Learning Opportunities at Home!
 

The new school year is upon us. If you are looking for opportunities to enrich at home, look no further than Palm Crest Elementary School's numerous enrichment opportunities at home. You will receive instructions on how to access the resource below from your teacher after the school year begins.

iRead

Now in its third year, PCR's famous summer reading program -- iRead -- is coming to a close. Log your minutes read over the summer from June 05th to August 12th and earn a chance to win fabulous prizes. Download a paper reading log or log your minutes online here. To learn more about iRead, click here. Once the school year starts, each teacher will convey reading expectations for their class to your child.

Mathematics Enrichment: IXL Learning

IXL Learning is an educational technology company that provides online learning that is dynamic and adaptive to the math level of your child. You should have received a flyer from your child's homeroom teacher describing IXL and providing login information. There are two ways to access IXL from home. You can do activities on the IXL website or on the brand new iPad app. Using either method your child's activities are logged on the cloud and accessible by both you and your child's teacher. To do activities via the IXL website go here:

http://www.ixl.com/signin/lacanadaunified

1. Login with the username and password (usually your student's lunch number) provided by your homeroom teacher this past school year. If you are new to PCR, contact Sugi Sorensen at sugi@allegromedia.com.
2. Click on Math --> Grades and then select your child's grade from the left-hand number bar.
3. Select a skill to practice from the list of available skills for your grade. If your child is behind, pick a lower grade. If you child is bored, try skills from higher grades! Mouseover any topic to see a sample question for that topic.
4. Click on the link to begin an online exercise. When you have completed an exercise, you can go over the questions your child answered incorrectly to help them understand the problem better.
5. As your child completes exercises, you can monitor his/her progress by clicking on the Reports tab.
   
   

IXL Math Practice iPad App:

To download the IXL iPad app, search for "IXL Math Practice" in the app store or go here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ixl-math-practice/id693689912

Login for the iPad app is slightly different than for the website. Your username on the iPad app is your regular IXL username + ""@lacanadaunified". For example, if your child's regular IXL login is "jsmith", then the IXL iPad login is "jsmith@lacanadaunified". The password on the iPad is the same as it is for the website.

In addition to making math practice exciting, IXL is designed to help your child learn at his/her own pace and keep pace with activities they complete at school.

Khan Academy

The Khan Academy offers a plethora of free, web-based courses and videos. From math to science to computer science to economics to the humanities, you can access hundreds of courses for free. Create a parent account, then select the grade level for your child, then pick subject area and start taking courses! To start, go here:

http://www.khanacademy.org

If you are interested in math, select the math section, pick your child's grade, then have your child take the pre-test to find out where your child should start.

Language Arts Enrichment: Accelerated Reader

Along with the other schools in the La Cañada Unified School District (LCUSD), PCR uses the Accelerated Reader product from Renaissance Learning. Accelerated Reader (AR) provides online quizzes to test your child's comprehension of books read. Most teachers at PCR utilize AR quizzes in the classroom to help assess and track your child's independent reading progress. AR also tracks the books your child has read and can recommend new books appropriate for their reading level. There are several ways you can use Accelerated Reader at home:

• Use the AR BookFinder tool to find new material for your child to read or to find out the reading levels of books you already have:

http://www.arbookfind.com/

Use the Advanced Search and Collections tabs to search for and browse books recommended by experts, books filtered by subject, genre, and reading level, and books currently popular with other children.

• Use the Renaissance Home Connect link at home to access your student's progress and practice from home:

https://hosted343.renlearn.com/265304/HomeConnect/Login.aspx

Login with your child's username and password, which is usually the same as the username/password used in IXL.com. Once logged in, you can:

• See progress toward reading goals.
• Conduct book searches.
• Review quiz results.
• View the number of books read, words read, and quizzes passed.
• And much, much more.

Language Arts Enrichment: Spelling City

The 2nd grade and select other PCR teachers utilize Vocabulary Spelling City to enhance literacy skills such as spelling and vocabulary expansion through online games. If your child is in 2nd grade, you should have received login instructions for SpellingCity.com. For students in grades other than 2nd, there are also a plethora of free language arts activities available at VocabularySpellingCity.com. The website keeps track of student progress and informs both teachers and parents of their child's progress. The main website is located here:

http://www.spellingcity.com/

Typing: TypeToLearn 4

Typing is an invaluable skill that your child needs in order to work effectively on a computer. PCR uses the TypeToLearn product from Sunburst Digital at school to hone your child's typing skills. PCR is proud to announce that this year TypeToLearn 4 can be accessed from home to allow you to practice the skills learned at school and advance your child's typing ability. To install TypeToLearn 4 at home, point your web browser here:

http://ttl4.sunburst.com/downloads/

1. Install the full version of TypeToLearn 4 on your home computer.
2. Login with your child's username (usually the first letter and complete last name) and password (your child's lunch number.)
3. The first time you launch the app, you will be asked for an Account Code. Send an email to sugi@allegromedia.com to obtain the PCR account code. After you enter the code the first time, you will not be asked for it again.
4. Start by taking the Pre-test to assess your child's current typing level.
5. Once your child's typing level is assessed, proceed along with new typing activities and games.
6. You can also track your child's progress by clicking on the 'Reports' button from the TypeToLearn 4 Main Menu.

TypeToLearn 4 has more than 100 lessons, 5 engaging, skill-targeted typing games with each lesson, and 7 diagnostic, formative, and summative keyboarding assessments.

Typing: Typing Club

During the 2013-14 school year, PCR piloted a new online typing program -- Typing Club. PCR has renewed our site license for the 2014-15 school year. Click here to log in:

https://palmcrest.typingclub.com/

Username and password is the same as it is for IXL.com. Unlike TypeToLearn 4, which has an upper limit on what your child can attain, Typing Club does not. Your child can keep doing Typing Club until they challenge the typing world record of 216 words per minute (wpm) attained by Stella Pajunas in 1946 on an IBM electric typewriter.

GoAnimate

This super-popular online animation tool, introduced in grades 3 and above, is available to most PCR students. GoAnimate lets students create character-based animations using only a browser. Write a script and storyboard, download dozens of free templates, include your own audio tracks, insert music from GoAnimate's extensive music library, and then publish your finished animation on the web for your friends, family and teachers to see. Take advantage of PCR's site license by logging in here:

http://goanimate4schools.com/school/pcr

Login w/ the same username and password as your child uses for IXL.com.