Browse Resources for Learning at Home

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External Organizations

This list does not comprehensively cover all external organizations in the state of Colorado. The details provided regarding external organizations are provided for information only. The Colorado Department of Education does not endorse, represent, or warrant the accuracy or reliability of any of the information, content, services, or other materials provided by these educational service providers. Any reliance upon any information, content, materials, products, services, or vendors included on or found through this listing shall be at the user's sole risk.

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• National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) - Family Resources Page  This website provides resources, tips, and ideas around child development and early learning domains.
• Zero to Three - At-Home Activity Guide This list of activities helps support development through play for infants and toddlers. The activities suggested for the toddlers can easily apply or be adapted for preschoolers.
• Coping with COVID-19  Online resources to provide information from NAEYC, the CDC, and other educational organizations. There are multiple resources to support children's learning during this time.
• Screen Time and Preschoolers The Academy of Pediatrics recommendations for screen time of high-quality programming for children ages 2 to 5.
• High Scope COR - Resource and Tools for Parents and Teachers An extensive database of family activities for both Infant-Toddler and Preschool children.
• ReadyRosie - Healthy at Home: A Toolkit for Supporting Families Impacted by COVID-19 A free toolkit as a resource to support families with information and resources for supporting the children in their care.
• The National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations (NCPMI) - Teaching Social Emotional Skills   Activities, materials and tools to help children promote self-regulation or problem solving.
• Colorado Early Learning and Development Guidelines   Resources that are research-based suggestions for how adults can support children's development.
• National P3 Center - At-Home Teaching and Learning in PreK-3rd Grade  Guidance related to school districts’ and elementary schools’ supports for at-home learning across the primary grades (PreK-3rd grade).  

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• PK-Elementary Online Resources for English Learners Resource list divided by grade level and language level.
• Middle School Online Resources for English Language Learners Resource list for middle school and language level.
• High School Online Resources for English Language Learners  Resource list for high school and language level.
• K-12 Online Resources for English Learners Resource list of helpful sites to engage English learners from kindergarten to twelfth grade.
• Common Sense Media Supports educators in teaching students how to thrive in the digital age with free, research-backed lesson plans in English and Spanish.
• Twig Education Students can access thousands of videos in English/Spanish that include lessons, activities, and visuals.

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• Colorado Department of Education READ Act and Literacy Resources Webpage This web page includes READ Act aligned resources for Colorado leaders and educators.
• CDE Literacy Professional Development Webpage This web page includes open source professional development resources aligned to the science of reading for K-3 educators and leaders.
• Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork (TIPS) - K-3 Literacy  A resource to encourage teachers and families to work together for student learning.
• Colorado Classroom - Read with Me at Home  Rocky Mountain PBS offers direct-to-home remote literacy learning for kindergarten through third grade students.

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• Go Zen! Programs to manage stress and build resilience in kids. The Dear Anxiety podcasts help student to manage their anxiety about the corona virus.
• Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning Offers suggestions for educators on addressing the social and emotional needs of students.
• Learning Is Social, Emotional and Academic A blog by Lorea Martinez offers parents' home with their kids tips to ensure social emotional learning is a part of student learning.
• National Association of School Psychiatrists A set of materials for schools and districts to support for their students and community around COVID-19 and pandemics.
• Mental and Behavioral Health Resources for Schools and Families  A set of resources detailing the kinds of support that is targeted in the materials.

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• Special Education and COVID-19 Guidance from CDE's Exceptional Student Services Unit.
• United States Department of Education Guidance Question and answers on providing services to children with disabilities during the corona virus disease outbreak.
• Center on Online Learning and Students with Disabilities has a wealth of resources focused on making online learning more accessible, engaging, and effective for students with disabilities.
• Common Sense Media A curated list of Applications and Websites based on recommendations by educators who work with students with special needs. Applications support the development of academic and social-emotional skills, as well as sites to assist teachers in providing differentiated learning opportunities.
• Assistive Technology Google Chrome Extensions: Technology can be a powerful tool to assist students with special needs. This blog post looks at over 30 different chrome web extensions that can assist students in five categories: Text to Speech, Readability, Reading Comprehension, Focus and Navigation. 

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Career and Technical Education 

• Career & Technical Education w/Colorado Community College System The State’s central resource for Career & Technical Education. On their web page you will find a running list of CTE specific virtual resources for teachers.
• Coronavirus FAQ for Perkins and CTSOs The Colorado Community College System has shared COVID-19 specific guidance on Perkins Grant management, and Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) Conferences.
• Association for Career & Technical Education The Association for Career & Technical Education Association for Career & Technical Education compiled a list of CTE specific resources about online and distance learning. This information includes student and teacher resources.
• CTE Learn The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) is now offering a selection of free online courses to prepare CTE teachers to teach online through our online portal, CTE Learn.

 

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• Khan Academy Offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard that empower learners to study at their own pace in and outside of the classroom.
• EdX A trusted platform for education and learning where students come from every country in the world.
• CK12 A foundation dedicated to personalized learning. The site has resources for multiple content areas.
• Canvas Network Lifelong learning and professional development for educators go hand-in-hand with Canvas Network's open, online courses, taught by experts and institutions worldwide.
• National Geographic Education Offers a wide assortment of professional learning opportunities for educators engaging with students from pre-K to post-secondary. The programs and resources range from in-the-field projects to digital resources to online networks to grant opportunities and courses.
• Smithsonian Education Resources, training, and support to assist caregivers, teachers, and students as they face new learning challenges.
• PBS Learning Network PBS and your local station have curated FREE, standards-aligned videos, interactives, lesson plans, and more just for teachers.
• Rocky Mountain PBS RMPBS is adding educational programs to the daytime schedule to support learning during school closures.
• mindSpark Learning  An online toolkit providing PD, tools and community.
• Wide Open School  A curated list of resources for educators and parents.
• March 2 Success  Peterson's online tutoring resource in SAT prep, English, Math, pre-engineering/STEM, and a college readiness course accessed through, and paid for by, the US Army. 

