Language Arts & Literacy Curriculum Resources
Start Here: SFUSD Libraries
The SF Unified School District’s wonderful school librarians have put together a fantastic website full of fun literacy activities and projects in English and Spanish.
Local Organizations
826 Valencia. The 826 Valencia Tenderloin Center works with students from partner nonprofits on fun literacy & writing projects, from poetry to podcasts to comic-book writing.
Children’s Book Project. Donates books to families, schools and organizations that work with kids.
Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. Bring the enormous appeal of the ocean to your class to teach science, art and language arts. Sanctuary education programs offer science field trips, classroom programs, exhibit discovery experiences, student field monitoring opportunities, teacher workshops and resources.
KQED Education. Free media literacy teaching & learning hub for educators and students. Professional development courses, classroom resources and unique tools that allow students to practice critical thinking, media making and civil discourse.
MBSKSF Everybody Reads Learning Resources. This initiative is focused on equity and economic inclusion, and is targeted at helping the most vulnerable populations of San Francisco’s youth, by providing them with learning experiences through Google classroom, books, supplies, and online resources. Online resources are offered in a variety of topics, ranging from videos of kid-friendly explanations of the updates from the Department of Public Health to how to write an acrostic poem.
Reading Partners. Tips and resources for parents that are also great for educators.
Websites
826 Digital. Inventive resources to ignite a love of writing.
Audiojack. Increase writing skills and literacy engagement with audio-based movies. Used in Writing programs, Audiojacks provide a platform that let’s students of all backgrounds engage because there are no words, video or music. Hundreds of sounds are edited to tell a story for the imagination with no wrong answer. The app is free and exercises are included.
Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy Toolkit for At-Home Learning. Free online resources that can help children continue to build critical literacy skills while schools are closed.
BookAdventure. Online interactive reading assessment, management and rewards program.
Children’s Literacy Initiative. Instructional literacy practices for teachers and educators. Provides a dashboard and plan for classroom literacy activities.
CommonLit. Free lesson plans focusing on reading, writing, communication, and problem-solving skills.
Dav Pilkey at Home. Supa Buddies: get creative and have fun with some of your favorite characters from Dog Man and Captain Underpants! Check back every Friday to discover new activities, exciting videos, and so much more!
Edutopia - Literacy. Find and share strategies for helping students read for knowledge, write coherently, and think critically about the written word.
ePals. Pen Pals still exist! Find one here.
HarperKids YouTube Channel. Interactive, kid-appropriate videos, including read-alouds of many favorite children’s books.
Harry Potter at Home. Here you’ll find all the latest magical treats to keep you occupied - nifty magical craft videos (teach your friends how to draw a Niffler!), fun articles, quizzes, puzzles and plenty more for first-time readers, as well as those already familiar with the wizarding world. We’re casting a Banishing Charm on boredom!
IXL Language Arts. IXL makes the world of words come alive with fun visuals and interactive questions. Build great writers through playful skills that pique learners' curiosity about language!
Khan Academy. Khan Academy’s library of trusted, standards-aligned practice and lessons covers math K-12 through early college, grammar, science, history, AP®, SAT®, and more. It’s all free for learners and teachers.
MouseCircus. Legendary graphic novelist Neil Gaiman’s website for younger readers. Games, printable activities, and full readalouds of books like The Graveyard Book and Coraline.
PBS LearningMedia. KQED and PBS-curated FREE, standards-aligned videos, interactives, lesson plans, and more just for California teachers.
Peace Corps Educators. The third goal of the Peace Corps is to teach Americans about the world by providing educational resources to promote global competence. Includes activities, lesson places, a list of the Peace Corps’ partners, and more.
Pinkalicious. Love Pinkalicious, Peterrific, and their fabulous friends? Visit this site for activities, games, teaching guides, and more!
Rainforest Alliance. Games, activities, articles for kids, and more. Have fun while learning all about rainforests and the people and wildlife that call them home.
Reading is Fundamental’s Literacy Central. Create and share book lists, find helpful reading tips and strategies and track student reading progress.
Reading Rockets. Reading Rockets is a national public media literacy initiative offering information and resources on how young kids learn to read, why so many struggle, and how caring adults can help.
Shelf Stuff. Fun videos, games, quizzes, book recomendations, and more, just for tweens (ages 10-14).
Smithsonian Distance Learning. Access to millions of digital resources from across the Smithsonian's museums, research centers, libraries, archives, and more. Pre-packaged collections that contain lessons, activities, and recommended resources made by Smithsonian museum educators and thousands of classroom teachers.
Starfall. Online literacy games for Pre-K to 3rd grade.
StoryCorps. StoryCorps gives people of all backgrounds, typically two at a time, the opportunity to record meaningful conversations and archives the recordings at the Library of Congress. Watch videos and listen to hundreds of wonderful, touching stories, or create you own!
Storyline Online. Award winning children’s literacy website. Streams videos featuring celebrated actors reading children’s books alongside creatively produced illustrations.
Tales2go. Tales2go is used as a literacy tool to develop vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension skills. Currently offering free trials for parents.
Teaching Tolerance. From film kits and lesson plans to the building blocks of a customized Learning Plan—texts, student tasks and teaching strategies—resources that will help you bring relevance, rigor and social emotional learning into your classroom for free.
Twig Education. Thousands of videos in English and/or Spanish that include lessons, activities, and visuals.
Are we missing something? Let us know! Email info@dcyf.org