Does critical thinking take center stage in your classroom? If you’re looking for high-quality resources for social studies and science lessons, you’ll want to check out the new SyncBlasts from StudySync. They’ve launched a new product to support social studies and science teachers throughout the school year!
When it comes to college and career readiness, we all know that students need to possess a variety of skills. This skill development includes an emphasis on critical thinking, as students tackle a wide range of media both inside and outside of the classroom.
Critical Thinking in the Classroom
SyncBlasts is designed to help social studies and science teachers as they help students build critical thinking skills in their students. This new reading and writing platform from StudySync helps students develop critical thinking as they research. They’ll take part in discussions and strengthen their writing skills in cross-curricular experiences. As students build content knowledge in social studies and science, they will become stronger readers and writers too.
As you can see in the video embedded above, SyncBlasts connects social studies and science curriculum to the daily lives of students using a range of video content. They strive to make connections between experiences students can relate to, with big ideas broken down into chunks that are easier for students to digest. The SyncBlasts platform gives teachers the power to create social learning experiences in a safe environment.
Strengthening Reading Experiences
Each lesson in SyncBlast is available for students to read in multiple Lexile®-levels. There are scaffolds for English Learners and students who are approaching grade-level. These features can help all learners in your classroom access every lesson.
As you can see on this landing page, there are original audio and video resources for students too. These features include The Point news show linked above, in addition to other content. Students can access podcasts, multimedia explainers, and other resources to keep them engaged and informed.
In Taming the Wild Text: Literacy Strategies for Today’s Reader, one habit of strong readers my co-author Pam Allyn and I discuss is reading critically. “Successful students think critically about what they read. Never has this been more important than in a world where anyone can instantly publish their writing online. Reading critically means having opinions and taking a stance on one’s reading perspective.” (p. 12) The SyncBlasts platform helps students learn to read critically, while exploring social studies and science concepts at the same time.
Getting Started with SyncBlasts
SyncBlasts includes hundreds of articles and videos for students. These resources align with social studies and science content standards for students in grades six through twelve. The content is relevant for middle school and high schoolers who are diving into social studies and science material as part of a course. They can also use these resources to explore topics of interest, or areas they are researching for an independent project.
To provide students with nonpartisan news, StudySync has partnered with trusted news organizations such as Reuters and Global Press Institute and nonprofits like the News Literacy Project to develop articles with journalists across the country and around the world.
StudySync publishes new SyncBlasts each school day so you’ll find engaging, relevant content pop up throughout the school year. It is designed to be flexible for teachers who might work with another curriculum and are looking for supplemental resources. Additionally, you can use this resource in a flipped classroom model or customize it for your particular class organization.
Ready to start using SyncBlasts in your classroom? Head over to the SyncBlasts landing page to see more examples!
