Frequently Asked Questions
General Account Information
On the top right-hand corner of the menu you should see the words login. Click on “Log-in” and it should take you to a log-in page. Enter your email and password to log-in.
If you forgot your username or password click on the “forget password” link on the log-in page and you will be directed to create a new password.
You can change your password by logging into your account on the “My Account” page and clicking on the edit account and password icon. This will let you edit any account information including your password. You do need to know your current password in order to reset your password..
If you do not know your current password and you cannot log-in to your account page, you can request a new password on the log-in page. Click on the “Forgot Password” link.
Link generation is how you share a project or resource with your students. Since students do not have their own account, you generate a link and share the link with your students. This link allows students to view a resource without an account or password.
To create a link to share with your students you should:
- Click on the link generation icon on the project or resource page. You’ll find this icon next to the star icon. Copy the link that appears in the pop-up box.
- Share that link directly with your students.
Students then click on the link and will be taken directly to the student view for that project or resource.
Each subscription has a set number of links you can generate at a time.
- Parents/Home accounts can generate one link at at time to share one project or resource at a time. Each new link expires the previous link. to share for one project or resource at a time. This link can be viewed on up to five devices.
- Teachers accounts can generate one link at at time to share one project or resource at a time. Each new link expires the previous link. This link can be viewed on up to 30 devices. If a student uses a link in school on one device and then uses that link at home on another device, that would count as two devices.
- Schools and Districts can generate an unlimited number of links for an unlimited number of projects at a time.
Only school and district accounts can generate links for multiple projects at a time.
For example:
- For home/teacher if you generate a link for the “Save the Rainforest” and then generate a link for the “Save our Brains” project, the “Save the Rainforest” link will expire because you can only generate one link for one project at a time.
- For School/Districts: You can generate a link for “Save the Rainforest” and “Save our Brains” both at the same time.
All project links expire 30 days after it has been generated or when a new link is created, whichever comes first.
You can access the Teacher’s guide on the project overview page. Teacher’s guides are downloadable after you have purchased a subscription. Each guide is a PDF that provides you a roadmap for how you can use full projects as a unit of study in your classroom. Each teacher’s guide provides an overview of the content, a list of aligned national standards, and a lesson by lesson flow of objectives and methods. Guides are just recommendations and educators should make adjustments as needed.
The student Mission Log serves as a guide for students as they engage in both online and offline activities. It is a great way for students to stay organized but also serves as a record of student work that they can go back to as they prepare for their culminating project. Students can also use the Mission Log as their portfolio of learning that they can share with parents or other family members once they completed their projects.
All of our full projects are hybrid which means that there is an online and offline component. We want students to leverage the best of technology but also believe that kids should go offline and experience hands-on ways to process the materials and apply what they have learned. This means that each full project requires a set of material necessary to complete the hands-on activities and projects. To keep costs low we try to use materials that can be found in most classrooms or homes or that can be purchased easily at low cost. Educators can also make substitutions when recommended resources are not available.
Instructional Questions
On each project or resource overview page we give you a sense of the state standards that are covered during each project, magazine and/or virtual field experience. All of the teacher’s guides also provide Alignment to national CCSS and NGSS standards.
Rock by Rock projects focus learning on relevant real world topics where kids take action to better our world through our projects. Currently, all project series primarily focus on STEAM and Literacy however we also integrate social studies, 21st century skills and SEL/habit development. All projects are aligned to NGSS and CCSS standards.
Many teachers use projects to replace learning during STEAM/Science time but have also used the materials to supplement reading, writing, morning meeting as well as social studies/civics time.
How to use Rock by Rock projects and materials as Core Curriculum:
- Science/STEAM Unit of Study: Use our full projects as a unit of study for core Science and/or STEAM units. Each module and lesson can be taught in 30-45 minutes chunks. We continue to add new content each month so be on the lookout for new projects.
- Centers Rotation: Use our projects in a centers rotation where students rotate in small groups from online independent work, to small group reading of the magazine with a teacher and small group hands-on projects and activities. The younger K-2 units cater well to this type of formation.
- Project-based learning time: Some schools like to dedicate either a few hours a week and/or a few weeks post a unit for real world hands-on projects. Use our material as the core curriculum for that time period of the year where students dedicate themselves to an in depth project.
How to use Rock by Rock as a Supplemental Curriculum:
- Reading and Writing supplement: Many tutors and small group teachers use our online magazine and online modules to engage and support student reading and writing skills. All of our content has an explicit focus on vocabulary including tier 2 and tier 3 words. Each project also challenges students to write. Projects offer students an authentic chance to write and revise in a context they find more motivating than many traditional, decontextualized writing assignments. Use our projects and materials as a way to reinforce reading, writing, listening and speaking skills as students engage in a highly motivating topic and build literacy through real world content.
