BACK TO SCHOOL UPDATES!

Check out this year’s back-to-school updates from BrainPop! With new ways to browse by core curriculum, expanded access to our most engaging learning activities, and built-in reading scaffolds that meet students where they are, BrainPOP helps teachers do what they do best—ignite curiosity, build knowledge, and differentiate with ease.

This IU13 IMS BrainPOP Bulletin has highlighted some of our favorite updates below: 

Browse by ELA Core

• Discover a new way to discover BrainPOP 3-8 and BrainPOP Jr. topics—now aligned to the scope and sequence of your ELA core curriculum*. Simply choose the lesson you’re teaching that week, then explore activities that build the background knowledge and vocabulary students need to access (and get excited about!) the texts in your core program.
• Check out which curriculum alignments are now available

Connected Texts with Built-In Scaffolds

• Connected Texts* are high-interest reading passages that extend learning beyond the movie, reinforcing key vocabulary, deepening topic understanding, and promoting stronger comprehension.
• New this year, students can highlight any word or sentence to instantly access a simplified version or a grade-appropriate definition, providing just-in-time reading support. 
• Learn more about this new feature

Pause Points in BrainPOP Jr.

• Pause Points—already a fan favorite in BrainPOP 3-8—are now in BrainPOP Jr.! These short, interactive prompts, embedded into the movie, encourage students to pause, reflect, and respond as they watch. 
• Help young learners stay focused and engaged with prompts that encourage thinking, talking, and connecting ideas as they learn.
• Learn more about this new feature

Reminder Teachers - Don't miss out BrainPop classroom swag!

• Brighten and organize your classroom with these free, time-saving printables for weekly planning, building routines, and just for fun!
• Download stickers, posters, game templates and much more!

Information for this blog post is provided by our partners at BrainPop and was a summary of the full Back to School 2025 with BrainPOP from Summer 2025

Welcome Back, Classroom Teachers and School Leaders! 

Discovery Education is your daily hub of resources for your classroom with digital media and ready-to-use learning activities. Take some time to check out the new content and educator supports from Discovery Education Experience.

Be sure to log into your district's single sign-on link for Discovery Education before clicking on the links in this post.

Back-to-School DE Updates

Personalized Educator Homepages

• Planning just got easier!  Your Personalized Homepage surfaces lessons, videos, and activities tailored to your grade and subject. Or use Search to explore thousands of standards-aligned resources across subjects.
• 🔗 Take a 3-Minute tour

Careers Hub

• Ready to spark student curiosity and connect classroom learning to real-world possibilities? The new Careers Hub makes it easier than ever to connect students to real-world opportunities, with resources designed to inspire every learner. 
• 🔗 Take a 3-Minute tour

Virtual Field Trips

• The Fall Virtual Field Trip Lineup is here! Take students to amazing places and introduce them to topics that give them remarkable experiences, without ever leaving the classroom. Explore what's coming up this September and October. 
• 🔗 Open the Fall Lineup the Fall Lineup
  

Content Spotlight

• Grades K-2
  
  • 🆕 Civics Lessons for K–2 - Teacher-led presentations that introduce young learners to key civic concepts through engaging, age-appropriate content. •
  • 🔗 Explore the new lessons and bring civics to life!

• Grades 3-5
  • 🆕 Jumpstart classroom conversations with Math Talks for 3-5! - These teacher-led slideshows offer five days of open-ended prompts paired with real-world images, from art supplies to animals, to spark student thinking, comparing, estimating, and defending ideas.
  • 🔗 Start your next Math Talk today! 
  
  
• Grades 6-12
  • 📚 Weekly Edit for Grades 6–12-Each teacher-led presentation includes a classic fix-it task plus four more engaging activities that build language skills through real-world applications, focused practice, and fun grammar puzzles, all using topics teens care about.
  • 🔗 Add it to your weekly routine and keep students engaged!
    
  
  

Instructional Strategies Center

• Explore DE's ready-to-use activities for K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12 grade bands. These time-saving activities can be used as-is or modified to meet the needs of their classroom! From Background Builders to Daily Sentence Fix-Its to Choice Boards and more – teachers can find quick grab and go resources to use anytime in the Instructional Activities Channel.

Information compiled in this update was provided by our partners at Discovery Education

Get Sora Ready for the New School Year!

Below are some resources to help promote your district's Sora collection when it's time to welcome students and teachers back to the new school year!

Sora Must-Haves

• Promotional Graphics
• New Sora Users - Getting Started Guides
• Informational Handouts for Teachers and Parent
• Promotional Videos - like the one above
• Sora Content Graphics for Social Media - like the one below

Printables & Posters

It’s important to give your Sora collection a physical presence. Highlighting it during events meant for parents and guardians reminds them that their students have books available to them 24/7.   

• Sora at Home Flyer
• Promoting positive screentime with Sora  
• Sora ID Cards
• Sora reading challenge worksheet
• Coloring pages:
  • Sora tablet or Sora space
• Posters:
  • Open a World of Reading,
  • Adventure Begins (YA readers) or
  • Adventure Begins (Juvenile readers)  

Digital Displays

• Director Dashboard – show all-time circulation stats alongside real-time checkouts and holds
• Sora Showcase – set up interactive touchscreen displays that allow guests to browse your digital collection

For assistance? 

• your dedicated IU13 Sora Account Manager, Ben Kowalczyk at bkowalczyk@overdrive.com, or
• your dedicated Sora Librarian, Katherine Assink at kassink@overdrive.com 

Sora Sweet Reads kicks off on May 12th!

Sora Sweet Reads is designed for schools to encourage students to keep reading all year long! This year’s selection from Sora is a mix of more than 200 ebooks (and select audiobooks) spanning grades K-12 – available for FREE AND SIMULTANEOUS USE until August 25th. All titles will be prominently displayed on your school’s Sora Explore page – with the option for librarians to weed out the collection as needed. There are 190 Elementary titles, along with 27 titles for middle school and 24 for high school.

How to get started?

• View the Sora Sweet Reads 2025 Collection
• Download the new Sora Sweet Reads Kit filled with social graphics and print materials on the Sora Sweet Reads Resources page.  

Reach out to your Sora Account Team with any questions or if you want to opt out of the program.

The IU13 IMS BrainPOP Bulletin is designed to provide inspiration for your classroom. Be sure to log into your district's BrainPop account to access these resources

Spring is here!

Let's plant seeds of knowledge with new critical thinking skills and lesson ideas

Making Inferences

• Introduce learners to inferring—combining clues and prior knowledge to form ideas, a skill used every day.
• To students: "Inferring is something you do every day, whether or not you realize it: You combine clues you come across in the world with what you already know to form ideas. In a text, drawing inferences is about reading between the lines. Authors don’t state everything explicitly—that would get boring!"
• Explore this topic on BrainPop!

Earth Day - Natural Resources

• Highlight Earth Day by introducing learners to Earth's resources— from air and minerals to renewable vs nonrenewable—and why conservation matters.
• To students: "Have you ever considered how much use we make of our planet? From the air we breathe to the timber we use for shelter to the minerals we refine into metals, life just wouldn’t be livable without our natural resources. But what are the consequences of overuse? "
• Explore this topic on BrainPop that includes the new "Leveled Reading" feature!

Teachers - Don't miss out on classroom swag!

• Brighten and organize your classroom with these free, time-saving printables for weekly planning, building routines, and just for fun!
• Download stickers, posters, game templates and much more!