Continuing Learning During Quarantines and School Closures in ECE & Elementary
Despite our highest hopes, 2022 is bringing a wave of school closures and quarantines due to the quick-spreading omicron variant of Covid-19. Some schools decided to extend winter break, while others have returned for a day or two only to close again due to staffing shortages and large numbers of students absent, sick, or in quarantine.
During virtual instruction in the 2020-21 school year, I observed a number of different strategies that elementary schools successfully utilized for student engagement and learning. Various combinations of these strategies could be useful this year as well, to bridge in-class instruction and quarantine periods.
In this blog post, I’ll share what I have seen work well at a number of PK-5 schools across the country. These strategies are listed in order from easiest to more difficult to implement. Strategies can be used alone or (usually) in combination. After I describe the strategies, I’ll discuss some factors to consider when making a plan for instruction during quarantines.
Strategies
Packets – We know them, we may love them, we may hate them, but it’s undeniable that they are easy. Teachers can put together a packet of blacklines for tracing, handwriting practice, coloring, math, cut & paste – the options are endless. It’s a good idea to have a master copy of your packet assembled, if not already copied in quantity, prior to a quarantine being issued. When the notice of a positive case comes, you may have hours or minutes until kids are picked up for the day, and you might not see them again for 10-14 days. Plan enough activities in one packet to last 5 school days, with activities for each day spread across subject areas. The activities should be easy enough that caregivers can give quick instructions before kiddos complete them mostly independently. You can’t expect a caregiver to deliver instruction on a new skill – as much as caregivers know how to count or sort or read, if they’re not educators they don’t know how to teach their kids how to count, sort, or read – that’s why you get paid the big bucks. ;-) Another variation on packets is to send home workbooks or readers that kids typically use in the classroom. However, consider that if you send a whole workbook it might not come back, so you could just rip out the relevant pages for the duration of quarantine to send home.
Hands-on Activities – We all know there are kids who love packets, as well as kids who would not complete a packet for all the goldfish in the world. You can create more options for kids and parents by providing quick & easy suggestions for hands-on activities that are related to your curriculum units. For example, if you’re working on sorting & classifying: “Dump out your sock drawer. Sort your socks one way, then draw a picture and write about the groups you made. Mix them up and sort them a different way, and draw another picture!” You can include activities that use common household items, or school supplies if you have sent them home. (Side note, you may want to send home basic supplies along with that packet! A white board, dry erase marker, snap cubes/other counters, crayons, and some paper can go a long way.) The best way to share these activities is through an existing communication platform, like Seesaw, Canvas, Google Sites, Remind, Brightwheel, or even over email – whatever parents are familiar with. Send 4-5 activities (5-10 min each) per day, spread across subject areas. You can include math, science, literacy, SEL, and even physical activities! If your platform allows, ask parents to take a picture or video of their child’s activity/product and share it back for encouragement and feedback. If children can see each other’s work and like or comment, even better.
Online Educational Platforms – These days, there are so many online programs that kids use to learn content even during in-person learning. Think of Zearn, Epic, iReady, RAZ Kids – places kids are already going to access lessons that supplement your classroom curriculum. If kids already know about these and can easily access them through a district or personal login, you could always provide suggestions of lessons or time allotments to spend on these platforms during quarantine. These recommendations can be combined with a playlist of hands-on activities too.
Video Lessons – Teachers can record themselves teaching brief lessons or find existing video lessons on YouTube. This is great for times when you want to actually teach something, like how to write a letter 5, how to say the sound that P makes, or how to do addition. You can do a read aloud of a class favorite book or read one chapter a day of a longer book you’ve been working on. You could even take a nature walk and describe what you’re seeing to push in vocabulary! (Shout-out to one of my Tulsa schools for that one!) There are tons of existing videos out there, some with helpful animations/visuals, but your students also love seeing YOU on video! And trust me, they don’t care what your hair looks like and they would love to meet your dog. Video lessons should be 5-10 minutes max.
