Grade 8 ELA Low-Tech Remote Learning
The division that I work in has offered Remote Learning as an option to families for the month of December - and we just found out that Remote Learning will continue for Grade 7+ the first two weeks back to school after the winter break across Manitoba. In order to relieve some of the pressure that our Grade 8 teachers were under, as they are teaching both the students who are present in their physical classes, and the students who are learning remotely - I took the lead in preparing a portion of the low-tech option or "paper package" as we call it - for students who are not able to access their class content on our Microsoft Teams platform while at home. Given both the social-economic status of the community where I teach, and our rural-ness, many students do not have access to the wifi or devices required for remote learning. I should note my division has been loaning out devices and created wifi hotspots at school sites, both of which are steps in the right direction in levelling the playing field when it comes to digital access.
I used the Middle Years Remote Learning Literacy Menu which was created and shared by Ms. Mclauchlan at https://msmclauchlan.com/2020/10/29/remote-learning-literacy-menu/ as the basis for my Grade 8 ELA plan. I really appreciate how she included student choice and voice in the resource she shared and knew when I first saw it on Twitter that if I was in a position where I was teaching remotely, this was the way I would go.
Because the families had selected the low-tech/no-tech option, I planned with the assumption that the student would not have access to any device (computer, tablet, phone...) or wifi - this means that awesome resources such as Epic!, SORA (our Digital Library), Youtube, TedTalks etc... were unavailable to me or the students. As well, some of the students who selected this option may already find accessing Grade 8 content a challenge, so I wanted this plan to be as adjustable and adaptable for individual students as possible. I selected text options that connected to the Social Studies and Science topics the Grade 8 homerooms were currently exploring in class and provided them in print, while still providing lots of opportunity for student choice. So far, this planning was just for one week. I would like to use a similar format but change up the texts that I provide for the remaining weeks in December.
I started this endeavour a few days before the packages went home, which was a good thing because I found myself revising it every couple of days. I think that I was so excited to be planning an ELA program again - even if it's only temporary - that I just wanted to give them everything I possible could! I know how difficult I found facilitating remote learning at home this spring with my own children, so I really tried to not overwhelm students and their grown-ups with what I sent. My goal was to keep this engaging, meaningful and manageable.
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