Week 6: New Tool- Readworks

 

What is Readworks? 

Readworks is an online tool that brings a wide variety of texts, activities and assessments to students. When students use Readworks they have access to texts at their reading level on topics related to STEM, poetry, holidays, literary fiction and more! In addition to a wide range of text, Readworks makes it easy for teachers to differentiate. Audio versions of the readings, StepReads (less complex versions of the original passage) and ELL and SPED supports are all available to meet every students needs. This website is easy for teachers to implement in their classrooms because it is free to use for educators and schools. 

How does it work?

There are many different ways that teachers can incorporate Readworks into the classroom. If you look at the picture above teachers can specify exactly what they are looking for. Teachers can narrow their search by selecting the type of content they want their students to see, if they want it to have audio, the type of activity, topic, grade and reading level. From there teachers can assign passages to their students and select due dates. In addition to assigning the text teachers can also include what activity they want their students to participate in. There are activity's such as open ended questions, comprehension checks, vocabulary support and inferring questions sets. Teachers are really able to hone in on the skills they want students to learn. Teachers can review Readworks to see how many students have submitted their work and their progress on the activities. 

How I use it in my classroom:

In my previous district, I depended on Readworks quite a bit! Everyday my students worked on Readworks' article of the day! It allowed students to read content on a variety of topics and respond to a comprehension question about key takeaways they had. I also loved that I could modify the reading level. It was the perfect balance because I had some low students and they were still able to read the same story their peers were, but they were able to comprehend the passage and not feel frustrated because the text was too difficult. Today I use Readworks mostly for small groups. They have a huge selections of paired text that work great for cross-text synthesis and comparing and contrasting. 

Tips:

•  At conferences or an open house get families on Readworks. They can see what their student is working on and offer additional support at home. 
• Connect your Readworks account to your Google Classroom to help streamline assignments and students log ins. 

How could it work in your classroom:

• Have parents work through the passages and questions at home with their students for extra support. I typically assign specific lessons if parents ask for ways they can help at home during conferences. 
• Article a day- engage students in current events.
• Pull a variety of passages for small groups. 
• Allow students to explore Readworks during silent reading. All students could use more access to a variety of text at their level during this time!