Resources to maximize your classroom budget

Having access to free resources when working with a limited classroom budget can help you throughout the school year. Here are some websites where you can start.

Free audiobooks, eBooks and textbooks 

  • Open Culture: Has a collection of more than 1,000 free audiobooks, including many children's classics such as "The Wizard of Oz," "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," "The Chronicles of Narnia," "Anne of Green Gables" and more. You can download audio files straight to your computer or mobile device. 

  • CK-12: This non-profit provides "open textbooks" and AI tutoring for K-12 students. It offers free high-quality, standards-aligned, open content in the STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). 

  • OpenStax: This site provides a collection of free textbooks that cover art history, biology, math, civics, physics and psychology. 

  • Project Gutenberg: Offers more than 70,000 ebooks and human-read and computer-generated audiobooks.

Video lessons and tutorials 

  • Khan Academy: The site famously features K-12 video tutorials that Sal Khan and his team created. It currently gives students access to thousands of video tutorials that explain the ins and outs of algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus, statistics, finance, physics, economics and more. Videos can also be accessed via YouTube. 

  • Annenberg Learner: Run by The Annenberg Foundation, the site hosts multimedia resources for teachers, students and lifelong learners. You can browse their general collection.

  • TED-Ed: The maker of TED Talks now provides carefully curated educational videos or "lessons worth sharing." Topics include literature, language, technology and more.

  • YouTube EDU: A curated collection of educational videos from sources ranging from Sesame Street to Harvard.  

  • NASA Kids Science: Explore podcasts, ebooks and other materials from the space agency.

Free technology and media tools 

  • Quizlet: A free site for making, finding, using and sharing flashcards and quizzes to study vocabulary, languages and much more; the site offers over 2.5 million free flashcard sets. 

  • GCompris: A free, high-quality educational software suite comprising of numerous activities for children aged 2 to 10, including computer discovery, algebra, science, geography, games, reading and more. 

  • GIMP: A freely distributed software similar to Photoshop for tasks such as photo retouching, image composition and image editing. 

  • NEA Lesson Plans: Browse by topic, grade level or month. 

  • WeAreTeachers: Their mission is to inspire and help teachers succeed by sharing practical classroom ideas, the best freebies and giveaways, and teacher-to-teacher advice and humor. They publish daily articles, videos and giveaways.