Your school has closed to follow social distancing recommendations due to the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). Suddenly, you’re asked to teach using digital tools, and you feel like a fish out of water. You’re not even sure where to begin when the articles take over your social media timelines.
All this new information can be overwhelming, so we want to help by compiling a list of resources! We hope you bookmark this page and return to it when you need ideas or when you want to make sure you’re not missing out on anything. We’ll be sharing it on our social media platforms and highlighting new content when we see it.
From celebrity read alouds to virtual lessons, the whole country is finding ways to ensure students are engaged and learning. Since inspiring readers is at the heart of what we do, you’ll notice that many of these resources focus on at-home activities related to books and reading!
Note that if you’re not able to attend some of these video sessions live, you’ll be able to replay them later!
Michelle Obama – Mondays with Michelle Obama
Mondays at 11pm CDT
The former first lady partners with PBS Kids and Penguin Random House to host a weekly read aloud.
Library of Congress – Dav Pilkey at Home
Fridays at 7am CDT
The author of the Dogman and Captain Underpants series shares a weekly video lesson with downloadable activities available throughout the week.
Penguin Kids – #ReadTogetherBeTogether
Weekdays at 2pm CDT
Join favorite authors and celebrities for storytime.
Kelly Yang – Online Writing Classes
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 2pm CDT
The author of Front Desk teaches teens about plot and character.
Peter H. Reynolds – #ReadAloudAlert
Weekdays at 11am CDT
Read aloud live stream from Facebook.
Oliver Jeffers – #StayAtHomeStorytime
Weekdays at 12pm CDT
A popular children’s author reads his books aloud.
Weekdays at 2pm CDT
A popular children’s author reads his books aloud.
Mo Willems – Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems
Weekdays at 12pm CDT
Watch Mo doodle and talk about his process.
Jarrett J. Krosoczka – Draw Every Day with JJK
Weekdays at 1pm CDT
Author and illustrator shares a fun and simple drawing lesson each day.
Cincinnati Zoo – Home Safari Facebook Lives
Weekdays at 2pm CDT
Videos that highlight amazing animals and include an activity to do at home.
Emily Arrow – At Home with Emily Arrow
Weekdays at 12pm CDT
YouTube sensation shares music, books and story time for kids.
Your favorite authors host story time on Instagram.
Various celebrities including Jennifer Garner and Amy Adams read books aloud on Instagram.
Coronavirus: A Book for Children
Axel Scheffler has illustrated a digital book for primary school age children, free for anyone to read on screen or print out, about the coronavirus and the measures taken to control it. Published by Nosy Crow and written by staff within the company, with consulting by Professor Graham Medley of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the book answers key questions in simple language appropriate for 5 to 9 year olds.
Space Station Explorers – Story Time from Space
Enjoy videos of real astronauts in space reading books with space related topics.
Enjoy story time with popular children’s literature authors.
An entertaining talk show highlighting bestselling kid lit authors and illustrators.
International Digital Children’s Library
Digital library of children’s literature in multiple languages available online and free of charge.
For as long as schools are closed, kids everywhere can instantly stream an incredible collection of stories, including titles across six different languages, that will help them continue dreaming, learning and just being kids.
A fun, interactive, online course that uses the game of baseball to help kids ages 8 to 11 maintain their math and literacy skills during the summer months. Major League Baseball and EVERFI have teamed up to create a platform that keeps kids learning while they are out of school, and avoid the “summer slide” that contributes to a long-term achievement gap.
A large selection of beautiful eBooks featuring animals.
By engaging young learners in the scientific and engineering design process, Nomad Press models critical and creative thinking to promote the development of problem-solving skills as readers discover patterns and connections through intellectual inquiry.
Peachtree Event Kits and Teacher Guides
A publishing company offers activity sheets, event kits, teacher’s guides and discussion guides for free download.
Reading Rockets Adventure Packs
Free downloadable activities that encourage hands-on fun and learning centered around paired fiction and nonfiction books.
Free teacher-approved materials designed to help students solidify the concepts they learn in school, and equip them for learning at home.
Stories, singalongs and activity kits created specifically to keep kids busy with safe activities.
Reading comprehension resources, including lesson plans, activity guides and student videos in English and Spanish.
A fun, curriculum-aligned literacy game for Grades 2-8, combining strategy, engagement and imaginative reading passages.
Full-length, free e-books in audio or video formats.
Makes learning to read interesting and engaging for kids, with online reading games, songs and other activities.
Free printable resources and activities for younger children.