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Elementary

• Second Step Health resources for students and families.
• Sanford Fit This site developed resources to empower children and parents to make healthy lifestyle choices that help prevent childhood obesity.
• Resources for Students and Families Second Step has compiled a list of resources you can use to help young people learn the social-emotional skills they need to get through these challenging events.

K-12

• Wellness Matters: K-12 Health & Wellness Courses This site provides interactive, online health resources to grades K-12 schools free of charge.
• GoNoodle Physical activity and mindfulness videos and activities grades k-8.
• SHAPE America online content and guidance A collection of resources and other K-12 health and physical educators to help provide high-quality, standards-based lessons.
• PBS Learning Media - Health and Physical Education This site provides Health and Physical Education interactive lessons, videos, etc.

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For a more complete list of computer science education resources please visit our Computer Science Resource Bank

Elementary

• BrainPop - Computer Science General and historic computer science education lessons.
• BrainPop - Creative Coding Cross curricular, project-based computer science programming through the Vidcode platform.
• Scratch Your students can use Scratch to code their own interactive stories, animations, and games. In the process, they learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively. Subject areas: language arts, science, social studies, math, computer science, foreign languages, and the arts.
• Scratch Jr With Scratch Jr, young children (ages 5-7) can program their own interactive stories and games. In the process, they learn to solve problems, design projects, and express themselves creatively on the computer.
• CS Unplugged A collection of free learning activities that teach computer science through engaging games and puzzles that use cards, string, crayons and lots of running around. Developed so that young students could dive head-first into computer science without having to learn programming first.

Middle School

• Khan Academy - Computer Science Khan Academy's Introduction to Computer Science, from beginner to intermediate.
• Khan Academy - Computer Programming Khan Academy's Intro through Advanced Computer Programming lessons.
• Scratch Your students can use Scratch to code their own interactive stories, animations, and games. In the process, they learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively. Subject areas: language arts, science, social studies, math, computer science, foreign languages, and the arts.

High School

• Khan Academy - Computer Science Khan Academy's Introduction to Computer Science, from beginner to intermediate.
• Khan Academy - Computer Programming Khan Academy's Intro through Advanced Computer Programming lessons..
• Khan Academy - AP®︎ Computer Science Principles This review course includes 600+ practice questions, plus instructional articles and videos covering the topics of computers, the Internet, programming, algorithms, and data analysis.
• EdX Online courses self-paced courses in many computer science topics, founded by MIT, Harvard, etc.

K-12

• Code.org Online self-paced curriculum for students of all ages. Resources includes videos, lesson plans, and teacher support forums.

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Elementary

• UW Resources for Families with Elementary-Aged Children A list of resources including general and subject-specific resources to support elementary-aged children compiled by the University of Washington, College of Education.
• UW Early Childhood Resources Guide (PDF) A guide from the University of Washington that includes general and subject-specific resources to support young children and families during periods of school closures.
• NAEYC Articles for Families on Math A variety of math activities from the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
• NAEYC Math at Home Toolkit Resources for math play and learning from the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

K-12

• NCTM's Free Resources for Teaching Math Online The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics has assembled and made free a number of its resources that could be useable in online instruction.
• YouCubed Tasks A curated set of K-12 mathematics tasks from YouCubed and the Stanford Graduate School of Education.
• Illustrative Mathematics Tasks A set of standards-aligned tasks for K-12 that illustrate the learning that is expected by the Colorado Academic Standards and the Common Core State Standards.
• PhET Interactive Simulations Digital simulations and activities from CU Boulder designed to engage students in a variety of mathematical concepts.
• Viral Mathematics Support for course delivery, links to publisher content, content- and age-specific resources, and additional suggestions, compiled by the University of Central Florida and Seminole County Public Schools.
• Textbook Resources Many textbook publishers include online activities and parent guides to support their classroom materials. Please see your publisher's website for those resources. Some are listed on the Viral Mathematics website.
• Online Math Learning Sites Numerous sites have been designed to support or facilitate the learning of mathematics online. These include sites like Aleks, DreamBox, Freckle, IXL, Khan Academy, LearnZillion, Woot Math, YummyMath, and Zearn. Before using any of these, see if they are approved by your school district for use with students, as most require collecting student data and some may have a cost. Reviews of these sites are available from Common Sense Education.
• Transitioning to Online Learning: Pro Tips on What You Need to Know An article from Mike Flynn of Mount Holyoke College, a former 2nd grade teacher who now facilitates online learning for students in mathematics education.
• Links to Resources for Shifting Instruction Online A blog post from the team at Illustrative Mathematics containing numerous links related to advice, support communities, quick start guides, content-specific resources, and favorite video channels.
• Flipped Mathematics Study Guidance from a National Science Foundation-funded study at the University of Missouri about how to move traditional lesson delivery to video and online formats.
• Daily Twitter Newsletter A daily newsletter from Raymond Johnson, CDE mathematics specialist, summarizing the most-shared links from the math education community on Twitter.

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Elementary

• EVERFI - Vault Understanding Money An interactive, online learning resource specifically designed to promote financial literacy for elementary students and teach financial education skills to young learners. Vault activities take about 20 minutes each and about 2.5 hours total to complete. (available in English and Spanish)
• CFPB -Youth Personal Finance Pedagogy, Elementary CFPB outlines decision making as it relates to personal finance habits. This resource provides information on how to effectively communication personal finance topics to elementary school students.
• EconomicEdLink Grades 3-5 Personal finance and Economics activities that can be completed by students online. EconEdLink resources are a combination of webinars, videos and online games.
• Kiddynomics Incorporates videos and books to teach young students about economics and personal finance topics. Parents and educators can read books and incorporate lessons and activities included with the paired lesson guides.

