Looking for Math materials?

Then check out the math channels on Discovery Education.  You can either sign into your account (and then search for Math and filter for Channels) or use the link here (you will be prompted to sign in). From simulations, challenges, strategies, and connections- there is something for everyone.

February in Discovery Education

Here is a quick look at the resources for February in Discovery Education. From Presidents’ Day, Black History, and National Engineer Week- you will find a variety of materials.

Discovery Education Engagement Ideas

In this newsletter from Discovery Education, you will find five suggestions to engage and animate your students and their learning. These ideas would work with a variety of content and are not limited to material in Discovery Education.

Discovery Education Interactives

If your school (as mine does)  has a Discovery Education subscription, you can find a wide variety of interactives for your students.  In this recent blog post, you will see several suggestions.  To find all interactives, open your Discovery Education account and search (without any specific term). You can then filter by grade level and Interactives.

FREE Discovery Education Virtual Field Trips

Recently I attended an EdWeb webinar with Hall Davidson from Discovery Education.  While I have heard Hall in person, he is just as engaging online. If you want to watch the presentation, you can join EdWeb (for free) and then look for Discover Virtual Resources Improving Accessibility to Global Experiences.

You can access all his shared resources here.  While some of the sites might have a login for Discovery Education (in the top right), you do not need to log in (on the other hand, if you are a Discovery Education user, you will want to log in for additional resources).

There is a Lego field trip (geared for grades 2-6) coming up on December 8- you can register here.

New in Discovery Education

 If you haven’t been to Discovery Education in a while, you might want to test out these newer sites.

• DEmystified: Join DE on our endless journey to DEmystify the wonders of our world.  

• Vooks: Enjoy this collection of storybooks brought to life through animation and voice narration.  

• Arcademics: Boost learning and engagement with skill-building multiplayer math and ELA games.   

• PhET Interactive Simulations: These simulations bring math and science concepts to life in a game-like environment.  

• News and Current Events: Follow emerging stories from around the globe.    

• Early Learning Channel: Jump start your young learner’s knowledge and skills.  

Learn that grammar!

Looking for something (other than SchoolHouse Rock) to make grammar fun?  Explore the new Cram Jam channel in Discovery Education.  This channel is geared for 2-6 grades.

NEW in Discovery Education

 

While we were off in the summer, many applications update their platforms.  That is true for Discovery Education (remember- sign in with Google).  Here’s a short list of their latest updates:

• A new Explore page: Looking for inspiration? Our new Explore page lets you browse by subject, then offers personalized suggestions based on your activity in DE, grade levels, and more.

• New content partners: We are very excited about our latest partnerships with Sesame Workshop for PK-2, Minecraft: Education Edition, and Marzano Academies!

• Studio updates: From new fonts to animated buttons, Studio offers a quicker workflow and a few other fun tweaks that will make lesson building easy, creative, and engaging.   

• A brand-new Student Experience: Your students will see a new interface designed to build agency and promote time on task. No more excuses for incomplete assignments!   

• A redesigned My Classrooms: we've completely overhauled the My Classrooms section in DE, giving you a much more intuitive interface to easily navigate classes, assignments, and students. 

• Quiz Library: Have you tried the Quiz Library yet? Each month we continue to add more pre-built quizzes aligned to DE content to save you time and effort in assessing student progress.

Rather see the video? Click here for the video update.

Sesame Street comes to Discovery Education

Discovery Education now is hosting Sesame Street with the following channels: Feelings Time, Letter Time, Number World, and Celebrations!

Check out these new channels!

What’s new in September in Discovery Education

Here’s the newsletter from Discovery Education with the September highlights. It includes Constitution Day, Hispanic Heritage Month as well as new ready-to-use activities.

Minecraft and Discovery Education

Discovery Education now has Minecraft Education Edition resources.  Please click here to read their press release.  To access, log into your Discovery Education account and enter Minecraft in the search bar. You can then access the Minecraft Channel

You will find a wide variety of lesson plans and resources!

New Science in Discovery Education

 

There are two new channels in Discovery Education. Demystified and DE Originals.  I made this short video to will give you an overview.

Fix-It in Discovery Education

A perfect Grammar Fix (-it)!

Discovery Education has recently shared Daily Fix-Its.  What’s a fix-it?  It is a ready-made

activity that you can project and have your students correct the sentences.  

Karen Bryan has been using it in her class and shared this feedback:

I love using the Discovery Education Fix-It feature as an activity during our morning

meeting. I also use it as a warm-up activity with my Literacy Academy class. The students

enjoy it too!

Fix-Its come in two grade-level bands:

• K-2 Fix-Its are seasonally themed (i.e.winter, apples) and contain some information

and two sentences with only one grammar error.  The same skill (i.e., end punctuation)
is taught through the entire slide set of 15 slides). Here is a sample sentence:
Earth tilts away from the sun in winter  (this is from the punctuation unit).

• Daily Fix-Its (Grade 3-5) are themed to “this day in history” topic and are monthly.

A short video clip The grammar corrections include a variety of errors. 
Here is an example: how tall was the wave leo asked dr martin

Both versions include links to Helpful Hints:

How could this help your students?

New Year Suggestions from Discovery Education

Check out the latest suggestions from Discovery Education!

