Zillions (a scientific term 🙂 ) of online education companies are offering free access during the school closure crisis (you can see a list of them at The “Best Of The Best” Resources To Support Teachers Dealing With School Closures).

Personally, I’m not using any tool that I haven’t used before, and you can see the ones I’m using with my students at HERE’S MY ONLINE TEACHING PLAN IF OUR SCHOOL CLOSES DOWN BECAUSE OF THE CORONAVIRUS and at Here’s The Revised Online Teaching Plan I Hope To Implement Next Week.

However, I just learned about a site called News-O-Matic, which offers news articles available in three different lexile levels and in multiple languages, audio support for text, engaging content, and the ability for a teacher to create a virtual classroom and monitor student progress.

And I’m seriously considering adding it to the list of tools I have students use.

It’s not perfect – it appears that only teachers have the ability to change the lexile levels. I prefer sites that offer students that ability (see The Best Places To Get The “Same” Text Written For Different “Levels”).

Also, even though it’s free during the school closure crisis, I don’t see what its cost is anywhere on the site.  I tend to be suspicious of sites that tell users they have to ask for a quote.

Nevertheless, it’s saying something that, so far at least, this is the only new site I’m considering introducing to my students.

Let me know what you think of it!