Middle School

• CFPB -Youth Personal Finance Pedagogy, Middle CFPB outlines decision making as it relates to personal finance habits. This resource provides information on how to effectively communication personal finance topics to middle school students.
• EVERFI - FutureSmart Students combine personal finance, economics and civics topics by becoming mayor of their town. As they reach goals in the 7 thirty-minute activities they learn the importance of citizenship and personal finance. (available in English and Spanish)
• EconEdLink Personal finance and Economics activities that can be completed by students online. EconEdLink resources are a combination of webinars, videos and online games.

High School

• CFPB - Youth Personal Finance Pedagogy, High School CFPB outlines decision making as it relates to personal finance habits. This resource provides information on how to effectively communication personal finance topics to high school students.
• EconEdLink Personal finance and Economics activities that can be completed by students online. EconEdLink resources are a combination of webinars, videos and online games.
• Next Gen Personal Finance Activities and Lessons Eighty eight online activities, games and lesson plans that teach about personal finance topics.
• EVERFI - Personal Finance A digital education program that teaches students how to make wise financial decisions to promote financial well-being over their lifetime. This online program includes 3 hours of online activities and is available in English and Spanish.

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Elementary

• Sanford Fit This site developed resources to empower children and parents to make healthy lifestyle choices that help prevent childhood obesity.
• NFL Play 60 Teaches students the impact of physical activity on health and wellness with these fun, interactive lessons and family activities.
• Catch (Coordinated Approach to Child Health A Google Classroom providing free and easy access to several of CATCH's evidence-based health, nutrition, and physical education material.
• Physical Activity Breaks Physical activity break resources and examples for physical activity ideas.

K-12

• SHAPE America online content and guidance A collection of resources and other K-12 health and physical educators to help you continue to provide high-quality, standards-based lessons despite the circumstances.
• PBS Learning Media - Health and Physical Education Health and Physical Education interactive lessons, videos, etc.
• OPEN Physical Education Games and calendars for parents and families to use to make their home an active home and parents partner as they work together to provide meaningful movement opportunities that progress students toward physical education and social & emotional learning outcomes.

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Elementary

• Achieve the Core Provides a searchable list of lesson and unit plans for grades K-5 in English language arts. Novel units can be printed, shared, and sent home in a pack.
• Brain Pop ELL Proficiency-based English language learning program appropriate for all ages, specifically focused on vocabulary, listening, reading and writing.
• Brain Pop Jr (Reading and Writing) (K-3) Gently encourages young learners to ask questions and form their own ideas.
• Brain Pop (English) (Grades 3-5) Resource for upper elementary students, specifically focusing on helping students to create, construct, and collaborate as they explore their world through literacy.
• Common Lit Common Lit Literacy Model is built on a foundation of over 2,000 high-quality free reading passages for grades 3-5, complemented by aligned interim assessments, growth-oriented data, and expert-led teacher development.
• Curriki This site provides teacher-vetted, open-resource lesson plans and materials for English Language Arts. It's a good place to find online learning resources for students to use at home.
• Free Reading Program With over 3500 activities, the Free Reading Program provides a robust, online, interactive learning program for K-5 students to improve reading comprehension, language, grammar and spelling skills.
• Library of Congress-ELA Lesson plans and more for 3-5 in English language arts.
• Newsela Novel studies, research projects, topics for debates, paired fiction and nonfiction texts, and authentic news content turned into learning materials that are classroom-ready for all types of learners.
• PBS Learning Media-ELA Offers on line lessons, resources, and materials aligned to standards in oral communications and listening (i.e., comprehension and collaboration, and presentation of knowledge and ideas); reading for all purposes (i.e., foundational reading skills leading to reading comprehension of literary and informational text); writing and composition (i.e., narrative, personal, explanatory); and, research inquiry that happens with reading and writing texts.
• Reading IQ ReadingIQ is a comprehensive digital library with vast content curated by experts to provide readers from 2 to 12 years old access to thousands of books, including original and exclusive titles, childhood classics, and popular titles in a wide range of subjects, topics, and genres—all leveled for easy access to books that will engage, delight, and educate every type of reader.
• ReadWriteThink (K-5) Offers on line lessons, resources, and materials aligned to standards in oral communications and listening (i.e., comprehension and collaboration, and presentation of knowledge and ideas); reading for all purposes (i.e., literary, informational text, including social studies, science, and technical texts); writing and composition (i.e., narrative, argumentative, personal, explanatory, multi-genre, and history, social studies, science and technical writing); and, research inquiry that happens with reading and writing texts.
• ReadWriteThink (K-5 Afterschool Activities) Activities, Projects, Games, Tools, Tips and How-To's, Printouts, and Podcast Series and Episodes for kindergarten students outside of school.
• Scholastic Learn at Home (K-5) Free resource provides K-5 students with 20+ days' worth of exciting learning journeys that span the content areas created by Scholastic editors to keep students actively engaged in learning while school is closed.
• Smithsonian TT Junior (Grades K-4) Allows K-4 teachers to create an account, set up a class, and assign grade-appropriate readings which are accompanied by quizzes, which allows teachers to monitor responses through the online dashboard.
• Smithsonian Tween Tribune (Grades 5-6) Allows 5-6 teachers to create an account, set up a class, and assign grade-appropriate readings which are accompanied by quizzes, which allows teachers to monitor responses through the online dashboard.
• Story Online Streams videos featuring celebrated actors reading children's books.
• The Kennedy Center This resource provides opportunities for K-5 teachers to infuse arts into literacy through digital platform that encourages disciplinary literacy.

