Free Databases and Websites
Rebecca James, Area Manager, Nashville Public Library
Site names followed by a
If a
provide use and/or registration options that do not require a student e-mail address.
is displayed after the site name, the website has a related app and/or is device-friendly.
ReadWriteThink – K-12
K-12 Literacy Skills and Word Study
 Free and Premium Activities
Easy online
comic creation
• Grades 2 - 12
• Story Ideas, Conflict and Title Generators
• Conflicts from the Internet PL list of Basic Plots in Literature
• Readability Analyzer and Cliché Buster
Titan Pad
Primary Pad
Pirate Pad
The Founding College
of the University of Toronto
Writing at Colorado State University (CSU)
Capital Community College
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Citation Wizard - Offers three Citation Styles:
APA, CSE, formerly known as CBE, and MLA. All
feature specific templates for citing online
Journals, Web pages with and without authors,
electronic Books and Databases
The material in the STEM Center is based on research sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory.
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The University of Utah: Learn.Genetics
Arizona State University School of Life Sciences
◦ Experiments & ‘how to’ activities, Body Depot, Bird
Finder, Puzzles, Quizzes, Ask a Biologist
K – 12 manga math games
•Lesson plans
•User guides
•Teacher’s create school accounts and logins
for students
Backpack Games
Collection of flash games from the web that develop
STEM skills for students in grades 3 – 8. Games focus on
•Math, Science, Problem Solving
• Vocabulary
Games are searchable by
•Subject
•Cognitive Development skills
•Game Genre
•Grade Level
•Common Core
•Next Generation Science Standards
 To review lower grade math facts
 IXL
K-12 Math
 National Science Digital Library
 Funbrain
 Exploratorium
 Rhyme & Learn
 Newton’s Apple
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Smithsonian Sites
◦ Primary sources to teach American History
◦ Historical topics, DBQs and lesson plans
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Civil Rights
Colonial America
Invention
Native American History
Transportation
Westward Expansion
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The U.S. National Archives Digital Vaults
 Curated collection of 1,200 items
 Activities designed to help students discover
connections between primary sources
 Pathways Challenges provides quizzes
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National Archives related resource
◦ Docs Teach
◦ Seven tools to create interactive learning activities
based on primary sources in the National Archives
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Hosted by the University of William & Mary
School of Education
Students analyze primary source clues and
form conclusions
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Database of more than 7,000 worldwide
primary source documents and images
Sponsored by the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization
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VoiceThread
◦ Link to Free Account Details
◦ Slideshare – Classroom use of VoiceThread
 Poll
Everywhere
◦ Class/audience participates in real time using
browser, mobile phone, twitter
◦ Response can be viewed live online or added to a
PowerPoint or Keynote presentation
Students privately communicate with the teacher throughout the
lesson. Question and answer features built into Geddit for
comprehension check
Curious.com
◦ Online site launched last summer
◦ More recently released iPhone app and iPad version
◦ Includes For Kids Only category
•FIND LESSONS
Browse through thousands of teachers’ videos on Glean, organized by
topic, Common Core standard, and teaching style
•LEARN WITH OTHERS
Ask questions for peers, teachers, and experts to answer when
you’re stuck
•ALWAYS LEARNING ABOUT YOU
Glean is adaptable. The more you use Glean, the better it
gets at identifying lessons for you
Computes answers from the
Wolfram Alpha store of expertlevel knowledge and algorithms to
automatically answer questions,
do analysis, and generate reports,
rather than searching the web
• Over 12,000 educator-reviewed web
resources
• K-12; most subjects
•For use with students in the classroom
National Science Digital Library
 Pre-K through Higher Ed
 Search by educational level,
resource and subject
 NSDL does not hold content
directly; lists other sites
 Provides national educational
standards including Common
Core.
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The Last Backpack: Mobile lessons
Ed Tech Muse: Tech ideas from teachers
Richard Byrne’s Free Technology for Teachers
EdShelf: A discovery engine of websites, apps
The Curious Librarian – Holly Whitt
David Kapular’s blog Technology Tidbits
Educational Technology Guy – David Andrade
Tek Ninja; Musings on Assistive Technology,
Occupational Therapy, Education by Jim Tignor
 Lesson Paths
• An educator site for sharing and curating web
content
Rebecca James
Area Manager, Nashville Public Library
615.880.3957 x229
rebecca.james@nashville.gov
http://www.slideshare.net/rejam/freeeducator-tech-tools-ppt