TOP PICKS | 29 TOOLS
Elementary School Reading Apps and Websites
Top Picks
RELATED
Print list
Connect Students with Other Readers
Bookopolis
Cute social network lets kids log books and connect with other readers
Bottom line: Kids-only social network gives students a safe space to connect, allows students to showcase and share their reading progress.
Grades: 1–8
Price: Free
Biblionasium
Site for reviewing and sharing books makes reading a social adventure
Bottom line: This safe, simple social network lets kids share their reading success with friends, creating healthy competition and confidence.
Grades: 2–6
Price: Free
Harry Potter Reading Club
The fun and fantasy of Harry's world plus literary discussion
Bottom line: With activities, discussion questions, and lots of free access to the books, this site is a great place for Harry Potter fans new and old.
Grades: 3–7
Price: Free
LitPick
Tweens' reviews of YA literature great for classroom use
Bottom line: LitPick is a safe, fun environment for YA lovers to read their favorite books while learning how to discuss literature.
Grades: 5–12
Price: Free
Explore Current Events
Smithsonian: TweenTribune
Trustworthy tween news site has cool classroom component
Bottom line: TweenTribune's questions, quizzes, and educator tools can help kids follow and understand the news; its content may work best with younger users.
Grades: K–12
Price: Free
News-O-Matic: School 2018-2019
Flexible, interactive daily stories for elementary school students
Bottom line: Engaging, high-quality news stories help students learn about the world.
Grades: 2–5
Price: $19.99 Volume educational discounts and licenses available.
News-2-You
Draw kids into weekly news with powerful symbols and voice narration
Bottom line: Students can expand literacy skills, learn about the world, and get involved with discussion questions and activities.
Grades: 2–6
Price: $1.99 per newspaper; $54.99 per year New and archived newspapers can be purchased for $1.99. Annual access to all newspapers is $54.99.
Newsela
Absorbing daily news stories offer kids just-right learning content
Bottom line: Up-to-date, high-interest articles meet students right at their level: Use this robust tool to bolster students' nonfiction reading practice.
Grades: 2–12
Price: Free, Paid There's a "Pro" subscription targeted at schools, but pricing information isn't public; interested teachers and districts can contact them for more information.
Target Reading Comprehension and Fluency
Homer: Kids Learn to Read App
A captivating, comprehensive beginning reading resource
Bottom line: Concrete phonics learning alongside books, songs, storytelling, and art.
Grades: Pre-K–1
Price: Free to Try First month free, then $7.99 per month.
Hooked on Phonics
Well-known curriculum adapts well to fun, easy-to-use app
Bottom line: Thorough phonics program offers a nice mixture of learning, practicing, and reading.
Grades: Pre-K–1
Price: Free to Try Free seven-day trial version includes one lesson and one ebook. After that, it's $8.99 per month. There's also a lifetime subscription available.
Bookshare
Unique digital library gives access to those with print disabilities
Bottom line: This fantastic digital library service provides a powerful sense of independence for students with print-related disabilities.
Grades: Pre-K–12
Price: Free, Paid Free for students and schools in the U.S.
LeVar Burton Kids Skybrary School
Thorough lesson plans help teachers utilize an amazing digital library
Bottom line: Though it could use some updates, Skybrary School has a set of top-quality resources with great value worth checking out.
Grades: K–3
Price: Free to Try The Classroom Plan (35 students max) is $179 per year and includes 40 lesson plans. The School Plan (350 students max) is $1450 per year. District pricing available. Title I schools are eligible for one free account.
Raz-Kids
Solid choice for leveled readings and progress-tracking
Bottom line: Trusty -- if a tad dated -- tool for helping younger students become proficient in many aspects of reading.
Grades: K–3
Price: Free to Try, Paid $109.95 per classroom for a one-year license. There are optional paid upgrades for the Learning A-Z suite of products (e.g. Reading A-Z) which are also offered as bundled collections.
Lexia Reading Core5
Interactive reading program promotes targeted, individualized growth
Bottom line: A good blended reading platform that offers students some choices, and teachers actionable data and useful offline resources.
Grades: K–5
Price: Paid Lexia doesn't publish pricing details. Contact them for more info.
Epic! - Unlimited Books for Kids
Free, expansive digital library unlocks treasure trove of books
Bottom line: This large collection of books and videos on a wide variety of topics is an easy -- and free -- enhancement to any classroom library.