Middle School

• Achieve the Core Provides a searchable list of lesson and unit plans for grades 6-8 in English language arts. Novel units can be printed, shared, and sent home in a pack.
• Brain Pop ELL Proficiency-based English language learning program appropriate for all ages, specifically focused on vocabulary, listening, reading and writing.
• Brain Pop Jr (Reading and Writing) (grades 6-8) Gently encourages young learners to ask questions and form their own ideas.
• Brain Pop (English) (grades 6-8) Resource for middle school students, specifically focusing on helping students to create, construct, and collaborate as they explore their world through literacy.
• Common Lit Common Lit Literacy Model is built on a foundation of over 2,000 high-quality free reading passages for grades 6-8, complemented by aligned interim assessments, growth-oriented data, and expert-led teacher development.
• Curriki Curriki provides teacher-vetted, open-resource lesson plans and materials for English Language Arts. It's a good place to find online learning resources for students to use at home.
• Free Reading Program With over 3500 activities, the Free Reading Program provides a robust, online, interactive learning program for K-6-8 students to improve reading comprehension, language, grammar and spelling skills.
• Library of Congress-ELA Library of Congress lesson plans and more for grades 6-8 in English language arts.
• Newsela Novel studies, research projects, topics for debates, paired fiction and nonfiction texts, and authentic news content turned into learning materials that are classroom-ready for all types of learners.
• PBS Learning Media-ELA Offers on line lessons, resources, and materials aligned to standards in oral communications and listening (i.e., comprehension and collaboration, and presentation of knowledge and ideas); reading for all purposes (i.e., foundational reading skills leading to reading comprehension of literary and informational text); writing and composition (i.e., narrative, personal, explanatory); and, research inquiry that happens with reading and writing texts.
• Reading IQ A comprehensive digital library with vast content curated by experts to provide readers from 2 to 12 years old access to thousands of books, including original and exclusive titles, childhood classics, and popular titles in a wide range of subjects, topics, and genres—all leveled for easy access to books that will engage, delight, and educate every type of reader.
• ReadWriteThink (grades 6-8) Offers on line lessons, resources, and materials aligned to standards in oral communications and listening (i.e., comprehension and collaboration, and presentation of knowledge and ideas); reading for all purposes (i.e., literary, informational text, including social studies, science, and technical texts); writing and composition (i.e., narrative, argumentative, personal, explanatory, multi-genre, and history, social studies, science and technical writing); and, research inquiry that happens with reading and writing texts.
• ReadWriteThink (grades 6-8 Afterschool Activities) Activities & Projects, Games & Tools, Tips & How-To's, Printouts, and Podcast Series and Episodes for kindergarten students outside of school.
• Scholastic Learn at Home (grades 6-8) Free resource provides 6-8 students with 20+ days' worth of exciting learning journeys that span the content areas created by Scholastic editors to keep students actively engaged in learning while school is closed.
• Smithsonian TT Junior (Grade 6) Allows 6 teachers to create an account, set up a class, and assign grade-appropriate readings which are accompanied by quizzes, which allows teachers to monitor responses through the online dashboard.
• Smithsonian Tween Tribune (Grades 7-8) Allows 7-8 teachers to create an account, set up a class, and assign grade-appropriate readings which are accompanied by quizzes, which allows teachers to monitor responses through the online dashboard.
• The Kennedy Center This resource provides opportunities for 6-8 teachers to infuse arts into literacy through digital platform that encourages disciplinary literacy.

High School

• Achieve the Core A searchable list of lesson and unit plans for grades 9-12 in ELA. Novel units can be printed, shared, and sent home in a pack.
• Brain Pop ELL Proficiency-based English language learning program appropriate for all ages, specifically focused on vocabulary, listening, reading and writing.
• Brain Pop Jr (Reading and Writing) (grades 9-12) Gently encourages young learners to ask questions and form their own ideas.
• Brain Pop (English) (grades 9-12) Resource for high school students, specifically focusing on helping students to create, construct, and collaborate as they explore their world through literacy.
• Common Lit Over 2,000 high-quality free reading passages for grades 9-12, complemented by aligned interim assessments, growth-oriented data, and expert-led teacher development.
• Curriki Provides teacher-vetted, open-resource lesson plans and materials for English Language Arts. It's a good place to find online learning resources for students to use at home.
• Free Reading Program With over 3500 activities, the Free Reading Program provides a robust, online, interactive learning program for grades 9-12 students to improve reading comprehension, language, grammar and spelling skills.
• Library of Congress-ELA Lesson plans and more for grades 9-12 in ELA.
• Newsela Novel studies, research projects, topics for debates, paired fiction and nonfiction texts, and authentic news content turned into learning materials that are classroom-ready for all types of learners.
• PBS Learning Media-ELA Offers on line lessons, resources, and materials aligned to standards in oral communications and listening (i.e., comprehension and collaboration, and presentation of knowledge and ideas); reading for all purposes (i.e., foundational reading skills leading to reading comprehension of literary and informational text); writing and composition (i.e., narrative, personal, explanatory); and, research inquiry that happens with reading and writing texts.
• Reading IQ A comprehensive digital library with vast content curated by experts to provide readers from 2 to 12 years old access to thousands of books, including original and exclusive titles, childhood classics, and popular titles in a wide range of subjects, topics, and genres—all leveled for easy access to books that will engage, delight, and educate every type of reader.
• ReadWriteThink (grades 9-10) Offers on line lessons, resources, and materials aligned to standards in oral communications and listening (i.e., comprehension and collaboration, and presentation of knowledge and ideas); reading for all purposes (i.e., literary, informational text, including social studies, science, and technical texts); writing and composition (i.e., narrative, argumentative, personal, explanatory, multi-genre, and history, social studies, science and technical writing); and, research inquiry that happens with reading and writing texts.
• ReadWriteThink (grades 9-10 Afterschool Activities) Activities, projects, games, tools, tips and how-to's, printouts, and podcast series and episodes for high school students outside of school.
• Scholastic Learn at Home (grades 9-12) Free resource provides high school students with 20+ days' worth of exciting learning journeys that span the content areas created by Scholastic editors to keep students actively engaged in learning while school is closed.
• Smithsonian Tween Tribune (high school) Allows high school teachers to create an account, set up a class, and assign grade-appropriate readings which are accompanied by quizzes, which allows teachers to monitor responses through the online dashboard.
• The Kennedy Center This resource provides opportunities for high school teachers to infuse arts into literacy through digital platform that encourages disciplinary literacy.