Audiovisual activities to teach reading for Grades P-3. Emphasizes exploration, play and positive reinforcement.
Daily recommendations of web-based curriculum ideas delivered to your email inbox.
Educational games for kids P-6+, plus how-to craft videos.
Favorite Read Alouds
Oge Mora – Saturday
Kate Messner – The Brilliant Deep
Carole Lindstrom – We Are Water Protectors
Grace Lin – Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same!
A series of free, printable short stories that double as grammar exercises. Enjoy the story and find the errors.
Free collection of fiction and nonfiction reading passages for Grades 3-12. Also offers Spanish reading passages and questions.
Tech tools to help teachers support students’ reading fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. Includes diagnostic tools, interactive e-readers, close-reading instruction and more.
High quality support and resources for teaching reading through the content areas.
Favorite Read Alouds
Nikki Grimes – Words with Wings
Jason Reynolds – Ghost
K.A. Holt – House Arrest
Chris Tebbetts – Stranded
Jo Knowles – Where the Heart Is
Free ACT & SAT test preparation handouts, practice tests and review guides as well as college admissions guides.
AP study courses including ultra-high-quality videos, practice questions, study guides and full-length tests and explanations that will help students improve in class and on the exam.
Favorite Read Alouds
Elizabeth Acevedo – The Poet X
Jason Reynolds – Long Way Down
School Library Journal tracks temporary publisher copyright policies regarding recording and sharing read alouds.
7 Family-Friendly Literacy Activities to Empower Families as Readers
Booksource lists our favorite ways for kids and guardians to enjoy books, reading and literacy together while engaging in remote learning.
Free classes to make sure you’re feeling great so that you can support your students.
Find all the latest magical treats to keep students occupied—craft videos, fun articles, quizzes, puzzles and plenty more for first-time readers, as well as those already familiar with the wizarding world.
A free library of over 800,000 ebooks. Teachers and parents can use Bookshare to get students with dyslexia, blindness, cerebral palsy, and other reading barriers books in easy-to-read formats like audio, audio + highlighted text, braille, and large font. The collection includes textbooks, educational materials, bestsellers, young adult, and children’s titles, and teachers can assign books to students easily and remotely.
How to Create a Virtual Classroom Library
If you and your students are missing your classroom library, this teacher was able to recreate one digitally. Follow her instructions to provide an online solution.
Learning at Home with Dictionary.com
Join Dictionary.com’s Facebook group to get early access to their newest free learning materials, connect with other parents and educators and share your own great ideas for educating at home.
Teachers College Virtual Learning Support
Webinars and other materials to support virtual teaching and learning, to help you connect with families and with each other and to help us all increase access and equity.
K-12 students are paired with college students at top-tier universities for video tutoring lessons.
Offers courses on everything from early math to reading for Grades 2-8, plus personalized help.
Provides an international platform for teachers to create their own interactive lessons and help curious students around the globe.
A free online program that brings together the diverse talents of Disney Imagineers around the world for a one-of-a-kind learning experience including 32 videos in which the Imagineers share how they use a wide range of skills.
Online homeschool platform and curriculum for Grades P-12 covering all subject areas.
Web-based platform that allows teachers to easily differentiate instruction for students. Offers 1,000+ learning paths in math and ELA for Grades K-8.
Provides free, K-12 printables, digital classes and content for all subject areas.
A collection of digital games that K-12 students can play at home. Organized by grade level and includes a variety of content areas.
More than 1 million free worksheets for toddlers through Grade 12. These educational printables cover alphabet letters, math, language arts, history, geography and more.
San Diego Zoo – San Diego Kids
National Park Service – Virtual Tours
NASA, Google – Access Mars
Louvre – Online Tours
The China Guide – Great Wall of China
British Museum – Virtual Tours
U.S. Government Publishing Office – Ben’s Guide to the U.S. Government
Do you have any websites or resources that you’re finding helpful? List them in the comments below for other educators to find!
These past few days, KidsRead2Kids – a Parents’ Choice Award-winning 501(c)(3) nonprofit – has been working diligently to create a free resource for teachers to help with remote learning. It’s a lesson plan to one of our abridged classic novels, Peter Pan. This lesson plan has vocabulary sheets, questions that test active listening, creative writing exercises, and more.
Here’s a video explaining more about it, followed by a link to the website.
https://youtu.be/PMY04hIrIbk
https://kidsread2kids.com/abridged-classics
Please share this with anyone in need of online resources.
[…] good place to start is our Comprehensive Guide to Remote Teaching Resources for Educators at Every Grade, where we have compiled a list of the best resources being created and shared all […]