Do you support K-3 readers with health education? Regular readers of the blog know I’m a big fan of PebbleGo. You might remember my posts on creative project-based learning activities that incorporate this excellent resource. You might recall that earlier this year, I shared how they have supported teachers and families during school closures, too.
The team at Capstone is offering PebbleGo for free for the rest of the school year. Educators or parents can sign up for free using this link. In addition to PebbleGo, you can also request to receive PebbleGo Next, and Capstone Interactive eBooks through the end of June.
In this blog post, I want to feature a specific set of resources that I think you’ll love! The first is a collection of articles around health, and the second is resources for educators on social-emotional learning. Let’s dive into what you’ll find in these new offerings from Pebble Go.
The Importance of SEL
Social-Emotional Learning is a vital component of any classroom. It’s not a buzzword or a fad, but an essential part of a well-balanced plan for reaching all students. The team at PebbleGo has a page with more information on incorporating SEL topics into their offerings.
On this page, you’ll find a full overview of SEL’s background, including a highlight of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning’s (CASEL) framework for SEL in classrooms, schools, and communities. The five Core Competencies are:
- Self-awareness
- Self-management
- Social awareness
- Relationship skills
- Responsible decision-making
How does PebbleGo and classroom reading experiences address social-emotional learning? PebbleGo gives students, and teachers access to high-interest informational text explicitly designed for elementary school-aged students. They can read about a variety of topics.
One way to support your SEL goals this school year is to choose texts in PebbleGo that connect social awareness. Students can learn about how people live in different parts of the world and within their community! You might develop discussion prompts for students to use after they have completed reading a PebbleGo article.
PebbleGo Health Education Resources
Another area to explore is a new collection of resources related to health education. PebbleGo now has over 150 articles for students in Kindergarten, first, second and third grade. These articles connect to both state and national standards to help you address topics throughout your curriculum.
Within the new PebbleGo Health resource library, you’ll find activities for students and topics that relate to student health and staying healthy in the community. This content also connects to social-emotional learning to help you meet students’ needs around SEL.
You can find the full list of new PebbleGo Health articles on this page. The collection includes articles that fit into these big categories:
- Feelings and emotions (like feeling angry or calm)
- Illnesses and conditions (including germs and COVID-19)
- Health care visits (such as getting a shot)
- Health care workers (dentists, occupational therapists, and more)
- Healthy habits (including dressing for the weather, and sleep habits)
- Human body (such as systems of the body)
- My world and my health (including pollution and technology)
- Nutrition (fats, fiber, food groups, and more)
- Relationships and friendships (including peer pressure and empathy)
- Safety (such as severe weather, and preventing injuries)
- Self-awareness (making decisions, self-control, and more)
When the team at PebbleGo first reached out to me to share the new health resources, I was excited to see the list of topics. As you can see above, some categories address SEL goals, science topics, and more. This material is high-interest for students, but it also promotes discussion and helps you address important concepts alongside your English Language Arts instruction.
There are also activities in each article for students to try out. You can see some examples of what this looks like when you check out the collection of free lesson plans. This link will take you out to five examples to explore!
Remote Learning and Classroom Reading Experiences
Can you use PebbleGo during remote learning? The answer is definitely yes! In my blog post from earlier this spring, I spoke a bit about supporting teachers and families during this remote learning.
Through the end of this month, teachers and schools can get access to PebbleGo for free. All you have to do is submit this form with your request. PebbleGo is typically a subscription-based model. If you’ve considered PebbleGo in the past or learning about it for the first time today, I encourage you to request free access so you can explore this new collection and all of PebbleGo’s fantastic resources!
