K-5 Teachers

Guidance & Recommendations

Schedule

Weekly schedule:

Connect with students daily via Google Classroom (live or recorded)
Provide opportunities for individual 1:1 Google Chat sessions with students when appropriate

Communication

Communication with students

Create a “topic” in Google Classroom where you will post your Google Meet daily connection link and any daily messages

Communication with families:

Update all parents/guardians once a week

Feedback

During student check-in meetings, feedback needs to follow norms for effective feedback: specific, timely, and actionable

Feedback is even more important in online spaces because of the lack of teacher, peer, and environmental feedback

Google Classroom

Every Grade 3 - 5 class will use Google Classroom as the hub - the place where teachers interact with students, post lessons, and create opportunities for students to engage in discourse with each other. PK - 2 teachers can choose to use either (or both) Seesaw and Google Classroom as their hub.

Provide opportunities for students to collaborate via Google Chat or Meet and via the Question discussion feature in Classroom. If you are unsure about how to use Google Chat, Meet, or Classroom, scroll down to the bottom of this page for links to tutorials.

Office Hours

Regular office hours provide students an opportunity to ask questions, get feedback, and check-in with the teacher.

We know that this time will be hard for many students in terms of being cut off from friends and teachers. Teachers should be available to check-in with students for a variety of needs, including just to say hello.

How do teachers hold office hours?

For a quick 1:1 chat with video as an option, use Google Chat with your student.
For a set time meeting with groups of students, set up a Google Meet and link it to your Google Classroom.
Accessibility considerations: Ask students to turn on the closed captioning function in Google Meet.

Encourage Students To Read At Least 30min Daily

They can read a book or check out and read/listen to an eBook through the APS eBook library called Sora.

You can check out eBooks, too! 😉

Supports for English Language Learners

Below are suggestions that offer students to continue practicing language via a variety of resources; both ELAchieve specific and additional ideas connected to core content areas. We advocate that students have a topic to engage with and then have multiple opportunities to practice (both orally and in writing) target language connected to that topic.

Embedded Language Supports:

The goal for elementary teachers is to provide embedded supports throughout the day. It is not an expectation that dedicated ELD be explicitly taught through the remote learning format. Instead, teachers are charged with ensuring multilingual learners have access to language supports as needed.
Should a principal provide an expectation to meet with a small grou p of multilingual learners virtually, the links below are available to support you in structuring your time with students.
ELAchieve Blackline Masters: Share with your students only the specific document that you will be using to support learning. For ELAchieve Blackline Masters - username
Extending an ELAchieve Unit
CLDE Helpful Websites to Support Learning for MLLs

Connections to Content Area Instruction:

Consider the content students are engaged with during other parts of their ‘day’.
Language frames by language function and language level: Share with your students only the frames they need for the lesson rather than the whole document
Directions for setting up Flipgrid: Check out this Flipgrid resource from the Ed Tech department that provides links to “how-tos” as well as other ideas on how to effectively use Flipgrid. You can use Flipgrid to have students engage in virtual discussions with you and their peers during this period of online practice.
Short Constructed Response Template (Upper Elementary)

Language Services Support

Here are instructions on how to use both phone interpretation agencies we contract with and below. Be prepared to provide your employee ID when calling in.
CTS Language Link (first choice) 1-888-338-7394 Access Code: 24815
Telelanguage (in case an interpreter is not available with the first company) 1-800-514-9237 Access Code: 25800
Google Translate - Watch this video to learn how to use the Chrome extension

Mental Health Support

For students:

Call any time Colorado Crisis Services anytime at 844-493-TALK (8255), or text “Talk” to 38255. This service is available 24/7 year-round. If this is an emergency please dial 911.
The walk-in clinic is available between 8:00am and 11:00pm daily at Anschutz Medical Campus 2206 Victor Street, Aurora, CO 80045
On and after March 30, between 8:00am and 3:30pm you can contact your student’s school counselor, social worker, or psychologist through Google Chat.

For staff:

Professional counselors can help you manage any type of problem with complete confidentiality, 24 hours a day.
Guidance Consultants can assist you at 1-888-324-2631 or visit guidanceresources.com and register using the organization web ID: APS to create your own personal login.
Completely confidential - APS will never know if you use this program.

Instructional Tools & Resources

Curriculum and Instructional Resources

➡️START HERE! Content Guides Website

Instructional Tools and Resources Hub (Beta)

Curriculum and Instruction Resources

Bridges Digital Supports Slides Screencast

Sample lesson plan using a Bridges TEA

Elementary Math Content Guide

Elementary Literacy: Content Guide Wonders or Teacher’s College Digital Supports in Wonders or Teacher’s College

Elementary Science

Social Studies Content Guide

Students Use Clever To Access Everything

The Clever Portal will automatically be signed in and all resources available when students sign in to Google Chrome.

