Distance Learning Resources From Learning A-Z

Even when students aren’t in a physical classroom at school, distance learning tools and interactive online resources from Learning A-Z ensure that learning can continue anywhere.

Raz-Kids, Raz-Plus ELL Edition, Headsprout, and Vocabulary A-Z are digital platforms that deliver vast virtual reading libraries, distance learning tools, and educational programs that make teaching and learning easy.

Teachers can deliver lessons and stay organized with a suite of helpful tools; kids can study at their own reading level on any connected device; and caregivers can work with students on fun activities, wherever they may be, by taking advantage of these powerful distance learning tools.

What Are the Keys to Success With Distance Learning?

Remote learning requires essential elements to be in place, like careful organization, instructional clarity, and effective technology. As we outlined in our article 12 Essential Tips for Families Doing School at Home, successful distance learning requires prioritizing these essentials:

• Communication, so teachers and students can regularly interact and create a personalized learning environment
• Clear expectations, so students understand the work they need to do and have time limits for completion
• Easy-to-use technology, which makes learning intuitive and enables caregivers to help kids complete lessons at home
• Safety, which requires students to learn in a safe environment that protects them along with any devices they’re using for learning
• Structure, which helps create a classroom environment at home

Remember: distance learning tools should make learning enjoyable! Help students pay attention and absorb learning material by presenting it in a way that’s interesting and relatable for each specific age group.

5 Strategies for Success in K-5 Distance Learning

Ideally, distance learning enables and drives an empowering online learning environment, where teachers and students both benefit from remote learning and teaching. These five basic reminders can be helpful anytime, but be sure you have a solid, reliable support system in place as well.

1. Be Yourself.

Your authentic self will help build a more successful distance learning environment. Stay true to who you are and what works best for you.

2. Know Your Students.

Seek out what works best for each of your students as well, and work to incorporate those things whenever possible. Continually learn more about your students and what they value most. Keeping kids motivated can be directly connected to keeping them interested, so including your students’ interests wherever you can help spark curiosity, joy, and engagement.

3. Keep It Simple.

Don’t overwhelm your students (or yourself) with too many assignments, activities, assessments, or other obligations. Focus on simplifying wherever you can. Keep distance learning materials as easy as possible to access and complete. Powerful resources like the distance learning tools from Learning A-Z can help a lot with this part. Plus, digital access means kids can learn on phones and mobile devices, wherever they are, which can be a kind of simplicity in itself.

4. Communicate Clearly.

Get right to the point and be concise. It’s essential that you deliver directions, assignments, and all messages in an extremely clear way that’s easy for your audience to understand in the remote format. Make videos whenever you can, so kids can access them when needed.

5. Stay Flexible.

Give students options, with different ways of demonstrating their understanding or completion of a task. When kids have a variety of opportunities to express their understanding, accomplish work, or otherwise exercise some control or choice in the process, their attitude, participation, and outcomes often improve.

The more you can do these things, the better the chances your distance learning classroom environment will be successful.

How Does Learning A-Z Support Distance Learning?

Distance learning products from Learning A-Z make lesson planning easy in a collaborative online learning environment, helping teachers and students stay connected wherever they are. Teachers can send students messages and monitor progress in real-time. Students love the kid-friendly user experience when they access and complete new lessons. Even taking quizzes and completing assessments is fun in the interactive platform.

Each of the Learning A-Z products shown below provides teachers with a dashboard where they can track assignments and monitor individual and class progress, helping keep students motivated and focused. Expectations are clear, lessons are easy to access, and students enjoy progressing through their learning modules.

Raz-Kids

With Raz-Kids, remote students can instantly access a leveled library of fiction and nonfiction books on their computer or mobile device. Arranged across 29 levels of difficulty, books are accompanied by digital quizzes for an interactive reading practice. Teachers can track students’ reading progress and access individual and class-wide digital reports.

Raz-Plus ELL Edition

Raz-Plus ELL Edition, designed specifically for English language learners, includes the same data-driven reports and a large library of leveled books as Raz-Kids, plus more than 50,000 differentiated reading resources, along with ELL Leveled Reader Packs, ELL Content Picture Packs, ELL Vocabulary Power Packs and Vocabulary Books, ELL Language Skill Packs, and ELL Assessments.

Teachers can send messages to students through the dashboard and create customized individual, small group, or full class digital assignments focusing on skills like critical thinking, close reading, and foundational skills. Another advantage of Raz-Plus is our new Distance Learning Packs!

Headsprout

Headsprout for K-5 students is a research-backed reading program proven to improve students’ literacy rates and test scores. Featuring interactive online episodes that students complete, Headsprout adapts each new episode to the student’s previous responses. Students must master a skill before they can move on to a more advanced skill, making this personalized program an effective form of differentiated learning for remote classrooms.

Vocabulary A-Z

Research has shown that Vocabulary A-Z, a digital tool for K-5 students, builds vocabulary and increases reading comprehension. Students can practice and improve vocabulary skills via engaging online game-based activities and quizzes.

All these programs can help students thrive once they’re back in the classroom, too. Blending online and hands-on learning is a great way to prepare kids for our technology-focused world.

Distance learning helps kids build valuable technology skills and enables them to continue learning whether they’re in a school classroom, at home, or anywhere else. Contact us to learn more about how Learning A-Z can help you with literacy-focused distance learning solutions for PreK-6 students.