ED 638 - Effective Literacy Websites #1 - There Is Nothing Common About Commonlit.org

Brandon Cruz

ED 638-40

Dr. M. Rivera

IRA Newsletter Project: Effective Literacy Websites #1

Commonlit.org is a useful website for teachers looking for passages to use in support of their lessons or even as the backbone. The webpage is free and supports electronic class management in which teachers may create classes, assign content, and track the progress of their students. The content is aligned to Common Core State Standards and organized by genres, topics lexiles, and recommended grade levels. The passages range between third and twelfth grade and are not limited to use in ELA (English and Language Arts) classes. The website is a great resource for Teachers but can also be used by parents in support of their students.

                The website regularly adds new texts to the library and teachers can browse through the texts based on their connections to specific canonized books, genres, grade levels, specific literary devices, themes, or even set topic sets such as World War I & II or Influential Speeches. The website also offers handcrafted units containing groupings of six to ten texts organized around an essential question. These units are designed to last between one and three weeks and employ the use of graphic organizers, paired texts, multiple choice questions, short constructed responses, and final assessments through essay prompts. All of which are easy to navigate through, as the site’s structure is quite intuitive.

                The ability to create classes and assign readings to students digitally allows for teachers to use the site in various ways, depending on the need of the teacher and student. The site’s possible uses are numerous and can be implemented as the teacher desires: supplementary reading for struggling readers, exploratory passages to build connections, thematic units bridging multiple subjects, background information to provide starting points of class discussion, or even connecting material to book units being read in class.

                Commonlit.org is a great tool for improving literacy, in and out of the classroom. The material is growing regularly and the provided connections to literature are enough to get anyone started in helping students explore the world through literature. With guidance and thoughtful assignment of passages teachers can customize their goals of improving literacy.