As many schools around the world continue to face the reality of school closures due to the COVID-19/ coronavirus outbreak, teachers scramble to adjust for the 2020 school year. This post shares easy to use remote learning resources for teachers who will teach online whether full-time or partially.
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How To Make the Best of Your Remote Learning Resources
I’ve been an online ESL teacher for two years now.
Transitioning from a 10-year stretch in a brick-and-mortar classroom to an online classroom was a huge learning curve for me! But I had the privilege of learning the ropes without the extra stress of dealing with the Coronavirus.
So for every teacher and principal reading this, please let me start by saying that it’s ok to feel apprehensive and uneasy about remote learning.
Here are some quick tips to help you get the most out of your remote learning resources:
- You can use many of the resources you already have on hand—as you will see below with certain tech tools.
- Form a plan to help students who do not have a computer at home. There are printables mentioned in this post that you can send home with your students.
- Every online teaching activity mentioned below can be tweaked to your unique teaching style. Don’t feel like you need to throw away everything to start with something brand new.
- Use social media to your advantage by connecting with other educators and asking questions. None of us have every answer; we can grow stronger together through this by sharing our ideas for how we’re thriving with distance learning.
**Many deep breaths!** You can and will get through this. I’m speaking from the experience of surviving tragedy and trauma in my teaching career.
It may not be easy, but I truly believe many great things can rise from adverse situations.
So without further ado, here are your easy to use remote learning resources teacher friend!
Seesaw for Remote Learning
Seesaw worked like a charm when I taught in the traditional classroom! I would upload my PDF’s to our class dashboard and give my students a code to assess the material from their devices.
Then they could complete each assignment right there in Seesaw and I could respond to their work.
This allows you to use learning resources you already have and upload them digitally for students who can access them from home with a device.
Now Seesaw is offering extra perks for teachers who are facing school closures and need to transition to remote learning.
You can get more details about using Seesaw HERE.
Brain Pop
Brain Pop and Brain Pop Jr. are also very helpful resources to use as remote learning resources. They offer videos for Math, ELA, Science, Social Studies and more.
I’ve also used Brain Pop videos for years as a teacher in the classroom. Now, as an online ESL teacher, I show quick video clips during some of my lessons to enhance the learning.
You can now access a special free video specifically about the COVID-19 / coronavirus HERE.
It explains the coronavirus in a kid-friendly way and comes with a lesson plan for teachers. This helps students understand why things have changed so much with their learning situation.
Khan Academy for More Online Videos
In addition to Brain Pop, I also recommend using Khan Academy, especially to help older students learn from home.
Khan Academy is always free for parents and educator. They have over 5,700 activities, plus in-depth videos showing lessons such as:
- Geometry
- Alegebra 1 and 2
- Physics
- Biology
- AP History
- AND MORE
When you set up an account, refer students to these specific videos so they have a visual to accompany their other learning materials from you.
You can get started with Khan Academy HERE.
Vooks for Virtual Reading or In-Class Reading Engagement
How do we keep students motivated to read at home for extended periods of time? That’s a question Vooks loves to answer!
Vooks stands for Video+Books and they make reading so much for students.
It’s a collection of animated story books that you stream through most devices.
You can share your screen with students online to see the read-aloud, or you can use your in-class projector to show the animated stories on the board.
I absolutely love using this service to make my virtual reading more fun!
They are offering 30 Days FREE to school teachers, whether your school is fully virtual or not. I highly recommend this with your list of remote learning resources.
Get your free year with Vooks HERE. (affiliate link)
Spiraled Editing and Writing Packet
Another one of the remote learning resources I want to share is my no-prep spiraled editing and writing printables set for upper elementary students.
The reality is that not every student has a way to access learning through a device at home.
So if you have to print a packet to send home, it really helps to know that your students will be completing a standards-aligned ELA activity that spirals them through several different editing, nonfiction reading, and writing concepts.
You can get more info on these printables HERE or by clicking the image above.
Google Calendar for Easy Assignment Links
This handy tool is available for free to anyone with a gmail account.
Google Calendar makes a great distance learning tool because it allows you to set up links and assignments on a calendar and share it with parents who also have a gmail account.
My son’s current math and science teacher uses it to provide links to study notes and other important information. As a parent, I really appreciate having everything easily accessible in one location!
It provides an easy way for you to replace your weekly newsletter during at-home learning.
IXL Learning Website
If you’re looking for remote learning resources in a standards-aligned gaming format, I recommend IXL.com.
They break down all their grade levels and subjects, making it easy to find what you’re looking for.
You can also find online activities for your students based on the specific learning standards of your state HERE.
Kahoot Online Game Style Lessons
One of my favorite online tools to use for review games is Kahoot! If you have students / children who love video games or learning with a video format, then this resource will make a great addition to your list of remote learning tools.
You can sign up for Kahoot HERE.
Google Classroom Remote Learning Resources
Google Slides, Google Forms, and Google Classroom offer tons of remote learning opportunities for teachers and students.
