Dear ELA Supporters,
As we move into this uncharted territory of school closures and everyday life changing on a daily basis, we here at OSPI and in the English Language Arts office hope that our correspondence will bring a little joy and support during these next few weeks.
We have four sections of the newsletter:
OSPI Resources For Everyone!: This is our first wave of supporting you and we will continue to refine and add resources over the coming weeks.
Support for Educators, School Staff, Schools and Districts: this section is primarily directed to those working in the education arena and these resources may be helpful to parents, families, and caregivers.
Support for Parents, Families, and Caregivers: this section is geared toward members of our community who normally don’t teach/facilitate in a formal education setting. Everyone is welcome to use these resources.
Up-To-Date Information: this section provides up to date links from OSPI, The Governor’s Office, and Washington Department of Health.
Sincerely,
English Language Arts Team and Learning & Teaching Staff
A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
There’s a light on in the attic
Though the house is dark and shuttered,
I can see a flickerin’ flutter,
And I know what it’s about.
There’s a light on in the attic.
I can see it from the outside,
And I know your on the inside …lookin out.
As always, the Washington OER Hub is open to the community and has a variety of educational resources for all of us.
Click on the picture below to take you to the Washington OER Hub:
Link to Washington OER Hub: https://www.oercommons.org/hubs/washington
The ELA staff are hosting office hours for educators and staff of all Washington Schools.
Click on the Zoom link below. This is informal. Ask your question and log out or stay for a while!
We are available at other times as well, just email us and we will schedule a time that works for you.
Tips for Online Learning
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Motivate the students to manage their own learning. Writing a message specific to your class and situation, such as online learning, offers you more flexibility as a student, but it also requires more of your focus and commitment to learn. It is easy to procrastinate or rush your work because there is no one directly guiding you. Keep in mind that you are in the driver’s seat of your learning. Teachers and others are here to help, but your success is ultimately up to you. This 6 week closure is an opportunity for you to explore online learning and to see how well you do with it.
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Keep the technology manageable. Many platforms offer all sorts of options that can sound great for virtual learning, but they don’t all work smoothly and not in every situation. Focus on the technology you know for the backbone of your material such as shared documents (Google, SharePoint, Padlet, etc.) Then venture into live web conferencing and other apps.
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Analyze your current lessons and units to determine what is most important and what is manageable for online learning. Design what you assign with the “end user”, your students, in mind. Picture them in their home setting trying to work the assignment through.
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Break up or “chunk” the learning activities and vary them.
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Give clear expectations, timelines, instructions. In person we can get feedback instantly and adjust our message. Online we need to clearly state these. We should also check for understanding through a question, free write, or even a phone call.
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Include fun activities and give students a stretch break.
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Set guidelines for discussion rooms and monitor them.
- If you have access to Zoom or other webinar platforms, record your session and make it available to students so they can review it.
- Use screenshots to show students exactly what is meant. The Snipping Tool on PCs or shift-command-3 or 4 for Macs work well.
Not Teaching Virtually? Tips for Keeping Students Learning
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Regular emails to students (or parents/guardians) to encourage and keep in touch. Include a message with encouragement to keep reading, writing, learning at home.
- Email or send activities to do at home.
- For teachers with smaller number of students, phone call to check in and see how they are doing.
- For students who have online access, give directions for getting a library card and accessing online resources appropriate for their age.
- If students have online access, use a streaming access such as Facebook to do read alouds.
- Include activities that keep the students physically active. Encourage outdoor time.
One of our favorite resources for everyone is from our namesake across the country…Washington D.C.! The National Museum of the American Indian, offers beautiful lessons for all ages/grade bands through Native Knowledge 360’. For younger students the lessons will best be enjoyed when viewing with an older sibling/cousin or adult and for older students the content can be enjoyed independently or virtually with classmates and friends.
Click on the pictures to access the webpage:
Links:
National Museum of the Native American Indian: https://americanindian.si.edu/
Native Knowledge 360: https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/
Lessons and Resources: https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/resources.cshtml
Sit back and enjoy the scenery, visit the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam “the largest collection of artworks by Vincent van Gogh, including over 200 paintings, 500 drawings, and over 750 personal letters” (Travel and Leisure Magazine, March 2020). You can take a virtual tour of some of Van Gogh’s most popular creations!
This experience will pair nicely with the following books:
Grades: K-2
Vincent Can’t Sleep by Barb Rosenstock and Illustrated by Mary GrandPre
Grades: 3-6
Vincent’s Starry Night and Other Stories: A Children’s History of Art by Michael Bird and Illustrated by Kate Evens
Grades: 7-9
Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers by Deborah Heiligman
Grades: 10-12/Adult
Van Gogh: The Life by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith
Click on the image, to start your viewing experience!
Link
Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam: https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/van-gogh-museum?hl=en&date=1888
OSPI Website: www.k12.wa.us
Governor Jay Inslee's Office: www.governor.wa.gov
Washington Department of Health: www.doh.wa.gov
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