K-12

• National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Provides numerous free and fee based resources, materials, platforms, and professional connections for teachers in elementary, middle, secondary, and college sections.
• Renaissance Learning myON digital library and news articles to support literacy development.

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Elementary

• Scholastic-Learn at Home Cross-curricular daily learning journeys . Every day includes four separate learning experiences, each built around a thrilling, meaningful story or video. Students can do complete the activities individually, with their families, or with their teachers.
• National Geographic Education (grades PK-5) Resource Library offers high-quality, standards-based, educational resources and activities for PK- Grade 5 students. Educators have access to free maps, lesson plans, imagery, interactives, and reference materials have been curated into collections grounded National Geographic Education's approach to instruction.
• Mystery Science Short mini lessons that are completely digital and full lessons that include an activity. All of the activities are designed to use simple supplies that will likely be easy to locate at home.
• PBS Kids for Parents Children are naturally curious, full of ideas and questions and motivated to investigate everything in the world around them. Resources for children aged 2-8 to support science learning at home with parents, families, and caregivers. PBS Kids has platforms for computers as well as phone. Parents can sign-up for a daily newsletter to support at-home learning. Resources are curated in many different languages.
• Exploratorium Tinkering activities for students to do at home.
• National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Science Activities Science Experiment Ideas from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Middle School

• National Geographic at Home Resource Library offers high-quality, standards-based, educational resources and activities for middle grades. Educators have access to free maps, lesson plans, imagery, interactives, and reference materials have been curated into collections grounded National Geographic Education's approach to instruction.
• OpenSciEd Middle Grades Science Units An open source free middle school science program. The curriculum can be leveraged to support at-home learning. While CDE doesn't endorse any specific curriculum, this is an open source option for those searching for curricular resources for use by educators at this time. Units are life science, physical science, and earth and sp ace science units of instruction.
• PhET Chemistry Simulations Free interactive math and science simulations. Explore chemistry specific topics through simulations are available for use in lessons. Lesson plans available for educators.
• PhET Physics Simulations Free interactive math and science simulations. Explore physics specific topics through simulations are available for use in lessons. Lesson plans available for educators.
• PhET Earth Science Simulations Free interactive math and science simulations. Explore earth science specific topics through simulations are available for use in lessons. Lesson plans available for educators.
• Science Friday Spoonfuls Support media literacy and leverage informational text with doses of current science, technology, and engineering stories ready for the classroom. Each Spoonful contains a short piece of media (article, video, radio interview), a transcript (for video and radio), student questions, and activity suggestions for extending student exploration into the science behind the story. Developed and produced for use middle and high school teachers by Science Friday Educate.
• Scholastic-Learn at Home Cross-curricular daily learning journeys . Every day includes four separate learning experiences, each built around a thrilling, meaningful story or video. Students can do complete the activities individually, with their families, or with their teachers.
• National Geographic- Citizen Science Projects Get ideas for how students can participate in citizen science—projects in which volunteers and scientists work together to answer real-world questions and gather data.
• Learn Genetics/Teach Genetics Virtual labs and curricular resources that are focused on genetics, bioscience and health to the classroom. Teach Genetics offers additional tools and resources to support your curriculum, all free of charge, and Learn Genetics is focused on supports for student learning experiences.
• Graph Literacy Graph literacy is the ability to identify important features of graphs and relate those features to the context of the graphs. The Graph Literacy project developed activities using Smart Graphs technology to specifically improve graph comprehension and data literacy in grades 7 and 8 science students includes lesson plans and activities for students.
• Science News for Kids Online Stories about recent research and current events across the full breadth of STEM fields. The site offers several types of articles, weekly features and additional content that can leveraged as solo reading or for discussion in the online or in person classroom.
• Science Snacks Hands-on, teacher-tested, and use cheap, available materials. These activities span multiple disciplines, so you can search a hands-on activity using a subject specific list.
• Ted-Ed Online- Science Media rich online resource organized by theme or subject. Short 2-10 minutes video animations, in which students can watch, think (consider what they have learned), dig deeper with a reading. Educators can customize the resource by creating their own account.

High School

Life Sciences (Biology and Environmental Science)

• i-Hub Biology A free online full-year high school biology course anchored in phenomena and aligned to Science Standards. While CDE doesn't endorse any specific curriculum, this is an open source option for those searching for curricular resources for use by educators at this time.
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute Interactive resources for the Biology classroom. Resources include digital media, lesson plans, resource playlists, and current events. Resources are free to access and are aligned for use in high school biology, environmental science, and AP and IB Biology courses.
• Phet Biology Simulations Free interactive math and science simulations. Explore biology specific topics through simulations are available for use in lessons. Lesson plans available for educators.
• Geniverse Geniverse is free, web-based software for high school biology that engages students in exploring heredity and genetics by breeding and studying virtual dragons.
• Learn Genetics/Teach Genetics Virtual labs and curricular resources that are focused on genetics, bioscience and health to the classroom. Teach Genetics offers additional tools and resources to support your curriculum, all free of charge, and Learn Genetics is focused on supports for student learning experiences.
• Khan Academy Biology This online course starts by looking at foundations of biology, energy, cells, genetics, evolution, human body systems, and culminates with learning modules focused on ecology. Educators can create accounts to assign students elements of courses.

