-
Home and School Connections
DESE Framework Standards for Families
Academic Vision
Every student in Massachusetts has access to a safe and supportive school environment that cultivates academic curiosity and confidence. Students have equitable access to an excellent education. Students read meaningful texts across content areas, work on complex real-world problems, participate in the arts, and share their ideas through speaking and writing using evidence, all in an effort to understand the world, their personal identities and their roles in the world.
Instruction is most powerful when educators have strong content knowledge and access to high-quality instructional materials and professional learning that promote inclusive practice accessible to all students, including English learners and students with disabilities; support authentic, engaging, and interdisciplinary student learning experiences; and invest families and students in their learning.
To support standards-based learning, we believe that every student should engage:
- with grade-appropriate text every day
- with meaningful real-world problems every day
- in scientific conversations using data every week
… in a school environment that supports social-emotional learning, health, and safety
These guides to the Massachusetts learning standards help families understand what students are expected to know and be able to do by the end of each grade. Designed to help families and teachers work together to support learning, the guides are available in English, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, and Simplified Chinese. Promotional materials advertising these resources are also available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
MERSD Elementary Curriculum Guides HERE
-
Literacy
K-5 Literacy:
- Wonders 2020: https://www.mheducation.com/prek-12/program/microsites/MKTSP-BGA10M0/wonders.html
- Reading Support (gr. K-3): Tips for Supporting Reading Skills at Home
-
Mathematics
K-5 Math: Everyday Math
- http://everydaymath.uchicago.edu/parents/
- https://connected.mcgraw-hill.com (student site with individual login/password)
-
Science
K-2 Science:
- Mystery Science: https://mysteryscience.com/
3-5 Science
- Know Atom: https://www.knowatom.com/
6-8 Science
- STEMScopes: https://www.acceleratelearning.com/science/ma/
-
History/Social Science
Massachusetts History and Social Science Framework
History/Social Science Grade 5-7 Field Test 23-24:
History/Social Science Grade 8:
-
Resources/Links
Math
- Desmos Graphing Calculator (All Grades) Https://www.desmos.com/calculator
- Financial Literacy (All Grades) Https://www.consumerfinance.gov/consumer-tools/money-as-you-grow/
- Khan Academy (All Grades) Https://www.khanacademy.org/
- Greg Tang Math Games (Elementary & Middle Grades) Https://gregtangmath.com/games
- Sheppard Software Math Games (Elementary) Https://www.sheppardsoftware.com/math.htm
- Math Mobiles: Https://solveme.edc.org/mobiles.html
- Nrich Elementary Games and Interactives: Https://nrich.maths.org/9086
- Nrich Secondary Math Secondary Interactive Games and Challenges: Https://nrich.maths.org/9465
- Math for Love Games: Https://mathforlove.com/lesson-plan/games/
- Math Playground: Https://www.mathplayground.com/math-games.html
- Bedtime Math: Http://bedtimemath.org/
- Math at Home: Https://nzmaths.co.nz/maths-our-house
- Play with Your Math: Https://playwithyourmath.com/
Science
- Virtual Exhibits - Museum of Science, Boston: Https://www.mos.org/mos-at-home/virtual-exhibits
- Virtual Visit - New England Aquarium: Https://www.neaq.org/visit/at-home-events-and-activities/
- The Kid Should See This Https://thekidshouldseethis.com/
- National Geographic Kids Https://kids.nationalgeographic.com
- Kids Discover: Https://online.kidsdiscover.com/
- Precipitation Education/Weather: Https://pmm.nasa.gov/education/
- Nasa Kids Club: Https://www.nasa.gov/kidsclub/index.html
Technology
- Hour of Code: Https://hourofcode.com/us
- Code.org: Https://code.org/
- Fbi Safe Online Surfing (Digital Citizenship) Gr. 3-8: Https://sos.fbi.gov/en/
- Code with Scratch: Https://scratch.mit.edu/
-
Multilingual Learner Resources
Support- Learn your rights and help your child succeed
- Family Toolkit- Help with understanding the U.S. school system. Includes family and student rights, questions to ask schools, tips, and resources. Available in Arabic, Chinese, English, and Spanish.
- Mass. Dept. of Education ELL Information- State level information for families about curriculum, guidance, laws, and more.
- Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition- Information, support, and legal services for immigrants and refugees.
- Colorin Colorado- Strategies (especially for reading) to help your bilingual child succeed in school
Translation
- Translation for MLL Families- Review this presentation to get ideas on how to support EL parents to access the information you send home
- Google Translate– Use for informal translation purposes. Upload a pdf, document, PowerPoint, etc. and have it translated, preserving your formatting. You can also translate websites and Google forms
- Catholic Charities Community Interpreter Services– contact for interpretation (spoken) or translation (written) for important documents and meetings.
- NETA New England Translators Association- Another resource for interpretation / translation
Student Resources:
Reference
- Content Glossaries (grade 3-12)-Bilingual glossaries organized by content area.
- Language Guide: Spoken Visual Dictionary- Choose a language and a category to see pictures and hear words pronounced.
- Google Translator- Translate text or documents into another language.
Speaking and Pronunciation
- English Club: Pronunciation- Interesting activities to understand and practice pronunciation in English.
- howjsay.com- Type in English words to hear how they are pronounced
- Language Guide: Spoken Visual Dictionary- Choose a language and a category to see pictures and hear words pronounced.
Vocabulary/Grammar
- Grades 3-12 Content Glossaries by Language- Bilingual glossaries in over 30 languages organized by subject area and grade
- Enchanted Learning- Picture Dictionary- English picture dictionary (Bilingual also available)
- English Club: GrammarLots of interesting articles about different grammar points.
- English Club: Parts of SpeechClick on the different parts of speech to learn more.
Listening
- Duolingo- Practice reading, speaking, and listening while having fun!
- English Club: Listening- Lots of fun listening exercises with new updates weekly.
Reading
- Rewordify- Use to simplify English text. Also provides vocabulary exercises for the text you submit.
- Academic Word Finder- Copy and paste a passage to get a list of grade level vocabulary words with definitions.
Writing
- English Club: Writing- Interesting activities to practice writing in English.
- Fun English Games: Writing- Fun games to practice writing letters, stories, news articles, debates, advertising and instructions