Distance Learning Resources from FCIT

A great resource to start with is Lit2Go. This site offers over 5,500 audio passages arranged in over 200 collections/books. The passages range from kindergarten level through high school. Here you’ll find many familiar works traditionally studied in school as well as a number of surprises. The site is easy to search by reading level, title, author, or genre. Keep in mind that if you’re using the audio files, a student’s “listening level” is usually higher than the reading level. Look for content that supports curriculum needs and interests your children. Note that the passages are also formatted as PDFs for printing and that most passages include a separate PDF with a related student activity. You’ll find additional suggestions for using Lit2Go in the following two posts.

This post contains over a dozen ideas for using passages from Lit2Go in classrooms. Many of these same activities can be used with students at home.

This digital content collection includes over 70,000 illustrations. Most were digitized from 19th century textbooks. Your students will find curriculum-related images in many subject areas including 10,000 illustrations of animal pictures, 9,000 of plants, and nearly 10,000 for math.

This Educational Technology Clearinghouse (ETC) website contains over 20,000 stock photos for use in student projects. All of the photos are available in four sizes and include informative descriptions.

This ETC collection includes over 5,000 historic maps from all parts of the world. Each map includes historic information. Some maps have zoom features allowing students to explore smaller details of the map. Most are also formatted so that they can be easily printed out using the linked PDF.

All Things Water is a free video series and photo collection about wetlands, watersheds, groundwater, the water cycle, water quality, and alternative water supply. Each video is accompanied by a PDF with coordinating activities for students. The videos and photographs were created by FCIT for the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

This iBook explores the Spanish attempt to protect their Texas claim by bringing the Christian faith and Hispanic culture to the American Indians there. 126 pages. Student activities include Native Americans of the Southwest, comparison of Spanish and English colonial policy, the Columbian exchange, and community research.

Chemistry is the fundamental science at the center of all life sciences. Interactive content addresses topics in the areas of atomic theory, chemical compounds, stoichiometry, and chemical periodicity.

This iBook examines cultural change in Southern California from the Spanish colonial days through the Mexican territorial era to the modern American period through the study of a single ranch. 132 pages. Student activities include model-building, journaling, essay and persuasive writing, and garden designing.

Primary sources such as documents, photos, illustrations, and maps are “windows into the past” can engage students, help to develop critical thinking skills, and provide opportunities for students to construct knowledge. Here are teaching guides and resource links to get started.

This iBook provides a comprehensive history of the fort from 1668 until its transfer to the United States in 1821. 158 pages. Student activities include making a visual dictionary, putting themselves into the shoes of historic characters, studying the transfers of the fort, and creating a commemorative marker.

Once upon a Dime is a series of economics lessons for younger students. Each lesson is based on a familiar fairy tale. Select from: Jack and the Beanstalk (trade), Town Mouse and Country Mouse (advertising), Dancing Princesses (writing product descriptions), and Peter Rabbit (decision-making).

This iBook is the story of the Native American Puebloan People and the Spanish attempt to bring roughly 10,000 American Indians into Spanish society. 76 pages. Student activities include making an infographic, pottery, a trade chart, and building a model.

This module provides resources and information to support the teaching of bioremediation – the utilization of organisms such as plants and microbes to clean up environmental contaminants.

The focus of this module is on natural forces that change beaches and other coastal areas. These forces include normal tidal action as well as storms.

Florida Then & Now is a set of 70 reproducible readings, questions, and activity sheets for an upper elementary study of Florida History.

From Many Lands supports reading and social studies at the elementary and middle school levels. Easily navigated by young students, the site pulls together engaging stories, interesting photos, and some basic information about each country. Includes a games and activities section.