Educators and parents around the world are grappling with the task of ensuring that students are receiving a quality education at home while also managing their own work and home lives. To make the situation even more challenging, all students do not have the same access to Internet and electronic devices for remote instruction. Plus, educators and parents know that students have a wide range of learning needs, from English learners to advanced readers to students receiving special education services.
Offline Resources for Equity in Remote Instruction
To help level the playing field for students learning at home, Reading Plus is proud to offer over 200 free offline teaching resources for educators and parents to support readers. Our wide library of resources supports differentiated instruction with activities catered to each student’s reading ability. Resources can be downloaded, emailed, or shared in a learning management system, or printed and sent to students without Internet access.
Our printable skill-building packages help develop reading comprehension in essential comprehension skills that form the foundation for proficient reading. Comprehension skills align with rigorous standards for reading and English Language Arts. Skill-building packages address skills such as Close Reading, Use of Language, Imaging Scaffolds, and more.
Comprehension skill-building packages include:
- Skill Practice Worksheets
- Skill-Based Writing Prompts
- Graphic Organizers
Resources for All Learners
Resources are organized by specific, targeted reading comprehension skills and are divided into two curriculum levels to cover all of your students’ needs:
- Basic level resources for students reading independently at a 2nd-grade to 5th-grade level
- Intermediate level resources for students reading independently at a 6th-grade level or above
(Please note that younger readers may need adult support when completing these resources, regardless of reading level.)
Worksheets for Skill-Building Practice
Skill Practice Worksheets are worksheets that focus on a particular comprehension skill, such as Examining Genre. This worksheet will give examples of various genres, explain how to identify a text’s genre, and cite real texts to further build student understanding. Then, students have the opportunity to apply the lessons they learned by reading additional text examples and answering comprehension questions. Worksheets are designed for independent practice to support students learning at home.
Enhance the Reading/Writing Connection
Skill-Based Writing Prompts help students to build and strengthen reading skills and deepen their understanding of the texts being read. By writing responses to reading selections, students can practice skills they will be asked to apply in high-stakes testing, college courses, and the workplace.
Reading Plus writing prompts can be used in conjunction with any text that a teacher may assign or that students read on their own. Prompts are carefully crafted to ensure students become attentive readers who look closely at the text, interpret it responsibly and rigorously, cite text evidence accurately, and reflect on what it means. Access our teacher-designed Rubric for Grading Writing to provide feedback to students about their written pieces.
Process Ideas Visually with Graphic Organizers
Reading Plus Graphic Organizers provide students with an alternate way to share and process their ideas visually. Choose from skill-based graphic organizers for comparing and contrasting, plot outlining, character analysis, and more. English learners and students who learn best visually will benefit from using graphic organizers as a way to organize their understanding of texts.
How to Use Skill-Building Resources
Resources can be selected for each student based on his or her comprehension needs, or an educator can choose one particular resource to share with an entire class. We have shared all resources for each skill in one downloadable packet, or you can access a link to print or download each individual resource.
To simplify lesson planning, consider focusing on one comprehension skill per week. For example, have your class focus on Identifying Explicit Details during week one. Students complete the first worksheet on Monday, the next worksheet on Tuesday, and so on. The following week, focus on the next skill, Drawing Conclusions and Making Inferences.
Skill Building in Reading Plus
Reading Plus educators can use skill-building resources in conjunction with integrated skills reports for a more robust experience. View individual students’ skill deficiencies and strengths and identify class-wide trends with the Skill Support Report and the Skills Summary Report in Reading Plus. Use these reports to inform instruction and select the best resources for students’ needs.
Reading Plus Class Skill Support Report
Reading Plus reports make the invisible visible by clearly displaying which students are struggling with particular comprehension skills. For example, the Skill Support Report may show that a group of students in a class is struggling with comprehension skills related to Text Structure. A teacher can use this information to refer to the available resources for Text Structure and share worksheets, writing prompts, or graphic organizers with these students to improve their understanding of how fiction and nonfiction texts are structured for different purposes.
Sample comprehension question in Reading Plus
In addition to our free teaching resources, online instruction in Reading Plus helps students strengthen essential comprehension skills. After reading texts in Reading Plus, students answer questions that both test and develop their comprehension skills. Reading Plus includes an extensive library of engaging informational and literary texts that reflect students’ reading interests and support instructional objectives.
Learn more about remote learning with Reading Plus:
