Reading is crucial for a child’s mental and academic development. A recent study states that reading sparks creativity and stimulates imagination among children. In addition, this digital age has made reading interactive with various reading websites for kids of all ages.
Many free educational reading websites for kids are now available to help teachers and parents. In addition, indulging your students in extra reading material than standard curriculums helps them develop their taste in different languages and literature.
So, let’s walk through this post to explore the best 21+ kids reading websites and how to encourage your students to read more.
Related Reading: Best Reading Apps for Kids: How to Use Screens For Stories
Figure Out Your Students’ Reading Levels
Before scouring the best reading websites for kids, you should first assess the reading level of your students. Usually, a child’s reading level is linked to their grade level.
However, some kids have more advanced reading skills than their grade level. On the contrary, kids with ADHD or autism might not have the same reading levels as other kids their age.
So, these are some techniques that teachers can use to determine individual students’ reading levels:
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Try for free- Lexile Framework. It is a tool that ranks books based on the difficulty level and scores them on a Lexile scale. This scale describes a child’s reading ability and matches them to books and other reading materials. Lexile score reading level is between 0L to 2000L.
- Guided Reading Levels. GRL is a one-on-one reading-level examination process. In this technique, teachers give books to students designed for their grade levels and take notes while they read. This technique is useful for determining the reading level of individual students in your classroom.
- Developmental Reading Assessment. DRA is a standard reading test for students. Teachers set this test based on their students’ grade level. In this test, teachers monitor while students read and rank their skills based on several factors like phonemic awareness, fluency, reading comprehension, etc.
21+ Best Reading Websites for Kids
After accessing your student’s reading level, you can request them to read books and stories on these popular kids reading websites:
1. Starfall
Starfall is a free reading website for kids to improve their alphabet phonic, recognition, and spelling. This reading website offers skill improvement and strengthening material for kids of all ages. Starfall contains reading material like stories, poems, comics, Greek myths, Chinese fables, and more. There are also many videos and illustrations available to engage early readers.
Available At: starfall.com
Grade Level: Pre-K to 3rd grade
Price: Free, but some material requires a subscription
2. Storyline Online
Storyline Online is an interactive and free reading website for students. The reading material on the website helps to improve comprehension and reading fluency. The best thing about this reading portal is it contains storybooks narrated in famous celebrities’ voices, including Oprah Winfrey, Rami Malek, Viola Davis, and others. In addition, reading material is supported with lesson plan ideas, activities, and subtitles. All books have videos and illustrations to engage your students.
Available At: storylineonline.net
Grade Level: Pre-K to 3rd grade
Price: Free
3. Epic!
It is a digital reading platform that offers a variety of publications, non-fiction, fiction, and other books. On this website, teachers can monitor their students’ progress and reading skills and ensure they read assigned materials. Epic! contains more than 40,000 books for kids up to 12 years. This reading website for kids is free, with subscription options for educators and parents.
Available At: getepic.com
Grade Level: Pre-K to 6th grade
Price: Starts at $9.99 per month
4. International Children’s Digital Library
Are you looking for a free educational reading website for kids? If so, the International Children’s Digital Library is the best place. It is founded by the International Children’s Digital Library Foundation to promote global literature. You can expose your children to multilingual books in over 59 languages and help them connect with different cultures. This is a perfect reading library to enhance your students’ cultural knowledge and language skills.
Available At: childrenslibrary.org
Grade Level: Pre-K to 3rd grade
Price: Free
5. Read Works
Read Works is one of the best reading websites for elementary students. You can find several passages based on different reading levels and grade levels. Further, you can print those passages along with questions and give them to your students for practice. This website is perfect for improving reading comprehension and understanding among your students.
Available At: readworks.org/
Grade Level: Pre-K to 7th grade
Price: Free, requires registration
6. Oxford Owl
Oxford University has created this website to help students improve their reading skills through books and stories. It is a comprehensive place for teachers to find interactive reading material for their students. Every session comes with guided lessons and emphasis on skills that the student can learn through it, like phonic comprehension, vocabulary enhancement, etc.
