My List of the Top 10 Digital Resources for High School Special Education Resource Teachers
This past Spring, I tried out many different websites for materials and lessons with my resource, reading and self-contained English classes during virtual learning. Some of them were successful but many were not. I have put together a list of ten that worked with my students. In order to make this list, these resources had to pass the following four tests:
Students used them and completed the work assigned.
Students liked using them.
Students did not have issues with the technology or questions on how to use the site. Often times, they were familiar with them from earlier in their school career or the website design was streamlined and easy for them to follow along.
Materials could be adjusted to different levels to meet the needs of my students. This is a key point. Many could be individualized to the academic needs and skill levels of my students whether in the area of language arts or math.
Here are my ten most helpful and useful virtual resources for secondary special education. All of these are web-based and can be found by searching these websites on the internet. (One caveat: Some are free but some do require a subscription or purchase.)
Quizlet - Free - The ability to create customized quizzes to assess student’s mastery of vocabulary words is a key feature. Many students were familiar with Quizlet from our use in class earlier in the year. Finally, the games are a great way to spur competition and maintain engagement. I would direct students to participate in the game until they reached a certain minimum score and send me a picture or screenshot to verify. Some students were motivated to achieve the highest score in the class.
ReadWorks - Free - The dashboard is easy to use and gives teachers student scores on the reading passages and analysis of which questions they missed making it very helpful for formative assessments. A bonus is its ability to link directly with Google Classroom to embed the texts into your assignment stream. The library of texts - both fiction and non fiction - is extensive. You can narrow your choices to certain lexiles or grade levels. You can also select key skill areas such as plot, setting, theme or characterization. Each story comes with a number of different questioning options. My students have found it very straight forward to use. Often answers are either multiple choice with a singe click or short answer which was easy to fill in from their chromebooks.
Scholastic Action - Subscription - The magazine format of this resource includes bright visuals and current events with high-interest content. They limit the amount of text per page and this format does not overwhelm my more-challenged readers. The majority of each issue is nonfiction but some times there is a fiction story or reader’s theater selection. On-line resources are engaging and professional including videos to supplement the articles. There are digital questions and assignments to assess student comprehension that link easily to Google Classroom. They also provide teacher’s guides with lesson plans for the articles.
Lexia - Subscription - This resource is one of the best ways I have found to incorporate independent practice focusing on word study and decoding skills for secondary students. Students take a pre-assessment to determine their level and lessons are customized to their needs. The data teachers receive details their students’ progress. Lexia PowerUp is appropriate for secondary students. The material is age-appropriate for secondary students and does not feel dumbed down or elementary.
Khan Academy - Free - This website includes videos that explain topics in the areas of math, language arts and many high school content areas. I have had more experience using their math resources. They are nicely organized into topics that align with our math curriculum which makes it easy to match the content with a student’s area of need. The combination of audio with the visual “chalkboard” is clear and a good use of multiple modalities. The audio explanations are delivered at a moderate speed and do not go too fast so my students can follow along.
Newsela - Free - This resource includes a sizeable selection of current event articles on a range of non-fiction topics that are of high-interest to my teen readers. You can select the reading level and they most often have a four-question, multiple-choice assignment to assess comprehension. I find the topics of the article function as a good springboard for in-depth classroom conversations about current affairs.
Kahoot - Free - This website is easy to use to create activities to review material and assess student knowledge. I use it often as part of a test or quiz review. My students are very familiar with it from earlier grades. The ability to use your phone in school is a big draw that maintains their engagement in the activity.
Free Rice - Free - Students liked using this website. I would assign a certain score they had to reach and they would send me a screenshot of their score. Many students were familiar with it from middle or elementary school. The one drawback is that the words used are random and you are not able to customize the list of words to match the content you are studying to give the words some context. I found it a good activity to include in a choice board for language arts activities.
Hooda Math - Free - Similar to Free Rice, I have had many students who love to use this website to play math games. The games are more towards the elementary level but I have used this for my resource students to review their math skills as an extension activity for students who have finished an assignment early. I think many of my students had experience with this website in middle or elementary school and were drawn to it because it was familiar and they were confident they could be successful at it.
Reading A-Z - Subscription - Similar to Readworks, this website offers a selection of texts, both fiction and nonfiction, that can be selected based on grade level. The material is primarily for elementary but I have found appropriate selections here especially in the areas of science and history. However, I have not found many articles on current events here appropriate for my secondary students. I have made use of these materials to provide variety to the reading materials I use for lessons.