I've compiled a list of resources that would be helpful for our third grade students to use.  The following programs can be used anywhere you have internet access (home, public library, school).  I hope you can use some of these great learning tools!

My Skills Tutor is an online tutorial program that can be done at school and at home.  You can complete assignments from any computer that has internet access.  My Skills Tutor targets specific skills in math, reading and language arts, and the activities are closely aligned with our state standards.  This is an excellent website, and there is no cost to you.  Our school has paid for the license for all Sierra Oaks students to use this wonderful resource!  If you have problems accessing it from home, please let me know.  We’ve used it several times in the computer lab with no trouble, and the students should know how to get logged on.

• Go to http://www.myskillstutor.com/login.jsp.  You can do this from any computer that has internet access.  You will be prompted for a username, password, and site.  Usernames and passwords have already been given by your child’s teacher.  Contact me if you need this information again.

·         Username:  first initial and last name (Example: abayliss)

·         Password:  four digits for your birthday- first 2 digits for month, last 2 digits for day (Example: 0703)

·         Site: Sierra02 (Make sure you type the number “0” not a capital O!)

• Once you log onto the site, you should be able to take assignments.  If an assignment has been assigned to you, you may take it.  Be careful and take your time on your assignments; take extra care if a pretest is assigned to you.  The pretest determines other assignments you will have to take.  The computer will read directions to you if you click the “sound” button near the top right of the screen.  Click “sound” again to turn off the voice.  You can also turn the sound on and off by clicking on the text within the reading lessons.

• If you are assigned additional assignments after a pretest, click next recommended activity. You will need to master the activity before the computer recommends a new activity.

• Once you are finished, click Log Out from the Skills Tutor website.  As your teacher, I can print a report that indicates how much time was spent and the overall data for each lesson.  Let me know if you would like to receive extra credit for your on-screen practice time!

·         Go to http://www.onlineintervention.com.  You can do this from any computer that has internet access.

·         Click on the word Math to begin.  From this screen, you can enter the “Students” page or “Homework Help.”  You will need your username and password to enter the Students section, but you can enter the Homework Help section without a username and password. 

·         From the Homework Help screen, click on Grade 3 then choose either Worksheets, Learning Tools, Glossary or Family Education Network.  The “Worksheets” section has homework workbook pages for every lesson, and intervention lessons and intervention practices for most lessons.   Simply print out the lesson you need and you are ready to practice with pencil and paper.  The “Learning Tools” section is useful if you would like to review a lesson, get more practice or play games for skills on specific lessons.  This is especially helpful if you would like more practice in a visual way.

·         From the Students screen, you will need to enter your username and password that your teacher has given you.  Then click on Log On.  This opens your home screen.  From here you can find the lesson you want to work on and click on one of the quiz buttons to take a quiz.  When you are done, click on Score Quiz.  You can either click on Learning Tools when you are done if you would like practice, or click on Quit to return to your main screen.

·         When you are done, click on the Log Off button at the top of the page.

• Go to http://www.ca-hss.com.  The Scott Foresman web page will load.  You will be prompted for a username, password, and site.  This information is specific to our school site and grade level.  Place your cursor into the user name field and type the information listed below.  Do the same for the password information.

·         Username:  3student146 (no spaces)

·         Password:  password

• Click the Log In button.  Your grade level page will load.  From the main screen, you will see several choices on the left side including: “To Do,” “Explore,”  “My Backpack,” and “Help.”
  
  
• Click on Explore (the magnifying glass icon).  This opens the main screen “Explore Grade 3.”  From this menu, you can choose which unit and lesson to open.  There are left and right arrows at the bottom of the screen if you don’t see the unit or lesson number you need.  Just arrow over to get to later units. 
  
  
• You may just click on the tab for your unit and lesson number.  This will open a new box with the title of your lesson in big letters.  You will notice there are several icons on the bottom of the screen.  Hover over each icon with your mouse to find out which one you want to open.  I recommend students do the vocabulary, video (optional), student text, interactive practice, and content readers for each lesson.  Don’t do “print partner” as we do these activities in class as a group.  The video is optional but a good review, as we watch these at the beginning of each lesson in class.  “Find out more” is great for a challenge or extension activity.  The “content reader” section is a great way to practice your reading comprehension while you learn about social studies!
  
  
• When you are done, just click on Exit.  Your games and interactive practices are not saved from one session to the next, so next time you will have to start all over.