Free Online Resources

Mo Willem Lunchtime Doodle
Fun and spontaneous, but use a PDF downloadable guide for younger kids to follow along.
Day 1 was drawing Pigeon, good for K-3


Starfall
A number of free activities before a subscription is needed.
For K-3, good for literacy activities and songs


ABCMouse.com
Free 30 days free during COVID-19 pandemic. It has all subject areas, including Spanish.


Scholastic Online Learning
Paired Fiction and Non-Fiction books, with a video, and vocabulary with some additional resources. They are grouped by grade levels.

Storyline Online
Picture books read aloud by celebrities. No log-in or email needed!

Books About Emotions

 The Many Colors of Harpreet Singh is a inclusive way to teach feelings in relation to colors, while diversifying reading for children.
A young Indian boy moves to the United States and wears a patka, a style of Sikh turban. Each day he wears a specific color that depicts his mood.

A follow up activity could be to have students draw themselves wearing a special piece of clothing and write about a feeling.

Websites

Some free websites that I find useful with my students are:

Reading:
 For beginning reading skills  Reading Bear is a resource that approaches reading phonetically and begins at a very basic level, with letter sounds.


StoryWeaver allows children to hear books in both English and other languages.  Text levels are not very challenging, so it's better for younger students or beginning readers.

Math:
 To work on specific lessons and skills, Splash Math allows some free accounts for teacher's to tailor and assign tasks.

Videos & Lessons:

 Khan Academy gives lessons on a multitude of topics.

 TeacherTube gives students the advantage of watching a video of a teacher teaching lessons and is searchable by content.

Bilingual Kidspot has a variety of poetry, nursery rhymes, and videos in different languages for kids to interact with.

Castle Unit and Read Alouds

(A work in progress)


Using castles to thematically teach in reading and writing:

References for kids:  

I Wonder Why Castles Had Moats- Philip Steele

Castles- David Macaulay



Read alouds:

A Brave Princess- Beatrice Masini
  to discuss characters

Tumble Tower- Anne Tyler


Math related:

Sir Cumference and the Round Table
 - draw and measure the perimeter or circumference of tables and/or moats
Other Sir Cumference Books

How Big is a Foot?


Writing:  

- Describe a castle in detail- project a photo on the board and brainstorm whole group descriptive words
- Write about the adventure of a knight

 

Biography TImelines

A quick and easy way to separate main idea and details, while reading biographies and learning about the genre, is to create a timeline of a person's life.  This also solidifies the idea of chronological order, has children return to text to seek out information, and gives them the opportunity to learn about an influential person. 

Here are a few examples of timelines of Walt Disney's life, based on one particular biography, but we did additional research using other sources also.

Younger children or children with limited English can simply draw big events and perhaps label them, while older children can additionally write about the person's life, highlighting their accomplishments.

Phones

These are pieces of PVC elbow pipe, available at big hardware stores, such as Home Depot and Lowes.  I use them for primarily three things: reading fluency, hearing letter sounds, and revising writing.

The sound through the pipe accentuates what they hear and they are more cognizant of how they are pronouncing.   It really helps some children hear the vowel sounds that they are making.

The kids love using them and are excited to reread a book or poem while they "listen" to themselves read.  They only have to read at a very low volume to hear themselves, so several children reading at the same time is not a problem.

When we are revising writing, I have the students read their writing quietly to themselves (usually sitting at an area like a writing center) and then go back and read it a second time using a blue pen to make changes.  Sometimes they are reading for flow, sometimes with a purpose, such as adding strong verbs or similes and metaphors.

The piping is inexpensive and can be decorated with puffy paint, stickers, or names written in Sharpie (it wipes off with rubbing alcohol at the end of the year).  It's a fun tool to have in the classroom.

Sand Letters

Some reading programs use tactile or sensory experiences for students to learn letters or letter sounds.  Montessori schools for example, use sandpaper letters as students develop literacy skills.  The Orton-Gillingham reading intervention program also uses sensory experiences, such as students tracing letters in sand or rice.

Materials:  index cards or oak tag (if using oak tag- scissors or a paper cutter), pencils,  liquid glue such as Elmer's glue, colored sand from a craft store, measuring spoons/small scoop, a container to hold the sand
- you may want newspaper or paper on the table & probably a dust pan and brush for afterwards!

 Process:

This activity can be made with the students and used in a variety of ways.

 1.)  On  an index card or pre-cut piece of oak tag and write the letters in pencil.

2.)  Students go over the letter in glue (either by squeezing the glue bottle or going over it with a Q-tip and glue). 







3.)  Students take a scoop of sand and sprinkle it over the letters.  Shake off the excess sand and leave it to dry for a couple of hours.

Uses:

I often just make the vowels with the students to take home, but have a set of the whole alphabet.

•  in reading groups
•  students say the letter name and sound and trace over them with their fingers
•  the students can hold up a letter when they hear the letter sound in a word
• creating a short vowel word
• doing a crayon rubbing over the top of the letter

Non-Fiction Chart

A reference chart for kids when reading a non-fiction text.  As you are reading text with the kids (such as a Time for Kids or Scholastic News, or a photocopied text), identify examples of each of the features on the checklist.  Cut out, or copy and cut out the examples and paste them on the chart.  Then hang the chart to use as a reference.  If the children have helped create it, they are more likely to remember and refer to it.  Sometimes we have one for each reading group. 

Planting Seeds

Planting seeds are a great science, math, writing activity that can be tied into literacy thematically with books like Titch, seed or gardening books.  They can be simply a fun activity or a daily exercise in graphing, writing, observation, and recorded through science journals.
Bean plants grow the most quickly and can be done as simply as by dampening a paper towel, folding it around a couple of seeds and placing them in ziplock bags.  This year I used sunflower seeds and clear Starbucks cups (reuse) and tied a ribbon around them as an end of the year present.

We grew them in math class and charted the growth on graphs each day.  A good tip is to always grow a couple of extra at home to switch them out if need be ; )

Read Aloud Children's Books

For new readers, or to assign for home.

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do You Hear?

A collection of books

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The Cat in the Hat

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom