For Immediate Release
Contact: Chad Colby: Chad.Colby@greatminds.org (202) 297-9437
Monday, May 18, 2020—Great Minds PBC today announced a new collection of digital resources and print lessons for fall learning. Called Great Minds® in Sync, the suite of materials will enable students and teachers to continue the coherent, knowledge-building instruction they experienced this spring and will experience this summer with Knowledge on the Go™ daily video lessons from Great Minds®.
“Great Minds rallied to create Knowledge on the Go lessons when the pandemic drove students from their classrooms,” said Lynne Munson, Great Minds founder and CEO. “We now know that effective distance learning draws on the same ingredients that are essential inside the classroom—setting and maintaining high expectations for all students and delivering on those expectations with coherent, knowledge-building instruction. Great Minds in Sync will help high- quality instruction to continue no matter the circumstances teachers face this fall.”
More than 75 percent of Great Minds employees are current or former teachers, so the organization is responding to school closures from a teacher’s perspective. Staff members understand that teachers and students need high-quality curricula to support continuous instruction. Great Minds in Sync will deliver that curricula, designed to address an array of unique challenges, including reduced school time. Fewer instructional hours requires condensing essential learning and reimagining lessons meant for in-person and group instruction to at-home instruction without losing effectiveness.
Great Minds in Sync adapts and customizes Great Minds curricula for ongoing distance learning. It will include the digital and print bundles of the resources all classrooms need. Eureka Math® in Sync will include a recovery diagnostic tool that pinpoints learning gaps and recommends the right remedy. Wit & Wisdom® in Sync video lessons will help students develop their writing and vocabulary and prompt discussion. PhD Science™ in Sync will continue to enthrall students with videotaped investigations accessible from anywhere.
In addition, the new resources will help address the equity concerns presented by extended school closures. Great Minds in Sync will allow schools and districts to focus on continuing to bring technology to students in need by fulfilling the need for knowledge-building curricula designed for distance learning.
Great Minds in Sync reflects the experience Great Minds gained from rapidly creating and posting more than 1,000 high-quality video lessons online in Knowledge on the Go. The easily accessed, free lesson website pages have received more than 8.7 million views and generated positive feedback from teachers, parents, and students.
Great Minds in Sync and Knowledge on the Go ensure that teachers have what they need to help their students achieve greatness, wherever learning takes place.
New Knowledge on the Go lessons will continue to be posted through June 3. The series will be available for free through August 31 so teachers and students can complete the school year. Great Minds in Sync will be available July 30.
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About Great Minds: Great Minds PBC is a public benefit corporation and a subsidiary of Great Minds, a nonprofit corporation. Great Minds provides exemplary curricula to schools and districts nationwide, inspiring joy in teaching and learning. Great Minds is the only curriculum creator to have earned three Tier 1 ratings, the highest possible, from the Louisiana Department of Education, highly respected for its curricular leadership. Curricula earning the Tier 1 ratings were Wit & Wisdom, Eureka Math, and PhD Science. Eureka Math and Wit & Wisdom both earned top scores from independent nonprofit reviewer EdReports.org. Geodes®, a library of beautifully illustrated, content-rich books with phonics practice for emerging readers, developed in collaboration with Wilson Language Training, is the latest offering to delight teachers and students. Learn more at greatminds.org.
