Explore the following drop downs organized by subject areas to learn about various websites with activity and lesson ideas for educators. Browse these sites to get inspiration for your own lessons and to learn about resources that are available to use or implement in your classroom.
"PBS LearningMedia™ is the go-to destination for instant access to tens of thousands of classroom-ready, digital resources including videos, games, audio clips, photos, lesson plans, and more! You can search, save, and share with ease. Best of all, PBS LearningMedia is free for educators." [from the site's homepage]
"Browse 30,000+ digital and printable learning resources from worksheets and online games to lesson plans and more." [from site]
An extensive collection of activities, articles, infographics, videos, lessons, units, and more for many disciplines, but especially good for science.
Provides links to the Smithsonian's various museums with tours and slide shows of selected exhibits. They also have remote learning resources for educators.
This site supplements current events that are reported on the PBS Newshour nightly broadcast. Includes lesson plans, correlation to subject areas, videos and a section titled "Student Voices."
Classroom resources such as lesson plans, activities, interactives, and print outs to support instruction in multiple subjects.
Worksheets, interactive activities, and videos for teaching and learning: creative writing, grammar, cooking, math, phonics, and more.
A collection of various teacher-created resources to support instruction in all disciplines. To find resources free without an account, hover over the relevant grade tab and select 'free resources.'
A collection of worksheets intended for students to use for extra practice in a variety of subjects.
This site includes teaching tips, ideas for the classroom, and also links to many other subject sites for educators.
K-12
Includes 88,000+ engaging digital resources, such as lessons, book readings, and video, curated to enrich literacy instruction.
K-5
A collection of, "videos featuring celebrated actors reading children’s books alongside creatively produced illustrations. Readers include Oprah Winfrey, Chris Pine, Kristen Bell, Rita Moreno, Viola Davis, Jaime Camil, Kevin Costner, Lily Tomlin, Sarah Silverman, Betty White, Wanda Sykes and dozens more." [from source]
K-5
Free to educators, this website provides access to over 40,000 books and additional resources for teachers to support their instruction.
K-12
Geared towards supporting reading comprehension, ReadTheory offers thousands of exercises and worksheets. A free account is required.
K-5
An e-book library, in which free e-books are browsable and denoted with an e. A free account is required.
Includes information that is available online related to local black history, local examples of segregation and racism, and ways local people fought against racism.
Hundreds of free online resources to help teach American history. "History Explorer's resources focus on learning history by "reading" objects for the stories they hold about the nation and its many peoples. Learning activities feature artifacts selected from over 3 million items in the Museum's collections, and draw on the expertise of the Museum's renowned curatorial staff." [from site]
"Illinois Civics Hub is your leading resource for information on the required implementation of civics classes in Illinois" [from source].
Founded in 2009 by former Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O'Conner, "iCivics prepares young Americans to become knowledgeable, engaged 21st century citizens by creating free and innovative educational materials" that focus on student learning about governance in the United States.
"The Inquiry Design Model (IDM) is a distinctive approach to creating curriculum and instructional materials that honors teachers’ knowledge and expertise, avoids overprescription, and focuses on the main elements of the instructional design process as envisioned in the Inquiry Arc of the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for State Social Studies Standards (2013)" [from source].
"History Labs are research and investigative learning experiences that provide teachers with the necessary information, resources, and procedures to teach a full range of historical thinking skills by taking students through a process that is methodologically similar to that employed by historians" [from source].
"Browse 1,000s of Lesson Plans, Classes, Digital Artifacts, Historical Events, and other NewseumED learning tools." [from site]
"[A] collection of educator resources [which] includes a wide range of flexible, multimedia materials, from primary sources and streaming videos to teaching strategies, lesson plans, and full units." [from site]
Country-by-country breakdowns of general history, demographics, culture, and recent news. Also includes activities.
"Learn from History is a broad-based coalition of organizations of parents, students, teachers, school system leaders, community leaders, and other concerned Americans, facilitated by Stand for Children Leadership Center" educating others on what is already taught in history and social studies classrooms and the importance of an accurate education [from source].
A large collection of free videos, lesson plans, interactive tools, and more. Science content covers earth and space science; life science; physical science; practices and nature of science; and instrumentation, measurements, and units. Filter by grade level and type of resource.
Wealth of (mostly free) information and resources for STEM education, this digital library acts as an "aggregator" for partner content. From their website: "Most resources in the library adhere to principles of Open Educational Resource (OER) access, although some resources are restricted to provider site membership, or may have a cost associated with them (indicated in the full record of the resource)."
Elementary GLOBE has lesson plans and activities designed to teach elementary students about: air quality, climate, clouds, earth system, seasons, soils, and water.
Resources made to support physics instruction and comprehension, including curriculum guides, review materials, worksheets, interactives, videos, and more.
Stem Resources including activities, printables, quizzes, challenges, videos, and a virtual tour of the museum.
"This collection of activities, organized by mathematical content, uses familiar routines that can be used by students, families, and teachers in a variety of settings." [from site]
"Bring math concepts to life through interactive games, animations and engaging media resources." [from source]
"Math-Drills.com includes over 57 thousand free math worksheets that may be used to help students learn math. Our PDF math worksheets are available on a broad range of topics including number sense, arithmetic, pre-algebra, geometry, measurement, money concepts and much more. There are also a few interactive math features including the Sudoku and Dots math games, and the more serious math flash cards and unit converter." [from source]
This resource focuses on helping students learn addition, subtractions, multiplication, and division. A free account is required.
"A website designed for Spanish language teachers. Free teaching resources, lesson plans, worksheets, PowerPoint presentations, texts, activities, ideas & more." [from source'
"Explore the Spanish language and Spanish language culture with videos, audio clips, lesson plans, and more. Reinforce Spanish vocabulary and grammar with sixty full lessons from the ¡Arte y más! collection." [from source]
While this website is geared towards supporting adult Spanish as a second language learners, the grammar worksheets and other resources could be used in a K-12 context.
In addition, you can learn how to find foreign language books in the Teaching Materials Center.
Founded in 1947, The National Art Education Association is the leading professional membership organization exclusively for visual arts educators. Browse their lesson plans for grade-specific art lessons and/or add your own.
Digital image collection of world leading museums, photo archives, scholars, and artists covering topics such as Anthropology, Archaeology, Architecture, Art History, Fashion & Costume, Literature, Religion, Theater, and World History. NOTE: Users are required to create an Artstor account using an @ilstu.edu email. If you already have an Artstor account with an @ilstu.edu email address, choose “LINK EXISTING ACCOUNT."
The Artists Documentation Program (ADP)
The Artists Documentation Program (ADP) interviews artists and their close associates in order to gain a better understanding of their materials, working techniques, and intent for conservation of their works. All interviews are conducted by conservators in a museum or studio setting.
Search classroom resources curated by the Getty Museum and filterable by grade level, resource type, subject, and more.
This compilation of websites by Stefani Langol, Associate Professor of Music Education at Berklee College of Music, is comprehensive and contains her "best of the best" list.
Explore activities and materials that cover the basics, rhythm and meter, scales and key signatures, intervals, chords, diatonic chords, chord progressions, and Neapolitan chords.
Loads of interactive tools for adults and students alike