As a teacher, you want your students to be reading whenever possible. However, it can be difficult to provide hard copies of books to every student, especially when the kids in your class are most likely reading at a variety of levels. Thanks to modern technology, there are lots of websites that allow students to practice reading from anywhere, at their level, about almost any topic. Try some of the suggestions below to get your students practicing!
1. Epic
Epic is a digital reading platform that provides online books from a variety of different publishers, plus Epic Originals- books created by the Epic team. Teachers can track student progress, monitor the time they've spent reading, and find something to interest readers at any level.
Learn More: Epic
2. Tumblebooks
Tumblebooks offers animated and non-animated storybooks, read-along chapter books, graphic novels, and videos that cover core curriculum standards. It also offers instructions and many books in French and Spanish for ELL support.
Learn More: Tumblebooks
3. PebbleGo
PebbleGo provides nonfiction resources for students grade K-3. Students can study a variety of topics, including science, social studies, biographies, and even dinosaurs! The articles can be read aloud to help struggling readers with comprehension and extra fluency practice.
Learn More: PebbleGo
4. Storyline Online
Storyline Online is a collection of read-alouds done by members of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation. Students can listen to stories read by celebrities such as Oprah, Kristen Bell, Betty White, Kevin Costner, and Chris Pine (just to name a few!). The readings are paired with beautiful animations from the books and activity guides to help guide class discussions and provide follow-up.
Learn More: Storyline Online
5. Starfall
Starfall is another site for younger students that provides phonics practice as a basis for helping students become better readers. Activities, songs, and games are designed to help reinforce letter sounds, phonemic awareness, and word recognition.
Learn More: Starfall
6. Storynory
Storynory is a site filled with audiobooks, including picture books and chapter books for older readers. Transcripts of the audio are provided, along with pictures of the books, so students can read along as they listen to stories from around the world.
Learn More: Storynory
7. FunBrain
FunBrain provides educational games, videos, and a collection of books for students to practice reading skills. Students can read popular books, such as the Diary of A Wimpy Kid series and Judy Moody.
Learn More: FunBrain
8. Vooks
Animated storybooks from Vooks draw students in, while the library of lesson plans, discussion questions, and student activities will make any teacher's heart happy. Right now, teachers can get a year free!
Learn More: Vooks
9. Raz Kids
Raz Kids allows students to access differentiated books at varying levels of difficulty, either at school or on a mobile device. The books also come with quizzes for comprehension practice.
Learn More: Raz Kids
10. Khan Academy Kids
With Khan Academy, students can read books, do coloring pages and activities, and follow a personalized learning plan to further reading success. They practice basic literacy skills and math, while also building creativity.
Learn More: Khan Academy Kids
11. StoryPlace
Designed for the youngest readers, StoryPlace provides activities, simple story videos, and advice for parents as they help lay a foundation for literacy skills in their children. The site also includes songs and activities to fit the different themes.
Learn More: StoryPlace
12. Free Kids Books
This simple website provides PDFs and downloads of books for all ages, from toddlers to young adults. You can read the books online or download them to have them available whenever you want, even without the Internet.
Learn More: Free Kids Books
13. ABCYa
ABCYa is a treasure trove of learning games that cover a variety of subjects across grade levels Pre-K through 6. A large library of games and online storybooks is available, though there is a small cost per month for premium access.
Learn More: ABCYa
14. ReadWorks
15. Reading Rockets
According to their website, "Reading Rockets is a national multimedia project that offers a wealth of research-based reading strategies, lessons, and activities..." This resource provides tons of content to help young readers soar.
Learn More: Reading Rockets
16. International Children's Digital Library
This online library provides books from a wide variety of cultures and languages. You can search their catalog of books by shape, genre, format, and other options, and books are able to be downloaded as PDFs.
Learn More: ICDL
17. Newsela
Newsela is geared more toward older students but does provide content at 5 different reading levels. Students can read about current events and complete assignments and quizzes, all with the free version. The premium versions offer more resources to teachers for progress monitoring and lesson plans.
Learn More: Newsela
18. Reading IQ
For a small monthly fee, kids can access this digital library with over 7,000 titles! The site includes titles with kids' favorite brands, including Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars. Students can have the stories read to them or practice reading aloud as parents and teachers track their progress.
Learn More: Reading IQ
19. Oxford Owl
This site has tons of resources, including a free eBook library that you can search by your child's age. There are leveled readers and lots of tips for parents to support their children's learning at home.