Grades: K–6
Price: Free, Free to Try Free to elementary school teachers and school librarians in the U.S. and Canada.
Literably
Simple and useful reading fluency assessment tool frees up teacher time
Bottom line: Some districts may find this to be a cost-effective, time-saving option for reading records.
Grades: K–7
Price: Contact for pricing Contact for exact pricing. Pricing varies based on number of students and how frequently the school or district would like to find students' reading levels. Most plans are $6 to $9 per student with a minimum purchase of $1,000.
Read With Me Fluency
Make assessing, tracking students' reading fluency a breeze
Bottom line: Easy-to-use paperless reading records work great but could use a few updates.
Grades: K–8
Price: 4.99
Read&Write
Useful text-to-speech app and extension unlocks the written word
Bottom line: A valuable tool to make classroom use of websites and digital documents more accessible to all students.
Grades: K–12
Price: Free to Try 30-day free trial. $145 per year for a single license and access to Read&Write across all platforms. School and district licenses also available.
ReadTheory
Useful, adaptive tool for assessing, tracking reading ability
Bottom line: It's very utilitarian, but what it does it does well: getting students test-ready by effectively assessing and tracking reading ability.
Grades: K–12
Price: Free
LightSail
Robust, full-featured reading app measures meaningful literacy gains
Bottom line: A powerful, well-designed literacy platform for developing engaged readers.
Grades: 1–12
Price: Contact for quote While schools will need to contact LightSail for pricing, their website states that packages start at $5,000 and $12 per student.
Words With Friends EDU
Super-fun school version introduces preset list of academic words
Bottom line: Kids can have fun learning new words, though it'll probably take more to really cement these terms into vocabulary.
Grades: 2–12
Price: Free
Accelerated Reader 360
Boundless, flexible tools promote instructional, independent reading
Bottom line: A stellar literacy platform for assessing student reading levels and promoting further reading.
Grades: 3–12
Price: Contact for pricing Pricing is not transparent, and purchases are targeted at the school or district level. Interested parties must call or go to the website to live chat with a sales rep.
Rewordify
Text-leveling tool gives every student access to complex readings
Bottom line: This utilitarian differentiation tool is useful enough to be in every teacher's toolbox.
Grades: 3–12
Price: Free
StudySync
Superb ELA resource has comprehensive coverage, tons of supports
Bottom line: StudySync offers a complete core literacy program for secondary schools, making it easy to recommend, especially for teachers new to digital platforms.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free to Try A one-year subscription is $16.47 per student. The student reading and writing companion bundles cost $111.24 and are available per grade level as a 6-year subscription.
ThinkCERCA
Well-structured lessons encourage deep analysis, thoughtful writing
Bottom line: This is a ready-to-go, research-backed resource that focuses intently on CCSS-aligned and AP-level critical reading and writing skills.
Grades: 3–12
Price: Free, Paid Free Basic version limited to four grade band-based differentiation levels, short reading lessons, and multiple-choice assessments. Paid Premium version adds 10 levels of differentiation (grades 3-12), more in-depth and varied lessons, writing benchmarking, rubrics, data dashboards, and more. Contact for a quote.
Whooo's Reading
Innovative take on independent reading ditches multiple-choice quizzes
Bottom line: A convenient, well-intentioned tool for supporting a quality, interest-driven independent reading program, but make sure to tweak the auto-generated scores and questions.
Grades: 4–8
Price: Free
Find Lesson Plans, Activities, and Resources
ReadWriteThink
Excellent free resource for all things reading and writing
Bottom line: A language arts teacher's dream; lesson plans, professional development, and all-around quality support.
Grades: Pre-K–12
Price: Free
ReadWorks
Differentiate reading instruction with high-quality texts and lessons
Bottom line: The quality and scope of texts, lesson plans, assessments, and supports on this platform can help facilitate targeted reading instruction in any classroom.
Grades: K–12
Price: Free
TeachingBooks.net
Dense site collects resources on authors and books in one place
Bottom line: With time and effort, this database of literary resources can extend learning experiences with books and their authors.
Grades: 2–7
Price: Free to Try A school-wide subscription starts at $400 per year. There are plans (each with unique pricing) available for homeschool caregivers, libraries, districts, and higher education institutions.
