ABC CLIO

Login Information:

Log into Clever first.
Once logged into Clever, click on the ABC CLIO icon.

Getting There:

Click here to log into Clever.

Helpful Resources:

Attached are some helpful resources you may want to consult before/when using the research database, ABC CLIO.

Accessing ABC-CLIO Databases Slideshow
Directions for Accessing ABC-CLIO Doc

ABC Series (Databases)

The ABC Series is a large-scale database of information. It is great for research. Some of the topics they include are: culture, history, language, education, food, maps, and national symbols.

Login Information:

Library Card Number: amity

Getting There:

ABC Maps Online: https://www.abcmapsonline.com?c=q3xcEFgsn4

ABC World Culture: https://www.abcworldculture.com?c=q3xcEFgsn4

ABC The USA: https://www.abctheusa.com?c=q3xcEFgsn4

Helpful Resources:

Attached are some helpful resources you may want to consult before/when using the research database, A to Z World Culture.

Accessing A to Z World Cultures & NoodleTools Doc

Canva for Education allows you to create and personalize your own designs from scratch, or choose from thousands of high-quality, copyright-free educational templates. From presentations to posters, and infographics, to worksheets, project-based learning, and lesson plans, the possibilities are endless.

Login Information:

*Make sure you log in by clicking on Continue with email in the purple box. Do NOT use Google or your amityschools account.

*Do NOT log in using Google!

Username: your username@amityregion5.org
Password: your school password

Getting There:

Click here to go to Canva for Education .

Helpful Resources:

Attached are some helpful resources you may want to consult before/when using Canva.

Canva for Education Login Directions

Clever

Common Sense Media

Common Sense Media "is the leading independent nonprofit organization dedicated to helping kids thrive in a world of media and technology. [They] empower parents, teachers, and policymakers by providing unbiased information, trusted advice, and innovative tools to help them harness the power of media and technology as a positive force in all kids’ lives."

Furthermore, they help "families make smart media choices. [They] offer the largest, most trusted library of independent age-based and educational ratings and reviews for movies, games, apps, TV shows, websites, books, and music. [Their] Parent Concerns and Parent Blog help families understand and navigate the problems and possibilities of raising children in the digital age."

Getting There:

Click here to go to Common Sense Media.

Creative Commons

Creative Commons is a website where you have already been given permission to use, reuse, modify, etc. everything you find on there (images, videos, music). You do not have to worry about copyright infringement if you use things from Creative Commons.

Login Information:

You do not have to log in.

Getting There:

Click here to go to Creative Commons.

Helpful Resources:

Good sites on Creative Commons to use for music:

Good sites to use:

Destiny

You can look up, request, and learn about books we have in the media center through Destiny. You also have access to our databases and other resources on it. Furthermore, in Destiny's Webpath Express, you can find credible articles and resources to suit your research needs.

Login Information:

Log into Clever first.
Once logged into Clever, click on the Destiny icon.

Getting There:

Click here to log into Clever.

Helpful Resources:

Attached are some helpful resources you may want to consult before/when using Destiny.

Accessing Destiny Doc

Determining Credibility

Discovery Education

Discovery Education has streaming video, digital textbooks, STEM activities, and tons of great resources to support our growing and inquisitive students.

Login Information:

Log into Clever first.
Once logged into Clever, click on the Discovery Education icon.

OR

Go to Discovery Education's login page.
Click Sign in with Google.

*If it is the first time you have signed in, you may have to click Allow and then Agree.

Username: use your Amity email
Password: use your Amity password

Getting There:

Click here to log into Clever.

Or

Click here to log directly into Discovery Education.

Encyclopedia Britannica

Use Britannica School as your encyclopedia. You can look up articles, biographies, information on countries, images and videos, and a ton of other things using this database. Once you select what you need, it gives you the option to easy refine your search by choosing sub-categories. You can use this database for almost any research project.

Login Information:

Username: amity
Password: bethany

Getting There:

Click here to go to Encyclopedia Britannica.

Find a Book While Home!

Finding Books from Home

If you're looking for a good book but aren't sure where to look, here are a few ways you can get one!

First, you can get books and ebooks from your local library. Attached is a PDF about how you can obtain a library card from home.

Additionally, you can browse and reserve books during the school year through our Destiny card catalog system (see the Destiny page above).

Moreover, you can access all of our school’s databases from home. A ll needed login information for our databases are on this site.

audiobooks & e-Books

eBooks and Audiobooks: Sync is a free summer (April 30th - July 29th) audiobook program for teens 13+. Register on the website and follow the instructions provided. You will need to download the Sora app, which only works on phones and tablets. For more information, visit the FAQ section.

