Distance Learning Resources That Do ALL of the Things.
Now this is a story, all about how our lives got flipped turned upside-down. I’d like to take a minute, just sit right there. I’ll tell you all my secrets about distance learning resources (okay the end needs a little work, but I just couldn’t help myself).
As we all head back to school, in whatever format that looks like for you. Most of us are using some kind of distance learning platform. Whether its Google Classroom, Clever, Seesaw, or some other random thing your district has decided on, we all need easy to use, easy to manipulate, and easy to track data on resources. For some of us, the digital platform has turned out to be right up our ally, for others it’s been a total cluster… well you get the picture. Lucky for me, my staff and I took to the digital platform like fish to water. We have scoured the internet for the best distance learning resources you can find, and we have discriminating tastes. So, here’s a little list of my top 5 favorite online resources and little bit about each one. If you want to dive into further detail on my Number 1 and 2 choices, check out my instructional video at the end.
Top Five Distance Learning Resources
#5 Math Playground:
What is it? Math Playground is a educational game site that has not only math games, but also Language Arts games and Keyboarding games. There are TONS of games and they are organized into specific learning objectives.
Cost: They are running a Promo right now for 25% off. You can start a free trial, but then you need a subscription. It’s $9.99 monthly, $23.97 quarterly, or $71.88 for a year. You can cancel at any time. I would suggest a 3 month plan with a teammate.
Best Features: First of all, it’s fun. The variety of games that are related to specific common core standards are definitely a highlight. I also love that you can search by a variety of filters. Lastly, and maybe my favorite, is that you can assign a game to a student in your Google Classroom directly from the game portal and it walks you through creating the assignment in your Google Classroom and makes it’s own game specific hyperlink.
Data Collection: Math Playground does not have a data collection feature, but it’s still great for skills practice.
#4 Boom Cards :
What is it? Boom cards are sort of like digital flash cards. They are interactive single slide card collections that focus on a specific learning objective. For example, a deck of cards can be a collection of anywhere from 5 to 30 interactive tasks such as “two digit addition with regrouping” that a student has to click through to practice skill sets.
Cost: There are 4 membership levels from “free” to “ultimate ($35 annually)”. As you go up in membership level, you get more materials and access. In the ultimate plan you can make your own cards. There are a ton of free card decks, but if your looking for the really good ones, you have to buy credits to buy them with.
Best features: Boom cards are interactive, self grading, and paperless. You can also assign specific decks directly to your students using a deck’s hyperlink.
Data collection: Boom cards collect data on each deck and each student using that deck and it gives you a detailed report.
What is it? I know what you’re thinking, “Scholastic News?! That’s not ‘news’.” But hold on there, Judgemental Judy, Scholastic News has a lot to offer that you may not know about. They have a whole online platform that is INCREDIBLE. I’ll jump more into that in the “Best Features” section. Scholastic News is grade level non-fiction, magazine style, texts that come with a bunch of additional resources. It has physical magazines as well as the online platform.
Cost: A year-long subscription is about $6 per student. Considering how much you get with it, it’s a pretty good deal.
Best Features: Scholastic News has an amazing digital platform. The site gives students a classroom code and once their in, it is super easy to navigate. The online magazine has clickable links and interactive definitions for new vocabulary words. The issues often come with corresponding videos, comprehension games, and vocabulary slideshows. They all come with a lesson plan and set of “skill sheets” which ask comprehension questions about the text. AND this year they have interactive Google Drive versions of their worksheets!! The interactive digital worksheets are done through Google Forms and can be assigned directly to your Google Classroom. They also support Clever. Last, but not least, you can get the issues in Spanish as well.
Data collection: If you use the Google Form versions or the worksheets in your Google Classroom, Google Forms will collect student data for you. I have several instructional videos on how to track data in Google Forms on my YouTube channel, if you need help.
#2 Epic Schools:
What is it? Epic is basically an online book site. It has hundreds of gorgeous digital books that are geared towards a variety of readers. It has traditional books that students read, audio books, read to me, and videos. Some books come with comprehension quizzes at the end, and you can make your own quizzes.
Cost: Epic is free to educators. All you need is an educator email. It can also be accessed free to students doing distance learning during school hours using the classroom code. If families need access outside of school day hours, they can either purchase a membership or log in with a parent email and get 2 free hours of reading per week.
Best Features: With Epic, the best feature is really the variety of texts and the ease of navigating the website. Assigning books to students is amazingly simple. It also has multiple filters for organizing reading levels including: Lexile, AR, DRA, and Grade Level. A lot of the books come with quizzes at the end that other teachers have made, but you can also make your own. You can assign books to your whole class, or to specific students. It also has this great feature where if a student clicks through a book too fast, it makes them go back and take their time before they can mark it as done. There are two reasons I have Epic in 2nd place, rather than 1st; my 1st place choice does a little more advanced job of tracking data and it’s free to students without any restrictions.
Data Collection: Epic tracks data on amount of time students have read, what they are reading, and results from quizzes assigned to them. You can search data by class or by student.
What is it? Splash Learn aka Splash Math, is an online math program that allows students to practice 350+ common core math skills in a fun and interactive way, while also tracking their progress and creating individualized learning plans.
Cost: Splash Learn is free to everyone!!
Best Features: I’ve already told you that it’s free, so I’ll move on. Splash Learn is fun, my students love it. It’s interactive, it rewards students, and it’s super accessible. It’s really easy to set up and walks you through the whole process. Once you’ve made your preferred settings and entered students, it’s really easy to assign learning objectives and search for specific standards. Splash Learn aligns with Common Core standards and you can also filter by Common Core milestones. You can assign diagnostic assessments based on subject and it tracks the data, shows you what areas a student is struggling in, and creates an individualized learning plan that can then be assigned to the student that focuses on those areas. Splash Learn takes a bunch of the heavy lifting out of planning and assessing.
Data Collection: I honestly can’t say enough good things about Splash Learn’s data collection. It is very professional, highly focused, and easy to read. You can print out student specific data to show parents or bring to IEPs. And the way the data populates individualized learning plans, is just fantastic.
So there it is, the best of the best in distance learning resources. If you want to dive deeper into setting up your own Epic and/or Splash Learn accounts, you can watch my instructional videos below. Good luck out there!