Free Techie Resources for Reading Month! 🥳
March is National Reading Month, and what better way to celebrate than by integrating technology into reading activities? Whether you're looking to inspire a love of books, connect with authors, or offer students access to digital reading materials, these tech tools and resources can make reading more engaging and accessible.
Here’s a list of must-try resources to bring reading to life in your classroom!
1. Virtual Libraries & Free Digital Books
📘 Epic! (www.getepic.com)
Epic! offers thousands of books for K-5 students, including audiobooks, read-alouds, and graphic novels. Free for educators! The platform features a vast collection of high-interest fiction and nonfiction books, making it an excellent resource for independent reading, classroom libraries, and guided lessons. Epic! also provides personalized recommendations, quizzes, and progress tracking to support literacy development. Teachers can assign books and track student engagement, while students enjoy features like "Read-to-Me" for developing early literacy skills.
🗯️ Vooks (www.vooks.com)
A streaming library of animated storybooks designed for young readers. Perfect for engaging reluctant readers with visually enhanced storytelling! Vooks brings books to life with gentle animations, voice narration, and sound effects, creating a multisensory reading experience. Ideal for early learners, Vooks helps build vocabulary, listening comprehension, and a love for storytelling. Teachers and parents can use Vooks to introduce books in an engaging format, reinforce reading fluency, and encourage comprehension through follow-up activities.
📚 Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org)
A free digital library with over 60,000 classic books that can be read online or downloaded. Featuring works from famous authors like Mark Twain, Jane Austen, and Charles Dickens, Project Gutenberg provides unlimited access to literature in multiple formats, including ePub, Kindle, and plain text. This resource is ideal for students, teachers, and book lovers who want to explore historical texts, poetry, and timeless stories without restrictions.
📖 Open Library (www.openlibrary.org)
This website provides access to millions of free eBooks, including children’s books and textbooks. Open Library operates as a digital lending library, allowing users to "borrow" books for a limited time. The collection includes modern titles, classic literature, and academic resources, making it a valuable tool for educators and students alike. With options for text-to-speech reading, downloading, and book tracking, Open Library supports a variety of learning needs and reading preferences.
2. Author Connections & Virtual Read-Alouds
📹 Skype with an Author
Connect with real authors via video calls! Many offer free virtual visits to discuss books and writing. You can check out this extensive list of authors who Skype or Zoom at Kate Messner’s website. Most links on this resource work, but some may be broken as authors update their availability.
Bringing an author into the classroom can inspire students, deepen their connection to books, and encourage young writers to explore their creativity. Authors often share insights about their writing process, character development, and story ideas, making literature come to life.
Here are some authors who offer free or low-cost virtual visits for classrooms:
Beth Anderson – Author of historical picture books
Marsha Diane Arnold – Award-winning children’s book author
Keila Dawson – Writer of diverse and engaging children’s books
Rebecca C. Jones – Nonfiction and picture book author
Kevin Kurtz – Science and nature writer ($30 fee)
Carmella Van Vleet – Author of fiction and nonfiction books for young readers
📺 Storyline Online (www.storylineonline.net)
Famous actors read children’s books aloud with engaging visuals. This free resource is perfect for introducing students to high-quality literature in a fun and interactive way. Each video includes professionally produced animations, bringing books to life while actors like Oprah Winfrey, Chris Pine, and Viola Davis read aloud. Many books come with accompanying lesson plans and activities to extend learning beyond the read-aloud experience.
▶️ Read-Alouds on YouTube
Search for “read aloud stories for kids” to find authors or YouTube creators reading books aloud. This is a great option for independent reading time, whole-class engagement, or listening centers.
Popular read-aloud YouTube channels include:
@KidTimeStoryTime – Animated and energetic book readings
@StorytimeWithFaye – Calm and engaging storytelling
@AwniesHouse – High-quality read-alouds with fun narration
To find specific books or authors, type in the author’s name or the book title in the YouTube search bar. Many publishers and authors upload their own official read-alouds, making this a rich and diverse resource for classrooms.
3. Book Reviews & Challenges
🎮 Biblionasium (www.biblionasium.com)
Think of it as "Goodreads for kids" – students can track books, write reviews, and participate in reading challenges. This safe, teacher-monitored platform encourages students to set reading goals and earn digital rewards for their progress. Teachers and parents can recommend books, create custom reading lists, and monitor student reading logs. Biblionasium also integrates Lexile measures, making it easy to match students with books at their appropriate reading level. The interactive nature of the platform helps build a strong reading community within the classroom.
📊 Flippity Leaderboard/Progress Chart (www.flippity.net)
Use Flippity to create a reading leaderboard or a progress indicator for students to log and visualize the books they’ve read. Great for motivation and goal-setting! The tool allows teachers to generate customizable leaderboards, progress trackers, and achievement badges using Google Sheets. Students can compete in friendly reading challenges, track their minutes or pages read, and celebrate milestones. Flippity is an engaging way to gamify reading progress and keep students accountable while fostering a culture of reading excitement.
🏆 Bookopolis (www.bookopolis.com)
A social platform where students can review books, recommend reads, track their reading time and books, and earn badges. Teachers can create classroom groups to track student reading progress and encourage engagement. The platform features a vast library of student-friendly book recommendations, along with reading logs, goal-setting tools, and discussion forums. Bookopolis also allows students to explore book lists curated by educators and authors, helping them discover new genres and stories. The gamification elements, such as earning virtual rewards, make reading a fun and social experience.
4. Digital Reading Comprehension Tools
📝 CommonLit (www.commonlit.org)
Provides free fiction and nonfiction texts for grades 3-12 with built-in comprehension questions. The platform includes annotation tools, discussion prompts, and assessment features to help students develop critical reading skills. Teachers can assign texts based on themes, genres, or skill levels and track student progress through detailed reports. CommonLit also offers paired texts, multimedia resources, and differentiation tools to support diverse learners.
🔎 ReadWorks (www.readworks.org)
Offers reading passages with question sets and vocabulary activities to improve comprehension skills. Teachers can assign texts by Lexile level, topic, or skill focus, ensuring students receive appropriate reading challenges. The platform includes audio versions of passages, ELL supports, and scaffolding tools to aid struggling readers. ReadWorks also provides paired passages and formative assessments to strengthen literacy instruction.
🏆 ReadWriteThink (www.readwritethink.org)
A comprehensive resource offering free lesson plans, interactive tools, and professional development materials for literacy instruction. Teachers can access engaging student activities, such as interactive story maps, graphic organizers, and writing prompts, to enhance reading and writing skills. The site also provides parent and afterschool resources to support literacy learning beyond the classroom. With research-based strategies and adaptable lesson plans, ReadWriteThink helps educators create meaningful literacy experiences for students at all grade levels.
Reading Resource Wrap-up
March is the perfect time to spark a love for reading with the help of engaging and interactive tech tools! Whether you're diving into virtual libraries, connecting with authors, or gamifying reading challenges, these resources can make literacy more exciting and accessible for students of all ages. We'd love to hear about the digital tools and strategies you're using in your classroom to celebrate Reading Month. Join the conversation and share your favorite reading tech resources in the Every Teacher Tech Ready Facebook group—let’s inspire each other to create even more impactful reading experiences! 📚✨
