25 TOOLS

Best Chrome Apps and Extensions for Students

Looking for classroom-ready Chrome apps and extensions to gear up your classroom's Chromebooks? We've assembled a list, organized by grade level, of popular, top-rated tools that'll integrate with Chromebooks or any device with Chrome installed. You'll notice many of these apps and extensions are adaptations of familiar tools available on other platforms (such as iOS or the web). However, these Chrome selections are streamlined and easily accessible versions particularly well-suited to the complexities of classrooms. So, head over to the Chrome store and use this list to save time on tool selection, setup, and integration for your elementary, middle, or high school classroom. 

If you're on the lookout for Chrome extensions in particular, check out 3 Must-Have Chrome Extensions for Classrooms for a deeper look at three great options.

Chrome Apps and Extensions Best for Elementary School

IXL

Immediate feedback and breadth a huge plus, despite emphasis on drills

Bottom Line: Students can improve targeted skills by using practice modules in moderation.

Grades: Pre-K–12
Price:
Free to try

Raz-Kids

Leveled readings with progress-tracking enhances differentiated reading program

Bottom Line: It's worth considering as a supplement to your reading program thanks to the book variety, assigning and assessing, and progress reports.

Grades: Pre-K–5
Price:
Free to try

Seesaw

Versatile digital portfolio appeals to teachers, students, and parents

Bottom Line: A powerful multimedia learning and communication tool that demonstrates student progress over time.

Grades: K–12
Price:
Free, Paid

Matific

Engaging supplemental resource encourages conceptual understanding

Bottom Line: An engaging conceptual supplement for math lessons with easy-to-find standards-aligned activities.

Grades: K–6
Price:
Free to try

Freckle

Standards-aligned, adaptive, core subject materials with lots of support

Bottom Line: It's rich with content-aligned assessments, worksheets, and progress analytics, so mindful teachers will find it a valuable resource to promote skills mastery through practice.

Grades: K–12
Price:
Free

Storybird

Social storytelling site helps kids create, publish storybooks

Bottom Line: A great fit for teachers looking to develop students' writing and digital citizenship skills through storybook creation.

Grades: K–12
Price:
Free to try

Edpuzzle

Crop, customize, and remix online video content with interactive tool

Bottom Line: This is a valuable tool that teachers can use to flip classrooms or support student-led creation.

Grades: 3–12
Price:
Free, Paid

Chrome Apps and Extensions Best for Middle School

CK-12

Super STEM, social studies resource with highly customizable content

Bottom Line: Making content accessible to kids with different learning styles, CK-12 could be the key to mastery for some students.

Grades: K–12
Price:
Free

Edulastic

Powerful standards-based assessment tool tracks student progress

Bottom Line: An efficient platform -- especially for test prep -- that helps teachers track student progress on standards mastery.

Grades: K–12
Price:
Free, Paid

Newsela

Great stories, just-right leveled reading; now mostly by subscription

Bottom Line: While pricey, Newsela has ascended into an all-in-one destination for leveled, non-fiction reading.

Grades: 2–12
Price:
Free, Paid

Blendspace

Create multimedia lessons with simple online interface

Bottom Line: It's a good tool for bringing together lots of multimedia resources, but teachers will need to be mindful of content quality and lesson flow.

Grades: 3–12
Price:
Free

WriQ

Writing support tool helps teachers track progress and give feedback

Bottom Line: This extension gives students useful, immediate feedback to make some improvements and save teachers time, but it lacks substantive instruction.

Grades: 4–12
Price:
Free, Paid

Snap&Read

Nifty app can be used to increase text accessibility for all readers

Bottom Line: It's a helpful tool for making text easier to manage, but some of the features could use refinement.

Grades: 6–12
Price:
Free to try

StudySync

Superb ELA resource features engaging activities, stellar support

Bottom Line: An exceptional, ever-growing resource for helping your students become close readers, careful writers, and critical thinkers.

Grades: 6–12
Price:
Free to try

Tynker

Approachable and powerful coding curriculum with a lot of support

Bottom Line: Tynker empowers students of all ages and experience levels to create custom coding projects for a variety of platforms.

Grades: K–12
Price:
Free to try

Canva

Create, collaborate and share with flexible, cloud-based design tool

Bottom Line: With stable internet access and especially with free teacher access to the premium features, this is a powerful, accessible way to create beautiful designs.

Grades: 4–12
Price:
Free, Paid

TED-Ed

Support kids' sense of wonder with outstanding short video lessons

Bottom Line: TED-Ed includes excellent, engaging videos and support for flipped-class lessons with an incredible community of thinkers and doers.

Grades: 3–12
Price:
Free

Chrome Apps and Extensions Best for High School

PlayPosit

Interactive video creator has great question variety

Bottom Line: This tool strikes a nice balance, offering teachers an easy intro to interactive video mixed with a large set of features that can lead to increasingly sophisticated lesson design.

Grades: K–12
Price:
Free, Paid

ThinkCERCA

Structured literacy program inspires deep analysis, thoughtful writing

Bottom Line: This is an expertly scaffolded and pedagogically sound resource for developing critical reading and writing skills.

Grades: 3–12
Price:
Paid

Desmos

Powerful graphing calculator deepens understanding with visualization

Bottom Line: Desmos combines interactivity, visualization, personalization, and collaboration to deepen students' understanding of geometry and graphing concepts.

Grades: 6–12
Price:
Free

InsertLearning

Useful Chrome extension lets teachers add interactivity to websites

Bottom Line: A potential go-to tool for teachers focused on building critical reading skills, especially those in Chromebook classrooms.

Grades: 6–12
Price:
Free to try, Paid

Grammarly

Helpful tips support the writing process, build confidence

Bottom Line: A flexible tool that -- with teacher guidance -- students can use for both quick fixes and more in-depth writing improvement.

Grades: 6–12
Price:
Free, Paid

Tinkercad

Amazingly simple yet powerful online CAD tool turns kids into makers

Bottom Line: Full-featured site and app make iterative 3D design accessible, social, and relevant.

Grades: 3–12
Price:
Free

Brilliant

Challenge top students with self-guided math, science, and CS courses

Bottom Line: This learning and practice site can be an exciting challenge for passionate, independent students but may be too much for struggling kids.

Grades: 6–12
Price:
Free to try

Kaizena

Nifty add-on enables audio and text feedback in Google Docs

Bottom Line: If your classroom relies a lot on Google Docs, this might just be the feedback tool you're looking for.

Grades: 6–12
Price:
Free

More Picks for You

  • Best Tools for Virtual and Distance Learning

  • Best Messaging Apps and Websites for Students, Teachers, and Parents

  • Apps and Websites for Improving Parent-Teacher Communication