Teaching at Home
These resources can help your child's education continue even when the schools are closed. Regardless of grade level, you will find useful research databases covering a wide variety of subjects, as well as sites like World Book and Explora that provide activities and lesson plans. For most of the resources below, there are video lessons available that explain what the resource is and how to use it; click the "watch tutorial" button to view.
See all our online resources here.
1,000 Miles Project
Using video, audio, and additional materials, the 1,000 Miles Project brings to life three diaries from George and Josephine Scott's 1914 Nevada prospecting trip. The first-hand account of their trek across Nevada provides an entertaining and engaging way to study history and serves up concepts across all disciplines.
Go to 1,000 Miles Project Page
ABC-CLIO
Designed for middle and high school students, ABC-CLIO is an excellent resource for helping families to understand the geography of current events.
All of the ABC-CLIO databases have an Academic Success Corner, where you can click on “Working with Primary Sources” to locate worksheets that can help your students analyze different types of primary sources, from works of art, to editorial cartoons, to formal speeches. Choose a worksheet and follow the steps to help your students identify the origin of their primary source, place it in context, and discover any claims (or biases) that might be present.
Biography Reference Center
Includes more than 450,000 full-text biographical articles for elementary, middle, and high school research.
Go to Biography Reference Center Watch Tutorial
Explora
Multiple versions of the Explora interface provide age-appropriate content for students in primary and secondary schools. Subject areas covered include science, math, literature, history, geography, and more. Explora makes research easy by automatically generating properly formatted citations and allowing you to store relevant articles.
Select the Explora level of your choice: elementary, middle, high school, and high school advanced modules are available. A scavenger hunt for the database is available here.
Explora Middle School offers full-text of popular magazines and articles geared towards middle school reading and interest level.
History Reference Center
More than 650,000 full-text records from peer-reviewed journals, reference books, periodicals, and thousands of primary source documents covering both US and world history topics.
After entering the database find the link called “Research Guide” on the right hand side under “Reference Shelf.” The articles here are available as PDFs that you can print or save for later.
Go to History Reference Center Watch Tutorial
LearningExpress Library
Has skill-building resources for classroom and homework success, for elementary through high school levels. Also part of the LearningExpress Library is the Computer Skills Center, in which you can find video courses on computer basics and popular software.
Go to LearningExpress Library Watch Tutorial
Points of View Reference Center
Containing resources that present multiple sides of an issue, this database provides rich content that can help students assess and develop persuasive arguments and essays, better understand controversial issues, and develop analytical thinking skills. Very useful for students needing to defend positions in their research papers.
Go to Points of View Reference Center Watch Tutorial
World Book
World Book online is a suite of research tools that includes encyclopedia articles, primary source collections, educator tools, student activities, pictures, audio, and video, complemented by current periodicals and related websites. These are just a few of the modules included:
- Social Studies Power offers more than 100 lessons, activities, and assessments focused on core topics and aligned with most major textbooks. Social Studies Power is intended for grades three through six and provides two reading levels per lesson for differentiated instruction.
- Dramatic Learning promotes independent learning and group collaboration with the production of classic and contemporary plays. With activities tied to cross-curricular instruction, Dramatic Learning includes mini-inquiry projects, self-assessment tools, and teaching tools to facilitate instruction.
- World Book Early Learning features resources developed specifically for preschoolers and early elementary school. Content includes a collection of short informational videos on a variety of topics like animals, the human body, and people at work; guided narrated stories across Lexile levels, including Spanish language selections; tracing, matching, memory/concentration, and true or false games; and paint by number, coloring, and print-and-do activities.
- World Book Kids is geared for students in first through fourth grades. Using image-based navigation, students can explore a wealth of articles, images, and videos as well as games, activities, science projects, and more! Educators and parents alike can make use of the For Educators tab at the bottom of the page to explore printable lesson plans and webquests.
Book Connections
A collection of resources about books for children and teens. Includes a readers' advisory tool, resources for homework help, summer reading selections, and more. Professional educators can sign in on the Professionals & Adults tab. Other library patrons, regardless of age, can sign in with their library card numbers on the Readers under 18 tab.
Brainfuse HelpNow Writing Lab
Students submit their writing through a secure file sharing feature and within 24 hours writing specialists evaluate it according to a customized rubric. Rubric categories include: response to task, organization, focus, word usage and grammar/mechanics. Receive more immediate feedback by logging in with a live tutor and use our file sharing feature to receive live, one-to-one writing assistance.
NoveList Plus K-8
Looking for your next book? Want to find a new author? Can’t remember all the titles in a series? NoveList Plus K-8 is a great resource for readers. Search or browse to find books that match your reading tyle. NoveList Plus’s advanced search lets you search for titles by specific Lexile or Accelerated Reader ranges. Older reader can try NoveList Plus.
Go to Novelist Plus Watch Tutorial
Libby/OverDrive
Support your children’s reading with a great selection of magazines just for them from Libby. Enjoy titles for kids including Highlights for Children, National Geographic Kids, Animal Tales, and more.
TeachingBooks
Features book guides and activities, author interviews, and readings. Features more than 177,000 resources that help bring books to life. If you are a professional educator, you can sign in using your work email on the Educator tab. All other library patrons can sign in on the Students tab using WashoeLib as both username and password.
Explora STEM Lesson Plans
Looking for STEM driven lesson plans that can be adapted for online or in home? Check out the articles collated in the Explora Educator’s Edition under Lesson Plans. For example there are several lesson plans that show you how to use nursery rhymes to explore STEM concepts!
Libby/OverDrive
Are you looking for fun STEAM activities and cool facts for your kids? Check out National Geographic Kids, Astronomy for Kids, and other science and education magazines.
Science Reference Center
Includes the full text of nearly 640 science encyclopedias, reference books, periodicals, and other publications. Under the Reference Shelf, you will find links to lesson plans and experiments you can do at home.
Go to Science Reference Center Watch Tutorial
World Book
World Book online is a suite of research tools that includes encyclopedia articles, primary source collections, educator tools, student activities, pictures, audio, and video, complemented by current periodicals and related websites. Includes:
- Science Power strengthen students’ knowledge with more than 90 lessons complete with experiments and assessments. Ideal for grades two through six, Science Power empowers students to take control of their own learning process.
- Dramatic Learning promotes independent learning and group collaboration with the production of classic and contemporary plays. With activities tied to cross-curricular instruction, Dramatic Learning includes mini-inquiry projects, self-assessment tools, and teaching tools to facilitate instruction.
- World Book Early Learning content includes a collection of short informational videos on a variety of topics like animals, the human body, and people at work.
- World Book Kids is geared toward students in first through fourth grades. Using image-based navigation, students can explore a wealth of articles, science projects, and more. Educators and parents alike can make use of the For Educators tab at the bottom of the page to explore printable lesson plans and webquests.
This guide can be printed for distribution, or used for easy online access to popular resources.
Download in English | Download in Spanish | Printable version (English/Spanish)
These handy half-sheet guides for early childhood, elementary, and middle/high school can be used online or printed to distribute in classrooms.
- Early Childhood: English | Spanish | Printable (English/Spanish)
- Elementary School: English | Spanish | Printable (English/Spanish)
- Middle/High School: English | Spanish | Printable (English/Spanish)