Physical Science (Physics and Chemistry)

• PhET Chemistry Free interactive math and science simulations. Explore chemistry specific topics through simulations are available for use in lessons. Lesson plans available for educators.
• PhET Physics Free interactive math and science simulations. Explore physics specific topics through simulations are available for use in lessons. Lesson plans available for educators.
• Khan Academy- Physics This online course starts by looking at motion and forces, momentum, energy, and other concepts in lots of different physical situations. This course incorporates algebra and trigonometry. Educators can create accounts to assign students elements of courses.
• AACT High School Chemistry Resources Resources elected AACT resources are unlocked and freely available to the chemistry community through March 31. These resources include activities, animations, projects, simulations, and videos for middle school, high school, and Advanced Placement/general chemistry.

Earth and Space Sciences

• PhET Earth Science Simulations Free interactive math and science simulations. Explore earth science specific topics through simulations are available for use in lessons. Lesson plans available for educators.

K-12

• Digital Promise COVID-19 Online Learning Resources and FAQ.
• Khan Academy Learn the best way to leverage Khan Academy resources for at home learning via their guidance page. The site has listings for weekly office hours, webinars, and other resources to support teachers and parents to support the use of the platform.
• Colorado Science Teachers Association, National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), NGSS Educators Facebook and Twitter Get Connected with other educators around the nation.
• PBS Learning Media Explore natural phenomena and scientific practices with videos, lesson plans, and interactive tools for multiple content areas, including science. Educators can find free standards-aligned resources to support K-12 science learning.
• NASA STEM Education Explore videos, lesson plans, and interactive tools to support STEM Learning .Educators can also access at-home learning activities for families of grades K-5 students.
• Ted-Ed Online- Science Media rich online resource organized by theme or subject. Short 2-10 minute video animations, in which students can watch, think (consider what they have learned), dig deeper with a reading. Educators can customize the resource by creating their own account.
• Science Snacks Hands-on, teacher-tested, and use cheap, available materials. These activities span multiple disciplines, so you can search a hands-on activity using a subject specific list.
• Citizen Science Month (April) Citizen Science Month is an annual event to celebrate and promote all things citizen science: amazing discoveries, incredible volunteers, hardworking practitioners, inspiring projects, and anything else citizen science-related! Teachers can get their students involved in aligned projects, or encourage families to engage in projects at home.
• National Geographic- Citizen Science Projects Get ideas for how students can participate in citizen science—projects in which volunteers and scientists work together to answer real-world questions and gather data.
• National Geographic Education Resource Library offers high-quality, standards-based, educational resources and activities. Educators have access to free maps, lesson plans, imagery, interactives, and reference materials have been curated into collections grounded National Geographic Education's approach to instruction.

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Elementary

History

• Beyond Story Time @ Home History Colorado is doing “Beyond Story Time @ Home” for elementary students on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9:00am.
• Elementary Primary Source Sets Primary Sources Sets available for grades K - 5 students.
• EDSITEment Grades K - 5 lesson plans from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
• Bringing History Home Instructional units sequentially develop student skills and knowledge in history across the K-5 grade levels.
• Smithsonian's History Explorer - Our Story Designed to help children and adults enjoy exploring history together through children's literature, everyday objects, and hands-on activities.
• PBS Learning Media U.S. History interactive lessons, videos, documents, etc.
• Library of Congress - Citizen U Integrates inquiry-based civics lessons across disciplines—English language arts, math, science, and social studies.
• Understanding Our World An open-source literacy-based K - 5 grade social studies curriculum.

Geography

• National Geographic Education A variety of resources available including lesson plans, videos, etc.
• National Geographic Education - Map Skills Map skills activities for elementary students.
• PBS Learning Media – Geography Geography interactive lessons, videos, etc.

Economics

• EconEdLink Free economics lessons for elementary students.
• Kiddynomics Economics lessons provided by the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank.
• PBS Learning Media – Economics Economics interactive lessons, videos, etc. for elementary students.
• Financial Fables From the Kansas city Federal Reserve Bank - Online stories that combine reading, economics and personal finance into life lessons about smart money management for grades 3- 5.

Civics

• Civics Renewal Network Free online classroom resources for civics education for grades K – 5.
• Ben's Guide to the U.S. Government Learning adventures about the U.S. government with Ben Franklin for ages 4 – 13.
• Center for Civic Education Lessons for grades K-5 from the Center for Civic Education.
• KidCitizen Interactive Episodes where K-5 students work with primary source photographs to explore Congress and Civic Engagement.

Middle School

History

• Stanford History Education Group History Lessons Inquiry based lessons in both U.S. and world history.
• EDSITEment Grades 6 - 8 lesson plans from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
• PBS Learning Media-US History U.S. History interactive lessons, videos, documents, etc.
• PBS Learning Media-World History World History interactive lessons, videos, documents, etc.
• Library of Congress - Citizen U Inquiry-based civics lessons across disciplines—English language arts, math, science, and social studies.

Geography

• PBS Learning Media – Geography Geography interactive lessons, videos, etc.
• National Geographic Education A variety of resources available including lesson plans, videos, etc.
• ESRI GeoInquiries This collection of world regional geography activities uses ArcGIS Online to teach geography content.
• TED Ed – Geography A collection of short videos to teach geographic concepts.

Economics

• Seas, Trees, and Economics Ten economics lessons from the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank.
• EconEdLink Free economics lessons for grades 6 - 8.
• PBS Learning Media – Economics Economics interactive lessons, videos, etc. for middle school students.

Civics

• Civics Renewal Network Free online classroom resources for civics education for grades 6 – 8.
• Center for Civic Education Lessons for grades 6-8 from the Center for Civic Education.
• Ben's Guide to the U.S. Government Learning adventures about the U.S. government with Ben Franklin for ages 4 – 13.
• iCivics Games, interactive lessons, and videos for teaching about governments.

