Free Online Books for Elementary Students

free online books for elementary students

Picture from Pixabay

I admit it. Initially, when I noticed the cases of the coronavirus growing around the world, I did not imagine that we would begin to shut down in the United States. After all, we have been through Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Ebola, and Swine Flu. The coronavirus tops them all. We are currently readjusting our daily behaviors to save lives. Among these changes are social distancing, working online, and the closing of many schools.

As we contemplate our next moves, we know that it is essential for our youth to keep learning. I regard reading as a foundational subject. I wanted to share a few websites that elementary students can use for reading books. Many students do not have access to the Internet. However, those that do may find these resources helpful.

Books Read Aloud

These websites have video and audio recordings of books.

  • Brightly Storytime: https://bit.ly/2IZVVJ0 – In this collaborative project with Random House, storyteller Ms. Linda reads aloud full-length stories.
  • International Children’s Digital Library: http://en.childrenslibrary.org/ – This digital library features a collection of free children’s books from around the world from 73 languages.
  • Oxford Owl: https://bit.ly/33vR6Aw – This website by the Oxford Press offers support for children’s learning at home and in school.
  • Project Gutenberg: https://bit.ly/33B6M5S – This digital library contains full-text e-books from the public domain.
  • Storyline Online: https://www.storylineonline.net/-  This website features videos of celebrities reading our favorite children’s books.

Free Printable Books Online

These websites have free printable books and booklets. Note that some of these websites have ads and have biblical materials on them. I recommend sharing direct links to printable materials.

I have also noticed that the School Library Journal has posted guidelines from publishers for educators, librarians, and booksellers. Some publishers have adapted their policies to allow online read-alouds. Here are the School Library Journal links that summarize the plans.

This is a strange time for us as we learn to adapt. I think that the changes show that we are resilient and can work together to move forward. I am inspired by our resolve to survive. While this is a bad situation, it is unfortunate situations that often show us how kind other people can be.

Fortunately, we can still teach our students and learn online. The professional development is listed below, just in case you have time to attend. Stay safe.

References

Mysticsartdesign. 2020. Moon Stars Clouds Child Fishing Rod.  https://pixabay.com/illustrations/moon-star-sky-clouds-child-4450739/.

 

April 2020 Professional Development
Organization Date & Time Professional Development Title
edWeb.net April 2, 2020 – 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm EST Leading with Ethics
April 8, 2020 – 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm EST How to Practically Implement the 6 Keys to Early Childhood Reading
April 8, 2020 – 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm EST Equity in Education: An Examination of Practices in the United States
April 8, 2020 – 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm EST Building Foundations in Reading, Sounds, and Text
April 13, 2020 – 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm EST Leading Digital Transformations in Rural School Districts
April 14, 2020 – 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm EST Beyond Content: Taking a Culturally Responsive Approach in the Classroom for Enhanced High Stakes Outcomes
April 15, 2020 – 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm EST What’s NEW in EdTech: Trends and Movements in 2020
April 16, 2020 – 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm EST A Play-Based Approach to Emergent Curriculum and School Readiness
April 16, 2020 – 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm EST TLC for Your PLCs: Tips for Creating High-Impact and Data-Driven PLCs
April 22, 2020 – 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm EST The Transformative Power of Audio Reading

 

April 23, 2020 – 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm EST Equity: We’ve Started the Work, So Why Aren’t We There Yet?
April 28, 2020 – 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm EST Don’t Look Away: Embracing Anti-Bias Classrooms
April 28, 2020 – 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm EST Teaching News and Media Literacy in an Election Year
Simple K12 April 4, 2020 – 10:00 am – 10:30 am EST Google Classroom: An Intro to Creating, Formatting, & Sharing Google Docs
April 4, 2020 – 11:00 am – 11:30 am EST Great Things You Can Do with Google Docs in Google Classroom
April 4, 2020 – 12:00 pm – 12:30 pm EST Google Classroom: Project Ideas and Classroom Suggestions for Using Google Docs
April 8, 2020 – 5:00 pm – 5:30 pm EST Using the Technology You Already Have to Provide Effective Instruction
April 18, 2020 – 10:00 am – 10:30 am EST Google Forms: An Intro to Adding Questions, Applying Themes, Sharing, and More
April 18, 2020 – 11:00 am – 11:30 am EST Easy Formative Assessment with Google Forms
April 18, 2020 – 12:00 pm – 12:30 pm EST Make Google Forms Work for You!

 

April 18, 2020 – 1:00 pm – 1:30 pm EST Fabulous Forms: Amazing Ways to Integrate Google Forms in the Classroom
April 21, 2020 – 6:00 pm – 6:30 pm EST More Than a Slide Deck: Creative Ways to Use Any Slideshow Tool for Learning
April 26, 2020 – 1:00 pm – 1:30 pm EST Creative Ways to Give Timely, Useful Feedback to Students
Webjunction April 8, 2020 – 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm EST Public and School Libraries: Creative Ways to Build Successful Partnerships
InfoPeople.org April 15, 2020 – 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm EST Welcoming Generation Z to our Libraries
April 22, 2020 – 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm EST New Books for Storytime – 2020 Update

 

Early Childhood Investigations Webinars April 2, 2020 – 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm EST Attract More Families to Your Website: SEO and Websites 101, by Jenny Munn
TeachersFirst April 7, 2020 – 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm CST Engage & Inspire with Visual Essays

 

April 21, 2020 – 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm CST Around the World Using Google Search Tips & Tricks
VolunteerMatch.org April 7, 2020 – 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm EST The New Volunteer Manager’s Toolkit
April 8, 2020 – 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm EST Writing Accurate and Useful Volunteer Position Descriptions
April 21, 2020 – 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm EST Understanding Soft Risk in Volunteer Engagement
School Library Journal April 2, 2020 – 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm EST It’s About Equity! Let’s Tackle Information Poverty
ASCD April 16, 2020 – 3:00 pm EST The New Teacher’s Guide to Cultural Competence

 

 

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Author: Daniella Smith

Daniella Smith, PhD. is a former school and public librarian. She is currently the Hazel Harvey Peace Professor in Children’s Library Services at the University of North Texas.



Categories: Professional Development, Uncategorized

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3 replies

  1. Thank you for sharing these resources, Daniella.

    Yesterday, I posted an annotated collection of resources for school librarians and other educators, students, and families who seek to ethically listen to (or read) children’s and young adult literature online. (There is some overlap in our collections.)

    All of these resources respect the rights of the book creators. They are available for free and (except for one) can be directly accessed by young people.

    https://tinyurl.com/sllblog032320

    Please stay safe and healthy for your own sake as well as for the health and safety of others.

  2. I was looking for some free websites for my elementary students. Just beware that Project Gutenberg has a Genre “Pornography”.

  3. can i have the copies of these books be posted in our school’s online library?

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