Top Tools for Schools

A short guide to digital resources for the K-12 teacher.

When it comes to knowing what digital resources to incorporate into the K-12 classroom, the choices can be innumerable. Finding resources isn’t the issue, but knowing which resources would work best for different levels is often where teachers struggle to find the time to investigate.

We’re hoping to make that a little easier for you by listing some of the tried and tested digital resources that teachers love to use.

Digital Tools for Young Learners

Kizclub - A cherished resource for those looking for worksheets, crafts, and hundreds of printable pages that can be used to create your own versions of popular books. This resource is currently free and users don’t need an account to access any of the materials. Kizclub also has a YouTube channel with informative stories and phonics shorts suitable for young learners.

Notable resource: Brown Bear, Brown Bear mini book

This printable mini book allows young learners to colour simple pictures, and trace and write the words from this famous book. A truly fun and simple way to get your kindergarten learners focusing on their colours, animals, and writing.

Starfall - This is a great website for K-5 teachers who need bright visuals and fun interactive games to help students with Language Arts, Music, and Math. You do need an account in order to access some of the materials, but there are free games available without an account, too.

Notable resource: Learn to Read

This section has a series of activities to help students learn to read some of the more common phonetic sounds. Through the mini lessons students can play short phonics games focused on word families. This resource can be used as a teaching tool, individual study, or a group activity. It is especially fun to complete as a whole class!

Digital Tools for Elementary Learners

Education.com - If you happen to teach a wide range of students, this might be a very helpful resource to look into. There are worksheets, workbooks, games, and also a student management portal where teachers can add their students to track progress. There is a wide variety of resources available covering pre-K to grade 8 subjects such as English Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Foreign Languages.

Many sections of this site can be accessed for free, but some sections do require a paid account.

Notable resource: Roly’s Coding Game

This little coding game introduces learners to visual coding and lets them move a cat named Roly around different obstacles. This is a great tool for beginners to understand how coding can work. It’s also fun to play for teachers!

Quizlet - A fun way to create games, practice sets, quizzes, and a whole host of other activities to help you help your students. Teachers can create a free account and start making their own classroom resources. These resources can be shared with your students easily to help them recall information in a fun and engaging way.

Notable resource: Flashcards 

The original and so effective flashcard is still our go-to on Quizlet. They’re easy to make and easy to deploy. Once made students can use them to play several games to learn, practice, and challenge the contents of the lesson.

Smrt English K-12 - Created for K-12 ESL and EFL classrooms, this is an all-in-one digital resource that takes learners from absolute beginner English to CEFR B2 skills. All teaching and learning materials are in one place making it easy for teachers to teach, expand, engage, and assess their students. Lessons focus on the key elements of learning English with a focus on reading, and PBL-style projects!

Notable resource: Capital Letters

This interactive introduction to simple grammar for K-G1 learners takes a concept that can be challenging for beginner learners and turns into a fun lesson on how and when to use capital letters in writing.

Digital Tools for Older Learners

Breaking News English - If you’re looking for levelled reading resources based on real-world news, look no further. This free, yes free, resource includes articles that have been reworked into seven levels of difficulty to help students at different levels understand and talk about the same topic.

Each reading comes with a variety of activities to help reinforce the contents of the article and the whole lesson can be completed online or printed to be completed at home. There are various topics of articles so teachers can focus on ones that are suitable for their learners and their environments.

Notable resource: Elephants' Whiskers Mini Lesson

The mini lessons are a 2-page printable lesson that has the news article and various activities to help enhance comprehension of the text. These mini lessons are such a wonderful little resource that can be deployed to a group or an individual learner. It gives learners the chance to learn about something interesting that’s happening around the world.

Project Zero Thinking Routines - A searchable resource for helping students think in different ways. This free tool is a great resource for teachers hoping to increase discussions in their classes. There are printable guides for all the types of thinking routines that can be integrated into classroom routines.

Notable resource: See Feel Think Wonder  

Once you click on the resource link on this page you will be taken to a printable instruction sheet that will guide teachers in how best to use this routine. The aspect we like most about using this particular routine is that it can be useful for all ages to help them think about anything interesting in the world around them!

Route2Write - If you need to focus on refocus your students on their writing skills, then this one-stop solution is perfect for grade 4-10 learners in need of help with their academic writing skills. Created to be completed asynchronously, Route2Write (R2W) focuses on introducing writing concepts and frameworks to aid students write their essays.

Notable resource: Free Resources

The videos, PDFs, downloads, games, and teacher resources are a really great introduction to the R2W world. We especially enjoy the downloadable resource for creating a written paragraph with the Hamburger planner! It’s fun, it’s visual, and it demystifies writing for many.

The End

There are a variety of digital resources available for the K-12 teacher and although teachers don’t need buckets of resources, a few that work well for various groups are always handy to have.

Our partner schools use these resources in addition to regular lesson activities as a way to enhance learning. When you’re considering integrating new resources into your lessons, always ask yourself, “What is the purpose?” If you can answer that question in a way that enhances what you’re already planning, then go right ahead.

Happy teaching, everyone!