2026-27 BACK TO SCHOOL UPDATES!

BrainPOP's Back to School 2026 lineup introduces an exciting suite of features designed to deepen classroom engagement, support independent practice, and streamline lesson planning. This school year’s major updates include the launch of Unplugged Activities for device-free collaboration, an expanded AI Literacy Collection developed with Digital Promise, and real-time interactive quizzing via Live Mode. Additionally, the platform is rolling out Hints and Rationales within quizzes to guide stuck students, alongside a brand-new Bookmarks feature arriving in August 2026 to help teachers curate and instantly access their favorite resources.

Check out the full 2026-27 back-to-school updates from BrainPop! We've highlighted some of our favorite updates below: 

Live Mode

• Live Mode is an interactive quiz experience that lets teachers lead the whole class through BrainPOP questions together, in real time.
• The questions are built from the movie content, so Live Mode isn't a separate assessment layer teachers have to build. It's already there, already connected to what students just watched, ready to run.

New Movies, Every Month

• BrainPOP adds new topics every month—expanding the library of topics teachers can use to build background knowledge, introduce new concepts, and create shared understanding across every subject.
• For example, check out the June 2026 and July 2026 Movie Roundup

Hints and Rationales

• Hints and Rationales are built-in supports that appear inside BrainPOP quizzes—helping students work through a question when they're stuck and understand why an answer is correct.
• As you can see in the example below, hints give students a nudge in the right direction without giving the answer away. 

Unplugged Activities

• Unplugged Activities are low-prep, offline learning experiences that turn a BrainPOP movie into discussion, collaboration, and interactive thinking—no devices required. Use them to introduce the topic before the movie, or deepen understanding after the movie.
• Check out the example below! Before the movie, ask students to predict the meaning of the word "pharaoh" by drawing a home for a powerful leader. This piques their curiosity—then during the movie, they'll pay extra special attention when pharaohs are introduced!

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 2026 with BrainPOP from Summer 2026.

Get a walkthrough from Deb Rayow, Vice President of Learning and Content Strategy at BrainPOP, in this recording.

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

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!

The BrainPOP Bulletin is designed to provide inspiration for your classroom. Monthly bulletins have fresh instructional ideas, classroom swag, and community announcements for classroom teachers. 

This Month's Strategy: Watch, Discuss, Rewatch

I Tried It: Watch, Discuss, Rewatch

• "Make BrainPOP movies a more active part of your class with Pause Points–while also providing an opportunity to practice essential literacy skills."
• Learn how educators have implemented this strategy using BrainPop.

Honoring Black History in the Classroom

• "A curriculum that integrates authentic and age-appropriate stories of history-making Black Americans helps provide a foundation of empathy and cultural literacy that allows all students to thrive in a multicultural society."
• Check out this BrainPop blog post for lesson and project ideas. 

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!

The BrainPOP Bulletin is designed to provide inspiration for your classroom. Monthly bulletins have fresh instructional ideas, classroom swag, and community announcements for classroom teachers. 

This Month's Question - How can I keep my class engaged and energized before winter break?

How to Motivate Students to Work in Collaborative Teams

• "Boost and maintain classroom energy through the rest of 2024 by having students work together. From project-based learning to a culture of celebration, student collaboration can improve active listening, engagement, and more."
• Read up on BrainPOP educators' best classroom collaboration tips.

Five Brain Breaks Ideas for Middle School Students

• "Middle school students may need a minute, or five minutes, to fully get ready to start that lesson. There are quite a few distractions in and outside the classroom. Whether it’s the start of class or a break in between lessons, no brain break is too small or too big."
• Check out this BrainPop blog post for some unique classroom attention getters to boost learning all day.

ICYMI: 3 Reasons AI Should Be Part of Your Digital Citizenship Lessons

• "Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is a term that has made many rounds in the news cycle this year. As with any emerging technology, it has come with various (and even divided) opinions, especially when it comes to its use in education. However, there’s one thing we can all agree on–AI isn’t going anywhere." 
• Read the recent BrainPop Teaching Strategies blog post to learn more.

Don't miss fresh new 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!