Distance Learning Reading Resources

The most important thing that students can do right now is continue reading. We as teachers need to continue promoting that love of reading for students and encouraging them to share what they’re learning. 

As we carefully plan our reading instruction, it is important to remember to stress meaningful reading experiences at home (and it doesn't have to be a lot of work!) rather than meaningless busywork.

Here are some ways to keep track of reading, encourage comprehension and continue teaching as you share positive reading experiences at home.

Keep Track of Student Reading

• Readworks- This website is completely free and has amazing reading passages with comprehension questions, vocabulary work and strategy-based focuses. Teachers can make an account where students can log in with a gmail account, or teachers can assign students by name or number and give them a code to sign in. Students should read all of the passages online and answer questions immediately after reading, while teachers can track progress easily to see how students are doing with each skill. The book of knowledge is also a great add on where students can read a short passage and then respond to reading in a few sentences by telling what they have learned each day. Their new learnings each day compile into one giant book of knowledge that they can review!

• Digital Book Logs- Digital book logs are a great way to see what students are reading at home. It may be beneficial to keep this low-key so students don’t have to use this daily but rather as a way to show you and their classmates what they are reading at home! Students could even offer each other suggestions. Padlet is a great tool for this, along with THIS  here  google slides collaborative book log and recommendations, which allows students to record books read and provide recommendations to peers.

Students each have their own recording page that they can access through the book log home page. 

They also have a link to make recommendations by genre if they feel that their book is review worthy. Other students can then access the book recommendations and hear why their friends recommended the book!

Encourage Comprehension Work 

• Character Study- Help students analyze their character as they read fiction. There are many ways to encourage focusing on character traits, feelings, motivation etc. Try this character study out for google slides. Students track their character as they read, create a character avatar and put themselves in their character's shoes as they complete most of this activity. It is a fun and interactive way for students to continue to think a deeper level as they read! 
• Novel Studies- There are many novel studies available for students to answer questions as they read. It can be somewhat challenging to pair books with novel students if you do not know what books are at home right now, but you could give parents a few options of novels and survey what books they have at home. There are also many books available for free right now online for student use! 
• Questioning- Send students generic comprehension questions to answer as they are reading! These questions can focus on skills such as character, plot & setting, vocabulary and theme, or be genre-related.
• Book Clubs- Students could attempt digital book clubs! This may take some creativity to manage, but it can be done if you can figure out available novels for students to read. Here is a digital launching book club google slides that groups can work on prior to reading their book to make them feel a part of a club and give them a sense of ownership. Students will need to be creative as they discuss things like their "clubhouse" and "meeting times" but you would want to be in on that discussion! Students could post their ideas on each slide and then you could help them come to a consensus. You could have students respond on a google doc or use a padlet for discussion as their book club meeting throughout the book or have them complete some type of response after reading the book to share with their group members. There are many possibilities here. Do what is manageable for you.

Teach students a reading skill- Again, time to get creative! Since we can't sit around a small group table, you may be thinking about how to get new information out to students. Here are some ideas.

• Video- Record a video of yourself (or find one already created) teaching a specific reading skill to students. Try to keep it quick. No more than 3-5 minutes. You can practice with a book or show an anchor chart and then ask students to practice with the book  they are reading. Students can then reflect on the skill and ask questions. This will be in no way comparable to actually sitting with students while they are reading, but it could be helpful to try.
• Interactive Notebooks- Students can complete interactive notebooks to practice specific reading skills. You can create your own or find one already made. There are many out there! Here is an example of an interactive notebook to teach the difference between retelling and summarizing.

There are video clips, anchor charts and practice opportunities imbedded so that teachers can track student progress.

Just remember, the most important thing is that students are READING!