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Learning Resources for Parents

The KIBE School District remains dedicated to ensuring educational excellence for every student. The following list of suggested learning opportunities was developed considering a variety of students, including students with IEPs and students who do not have access to technology or other resources. These opportunities are examples of extended learning activities. There are many great resources to help students to stay engaged academically while at home. These suggested learning extensions are optional and will not affect students’ grades or ability to complete the semester.

Grades K-2

Reading

  • Have your student read a “just right” book daily for 15-30 minutes
  • Read aloud to your student and ask comprehension questions such as:
    • What are you picturing as you read/hear this text?
    • What are you wondering about?
    • What has happened so far? / What have you learned so far?
  • English Learners: Continue to speak, read and write in the language that is most comfortable at home.

Writing

  • After reading a book or portion of a book, select one prompt to respond to:
    • Write about what happened in the story.
    • Write about your favorite part and tell why you selected that part.
    • Write about what might happen next in the story.
    • Write a story.

Mathematics

This is a great time to share with your student that math is everywhere. K-2 students should spend 10 minutes/day for math games and/or workbook practice.

  • Count Everything: Counting is a powerful activity that students can do anywhere.
  • Count in different ways, by 2’s, 5’s, 10’s. Start counting from different numbers, not just at zero. Celebrate landmark numbers – Clap or jump when you get to multiples of 10 like 10, 20, 30 etc.
  • Play store! Count while you stock shelves or exchange and count pretend money.
  • Talk about Shapes: Find, classify and sort shapes in your home. How many circles can you find, how many rectangles – and how many of those are squares.
  • Measure everything. Use nonstandard tools like a shoe or even your hand to measure how tall a table is or how far you can jump.
  • Point out fractions – share things - like a can of soup - between people. Each person gets a 1/2 or 1/3. Note how this new kind of number is less than one but more than none!
  • Read Stories! Mathematize reading time. Most children’s books are ripe with opportunities to notice shapes, count objects, compare two things, notice how things change and grow, and to make predictions about what is going to happen based on the information we already have!
  • Look at coins and determine how old they are using the date. Sort them from oldest to newest coin. If you have a large collection of coins arrange them into a bar graph based on year or the location, they were minted. What is the most common date or location?

Science

  • Go outside and make observations. Look for evidence of animal habitats (i.e.: spider webs, bird nests, animal tracks, or leaves with insect bite marks, etc.)
  • Look for evidence of spring in the plants (i.e.: flowers, buds, new leaves, etc.)
  • Collect rocks or leaves from outside and let students think of creative ways to put the objects into groups. (i.e.: size, color, shape, texture) Ask students to explain why they chose the grouping they chose.

Library

  • What are the differences between fiction, nonfiction and biography?
  • Do you know the parts of a book? Can you identify the spine, the title page and the front and back covers? Does your nonfiction book have a glossary, a table of contents and an index? How does this help you find information quickly?
  • Can you arrange your books in alphabetical order by the author’s last name? Can you group your nonfiction books by subject?
  • Find online books

Grades 3-5

Reading

  • Have your student read a “just right” book daily for 15-30 minutes
  • Read aloud to your student and ask comprehension questions such as:
    • What are you picturing as you read/hear this text?
    • What are you wondering about?
    • What has happened so far? / What have you learned so far?
  • English Learners: Continue to speak, read and write in the language that is most comfortable at home.

Writing

  • After reading a book or portion of a book, select one prompt to respond to:
    • Write about what happened in the story.
    • Write about your favorite part and tell why you selected that part.
    • Write about what might happen next in the story.
    • Write a story.

Mathematics

This is a great time to share with your student that math is everywhere. Grade 3-5 students should spend 10 minutes/day for math games and/or workbook practice.

