With the coronavirus bearing down on schools, teachers, students, and families, the Core Knowledge Foundation is committed to doing all that we can to support you by providing free online resources.
We hope you will share these resources with other teachers, families, and friends.
With schools across the country closing and moving to some form of online learning, The Core Knowledge Foundation is working hard to make teachers and parents aware of the various free, online resources that we already provide, as well as new resources that we are creating.
The following complete curricula materials are already available for free download online:
Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA), Preschool – Grade 5
These are comprehensive grade level materials for teachers and students in Reading, Writing, English Grammar, and Spelling. These materials will be most effective when used at home if students already have been using CKLA in school. However, anyone may download and use the materials.
Special Note to Parents: It is unrealistic, in our opinion to expect parents to become experts in teaching young children how to read. Here are some additional tips and recommendations for using these materials:
- K-Grade 3 – There are two strands or paths of instruction:
- Listening and Learning Domains that consist of stories and texts to be read aloud by an adult while the student listens. The materials you need to download are the Teacher Guide and the related Flip Book.
- Skills Units that consist of phonics, writing, English grammar, and spelling lessons that are described in the Teacher Guide. Starting with unit 4 in kindergarten, there is also a downloadable student book.
- Grade 4-5 – At these grade levels, there is only one strand or path of instruction, described in the Teacher Guide. There are also downloadable student books, which most students should generally be able to read on their own.
If your child is below grade level and not able to read on his or her own, try the following:
- Read aloud to your child, as time allows. The Core Knowledge Foundation is working hard to collect a list with links of CKLA Read-Alouds created by teachers that are already available on the Internet. We will send you another email when this list is available.
- Scholastic Inc. is also making many of their books available for free as online read alouds. Check out this link. (https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/support/learnathome.html)
- For students in Grades 3-5 or above, also see the free Core Knowledge History and Geography (CKHG) eBooks below. These books are read aloud in English and Spanish.
Core Knowledge History and Geography (CKHG), Kindergarten – Grade 6
These are comprehensive grade level materials for teachers and students in world and American History. Please also see our list of additional online resources designed to align with each unit.
CKHG American History eBooks, Grades 3-5
- Although there is typically a subscription fee for these books, we are offering access to our CKHG ebooks free of charge for the remainder of this school year (June 30, 2020). Our ebooks allow students to read to themselves, or they can hear the text read aloud with the click of a button. There is also the added functionality for the text to be translated and read to students in Spanish. Additional buttons enable students to watch videos and participate in interactive activities.
To learn more about these ebooks please review our webpage: https://www.coreknowledge.org/curriculum/history-geography/ckhg-interactive-student-ebooks/
In order to access all 10 American History ebook titles in Grades 3-5, click on this link: https://www.coreknowledge-ckhg-historyspeaks.org/sitelicense.php?sc=12Y93Q
Core Knowledge Science (CKSci), Grade 3-5
These are comprehensive grade level Science materials for teachers and students that provide guidance for hands-on experiences, informed by the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), as well as student books designed to reinforce the hands-on experiences.
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FREE ONLINE CKLA READ-ALOUDS FOR K-3
The collection does not (yet!) include a read-aloud of every CKLA K-3 Listening and Learning selection. So, we are also asking for your help in building this library.
This Grade 4 unit, based on the award winning memoir Brown Girl Dreaming by author Jacqueline Woodson, includes instruction and materials for fifteen 90 minute lessons. In this book, the author describes in emotionally charged and evocative language her life as an African American girl growing up in the South, and in New York City, in the 1960s and 1970s. This book is available for purchase from bookstores and online vendors.