March 25th, 2020 Many families are struggling to find educational activities for their children while school has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Here are some literacy and math activities by grade level:
Grades 9-12
During the pandemic, scientists are graphing data about the virus using exponential growth rates rather than linear growth rates. Why are they doing this and what are the advantages of doing this?
Data sources:
https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus
https://www.ft.com/coronavirus-latest
Interview an elderly relative about what it was like to live through economic hardship and war. Ask them how their past experiences compare to the war we are waging against COVID-19. Write up the article and publish it online.
In the US, President Trump has suggested a policy that sees people return to work in the next week despite the rapid spread of COVID-19 to save the economy. What ethical questions can you generate considering this stance?
Write out a list of 10 pieces of advice that you would give to your younger self.
Watch a movie and see whether you can summarize it in just five sentences.
Read a book together and then watch a movie version. Talk about the differences between the versions.
Write a letter to yourself to help you think through a problem.
Make up a new verse to one of your favourite songs.
Explore places using Google Earth. Try out new aspects of Google Earth that you haven’t used before.
Track three different stocks and see how they do in one month.
Do mental calculations such as estimating an online grocery bill.
With a young relative, read stories while identifying mathematical elements like patterns, shapes, numbers, and concepts.
Open a bank account. Many “youth accounts” have brochures that explain interest rates. Read the literature together and decide which type of account will earn the best rates, minimize your transaction costs, and meet your minimum balance plans.
Play family games like Blokus, Khet: the laser game, Battleship, Chess, and games with spinners/dice.
Identify geometric and number patterns in your everyday routine.
Calculate a bat/run average for a specific baseball player.
Make a weekly schedule with your family. Make time estimations for different activities.
Look at sports statistics. Have a discussion about an interesting trend.
Place an online grocery order with an adult. Compare prices. Estimate price per kilogram. Which is the better price? Talk about items “on sale.” Do some internet research to find out whether other vendors have similar products costing more or less.
Talk about lotteries. Examine the odds.
Talk about how a credit card works. Look at a statement together.
Look at your electricity, gas or water bill. Which commodity costs your family the most?
Look at charts and graphs that appear in newspapers or magazines you receive. Find one that has information that interests your family. Talk about the chart or graph.
Examine different cell phone packages. Which is the best value for your calling pattern and payment preferences?
Calculate how much water it takes to fill the bathtub. Calculate how much water is used during a five minute shower. Calculate how much water it would take to water a residential lawn.
Go to youtube.com and type in “math tricks” into the search line. Explore some of the videos with your family.
The next time you are in a car and someone is filling it with gas, notice the price per litre. Figure out how many litres you could buy for five bucks. Ask the person who is driving how much fuel his or her car uses per kilogram and then figure out how far you could go for five dollars.
As a favour, double check someone else’s calculations or offer to do the calculation for that person. “I figured out which is the better deal. Can I tell you?”
Grades 6-8
Explore places using Google Earth. Try out new aspects of Google Earth that you haven’t used before.
Bake a favourite recipe that uses margarine from a plastic tub. Use water displacement to measure the margarine. Compare the accuracy of the displacement method to the method of scooping some margarine into a measuring cup.
Do a telephone interview with a relative about what school was like when they were young. Write up their story and share it with other relatives by email. Invite other relatives to share their stories on a shared platform. Volunteer to be the editor.
Write out a list of 10 pieces of advice that you would give to your younger self.
Watch a movie and see whether you can summarize it in just five sentences.
Read a book together and then watch a movie version. Talk about the differences between the versions.
Put something together that comes with plans.
Read something while thinking about the author’s message.
Write a letter to yourself to help you think through a problem.
Give a five minute summary of a movie you recently enjoyed to a friend but remember not to ruin the story by giving away the ending!
Translate a “tweet” or text message into full sentences if your mom or dad have difficulty with the language of texting.
Translate a conversation from one language to another for a friend or family member.
Make up a new verse to one of your favourite songs.
Do mental calculations such as estimating an online grocery bill.
Calculate how long it will take to save for a certain item your family would like to buy using your money from part-time jobs or chores.
