- Author:
- Barbara Soots, Karma Hugo, Aira Jackson, Molly Berger, Washington OSPI OER Project
- Subject:
- Early Childhood Development, English Language Arts
- Material Type:
- Reading
- Level:
- Preschool, Lower Primary, Upper Primary, Middle School, High School
- Tags:
- License:
- Creative Commons Attribution
- Language:
- English, Spanish
Reading in the Time of COVID-19: Free access to online reading
Overview
Free reading options for all Pre K - 12 students. Sites include access for English learners as well as students with reading barriers. Opportunities are highlighted for online reading, downloadable eBooks, audiobooks, apps to read content on smartphones/tablets, and read aloud stories for our youngest learners.
Free access to eBooks, audiobooks, animated books, and read alouds
Online Texts
Bookshare | Beneficent Technology, Inc. Audience: students with qualifying reading barriers
For students with dyslexia, blindness, cerebral palsy, and other reading barriers, Bookshare is a free online library that provides access to over 800,000 ebooks in easy-to-read formats. Teachers can create free school accounts. Parents can sign up students for free to access Bookshare at home independently.
Epic! | Epic Creations Inc. Audience: ages 2-12
Epic! offers unlimited access to a library of thousands of great children’s books. Subscription service free to educators and, until the end of the 2020 school year, free to families with an invitation from their teacher to get started. Students will have anywhere, anytime access to the full Epic library on all devices (including web browsers, the iOS app and the Android app).
Free Books for All! | Beneficent Technology, Inc. Audience: ages 12 – adult
Over 200 fiction and non-fiction titles of varying grade levels
Free Children's Books for All! | Beneficent Technology, Inc. Audience: ages 2-8
Books for second graders and younger
International Children’s Digital Library | Univ. of Maryland and Internet Archive Audience: ages 2-12
Collection of books that represents outstanding historical and contemporary books from throughout the world. Ultimately, the Foundation aspires to have every culture and language represented so that every child can know and appreciate the riches of children's literature from the world community.
OverDrive | Rakutan Audience: all ages
Enjoy ebooks and audiobooks free through your local public library or school. Available on computers, laptops, some Kindle ereaders, and the Libby app for many mobile devices. Requires a library card. Most libraries have an online application in order to get digital access.
Project Gutenberg | Public Domain eBooks Audience: all ages
Library of over 60,000 free eBooks. Choose among free epub and Kindle eBooks, download them or read them online
Read.gov | Library of Congress Audience: all ages
Pick from a huge swathe of classic children’s literature. The site encourages readers of all ages to discover the wonderful world of books. Follow it up with author webcasts, writing contests, and extensive book lists.
Audio Books
Audible | Amazon Audience: ages 2-18
For as long as schools are closed, kids can instantly stream an incredible collection of stories, including titles across six different languages, that will help them continue dreaming, learning, and just being kids.
Librivox | Public Domain Audiobooks Audience: all ages
Books are read by volunteers and free to stream on your desktop, laptop, phone or tablet.
Starfall: I’m Reading | Starfall Education Audience: ages 2-8
The “I’m Reading!” library is full of books, plays, and comics can peruse independently. Children can figure out the sentences themselves, get help with a word, or click to hear the entire book read.
Animated Books
The Fable Cottage | Fable Cottage Audience: ages 2-8, bilingual learners
New versions of traditional tales especially for language learners, teachers, and anyone who enjoys a nice story
Kanopy Kids | Kanopy - streaming service sponsored by Washington libraries Audience: ages 2-8
Stream stories, classic tales, and other educational content anytime, anywhere on your preferred devices. Free for you—brought to you by your library. Requires a library card. Most libraries have an online application in order to get digital access.
Read Aloud
Read, Wonder, and Learn! | Kate Messner website Audience: ages 2-8
Authors and illustrators share a growing collection of resources that include everything from first-chapter and picture book read-alouds (all shared with permission!) to drawing and writing mini-lessons
Storyline Online | Screen Actors Guild Audience: ages 4-8
Streams videos featuring celebrated actors reading children’s books alongside creatively produced illustrations. Each book includes supplemental curriculum developed by a credentialed elementary educator, aiming to strengthen comprehension and verbal and written skills for English-language learners.
Story time from Space | Global Space Education Foundation Audience: ages 4-8
While in space, astronauts are videotaping themselves reading these books to the children of Earth. Astronauts on the ISS will also conduct and videotape educational demonstrations designed by Veteran Canadian Astronaut, Bjarni Tryggvason, to complement the science concepts found in the Story Time From Space books.
Read Aloud Guidance for Schools and Libraries
Reading Allowed: Fair Use Enables Translating Classroom Practices to Online Learning | American University – Washington College of Law
License
Except where otherwise noted, this work by the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. All logos and trademarks are property of their respective owners.
This resource contains links to websites operated by third parties. These links are provided for your convenience only and do not constitute or imply any endorsement or monitoring by OSPI. Please confirm the license status of any third-party resources and understand their terms of use before reusing them.