High School

History

• Stanford History Education Group History Lessons Inquiry based lessons in both U.S. and world history.
• EDSITEment Grades 6 - 8 lesson plans from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
• PBS Learning Media-US History U.S. History interactive lessons, videos, documents, etc.
• PBS Learning Media-World History World History interactive lessons, videos, documents, etc.
• Digital Public Library of America Primary sources sets and lessons sorted by time period.

Geography

• GeoCivics An interactive website that includes resources for developing skills and knowledge helpful for discussing the apportionment and redistricting process.
• PBS Learning Media – Geography Geography interactive lessons, videos, etc.
• National Geographic Education A variety of resources available including lesson plans, videos, etc.
• ESRI GeoInquiries This collection of world regional geography activities uses ArcGIS Online to teach geography content.
• TED Ed – Geography A collection of short videos to teach geographic concepts.

Economics

• EconEdLink Free economics lessons for high school students.
• Federal Reserve Bank Resources Free economics lessons for high school students.
• The Economic LowDown Video Series These brief videos use clear, simple language and graphic elements so that students can better visualize the economic concepts being presented. In the end, they will see how economic principles affect the choices they make in their everyday lives.
• The Classroom Economist Each module, from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, features video content that covers key concepts, with content ranging from informational videos to lectures from economists and master teacher lesson demonstrations.

Civics

• GeoCivics An interactive website that includes resources for developing skills and knowledge helpful for discussing the apportionment and redistricting process.
• CSPAN Classroom Free video-based materials for civics teachers.
• Library of Congress - Citizen U Integrates inquiry-based civics lessons across disciplines—English language arts, math, science, and social studies.
• Stanford History Education Group - Civic Online Reasoning COR curriculum provides free lessons and assessments that help students to evaluate online information that affects them, their communities, and the world.
• iCivics Games, interactive lessons, and videos for teaching about governments.

K-12

• Rocky Mountain PBS K-12 programming in social studies as well as math, science, ELA, etc.
• COVID-19: How has the pandemic changed your life? History Colorado is collecting stories to preserve this unprecedented time in history.  There is a teacher lesson plan including instructions on how to give and capture oral histories, photographs, etc.
• Discovery Education Experience is a dynamic, K-12 learning platform for all content areas, with ready-to-use digital lesson plans, activities, and standards-aligned resources that help teachers continue equitable instruction in a remote teaching environment. Included with Discovery Education’s world-class content are Virtual Field Trips, interactive hands-on learning activities and more. To request district-wide access at no cost, please complete this Discovery Education Experience Access Form.

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All Arts

• Smithsonian Institute Free resources for kids through a variety of different activities on a variety of different topics, including many cross- and interdisciplinary offerings that reinforce the arts across the curriculum.

Music -Elementary

• How to Teach Elementary Music Remotely A website (blog) with several ideas for teaching remotely.
• Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra Carnegie Hall Interactive Activity for students.
• The Singing Space A Facebook page of elementary music educators sharing folk and other music.

Music -Secondary

• Music Theory Web Online tools for practicing notation readings (music theory).
• Flat Online Music Notation Software.
• Audacity Audio Software.
• Virtual Ensemble Rehearsal Toolkit A Google drive with ideas for how to facilitate an online rehearsal.
• IMSLP Public Domain Music Library.
• Online Music Theory Lesson, Games, and Resources Free Online Music Theory Lesson, Games, and Resources.

Music – K-12

• Bridging the Gap: Teaching and Learning Music Online Webinar provided by the NAMM Foundation and NAME on music teaching and learning resources.
• Music Teacher Resources for School Closures An article outlining several resources to consider for remote teaching.
• Music Education Resources A list of apps and other web-based organizations to support music teaching and learning.
• Music Educators Creating Online Learning A Facebook site for music teachers, school districts, and parents to learn to support music learning remotely.

Visual Art -Elementary

• Daily Doodling with Mo Willems Your kids can have a lunch drawing and doodle break with a Kennedy Center Artist in Residence.
• What can play teach kids about art? This is a podcast with ideas that children's natural instincts to play can be a foundation for art learning. A father/daughter team of art professors talks about playing with things in the kitchen drawer (or trash can) that kids can play with that leads to art making.

Visual Art -Secondary

• Art and Science Inspiration for your curricular ideas David S. Goodsell is an artist and microbiology professor who creates medical illustrations of cells, bacteria, and viruses - including corona virus. You can use his images free for educational purposes; he does ask that you credit him.
• Art21 Teacher Resources Encourages educators and their students to think and work like artists, using thematic, inquiry-driven processes and strategies that reflect how artists think and make work today.
• Student Art Guide A variety of ideas for secondary art.
• The Art Assignment A video series that introduces you to innovative artists, presents you with assignments, and explores art history through the lens of the present.
• Khan Academy Imagineering in a Box and Pixar in a Box Secondary resources that align art with other content and career readiness. There are also resources for Art History in the Khan Academy as well.
• The Louvre Abu Dhabi collection An interactive journey through many pieces in the Louvre's Abu Dhabi collection, which "aims to tell the story of human creativity".

Visual Art - K-12

• Virtually Tour of Various Art Museums: Art Institute of Chicago, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Dallas Museum of Art Several Museums have online collections and high-quality digital images to view.
• Create Visual Journals Kids can create a visual journal diary in a sketch book or notebook you have around the house or even a stack of papers attached together.
• Teaching Resources from Museums: Denver Art Museum, Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Getty Museum, Louvre Access to high quality images and teaching resources from art museums. These are just a few.
• The Kennedy Center Classroom Resources Access to ideas to enrich your arts curriculum inside and outside of school.
• Very Special Arts (VSA) Teacher resources Resources for arts teachers working with students who have special needs.
• MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resources for Learning and Online Teaching) and Skills Commons Learning objects, simulations, lesson ideas. The MERLOT system provides access to curated online learning and support materials and content creation tools, led by an international community of educators, learners and researchers.
• Virtual Art Educators Live and archived visual art education webinars, sessions, workshops.
• Colorado Art Education Association online resources Art educational resources and lesson ideas from local teachers.
• Project Zero's Artful Thinking Educational resources and critically thinking about art.

