ReadWorks.org

The goal of ReadWorks.org is to ensure all teachers have the curriculum they need and students have the support they need to read well with deep comprehension. To that end, this site provides resources that focus on reading comprehension skills, primarily for students in grades K-7.

The site has a large collection of non-fiction reading passages, searchable by grade level and reading skill or strategy.  There’s also a large database of lesson plans and units based on the skills and strategies.  They include author’s purpose, cause and effect, character, classify and organize, compare and contrast, drawing conclusions, explicit information, fact vs. opinion, figurative language, genre, main idea, plot, point of view, predicting, pronoun reference, sequence, setting, them vocabulary in context, and voice.

Their section on novel studies, includes 5th and 6th grade units for books based on biographies, historical fiction, realistic fiction, poetry, fantasy, mysteries, science fiction, verse novels, short stories and autobiographies.

The lessons and units align to common core standards.  There is also guidance for teachers on differentiating instruction, teaching lessons, and doing interactive read-alouds.

Teachers can use these resources online  where teachers create classes, students login, complete reading and comprehension skill assignments, and teachers track their progress.

 

UDL Editions

UDL Editions has interactive stories for students in grades 5-12 that provide scaffolding for reading comprehension strategies.  Within each short story are links to definitions and illustrations for key vocabulary words.  Each story is also accompanied by reading strategies and examples, such as prediction, summarization, questions, and visualization.  There are also discussions of the narrative elements and literary devices of the author’s craft.  Finally, there are links to background resources about the subject matter of each story that can be used for further research or clarification. 

CAST is a non-profit organization dedicated to research and development in Universal Design for Learning that supports diversity and differentiated instruction for a broad range of learning abilities.

Reading Buddies

The Martha Speaks Reading Buddies Program provides teachers and parents with material to use to build vocabulary, reading comprehension, and social skills for elementary age readers. Use the material in conjunction with on-line episodes and interactives.

Into the Book

From site:  

Into the Book is a reading comprehension resource for K-4 students and teachers. We focus on eight research-based strategies: Using Prior Knowledge, Making Connections, Questioning, Visualizing, Inferring, Summarizing, Evaluating and Synthesizing. Watch our engaging 15-minute videos and try the online interactive activities.

Behind the Lesson
provides information and teaching resources for each strategy. Watch our 10-minute professional development videos and explore the Web site for lesson plans, video and audio clips, downloads, and more.

Inspiring Middle School Literacy

This series of 15 self-paced lessons for students is grades 5-8 emphasizes reading comprehension across the curriculum.  It includes topics in math, science and health, social studies and ELA.  Teachers register their students and monitor their progress.  In addition, there are lesson plans and professional development resources for teachers of middle school students.  Free registration is required.  Funding for this project provided by WGBH and The Walmart Foundation.

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