If you want a valuable resource for your science classroom, I recommend using OLogy: Science Website for Kids. 

What is OLogy? 

In science terms, ology is defined as "the study of." The OLogy website was developed by the American Museum of Natural History and contains various videos, resources, articles, and interactive activities to provide students with options for learning content. Students can learn content from 14 different areas of scientific studies, such as Anthropology, Astronomy, Brain Science, Marine Biology, Physics, and more! 

Just click on the OLogy you are searching for and you will be directed to a page filled with rich and diverse content! For example, I clicked on Earth Science and found the following page filled with games, videos, reading articles, and hands-on learning opportunities. Want to learn more about Earth Science? You can read an article titled "Ask a Scientist About Our Environment." 

Conclusion

Research shows that students need options when learning new content. Therefore, videos, articles, and interactive activities are good ways to do so. OLogy provides students and teachers with rich content in a variety of topics. 

Chrome's Experimental Reader View

 Have you ever used a reader view feature in your browser? If you are a Safari or Edge user, you are familiar with this tool that removes backgrounds, images, and other distractions from web pages. 

Imagine you are having students read the following article. It is filled with distracting advertisements, videos, and thumbnails! 

If you use the reader view of your browser, then you will get something like this! 

How does this work? Check out my 3-minute video on using the experimental reader view in Chrome! 

Literal App: You'll Never See Reading the Same Way Again

In middle and high school, I struggled with understanding what I read. Anything that I read didn't make sense or if it did make sense, I quickly forgot it. I was bored with reading at times and zoned out. 

Reading comprehension can be difficult for many of our students to master because reading requires so many different elements. For instance, students may need help with vocabulary usage, background understanding, and staying interested in the content.

The Literal App could be a great solution! The website states, "Literal turns popular books into a digital reading experience that’s 68% more engaging than social media. It’s addicting (in a good way)."

How Does It Work?

Teachers and students have access to 500 free books presented in an interactive group text-messaging format. Each character has their own picture, and students can access an audio version of the group text being read aloud. There are four different reading modes, support tools for translation, a dictionary, and a paid version with more books and features.

Want to see it in action? Check out my brief video!

Conclusion

Literal may be a great solution to keep students engaged or add an additional scaffold and support in your classroom. Students are highly variable in how they learn and comprehend information. This tool could provide students with an alternative medium to build comprehension and important background knowledge to successfully understand and participate in reading assignments.