Drama and Theatre – K-12

• American Theatre Wing "Working in the theatre" is a video series that ATW has produced that guides students through the many components of what it means to work in the theatre, including but not limited to acting, directing, producing, set design, costuming, etc.
• Students Demonstrate Understanding Through an Art Form K-12 resources for curriculum, course materials, video, etc.
• Teaching Theatre in the Era of COVID-19: Reach Out and Help Someone Curriculum ideas for the online theatre classroom.
• Teaching Theatre Online: A Shift in Pedagogy Amidst Coronavirus Outbreak References, resources and ideas for moving a theatre classroom to an online format.

Dance -K-12

• Students Demonstrate Understanding Through an Art Form K-12 resources for curriculum, course materials, video, etc.
• Dance 101: Arts Alive Multiple dance education links and resources.
• Dance Project: Arts Assessments for Learning Ideas for action research projects and documentation of creative process.
• The Elements of Dance Dance education resource for teachers and students.
• The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts A variety of different units that would give students the opportunity to learn about different dance topics that connect to their current learning.

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K-12

• Newsela Committed to bringing authentic, engaging, diverse and accessible content to all learners.
• Duolingo A language learning program.
• AP Central Access information for the AP exams
• Google World Wonders Project A resource to virtually discover some of the most famous sites on earth in a variety of languages
• BBC Languages A wealth of free language lessons and activities for a variety of languages to learn languages online
• Asia Society Developing closer ties between Asia and the West through arts, education, policy and business outreach.
• International Children's Digital Library Children's books in many languages
• Foreign Language News and Newspapers Link to newspapers and news from around the world
• Colorado WL Standards Curriculum Wikispace example A community space for sharing ideas for curriculum.
• World Languages Performance Assessment resources using the three modes Assessment resources using the three modes of communication.

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• CEA COpilot The Colorado Education Association has opened special sections of some of our most useful digital learning classes. Check the website for specific instructions associated with these classes. COpilot classes eligible for the Digital Learning Support Program:
  • Create a Teacher Website Using New Google Sites In this course, you will create or improve a teacher website to make your life easier. We will cover website graphic design, plan your website, create a new google site, add text boxes, images, dividers, media (calendars, links, videos), pages, and publish the site.
  • Creating an Interactive Schoology Website In this class, you will learn to set up a class through Schoology. You will be able to assign lessons that can include videos, documents, tests, quizzes, and classroom discussions. You can take attendance and set up a grade book. You can use Schoology as a way to have a blended classroom or to purely house what you've done so that students can check out what they have missed while they were absent. You can archive your class and then copy what you've created for the following year so that you won't have to recreate the wheel.
  • Creating Educational Videos to Enhance Learning Inside and Outside of the Classroom This class will help you to create videos that you can post to your websites. The videos will allow you to have a flipped classroom, a blended learning classroom, or merely have videos on your website for those students who are absent. It can be as if there are multiple teachers in one classroom if used during class. Students can learn at their own pace because they can watch the video as many times as they need to.
  • Google Level 1 Certification Training This course is designed to provide educators with the confidence and understanding of how to deliver the Google suite within their classroom and workplace. There are 8 modules designed to be implemented and used at the pace of the learner. Once the modules are complete, you will be able to prove your knowledge of the Google platform and join the ranks of Google Educators around the world.
  • Google Read and Write for Online Learning In this course you will learn about all the amazing features Google Read and Write has to offer in order to maximize online student learning during these uncertain times. The skills you will learn in this course will not only help for online classes but will help your students when you transition back into your schools where the best learning takes place. This course is self-paced and meant to be a tool that all students with access to a Google Chrome web browser can use.
  • Ignite Your Students' Imaginations with Adobe Spark Teachers will actively participate in an online class to learn how to use Adobe Spark in the classroom. Adobe Spark is a free online tool that is a fun and engaging way for students to learn new content and teach that content to a broader audience using student created videos, posts, and pages. Teachers can also create content with Adobe Spark to teach and deliver information to their students in a variety of interesting ways.
  • Tech Tools For Increased Engagement in Instruction and Student Projects Teaching the 21 century skills required in the common core standards necessitates the use of technology in the classroom. Fortunately, integrating technology into your classroom can be fun and exciting. Technology can also be weaved into your current lessons and curriculum with little effort. Students are typically more engaged in the lesson when current technology is used, and technology can help teachers to easily differentiate their lessons. In this class, we will learn about current technology tools and how to use them during classroom instruction and in student created works.
  • Using Google Classroom (Starts on March 30) Teachers will actively participate in online learning to further develop their understanding of Google Classroom to create, distribute, and grade assignments. Teachers will create a Google Classroom with assignments, announcements, grades, and the learn "Share to Classroom" Chrome extension. This class has been tailored for teachers new to Google Classroom. If you are an experienced Google Classroom user, we suggest looking at taking the Google Level 1 and Level 2 certification classes.
• Distance Learning with Google Slides A technology teacher walks through how to use Google slides with students.
• Resources for Teaching Online A site supporting teachers learning to use and learn from educational blogs.
• Guidance For Switching to Online Learning A 35-minute webinar will focus on how to prepare a school team for a switch to online instruction as a result of the spread of the novel coronavirus.
• Three Free Webinars About Transitioning to Teaching Online Webinars from an educator discussing transition classrooms to an online format.
• Distance Learning Strategies for Education Leaders, Part 1 A two-part learning series discussing transition classrooms to an online format.
• Distance Learning Strategies for Education Leaders, Part 2 A two-part learning series discussing transition classrooms to an online format.

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