinar Series

This event will be held virtually via ZOOM

Join us for a unique 4-part webinar series with leading professionals. Each week, we will explore a new topic to help parents build their “toolbox” of tips and resources to support themselves and their families during the COVID-19 era. This 4-part webinar series will occur every Wednesday at 3pm (Arizona) through May 6, 2020.

View all webinars on our Webinar Page.

 

Genius Game: The Magic of LEGO

Material: Lego base plate, several random figures, a random selection of Lego bricks
Use LEGO bricks to answer a question and then present it to each other. Allow some time for comments and questions.
Examples:
  • What is my future going to be?
  • What is ONE thing I want to accomplish in my life?
  • What is my biggest fear right now?
  • What do I want to do when I grow up?
  • What is the most important question I have?
If they like it, take a cell phone picture before you break it down and move on to the next one. After a few repetitions, children might come up with their OWN questions; we DEFINITELY want to encourage that!
It will be very insightful if the parents include themselves in this powerful game to learn more and exchange deeper feelings with their children. It is an excellent opportunity to nurture their sensitivity that might have been covered up by busy schedules for a long time… Now is the time and opportunity to reconnect on a deeper level in a playful way.
Play is the first language every child learns, sometimes even before they acquire their native language. They learn about themselves, about building as a very creative expression, about interacting with other kids and adults, about their own interests and talents.
Also, LEGO has been an international phenomenon for more than 7 decades. A vast majority of kids are attracted to these magic bricks and Lego has been used even in the business world for leadership training around innovation and communication as Lego Serious Play.

Great Books Foundation has provided free resources, organized by grade level, to help your students thrive.

FREE Sample Lesson Plans

GBF has sample lesson plans for all grade levels, K–12, and for both fiction and nonfiction texts. You can conduct a wide array of Shared Inquiry activities to help students:

  • Read with greater comprehension
  • Listen and respond to others
  • Think critically
  • Write thoughtfully about the texts they have read

Download Sample Lesson Plans

FREE Open Educational Resources

GBF offers you a great variety of stories, folktales, poetry, and more for grades K–12. Each selection comes with thought-provoking discussion questions to engage your students. Samples include:

  • The Fox and the Stork (grades K–1)
  • The Master Cat (grades 2–3)
  • The Elephant’s Child (grades 4–5)
  • Rattlesnakes (grades 6–8)
  • The Glass of Milk (grades 9–12)

Download Open Educational Resources

Contact Kelly Emanuel for any further assistance  • 800.222.5870, ext. 7140 • kelly.emanuel@greatbooks.org

Teaching for Creativity

Free for Educators

Schools are closed. But, this is not the time to isolate yourself from your imagination and creativity. In fact, indulging in creative endeavors lifts the spirit. You can start with H-IQ (Hunter Imagination Questionnaire) to help you generate, prioritize, and implement your ideas. We’re offering H-IQ to teachers for free during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Teaching is the most creative challenge anyone can face. And, now, chances are you are adapting to on-line teaching. The creative challenge of teaching continues.

This is also a time of opportunity. First, find eight minutes to try H-IQ. H-IQ allows you to draw back from the day-to-day pressures to give you time to think. It is critical for creativity (and for sanity) to turn away from job pressures to allow for a creative incubation period. H-IQ encourages and preserves your ideas so that over the four 8-minute sessions you engage in meta-cognition, a dialogue with yourself.

Engage in activities that absorb your attention: reading, music, painting, carpentry, or sport. This is also an opportunity to devote time to thinking about the art of teaching. But, not all your time. Alternate between activities. Think about teaching to prime the pump, then let your subconscious work freely while you have productive fun.

H-IQ, the only on-line imagination assessment, is a valuable tool to help you to generate ideas, organize your goals, and set your imagination free. During the Covid-19 pandemic, H-IQ is free for teachers and administrators. Learn more about H-IQ and our pilot program for grades 5-12 here.