Extend Your Learning

Kick-off the new year by checking out 30 Ways to DE! Explore all the different ideas for using DE in the classroom and see share this flyer to get excited about diving back into Discovery Education.

Winter (Break) Ideas

While Discovery Education shared the resources below for Winter Break activities, you might consider using some as a “break” in this hectic month.  From virtual field trips to careers to healthy habits- it’s broken down by grade level with something for everyone.  From DE:

Keep Your Students Engaged Over Winter Break

We just released Winter Break Activity Calendars – for K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. Keep your students engaged in learning with some fun activities over winter break! These are also available in 6 other languages to support families at home! Check them out and share with your colleagues!

Discovery Education Activities for K-8

There are many daily activities offered by Discovery Education ( and you don’t need to be a subscriber!).  Please go here to view these resources.

Here is their press release:

The activities are designed for grades K–2, 3–5 and 6–8 and are being released on a monthly basis. According to Discovery Ed: "These engaging daily activities include Daily Fix-Its, Background Builders, Writing Prompts, and more to address specific learning needs. The monthly release of educator-informed activities provide fun, engaging, standards-aligned instructional supports that connect teachers across the country in a shared experience of learning."

Isn't everyday one of happiness?

 Happiness Ideas from Discovery Education:

Discover Your Happy Everyday in Celebration of the International Day of Happiness 

Lean into International Day of Happiness ALL WEEK with LG & Discovery Education 

Create your own mini wellbeing workshops in class every day in the week leading up to International Day of Happiness with specially curated Discover Your Happy videos and activities! Facilitate discussions around emotional wellness for today’s teens with dynamic resource combos that are each dedicated to one of the Six Sustainable Happiness Skills. 

Explore Resources to Smile About

Sprinkle some fun throughout the week leading up to International Day of Happiness with a series of six grab-and-go resource combos from Discover Your Happy, each featuring a short video dedicated to a practical happiness skill + a companion activity to explore as a class: 

1. MONDAY: PEOPLE POINTS
   Use an interactive chart that lets students add up the positive and negative aspects of their online lives to discover the true value of Generosity. Uncover the effects of digital media on students’ emotional wellbeing with the Digital Interactions lesson bundle.
   Explore the Generosity Video + Activity 

2. TUESDAY: BENEVOLENCE BUZZ
   Boost your students’ emotional IQ by exploring the scientifically proven benefits of Gratitude. Show your class how gratitude can literally change a person’s neurological state from one minute to the next with the Be Thankful activity.
   Explore the Gratitude Video + Activity 

3. WEDNESDAY: THE I IN CONNECTION
   To achieve long-lasting emotional bonds with others, students must understand their role in creating Human Connection. Inspire a group discussion with the Agree to Disagree activity, which helps students recognize their part in building sustainable happiness.
   Explore the Human Connection Video + Activity 

4. THURSDAY: KNOWING THE NOW
   Snap students out of autopilot and help them live every moment to the fullest with Mindfulness. Explore a simple meditation exercise that tests students’ ability to stay fully present in the moment.
   Explore the Mindfulness Video + Activity 

5. FRIDAY: OPTIMIST OPTICS
   Equip students with the resiliency they need to overcome adversity and maintain an optimistic approach to the future by practicing Positive Outlook. The Judge Less, Reflect More activity opens students’ eyes to the risks involved in making snap judgments.
   Explore the Positive Outlook Video + Activity 

6. SATURDAY: HOMIES WHERE THE HEART IS
   Give your students a dynamic at-home activity that puts Purpose into action with the help of family! The Chain Reaction family activity lets students establish what happiness means to them by sharing their emotions with loved ones.
   Explore the Purpose Video + Activity 

You can enjoy days, weeks, and months of happiness with your class by exploring additional Discover Your Happy resources designed for students, educators, and families in learning environment of all kinds. Explore these resources and more on the Discover Your Happy channel in the Discovery Education’s K-12 learning platform.

Making happiness sustainable

What does it really take to be happy? (and no, it doesn’t involve winning the lottery!).  In this post from Discovery Education, you will find easy and concrete steps (as well as resources) to help you and your students.

6 Word stories to the rescue!

Looking for a quick way to provide an SEL option for your students or perhaps an exit ticket at the end of a lesson?  And if you are doing this hybrid or all remote, you know how efficient you must be.  

Six-word stories (Link for non-Discovery Education accounts -DE users can search after logging in) provides a quick way to obtain feedback from every student in a timely manner.  It is a tool that helps students to summarize.  Special thanks to Wandalyn Jones (SC) for her suggestion at the Discovery Education Virt-Con.

Discovery Education SOS and Jamboard- a perfect match

 (This is from Cindy Wallace via Facebook)

Hey y'all! I have been using Jamboard almost daily for the past few weeks and love it!!! It is so helpful in fostering collaboration with learners of all ages.

Of course, I am incorporating the SOS Strategies and have created several boards to use as templates which I am linking to this post.

The rectangles within the resource labeled strategy or Jamboard are active links. "Strategy" takes you to DE (be sure to log in first) and "Jamboard" allows you to make a copy of the actual Jamboard I created.

The copy will be stored in your Google Drive, but can be accessed from the waffle under the Jamboard icon.

I plan to continue to add new Jamboards as we continue in this online world of teaching and learning, so I would love your input. What strategies should I add next?

Here is the link to her Jams.