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Was your school closed this past week due to winter weather? Here in the lowcountry, it snowed! And let me tell you that is an EVENT! Since I moved here 7 years ago this is the 2nd time we’ve had snow accumulation. While fun for kids who have never seen or gotten to play in snow, it has caused schools to close for days. And since the COVID pandemic, it has been deemed ok to have e-learning days during the time of school closures up to an allotted number before having to add days on to the calendar. But what exactly should e-learning assignments for students look like?
I’m going to answer that right now! They will look a little different for everyone based on the requirements of your district, but typically you need to include some reading and some math work that will take approximately 3 hours of time to complete. The best way to do this is to include a mix of online and paper-pencil options, since you don’t know what type of internet access will be available to your students over this period of time.
What I see many schools do, including mine, is to create an e-learning choice board. I think this is a great idea, so you can include many work options for students to complete. Students will be more likely to complete work when they have a choice of what to do. Plus a choice board can easily be created on Canva or a Google Doc (make it look like a Bingo board with one assignment in each space) to print and send home, and, also, to share on social media.
Give students a minimum number of assignments to complete or have them work to make a Bingo with assignments completed. As an added bonus for completing a Bingo or certain amount of assignments, students could get extra credit points or some other incentive. That’s another way to get students motivated to complete the assignments! Keep reading for assignment ideas to place in each spot of your choice board.
Online Assignments
1. Complete minutes/lessons on adaptive digital technology (i.e. i-Ready, Dreambox, Lexia, Study Island, etc.).- Choose the number you want to input for how many minutes/lessons you want the students to complete. The number would be the same number the students are required to complete in a typical school day or slightly higher, if your know your students rarely achieve the required amount. You will at least be filling two boxes with this assignment. One for reading and one for math. You could fill in more if you want to divide it into smaller chunks or add in extra time/lessons.
2. Complete minutes/lessons on another website.- Again, use what you are already using. Khan Academy, Prodigy and Boom Cards are just a few examples.
3. Share a new and free learning games website to explore.- I recently found one that you could share out called roomrecess.com. It has tons of learning games for students from K-6!
4. Assign a video with questions to answer after watching.- This one will take a little more work on your part to find a video you want your students to watch. This video could be on YouTube or any educational video websites you and your students have access to. Make sure to put the exact web address into the choice board and include a link if you share the choice board virtually.
5. Read an ebook and complete a graphic organizer.- Have students choose a book at their level on an ebook website like Epic. After the student reads or listens to the book, have them complete a graphic organizer about it. You could either attach 1-2 familiar graphic organizers to the choice board or have your students create it on paper. Just make sure this a graphic organizer that students have been using in class. They should not be having to learn how to fill out one they have never seen before.
Paper-pencil Assignments
1. Read an actual book and complete a graphic organizer.- Students can choose a book from their personal library or one that has been sent home. The students will read the book and, then, complete the graphic organizer. See #5 above for more details.
2. Give a writing prompt for students to respond to.- Choose a fun writing prompt for students to write about. Writing prompts can be used with any type of writing. Here is a list of some creative writing prompts from waterford.com.
3. Send home a math review sheet.- Along with the graphic organizers, you can attach a math review sheet to the choice board. Keep it simple with a one pager that hits on what your students need more practice on.
4. Students can bake a treat with a family member.- Give an option that includes family time. Students can bake something with their family member and either write the recipe to turn in or write about the process of making the treat. You could add for the students to send a picture of the completed treat to you.
5. Play a board or card game with a family member.- This is one that can involve younger or older siblings, too. Board and card games include many learning elements such as counting, reading, matching, adding, etc. Students can write the name of the game they played in that box of the choice board.
Conclusion
Hopefully the low prep assignment ideas in this post will help you to create a choice board that you can quickly print out to send home with your students at a moments notice! If you enjoyed this post, stay tuned for next week’s post on e-learning ideas for teachers or check out my post, A Round-Up of FREE Resources for SOR Independent Work.
Tip: Create the choice board at the beginning of the year, so you can just hit print when the time comes. You can, even, have the graphic organizers copied and ready as well. The only thing you may have to add is the math review sheet, so it will match your students needs at the time of e-learning.
