OnlineLinks
Google Apps
Google makes amazing, free, online applications that students can access through their school logins. While these four are far from the entire library of Google Apps, these are the ones that we will use most often.
Google Docs is an online word processor that works, in large part, the same way as Microsoft Word. One of its best features is that it auto-saves your work as you type so you never need to worry about losing your work after hours of working on something. It's also entirely online so you can access your work from anywhere in the world.
Google Slides is the Google answer to Powerpoint. It has many of the same features and can do pretty much anything Powerpoint can do. One thing I love about Slides is all the online Slide templates available to help pretty up your work. My personal favourites are Slidescarnival and Slidesgo.
Google Drive is your one-stop shop to find all the things you've created on any of the Google Apps. As I stated earlier, all the Google Apps auto-save and this is where they save to. You are also able to create folders to help organize your work.
Finally, Google Classroom is an app that many of us have become pretty familiar with over the past year and a half. This is a helpful tool for organizing online work for a class. Teachers can post assignments, links to videos or news articles, and even send feedback on student work as they work on it. Please note that you only have access to the Google Classrooms that teachers place you in.
English Language Arts
One thing you'll notice about this section of my website is that I have built an English section as well as a French section. This is to help you find exactly what you need a little faster. I have also split each section into reading and writing for the same reason. There are some resources that are in both languages.
Reading
One of my least favourite phrases I hear spoken is "Well, I can't find a good book to read" (you'll see this as a theme throughout this section). What Should I Read Next? helps solve that problem. Simply type in the name of a book you enjoyed and browse through the list of books you might enjoy based on your previous selection in books.
Want a little more practice with your reading comprehension? Look no further than ReadWorks. The concept is very simple. Sign in and have access to thousands of articles or stories that will help you get some practice with your reading comprehension. Please note that an account is required to use this website.
File this site as another one that helps solve the "I don't know what to read" problem. Goodreads is another website where you can search up your favourite books and get recommendations on what things you can read next. One of the bonuses of Goodreads is that people are constantly creating lists of all kinds of books that can help inspire your next read.
Raz-Kids is a website that got a lot of use during at-home learning. It has a bank of hundreds of leveled reading books that students can access and progress through. One of the best things about this site is that it will ask questions after a book has been read to check the student's comprehension. The only downside to this resource is that it is only aged from K-5 so older students may not get as much use out of it. Please note that there is a fee associated with this resource.
Epic! is similar to Raz-Kids in that it is essentially a bank of online books. However, the biggest difference between the two sites is the quality and choice of books available. Where Raz-Kids has a lot of leveled (occasionally low interest) books, Epic! is full of over 40 000 books with titles that the kids know and love. From Curious George to Wings of Fire, Epic! has all kinds of titles are sure to peak the interest of every reader. Please note that there is a fee associated with this resource.
@gracie.dix.author is a high school student who also happens to be an author. Her Instagram page is chalked full of great book recommendations. Plus, a lot of the books she posts feature her cute dog. Dogs and books. how can you go wrong?
Another one of my Instagram picks is @bellesmiddlegrade. She has posted over a thousand book recommendations that are sure to appeal to all readers. Take a look at all of her amazing picks for young readers.
The last of my Instagram picks is @misswynnreads_. She is a primary school teacher who has thousands of book ideas for middle school readers. Her recommendations cover everything from new releases to some young adult classics.
DOGO News is an online news source built for young readers. The articles are engaging, written at a level that is understandable for students, and covers various topics. The website is free to read the articles however, there is a fee associated if students want to access some of the other features on the site like having the article read to you or accessing questions related to the article.
The Week Junior is another wonderful way to get kids involved and informed about world events. Now, I have to admit that this one is a bit of a cheat because there isn't much on their website and they are exclusively a weekly magazine subscription service. Still worth a look if that sounds like something you're interested in.
I feel I owe it to Sports Illustrated Kids to add them to this list because they were something I loved reading as a kid. The articles and stories on this website will grab the attention of even the most reluctant readers. As a kid, I begged my parents to order these for me and I'd devour them as soon as they arrived. One note is that their articles aren't always the most recent or updated tremendously often.
Tween Tribune is a website associated with the world-famous Smithsonian museum. This website specializes in informational texts based on historical events. One of my favourite features they have is that they divide their articles into age groups. This allowed students to find articles at their own level that they want to read.
