ISY LEARNS
ISY Learns Update – December Edition
Eric Brown, Director of Curriculum & Learning
December 17, 2020
“The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.” – B.B. King
As part of the ISY Learns Blog, I would like to provide periodic updates regarding curriculum, instruction, assessment, school improvement, and professional development.
Quarter 3 Planning is full swing as we focus our attention on our theme – Planet. The learning experiences we plan for our students will provide opportunities for all disciplines to make meaningful connections to the following Enduring Understandings:
- PreK – Grade 1 The Earth is a special place
- Grades 2 – 3 The Earth is changing.
- Grades 4 – 5 The Earth will survive.
- Grades 6 – 10 Effective action requires an understanding of the planet.
Here are some helpful and/or interesting articles, resources, and videos:
- Check out these great bitmoji Virtual Classrooms for inspiration.
- For those on Facebook, search the group Global Educator Collective. There are now over 129,000 members all tackling distance learning and sharing resources.
- The shift in data analysis mathematics courses is fast approaching. Until then, The Investigations Center for Curriculum and Professional Development provides some helpful activities for K-5 in Working with Data.
- All AERO Mathematics Curriculum Resources
- Here 19 Webcomics to keep teens engaged.
- Virtual Field Trips! – Yellowstone, Great Wall of China, Mars, and more…
- The Lorax rapped brilliantly by Wes Tank.
- Don’t we all wish we could be as happy doing this right now?
- Paul Andersen’s Teaching Guide at Home: A Survival Guide for Parents
- C3 authors Kathy Swan, John Lee, and S.G. Grant have created these Covid-19 Compelling Questions for the each social studies discipline.
- Check out this cool Evolution of Dance (1950 – 2020).
- Brilliant! Some parents have rewritten the Common Core Standards after having to homeschool during distance learning.
- 50 Easy Science Experiments Kids Can Do at Home
- Inquiry educators Trevor McKenzie, Kath Murdoch, and Kimberly Mitchell have created 130 Ideas for Check-In Questions during Remote Learning they created after their #inquirybythefire webinar.
- You can now download over 300,000 books from the New York Public Library for free.
- See SHAPE America’s Covid19 response, and how they can support teachers.
- See ACTFL’s response to Covid19, and how they can support teachers.
- Compassion Project and other lesson ideas and resources
- Kelly Gallagher has created some lessons for high school ELA teachers you can access.
- Arts Education Partnership Covid19 response and resources
How can we celebrate student and teacher successes? Consider submitting to the ISY Learns Blog by emailing ebrown@isyedu.org.
Previous ISY Learns Posts
The Impact of the MISCA Network
ISY’s High School Counselor Mick Amundson-Geisel provides insight on how the MISCA Network has impacted not only his practice but the lives our our ISY students.
Engaging Students to Ask Better Questions
“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.” – Albert Einstein. This post talks about how to get students to ask better questions and why that’s important.
Releasing Stress by Reading
Danny McCamlie explores how reading can reduce stress for adults. Looking at a study from the University of Sussex he looks at what books to pick and what to avoid.
Activating Curiosity
This next blog post features the first leg of our tools that support learning – curiosity. We’ll dive into how you can activate students’ curiosity by having them make observations of a provocation.
Tools that Support Learning
Welcome to the inaugural post of the new ISY blog – ISY Learns! In this post the new Director of Curriculum & Learning, Eric Brown, lays out his plans for going through his philosophy of learning.