Liberty ISD Education Foundation

Resources from the Houston Chronicle:

Of the many things we’re learning to do during the coronavirus pandemic, perhaps the most difficult, or at least the most frustrating, is manage our children’s at-home schooling. Parents are navigating the world of homework on a new level, but there are many online resources for parents and educators.

 

READING/WRITING

Blue Willow Bookshop: Have a child who loves YA? The independent bookstore in West Houston is taking applications for its new Teen Advisory Council. bluewillowbookshop.com

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Bookshare: The e-library has books and reading tools for children with dyslexia, blindness and other reading barriers.bookshare.org

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Friendswood Library: Staff host live storytimes for all ages — toddlers to tweens. face-book.com / FriendswoodLibrary

 

Harry Potter at Home: It’s Hogwarts for all at a new hub spearheaded by J.K. Rowling. Resources include a free audio-book, word searches, playtime ideas and a free series license for teachers.Wizardingworld.com

 

Writers In The Schools: For grades 6-12, the local nonprofit’s new WITS Uis a weekly opportunity for adolescents to learn from professional writers in virtual sessions that feature poetry lessons, writing prompts and more. witshouston.org

 

Storyline Online: Videos feature award-winning actors reading children’s books with illustrations. Celebrity readers include Viola Davis, Allison Janney, Annette Bening and Betty White at storylineonline.net.

 

Story Time from Space: Astronauts read children’s books from space. Really.storytimefromspace.com

 

Nessy: Designed to help children with dyslexia, Nessy is offering a free seven-day trial.nessy.com/

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Grammar check    https://www.grammarcheck.net/editor/

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S.T.E.M.

Code.org: Try Hour of Code, online tutorials, games and other tools to inspire coding, such as a video introduced by Bill Gates. code.org

 

Girls Who Code: New, free resources for all include coding lessons in making binary bracelets, learning Python and making your own chatbot.girlswhocode.com/code-at-home

 

VEX Robotics: No robot is required to use the new, web-based virtual robotics resource for computer science teachers.vexrobotics.com

 

NASA At Home: Designed for kids K-12, the new at-home STEM resources include dial-a-moon (a daily high resolution image of the moon), space station emoji puzzles, videos and scientist chats. nasa.gov/nasa-at-home-for-kids -and-families

 

Space Center Houston: STEM learning happens at home with new resources including a spacecraft-designing contest, space seed growing, a virtual Apollo 13 exhibit and videos.spacecenter.org/

 

Tinkercad: The app teaches all ages about 3-D design and coding.

 

FOR PARENTS/TEACHERS

Fluency & Fitness: K-2 reading and math, indoor recess, brain breaks and more. Parents can get three free weeks of access.fluencyandfitness.com/

 

Grants for teachers: Public school teachers can get funds for classroom projects, thanks to donations from individuals and corporate partners including Chevron.donorschoose.org/teachers

 

Screencastify: The web-based tool that allows teachers to host virtual group classes is temporarily being offered to schools for free. Technology administrators can email sales@screencastify.com

 

Scholastic Learn at Home: Scholastic has released new daily lessons for grades K-9. In addition, there are teacher resources, author chats and new online hubs related to popular book series such as “Dog Man.” classroommagazines.scholastic.com

 

Studies Weekly: The K-6 Social Studies, Science and Civil Rights lessons are temporarily being offered for free at studiesweekly.com

 

Teachers Pay Teachers: The marketplace allows educators to buy consumable and distance learning materials from one another.teacherspayteachers.com

 

UTSA Institute of Texan Cultures: The website provides primary and secondary educational resources for teachers of all grade levels.texancultures.utsa.edu/resources

 

Khan Academy: A free online learning platform with practice exercises, instructional videos and a learning dashboard for students. It also has specialized content from NASA, the Museum of Modern Art, the California Academy of Sciences and MIT. There are now daily schedules for students in pre-K through grade 12 to follow from home.khanacademy.org/

 

Tinkergarten at Home: Free weekly activities, including outdoor fun, parent insights, online sessions with others and more.tinkergarten.com/

 

Rock Hall EDU: The Rock Hall *of OSET Fame ** ’s digital learning platform, includes lesson plans, activities, videos, playlists and more from the Rock Hall’s Library & Archives. And it’s free. Among them are the Music & Civil Rights Collection, An Introduction to Rock Drumming with Max Weinberg and Good Vibrations Experiment.rockhall.com/

 

Science Kids: A vast amount of resources in science and technology, including projects for kids and lesson plans for teachers. Sciencekids.co.nz

 

The Smithsonian: Pre-K through 12 resources and training for educators and parents.learninglab.si.edu

 

Outschool: Outschool is offering free live online classes for students ages 3-18 that are done via video chat. Classes include English, math, social studies, science, coding, health and wellness, music, art and world languages. outschool.com/

 

YMCA of Greater Houston: The new “virtual Y” has storytime, on-demand workouts, live classes, educational tools for kids and more. ymcahouston.org