A DAILY DOSE OF MOEMS®
MOEMS PROBLEMS TO CHALLENGE YOUR MATHLETES WHILE AWAY FROM SCHOOL
Do you think your mathletes might be looking for some enriching and challenging problems to spend some time on while on their hiatus from their brick and mortar building? If so, check this out!
MOEMS® will be posting two problems each day from our vault of Tournament questions. Answers to those questions will appear the following day, along with two new problems. Not only will your kids’ brains stay sharp, but these problems may be fun for the whole family to explore together.
How do they get involved? If you are willing to mail these out to your MOEMS-kids, just send us an email request with “Daily Dose” in the subject line. That’s all it takes to get you the entire set of problems delivered to your email for distributing to your students via their individual emails.

Pearson Assessments has put together resources around helping psychologist and SLPs to be able to do remote testing, if appropriate for their situations.

Sphero.com

Sphero Webinar
Title: STEAM in the everyday classroom or living room – Webinar brought to you by Sphero
Date: April 2nd, 4:00PM ET
Estimated time: 45 min
Overview: With many of us adjusting to a new “normal” way of working and learning remotely, we want to support educators with easy access to quality educational content. In this webinar, you’ll learn how to incorporate engaging STEAM programming in the everyday classroom and beyond. You will learn how to get started with STEAM, discover unplugged activities, and get familiar with navigating all of Sphero’s educator resources. Two lucky winners will be selected at the end of the live webinar to receive a Sphero BOLT!
Webinar Registration Link: https://sphero.zoom.us/webinar/register/7515849963866/WN_fmsUJu-7TYGmia0K-PXphA

Free Access to Sphero Computer Science Foundations Curriculum
When: Starting March 25th, we will release eight free CSF lessons every two weeks on Wednesday. We’ve picked a few of our favorite themes and will release the first eight lessons from each.
Who: Parents, Educators, Learners with Sphero bots at homeWhy: To provide quality at-home lessons for students who are out of school

Video Mini-Series
What: Pre-recorded 20-minute episodes providing e-learning
Where: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram TV
When: First video released 3/27, with a new video coming every Friday
Who: Teachers, parents, students
Why: 
– Give teachers a tool to share with families while communicating online resources
– Promote e-learning opportunities for parents to participate in with kids
– Keep kids engaged and learning at home
– Fun and engaging way to learn real-world topics

Other Resources

From the Maricopa County Library District
eMedia and digital resources are available any time, any place!
  • Unlimited music streaming
  • 25,0000 movies titles
  • 400,000+ eBooks & audiobooks
  • Dozens of magazines
  • Homework help
  • … and much more

MCLD LiveStream Events

Online Booktalks: Need some book recommendations? Watch live booktalks to find out what public library staff recommends! Weekdays at 1:00 PM.

Online Learning: Tune in to our free live streaming channel and start creating!

Online Storytimes: Gather around the computer for a live streaming storytime

Subscribe for Event Times

Watch LiveStream

Arizona PBS is offering free resources to make at-home learning easy and accessible!

(via azcentral)

  • Pre-kindergarten to third grade: 5 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. on Arizona PBS, then uninterrupted for the rest of the day on PBS Kids.
  • Fourth to eighth grade: 6:30 a.m. to noon on Arizona PBS.
  • Ninth to twelfth grade: 12:30 p.m. to 4:20 p.m. on Arizona PBS.
Skype a Scientist – skypeascientist.com
500 Women Scientists- Request a Women in STEMM:  500womenscientists.org/request-a-scientist
STEM Subjects
Here is a list of websites that have worked well for STEM projects and subject matter:

https://kidsactivitiesblog.com/135609/list-of-education-companies-offering-free-subscriptions/?fbclid=IwAR1wBnlLi5Yl-pa85V9uN-6h6W-JueFv-wdg-8ZacObny9voKBM8pMZouqs

https://www.khanacademy.org/

https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/

https://science.nasa.gov/

https://www.amnh.org/explore/ology

https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/resources/k-8.html

 https://www.sldirectory.com/virtual.html

https://code.org/

Other Resources, Tips and Ideas
  • Boys/Girls Club Computer Labs are open for now for those who need access to computers/wifi
  • Public Library ( Library card needed for all virtual resources, staff is there to help with setting up.)
  • District work packets per age group are being stuffed in lunch sacks to go in AM
  • Education Park with a set day, loudspeaker and social distancing where  subject areas are discussed with families in a neighborhood park by age level.
  • Flipped classrooms and Flip Boards
  • Virtual buddies… Families who sign up with each other to ensure learning happens as well as being safe
  • Software: Spectrum FREE Internet during school hours1-884-488-8398
  • Cox lowered access to internet program
  • List of Education Companies Offering Free Subscriptions

Enrichment Resources

 

National Science Teaching Association (NSTA)

NSTA’s Daily Do: Each NSTA Daily Do presents a phenomenon and guidance for engaging students with practices for sensemaking. Visit the NSTA homepage to see the entire Daily collection.