  • Measure, count, and record. Count how many jumping jacks or pushups can be done and how long it takes – or how long it takes to do 10 or 20. Play around with doubling or halving the time. Use non-standard tools, like a shoe, to count how far someone can jump – calculate how far 10, 15, or 20 jumps might take you.
  • Build something together. Big or small, any project that involves measuring includes counting, adding, and multiplying. It doesn’t matter whether you’re making a clubhouse out of shoeboxes or building a genuine tree house.
  • Involve your student in the shopping. Talk about prices as you shop and estimate the cost by rounding to friendly numbers or use a calculator for more accuracy.
  • Look at coins and determine how old they are using the date. Sort them from oldest to newest coin. Find the sum of their ages. Find the difference between the oldest and the newest. If you have a large collection of coins arrange them into a bar graph based on year or location where they were minted. What is the most or least common year or location?
  • Count things and generalize to larger sets. Count how many beans are in one cup and estimate how many are in a larger bag. Count how many students are in their class and estimate how many students are home from their school or from the school district.
  • Mathematize reading time. Most children’s books are ripe with opportunities to notice shapes, count objects, compare two things, notice how things change and grow, and to make predictions about what is going to happen based on the information we already have!

Science

  • Keep a “Spring Changes” journal by making daily observations of the weather, plants, and animal changes that occur as the spring approaches. Draw pictures and write about what evidence you see of the coming spring season. Record the questions you have.
  • Using household items, design and build the tallest free-standing structure you can build.

Library

  • How are books arranged in a library? Can you arrange your books by the author’s last names? Can you arrange the nonfiction books by subject?
  • Why is a table of contents, an index and a glossary important in a nonfiction book?
  • Can you tell the difference between an autobiography and a biography?
  • Using an online resource try to find information on a topic of your choice

Grades 6-8

Reading

  • Suggested reading time for middle school students is 30-45 minutes a day.
  • Questions to consider while you read:
    • What questions do you have about the text?
    • What inferences and/or predictions are you making as you read?
    • What connections do you have to the text?
  • English Learners: Continue to speak, read and write in the language that is most comfortable at home.

Writing

Below are questions to consider during and after reading. Remember to use text evidence to support your responses.

  • What is the main idea or theme?
  • Who is the intended audience? How do you know?
  • How is the text structured or organized?
  • What is your connection to the text?
  • What is the author’s purpose and/or message?

Mathematics

Middle school students should spend 30 minutes/day for math review and games.

  • Have students consider the math they have done in middle school. Examples might be fractions, percent, ratios, solving proportions, proportional relationships, linear relationships, geometry, or any others. Have them record (pictures, video, drawing) places in their homes, or neighborhoods where they see this math happening. Have them write math problems about the math they see!
  • Game: 1-2 Nim o Instructions: Nim is a two-player game. Start with a pile of 10 counters (paper clips, dried pasta, coins, etc.). On your turn, remove one or two counters from the pile. You must take at least one counter on your turn, but you may not take more than two. Whoever takes the last counter wins. o Example Game: Start with 10 counters in the pile. Player A takes 2 counters, leaving 8. Player B takes one counter, leaving 7. Player A takes two counters, leaving 5. Player B takes one counter, leaving 4. Player A takes one counter, leaving 3. Player B takes one counter, leaving 2. Player A takes two counters, leaving 0 and winning the game.
    • After you play several games, start the conversation around the question, “How do you win?” Record data for different variations (starting with 1 counter, 2 counters, 3 counters, etc.) and see if you can figure out a strategy to always win.

Science

  • Read a news source on the coronavirus daily.
    • Research the validity of the claims using expert sources, such as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), to identify inconsistencies.
    • Based on your readings, why does the CDC recommend you wash your hands for 20 seconds and not touch your eyes and nose?

Library

  • Find a book that you and a friend have both read. Discuss your favorite parts of the book. Did the book have any relatable themes? Recommend a favorite book to three people and tell them why.
  • Explore current events using a database. How did you experience differ from using a book? Databases can be found at online at (see KIBE family and student resources)