How to Get Started with Studies Weekly

So you’ve received your Studies Weekly blue box and you’re thinking, “Now what?”

Starting a whole new curriculum can be intimidating at first, but there’s no need to fear! Getting started with Studies Weekly is easy.

So first things first, let’s open the box.

Your boxes will contain the Students Editions and one Teacher Edition per classroom.

The Teacher Edition is ready for you to 3-hole punch and compile it into a binder in whatever order best fits your needs.

The Students Editions consist of enough weekly units to last the entire school year.

Which Publications Need to Be Sorted?

Studies Weekly publications come in three print formats:

• Magazine
• Newspaper
• Bound book

Only magazine and newspaper formats need to be sorted before instruction begins. These editions arrive bundled together and should be separated into weekly sets. This format is fully consumable, and encourages cutting out images or text for graphic organizers, student artifacts, or project-based learning. Like the bound format, they also can be highlighted and annotated.

Bound books are already organized and ready to use right out of the box, so no sorting is required.

How to Sort Magazine and Newspaper Publications

In order to save you money, and because of the uniquely consumable nature of Studies Weekly, we must print multiple units on one printing plate. This means the Student Edition is shipped to you in a classroom set that needs to be collated. Here’s a great explanation of how that works, and why we have to print them this way:

As you separate publications, you can sort them by themes, units, or according to your teaching plan. You then can give your students just one publication at a time during instruction.

While it may take a little time initially, having the ability to file each week separately can actually save time in the long run. It’s “one and done” and they are ready to go for the year.

Sorting Tips

Tip 1:

1. Put your students in a circle
2. Assign them each a week to find in the SE
3. One student starts by pulling out Week 1, then passes the rest to the student in charge of Week 2, etc. (Each week has a different color to help you stay organized)
4. Gather papers by weeks, clip together using either an alligator clip or large paper clip
5. Place the weeks back into the blue box or a file cabinet until you’re ready to start using them

Tip 2:

Give older students a service opportunity and ask them to sort. They can use the same process as described in Tip 1.

Tip 3:

Ask a parent helper to sort.

And just like that, the sorting is done! Take a well-deserved victory lap — you’re organized and ready for the year ahead. Now, let’s explore some storing options.

How Should You Store Your Publications?

Once your magazine and newspaper publications are sorted, choose a storage system that works best for your classroom. You can keep publications organized by week in the original blue box, file cabinets, magazine holders, storage bins, or other classroom organization systems.

Some teachers prefer distributing several weeks — or an entire unit — at once and having students keep publications in classroom folders or desks until they’re needed.

For more ideas on how to organize and store your Studies Weekly publications, visit Ideas for Storing Studies Weekly Publications.

Review the Startup Kit

The Startup Kit can efficiently help you plan out how to implement Studies Weekly curriculum over the course of the entire school year. A few minutes reviewing it at the beginning will set you on the right path for success!

Finally, log in to Studies Weekly Online.

Once your print publications are taken care of, it’s time to explore Studies Weekly Online, the online learning platform that pairs with the print. Studies Weekly Online has everything your print publications have, plus videos, interactive activities, an audio reader, a gamification option, additional teacher resources, and integration with Google Classroom.

Incorporating Studies Weekly Online into your classroom instruction means you can engage all students where they are at in their learning.

Log in to Studies Weekly online from this URL: online.studiesweekly.com.

Note: If your school or district orders Studies Weekly for you, they may use a rostering process to create your online login. Please check with your school or district.

We have numerous ways to teach you how to get started with Studies Weekly Online.

• • Step-by-Step Onboarding Guide — This is an interactive PDF you can download and mark off the steps as you go, and includes an exit ticket at the end you can use to get PD credit.
  • Studies Weekly Online Account article – This article gets you started with the most essential steps.
  • Training & Resources Tab — Find instructions and multiple how-to videos in the training resources at Studies Weekly Online (requires login).
  • Studies Weekly Knowledge Center — Find more help and FAQs in this thorough knowledge base.

If you have any other questions, visit support.studiesweekly.com to find helpful resources on using Studies Weekly print and online and to explore the Getting Started Guide. You can also reach out directly to our Support team there.