Available At: oxfordowl.co.uk
Grade Level: Pre-K to 5th grade
Price: Free, requires registration
7. PBS Reading Games
PBS Reading Games is an ultimate reading website for kids, free with interactive videos, games, and other reading materials. It has over 70 reading-themed games to improve phonics and comprehension. PBS also offers printable books and activities to practice in your class. Besides, you will get various reading materials, including poems, vocabulary, rhymes, etc.
Available At: pbskids.org
Grade Level: Pre-K to 3rd grade
Price: Free
8. Storynory
Storynory is the perfect reading website for elementary students. You can introduce this website to your students, and they can listen to audio lessons and improve their reading skills without anyone’s help. To make your students self-learners, this website is perfect. The website contains minimal illustrations, making it ideal for 8 to 12-year-old children.
Available At: storynory.com
Grade Level: Pre-K to 5th grade
Price: Free
9. Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets is a national reading library designed to help students who are struggling to read. This reading website contains comprehensive material for teachers and parents to support students with reading difficulties. Teachers can use free reading resources in multiple ways to encourage and motivate their students to read more.
Available At: readingrockets.org
Grade Level: Pre-K to 3rd grade
Price: Free; some resources are paid
10. StoryPlace
StoryPlace is the best reading website for preschoolers. The website has interactive reading material with videos. There are many movements, colors, and brightness on this storytelling website that can keep young students engaged and motivated to read more.
Available At: storyplace.org
Grade Level: Pre-K to 3rd grade
Price: Free
11. PebbleGo
PebbleGo is a research resource for elementary children. The website includes several texts on animals, history, and science with a read-along feature. It offers a helping guide to readers who are struggling. However, it has extensive and paid reading resources that require a school sign-on code to log in.
Available At: pebblego.com
Grade Level: 3rd to 5th grade
Price: Starts at $1799
12. Vooks
Vooks creates a self-learning environment for students. It offers self-paced narration that students can follow along with the highlighted text. This helps to improve reading comprehension, fluency, focus, and more. With Vooks, you can create a joyful reading experience for your students.
Available At: vooks.com
Grade Level: Pre-K to 3rd grade
Price: Starts at $4.99 per month
13. Bookshare
Bookshare is the best reading website for kids who struggle to read. It is an audiobook site that celebrates good books and learning. You can motivate your students to read more with audio and highlighted text. In addition, it has tailored lessons for students struggling with dyslexia, blindness, cerebral palsy, etc.
Available At: bookshare.org/
Grade Level: 3rd to 5th grade
Price: Free for the US students
14. Funbrain
Funbrain is an interactive and free reading website that offers engaging reading games, books, and principles. It is a perfect website for preschoolers and elementary school goers. You can find many great publications on Funbrain, like the Diary of a Wimpy Kid multi-book collection.
Available At: funbrain.com
Grade Level: Pre-K to 8th grade
Price: Free
Related Reading: Best Books for 5th Graders That Will Make Reading Time Fun for Kids
15. Read Write Think
Read Write Think is a writing program supported by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). This online reading resource contains printables, lesson plans, and activities to help homeschooling students. It is a comprehensive reading website that parents and teachers can use to help children.
Available At: readwritethink.org
Grade Level: K-12
Price: Free
16. Storytime from Space
As the name suggests, Storytime from Space is the website where stories come from space. NASA astronauts videotape themselves reading books about space and the earth, and share them with students. So, to spike your students’ interest in space and science, you can refer to this website.
Available At: storytimefromspace.com
Grade Level: Pre-K to 5th grade
Price: Free with purchasable books
17. TumbleBookLibrary
TumbleBookLibrary provides animated and non-animated books for students. There are also many visual books, graphic novels, and video curriculums are also available. You can find books in both French and Spanish.
To log in to this library, you need a school code.
Available At: tumblemobile.com
Grade Level: Pre-K to 5th grade
Price: Free with school registration
18. Free Rice
This website improves kids’ English vocabulary and motivates them to help others. Whenever students answer correctly while playing vocabulary games, the United Nations World Food Programme will donate a bowl of rice to the less fortunate.
