Many districts are continuing to offer remote learning to students due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Pivot Learning and CORE have compiled a list of free resources that either we’ve developed or that our trusted partners have shared to help educators tackle the difficult challenge of providing all our students with equitable access to learning, wherever it takes place. Below you’ll find links to resources to support professional learning around equitable instruction and to help support teachers, parents, and caregivers with at-home learning.
Free Professional Learning Resources
How to Ensure Remote or In-Person Reading Assessments Provide the Data You Need to Guide Instruction
On-Demand Webinars: From assessment for dyslexia to fractions and word problems, CORE’s collection of recorded webinars is a rich resource for building knowledge of evidence-based instructional practices in reading and math.
Blogs: CORE experts share their insights, opinions, and expertise about current instructional practices and educational issues.
Free Lesson Model Videos: Develop reading instructional skills in phonics, multisyllabic word reading, spelling, and informational text.
Distance Learning & Instructional Materials Guidance: Guidelines and resources that will help districts ensure they have high-quality instructional materials during distance learning.
A curated list of resources and online learning opportunities to help support the continuation of high-quality, integrated college and career readiness educational experiences amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Blog: Access articles, videos, and podcasts to increase knowledge about the intersection of equity and standards.
Disrupting Inequity: Having Brave Conversations About Bias: This toolkit contains everything you need to facilitate conversations about bias, prejudice, and race, and includes materials and resources to guide you each step of the way.
Educational Resources for Parents and Teachers
Guidance for parents on how to talk to children about COVID-19 and how to help children structure their out-of-school time. The “translate” feature permits parents to read the guidance in 50 languages.
From Aga Khan
FreeReading.net: Access a collection of free activities, searchable by literacy skill, to teach reading and writing in or out of the classroom.
The iReady math and ELA digital learning platform is now available at no cost. Curriculum Associates also has printable activity packs for grades K-8.
National Center on Improving Literacy: Get toolkits and other online resources to support early literacy development. Several toolkits are specifically designed to provide parents and caregivers with guidance for developing their children’s literacy skills at home.
Open Up Resources: This high-quality, comprehensive curricula for grades K-5 reading and language arts is always free. Register to gain access to the curricula and resources to support implementation.
PBS: Interactive, multilingual site for preK-13 students with real-world and relevant grade-level ELA, science, math, STEM, and STEAM activities in English, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, French, and other languages.
UnboundEd:
- Find Lessons: This free collection of lessons, searchable by grades and content area, is an invaluable resource for educators and families as they plan remote learning lessons.
- Applying Standards to Content: Parents and caregivers are often unfamiliar with learning standards, but are now faced with instructing their children. These teaching guides, videos, and podcasts provide valuable insights focused on the application of content related to standards.
The iReady math and ELA digital learning platform is now available at no cost. Curriculum Associates also has printable activity packs for grades K-8.
Math Cats: Interactive online activities for children ages 12 and under. The site includes a math art gallery, Microworlds and Logo programming, and math questions on a magic chalkboard.
Open Up Resources: This high-quality, comprehensive curricula for grades 6-8 math is always free. Register to gain access to the curricula and resources to support implementation.
PBS: Interactive, multilingual site for preK-13 students with real-world and relevant grade-level ELA, science, math, STEM, and STEAM activities in English, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, French, and other languages.
UnboundEd:
- Find Lessons: This free collection of lessons, searchable by grades and content area, is an invaluable resource for educators and families as they plan remote learning lessons.
- Applying Standards to Content: Parents and caregivers are often unfamiliar with learning standards, but are now faced with instructing their children. These teaching guides, videos, and podcasts provide valuable insights focused on the application of content related to standards.
Zearn: Access 400 hours of free digital math lessons for grades K-5 with on-screen teachers and embedded remediation along with paper-based materials that can be used without a device. To help districts, schools, teachers, and parents/caregivers get started quickly, Zearn created a Distance Learning Resource Center with step-by-step onboarding instructions, mini-PD webinars, video tutorials, and parent/caregiver packs to send home.
The Exploratorium: Cognitively-demanding, teacher-tested, hands-on science activities.
National Geographic Kids: Interactive readings, activities, quizzes, and games focusing on common core science topics.
PBS: Interactive, multilingual site for preK-13 students with real-world and relevant grade-level ELA, science, math, STEM, and STEAM activities in English, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, French, and other languages.
A list of more than 30 web-based virtual field trips to locations like San Diego Zoo, Yellowstone National Park, and the U.S. Space and Rocket Museum.
Virtual Learning Resources for English Learners
Online workshops, considerations, and resources on supporting diverse learners, designed with ELs in mind even if not explicitly named.
From New Visions for Public Schools
Suggestions for how to use UDL to improve access and user experience for ELs with online learning – for asynchronous, synchronous, and blended instruction.
From New Visions for Public Schools
Key principles to guide district and educator support for ELs during school closure.
From English Learner Success Forum
Tips on how to engage with emergent bilingual students when teaching remotely.
Created by Rita Tracy (2020), Language Development Coordinator, Summit School District, CO
Guidance for integrating language instruction into distance learning models, with examples.
From SEAL
Webinar series to support ELD in virtual classrooms
From Californians Together
Thank you for working harder than ever to support teachers, your students, and their families during these uncertain and stressful times. We hope that the resources on this list are helpful as you make plans to provide all students with equitable access to online and at-home learning. If we can be of further assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at info@pivotlearning.com or 510.250.2543.
Pivot Learning refers to both Pivot Learning and our subsidiary, CORE.
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