ReadWorks (https://www.readworks.org/.) is a
nonprofit organization with the mission to improve the reading comprehension of
struggling students. It also strives to
bridge the gap between research based strategies and classroom instruction in
order to increase student achievement.
It is a free tool and according to their website, they have reached
“over 1 million teachers and 13 million student” who have been able to
implement these ideas to improve reading comprehension and teaching. The overall vision is that all student in the
United States will be literate because teachers will implement superb curriculum
and content. Donations are welcomed, and
there is a button for you to select if you wish to support this cause.
When you enter the ReadWorks homepage, there are four
categories you may select. You may
search for specific content in “Find Content”, but clicking this tab will also
take you to a section where specific topics are listed. This is indicated as “What to teach
today”. You may search for reading
passages, paired text, and Article-A-Day Sets.
The
Article-A-Day is a trademarked tool to help improve comprehension by having 10
minute exercises. Within the 10 minutes
activity, students are able to strengthen their comprehension through this
daily routine. You may select from
Kindergarten through 8th grade level passages sets. You may also choose the set by specific
article topics. If you would like to
view the whole process, videos are included with classrooms that have used the
printed version of the sets and projected versions of the sets.
The
first step in the Article-A-Day activity is to set the purpose. The teacher would read the description about
the purpose of the article. Then, the
teacher would allow the students to read the passage independently. You can either print the passage or project
it on the board. The third step is to
have students write 2-3 ideas they learned from the passage in their Book of
Knowledge. The Book of Knowledge is
equivalent to a journal. Student that
have not mastered writing may draw their ideas.
A free template for the writing and drawing is linked in the activity
description. Finally, a few students are
asked to share their ideas. Each idea is
recorded in the Class Book of Knowledge, again, it is a running log of ideas in
a journal.
There
are many more features in this website.
You may also save the resources under the “My List” tab. Additionally, you are able to create classes
and there is an “Assignments” tab where you may assign an article to a specific
class or all your classes. This is an
excellent tool to use to help improve reading comprehension. It is easy to navigate and the entire set up
is aesthetically pleasant.
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