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TOP PICKS | 56 TOOLS
The Best Free Apps and Websites for Learning
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Math
Gracie & Friends Birthday Cafe
Numbers-and-quantity game has precise focus and superb scaffolding
Bottom line: Super approach to teaching a very specific topic: Help kids develop an easy familiarity with quantities under five.
Grades: Pre-K–K
Price: Free
PBS KIDS Measure Up!
Fun mixes with learning in adventure-themed measurement activities
Bottom line: Games and videos give kids great exposure to and practice with a variety of measurement topics.
Grades: Pre-K–K
Price: Free
Cyberchase Shape Quest!
AR adds unique twist to geometry, spatial reasoning games
Bottom line: Once kids get a hang of things, this app's puzzles will get them thinking creatively about shapes and spatial reasoning.
Grades: K–3
Price: Free
Matific
Engaging supplemental resource encourages conceptual understanding
Bottom line: A fun and engaging conceptual supplement for math lessons with easy-to-find standards-aligned activities.
Grades: K–6
Price: Free, Free to try, Paid Teachers can sign up for free. Parents interested in using Matific at home can sign up for a free trial, and then pay $30 per year.
Inside Mathematics
Dynamic videos and printables support CCSS math practices
Bottom line: An excellent, free resource for educators who need support and inspiration for teaching and addressing CCSS and mathematical practices.
Grades: K–12
Price: Free
NRICH
Untangle robust math problems for all ages; plenty of teaching support
Bottom line: It's an excellent classroom companion that can be implemented quickly with little adjustment and a high probability of success.
Grades: K–12
Price: Free
Prodigy
Adaptive math practice wrapped in role-playing adventure
Bottom line: Sometimes kids just need some math practice to get things to stick, and Prodigy delivers in a fun format with great teacher support.
Grades: 1–8
Price: Free, Paid Access to all educational content is free; subscriptions ($8.95 per month or $59.88 per year) include exclusive items, customizations, and other extras.
Fraction Mash
Face mash-ups plus fractions equal goofy, meaningful play
Bottom line: Math-flavored goofy fun is great for casual exposure to fractions, but will need thoughtful integration if used as a dedicated learning tool.
Grades: 2–8
Price: Free Schools can deploy the apps for free through the Volume Purchase Program to support managed deployments.
Math Snacks
Satisfying mathematical treats kids will gladly gobble up
Bottom line: Teachers and students will excel with engaging, often funny material; it's a pleasure to explore these extensive resources.
Grades: 3–8
Price: Free
Math Science Music
Thoughtful tools teach STEM skills through music and creativity
Bottom line: Limited but quality content gives STEM teachers a new toolset for fostering engagement and understanding.
Grades: 3–12
Price: Free
Choreo Graph
Animate with fun geometry STEAM app; learning requires teacher support
Bottom line: Teachers and classroom communities are needed for app activities to meet their learning potential; start with the coordinating lessons.
Grades: 6–10
Price: Free Schools can deploy the apps for free through the Volume Purchase Program to support managed deployments.
Desmos
Elegant graphing calculator and math simulations promote collaboration
Bottom line: Innovative calculator and simulations are a standout graphing option for inquiry-driven math.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free
GeoGebra
Create, share, and modify math models and simulations
Bottom line: Free, open-source software that lets teachers build or adapt learning experiences to meet their kids' needs.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free
CanFigureIt Geometry
Flex your deductive reasoning muscles with geometric proofs
Bottom line: A really good way for math students to learn about proofs and explore them from a number of angles.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free
ELA
Khan Academy Kids
Creative, smart mix of pre-K to K activities is a breath of fresh air
Bottom line: It's tough to stand out in the crowded early learning space, but this collection does just that, offering a one-stop shop for creative learning of foundational skills.
Grades: Pre-K–K
Price: Free
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
Toontastic 3D
Flexible tool hands kids the reins for creative animated storytelling
Bottom line: Despite some lack of variety and simple drawing tools, Toontastic 3D remains a terrific, versatile storytelling tool.