Coming from the world-famous Time magazine, Time for Kids has articles and interviews about current events that are all written in student-friendly language.
Writing
Want to see kids learning and laughing at the same time? Try working on some Mad Libs. Students will reinforce different parts of speech as well as improve their vocabulary, all while having a good time doing it!
ABCya is a great website that covers a variety of educational topics with fun games for the kids to play. Their language games section has fun games that work on all kinds of language skills. They also have games that meet students at all different levels and abilities.
Storybird is a site with a ton of different features. There are student-written stories as well as challenges that students can work on to become more confident writers. Students can also go on to write their stories and add beautiful illustrations to their work. It's a great tool to expose readers to all kinds of different work. Please note, there is a subscription cost to this site.
Pobble is a website I often use in class. They post a picture prompt and story ideas every day to help inspire new ideas and stories for writers. They also have a large bank for the year so you can jump ahead or go backwards if the days prompt isn't doing it for you. A lot of very interesting stories have come from these pictures.
There aren't many word games out there that are more classic than Scrabble. This game works on spelling, creating words, expanding vocabulary and logic. It's a classic but that's simply because it works.
Journal Buddies helps solve the everlasting problem of "I don't know what to write about". On this site, you'll find a collection of different writing prompts organized and categorized by age. They have prompts for stories or journal entries so it should interest all different styles of writers.
NaNoWriMo is an online writing competition for young writers. There is also a section that helps foster creative writing. They have different events all year round to help learn more about pulling the inner author out of you.
Another fun word game that has fantastic educational value. Boggle works on many of the same skills as Scrabble but with the fun of having a timed component.
Here are three commonly used resources for students to use to help enhance their writing.
French Language Arts
The unfortunate reality about French Immersion resources is that they are few and far between. This is mostly for one of two reasons, A. The level of French they are written at is beyond what the students are able to grasp easily or B. There simply isn't a deep bank of resources to draw from like there is in English. I've done my best to compile a list of a few French resources. You'll notice that there isn't nearly as much in terms of the number of resources but I'm always hunting for more and I'll put them up here as I find them.
Reading
Reading A-Z is a paid website where students can sign up for an account and have access to a variety of leveled online texts in both English and French. While there isn't a huge amount of French texts available on the website, it's better than nothing.
This has to be one of the coolest websites I've discovered over my resource hunt. 1 Jour 1 Actu offers French news articles that are written in student friendly language. Students will find topics that are high interest and will actually be able to read them!
Zone Jeunesse is a website run by the CBC and has all kinds of resources available. From online French TV shows and videos to online French games, this website has it all. Tons of fun for students to explore and hear some more French content.
Idello is another website that requires a subscription but is so worth it. On the website, there is a collection of over 15 000 resources that cover all different kinds of topics and subjects.
This is another one of my favourites. JDE is a website based in France (the French is slightly different so just be aware) but it is built to be a news website designed for students from ages 8 - 12. This website does have free content but you are also able to access extra material with a small fee.
Writing
This is another website I use in class all the time. Alloprof is a fantastic online resource that is chalked full of activities and games that will help reinforce students French skills. This website covers a variety of topics but I personally love it for some of the French writing games that it has.
French for Life has built a bank of online French language games that are designed for students who are learning the language. Older students may not find this website helpful as it's designed for early French learners but you never know.
One of the things I always found the most tricky in school was French verb tenses. This website helps students out by giving them a ton of practice using the different verbs and making sure that students are using them properly
Linguno also has a collection of French games that work on both verbs and spelling. It's free to use but does ask you to make an account so that it can save your progress.
A Bescherelle is such a useful tool for developing French writers. It's tough to explain as there is no English equilviant but it's like a verb dictionary that ensures students are writing verbs properly for the tense they are writing in.
Everyone is familar with Google Translate but you'll notice that I didn't add it to my resource list. Google Translate is good in a pinch but I much prefer Linguee. It's a translate website but it comes with much more accurate results.
Math
In this section, I've collected a bunch of games, resources and math tools. You will find links to sites that will cover a variety of math concepts.
I've used this website for years and have found great success with it. Prodigy is a online math game that blends math and Pokemon. Students can create a free account and work on math skills while being engaged in a fun video game.
One thing that I always recomend for kids is brain teasers. Both math and non math logic problems are great for them. This website is chalked full of all kinds of fun brain puzzlers.