 

NATURE

Houston Museum of Natural Science: Online resources include virtual field trips, behind-the-scenes tours of the Cockrell Butterfly Center and a Where’s Waldo-esque picture search for museum artifacts.hmns.org/hmns-at-home

 

Houston Zoo: The series of meet-the-animals live streams are hosted by zookeepers who answer questions in real time via Facebook Live. Watch the animal encounters at 11 a.m. weekdays (facebook.com/houstonzoo) or anytime on youtube.com/houstonzoo. Since its temporary closure, the zoo has seen a nearly 3,000% increase in live cam viewers from across the globe who tune in to watch the everyday habits of flamingos, chimps, leafcutter ants and other zoo residents.

 

National Parks Foundation: While parks are closed, the National Parks Foundation is offering online resources, including nest-cams of bald eagles and livestreams of cherry blossoms in bloom.Nationalparks.org

 

Virtual farm tours: The American Dairy Association is offering virtual tours of farms for kids of all ages. americandairy.com

 

ART

Brazos Bookstore: Kids K-6th grade can enter a bookmark design contest, with winning designs distributed to customers this summer. The independent bookstore has launched a virtual middle grade book club via Zoom. brazosbookstore.com

 

Google Arts & Culture: The virtual portal has a vast amount of cultural resources, including the chance to explore artworks in renowned cultural institutions around the world such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. https://artsandculture.google.com /

 

Houston mural coloring book: Visit Houston’s new, downloadable coloring book allows kids to use crayons to “paint” murals by local artists including downtown’s “Houston Is Inspired” art.visithoustontexas.com/coronavirus-information-and-resources-for-travelers/virtual-activities/

 

Lunchtime Doodles With Mo Willems: The award-winning children’s author hosted a daily meet-up with kids, featuring lessons on drawing his beloved characters, celebrity cameos and storytelling. Videos are supplemented with activity sheets at kennedy-center.org/mowillems.

 

MUSEUMS

Children’s Museum of Houston: In addition to virtual maker classes (roller coaster-designing, atom-modeling), the museum hosts online bilingual story-times, toddler singing sessions and science lessons.Cmhouston.org

 

The Woodlands Children’s Museum: Shadow puppet theater and storytime videos are available at woodlandschildrensmuseum.org.

 

NEWS

CNN 10: Often used in classrooms, the on-demand 10-minute videos break down today’s headlines. cnn.com/cnn10

 

Houston Public Media TV 8: Houston Public Media has expanded its PBS Kids education programming for grades Pre-K - 12 via its television channels and houstonpublicmedia.org/tv8.

 

The New York Times for students: In a new initiative, high school teachers can grant their students access to a free digital subscription through July 6.nytimes.com/initiative/highschoolaccess

 

PBS Kids: PBS Kids offers a newsletter with activities and games for kids ages 2-8. The PBS KIDS Video app offers educational videos and a live stream of the PBS KIDS channel. The PBS KIDS Games app has almost 200 educational games. And PBS KIDS for Parents includes information, activities and tips for parents, including “How to Talk to Your Kids About Coronavirus.” pbskids.org/

 

LIBRARIES

Harris County Public Library: An iKnow Virtual Library Card is free and instantaneous, allowing access to audio books, e-books and other digital resources. hcpl.net/services/iknow-card

 

Houston Public Library: Any resident of Texas can get a free, instant library card to access e-books, audio books, newspaper subscriptions, music, streaming videos and other online resources. For grades K through college, the library’s Brainfuse tool offers homework help, live chatting with tutors, and writing assistance. The library hosts a virtual storytime Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 11 a.m. on Facebook.houstonlibrary.org and 832-393-1313 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday

 

GAME LEARNING

BrainPop: Parents can get free access to the site’s games, animation and lessons on a variety of topics. brainpop.com

 

Dreamworks: The new “Trolls World Tour” download includes coloring tutorials, crafts, recipes and other fun inspired by the new “Trolls” movie.dreamworks.com

 

Lego Masters Builder: Inspired by the FOX reality show, the web-based game allows for virtual brick-building with AR.legomastersbuilder.com

 

Mattel Play Room: The toy company’s new virtual tools include printable materials, videos, downloadable books, crafts and apps featuring brands such as Barbie, American Girl Doll, Hot Wheels, Uno and Thomas & Friends.mattel.com/playroom

 

Discovery Green: The park’s online resources include a slime-making craft activity from The Orange Show, fitness classes and previously-recorded plays and concerts.Discoverygreen.com

 

Just Add Beats: The local entity’s new course teaches kids in grades 2-12 how to use a phone to record podcasts and learn other techniques of music production, sound design and digital storytelling. Use promo code JABONLINE to get the class for free.just-add-beats.teachable.com

 

LANGUAGES

Duolingo: A free language learning platform that can teach you Spanish, French, Japanese and more. duolingo.com/

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