Free classroom resource · CC BY-SA 4.0
For teachers and homeschool families
Small Whale is a free kids encyclopedia you can open in class with no accounts, no ads, and no tracking cookies. Articles are rewritten from Wikipedia and other sources into three reading levels so a 7-year-old and a 13-year-old can research the same topic.
Learning goals
After one short session, a student should be able to:
- Find one reliable, readable source for a homework question.
- Restate two facts in the student’s own words (no copy-paste).
- Match reading level to the learner (elementary, middle, or high).
- Cite the page and the CC BY-SA license.
A 20-minute research lesson
1. Write the question in kid language
If the worksheet says “biome,” ask “What is a biome, and name two examples?”
2. Open one article, not ten tabs
Search on the homepage. Pick Elementary, Middle, or High school. Read the first screen out loud if needed.
3. Notes in phrases, then two facts in their words
Phrase notes reduce copy-paste. Ask: “Could you explain that back to me?”
4. Cite the page
Title, URL, date viewed, plus the license line below.
Starter lessons
Each link is a single learning resource — the kind of page you can assign, not a dump of the whole catalog.
- PhotosynthesisScience
How do plants make their own food from sunlight?
- The MoonSpace
Why do we see different shapes of the Moon during a month?
- Ancient RomeHistory
List two things Romans built that we still talk about today.
- TigersAnimals
Where do tigers live, and what do they eat?
- Amazon RiverGeography
Why is the Amazon River important to the rainforest?
- World Flags (Easy)Geography game
Play 10 flags, then look up one country the class missed.
Geography warm-up
After a country or continent article, play a short flag quiz. Easy is a good whole-class start; medium and hard work as a station or homeschool challenge.
License and citation
Small Whale articles are adapted from Wikipedia and other sources under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0). You may share and adapt them for classroom use if you credit the source and keep the same license on derivatives. See Terms of Use.
“Based on or adapted from Wikipedia content. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Retrieved from https://smallwhale.org/articles/[topic].”
More guides
- Homework help workflow — notes, paraphrasing, when to cross-check.
- Why reading level matters — a 5-minute test you can do with a child.
- Free homeschooling resources — Small Whale plus math, reading, and science tools.
- Privacy policy — no tracking cookies, no required accounts.
Questions or a topic your class needs? Contact us or email info@smallwhale.org.