Poetry & Short Story Reference Center has over 350,000 full-text poems, and 40,000 short stories, as well as articles. Do an advanced search with a blank field, click Full-Text, and then use limiters on the left to sort by poems, short stories etc. Or look at the list of poetic forms or techniques, and add that to your search terms (access until June 30, 2020).

EBSCO eBooks (The eBook High School Collection) includes over 300 fiction books, and many more non-fiction books, on topics like marine biology, trans studies, and bias confirmation. Books are either available in PDF format, or ePub, both of which can be read directly from a browser (access until June 30, 2020).

eBooks: JLG Digital gives readers unlimited access to read books online from any device. From a computer, a username and password is not needed. Just click your book and you’ll be able to read it. From a phone or tablet you’ll need to set up an account. Scroll to the bottom of the webpage for instructions.

eBooks: MackinVIA is a digital platform that provides access to select fiction and non-fiction eBooks on a variety of topics. Watch this tutorial to learn how to navigate this platform. To access the website, log-in using Amity’s credentials: User ID: AmityHS & password: friendship

Helpful Resources:

Obtaining a Library Card PDF

Google Suite

Amity's Google Suite (@amityschools.org) includes everything you can access in Google (Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Classroom, etc.). It also very conveniently syncs with PowerSchool Unified Classroom (gradebook, attendance, classroom, etc.).

As soon as you sign the Amity Acceptable Use Policy (AUP), Amity creates several accounts for you. One of them is in the Google Suite. Therefore, if you signed the AUP, you already have an Amity Google account created, and you have access to everything in the Google Suite.

You will use this regularly in school, so it is in your best interest to become familiar with it. Because things are stored in the cloud, using the Google Suite is an easy way to work on assignments, projects, etc. at home and at school. If you need help with anything, please come see me. (:

Login Information:

Username: your Amity email (eg. jacksonpe27@amityschools.org)
Password: your Amity password

Getting There:

Just go to Google, or click here to go to Google.

Helpful Resources:

Attached are some helpful resources you may want to consult before/when using apps in the Google Suite.

Helpful Tools

Remote Learning Etiquette

Linked is a video that outlines remote learning etiquette and expectations. Please make sure you adhere to expectations any time you are participating in remote learning.

Click here to watch the "Student Expectations for Remote Learning" video.

Microsoft Office 365

Step-by-step directions are attached on the Microsoft Office 365 page.

For assessments, PDFs, and other sources that the teachers may have set in a way that prevents Google Read&Write from working properly, Microsoft has two ways that usually help.

1. Use the EDGE browser’s Read Aloud option.

Use this by highlighting any text, right click, and choose Read Aloud. There is also a Read Aloud option (top right of the browser, click on the three dots, choose Read Aloud).

2. Use Immersive Reader (reads and translates, converts to book-type format).

Use this by copying any text and pasting it into the online version of Word (Office 365 => office.com); then click on the View tab and then Immersive Reader.

You can log into Office.com with your username@amityregion5.org and your regular school password.

3. Word 365 also has a speech-to-text option

Just click on Dictation from the home menu.

Click on Dictation to start and stop the dictation.

For PDFs, Microsoft Edge lets anyone annotate a PDF using the paper & pen icon at the top right of the Edge screen. We now have Kami, a Google Extension, that students or teachers can use to annotate PDF’s and sometimes convert an image (of text) PDF to readable text.

Click here to get the Kami extension.

Google Read&Write

All students have access to the free version of Google Read&Write. Students and teachers can add this Chrome Extension when logged into their Amityschools account. It allows students to have anything on the Chrome browser read to them.

Click here to add the Google Read&Write extension.

It also has a Practice Reading Aloud option although I do not know how accurate it is. Click here for information on Practice Reading Aloud. Google Docs and other G-Suite programs offer speech-to-text under Tools.

Email Etiquette

You are all using email to communicate with your teachers more often than in the past. It is important that you understand how to email your peers and teachers appropriately. Please take a moment to view this video about email etiquette:

Click here to watch the "Email Etiquette" video.

Here's a summary:

1. Use a proper greeting

2. Include a subject

3. Be patient waiting for reply

4. Don't use text lingo

5. Check grammar & spelling

6. Sign your name

The Snipping Tool

The Snipping Tool is a really easy way to take a “screenshot” of whatever you need.

You can snip whatever you need, save it as a picture file, and submit it as evidence of your work.

In the Microsoft Windows search bar in the bottom left corner of your screen, type in “Snip”.
The Snipping Tool will populate. Click on it.
Pull up whatever you want to snip, and click New in the Snipping Tool dialog box.
1. As soon as you click New, you’ll notice your cursor becomes a plus sign +.
Use your + to draw the box around whatever you want to snip.
1. It will automatically copy what you snip.
2. Then, you can either paste your snip into an email/document or save it as a picture file.
To save it, click File, Save As, and choose where you’d like to save the file.
You can then attach your file into an email or submit it on PS when you Hand In your assignment.

