Online and E-Resources for Families, Students, and Schools

• Empowering Educators Toolbox

The Empowering Educators Toolbox will help you:

• • • Promote awareness, respect, and empathy for different lived experiences.
    • Guide students as they develop understanding and respect for racial differences.
    • Encourage students to reflect on their own lived experiences and shape positive identities.
    • Facilitate conversations about equity/inequity and current events.

• JLG Digital platform was designed with the goal of providing equal access.
  • Simultaneous and unlimited user access.
  • Offline reading to allow all students to access content regardless of at-home connectivity.
  • Stream of rotating hand-picked titles to ensure that all interests and reading levels are addressed.
  • Very low-cost structure ($/student) designed to guarantee affordability by all schools.
    FREE access for Summer 2021 to JLG Digital eBooks.

Schools and Libraries can sign up today at juniorlibraryguild.com/free-summer. 

For more information about JLG Digital, visit https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/jlg-digital/.Contact us for additional details at 800.491.0174.

• Empowering Educators: First Book and Pizza Hut have partnered to develop and offer a new series of free resources designed to help educators and their students explore and have meaningful conversations about race and social justice. The resources include a downloadable guidebook and series of short videos on race and racism.
  Empowering Educators/
• Free homeschooling and other online resources for students and families from ThoughtCo.com: High-quality homeschooling resources are available online at no cost
• Tips for Making Video Content and Doing Storytimes Online: Jester Jim’s 8 tips. For teachers, librarians, and small business on how to make videos during coronavirus
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAXYEDUM9Co

• PBS LearningMedia: free animal and nature themed activities and printables geared towards kids from PreK through 5th grade:
  https://ny.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/summer-camp-animals/
  https://ny.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/summer-camp-nature/

• Authors Everywhere!: A YouTube channel created and run by children’s books writers and illustrators. Users will find workshops, readings, activities, art projects, writing games, and writing advice that will offer fun and creative distractions during potential school closures and quarantines. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCowhHSUaWp3KJDcuI0nR0vw?view_as=subscriber

• Free resources from American Museum of Natural History: The American Museum of Natural History is sharing a bunch of online content for teachers and families to use during virus days. That includes the “OLogy” science website with lessons on subjects from anthropology to zoology; online science curriculum collections; virtual visits to the museum through its YouTube channel; and massive open, online museum courses delivered through Coursera. https://www.amnh.org/explore

• Jarrett J. Krosoczka—author & illustrator: New York Times-bestselling author and illustrator Jarrett J. Krosoczka offers an expansive list of tutorials, activities, webcasts, etc. on his YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/user/studiojjk/videos

• Storyline Online: An award-winning children’s literacy website that features videos of celebrated actors reading from children’s books, including Viola Davis, Chris Pine, Annette Bening, James Earl Jones, Betty White, and more. Each curriculum was designed by a certified elementary educator that focuses on strengthening reading comprehension, and verbal and writing skills. https://www.storylineonline.net/library/

• ABCya: ABCya is an interactive website with over 400 fun and educational games for grades PreK to 6. Users can play games covering a wide range of topics, such as multiplication, typing, speech and pattern recognition. https://www.abcya.com/

• Storynory: This website features a vast collection of audio stories where children can read along to the text. The website’s library includes original stories, fairy tales, and classics. https://www.storynory.com/

• Starfall: Starfall is a publicly supported non-profit organization that creates free and low-cost online activities and resources for grades PreK to 3. The website was specifically designed to teach children to read but has since expanded to include mathematics and language arts. https://www.starfall.com/h/

As a reminder, the online and e-resources listed on this page of the Summer Reading at New York Libraries site are provided as options and examples only, in an attempt to provide helpful information. The New York State Library does not recommend or endorse any specific program or product. Decisions about the use of a particular product or resource should occur at the local level.