Free content packages that are pretty great
I'm not a big fan of canned content. I'm highly skeptical of the pre-packaged approach to education, partly because I do not like getting a hard sell from anyone, let alone curriculum companies, and party because of the wicked "teach with fidelity" incantation of the program improvement days of yore.
But, times have changed! Like I mentioned in a previous post, our current circumstances have been allowed us access to some incredible teaching resources. Some of those resources fit might under the "canned content" label, but what delicious cans they are!
1. Wide Open School from Common Sense
Common Sense partnered with 25 organizations to create Wide Open School, which has 15 categories for grades 6-12. Teachers and parents could easily design an entire learning plan based on this resource. Besides subject matter categories, Wide Open School includes:
Daily Schedule (which maps out activities by morning, afternoon, and evening with a mid-day task in between)
Live Events (there are more than 40 just for today)
Emotional Well-being
Get Moving
Life Skills
2. Daily DE from Discovery Education
These are four weekly sets of learning activities, with one for each day of the week and a weekend challenge. The middle school level includes:
Minds on Monday (a research topic)
Tundra Tuesday (a series of lessons about polar bears and other arctic life)
Whelmer's Wednesday (a science and engineering activity)
ThurZday SkillZ Day (lessons that apply life skills)
Field Trip Friday (a virtual field trip with activities)
3. Learn at Home from National Geographic Education
This is a collection of 42 units, lessons, and activities targeted for grades 6-12 about a variety of topics. Some of them may require some adjustment for distance learning, but others are more plug-and-play. Some highlights:
Sunken Slave Ship
Extinction Stinks!
Citizen Science Projects
Top Crop
Why We Explore/Plan and Prepare for an Expedition
Bonus
Brain Breaks Activity Calendar from Teacher Pay Teachers' Student Engagement Toolkit
Give some of these a try to add some zest to your online meetings and lessons.
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