Secondary (6-8)
BOOST RESOURCES
Below, you will find resources focusing on English Language Arts, Mathematics, and some other content. Each is labeled by appropriate grade level and will provide guidance for use. Scroll down to find the Mathematics and other content sections.
English Language Arts
Newsela for Reading Practice
Grades 6-12
Newsela is an excellent resource for continued reading. The site curates news articles from publications around the nation and presents them in a variety of difficulty levels, effectively translating their language from the original to levels that are accessible to beginning, novice, and expert readers. The leveling uses the Lexile system, which measures the challenge level of a text. Check this link to see a chart showing which Lexile level equates to your child's grade.
Parent Tip:
Work through the first article with your child to see what reading level is appropriate by selecting from the different Lexile levels. Read it with your child and discuss the content. Then, access the reading quiz and related activities available for extra practice. These extra materials are leveled as well.
Resource Access:
Most of the content on Newsela is free, so you can access without an account password. This prevents tracking of progress, but it gives access to the content. The district does not support NewselaPro licenses, but free access provides a wealth of learning opportunities.
Supporting Materials
COMMONLIT FOR ENGAGED READING
Grades 3-12
CommonLit is a non-profit organization that provides over 2,000 free reading passages complemented with aligned assessments. CommonLit is offering a free digital reading challenge for children in grades 3-12 to keep them actively reading over the summer. Unlike Newsela, which focuses on journalism, CommonLit includes literary texts, including stories and poems.
Parent Tip:
One you've logged in, find the "Library" drop-down menu. From there, you and your child can browse reading selections by grade level, genre, and more. Once you've found a selection, you will find a wealth of materials beyond just the passage. You will find guiding questions, annotation tools, quiz-style questions, and discussion starters. You can even use a read aloud and text size tool for easier access.
CommonLit uses the Lexile system for determining the reading level of a passage. If you select a grade level when searching for the passage, the passages found will represent the Lexile level of that grade. You can also search by Lexile, though, and use that flexibilty to find passages more or less difficult than your child's grade level. Check this link to see a chart showing which Lexile level equates to your child's grade.
Resource Access:
Visit the homepage here. The entire service is free, so you can create an account or use a single-sign-on (SSO) option with Google and other accounts. CommonLit is 100% free.
Supporting Materials
"Everything you need to know about CommonLit is less than 10 minutes"
achieve3000 FOR ENGAGED READING
Grade 6
Achieve3000 is used by sixth-grade reading teachers to build reading skills in an individualized fashion. The resource takes published materials, most from journalism around the nation, and re-writes them for multiple levels of skill. Students completing diagnostics and exercises gives the system data to update their reading passage difficulty. The leveling uses the Lexile system, which measures the challenge level of a text. Check this link to see a chart showing which Lexile level equates to your child's grade.
Parent Tip:
Your sixth-grade child should be familiar with this resource, so let them start you. Log in with them and check out the homepage, where a recommended article for the day will be posted. Read the article with them and see how well they can answer quiz questions. Continue by allowing your child independence in selecting and reading passages.
Resource Access:
Achieve 3000 can be accessed through the district Clever portal. Go here to learn how to access. The district is currently supporting paid accounts for students in sixth grade in 2019-2020. Accounts for 2020-2021 sixth grade students will be activated at the start of the school year. If you receive a message stating that your account is not active, please complete this form. We will activate the account for you quickly, if it is still available.
Supporting Materials
MATHEMATICS
prodigy FOR MATH PRACTICE
Grades 1-8
Prodigy is a digital math curriculum aligned to standards that adapts in difficulty to suit students' learning style and grade level. This site gives parents the opportunity to monitor and support learning in a free parent account. Students will be motivated by the game-based learning to build math confidence in a safe and private environment.
Parent Tip:
Prodigy provides excellent tools for determining student growth. Read the parent tutorial webpage linked below to learn about these tools. Then, work with your child until they feel comfortable moving through exercises more independently. Check periodically to see progress through the growth-monitoring tools.
Resource Access:
Prodigy provides free and premium accounts. Free accounts will provide access to less content than premium accounts. Go here to sign up for a free account or learn more about a premium account. Sylvania Schools does not currently provide premium accounts to students.
Supporting Materials
Quick Parent Tutorial (video)
Parent Tutorial (webpage)
multi-content resources
ixl FOR MATH, language arts, science, and social studies learning
Grades pre-K-12
IXL provides a deep repository of practice exercises in the four core academic content areas. Students can select from a range of skills for practice. If they miss a question, the resource will explain the correct answer and provide short lessons for help. With an account, IXL personalizes the exercises based on the student's activity.
Parent Tip:
Talk with your child about which skills they were working on in school last year, possibly by looking through the skills listed by grade level and seeing which are familiar. Use that as a baseline for starting. If using a premium account, access the diagnostic tools to make a plan for work.
Resource Access:
IXL provides free, limited access as well as premium accounts. Some schools in Sylvania are actively using IXL, and those students have accounts. Check with your child to see if they have accessed an account previously. Otherwise, a premium account can provide all the resources and personalization options. If no premium option is available for you, IXL is still an excellent resource to drop in and practice a skill for a short time.
Supporting Materials
IXL Parent Guide (video)
IXL Parent Guide (paper)
khan academy FOR MATH, science learning
Grades pre-K-12
Khan Academy is a completely free collection of lessons, exercises, and activities focusing on math and science, but offering other subjects as well. The lessons simulate a live classroom delivery and include exercises that will help with learning. These exercises include remedial material for questions missed.
Parent Tip:
Browse the list of courses to find courses that match your child's previous or upcoming classes. Select the course and start with the lessons and skills. The parent and mentor site linked below carries a wealth of guidance and tips for usage.
Resource Access:
Khan Academy is 100% free and accounts can be created easily. Accounts can be created through single-sign-on (SSO) with Google, Facebook, and more. Log in here.
Supporting Materials
Khan Academy Parent and Mentor Guide (webpage)
Khan Academy Parent Guide (video)
gizmos FOR interactive MATH and science learning
Grades 3-12
Gizmos provides STEM resources that include interactive, virtual experiments for science and dynamic elements for math. Each lesson is supported by a paper-based worksheet and instructional document to accompany the online elements. The name of the resource comes from the company's term for their lesson matched with interactive element, a gizmo. Content ranges from number and operations to data analysis and probability.
Parent Tip:
You can browse gizmos through your account, searching by grade level, to find courses and topics that your child has already been taught or is anticipating. Select one and browse with your child to find an area of focus to start. Select one and print the lesson to support the use of the interactive element.
Resource Access:
Sign up for a free parent account trial, which will provide 30 days of access. Paid parent accounts are available by request.
Supporting Materials