As a classroom teacher, I was always looking for engaging, content-rich learning experiences for students. Regular readers of the blog know that I love free, high-quality resources. So when I heard about The Achievery and their free digital lessons and multimedia resources, I was super excited to dive in!
The Achievery has lessons for teachers to explore that connect to core subject areas (Social Studies, English Language Arts, Math, Science), digital literacy and even resources for teaching about artificial intelligence. Today on the blog, we’ll explore several reasons to check out The Achievery, a selection of favorite resources, and how you can use this forever-free platform this school year.
4 Reasons to Check Out The Achievery
There are many reasons to check out The Achievery. I want to highlight four features that are certainly worth your attention! Let’s dive into the list.
High-Quality Content
As you can see in the screenshot below, teachers get access to robust lesson plans that are ready to use in their classrooms. They can tailor the activities to their group of students and use the video content to kick off a new lesson.
Relevant Resources
It’s an absolute plus that these resources include clips that students may already be familiar with! For example, when you sort through the content (create an account to check it out), you can select collaborators like Cartoon Network, Warner Bros., and more.
ISTE Alignment
As a big fan of ISTE, I love seeing how these resources align with the ISTE Standards. As you can see in the below example, content on The Achievery’s platform connects to the ISTE Standards for Students. You can provide students with experiences that help them become future-ready.
Easy to Navigate
The Achievery’s website is also easy to navigate, making it simple to find precisely what you need for your next lesson. After logging in, you have a few choices about where to find the lesson or resources you want to use. There is a keyword search option, the ability to sort lessons by grade level and collaborator, and an option to look through content categories.
Teaching Students About AI
Are super excited about a topic like artificial intelligence? You’re sure to appreciate the resources on The Achievery related to this topic. Tom Murray, who you might remember as a guest of the Easy EdTech Podcast, put together a fantastic round up of “4 Free Lessons to Teach Kids about AI.”
Once you sign in – use this link to create a free account – you can access all of their lessons. This includes these four on teaching students about AI.
- Learn How to Distinguish AI From Other Technologies (Grades 5-6)
- What is Artificial Intelligence (Grade 7-8)
- Complete a Research Activity About AI and Ethics (Grade 6-10)
- Learn About the Concept of Ethical AI (Grade 9-12)
This year, I’ve heard from many educators who want to help their students better understand Artificial Intelligence. To check out and use the lessons mentioned above, create a free account on The Achievery. Then search “artificial intelligence” once logged in. The keyword search is great for looking for all sorts of content on their platform.
Supporting Math and Science Instruction (and more!)
As I mentioned, there are many free lessons on The Achievery for teachers in every subject area. You’ll find English Language Arts lessons on Narrative Writing, Digital Arts topics like Graphic Design, and resources for Social Emotional Learning, too. If you’re interested in Math and Science, you’ll find engaging, high-interest resources to share with your students on a wide range of topics.
Here are a few selections to check out (create a free account and sign in here to find them all):
- Engineering in Everyday Life (featuring Cartoon Network’s Craig of the Creek)
- The LEGO Movie Geometry Unit (with clips from The LEGO Movie)
- Quadratic Functions (with Scooby Doo)
Getting Started with Free Lessons
Ready to check out everything The Achievery has to offer? This link will take you to a special page where you can create a free account. The Achievery is always free, and it doesn’t have advertisements or sell your data. AT&T created it in collaboration with Warner Bros. to help ensure teachers and students have access to high-quality content.
Once you create an account, you can try out the search bar at the top to search by keyword or tap on All Units or Categories to see everything they have to offer. I can’t wait to hear what you think! Reply to my weekly newsletter (sign up below) or message me on social media to let me know what you use this school year!
If you love everything you see, you can apply to become an Achievery Ambassador – learn more here.