Example: Monday, April 6, 2020

Check out these NGSS@NSTA Classroom Resources vetted by NSTA teacher curators. This week’s focus is physical science. 

(Note: Daily Do is family/student friendly. Classroom Resources are written for educators)

School Library Journal

Booklists

James Dyson Foundation and Dyson engineers
Nautilus Live
  • Free library of STEM education resources includes learning modules, digital tools, and educational lessons for students of all ages.
Skype a Scientist
  • Do you want to chat with a scientist over video chat from your living room? We will match you with a scientist for free! These sessions are q&a conversations, so you and your kids/roommates can talk with a scientist about what makes YOU curious. We have lots of different scientists to choose from, so don’t be shy! All you need is a zoom/google hangout/skype/ or other video chat client and an internet connection!  Link for Families
NASA Kids’ Club
  • NASA Kids’ Club – a place to play games and learn about NASA!
STEM in 30
  • STEM in 30 is a non-commercial online science educational program for middle school students produced by the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

Anytime, anywhere you can enjoy a variety of online programs, stories, videos, activities, virtual tours, and resources from the people at Air and Space.  They’ve compiled some of the best digital resources and are continually adding new content, so please check back.

Smithsonian National History Museum – Virtual Tours
  • virtual tours allow visitors to take self-guided, room-by-room tours of select exhibits and areas within the museum from their desktop or mobile device. Visitors can also access select collections and research areas at satellite support and research stations as well as past exhibits no longer on display.
Computer Science
  • Code.org
  • Scratch – create stories, games, and animations
  • Swift Playgrounds – Swift Playgrounds is an app for iPad and Mac that makes learning Swift interactive and fun. It requires no coding knowledge. Solve puzzles to master the basics using Swift — a powerful programming language created by Apple and used by the pros to build today’s most popular apps. Then take on a series of challenges and step up to more advanced playgrounds designed by Apple and other leading developers.
World’s Largest Lesson
  • World’s Largest Lesson brings the Global Goals to children all over the world and unites them in taking action. All resources are free, open source and translated into over 10 languages. Lessons believe in the power of creativity and that all children can find their own individual way of taking action for the Global Goals.

Lessons for Global Goals

Defined Learning (aka Defined STEM)
  • Remote and E-Learning Projects – In an effort to help districts where students are working remotely, we are offering teachers and students complimentary access to customized e-learning projects on Defined Learning. Each engaging project is based on a situation in a career and is complete with an authentic performance task that is specifically tailored for the student at home.
  • Grades K-2: Beekeeper
  • Grades 3-5: Chef
  • Grades 6-8: Entrepreneur
  • Grades 9-12: Architect
PBL Works – Buck Institute for Education

Instructables: Instructables is a community for people who like to make things. 

Instructables is committed to helping teachers inspire, engage, and prepare students through hands-on projects to make in the classroom. Always free, and always fun, come explore projects for your next classroom lesson!

Google Arts & Culture
  • content from over 2000 leading museums and archives

Common Sense Media

PBLs, STEM Challenges, Critical/Creative Thinking Exercises, Deductive Reasoning Tasks from The PBL Project (and Beyond)

 

Disclaimer

At certain places on this AAGT website, live links to other websites can be accessed. Such external websites contain information created, published, maintained, or otherwise posted by institutions or organizations independent of AAGT. AAGT does not endorse, approve, certify, or control these external websites and does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, efficacy, timeliness, or correct sequencing of information located at such addresses. Use of any information obtained from such addresses is voluntary, and reliance on it should only be undertaken after an independent review of its accuracy, completeness, efficacy, and timeliness. Reference therein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, service mark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not constitute or imply endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by AAGT.

RELATED POSTS
Comments
Post a Comment