Holiday Advent Calendar of Digital Activities

We know how busy December gets for teachers and we wanted to make sure you had resources to last you through the holiday season.  We rounded up resources from amazing tech gurus such as Eric Curts and Matt Miller. We also included some much-needed teacher self-care resources. We hope you enjoy this collection of resources!

Click HERE to access the Tech in the YO Holiday Advent Calendar!

Our template was inspired by the SlidesMania Advent Calendar. 

Hour of Code December 6-12, 2021

 Hour of Code Week December 6-12, 2021:

A movement to introduce students to Coding and Computer Science.

It's teacher-friendly with free resources on how to introduce, explore activities and tutorials, create your plan that is totally customizable. You can easily get your students motivated with a diverse group of celebrities. Join 180 other countries and in 45 different languages.

Sign up for the FREE resources today !

Manage your Teacher Dashboard: here to create an account in code.org using                                                                   Google Login.

Once you have created an account go to CLASSROROM SECTIONS and create sections for each of your classes and add an assignment. You can still share and should share the links on your Google Classroom page.

Select the Course on your page to create a new section slide.

Resources for Hour of Code:

Have fun!

*If you need help, feel free to reach out to one of us.

Discover the Discovery Education Activity Center!

 Discover the Discovery Education 

Activity Center!

Discovery Education has an awesome new channel called the Activity Center. Each month DE will curate a monthly activity center full of learning activities for grade bands spanning K-8. Check out pictures of the K-2, 3-5, and 6-8 October Activity Centers.

Better yet, click HERE to see them for yourself and to SUBSCRIBE to the DE Activity Channel!

DE even made a video showing how you can customize the monthly Activity Center to meet your scholars' specific learning needs. Click HERE to learn how.

More Chromebook Tips

It seems like there is a never-ending list of shortcuts for Google Chromebooks.

Here are a few of the most frequently requested:

Flipped Screen: Hold down the CTRL, SHIFT, & at the same time.

Zoomed in or Zoomed out too far: Press CTRL+0 to reset back to normal.

Split window:  Press ALT + ] for the screen to go on the left or Press ALT + [ go to the right.

Pin and Unpin a tab: Right-click on Tab & select PIN or UNPIN. Click your choice and you are all set!

Pin and Unpin Chrome Extensions:  Click the puzzle piece next to your Chrome Icon .

The menu will come down menu will appear. Click on the pushpin to color it blue. This will pin it to your extension toolbar. Reverse the steps to unpin.

For even further tips and tricks try to check out the links below...

YCSD Information Training Hub - Google Drive

20 Killer Google Chrome Tips & Tricks

Chromebook Hacks

Alice Keeler Keyboard Shortcuts on Twitter

Pining Google Extensions

Celebrate National STEM/STEAM Day!

 Celebrate National STEM/STEAM Day on November 8th!

National STEM/STEAM Day is dedicated to all things science, technology, engineering, art, and math. STEM (and STEAM) represent some of the fastest-growing and in-demand fields in the world today. Read on for a few ideas of how you can celebrate!

Visit a Virtual Museum 

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Virtual Tours (including narrated tours of the Sant Ocean Hall & the Hall of Human Origins)

NASA Glenn Research Center Virtual Field Trips

NASA Hubble Telescope Tour

Boston Museum of Science At Home- check the Daily Live Stream schedule or watch curated videos

COSI Virtual 360° View Tour- includes PhET simulations to allow scholars to experience the exhibits

Great Lakes Science Center Virtual Field Trip- video tours of the exhibits

Metropolitan Museum of Art #metkids Virtual Tour- click the red or yellow circles to explore the museum

The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art- Meet 22 Picture Book artists and see examples of their work

The Louvre for Kids- tour the kid's gallery, watch videos on exhibits, or check out seasonal art

Van Gogh Museum Virtual Tour via Google Arts & Culture- click the yellow Street View person icon to begin

Museo Frida Kahlo Tour via Google Arts & Culture- click the yellow Street View person icon to begin a tour of Frida Kahlo's house & view her artworks

The British Museum's History of the World- view art through the lens of history & geography

San Francisco Exploratorium Virtual Tour

National Inventors Hall of Fame Virtual Tour via Google Arts & Culture- click the yellow Street View person icon to begin

National Women's History Museum Online Exhibits- learn about Women in STEM & the Women of NASA along with other great exhibits

Research a STEAM Career

Discovery Education STEM Careers

Discovery Education Siemens STEM Day

Discovery Education If/Then STEM Professionals

Discovery Education Navy STEM Careers Virtual Field Trip

Discovery Education Tundra Connections Virtual Field Trip: Cool STEM Jobs

Discovery Education STEM Careers Choice Board

Scholars as Inventors, Explorers & Problem Solvers

Discovery Education Innovation Generation: Concept & Create Makerspace Virtual Field Trip

