Are you making a temporary switch to virtual teaching? I have received many panicked emails from teachers asking for ideas and resources for taking their classrooms online.
I created this blog post to give my best tips and ideas for teachers facing this challenge. You are going to do great. I promise!
First, it’s worth mentioning that every district that closes will have different requirements, platforms, and expectations. Definitely follow the rules set out to you by your administration but use some of these ideas to help make e-learning more engaging for your students.
Second, some students don’t have access to the internet or technology devices. Find out your district’s plan for them. Some districts will provide internet and technology. Other districts will expect you to create paper-based work for students.
Before we get to the good stuff, be sure to sign up for my weekly VIP email club full of ideas, resources, and fun for upper elementary social studies/writing teachers!
How to Use Google Resources/Apps in Upper Elementary
If you aren’t already familiar with Google’s free apps, I definitely recommend you spend a little time learning how to use them.
Even when you aren’t teaching virtually, Google apps are an amazing resource for teachers and students. I use them every single day.
The blog post linked below will show you how to use Google Slides, Forms, Sheets, Docs, Sites, and more. Plus, I included short screencasts to show you how to use each app.
How to Use Google Resources/Apps in Upper Elementary
Fun Online Learning Ideas, Sites, & Resources
Book Commercials: Instead of a traditional book report, ask students to create and record “book commercials” to share with you. Some of my students really get into this project, dressing as newscasters and creating props.
Virtual Field Trips: When we can’t visit a museum, the next best thing is taking a virtual field trip. I love sending students on virtual field trips because they can guide themselves. They all seem to go off in different directions, which is not possible when physically visiting a museum. Here are my favorite virtual field trips:
- Virtual Tour of George Washington’s Mansion House at Mount Vernon
- Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
- New York City’s Museum of Modern Art
PBS Media: This free site is full of videos, articles, and interactive video lessons on all core subjects.
Scholastic Learn at Home: This free site contains days of lessons and activities on interesting topics. I’m really impressed with how Scholastic has stepped up to help teachers during this difficult time!
Mount Vernon’s Museum Collection Online: The online collections contain thousands of artifacts related to George Washington and his family. There are uniforms, pieces of jewelry, ceramics, books, and more. Students can get up close and personal with primary source objects!
Mount Vernon Online Learning: Collections of digital primary sources, secondary sources, videos, games, etc.
History Meme Student Guide for Google Slides: This is a free resource that you can assign to your students to help them learn about history memes and create their own.
18th Century Artifacts Google Slides Presentation: This is a free, short presentation I created to share selected 18th Century objects with my students. When you visit the link above, you’ll be asked to make a copy into your Google Drive. Be sure that you save it to the account from which you’ll share with students.
Newsela: I definitely recommend using Newsela for current events and nonfiction text. This company is graciously offering their entire website free for the rest of the 2019-2020 school year.
With a free teacher account, you can add your students and assign articles to them. They have an excellent mix of current events, science topics, social issues, and history articles.
Also, I like that I can allow various reading levels for the same article. Each article also comes with a writing prompt and a graded quiz.
Readworks: Readworks is always free. Sign up for a free teacher account and assign your students articles that meet your standards. You can filter by grade level, subject, topic, reading level, read-aloud, and more!
Resources that I created for Google Slides:
Click HERE to view the above resources on Teachers Pay Teachers.
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