To be honest, this whole COVID-19 thing has happened so fast that I am still reeling from the almost hourly new information coming in. Last Thursday evening, our district made the decision to close for a week and then keep schools closed through Spring Break. Around 10:30 that night, our governor said all schools were going to be closed through the end of the month. That left me with one day to see students and say a tentative goodbye.
I felt all kinds of emotions that day—sadness, anger, frustration, and worry. And I am sure my students felt the same. We went to the school library and loaded up on books; I sent an email to parents for them to stay up on their independent reading, giving links to our school’s audiobooks and ebooks. So now I wait. I wait to see what happens next. I wait to see if things improve. I wait for what may come.
With this down time, I am homeschooling my own children, (who are in 1st and 3rd grade), baking more desserts, and spending extra time with my family. And I now have more time, as schools are closed through April 28.
Currently, my district is planning on doing distance learning, but only for enrichment. Our Spring Break starts now and when next week is over, I’ll work with my teaching partner to try and figure out how we’ll do this with the guidelines the district put in place. So thankful for the technology to plan without leaving my house! And to connect with my students without anyone leaving home.
I created some assignments that you could use if your school is going to distance learning. These are creative assignments you can complete with independent reading books or short stories. In this resource, there are 25 different projects to have students complete with any fiction text. So tons to choose from! These “book reports,” for lack of a more creative phrase, are all things that require minimum prep and instruction.
If you’re looking for free resources, Scholastic and NCTE’s readwritethink.org are great places to go. In all of this, breathe, try to relax, and spend time with your loved ones. We’ll get through this all. Together. As teachers helping teachers. If there’s anything I can do to help, please let me know. Stay safe and healthy.
Teaching lessons that can be done at home:
Creative Book Reports for Distance Learning
Independent Reading Assignments
Holly Teaches 