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Being a teacher is expensive and finding resources that reinforce what you teach during your lessons can be challenging. On top of that, it’s hard to come up with enjoyable classes that also meet the curriculum. However, there are many free online resources you can use to help you enhance your lessons for students. Here are nine free teacher resources websites.
- Scholastic
Scholastic has many free resources for teachers, chiefly elementary and middle school students. A highlight of Scholastic’s resources is their holiday and current events materials.
The company offers various lessons, including interactive whiteboard and computer lab activities, reading assignments, graphic organizers, and lesson planners. Its website also has relevant book lists, listen-and-read activities, vocabulary lists, and more.,
- PBS Learning Media
PBS Learning Media provides interactive math, science, social studies and language arts lessons. Like their public television network, these lessons get updated to reflect student interest and current events.
Their packaged short lessons come with a video, lesson plan and supplementary materials, all markedly free! There are lessons for students from early learning all the way through seniors in high school.
- NCTM Illuminations
The Illuminations website is a product of the National Councils of Teachers of Mathematics, which uses it to provide resources for math teachers of all grade levels. The website has over 700 free lesson plans along with hundreds of activities, games and interactive tools.
It also has instructional tools for educators. The landing page of the site regularly features different resources to give you ideas as well.
- National Geographic
National Geographic provides free lessons coupled with activities on geography. Its offerings have completion times from under an hour to week-long, making it incredibly versatile.
The company offers longer units, with all classes dedicated to using facts, mental maps, and critical thinking to inform your students geographically. The site also contains resources for other subjects, including history, and culture.
- Epic!
Epic! is a comprehensive virtual library that provides teachers with 25,000 books, quizzes and learning videos in English and Spanish. The website contains whiteboard lessons that teach specific skills and is great for reading aloud or independently. It also has audiobooks students can follow along with to help them learn to read.
- The Stanford History Education Group
The Standford History Education Group provides free history lessons for teachers. The “Beyond the Bubble,” series provides you with free assessments of your students’ historical thinking, not just the facts.
The “Reading like a Historian,” engages students with historical inquiry, using a set of primary documents with a central historical question. You additionally have the option to download individual lessons or a full curriculum.
- Learning for Justice
Learning for Justice is a website that provides teachers with free lessons for classrooms that help students learn about participating in the diverse democracy they live in. The organization aims to help teachers with lessons about voting and how to create a positive influence in their communities. Aside from free lessons for all grade levels, the organization also provides guidances for teachers on how to handle each topic.
- EDSITEment!
EDSITEment comes from the National Endowment for the Humanities and provides free lessons for educators on history, civics, as well as the arts. The website calls itself the “best of the humanities on the web” and aims to back it up with its rich variety of resources. It also provides lesson plans, teaching guides, and curricula for all grade levels as well as video and other media content.
- Read Write Think
Read Write Think is a website powered by the National Council of Teachers of English to improve student literacy. The organization provides free lesson plans, ideas, and assessments to help different grade levels improve their, reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. A unique feature of this site is the interactive student tools you can launch for almost any grade level.
Utilizing Free Teacher Resources Websites
Teachers often have few resources to tackle large responsibilities. By taking advantage of the free resources out there, you can save time and money while ensuring your classroom has the resources it needs for your students to succeed.
Written By
Ginger Abbot is the writer, founder and Editor-in-Chief behind Classrooms. Through her work, she hopes to inspire students, grads, and educators on their own journey through learning. Find her professional portfolio here: https://classrooms.com/professional-portfolio-of-ginger-abbot/