Explain how to calculate the tip at a restaurant. Do the calculation together.
Open a bank account. Many “youth accounts” have brochures that explain interest rates. Read the literature together and decide which type of account will earn the best rates, minimize your transaction costs, and meet your minimum balance plans.
Play family games like Blokus, Khet: the laser game, Battleship, Chess, and games with spinners/dice.
Identify geometric and number patterns in your everyday routine.
Calculate a bat/run average for a specific baseball player.
Make a weekly schedule with your family. Make time estimations for different activities.
Look at sports statistics. Have a discussion about an interesting trend.
Place an online grocery order with an adult. Compare prices. Estimate price per kilogram. Which is the better price? Talk about items “on sale.” Do some internet research to find out whether other vendors have similar products costing more or less.
Talk about lotteries. Examine the odds.
Talk about how a credit card works. Look at a statement together.
Look at your electricity, gas or water bill. Which commodity costs your family the most?
Look at charts and graphs that appear in newspapers or magazines you receive. Find one that has information that interests your family. Talk about the chart or graph.
Examine different cell phone packages. Which is the best value for your calling pattern and payment preferences?
Calculate how much water it takes to fill the bathtub. Calculate how much water is used during a five minute shower. Calculate how much water it would take to water a residential lawn.
Go to youtube.com and type in “math tricks” into the search line. Explore some of the videos with your family.
The next time you are in a car and someone is filling it with gas, notice the price per litre. Figure out how many litres you could buy for five bucks. Ask the person who is driving how much fuel his or her car uses per kilogram and then figure out how far you could go for five dollars.
As a favour, double check someone else’s calculations or offer to do the calculation for that person. “I figured out which is the better deal. Can I tell you?”
Grades 3-5
Read a news story out loud and have a talk about what you think about it.
Write the story of your birth.
Make a family tree of your mother’s family and your father’s family. Get help from your relatives to see how far back you can go.
Write down the driving directions to a favorite destination. Check google map directions to verify how accurate you were.
Make an online scrapbook about something that interests you. Use images that are copyright-free.
Make a deck of fortune-telling cards. Decide how you would “tell someone’s fortune” with your deck.
Read poetry/write poetry.
Make up tongue twisters.
Watch a TV show together and talk about the main idea.
“Read between the lines” and see if you can make an inference about the way someone in your family is behaving. (Example: “Based on the fact that you are rushing around the house frantically looking in every drawer, I’m going to infer that you’ve lost your keys again, Dad.”)
Do mental calculations such as estimating an online grocery bill.
Read a book together and then watch a movie version. Talk about the differences between the versions.
Read a computer manual or online instructions together.
Put something together that comes with plans.
Write a letter to yourself to help you think through a problem.
Make up a new verse to one of your favourite songs.
Explore places using Google Earth. Try out new aspects of Google Earth that you haven’t used before.
Log and then graph daily temperatures over a one-week period with your family. (Make sure you take the temperature at the same time each day.)
Play store with a friend using change. Count your change to make sure the cashier gave you back the correct amount of money.
Weigh the family and pets. Chart the weights.
Grades K-2
Put a message on a sticky note to brighten someone’s day in your family. Place it on the fridge for them to see.
Look at family photographs and tell stories together.
Write an email together to a friend or family member.
Get an adult family member to tell you a true story about someone you know. Retell the story to that person and check whether the facts are true.
Get someone in your family to teach you a song.
Go through an old photo album with a family member and take turns telling each other stories. If you don’t know the people in the photos, make up stories that might fit.
Get some refrigerator word magnets and play with them.
Write a thank you card together.
Write out the family shopping list. If you can’t write the word, draw a picture of the item.
Put something together that comes with plans.
Make a connection between an idea in a book and something from your own experience.
Make up a new verse to one of your favourite songs.
Log and then graph daily temperatures over a one-week period with your family. (Make sure you take the temperature at the same time each day.)
Estimate quantities and volumes during activities like gardening, planning food for a trip, or collecting recycling.
Measure household items with non-standard tools (spoon, magazine) as well as standard tools (ruler, tape measure).
Janine Schaub 