GoNoodle: https://www.youtube.com/c/GoNoodle
Storyline Online: https://www.youtube.com/c/StorylineOnlineSAF
HarperKids: https://www.youtube.com/user/HarperKids
Jack Hartmann: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVcQH8A634mauPrGbWs7QlQ
Khan Academy Kids: https://www.youtube.com/c/KhanAcademyKids/videos
Starfall: https://www.youtube.com/c/StarfallEducationFoundation/videos
Live Zoom Lessons – For the technologically adept teacher, staying connected with your kids via Zoom is a helpful way to keep learning going. Two primary ways to use Zoom are for morning meetings(weekly or up to daily) and small group lessons (2-3 times per week for each child). You can do almost anything over Zoom that you would do in a real circle time or small group lesson, especially if you have sent home supplies! (If you have not sent home supplies, prompt caregivers to gather supplies before Zooms, or give kids a few minutes to get their supplies at the start of the meeting.) Live Zoom meetings enable kids to see and talk to you and each other, which increases feelings of community during what can be an isolating time. You can use live Zoom meetings for songs, books, student shares, calendar time, and any other kind of instruction. You can have students complete work during a Zoom, like building a pattern out of snap cubes or practicing writing their name, and then hold it up to show you for feedback. This is a great opportunity to differentiate and provide tailored instruction based on what your students need. Live Zoom sessions can be 15-20 minutes as long as they are interactive for the kids. Use all of the features you know work for live in-person lessons, like visual aids, call & response, movement, puppets…if it works in person, it’s probably also going to make your Zoom lessons awesome!
In addition to the strategies above, schools have seen success with weekly phone calls home to check in with families. Teachers can find out how the student is doing with any material that has been sent home, as well as checking on ways they can support the family with other needs. Personal contact increases the likelihood that children will engage in learning activities during quarantines, and that they continue to feel connected to school even though they aren’t seeing you in person every day.
How do you decide what your quarantine instruction plan will be? Here are some factors to consider:
Teacher time and comfort: Choose strategies that you feel capable implementing in the time you have available. Teachers are all stressed right now, between our personal stresses and the pressures of a global pandemic. Don’t take on more than you can handle, even if it sounds flashy or cool! The kids will be okay with whatever you can reasonably prepare for them.
Caregiver time and comfort: As much as you think about your own capacity here, think about caregivers. They may be working (or trying to work) from home while their child is quarantined. They may have multiple children at home under quarantine, or younger siblings not yet in school. Or children may be going to a relative or babysitter’s house during the day if parents are unable to stay home with them. Any activities you send home should be simple enough that caregivers and children don’t need too much expertise to engage with them. It’s also helpful to provide many things but make them optional so that families who want more activities have them, but you don’t expect everyone to complete everything.
Technology: Consider what access to technology families have – both devices and internet access. Last year many schools sent home devices for 1:1 access (Chromebooks, iPads, etc.). However, it may not be worth it to check out devices for a 2-week quarantine period, then expect them to be returned to school. Consider whether a tablet, phone, or laptop will be available for the child to access a video lesson or live Zoom. You may also consider family members’ expectations for privacy in the home if their child is on a Zoom lesson, or other caregiver questions or concerns about this technology. If you are wondering about this, use your relationships with caregivers to ask! You should also consider teacher, school, or district capacity to provide tech support if families have challenges with devices.
Length and group size of quarantine: Whether it’s one child or one class or one grade level going home can play a big role in your quarantine plan. It’s unreasonable to expect that a teacher provide personal Zoom small group instruction for one child who is quarantining due to travel or exposure. However if it’s the whole class or a whole grade level, then that becomes a more attractive option. Also consider how much effort it takes to get systems up and running compared to the length of the quarantine. If a 2-week quarantine is called right before a holiday, perhaps some days in between are folded into the quarantine period for a longer period of home learning. Then it might be more valuable to incorporate live instruction or video lessons. For shorter periods, packets and hands-on activities may suffice.
Expectations: Along with all of these factors is the consideration of expectations – are you saying that children MUST do some portion of the activities sent home in order to qualify for attendance every day? I recommend setting a reasonable goal for families to qualify for attendance credit so that even families without the ability to (for example) help their child log on to a Zoom at a specific time can still count as attending school by completing other learning activities.