Learn More: Oxford Owl
20. Children's Storybooks Online
This site is more simple but includes illustrated stories for kids to read independently as well as read-alouds. Stories are divided by age group- young children, older children, and young adults.
Learn More: Children's Storybooks Online
21. Project Gutenberg
Another site geared towards older readers, Project Gutenberg is home to thousands of free eBooks, including classic books that are no longer under copyrights. Lists of frequent downloads and searches by topic help you find what you need.
Learn More: Project Gutenberg
22. Scholastic News
Scholastic is a favorite provider of books for kids, and this resource lives up to that standard. Divided by grade level, it offers nonfiction articles at different levels, as well as teacher resources and interactive games.
Learn More: Scholastic News
23. Just Books Read Aloud
Using mainly video clips, this site offers read-alouds of books by authors old and new. Familiar characters like Little Critter, Llama Llama, Clifford, and Pinkalicious make an appearance, along with historical figures like Katherine Johnson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Roberto Clemente.
Learn More: Just Books Read Aloud
24. Planet eBooks
Planet eBooks is another collection of eBooks devoted to classic books that would be beneficial for older readers. These books are available in high quality on computers and on mobile devices.
Learn More: Planet eBooks
25. Tween Tribune
This educational website is provided by the Smithsonian, offering daily news articles for ages K-12. Articles come with quizzes and lesson plans for teachers to begin discussions in the classroom about current events.
Learn More: Tween Tribune
26. Between the Lions Early Reading Collection
The beloved children's show from PBS is no more, but there are still tons of resources available to help early literacy learners. There are videos of stories, phonics concepts, and text comprehension strategies.
Learn More: Between the Lions
27. Explorer Magazine
National Geographic offers this fully digital resource in both English and Spanish. The digital magazine, offered in grade levels K-6, contains nonfiction content complete with beautiful photographs and stories from all over the world.
Learn More: Explorer Magazine
28. ReadWriteThink
Literacy activities galore are provided for students of all ages, including videos, printable activities, games, and different types of writing activities. Teachers can also find lesson plans and professional development resources.
Learn More: readwritethink
29. Roy, Tale of a Singing Zebra
This website focuses on emergent readers who may need a little help with some of the basics. Guided reading, games, and stories focus on Roy and his friends so children are learning and practicing new skills with familiar characters.
Learn More: Roy the Zebra
30. Freechildrenstories
This site is full of amusing stories created by a former mechanical engineer, Daniel Errico. There are stories available for young readers up to those in the middle grades, many of which can be found in multiple languages.
Learn more: Freechildrenstories
31. Into the Book
Into the Book is an interactive resource that has students read short passages before practicing various comprehension strategies. The teacher section of the website provides teacher guides, lesson plans, and professional development videos.
Learn More: Into the Book
32. Bookshare
Bookshare helps make books accessible to those with learning disabilities, blindness or visual impairment, dyslexia, and other reading barriers. Their massive digital library features read-alouds and customizable text features so everyone can read!
Learn More: Bookshare
33. Whooo's Reading
Whooo's Reading is a tool that helps teachers gauge student comprehension. Students read books, answer open-ended questions, and get book recommendations for what to read next. Teachers can check their scores to see problem areas and progress.
Learn More: Whooo's Reading
34. Ducksters
Ducksters has articles that are primarily focused on science and social studies that students can read independently for extra practice. Most students should be able to find something that personally interests them, even if it's the jokes page.
Learn More: Ducksters
35. CommonLit
CommonLit offers free reading passages for students in grades 3-12. Teachers and parents can create a free account to access this huge collection of reading material.
Learn More: CommonLit
36. Reading Vine
This site provides reading passages for grades K-12 for free. Teachers and parents can search for passages by age level, reading skill emphasized, genre, and more to customize reading practice for students.
Learn More: Reading Vine
37. Unite for Literacy
This online library has over 400 picture books with narration for students to listen to. Books are divided into categories like people, animals, and communities so children can find information on a wide variety of topics.
Learn More: Unite for Literacy
38. Flyleaf Publishing
This is a great site for younger readers to review letter-sound combinations and reading simple words. Books are divided into categories by phonics skills so teachers can assign students to work in areas they need extra help with.
Learn More: Flyleaf
It is amazing how those who are passionate about reading have found so many ways to make it accessible, varied, and fun for students all over the globe. Try several of these sites to see what works for your students, and have fun watching as they get excited about reading!
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