Click here for the Snipping Tool Handout

Kindles

You can check out a Kindle just like a book (for the same length of time, too)! Each Kindle has a tab (although the books listed on each individual Kindle may shift a little), and there is a master book list with Kindle numbers as well.

Please keep in mind we often add copies of books to our Kindles, and we can do that for you if there's a book you'd like to read that isn't offered here on a specific Kindle or as a hard copy.

The lists are intended for you to see what we have available at this time, and I will update it as often as possible. (:

Helpful Resources:

To check what books we have for Kindle, please check Destiny.

Click here to log into Clever.
- Click on the Destiny icon to log into Destiny.
  - Search for "Kindle" and all of the books we have on Kindle will populate.

Membean

Membean is a guided, engaging vocabulary instruction program that adapts to help students learn and retain the vocabulary words to which they're exposed.

Login Information:

Click Sign in with Google

Username: your Amity email
Password: Your Amity password

If you're having trouble logging on with your email address, go back to the Membean login page and try your firstname_lastname_amso and Amity password. Then, go to your user profile, and make sure you entered your Amity email correctly. If you didn't, change it. It should be your Amity username@amityschools.org.

Getting There:

Click here to go to Membean.

Helpful Resources:

Attached are some helpful resources you may want to consult before/when using Membean.

Membean - Enrolling and Getting Started Doc

Microsoft Office 365

Amity's Microsoft Office 365 (@amityregion5.org) is the cloud platform for Microsoft products (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc).

As soon as you sign the Amity Acceptable Use Policy (AUP), Amity creates several accounts for you. One of them is in Office 365. Therefore, if you signed the AUP, you already have an office.com account created, and you have access to everything on it.

Because things are stored in the cloud, using office.com is an easy way to work on assignments, projects, etc. at home and at school. If you need help with anything, please come see me. (:

Login Information:

Username: username@amityregion5.org (eg. jacksonpe27@amityregion5.org)
Password: Amity password

Getting There:

Just go to office.com, or click here to go Microsoft Office 365.

Helpful Resources:

Attached are some helpful resources you may want to consult before/when using apps in Office 365.

Microsoft 365, Immersive Reader, & Read Aloud Doc

NoodleTools

NoodleTools is the citation website Amity uses. Be sure to use it to cite all of your sources in class activities and projects that may require citations.

Login Information:

Click the Google icon to sign in with Google.

Getting There:

Click here to go to NoodleTools.

Helpful Resources:

Attached are some helpful resources you may want to consult before/when using NoodleTools.

NoRedInk

NoRedInk is a website your English teachers may use to help you practice your grammar. According to their website, "NoRedInk builds stronger writers through interest-based curriculum, adaptive exercises, and actionable data."

Login Information:

Click Sign in with Google
Username: your Amity email
Password: your Amity password

Getting There:

Click here to go to noredink.

Plagiarism

ScienceFlix

"Emphasizing the latest STEM thinking and the Next Generation Science Standards, ScienceFlix® is transforming the way students access science topics, acquire scientific knowledge, and build an abiding interest in science, technology, and engineering."

Login Information:

Username: amityms
Password: amityms

Getting There:

Click here to go to ScienceFlix.

Screencastify

Screencastify is a Google extension you can add to your school Google account. It gives you the ability to record, narrate, and share videos of whatever is on your computer screen (PowerPoints, internet browsing, etc).

To download Screencastify:

Open Chrome
Log into your amityschools.org Google account
Go to https://www.screencastify.com
Click the button to install the extension on Chrome, and follow the prompts to Allow.

To use Screencastify:

Once you have installed the extension, click on the Screencastify icon to the right of the URL bar to start a video.
The video gets saved in your Google Drive and can then be shared with your teacher.
Need more help? Check out this site: https://help.screencastify.com/ or this handout.

Study Island

Study Island, a standards-aligned, subject area practice and remediation website where students use technology-based, interactive lessons to achieve benchmarks.

Login Information:

Log into Clever first.
Once logged into Clever, click on the Study Island icon.

Getting There:

Click here to sign in with Clever.

Helpful Resources:

Attached are some helpful resources you may want to consult before/when using Study Island.

Study Island Directions for Students and Parents PDF

Turnitin

Turnitin is a website teachers use to work on writing with you. You submit papers to it and teachers can provide personalized feedback as well as monitor your progress as you edit and revise. There are also tools built in to help you improve your writing.

Login Information:

Log into Clever first.
Once logged into Clever, click on the Turnitin icon.

Getting There:

Click here to sign in with Clever.

Helpful Resources:

Attached are some helpful resources you may want to consult before/when using Turnitin.

Turnitin-Submission Directions Doc

AMSO Media Center

Welcome to the Media Center!

Reserve a book today! Watch this video to see how you can do it. (: