April 26, 2020 |
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The novel coronavirus is changing the way we teach, and TeachersFirst is ready to help. Our upcoming issues are full of the same great resources you’ve come to expect—and new ideas on how to use them in the era of distance learning. View our Public Health Crises Collection >>
April is National Garden Month
With spring blooming, April is the perfect time to encourage your students to start a home garden. Dig into these resources for hands-on ways to teach about plant life and gardening.
Grades K-6
How Does Your Garden Grow? A Project-Based Approach to Learning
Check out this NEW TeachersFirst exclusive featuring a project-based approach to learning about gardens. Find books, activity ideas (with technology and without), learning standards, and more. The extension activities are perfect for distance learning.
Grades K-12
Garden Activity Guide: Soil
Encourage families to create a garden and study soil with a thorough lesson plan, activities, videos, and correlation to learning standards. Don’t miss the remote learning ideas shared under the Materials and Resources section.
Grades 3-9
Grow a Garden in a Glove
Share this fascinating activity with your families so they can grow seeds in a plastic glove. The supplies are basic, but if students don’t have access, create your own and share photos or videos as the garden grows.
Grades K-6
You Are What You Eat - Examining Nutrition Through Literature
This new resource, a TeachersFirst exclusive, examines nutrition using literature. Find books to read to your class during your daily virtual meetings or record and share during a unit on nutrition and plants.
Plant the Seeds of Knowledge (Remotely!)
While all of the resources shared in this week's update can be used for distance learning, these web tools are specifically designed for teachers educating remotely.
Grades 4-9
Gardening/Spring Flowers (MyVocabulary.com)
MyVocabulary has created engaging online activities using gardening vocabulary words. This theme includes two interactive puzzles, a fill in the blank, and a matching activity to share with students learning at home.
Grades 3-8
Kids Gardening
Leverage this engaging, hands-on site offering lesson plans, activities designed for at-home use, book suggestions, and more to enhance your remote learning lessons. Follow the links to find resources for educators or for families.
Grades 2-12
Grow For It
Grow For It offers lessons and resources for the classroom and is currently featuring special COVID-19 resources. You'll find free virtual seminars, COVID-19 farming resources, and articles about the virus’s impact on agriculture.
Grades K-8
Kitchen Garden Planner
Engage your students as they plan and create a virtual garden. After choosing the size of the garden, add items by dragging and dropping plants of your choice into the grid. Students can share their finished gardens with you by sharing the provided URL.
Grades K-12
The Edible Schoolyard Project
Offer edible education in the home classroom! This site is currently highlighting activities that were created specifically for distance learning. Don’t miss The Perfect Slice and The Germination of a Bean Seed (perfect for gardening!).
This Week at TeachersFirst
Join us on Tuesday for our next virtual workshop all about Google Keep, read a timely blog post related to gardens, and don’t forget to give your input in our weekly poll!
Tuesday, 4/28, 7 PM ETOK2Ask®: Keep On, Keepin’ OnConnect and collaborate with our tech coaches this Tuesday at 7 PM ET during a new virtual workshop session, “Keep On, Keepin’ On.” Learn the basics of using Google Keep for organization and explore strategies to enhance notetaking and resource curation. |
Infusing Technology BlogLet’s Talk About National Garden MonthThis blog post highlights the many reasons why students at every grade level should be involved in gardening activities. Find learning objectives related to science, technology, math, engineering/design process, and a collection of related web resources. |
Share your thoughts with our communityWeekly PollThis week our poll asks, “What types of tools would be helpful to you during remote teaching? How can we help you? Should we share resources to create projects, resources for enrichment, or tools to deliver content?” |
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TeachersFirst is a collection of curated, classroom-ready content and ideas — including teacher-authored reviews of thousands of web resources. Built-in guidance from seasoned professionals makes effective classroom technology use trouble-free. TeachersFirst is made available free to K12 teachers by The Source for Learning, Inc., a nonprofit that has been providing educational resources for more than 40 years.