Practice makes perfect and Math Libres gives students a chance to get a lot of practice with all kinds of different math concepts. The best thing about this one is that it is practice in french.
Mes Tables is a fun, simple online exercise for students to practice their multiplication problems. Once again, this is a French website that will really help students reinforce their multiplication skills.
There are a ton of different apps and materials that help with math that not everyone has access to at home. Math Learning Center has taken a bunch of those useful apps and added them together in this amazing website.
While similar to another one of my links, this website is a combination of a bunch of different online games that highlight learning multiplication tables.
This French math website is full of all kinds of games that cover a variety of concepts.
This is a great website for making time come alive. This interactive website helps students get a better handle of how time works and how to read a clock.
Sudoku is a great logic game that works on patience, an eye for detail and trial and error. I also happen to love it so that's a bonus.
Whenever I think of cribbage, I think of camping with my grandparents. Little did I know at the time, cribbage is an amazing math game that helps develop quick math facts.
Math Playground was created with the idea in mind of making math fun. There is a ton of games on here to help encourage kids to practice.
ABCya was a website that was introduced to me by a student and has a great section full of math games for kids to play.
This game is a great way of getting kids excited about measurement and lets kids explore the different ways to measure objects.
Now this is a website that I have personal experience with. Khan Academy is an online warehouse full of videos explaining every math concept you can imagine. If there's a concept that you might not understand, I can't suggest Khan Academy high enough. It's taught me a ton and I hope it can do the same for you.
I know that for some people, paper and pencil is still the best way for them to learn and practice their learning. This website is a collection of printables that students can print out to practice.
Science
Science for Kids is a website based out of New Zealand that has a massive collection of games that focus on a large variety of Science concepts.
If you have a future scientist, this is the website for them. Frontiers for Young Minds is a website that has a ton of different scientific articles written with kids in mind.
Everyone remembers Bill Nye, right? Well, Science Max is essentally the modern equivalent of that. He has a huge catalogue of science themed videos that teach all kinds of science concepts in fun and engaging ways.
For students who are fascinated by outer space like me, this online planetarium gives them a run down of all the different constalations and planets as seen from earth.
The last of my outer space websites, this satellite map is an interactive way to look at what objects are floating around earth. You can click on them and learn more about all of the different types of satellites.
When learning about flight, it helps to have some visuals to explain some of the concepts. Airbus has created this wonderful website that explains all different types of flight concepts.
There are a large amount of Science links and resources that have been collected for the students use.
When it comes to science, there aren't many names that are more recognizable than National Geographic. Throughout this website you'll find links, games and news for all the young scientists out there.
Another bank of science videos, Crash Course Kids is another highly engaging way for students to learn about science and the world around them.
Sticking with the theme of outer space. NASA Kids Club is a collection of NASA work built for kids to explore and learn.
This is another website that covers an incredible amount of science concepts. Brain Pop is the gift that keeps on giving as they are constantly adding new and fun games and activities.
OK Go is a great musical band that have gone viral many times over for their creative music videos. From long Rube Goldberg machines to floating in a zero G flight, they really embrace science in their videos. This website teaches kids about some of the science behind their most famous videos.
The unfortunate truth is that Aboriginal languages are disappearing. First Voices aims to keep them alive in a digital fashion. Kids can work on learning a little bit of the language right here.
This website is essentially the Canadian version of Wikipedia. It has all the information and facts about Canada that someone could ever hope for.
Not many websites can take you around the world from your seat quite like Google Earth. Being able to tour the world with the push of the button is incredible.
With a federal election coming up, students will be participating in a student vote. Vote Compass is a great resource to help give students an idea of which party most closely aligns with their views on a variety of issues.
Social Studies
One of the arts to Social Studies is the ability to make history come alive, and to have students live experiences without ever leaving their seat. This is a collection of websites that I think achieve that goal.
One of the things that Historica Canada is most known for is Heritage Minutes that highlight moments in Canadian history that have created the country we know and love today
For Growing in Faith
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Username: redeemer99
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Password: Student99
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Please note the password is case sensitive.
Religion
We've come a long way from simply memorizing scripture. These websites help make faith come alive for students to experience and learn.
I've made a collection of a bunch of different websites that will encourage students to get moving
Learning how to work tech and computers is an essential 21st century skill. This is a collection of a bunch of different websites that will help students develop some of those skills
Art
Finally, I've created a collection of resources that will encourage students to experiment with their fine arts skills