Pandemic-related disruptions to learning have affected student growth in all areas, especially for younger learners. While educators are still assessing the effects of the pandemic on learning, one analysis conducted last fall suggests that on average, students might have lost the equivalent of five to nine months of instruction by the end of the 2020-21 school year. To catch up, some students will need opportunities to accelerate their learning. 

When you sign in to PebbleGo this school year, you may notice some changes: how articles are organized, the content of some articles, and a handful of articles that no longer appear. Why? 

If you’ve spent time in a classroom with students of any age, you know that questions can pop up throughout lots of different conversations. But how can we help students, especially our youngest students, build a sense of wonder about the world around them? How can we help tap into intellectual curiosity as students explore new topics?

As we start the new school year, it’s a good time to pause and think about what we’ve learned from the past. In this blog post, we’ll look at what we can do in the new school year based on what we have learned in the past year. Then, I’ll take you through three action items to go along with these reflections.

Discover three keystone skills that research shows can support emerging literacy: symbol awareness, sequencing, and storytelling (or story recall). We'll look at how these three skills in young children are some of the strongest and most consistent predictors of later literacy success--and how coding can help children practice them in a playful, stress-free way.

Ready to dive into summer reading activities? Capstone Interactive and PebbleGo can help support readers this summer. These fantastic resources can become part of a structured learning experience for students. Or they can be used when students read and research on their own time. Reading has a place in every season, including the structured and unstructured learning moments in the summertime.

When I think of perfect pairs I think Buzz and Woody, Sherlock and Watson, and of course, PebbleGo and Flipgrid! Some things are just meant to be together and these duos are all just right! As I mentioned in my previous blog post, PebbleGo and Flipgrid have been my go-to combo this year. They helped me keep my students engaged and learning through the end of this crazy school year. Here are a few more awesome ways these two great edtech tools can be used in the classroom!   

In today’s blog post, I’ll highlight some of the resources within Capstone Connect that are perfect for exploring safety topics with students. We’ll also look at digital activities for reading responses featuring the dynamic, popular EdTech tool Buncee.

In today’s blog post, I’ll share six ways to reinforce SEL with K-3 students this summer, featuring the excellent resources from PebbleGo.