Schoolwork Help

Links to some great schoolwork help, tutoring, and research resources.

Databases for Students

By Category

Online resources that can only be reached through the Alameda Free Library website with your library card.

  • Tutor.com:  Use Tutor.com to get live homework help, practice your skills, study for a test, and explore online resources — all for free with your library card.

  • Brainfuse HelpNow Online Tutoring  : On-Demand, anywhere online learning. Patrons access real-time assistance through the intuitive Brainfuse online classroom. Live, 24/7 online tutoring and homework help in every K-12 subject with Brainfuse HelpNow. Brainfuse has provided supplemental educational services for over twenty years, including online homework help, practice tests, study tools, and collaborative tools. 

  • Academic Search Complete: An enormous collection of full-text journals. Scholarly content covers a broad range of academic study, so may be helpful when writing reports.

  • Biography Reference Center  : Offers a comprehensive collection of full-text biographies, including biographical reference collections and magazines. Best for middle and high school students.

  • Britannica School Edition  : the go-to site for learning more about any subject—for all grades and all reading abilities—offering thousands of up-to-date, curated, and curriculum-relevant articles, images, videos, audio clips, primary sources, maps, research tools, recommended Web sites, and three separate databases—Elementary, Middle, or High.

  • Britannica Escolar: the leading knowledge-building resource that is universally trusted for accurate and age-appropriate content in Spanish.

  • California Fact Cards: Find information about California here. You can search for information on California Explorers, Native Tribes, Missions and Mission Life, Ranchos, Governors and general California History by Decades.

  • Culturegrams: Unique cultural information provided by natives and long-term residents on daily life and social customs around the world. The World Edition is written at a higher Lexile for older grades.

  • eLibrary: A massive collection of digitized newspapers, magazines and images with editorialized topic pages to aid with navigation.

  • Explora  : Age-appropriate content from the world's leading magazines and reference books.

  • Learning Express Library’s School Center: Skill-building resources for classroom and homework success.

  • Newsbank  : A comprehensive collection of reliable news sources covering a wide array of topics and issues.

  • Read It: Designed for middle and high school students, this multi-purpose information resource covers a wide range of subject areas written for an age-appropriate interest level. Disponible en español.

  • Referencia Latina: Esta base de datos de texto completo en español cubre una amplia gama de temas dentro y fuera de la academia.

  • SIRS Discoverer: Selected articles and graphics and books for social issues for early learners.

  • SIRS Issues Researcher: Selected articles and graphics on the enduring and talked-about issues of the day.

  • World Book Online*: Your Alameda Free Library card gives you access to World Book Online's Early Learning, Discovery, and Timelines databases.

  • Early Learning- The perfect tool for pre- and emergent readers to explore independently or learn with an adult. Developed with experts on early childhood education, Early Learning is designed for preschool students with tools and content that reinforces early childhood curriculum via short videos, read-aloud stories, printable activities, and matching and tracing games, among others. The guided reading program, lesson plans, and curriculum correlations make teaching easier for educators and parents. (Recommended ages: 2-8)

  • Discover- Make content more accessible to readers of all levels and differentiate instruction in any learning environment with Discover. This site is ideal for struggling readers and English Language Learners and includes a Life Skills 101 section with tips such on topics as applying for jobs, budgeting, arranging housing, health care issues, social skills and more. (Recommended ages: 12+)

  • Timelines- A growing collection of 650+ unique Timelines, spanning the arts, science & technology, society & culture, sports, world history & geography and more. Create, customize, collaborate, and share your timelines, which is great for visual learners to put events into context and for classroom instruction to introduce a subject. (Recommended ages: 8+)

*(Resource currently only available within Alameda Free Library locations)

Helpful Homework Websites

  • Crash Course Kids (youtube channel) This bi-weekly show from the producers of Crash Course is all about grade school science. We'll explore Earth, Habitats, Space, Chemical Reactions, Engineering, and much much more! New uploads every Tuesday and Thursday. 
  • ALSC's Notable Children's Digital Media real-time, dynamic, and interactive media content for children 14 years of age and younger that enables and encourages active engagement and social interaction while informing, educating, and entertaining in exemplary ways.
  • Encyclopedia Smithsonian for Students
    Features collections, stories, video and more from around the Smithsonian.
  • Evaluating Information
    Resources to help identify reliable sources of news and other information.
  • Fact Monster
    A free online almanac, dictionary, encyclopedia, and homework help for students in K-8th grades. 
  • iCivics Games
    Put kids into the action with these civics games. All games can be played in 30-45 minutes.
  • Infoplease
    A free online almanac, dictionary, encyclopedia, and homework help for students in 4th-12th grades.
  • Khan Academy
    Learn almost anything — for free! With a library of over 2,800 videos covering math, science and engineering, computing, arts and humanities, economics and finance, test prep, and more.
  • KidCitizen
    Activities exploring congress and civic engagement for grades K-5
    KidCitizen provides a growing set of interactive Episodes where K-5 students work with primary source photographs to explore Congress and Civic Engagement. The episodes work on Macs, PCs, Chromebooks, iOS and Android tablets.
  • Nat Geo Homework Help A Fantastic resource for students to explore their interests and follow their curiosity, this site provides additional information for light research papers or projects.