Resources for SWDs

Free text-to-speech (TTS). Students can paste text or import documents into the tool, press play and then listen and read along as the text is read aloud. They can choose different voices and speed up or slow down the reading speed. NaturalReader also offers many free e-books with TTS.

A study tool that lets students create electronic flashcards. A lot of students may enjoy Quizlet, but it has features that are especially helpful for students with reading issues. The flashcards can have images and audio recordings. They can also be read aloud with TTS. Quizlet offers activities and games to help with studying, too, and syncs to a mobile app for studying on the go.

Simplifies text to make it easier to understand. Students paste text or a web page address into the tool. Rewordify then replaces the difficult words in the text or web page with simpler words or definitions. In the tool’s settings, students can choose their reading level. They can also choose how the simplified text is displayed. Rewordify has a library of classic literature and historical documents with simplified text. Some students may find it easier to understand the Rewordify version of certain texts, like Shakespeare’s plays or the Declaration of Independence.

A simple online dictation tool. When students speak into their computer mic, the tool types out what they’re saying. The dictated words and sentences are collected in a basic word processor and can be edited with a keyboard. The finished writing can then be printed, emailed, or copied and pasted elsewhere.

Use the magic of speech recognition to write emails and documents in Google Chrome. Dictation accurately transcribes your speech to text in real time. You can add paragraphs, punctuation marks, and even smileys using voice commands. You can use this for multiple languages.

A large library of math manipulatives. These are virtual objects like number lines and blocks that let students solve math problems in different ways. The library is broken down by grade and by topic. For instance, if students pick grades 3–5 and numbers, they’ll find objects like a virtual abacus, pie charts and Venn diagrams.

An online calculator and problem solver. It has templates for many different math problems, like counting coins, calculating area and even solving calculus equations. The templates are divided into categories like Algebra and K–8 Math. Students choose a template and fill in the numbers and symbols. WebMath gives the answer, along with a step-by-step explanation for how it’s solved.

A digital graphic organizer. It’s a helpful organization tool, as students can use it to organize ideas with visual mind maps, diagrams and pictures. It also helps with taking notes, outlining the main ideas in a book or getting started writing an essay. The tool comes with several built-in templates. Students can create their own diagrams from scratch, too. The free version of MindMeister lets kids work on three projects at a time.

Some of the tools fit into more than one topic, but each is only listed once. Certainly this list does not cover all of the useful web extensions available for struggling learners, but it is a great place to begin.

Brand-new and easy-to-navigate Online Learning Portal provides PreK-6 grade teachers with everything they need to successfully integrate Sanford Harmony’s social-emotional learning program into the classroom, including:

• One-click navigation for all classroom activities, SEL stories, role-playing games and sing-along songs

• Customizable dashboards by grade-level

• Randomized everyday practices to start each day

• On-demand training videos

• English-to-Spanish language toggle for entire curriculum

• Single sign-on provides instant access to SEL professional development modules through Sanford Inspire

Teach Happiness for Life Skills. Full lesson plans and activities located at this site. The World Health Organization has named depression as the greatest cause of suffering worldwide. In the U.S., 1 out of 5 deals with depression or anxiety. For youth, that number increases to 1 in 3. The good news is that 40% of our happiness can be influenced by intentional thoughts and actions, leading to life changing habits. It's this 40% that Project Happiness Programs help to impact.

Social and emotional learning starts at home. Parents and families are critical partners in helping their children develop social and emotional know-how. They can model the kinds of skills, attitudes, and behaviors we want all students to master. And they can be important advocates for SEL at school.

There are many ways parents can encourage emotionally intelligent behavior in their children. Check out this guide to resources for learning more about character development.

Explore the topics to learn more about character strengths like empathy, find actionable activities and edtech tools for the classroom, and discover ways to involve families in SEL learning.

These resources will help your child learn from home. Find out how to set up at-home learning and use the grade-based resources below to fill in the gaps.

Help for children with learning disabilities. Get tips on supporting your child with learning and attention differences.

Research-based life skills curriculum that provides educators with the tools to teach elementary, middle, and high school students the skills necessary for success.

Having a child with challenging behavior can affect the entire family, and family members often find the need for more information and guidance in this difficult area. This website are intended to connect families with resources and support. The list isn’t intended to be exhaustive of the behavior resources available, but it will certainly get you started and lead you to yet more information and resources.

Teach children, ages 4-11, how to figure out WHAT they are feeling, WHY they are having that emotion, and HOW to make better choices.

Free 30-day trial of online lessons taught via explicit direct instruction (EDI) that contain a student handout. There are 1505 lessons on here, there is a full screen feature as well.

Free items include lesson templates, whiteboard inserts, vocabulary lists, checklists for reading and writing, posters, white papers, and more. EDI writing checklists.