Effective Literacy Website #2

Christina Kidd

ED 638-40

Dr. M. Rivera

IRA Newsletter: Effective Literacy Website #2

            AboutReadWorks (www.about.readworks.org) is a nonprofit that provides K-12 teachers with a huge variety of literary articles they may use in their classrooms or at home with their children. ReadWorks offers reading and vocabulary support and tools as well as assessments and support for educators in reading comprehension instruction.

            This website offers products and features such as nonfiction literary articles, Article -A-Day activities, Audio versions of articles, vocabulary assessments and activities, and other lessons and units. ReadWorks is used in 3 different ways. Digital classes, where students can attend and complete assignments online, while teachers have access and can grade and provide feedback. The second use would be a teacher’s ability to print documents and resources from any content and curriculum to use physically in the classroom. If a teacher has a smartboard or projector in the classroom, there is another way ReadWorks can be used and accesses.

            This website offers audio versions of literary works for all subjects, and all grades and also offers ELL and SPED support for struggling readers. Article -A -Day is another feature they promote which comes with passages and vocabulary activities and assessments.

            The site is very easy to navigate, there are also options to filter what subject, topics, text types you may be searching for. For example, Reading Passages, grade 8 offers about 100 literary works in digital form. The passage will immediately tell you what grade level it is appropriate for, how many words the passage has, if it is fiction or nonfiction, etc. You have the option to have your student listen to the reading and follow along with a printed version they can have in front of them, as printing the key set is an option. Passages come with vocabulary activities already set up for you, Common Core Standards are notated, and comprehension questions and answers are readily available for the teacher to use.

            ReadWorks is a great website when seeking passages to fit your content area that you may not be able to find (free) online or in your school’s library. A class set can easily be made available by printing. Reading can be so much fun and interactive this way. ReadWorks provides an array of literary works, provides the material needed, and support and guidance each teacher needs when seeking passages and reading material. Students love to be read to, this website offers all the tools to help make learning fun!