Literacy Learning platforms
The goal of supporting students in reading is daunting. The spectrum of possible texts out there for teachers to choose from is limitless. So, where to begin?
First, we as teachers need to understand that our students do read. In fact, they can search for, retrieve, and read information very quickly on social platforms they are comfortable with, such as Facebook and Twitter. The problem is, this skill is not usually being redirected for educational purposes. This is one reason why digital learning platforms are powerful.
Students can become more empowered with text that they can access in familiar ways(on tablets, with phones, color images, and interactive text). Learning platforms, such as Google Classroom, NewsELA.com, or Birdbrainscience.com, engage students because of their appearance and the comfortability that students have with social platforms.
NEWSELA with Google Classroom Tutorial
Finally, reading lexile ratings tell us how difficult a text is. Lexile can be changed to suit the student in learning platforms such as NewsELA.com. This allows teachers to use the data from previous years of testing and differentiate instructional materials and readings based on their student’s scores. When the lexile of a text is altered for a particular student, their lesson is being differentiated because they are receiving the same content, but at a reading level personalized for that student. The quizzes that come with the articles are also changed to fit the lexile of the article.
My advice: sign up your strongest class for one of these learning platforms and try it out! You may find it as something useful for your own organization and engaging for your students.
(**If you need help setting these up, I will be available in my room Thursdays after school until about 4:15. If you are using these, please let me know, I would love to spread the word on our Twitter feed #cougaredu !!)
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