Find ReadWorks at ISTE this June! This June, the city of Philadelphia will host one of the most influential edtech conferences, ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education). ReadWorks’ team members will be in attendance, and we are excited to be sponsoring one of the headline events; The Leadership Exchange.
How ReadWorks’ In-Depth Tagging System will Expand Representation in Our Library ReadWorks believes our expansive library should provide “windows and mirrors” for all the readers who encounter it, meaning content that reflects readers’ experiences and provides rich, engaging glimpses into other lives, places, and time periods. We understand that building a diverse and representative library isn’t an end goal but a continuous process, and we’re dedicated to constantly improving. Learn what this improvement process looks like and how we plan to grow from here. Explore Our Latest ContentTeachers Share ReadWorks on Social Media
Written by:
Becca Vaughn, Director of Development
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This week, our brand-new Summer of ReadWorks workbooks went live. We’re thrilled to offer this 8-week workbook chock-full of high-interest reading comprehension resources for readers entering grades 2, 3, and 4. The workbook’s pre-planned content, diverse passages, beautiful illustrations, and exclusive features make it excellent value for its $25 price tag. What makes Summer of ReadWorks workbooks unique?
A sneak peek of the Summer of ReadWorks workbook! See what a real-life Summer of ReadWorks workbook looks like!
Each weekly topic is comprised of five illustrated high-quality texts, each of which correspond to a section of the Book of Knowledge. Our personalizable Book of Knowledge allows readers to record what they’ve learned inside our simple and organized guide. Set up your reader for a summer of learning and growth today. Check out Summer of ReadWorks workbooks now! Written by:
Samuel Siegel, Marketing & Development Specialist Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! On this special week, we are delighted to share the results of our first ever ReadWorks Super Teacher awards. Super Teachers are an extraordinary group of educators whose consistent use of ReadWorks resources fosters success in the classroom. The ReadWorks team is proud to recognize the hard work and dedication of these teachers and students. ReadWorks is a data-driven organization where data plays a critical role in our work, including how we determine our Super Users. Here’s how our Super Teachers excel by the numbers:
Meet ReadWorks’ Top 10 Super Teachers We’d like to introduce an extra special group of educators: our Top 10 Super Teachers! This year’s group, hailing from 7 different states, is wonderfully diverse in location, specialization, and grade level. The ReadWorks team is incredibly grateful to these one-in-a-million teachers for their extraordinary work and dedication. Top 10 Super Teachers
Whether you’re a first-time ReadWorks user or a long-time ReadWorks veteran, you are a valuable part of the ReadWorks community! We are committed to creating resources that help you soar. Educators, we see you — and we celebrate you. Written by:
Samuel Siegel, Marketing & Development Specialist ReadWorks Produces High-Quality, Diverse and Representative Content with an In-Depth Tagging System5/4/2023  Content Example: The Story of Mary Church Terrell At ReadWorks, producing high-quality content means ensuring our products are inclusive and reflective of everyone who uses them. It is important that our content provides “windows and mirrors” for all the readers who encounter it: content that reflects readers’ experiences, while also providing rich, engaging glimpses into other lives, places, and time periods. We understand that building a diverse and representative library isn’t an end goal but a continuous process, and we’re dedicated to constantly improving. So, what does that continuous process look like? It starts with knowing our library inside and out. Before we even start to create or curate texts, we combine our research-based focus on building background knowledge with an awareness of our library and the topics and voices we want to elevate. We have developed an in-depth tagging system to evaluate the strengths and gaps within our library. Each piece of content is internally tagged by topic, genre, settings, and qualities of characters (ranging from ethnicity to disability status to religion and beyond). This helps the ReadWorks team understand what our library already offers and what we should focus on next.  Content Example: Indonesia's Culture and History With that understanding, we are constantly working to add new texts to ensure representation in our library. Sometimes, we work with both internal and external ReadWorks writers from diverse backgrounds to create new, relevant, and authentic fiction and nonfiction. Other times, new texts come from experts at our museum and cultural institution partners, such as the American Museum of Natural History and the Vanderbilt University Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies. At all times, we’re keeping in mind our larger goal: to create a library where every reader can feel connected to and engaged in what they are reading and learning. Part of meeting this larger goal goes beyond the new texts we add—it also requires carefully reviewing the texts that have been added to our library over the many years that ReadWorks has been serving teachers. We are constantly reviewing texts to ensure that they meet our current standards around sensitivity, fairness, and representation. This is especially important as we revisit texts about historically marginalized or underrepresented populations. During this review process, we seek training and resources specific to the populations our texts represent, and we consult multiple sources to confirm the accuracy of information in a text. We do our best to represent the complexities surrounding sensitive topics in ways that are developmentally appropriate. And we take every aspect of a text into consideration, including titling, images, and the focus of its curricular supports. We also consider the perspectives and insights shared by ReadWorks users, and texts are typically reviewed by multiple team members. At ReadWorks, high-quality content is diverse and representative, and we recognize the responsibility that comes with achieving this goal. We know that our understanding of issues related to diverse populations and equity will continue to evolve, and so this process of careful review will always be ongoing.  Content Example: Telling Her Family's Story through Comics Written by:
Manjula Raman, Senior Director of Content & Curriculum / Senior DEI Coordinator Nathalie Karimian, Ed.D., Content & Curricular Supports Developer Join ReadWorks this May in celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with our array of multicultural reading passages. Our Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage filter honors inspiring figures and their remarkable contributions while celebrating the richness of AAPI cultures. Share these empowering reading passages with your class and join us in celebrating the remarkable contributions and rich traditions of the AAPI community! To give you a sample of the diversity of AAPI stories, we’ve compiled a short list of AAPI reading passages, each one highlighting a person or tradition from a different culture.
Written by:
Samuel Siegel, Marketing & Development Specialist |
