If you are looking for some additional resources to supplement your reading and writing lessons, look no further.
The educational websites below will help with teaching reading and writing for kids and even adults.
All of these resources come with a free account, which for the most part is all you need. Also, it is not only geared to English/Language Arts but some even have Science and Social Studies content items as well.
1. easyCBM
“It is designed to give teachers insight into which of their students may need additional instructional supports as well as to provide a means by which they can measure the effectiveness of their teaching.
System reports provide information that supports evidence-based decision making, and the Interventions interface streamlines the process of keeping track of students’ instructional program, a feature that is particularly helpful for student study team meetings and parent conferences.”
Here are some key highlights you can do with easyCBM:
- Manage and list students into organized groups
- Measure student growth with progress monitoring
- Use reports to analyze your students’ progress
- Create individualized intervention plans
- Follow training guides and video to help you get started
2. newsela
“Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that combines engaging, leveled content with integrated formative assessments and insights to supercharge engagement and learning in every subject.
Students and teachers use Newsela to find digital content from hundreds of the best sources—from National Geographic to NASA, Biography.com to Encyclopedia Britannica, the Washington Post to the Wichita Eagle. Content is instructionalized to meet students where they are, with interactive tools and analytics to take them where they want to go. Newsela has become an essential solution for schools and districts, and is the content platform for the connected classroom.”
Here are some key highlights:
- Grade 2nd-12th
- Social Studies, Science, Math, Literature & Art articles
- Text sets
- Student centered, high interest articles
- English/Spanish
- Varied reading levels to meet students at their reading ability
- Aligned to CCSS
3. NoRedInk
The teacher who behind NoRedInk reveals says, “I created NoRedInk to help my students improve their skills with engaging material — and to allow me to track their progress over time. It also freed me up to focus on big-picture concepts in student writing that sorely needed my attention.”
I have used NoRedInk to find the gaps my students were missing within their writing. I always try to start or end the class with 10 minutes of NoRedInk.com time.
Here are some key highlights:
- High interest content
- Adaptive technology
- Authentic Assessments
- Blended Learning
- Unlimited Practice
4. CommonLit
I just found out about CommonLit and was upset I didn’t know about it earlier. I was able to implement in my classroom right away within my literary analysis unit. Check it out!
“CommonLit delivers high-quality, free instructional materials to support literacy development for students in grades 3-12. Our resources are:
- Flexible;
- Research-Based;
- Aligned to the Common Core State Standards;
- Created by teachers, for teachers.
We believe in the transformative power of a great text, and a great question. That’s why we are committed to keeping CommonLit completely free, forever.”
5. TweenTribune
The TweenTribune articles are student-centered my students always were interested in reading. Students can also comment on articles with teacher approval and can interact with other students across the country!
Here are some key highlights from their website!
- Daily AP news articles
- Lexile® leveled for K-12
- Self-scoring quizzes customized by Lexile® level
- Critical thinking questions
- Student commenting
- Espanol AP articles
- Weekly lesson plans
- Weekly video
- Weekend “Monday Morning Ready” newsletter as prep for the week ahead
6. ActivelyLearn
https://www.activelylearn.com/
According to its website, Actively Learn’s mission is to enable every student to learn deeply. They are integrated with Google Classroom and Canvas!
These are some of their key highlights:
- Text-to-Speech
- Dictionary
- Translation
- Chunking
- Scaffolding
- Annotation
- Discussion
- Formative Assessment
- Metacognition
- Media
- Grades 3rd-12th
Bonus: Readtheory
As a Special Education teacher, I love ReadTheory for progress monitoring. It is easy to give students a log-in and they will immediately get started with a pre-test. This is great for goal setting!
According to ReadTheory’s website, it says, “ReadTheory’s adaptive approach fosters improvement by automatically meeting learners at their own, individual ability levels. Signup takes seconds and no time is spent vetting assignments. Progress is shown on an intuitive report, replete with actionable, meaningful insights. Our program is completely free.”
Final Thoughts
I have used all these websites in some capacity. They are extremely helpful when parents ask what their child could be doing at home. Especially when their child is having a difficult time with reading.
Please let me know if you use any of these resources or if there is one you like to share, leave in the comment section below!
The moms of the world need this right now!! Thank you 🙂
Thank you for stopping by! Let me know if you have any questions and I will do my best to help!