Discovery Education STEM Unplugged- videos showing fun science explorations

Discovery Education STEM Camp Activities for Grades 3-8

Northern Kentucky University STEM2U- free live or recorded STEM lessons/activities

Glazer Children's Museum At Home- explore & experiment

Great Lakes Science Center STEM Puzzle Games

Great Lakes Science Center Early Childhood Resources- video lessons on Science for Early Learners

OK GO Sandbox- OK GO is a band that uses STEAM to make their music & to make their music videos, watch the videos & explore with lessons

National Museum of African American Music Banjo & Spoons Project- scholars can explore & learn the history of the Banjo and of performing with Spoons, create their own songs, & take a quiz

Watch a STEAM Movie or Video

America's Musical Journey- watch the 40-minute movie & check out the Educator Guide that has K-8 lessons with ELA & S.S. standards if you wish to provide extended learning

10 Great Movies for the STEM Classroom- with grade-level recommendations and teacher tips

20 Movie Inspired STEM Activities- lists the movie then STEM ideas to follow after

Nye Labs- Bill Nye the Science Guy

Magic School Bus (Seasons 1-4)- fun science videos

Earth to Luna- Luna is a 6-year-old who is passionate about science- great for Early Learners

SciGirls- tween girls go on STEM adventures

Numberphile- a channel dedicated to numbers & math

SciShow, SciShow Space, and SciShow Kids- shows all about science, obviously, SciShow Kids is geared at younger scholars

It's Okay To Be Smart-  explore science topics

Sick Science!- science experiments that are fun to watch

Lab 360- Easy Science Experiments- more fun science experiments

Lesics- engineering videos

Minute Physics- short videos that explain physics concepts

Vihart- incorporates science, art, and math to explore math concepts

Babble Dabble Do- incorporates art with science and engineering 

 

*NOTE: all YouTube videos have been unblocked*

Get your students engaged in 5 minutes or less!

 

EDUPROTOCOL THIN SLIDES

How can you get your students engaged and learn how to use technology with little to no prep?  Try and use THIN SLIDES!  It is an amazing EduProtocol from the amazing Jon Corippo & Marlena Hebern. They describe it as "a strategy that is easy enough to be used frequently but open-ended enough to be creative!" The idea is to have students create a slide with a word or phrase then add an image to represent the concept. 

The teacher will give the directions on what topic, vocabulary word, or idea they would like students to use to create an engaging slide. They get 5 minutes in a shared Google Slide deck to add one word or phrase and one image. The students can write a quick sentence in the speaker note section at the bottom of the slide for their 8-10 seconds of presenting.

Teachers can spend more time on what the students have created rather than having the teachers be the "Sage on the Stage." It gives you more of a coaching role in students' learning and allows you to guide them in the right direction. 

Here is a template you can use to help get you started. 

PROS:

Kid Centered

It helps SPED &  ELs learn visually

Collaborative

Creative

Critical Thinking

Used across the curriculum

Immediate Feedback

Everyone Answers

Repetition

Integrates Technology

Loved by Kids!!

 Asynchronous Activity Ideas

Need asynchronous activity ideas for homework or an Asynchronous school day? If so, read on.

Examples of asynchronous learning activities:

• Watching pre-recorded lecture videos or lessons
• Viewing video demonstrations
• Reading and writing assignments
• Student presentations 
• Learning activities such as quizzes, problem-solving, and/or games

Some great asynchronous activity options in our district are:

• Discovery Education Student-Led Quiz (Video or Standard Quiz)
• Pear Deck Student-Paced Activity
• Google Form with a video & Mote (if needed)
• Flipgrid
• Edpuzzle (put in an Internal Service Request to have any YouTube videos unblocked- need to provide the YouTube URL)
• Quizziz Student-Paced Activity
• Kahoot! Self-Paced Game
• INFOhio BookFlix & Highlights Library- BookFlix is paired F & NF texts and Highlights Library is leveled books (ideal for PreK-2)
• INFOhio Storia: Ohio's eBook Collections for Grades 3-6
• TeacherMade Digital Worksheet (Free Version)
• Seesaw Activity (Free Version)
• Nearpod Student Paced Activity (Silver/Free Version)

If you would like help getting started on any of these platforms, or help creating asynchronous activities, email Tiffaney Trella, Rachel Carter, or Andrea Lewinsky from YCSD Tech Integration and we will be happy to help!

Do you have any other great asynchronous activity ideas? Please share them in the comments below.