Grades: K–5
Price: Free
826 Digital
Popular after-school program shares its resources with teachers
Bottom line: This is a worth-bookmarking resource thanks to relatable writing lessons and motivating examples of actual student writing.
Grades: 1–12
Price: Free Teachers can choose to make a donation.
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
CommonLit
Feature-rich literacy resource offers superb support for readers
Bottom line: Access a hefty collection of reliable, ready-to-print, leveled passages that allow you to tailor lessons, assign online reading, and track progress.
Grades: 3–12
Price: Free
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
Critical Media Project
Relevant media clips get students examining identity, culture
Bottom line: Teachers will need to take time to build effective lessons, but if they do, this is a useful, relevant, high-interest resource for deconstructing identity and building critical thinking and empathy skills.
Grades: 3–12
Price: Free
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
NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program
Wildly engaging contest turns students into novelists in 30 days
Bottom line: A thoughtful adaptation of the famous and fun grown-up novel writing contest, NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program is brimming with advice and encouragement as well as classroom support.
Grades: 4–12
Price: Free
ZoteroBib
Fewer clicks and less clutter equal a new go-to site for citing sources
Bottom line: An intuitive site that takes the stress out of citing sources, but students will still need instruction to tweak auto-generated citations.
Grades: 5–12
Price: Free
Science
NOVA
Compelling science videos have high-quality classroom applications
Bottom line: Stellar simulations, teacher guides, and other activities can stand on their own, and they're enhanced with high-quality video content.
Grades: Pre-K–12
Price: Free
Code.org
Popular games, big names get kids and teachers pumped to program
Bottom line: A well-planned, -produced, and -curated set of free resources bound to get kids hooked on learning to code.
Grades: K–12
Price: Free
CK-12
Super STEM, social studies, resource with highly customization 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
PhET Interactive Simulations
Massive cache of excellent (and free!) science and math simulations
Bottom line: Instantly add meaningful lab experiences to math and science classrooms for exactly $0? It's tough to beat that.
Grades: K–12
Price: Free
OK Go Sandbox
Creative music video-inspired STEAM design challenges
Bottom line: After watching OK Go music videos, kids will be excited to make new creations by integrating art, science, and math.
Grades: 1–12
Price: Free
NASA
Visually super NASA-backed treasure trove may overwhelm
Bottom line: A visually stunning way to get kids interested in science and space exploration.
Grades: 2–12
Price: Free
Prepmagic
Customize science simulations to highlight phenomena
Bottom line: Science simulations become more effective with teacher-added edits and formative assessments.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free
High-Adventure Science
Highly relevant site teaches how to construct arguments, defend claims
Bottom line: Provides a crucial and timely earth science backdrop to lessons on analysis, data, and modeling that are important for all students to grasp.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free
Science Journal by Google
Turn your phone into a lab sensor to collect and analyze data
Bottom line: Science Journal does a good job recording real-time motion, sound, and light data using phones.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free
BioInteractive
High-quality multimedia brings biological research to life
Bottom line: Superb multimedia tools and lesson plans help kids explore biology through real-world examples.
Grades: 9–12
Price: Free
Social Studies
Google Earth
Cool geographical exploration tool has endless classroom applications
Bottom line: Google Earth is an engaging and completely open-ended app perfect for use across the educational spectrum.
Grades: K–12
Price: Free
PenPal Schools
Give students global perspective with pen pal projects in any subject
Bottom line: A thoughtful, ready-to-go platform that facilitates authentic, cross-cultural collaboration.
Grades: 3–12
Price: Free Free for teachers; however, school- and district-wide plans are available and add integration with learning management systems and student information systems, advanced reporting, and access to premium projects.
Ken Burns in the Classroom
Critically acclaimed documentaries repackaged meaningfully for classrooms
Bottom line: Top-notch documentary clips offer opportunities to expand students' perspectives, but some lesson materials might be underwhelming.