- Differentiate for Special Education and ELL: Our projects work well with ELL and special education students because they provide multiple ways for students to engage in the content including visuals, videos, text to speech, interactive multimedia, hands-on activities and online magazines. Projects provide vocabulary support and background knowledge to reduce the amount of time educators spend supplementing units. Because projects included these core supports, all students have an entry point to engage and students of varied abilities can collaborate on the same project.
Enrichment: All materials and online modules are student facing. Each of our full projects can be done in a self directed manner where students can engage in an independent study aligned to a topic or passion that they are passionate about.
A full project can last 4-6 weeks if you spend 30-40 minutes a day 3-4 days per week. The teacher’s guide gives you a suggested pacing guide. However, if you had a two week expedition week or a do projects every quarter you can flexibly use the projects to meet your context and needs. Educators and students can move at their own pace.
Rock by Rock projects are a great way to engage your students in distance learning. Below are a few suggestions:
Whole Group: Share screen the online modules and engage in lessons together. One of our first pilot teachers, who helped shape our materials, taught our projects fully online in a distance learning setting. She was able to screen share different lessons and engage in discussion and videos together with her class as well as assign different lessons and activities as independent or pair work done in breakout rooms. Students then shared their projects and presentations over zoom or video conferencing as a way to show what they learned.
Self Directed Learning: Teachers can assign different online lessons or even modules as self directed independent learning. For grades 3-5 the student Mission Logs are also created in Powerpoint so that educators can use the logs in Google Classroom and can check in and provide feedback on student work online. For grades K-2, students can engage in all online learning modules independently as we have incorporated text to speech to support non-readers in navigating the site. However for many of the offline activities we think doing it together as a group or with adult support helps with socialization and make the activity more meaningful.
Virtual field experiences provide students with the opportunity to both engage with an expert or professional in the field and engage in video based interactive experience. Our virtual field experiences seek to emulate the types of experiences kids would have on a field trip. They include things like exploring new places like an elephant habitat at the zoo or engaging in asynchronous Q&A with an expert..
Throughout the year we will also provide a calendar of events where teachers can sign-up for LIVE virtual field trips with experts from around the world on different topics. This is coming soon.
Rock by Rock is great for the homeschool family. In fact many of our first user testers were homeschool families looking for strong STEAM and literacy options for their kids. Our projects can be done in a self-directed manner or with a sibling or parent. K-2 students can do part of the project on their own and part with a parent of sibling while 3-5 students can navigate projects with independence. We know students need both online and hands-on learning which is why our projects do both.
Our homeschool families and kids love our projects and many use them as a core part of their curriculum. For example, some families use a project as their anchor, then read additional texts about the topic for ELA, use the theme to create aligned problems in math and use the social-emotional focus as a part of values-based discussions.
Check out a video on how our projects have impacted one homeschool family in Detroit MI
Billing and Payments
To cancel your subscription please log-in to your “My Account” page. On your “My Accounts” page, click on your orders icon. That will take you to your subscription. Click on view subscriptions. This will take you to a page with your subscription information and a button that states “cancel”. Click on that button and then your subscription will be canceled.
Once you have canceled your subscription you will not have access to your account or any of the project courses and materials.
All of our subscriptions are annual subscriptions and they will auto renew. You will be sent a reminder one month in advance to let you know your subscription is about to renew. We will then send another reminder one week before your subscription auto renews. If you do not want your subscription to auto-renew, you should cancel your subscription close to the date of when your subscription will renew.
Your credit card will be charged after the free trial. You will receive several emails during your free trail reminding you when your free trial ends and your credit card will be billed. If you do not cancel your subscription by midnight Eastern Time of the 14th day of your free trial, your credit card will be charged. We offer a 15-day grace period after your free trial where we will cancel and refund your subscription. You can find all of the specific dates in regards to your subscription in your order confirmation email as well as on your “My Account” page when you log-in.
We offer a 15-day grace period after your free trial where we will cancel and refund your subscription. You can find all of the specific dates in regards to your subscription in your order confirmation email as well as on your “My Account” page when you log-in. Post the 15th day you cannot receive a prorated refund for the remainder of your subscription.
We want Rock by Rock to be affordable to all families, kids, classrooms and schools. It is why we provide an annual subscription to our entire library with new content delivered each quarter for free. Because our goal is to offer a high quality program at the lowest possible price (we want to help kids and educators in all settings) we do not offer frequent or extensive discounts. We offer the following incentives:
Home/Teacher:
For home and teacher accounts we provide annual sales over the summer and during the back to school season from May – August. On occasion, we may offer discounts. Be on the lookout in our newsletter for this information.
Teacher to School Upgrades:
We know it can be difficult for each individual teacher to purchase an account. If you are able to get your administrator to sign up for a Rock by Rock school account we will reimburse you for any teacher account for the most recent year. Your administrator must let us know which teacher account to refund when they purchase their school account.
Multi-year discounts:
Schools and districts can receive larger discounts by purchasing muti-year subscriptions.. Please reach out to support@rockbyrock.com for more information.