Classroom Resources - SESS

Toolkits and Materials

• Smarter Balanced Tools for Teachers 
• Common Core State Standards: A Resource for SLPs (The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).
• ELL Starter Kit for Educators: Language Skills—This starter kit provides helpful monitoring forms for PK-12 educators who work with ELL students to find out if they’re on track learning the important academic English skills they need to be successful. (colorincolorado,org)
• Toolkit for Tutoring – Using TextProject’s BeginningReads with Young Readers - ToolKit for Tutoring is a guide for tutors and teachers working with young readers to develop literacy skills. This free guide includes activities that focus on vocabulary development, word study, and writing skills. In the guide, there is a link to the BeginningReads free series of resources.(textproject.org) 
• How to Learn Math: For Students – This is a free class for learners of all levels of mathematics. There are 6 sessions, the first three are approximately 10 minutes long and the last three approximately 20 minutes long. It combines really important information on the brain and learning with new evidence on the best ways to approach and learn math effectively. There are no prerequisites for this course. It comes in an English version and a Spanish version. (youcubed at Stanford University) 
• SweetSearch is a search engine designed for students that lists websites reviewed by a team of educators. It also provides social media tools that enable users to send their results to others. (sweetsearch.com)
• VISIBLE THINKING – This website is for teachers, school leaders and administrators in K-12 schools who want to encourage the development of a culture of thinking. Many resources for classroom use are described in detail. (visiblethinkingpz.org) 
• See, Think, Wonder Visible Thinking Routine – This is a routine for exploring works of art/photographs and other interesting things; it encourages students to make careful observations, thoughtful interpretations, and sets the stage for inquiry. (visiblethinkingpz.org)    
• See-Wonder-Think Strategy Sample Video Lesson demonstrates a routine that helps students to analyze and interpret art and/or photography. It was developed by Visual Thinking. (teachingchannel.org) 

Resource Libraries

• iCONN is a comprehensive search engine that provides all students, teachers and administrators with free online access to a wealth of essential library and information resources from trustworthy sources. It is freely accessible from every school, library, and home. Access from home requires a public library card. (iconn.org) 
• CommonLit—This website offers teachers a free collection organized by theme and Lexile level of news articles, poems, short stories, historical documents, complex nonfiction texts (including paired texts), related multimedia (videos, audio, and interactive websites, teacher guides, parent guides, text-dependent questions, and discussion questions. A new text view allows students to interact with the text on laptops and other one-to-one devices.(commonlit.org) 
• SELA website provides teachers and students nonfiction articles that are Common Core aligned. Each article offers a choice of five different Lexile levels, making it easy for an entire class to read the same content, but at level that is just right for each student. High interest articles are updated daily on such topics as: War and Peace, Science, Kids, Money, Law, Health and Arts. (Newsela.com)
• Tween Tribune – This news website by the Smithsonian provides daily news articles for students. Articles are selected by professional journalists working in collaboration with teachers and students. As a Smithsonian resource, it has a plethora of science and history focused articles. There are also articles in Spanish, different lexile levels, technology, a junior version for grades K-4 and more. (tweentribune.com) 
• FYI for Kids is a collection of engaging and high-quality magazine articles designed to enhance the Common Core classroom’s reading repertoire. The objective of this project is to demonstrate a type of text that is essential for increasing students’ engagement in and proficiency with complex texts—short engaging articles that communicate critical information.  (textproject.org)

Resources for Lesson/Unit Development

• Lesson Planning Tool: Content and Structure - Plan with the Common Core in mind. The Lesson Planning Tool (digital version only) guides teachers through a series of prompts about the lesson content, structure, and activities to ensure the Shifts required by the CCSS are central to the lesson. (achievethecore.org) 
• CCSS Instructional Practice Guides—include coaching and lesson planning tools to help teachers and those who support teachers to make the Key Shifts in instructional practice required by the Common Core State Standards (achievethecore.org).
• Content Modules present information and examples of concepts contained in the Common Core State Standards across grade bands in both ELA and Mathematics; providing examples of instruction and accommodations/adaptations for topics that may be difficult to teach or unfamiliar to special education teachers. (ncscpartners.org)   
• Curriculum Resource Guides provide guidance for teaching the Common Core State Standards to students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, provide examples for differentiating instruction for a wide range of students in multiple grade levels, and identify the necessary skills and knowledge students need to acquire/master the content. (ncscpartners.org)
• Reading Partners’ Comprehension Guides for TextProject Texts (K-5) – Reading Partners, a national literacy nonprofit that helps empower struggling readers, has given TextProject permission to share the guides with classroom teachers. Each guides includes directions that introduces the skill and an example for students and teachers to practice the skill. Use the guides as an introduction to learn a particular comprehension skill, or as a means to guide discussion about a text. Guides: Explaining Scientific Concepts, Main Topic in Informational Texts, Making Inferences (Informational Texts), Explaining Information, Cause and Effect (Historical Events), Cause and Effect. (readingpartners.org and textproject.org) 
• Meeting Students Needs Through Scaffolding – This document provides suggestions for scaffolding instruction to help students successfully read texts that may be difficult for them. (Expeditionary Learning for engageny.org) 
• 40 Resources and Tools for Deeper Learning--Resources include a video series with supporting materials including rubrics, lesson plans, research, and strategy documents. (teachingchannel.org)
• WebTools4U2Use: Finding the Right Tool (webtools4u2use.wikispaces.com)

• Grades K-2: I Spy Irises— a lesson designed for students with Autism  (getty.edu)
• Grade 2: Let’s Read It Again: Comprehension Strategies for English-Language Learners-- The lesson plan is a useful example of how to integrate appropriate supports in reading, writing, listening and speaking for students who are English Language Learners (ELLs). Lessons focus on building students’ vocabulary in context throughout instruction. (readwritethink.org)
• Grades 7-8: Persuasion Across Time and Space—Analyzing and Producing Persuasive Texts (with instructional modifications for English Language Learners)  (ell.stanford.edu)
• Grade 9: Making It Visual for ELL Students – Teaching History Using MAUS--The unit plan is a useful example of how to integrate appropriate supports in reading, writing, listening and speaking for students who are ELL, have disabilities, or read well below the grade level text band. Lessons focus on building students’ vocabulary in context throughout instruction. (readwritethink.org)