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Free Online Educational Elementary Tools for Teachers Elementary school teachers enjoy one of the most unique careers in the world. It is one of those few, rare jobs where you are responsible for the future of the entire world, yet you receive the fewest resources of most other job roles. Emergency personnel, corporate executives and technology professionals all receive appropriate funding to purchase all of the tools that they need for their work, yet teachers are often forced to go out and seek out their own tools and reference material, often using their own personal cash reserve to do so. This is unfortunate, because the impact that the elementary school teacher has upon the world is far more profound than most other public roles.

The tools that teachers need are many. From issuing homework lessons, to distributing in-class materials, to appropriately measuring and responding to the learning progress of individual students - teachers are faced with a multitude of needs when it comes to providing an effective and productive educational experience for young children. This article will focus on some of the more common needs of the elementary school teacher, and where they can find the best free online educational elementary tools.

Free Elementary Math Worksheets

One of the most sought after resource among grade school teachers are free elementary math worksheets. While finding free worksheets for other subjects, like English, social studies or science don't seem quite as difficult - useful and educational math worksheets that are affordable are often difficult to find. One particular website that's especially useful is Math-Drills.com

Math-Drills is supported primarily by the advertising found throughout the website, which makes tolerating the advertising very easy, because the worksheets that you'll find here are very high quality. Click on any of the topics at the top - Multiplication, Subtraction, Fractions and more - and you'll find a whole library of links to PDF files of fantastic free math worksheets for elementary students that you can print. Other top resources for free elementary math worksheets include the following websites.

• Free Math Worksheets - Customizable free elementary math worksheets.


• Math Fact Cafe - Prebuilt or customized worksheets and flash cards.


• The Math Worksheet Site - An excellent online math worksheet generator covering most elementary math competancies.


• TLSBooks - This is a excellent source for hundreds of free worksheets covering elementary school grades.

Free Award Certificates for Students

Often, some of the most inspiring moments in the classroom come when teachers provide students with recognition for something that they've excelled in. More than most other motivational approaches, public recognition remains one of the leading psychological motivators that inspire students to continue improving in their learning. One of the ways many teachers inspire their students is through award certificates presented in class or at a school assembly. These are the moments when free award certificates for students are especially useful.

One of the most useful sites to download free, professional looking certificates is FreePrintableCertifcates.net.



In particular, the kids' section features wonderfully formatted free award certificates for students that you can print and frame. There are many non-school related certificates, but there are also many very useful to teachers like Preschool Achievement, School Achievement, Writing Achievement and even Honor Roll certificates. Other top resources for free certificates include the following websites.

• 123 Certificates - Includes good student awards, spelling bee awards and more.


• BillyBear4Kids - Includes blank awards you can fill out with specific information.


• Tooter4Kids - An impressive collection of over 5,000 K-6 worksheets.


• Lakeshore Learning - This educational product company offers a free resource section with a wonderful "award maker" application.

Free Easy Readers for Elementary Students

When elementary school teachers are dealing with emergent readers, they want to encourage a child's love of reading and passion for imaginative stories, while also instilling the important principles that serve as the foundation for lifelong reading skills. During elementary school years, easy-to-read books called "easy readers" are valuable tools for teachers. For this reason, free easy readers for elementary students are one of the most important online resources for elementary education. One of the best online resources for easy readers is TarHellReader.org.



The categories at TarHealReader cover so many genres - health, fairy tales, animals, the alphabet and many more. Teachers can set up a PC or Laptop in a visible place where students can see it and read through the online easy reader with students. The words and pictures are large and very easy to read. Teachers can even click on "Write a book" and create their own easy reader to share on the site.

Other top resources for free easy readers for elementary children include the following websites.

• HubbardsCupboard.org - Free emergent reader books including those for shared reading, sight words, word family and concept.


• Lit2Go - Lets you listen to an Mp3 while reading along with text on the web page.


• Free-Books.org - Links to thousands of free books and MP3 books, including a wide selection of children's books to read along with the audio.


• StoryBookAnytime - This cute application is an interactive reader that runs on Windows or Mac.

Teachers have enough responsibilities and demands to worry about, finding valuable resources for education shouldn't be one of them. The free resources above provide elementary school educators with valuable tools they can use to enhance the learning experience in their classroom.

Written January 31, 2010 by Ryan Dube