Video - Logging into Clever from Home Computer

The Clever Portal has sections at the top of the page called "Remote Learning" with buttons that will take students to school content, eBooks, Google Classroom, and back to this website.

Communicate with Parents with Talking Points

The district now has access to Talking Points - a great tool for texting with parents. Talking points translates languages automatically so that there are no barriers to effective communication. See more about Talking Points here: Talking Points

Foundational and Essential Tools for Online Learning

Below are each of our foundational and essential tools for learning, along with links to the asynchronous training module in Performance Matters? Class full? While on the waiting list, visit this site to access training resources - without the "deliverables" (or credit): Using Technology in the Classroom

Seesaw (Grades K-3)

Intended for P-3 teachers. Seesaw is an app that organizes student-created videos and annotation into digital portfolios and gives parents access to their student's portfolios.

Take our asynchronous class on Seesaw

Google Classroom (Grades 3-5)

Manage teaching and learning with Classroom

Classroom helps students and teachers organize assignments, boost collaboration, and foster better communication. It's the classroom hub around which everything else connects.

Take our asynchronous class on Google Classroom

GoGuardian

GoGuardian is an indispensable tool for helping students to stay focused on the digital work for your class. Set up rules that limit access to distractions, send a student or an entire class to a particular webpage, set students up in groups to manage different access and websites during station rotations and/or group projects. Easy to use and valuable in both in-person and remote settings.

Take our asynchronous class on GoGuardian

Google Docs

Google Docs is the most-used tool for collaboration, writing, and research gathering. Like Classroom, it is a "backbone" for learning activities - both individual and group.

Take our asynchronous class on Google Docs

Google Slides

Google Slides is an indispensable tool for creating presentations, but you can do so much more than "just" presentations with Slides. Plus, Slides is the backbone for Pear Deck.

Take our asynchronous class on Slides

Screencastify

Screencastify is a chrome browser extension that allows you to make screencast videos for direct instruction, tutorials, or quick explanations. It has been pushed out to every aurorak12.org account and is in your extensions tray in the upper right-hand portion of your chrome browser.

Take our asynchronous class on Screencastify

Pear Deck

Create interactive Google Slide presentations - your students join your lecture synchronously with a code and interact with the slides by answering questions, drawing, highlighting, and more! You can connect with students, check for understanding, and support students with reflections on their learning. Pear Deck also has a "student-paced" mode for times when students can't join your lesson synchronously. It's a must-have tool for both remote and in-person learning!

Take our asynchronous class on Pear Deck

Flipgrid

Video discussion tool that can be used for fluency, pre-writes, activating prior learning, building community, and more! Flexible and easy to use, Flipgrid is quickly becoming a favorite of teachers and students alike!

Take our asynchronous class on Flipgrid

Kami

PDF annotation tool that works seamlessly right in your browser. Teachers and students can now annotate, mark-up, comment and draw on PDF's assigned through Classroom! Close reads no longer require a teacher to convert the PDF to a Google Doc. Great in all content areas and grade levels.

Take our asynchronous class on Kami

Student Viewpoint on Using Kami for the First Time

Choice Reading

Sora eBook and Audiobook Library Over 6000 ebooks and audiobooks curated for Aurora Public School's PK-12 students.

ELD Language Supports

ELD Online Resources

ELAchieve Email

Chat & Video With Your Students

Google Chat - For quick chat, link sharing, and even setting up a quick Meet.

Google Meet - For a more "formal" webinar-style video teleconferencing including features like recording and live closed captioning (great for ELL students!).

Tech Support & How To Guides

Need Personalized Human Help?

For technical issues: Email the APS help desk - helpdesk@aurorak12.org or call extension 28203

How To Use Your Home Computer For Instruction

Download and install Google Chrome

Short Video on syncing Chrome

Go To & Log In To Clever

Use this link to get to APS Clever: clever.aurorak12.org - Use your Google username and password if prompted.

Video - How to sign in to Clever using your Google email and password

Video - How to sign in to Clever using the Clever Badge (easier for young children)

iReady Resources

❗️ K-5 Students Having Trouble With iReady On APS Chromebook? This help sheet will show you how to fix your chromebook screen so you can see iReady properly.

Quick Video - Assign Lessons

Quick Video - Class Monitoring

Quick Video - Student Monitoring

Webinar - iReady Reading - Online Lesson Assignment

Webinar - iReady Math - Online Lesson Assignment

Webinar - iReady Administrator

Article - iReady Support - Get the Most from Online Instruction

Website - iReady at Home