Back to in-person learning! I was excited to see my students, but knew that getting all the chargers back in the charging stations was a nightmare last time as well as lost chargers.
So I devised a non-tech plan for K - 2. Kindergarten is usually working on fun polar/arctic animal stations in January, but this year had to look different. Here is a summary of what we did:
Kindergarten learned about animals in their winter coats, colored a penguin, and got their first chance to engineer with LEGOS!!
I have used this penguin before but added a video to the unit. It was quite helpful. Here is a link to the penguin that I use PENGUIN PRINTABLE
First grade and second grade did variations of the same activity. If they brought laptops, we worked on updating them (restarting multiple times) and re-book marking our most used websites Wattsburg and Clever. It was a bit more math heavy, but trying to keep it fun. We started with a Snowflake I Spy (LINK). The extreme version is harder than you think! Then we watched a new snow video to learn a few science facts about snowflakes. Finally, we followed a code to color a penguin using a 1-100 chart which I have used before from Teachers Pay Teachers. Penguin coloring sheet link
Third grade tried a new low-tech lesson plan on snowflakes. I was really impressed by the ideas and creativity by students. I would have them take pictures and save them in the future. Instead, I tried to snap a picture with my phone as I went along. They also needed massive computer updates and used the same snowflake video. Finally, we worked on our Code.org with time remaining.
I got my inspiration from one blog and my shapes from a second blog. Here are those links!
Fourth grade needed to work on Code.org level 2 and they had all day to charge their computers. So we just jumped into drawing and coding together. This is a challenge since it uses exact directions and LOOPS! LOOPS seem to be a struggle for many students.
It has been an exhausting week for teachers, but it was good to see those masked faces, see their excitement in completing a challenging activity, everyone completing similar activities, etc... I know that school is the happy place for so many students. I know that it was a glimpse of normal for own children. The stress and pressure was much lower in my house. We even watched a movie tonight and have no weekend homework. During periods of remote learning, breaks and weekends mean school work CATCH UP. Ben has some boy scout activities, girl scout cookie selling, plus there are clothes to put away, and rooms to straighten, but NO required learning. I am trying to embrace the pros and cons of remote and in-person learning. Neither learning situation is ideal...neither is easy...both are necessary. I want continuity, but safety comes first. One day at a time!
