Welcome to your first newsletter of the new year! We hope your 2023 has been off to a positive start, and that you and your students had a restful, restorative holiday season.
As the midpoint of the school year approaches, you may be seeking ways to keep students inspired and engaged. In this newsletter, you’ll find resources to boost student interest, support learning progress, and build excitement around literacy. Plus, there’s an opportunity to acknowledge the amazing educators in your life.
We look forward to partnering with you in 2023!
- The Wonders Team
2023 McGraw Hill Pathfinder Awards – Accepting Nominations Now!
The McGraw Hill Pathfinder Awards honor three educators, one from each category of PreK–12, Higher Ed, and Post-Graduate, who have demonstrated inventiveness in their approach to teaching. Help us celebrate these educational pioneers, innovators, and advocates by submitting your nomination today.
Nominations are open through February 15th, 2023, and you can nominate either yourself or a fellow educator. Winners will be announced in Spring 2023—and will receive a $5,000 prize!
Did You Know? You can connect with and learn from other inspiring educators in the Wonders user community! Register today to access implementation tips, expert advice, and community-exclusive resources and events.
Fostering Bravery, Patience, and Empathy
The development of social and life skills is an essential part of student wellbeing, as it promotes student agency, competencies, and motivation. Through the growth of self-confidence, problem-solving ability, and pro-social behavior, students are equipped to navigate, and succeed within, their own unique learning paths.
To support the valuable work you do in your classroom, explore our Virtual Care Packages. Each package is centered around a specific life skill or theme and includes a collection of related resources and activities. You’ll find playlists, “Boredom Buster” activities, worksheets, journal prompts, posters, and more!
Wonders offers a variety of digital tools to simplify instruction, support key learning objectives, and maintain student interest. Give the options below a try in your classroom!
• Online Inquiry Space*: The online Inquiry Space guides students in Grades 3–6 through a step-by-step process of completing more complex performance tasks. It includes an array of multimedia tools to help students evaluate sources, take notes, develop drafts, make edits, and publish their work.
Within the Inquiry Space, you can also view class progress and individual student work related to each project.
Find it online at: Writing & Research > Inquiry Space
For more support and to view the Inquiry Space Implementation Guide, visit: Resources > Resource Library > Inquiry Space
• StudySync® Blasts*: StudySync® Blasts are short, high-interest informational texts with corresponding writing assignments that are delivered digitally. They invite students in Grades 3–6 to respond to thought-provoking questions around relevant topics and build reading, writing, and research skills.
• McGraw Hill K-12 Portal Mobile App: The K-12 Portal App makes it easy for students to engage with learning wherever they are! Through the app, students can access, highlight, and annotate their Wonders eBooks, all in a simple, easy-to-use digital space.
As high-stakes testing is on the horizon, the middle of the school year is an excellent time to employ benchmark assessments. Benchmark assessments report on the outcome of student learning and provide data in relation to student progress through the curriculum. Their results can also be used to evaluate student readiness for state testing and identify areas for differentiation or additional support.
Wonders’Benchmark Assessments component features a collection of assessments to check in on and support student progress.
Looking for resources to share with parents, research to inform your work, or inspiration from experts and peers? Visit our blog, Inspired Ideas. You’ll discover stories from educators, strategies from experts in reading instruction, and news from learning scientists and edtech experts. Here are three highlights:
• Are We a Village?: With the variety of challenges facing educators today, collaboration is essential to both student and teacher wellbeing. In this post from McGraw Hill’s Janis Effner, you’ll find tips around working together, honoring our differences, and learning from one another to support student success. • 5 Ways to Form Authentic Connections with Students: In this article, McGraw Hill’s Mindy Spelius shares ways to better understand and connect with students. Strategies include introducing communication journals, inviting students to learn about their community, using music as a learning tool, and more. • Creating Reading Affirmations in Elementary Classrooms: This post from education consultant Dr. Cletis Allen discusses the power of reading affirmations to support both social-emotional learning and reading mastery. Learn how to implement unique, effective reading affirmations in your classroom.
We’re Here to Help
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The Wonders user community is a place for you to converse with colleagues and experts, discover implementation tips and best practice guidance, and find inspiration around all that Wonders has to offer.
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• Share your experiences • Gain classroom support • Get advice from program experts • Form connections with fellow educators • Access exclusive content
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