Covid-19 Early Literacy Resource Toolkit

This is a stressful time for parents and uncertain for children, but it can still be an opportunity to engage with your child in at-home early learning and literacy activities that will help them grow, progress, and discover the joys of reading. Here are useful resources for parents, caregivers and educators:

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Free Resources for Families

Literacy Resources

• 50 Fun Activities (Eng./Spanish)
• Building Blocks to Developing a Reader (Eng./Spanish)
• Continuum of Effective Literacy Practices: A Guide for Practitioners
• Dyslexia Guide for Families (English)
• Dislexia Guía de Recursos Para Familias (Español)
• Early Literacy Guide for Families (Eng./Spanish)
• Haskins Global Online Literacy Resource Library (free and high quality): Designed to help parents and educators easily navigate through information available online on promoting literacy development in children of all ages
• Smart Talk Resources (Eng./Spanish)
• Social Emotional Learning & Early Literacy Age Continuum (English)
• Virtual Family Engagement Center Resources for Parents and Practitioners: Partners in the AZ Family Engagement Center provide these free resources to support parents and practitioners

 

E-Books for Children

• Association of Library Services for Children: A list of where to find free children’s e-books
• Coronavirus: A Book for Children: Helpful children’s free downloadable e-book, activities, discussion guides, educational materials, videos, and more!
• First Book: Their Open e-books gives kids from low-income families access to a digital library of thousands of popular and award-winning eBooks for free.
• Make Way for Books App: Unlimited access to high-quality books to share with your child and online story times (bilingual)
• Storyline Online: Award-winning website streams videos featuring celebrated actors reading children’s books.
• Unite for Literacy: Digital books that provide audio narrations in more than 40 languages

 

Online Story time & Activities

• Arizona PBS At Home Learning: free educational resources for families and on-air programming
• Atlanta Speech School Cox Campus: Your child can continue to learn and grow with a “live” preschool that is a safe destination for free learning experiences and lessons for you and your preschool-aged child
• Attendance Playbook: Smart Strategies for Reducing Chronic Absence in the Covid Era: helps educators target supports to groups of students who need additional help to overcome barriers to attendance and participation
• Avondale Library: Virtual Story Times
• Book Nook: Online free remote one-on-one reading tutoring program
• Camp Wonderopolis: Helping kids and their families learning together throughout the summer
• City of Phoenix Library: Story times online & more
• Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library: Reading a series of Imagination Library books all carefully chosen for their appropriate content at this moment in time.
• Flagstaff Library: Youtube channel of online storytime and book club activities for all ages.
• Make Way for Books Online: Bi-lingual livestream story time mornings M-F as well as additional resources and activities for families.
• Read Better Be Better Guide: Steps to work on reading comprehension with your child at home
• Reading Rockets: reading guides and resources to improve children’s reading
• Ready, Set, School (Pima County Library): free 8 week program on Facebook Live designed to help kids (ages 4-5) get ready for school.
• Scholastic Learn at Home: Projects to keep kids reading, thinking and growing
• Southwest Human Development: Birth to Five Helpline and at-home lesson plans and activities for parents and caregivers
• StoryPlace: Digital story time library and activity website in English and Spanish
• Story times with Thuy: online story time from the Gila County Ibary District San Carlos Apache, stories in English and Apache.
• Tempe at Home: virtual programs and activities for all ages
• Thrive to Five Classes: (Funded by First Things First) Google meet up online classes for families with children 0 to 5 years old.
• We Are Teachers: Favorite authors are offering online read-alouds and activities on social media

 

Apps

• Common Sense Media: Apps range from skills essential to life and traditional academic subjects
• ChatterPix Kids: Children can create cards with voice messages to send to their families and friends
• Khan Academy Kids: Fun educational learning and discovery for children ages two to seven
• Special Needs Students: Apps for Special Needs Students compiled by National Association for Family, School and Community Engagement
• Vroom: Everyday learning activities and tips appropriate for all ages

 

ELL Resources

• ¡Colorín Colorado!: Offers a wealth of bilingual, research-based information, activities, and advice for educators and families of English language learners (ELLs)
• Common Sense Media Latino: Family engagement resources with articles, videos, and ready-made presentations in Spanish​
• StoryPlace: Provides children with the virtual experience of going to the Library and participating in the same types of activities the Library offers at its physical locations
• Abriendo Puertas: Expansive list of resources in Spanish

 

COVID-19 Crisis Support

• Arizona Department of Education: COVID-19 Guidance to schools
• Arizona Together: (#AZTogether) Resources and COVID-19 information
• Conscious Discipline: COVID-19 helpful responses for families
• First Things First: Parenting during Coronavirus
• Healthy Children: Information for families COVID-19
• National Center for Learning Disabilities: COVID-19 Resources and tools
• Sesame Street in the Community: Resources that can help your families cope during challenging times
• Turnaround for Children: Podcast on how to address the fear, stress and disruption cause by the pandemic

 

Social Media

• Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems: Follow on Facebook each day at 1pm ET. Mo invites us in to his studio, grab some paper a pencils and learn, draw, doodle and explore new ways of writing.
• Read Aloud with Melinda: Read aloud and activities from Melinda Long, author of “How I Became a Pirate”
• Operation Story time: (#OperationStorytime!) favorite authors and celebrities recording themselves reading
• Pete the Cat: Join Instagram Live each day at 12pm ET @Petethecatofficial for a reading and drawing tutorial with Pete the Cat creator, James Dean
• Tempe Pre Facebook Page: familiar songs and activities for preschool age children