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Thousands of Teacher-reviewed Resources!

30 Years of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law on July 26, 1990, to prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of school and public life. This week, we share professional resources to support and encourage accessibility for all students. 

Grades K-12

OK2Ask: Microsoft in Education Day: 2 Free Apps for Inclusive Learning - Office Lens & Translate

This archived virtual workshop explores strategies and tools that bridge communication gaps and facilitate an inclusive learning environment for all students.

Grades K-12

Twitter Chat: Tech Tools for Accessibility

Read this archived Twitter chat discussing the need for technology to provide accessible learning for all students, resources to meet individual needs, and ways to collaborate for accessibility.

Grades K-12

OK2Ask: My Students Need That! Chrome Features & Extensions for Accessibility

Harness the power of Google Chrome to support diverse learners and build an inclusive classroom. Explore Chrome's built-in accessibility features and free apps and extensions that allow you to accommodate and differentiate to meet the needs of students.

Reading Resources

Reading is an essential skill for all students. Use the tools in this section to find reading materials, make reading easier to understand, and summarize longer texts. 

Grades 6-12

The Mighty

Share this resource with families on your website! Formed on the premise that our greatest challenges become our greatest opportunities, each short story tells a positive tale of inspiration in the face of a challenge.

Grades 5-8

Skimcast

Pare down articles to view just the facts that you need to read. Choose a summary anywhere from 1 - 99% of the material, paste in a URL or upload a PDF, and you'll get a highlighted summary and a list of clickable theme words and phrases.

Grades 4-12

Rewordify

Understand what you're reading with this useful tool. Paste any text or website into the box to reword the text into simpler language. Easier-to-understand words replace difficult text shown with highlighting. View demos on this site to learn more.

Block out the Distractions

Find a tool to use to remove advertisements and other on-screen items that may distract students as they try to focus on the content that they are reading, writing, or viewing. 

Grades K-12

Text Mode

Use this Chrome extension to remove all information from web pages except text. Convert distracting, hard to follow web pages into clean black and white text with the click of a button. Install and then click the "T" on your toolbar to use Text Mode.

Grades 2-12

ZenPen

Block out distractions while you're writing with no registration required! Highlight text and select options to italicize, bold, or add URLs. Use links to make text and background colors black and white, toggle full screen, add a word count, and more.

Grades K-12

Quietube

Remove all the clutter and "extra stuff" from your YouTube, Vimeo, and Viddler videos and create a new page with just the video—no comments or ads! Drag the button to your page or to your bookmark bar for easy access.

This Week at TeachersFirst

Our Summer OK2Ask® virtual workshops continue this week with sessions about two useful tools, Wakelet and Flipgrid. We're also sharing a timely blog post about teaching tolerance and kindly request your input in our weekly poll.