What follows are resources vetted by AVID to support educators to create a
tech-empowered classroom
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Note: Items listed in blue and light teal are hyperlinks. Tips, in orange, is also a hyperlink.
Leveled Reading Websites
Leveled Reading Websites
The list below highlights some of the most popular leveled reading options available online. Most offer similar features and have a free version to get you started as well as a paid upgrade that offers additional features. Many teachers find that the free versions provide an adequate entry point into this type of resource.
Assign leveled materials that are aligned to academic standards.
Students enroll with a link or code.
Apply adjustable Lexile levels.
Explore Newsela’s YouTube playlists for tutorials and more information.
Find high-interest, standards-aligned lessons to help students in grades 5–12 make gains in reading and writing.
Set up classes and assign students with a link or code.
You can require certain answers to allow students to move on or see more text.
Accessibility tools are offered, including tools to define, translate, read aloud, and highlight.
Assign leveled reading, activities, and assessments.
This platform is designed around research-based approaches and includes a text-to-speech option.
Students sign up with a class code. StepReads provide less complex versions of the text.
Reading Vine offers free, personalized reading skills practice to use with students of all ages.
Search. Select. Share. See skills grow.
The free site includes questions and an answer key.
Downloadable PDFs are available.
Literature is both an extension of reading as well as a unique area of study on its own. Literature allows us to take our students deeper into complex texts, intricate themes, and rich critical thinking. Literature can also provide us with both mirrors into our own lives and windows into the lives and perspectives of others. From those experiences, we can facilitate profound conversations and personal growth opportunities for our students.
AdLit.org: This nonprofit website is dedicated to promoting literacy for students in grades 4–12. It offers strategies, resources, and lesson ideas for teachers as well as literacy-related research, multimedia, and more.
Interactive Sites: This site is a directory of interactive websites. Click a topic for a list of online manipulatives and interactive websites in a variety of subject areas, including: math, English language arts, science, social studies, music, art, and Spanish. Some activities are Flash-based and may no longer work; however, these links are continually being updated.
National Council of Teachers of English: The NCTE is a national organization supporting ELA teachers. While a membership will provide access to additional resources, you can find links to lesson plans, journal articles, quick-reference guides, and more for free on their website.
PBS LearningMedia: This section of the website from the Public Broadcasting Service offers resources for teaching literature, including videos, interactive lessons, galleries, audio, related documents, links to other websites, and more.
ReadWriteThink: This searchable website is packed with classroom resources, professional development, and more. Popular materials include lesson plans, student interactives, and mobile apps. It’s worth noting that some interactives may require Flash, which is no longer supported.
Shmoop: This robust website offers both free and premium content. The free section includes study guides for literature, poetry, and literary criticism. It also includes English and literature videos as well as a variety of grammar materials. Shmoop’s YouTube channel is aligned to Shmoop’s Short Stories, American Lit, and European Lit concepts and titles. Shmoop features an entire section of free Shakespeare resources.
Verse by Verse: This site from Google features artificial-intelligence-powered poetry writing. Use the experimental AI-powered muse to help you “compose poetry inspired by classic American poets.” Follow prompts to get started.
Demystifying Computational Thinking
Demystifying Computational Thinking
To listen to the podcast click here.
Apps to Practice Computational Thinking
Apps to Practice Computational Thinking
PolyUp is an app dedicated to computational thinking to empower a global community of problem-solvers. With over 200 Common-Core-aligned lesson plans available for free, PolyUp provides K–12 students with an interactive virtual playground where they use math to solve problems, tinker, create, build, and share.
Scratch (Tips) is a programming platform and online community that can be used to create presentations, simulations, games, art, and so much more. Teachers can integrate the use of Scratch into any subject in order to increase voice and choice in their classroom. Scratch helps young people learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively—essential skills for life in the 21st century.
Soundtrap (Tips) is an online audio production tool that allows you to record and edit multiple audio tracks in either music or podcast mode. The free version offers 900 loops, 210 virtual instruments and sounds, and over 150,000 sound effects from Freesound.org. Final productions can be exported as either MP3, WAV, or MIDI files. There is even a collaboration feature to invite a friend to work on the project with you.
The Playlist
The Playlist
The playlist is another very flexible blended-learning model, and like station rotation and flipped learning, playlists are often used in conjunction with other blended-learning models. Also like these other models, playlists need to contain some element of online learning and some learning that is offline in order to be considered “blended.” These online and offline experiences should be aligned and work together to support a common academic standard or learning objective.
What Is the Playlist Model?
The playlist model is derived from the “individual rotation” model outlined by the Christensen Institute and by Michael B. Horn and Heather Staker in their book, Blended: Using Disruptive Innovation to Improve Schools. In this model, students are given “playlists” of learning experiences that are customized to meet their unique learning needs. These playlists are generated by the teacher. There are three common variations of this model.
Learn—Practice—Teach Playlist Template
Sequential Playlist Checklist Template
To learn more click here.
In station rotation, students rotate in small groups through a series of learning stations. For instance, you might design one station to be an independent online-learning station, where students work with content in a self-paced software program or a learning management system. Another station might be a collaborative-learning station, where students complete learning activities with at least one other student. These activities may include technology, or they may be completely offline. Perhaps the most common station in a blended-learning rotation is a teacher station. While not required, this station is very impactful and allows the teacher to meet face-to-face with a small group of students. This setting allows for a more personalized and differentiated mini-lesson as well as an opportunity to provide targeted remediation and enrichment. While this station is usually offline, it doesn’t have to be, and you may choose to bring in technology that enriches a learning activity. While this description included three stations, the number of stations is flexible and can be adjusted to meet your lesson needs and time constraints.
Link to Station Rotation Schedule Google Slides
To see examples with diagrams of station rotation, click here.
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