As a curriculum designer, I’ve created engaging digital activities that help students with skills such as:
- Descriptive Writing
- Inferencing with Reading
- Math Place Value
- Verb Tenses
- And more
You can see the full list of all my Google Drive Resources HERE.
You can also grab this free Google Slides ELA activity that allows students to self-check their work once its completed. That makes it even easier to use for learning at home.
EPIC Reading Materials
EPIC is another fantastic resource I recommend to help kids who are learning from home.
They provide reading printables, digital books, reading calendars to keep students motivated to read, and more.
Plus, it’s completely FREE to elementary educators, whether your school is closed due to the Coronavirus or not.
You can access their library of materials HERE.
Read Aloud Book Companion Activities
While you’re assigning reading activities for your students, I also recommend providing book companions to keep students on task while reading at home.
Each of my Read Aloud with Rigorβ’οΈ book companion series include the following:
- Parent Letter that explains how to help their child with the read aloud activities
- Reading Comprehension worksheets with text-aligned questions to help your students refer back to their read aloud to find information
- Vocabulary in context with a fun QR-Code activity
- Graphic Organizers that target other specific reading skills such as finding the main idea and analyzing the book characters.
- Plus, each page in these sets contain interactive PDF versions that allows your students to type directly on the worksheet through Google Classroom.
These book companions best serve 3rd through 5th grade students and can be accessed HERE or by clicking the image above.
Mystery Science At-Home Learning for Elementary Students
Completing science activities at home can be major fun for students!
Mystery Science provides amazing content geared toward helping K-5 students with hands-on science activities at home.
You can access their free special resources specifically curated for remote learning due to school closures HERE.
Part of Speech Worksheet Bundle
It is always helpful and fun when students can build their strength with more than one learning skill at a time.
That’s why I also recommend these Part of Speech printables for easy to use remote learning resources.
Each set allows students to:
- Play “I Spy” for different parts of speech.
- Use ANY book or reading material they have available at home.
- Practice applying each part of speech with printable worksheets.
The bundle includes Verbs, Adjectives & Adverbs, and Pronouns. The best part is that it works great for students who have no Wi-fi access at home. They can use these grammar worksheets with whatever reading materials they have at home.
You can also the Nouns printables completely free right HERE.
Remind App for Parent Communication
Remind allows teachers to easily communicate bulk messages to parents through text messaging.
This works as a wonderful distance learning tool because your students will need even more support from their parents / guardians now that they’re learning from home.
Parents are also feeling apprehensive and unsure about all the changes with school closures and the COVID-19 virus.
So help ease any anxiety they may have about their child’s grades or work assignments with Remind’s quick text message notes. Set up your account HERE.
Class Dojo for Distance Learning Rewards
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned as an online teacher is the importance of building rapport and celebrating my students’ small wins along the way.
Which is why I strongly recommend implementing a rewards system for your students to see their progress and stay motivated to study at home consistently.
Class Dojo makes this easy for teachers. You can set up a forever free account where parents / students can also log in to see their rewards earned.
Inviting parents to join also allows you to have another way to communicate with parents during your school’s closure time.
Get started with Class Dojo HERE.
More Teaching Tips to Help Students Who Are Learning From Home
In addition to these remote learning resources, I want to offer more tips from my experience as an online teacher:
- Coach students on essential study habits like: setting up a quiet work place away from toys and other distractions.
- Encourage parents to help students set a timer to work in 20-25 minute chunks of time.
- Recommend ways to extend learning with things like building 3-D models out of Legos and writing about it in a notebook. Or helping to cook in the kitchen, which combines science and math skills.
- When you use video for your online lessons and communication, have good lighting and audio. This doesn’t have to be expensive. You can use your smartphone’s earbuds and built in microphone.
You can also set up an extra lamp near you or use the natural lighting from outside to be easily visible on video for your students.
What Do I Do For Students Who Depend on School to Survive?
Unfortunately, not all children have the at-home support they need to be successful.
School dependent children are especially vulnerable during these uncertain school closures.
These students will benefit from:
- Having information about and access to local food banks that can provide food may ease their stress about how they are going to eat.
- Sending actual books and school supplies home with them. If you are able to organize their supplies in a pencil box or pouch for safe keeping, that would also be very helpful.
- Giving detailed coaching on what they can do at home to stay healthy. Also provide them with wipes, tissue, or hand sanitizer to take home.
- Showing them lots of GRACE! Even if they don’t express it, they are probably feeling a mountain of fear and stress. In every way you can, let them know that they are going to be alright!
Helpful Posts for an Even Stronger Transition to Remote Learning
- The BEST Free Literacy Apps
- Apps That Help Me Teach More Efficiently
- How To Use QR Listening Centers
- Effective Alternatives to Reading Logs
I pray that these resources and ideas will help you form quick solutions to this problem that’s impacting us all.
And be encouraged teacher friend! Show yourself lots of grace too. We will all get through this…together!
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One Response
This was such a helpful post! Thank you so much π