Available At: freerice.com
Grade Level: 2nd to 12th grade
Price: Free
19. Harry Potter Reading Club
If you want to motivate your students to read books, you can get them to join the Harry Potter book club. Reading all the excellent Harry Potter books and interacting with other readers will motivate and encourage your students to read more magical and whimsical books. Also, many writing competitions, reading challenges, and other activities are organized on this website.
Available At: hpread.scholastic.com
Grade Level: 2nd to 8th grade
Price: Free
20. Reading Bear
Reading Bear is a reading website for early readers. It helps students recognize alphabets and create different sounds to form a proper word. It helps to clear basic concepts of English vocabulary. There are also quizzes and phonetic English lessons present to guide preschoolers.
Available At: readingbear.org
Grade Level: Pre-K to 1st grade
Price: Free
21. Reading IQ
It is another best reading website for elementary students. Teachers can get free access to this website to provide their students with various fictional and non-fictional reading material. Reading IQ is a simple website with various reading resources based on grade level.
Available At: readingiq.com
Grade Level: Pre-K to 7th grade
Price: Free for teachers
22. National Geographic Young Explorers
National Geographic Young Explorers is an audio magazine for young students. Your students can learn about different non-fictional stories and geographical knowledge with this website. It is a self-learning reading that teachers can provide to their early readers.
Available At: ngexplorer.cengage.com
Grade Level: Pre-K to 1st grade
Price: Not Disclosed
How to Help Struggling Readers in Your Class
1. Scaffold
As already mentioned at the beginning of the article, selecting suitable reading material based on students reading level is very important. If you choose reading material lower than your students reading level, they will learn nothing. On the contrary, if you choose complex reading material, it will reduce their morale. Therefore, you should use the scaffold technique and create a good reading curriculum to support your students.
2. Make Them Listen
Teachers should first read aloud to their struggling readers and then request them to repeat after them. When students listen to your words, they will learn to speak them too. This technique is effective for children suffering from sensory disorders like dyslexia.
3. Make Them Read
Teachers should motivate students to read in front of the entire class. This will make students conscious and active in reading. In addition, when students overcome their stage fright early in life, they can gain the confidence and courage to express their feelings freely.
4. Explore the Area of Interest
Reading about science, history, and other academic subjects might not appeal to many students. Therefore, teachers should indulge students in literature niches like fiction, non-fictional, biographies, science fiction, etc. This will help students find the reading material in their area of interest.
5. Promote Shared Reading
Many kids might feel conscious while reading alone in front of the entire class. In this case, you can promote shared reading in your classroom. This way, one student will read one paragraph, and another student will read the next paragraph, and so on. This will create harmony and coordination among your students.
Can Games Improve Reading Skills in Kids?
It might sound weird, but games can improve reading skills among young students. That is because reading is not one skill. Memorization, cognitive flexibility, and concentration are also involved in reading.
Games help to improve attention span, leading to better reading skills. According to a study, students who play games for six months have better reading skills than those who never played games.
Therefore, you can make your students play reading games, which will improve their concentration and reading skills in one go.
At SplashLearn, teachers can find various reading games for preschoolers and elementary students. The games have exciting storylines, graphics, and animations to make reading fun.
Let’s Explore The Best Reading Websites for Kids!
There you go! You have explored 21+ unique reading websites for kids to improve their language fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. Now, you should explore all these free reading websites for kids and suggest the best reading material to your students. You can spike your students’ interest in reading and improve their writing/speaking skills with little extra reading.
FAQs
Which reading materials are the best to improve reading skills?
The best materials to enhance students’ reading skills are magazines, newspapers, encyclopedias, story books, poetry, instruction manuals, comics, etc.
Which is the most helpful reading technique for students?
Some of the best reading techniques for kids are skimming, scanning, active reading, detailed reading, and structure-proposition-evaluation. However, reading aloud with highlighted text is the best technique for young students.
How do you choose reading materials?
To select the appropriate reading material for your children, consider the students’ interests and needs. You can make students read different reading resources and observe their interest levels.