Grades: 4–12
Price: Free
Annenberg Classroom
Civics website makes teaching the Constitution manageable, meaningful
Bottom line: Go for the videos, stay for the lessons: Annenberg Classroom saves teachers' prep time when teaching the Constitution, current events, or other civics lessons.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free
Facing History and Ourselves
A wealth of resources explore racism, prejudice, and anti-Semitism
Bottom line: These valuable materials empower students to understand and address difficult ethical choices -- past and present.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free
DocsTeach
Historical texts, interactive activities can promote critical thinking
Bottom line: This text-rich app encourages students to conduct their own analysis of history, but the formats and graphics may prevent them from making a thorough analysis.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free
Ancient History Encyclopedia
Crowd-sourced ancient history site features extensive, varied resources
Bottom line: It's free, web-based, and regularly updated with vetted info, so classrooms can turn to this site often to kick off research projects.
Grades: 7–12
Price: Free There are ad-free school- or library-wide plans available for $300 per year.
Stanford History Education Group
High-quality, document-based lessons spark stellar historical inquiry
Bottom line: A gold mine of cross-curricular literacy lessons that encourage sound, research-backed strategies for reading, analysis, and critical thinking.
Grades: 8–12
Price: Free
Big History Project
Fascinating look at life's bigger questions with a fresh perspective
Bottom line: A wonderfully innovative and divergent way to teach foundational concepts in history, humanities, critical thinking, and science.
Grades: 9–12
Price: Free
Global Oneness Project
Captivating, cross-curricular stories increase cultural awareness
Bottom line: Teachers looking to enrich their curriculum with high-quality, thought-provoking videos and photos will find plenty of inspiration, but may need to create or fine-tune some lessons.
Grades: 9–12
Price: Free, Paid Lesson plans and stories are free. Individual films, screening packages, and educational film toolkits are available to purchase.
NPR News
Top-notch digital content takes students beyond the airwaves
Bottom line: Provides an easy, fun, and effective way to engage students with radio.
Grades: 9–12
Price: Free
Arts
Picture Dots
Kids connect the dots with multisensory, interactive media creator
Bottom line: Kids will love playing with this one, but it needs more developed features and additional support to be effective for classroom use.
Grades: Pre-K–2
Price: Free
Artsonia Kids Art Museum
Online art museum empowers students to exhibit, explain their work
Bottom line: A well-loved digital art museum that allows students to share work and reflect on their artistic process while helping teachers assess student understanding of artistic concepts.
Grades: Pre-K–12
Price: Free
Scratch
Creative sandbox opens the door to coding in any subject area
Bottom line: Scratch draws students of all types into coding and lays a foundation for future learning.
Grades: 1–12
Price: Free
Wizard School!
Curated videos and creative challenges ignite active learning
Bottom line: There's plenty of material to inspire kids to embark on learning adventures that get them to explore, create, and share safely on the screen and off.
Grades: 2–8
Price: Free
Shadow Puppet Edu
Resource-rich video slideshow maker a gem for a variety of classrooms
Bottom line: Easy-to-use free tool is a must-have for elementary classrooms; just keep an eye on sharing and privacy.
Grades: 2–12
Price: Free
Paper by WeTransfer
Beautifully designed digital sketchbook for any age
Bottom line: The simplicity and effectiveness of the app make this a powerful sketch and note-taking tool for the iPad.
Grades: 3–12
Price: Free
Canva
Create snazzy designs in seconds with flexible, cloud-based tool
Bottom line: A flexible, accessible way to get kids -- especially design novices -- creating digitally in your classroom if you have stable internet and time to get students set up to be successful.
Grades: 4–12
Price: Free
Google Arts & Culture
Excellent curation and an unmatched art collection invite exploration
Bottom line: A one-stop shop for a vast amount of compellingly curated and contextualized art, but it's lacking educator supports.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free
Adobe Spark
Super-flexible design tool for crafting fab images, videos, and sites
Bottom line: This free, one-stop shop for creating sleek graphics, web stories, and animated videos is incredibly easy to use and challenges students to think critically about visual presentation.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free
Snapseed
Extremely powerful photo editor will equally delight pros, amateurs
Bottom line: It successfully walks the fine line of photo-editing features, offering satisfying experiences for those making quick edits and those crafting perfect images.
Grades: 9–12
Price: Free