Best Digital Resources for Back to School

Technology can help to differentiate learning and make it fun! Following is a list of my favorite back-to-school digital resources to support classroom success for elementary students. 

Note: *Designates items available only for City of Denton residents with active library cards.

Online Homework Helpers & Research Tools:

• Fact Monster - Online dictionary, encyclopedia and almanac. Also homework help and some games links. 

• Homework Spot - K-12 homework resources organized by subject and grade-level.

• BJ Pinchbeck’s Homework Helper -Links to educational sites appropriate for grade K-12 homework help. Topics include health, art, music, math, and English.

• Brainfuse* - live homework help from 3:00-10:00 p.m. daily via the City of Denton Library website.
• KidsClick- Search engine that was designed for kids by librarians.
• KidzSearch - Search engine powered by Google Safe Search.
• KidRex - Search engine with kid-friendly interface powered by Google Safe Search.

Interactive Educational Games:

• Game Classroom - Math & language arts lessons, videos, games, and worksheets for students up to grade 6.

• ABCya - Teacher-created website which provides fun and educational games and apps for kids in grades K-5.

• Turtle Diary - Games, practice, worksheets, videos, and more for grades Pre-K-6.
• Funbrain - Interactive games for grades PreK-8. 
• Arcademics - Arcade Skill Builder features over 50 games designed to strengthen the math skills of students K-6.
• PBS Kids - Collection of interactive games by topic for PreK-grade 5 (includes some Spanish games).
• Interactives - Huge collection of interactive games and simulations for math, language arts, science, social studies, music, art, holidays, brain teasers, and more for grades K-5.

• Adapted Mind - Reading and math games & activities for grades K-6.
• Knowledge Adventure - Educational games for a variety of academic subjects and grade levels.

Educational Video Resources:

• Khan Academy - Math library provides thousands of instructional and informative videos on math, finance, history, science and more topics. Grades 3 and up.

• WatchKnowLearn - Tens of thousands of excellent, educational videos in a huge, intuitive directory (all ages). 

• EduTube - Find, watch and download the most popular educational videos (all ages).

Content Resources: 

English/Langage Arts

• Vocabulary - Build academic vocabulary using an adaptive learning approach for grades 6 and up. (Great tool for test prep).
• ReadWriteThink - Develop online literacy learning with  interactive tools that help students in grades K-12 accomplish a variety of goals—from organizing their thoughts to learning about language. 

• Into the Book – Activites to support reading comprehension for grades 3-5.
• Starfall - Learn to read and support literacy for grades PreK-2.
• Overdrive - *Download free ebooks with your Denton library card that can be read in the browser or via an app.
• Spelling City - A game-based, K-12 learning program for vocabulary, spelling, phonics, writing, and language arts.
• My Storybook - A great, creative tool for digital storytelling. Grades: K-6. 
• Zooburst - Create free, pop-up stories online.

Math

• Teach Mathematics - Lessons and activities aimed at helping students in grades 3-high school to improve their math skills. 
• CK12 - Math and science lessons, videos, and assessments for grades 3-12.
• BrainGenie - Site based on improving math knowledge and skills. Useful for all grade levels with thousands of lessons, games, and videos.

• MangaHigh - Math games and activities for ages 7-16.
• Patrick JMT: Math videos on a variety of topics for grades 6 and up.

• XP Math - Educational math games for grades 2-9.
• Hooda Math - Dozens of math games for kids of all ages. Searchable by math topic or by grade level.

Science

• Gizmos (Science interactive for grades 3-8 – 5 min. free per day).
• Science Bob -  Loads of science q & a, experiments, blogs, videos, and more to support science learning.
• Try Science - Experiments, virtual field trips, games, and online adventures to create a love of science for elementary students.
• Understanding Science - Website designed for teachers (but can be used by parents and students, too) that accurately relates how science works. The site provides numerous resources that can be searched by content or resource type for grades 3 and up. 
• BBC Bitesize - Information, games, and quizzes on a wide variety of scientific topics for grades 2-6.
• Kids Gov Science Videos - Variety of videos on science topics.
• Symphony of Science - Quality selection of science videos.

Social Studies

• Ben’s Guide  - Social Studies/U.S. Government) 
• Mapping History - Learn history by viewing interactive maps of major world events.
• Google Sightseeing - Tour world as seen from satellite, using the free Google Earth program, or Google Maps in your web browser. (Content provided by the public so parent supervision while using this site is recommended).
• Social Studies Interactives - A variety of interactive websites on topics such as states & capitols, native Americans, countries, U.S. symbols and more for elementary students.
• Utah Education Network - Social studies interactive websites for grades 3-6.

Project and Presentation Tools:

• Haiku Deck - Create stunning visual presentations. Appropriate for grades 3-12 (alternative to PowerPoint).
• Prezi - Creative presentation tool that allows users to pan and zoom for grades 3 and up.
• WeVideo - Cloud-based, collaborative video creation tool. (Free account option).
• Magisto - Simple movie creation tool.
• Padlet - Create an online bulletin board using "sticky" notes. Great for organizing thoughts and resources for a project.
• Graphic organizers - Interactive, downloadable and printable graphic organizers to use for practice or projects (includes story maps, timelines, Venn diagrams and many more).
• Vocaroo - Free, online voice recording tool.
• BigHugeLabs - Make magazine covers, trading cards, posters, and more with digital photos.
• PicMonkey - Easy to use online photo editor.

Apps:

• Cozi – Free family organizer app and website.
• ArtKive – Take, tag, and store children’s artwork digitally
• BrainPop – App has a featured free movie of the day on a variety of educational topics.
• Khan Academy, Haiku Deck, Prezi, Padlet, Starfall, Vocabulary Spelling City, WeVideo, Magisto, Overdrive, Zooburst, Hooda Math, ReadWriteThink (trading cards, word mover, timeline, poems, alphabet organizer), My Story, PicMonkey, and PBS Kids also have apps available via the iTunes app store. (Note: Many of these apps are also available for Android devices). 

There are SO many terrific websites to support educational success! Please add your favorite websites in the comments section.