Ayer Shirley Regional School District

Ayer Shirley Regional School District Learn. Grow. Explore. Connect. Collaborate. Communicate.

Our vision is to connect, engage, and inspire all students in the Ayer Shirley Regional School District to reach academic excellence. We, the educators of the Ayer Shirley Regional School District, will instill habits of reflection and inquiry to challenge our students in setting ambitious academic and personal goals. Students will develop a strong voice to express thoughts and ideas in the community and the confidence to showcase their talents and successes in preparation for entry into college and the world of work.

Welcome to the teacher resources page! Simply click on the subject area below to view digital content in your area of interest.

Next Generation MCAS resources

Next Generation MCAS Practice Tests
Just released on 02/01/17. Click on subject area then grade level to access tests. Paper based tests are also available on these pages.

G Suite (Google) resources

More Examples

Google Apps for Education Main Site: http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/edu/k12.html
40 Ways to Use Google Apps in the Classroom by Julia Stiglitz: https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=0AcYeaW6goYpnZGRoazV2Y2hfNjFmZjdjM2hncQ&hl=en_US
Google Support Forum: http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Google+Apps

Google Apps Education Community: http://edu.googleapps.com/
Google Apps Marketplace for Education:
http://goo.gl/hg7pL
Google Apps for Education Training Center: http://edutraining.googleapps.com/
ISTE Google Apps Presentations: http://iste2011.googleapps.com/

Complementary Tools

The Google Apps for Education Marketplace is a one stop shop for all Apps that integrate with Google Apps for Education. The education category contains many free and some paid Apps that range from Learning Management Systems to Visual Suites to Assessment tools.
Aviary Graphic Suite. This free set of tools includes an image editor, audio recorder and is incorporated seamlessly with the G.A.E. suite.
Google Apps Improved Login or GAIL is an easy way for administrators to manage passwords and content.
Google Moderator for class debates and homework help.
Google Groups for literature circles, student clubs, and content area curriculum discussions.

RECOMMENDED TECHNOLOGY APPS FOR LITERACY DEVELOPMENT

Click here for a link to free instructional templates and printables.

Recommended Apps for Literacy Development

The following apps have been vetted by educators both in and outside the district, including classroom teachers, reading specialists, special educators, and speech/language pathologists for use in developing

listening, speaking, reading and writing skills.

Key for Users:

T= Teacher

S= Student

F= Family

Users:	Name of App	Description	Grade	Free/Cost	Compatibility	Notes
T/S/F	Articulation Station	Created by a certified Speech-Language Pathologist, this app will help children as well as adults learn to speak and pronounce their sounds more clearly	PreK-adult	Free	iPad, iPhone
T/S/F	Reading Magic	Learning to Read Through Phonics Games	PreK-1	Free	iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
T/S/F	Magnabet	Virtual magnetic letters. Fluency, word creation. Group or individual.	PreK-1	Cost	iPad, iPhone
S/F	Montessori Crosswords	Phonics Games to practice letters and sounds	Pre K-1	Cost	iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
F	Learn With Homer	Library of reading lessons, stories and songs	PreK-2	Cost- monthly fee after free trial	iPad, iPhone, and on the web	End of lesson assessments
S/T/F	Lexia	An interactive researched based reading intervention for select students.	All	Cost	iPad, iPhone, and on the web	Progress Monitoring Built into App
T/S/F	Unite for Literacy	Free book titles with narration	K-3	Free	website
T/S/F	Epic!	Sign up as a teacher. Set up account for all students. They can choose books to listen to or read on their own.	Grades PreK-7	Free	iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch	Progress Monitoring Built into App
F	Pickatale- Classics for kids	Interactive Storybooks	Gr 1-3	Cost	ipad Chromebook, tablet
S/T	Book Creator	eText creation, presentation, record audio and video, images, text, links.	All	Free (Limited)	Chromebook, Windows
S/T	Read Naturally	An interactive researched based reading intervention for select students.	All	Cost (Free trial)	Web based	Progress Monitoring built in
S/T	One Minute Reader	Free nonfiction passages Comprehension Questions by Read Naturally	6 levels: Early Reader, 1-5	Free	iPad	Feedback includes graphs of progress
s/T	Splat-O-Nym	4 Vocabulary Games with 24 levels to practice synonyms and antonyms By Read Naturally	All levels	$4.99	iPad	Results Report
T/S	Fluency Tutor	Students practice reading aloud passages, on-screen help, translator and dictionary. Comprehension questions	All- S or T choose age level & Lexile of passage	Free	Chromebook, desktop, laptop	Dashboard manages student progress
T/S/F	Explain Everything	Presentation, interactive board, record audio and video, images, text, shapes, links. Record step by step instruction or details. Simple Interface option provides easier use for creation.	PreK-5	$3.99-$5.99	Chromebook, iPhone, iPad
T/S/F	Chalkboard	Interactive chalkboard slate. Numbers, letters, shapes, word creation, fluency. Group work or individual. Draw together on same wifi- drawings appear on each device.	All	Free	Chromebook
	Pic Collage	Can create pic collages using pictures in connection to learning skills	All	Free	iPad, iPhone, Chromebook
S/F	Raz Kids- popular and widely used	Interactive leveled e-books	K-5	Cost, free trial	ipad Chromebook, tablet
T/S/F	Common Lit	Website with free fiction and non-fiction passages and text dependent questions	5-12	Free	ipad Chromebook, tablet	Progress Monitoring available

Mathematics

Ipad Apps

Elmo Loves 1,2,3
This is an app full of games, activities, and videos, which will help teach your child about numbers and counting.Abby Monkey Puzzle

Bugs and Numbers
This app covers math skills ranging from basic counting all the way through adding fractions with a model. Beginning Sounds Interactive Games

Pop ABCs-Letters and Letter Sounds
Fun Alphabet Puzzle Game for kids and family Inspiration Maps

Kid in Storybook Maker
Create and share customized picture storybooks with photos of your child or others as the main character!Starfall Learn 2 Read

Pair Up
An addictive educational game that will keep your child engaged while developing their cognitive skills, including language, quantitative and reasoning skills development.

Abby Monkey Puzzle
Puzzles and music

Starfall Learn 2 Read
At last, all the content from Starfall.com's Learn to Read index in an app!

English Language Arts

ReadWorks
Free non-fiction and literary content to support reading comprehension and vocabulary.

Digital Read Works
Free online interactive reading selections, lessons and formative assessment tools

Mrs. Perkins' First Grade Classroom

Mrs.Perkins' Dolch Words is a website dedicated to providing teachers and parents with everything they need to teach Dolch sight words to their children.

ASRSD Social Media Groups to Support Readers/Writers Workshop

Consider checking out the above link for resources to help grow your Professional Learning Network with Social Media sites.

Social studies

science and stem

Free Literacy Resources for Your Engineering Classroom
You probably know EiE engineering curriculum aligns with the science curriculum you already teach. But did you know that we designed our curriculum to support literacy instruction as well?

Teachers Try Science
Free and engaging lessons, teaching strategies and resources, designed to spark students’ interest in STEM

National Academies K-12 Framework
The framework identifies the key scientific ideas and practices all students should learn by the end of high school. Designed to make science education more closely resemble the way scientists work and think, the framework envisions that students will gradually deepen their understanding of scientific ideas over time by engaging in practices that scientists and engineers actually use.

Mystery Science Click to Create an Account
Make mysteries of science easy to teach.

NGSS Website (search the standards)
THE THREE DIMENSIONS OF SCIENCE LEARNING

Within the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), there are three distinct and equally important dimensions to learning science. These dimensions are combined to form each standard—or performance expectation—and each dimension works with the other two to help students build a cohesive understanding of science over time.

Next Generation Science Standards (scroll down to review NGSS and see all the standards)

MA STE - What to Look For Guides -

To provide additional support to help district and school staff identify what should be observed in particular content-area classrooms, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (ESE), in partnership with educators in the field, has developed a suite of straightforward observation guides for grades 1–8 (K–8 for English Language Arts (ELA)).

These "What to Look For" guides describe what observers should expect to see in a classroom at a particular grade level in a specific subject area. This includes the knowledge and skills students should be learning and using (as reflected in state learning standards) on the front of the page and best practices related to classroom curriculum, instruction, and assessment for each subject area on the back of the page.

DESE’s model curriculum units

Free Literacy Resources for Your Engineereing Classroom