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Every year, educators across the country go above and beyond to make reading instruction engaging, meaningful, and impactful for students. This year, we are thrilled to recognize ten incredible ReadWorks super users whose dedication to literacy and consistent use of ReadWorks has stood out in a big way. These educators have assigned hundreds of reading passages, supported students with thousands of activities, and made ReadWorks an essential part of learning in their classrooms and schools. Their commitment to helping students build background knowledge, strengthen comprehension skills, and grow as confident readers deserves to be celebrated. Meet Our Top 10 Super Users of 2025–2026 1. Marijoy C - Virginia Marijoy led the way this year with an astounding 852 assignments and 1,135 student activities completed. Her students engaged deeply with reading all year long, making literacy practice a daily habit. 2. Emily K - Texas Emily’s classroom saw incredible engagement, with 871 student activities completed and consistent implementation across the school year. Her commitment to student reading growth truly shines. 3. Monyette - Mississippi Monyette helped students in her Missouri classroom complete 824 reading activities while maintaining strong classroom usage throughout the year. Her dedication to literacy instruction is making a lasting impact on students. She's been a ReadWorks users for three years! 4. Sherri H - Utah Sherri demonstrated exceptional consistency and depth of implementation, supporting students through hundreds of meaningful reading interactions and classroom assignments. 5. Tara W - Maryland Tara’s students benefited from a high level of engagement with ReadWorks content this year. Her thoughtful use of reading resources helped keep literacy learning active and accessible. 6. Lori K - Minnesota Lori’s commitment to reading instruction helped drive more than 500 student activities this year. Her classroom clearly values strong literacy habits and regular reading practice. 7. Raymond H - Illinois Raymond created a highly engaged reading environment, with students completing hundreds of activities and interacting consistently with nonfiction texts and comprehension supports. 8. Jennifer W - Iowa Jennifer stood out with remarkable assignment usage and a strong implementation strategy that helped students stay actively involved in reading throughout the year. 9. Dinise M - Indiana Dinise has been using ReadWorks for many years with her adult learners at her local community college. Her classroom has demonstrated outstanding dedication to literacy growth through regular use of ReadWorks resources and strong student participation. You can find Dinise as a guest speaker on some of our webinars that focus on using ReadWorks with adult learners! "ReadWorks is an essential tool in my adult education classroom. It helps bridge the reading gap by offering diverse, high-interest topics that validate their life experiences, ultimately promoting a culture of equity, inclusion, building self-confidence and interest in reading." - Dinise M. 10. Imelda C - Texas Imelda helped foster an active reading culture as a tutor in Houston Texas, encouraging students to engage with rich nonfiction texts and meaningful comprehension practice all year long. She's been an avid ReadWorks user for two years! Thank You for Inspiring Readers To our super users: thank you for the time, care, and energy you pour into your students every day. Your work is helping students become stronger readers, more curious learners, and more confident thinkers. At ReadWorks, we are continually inspired by educators like you who make literacy instruction come alive in classrooms across the country. Congratulations on an incredible year!
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This year’s Earth Day Illustration Contest was our biggest yet, and we are thrilled to celebrate the incredible creativity, care, and environmental awareness shown by students across the country. We received nearly 8,000 illustration entries this year, almost double last year’s approximately 4,000 submissions. Expanding the contest to include additional grade levels clearly helped drive participation, and the excitement from classrooms was felt every step of the way. Even more encouraging, teacher feedback continues to be overwhelmingly positive as educators use these articles to spark meaningful conversations about conservation, ecosystems, and protecting our planet. This year’s contest featured 13 National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) articles, and every single article was actively used by educators and students. The most popular article was “Monarchs on the Move” for 7th grade, which reached 1,998 educators and generated 2,886 Assignments. Across the month-long contest, we saw:
“As a middle school science teacher, I have been utilizing ReadWorks to support my students’ reading skills as we make our way through our life science curriculum. As a visual learner myself, I try to take any opportunity to enable students with a similar learning style to share what they have learned artistically. When I saw that ReadWorks was hosting their Earth Day Illustration Contest, I shared it with my students and encouraged them to enter. Steven is a strong science student and an incredibly gifted artist, and I was thrilled to see the artwork that he created. I was even more impressed by his words describing the process of learning about the challenges of the herring as they journey to spawn. Steven truly took the opportunity to connect science concepts with creativity in a meaningful and personal way. I loved seeing all my students take ideas about protecting the environment and communicating scientific understanding and transform them into thoughtful, original artwork. Opportunities like this help students recognize that science is not just about memorizing facts, but also about observation, communication, and expressing ideas in different ways.” - Teacher: Crista Tiboldo A huge thank you goes out to our partner The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), and the volunteers from Jefferies who helped review and judge nearly 8,000 illustrations in an incredibly short amount of time. Your support made this celebration of student creativity possible. And now, congratulations to our winners!
To every student who submitted artwork, every teacher who participated, and every classroom that joined us in celebrating Earth Day through reading and creativity: thank you. Your illustrations showed not only artistic talent, but also empathy for wildlife, ecosystems, and the world around us.
We are already looking forward to next year’s contest! Second grade can be a key transition year where young readers begin moving from decoding words to making meaning from texts. At ReadWorks, we provide educators and families with research-backed tools to build strong reading comprehension skills in second-grade students. Our free, easy-to-use materials help students recognize story structure, understand an author’s purpose, compare ideas, and build vocabulary, all while staying engaged. Reading Comprehension Strategies for Second GradeSecond grade is a critical year where reading comprehension becomes a primary goal of instruction, as students develop the ability to make meaning from text, build vocabulary, and think critically. Reading with increased fluency, improving accuracy, speed, and expression.
How ReadWorks Supports Second Grade Reading ComprehensionAt ReadWorks, we design our resources to align with both the developmental needs of second-grade readers and the evidence-based strategies proven to support them. It’s easy to filter by grade level and resource type when logged into ReadWorks to find the exact material needed for the skill being taught.
For educators, summer is a time for two things: a deep exhale and a chance to finally tackle that "TBR" (To Be Read) stack on our nightstands. Whether you’re lounging in the backyard, heading to the beach, or helping your students find their next favorite adventure, the right gear makes the reading experience even more joyful. At ReadWorks, we’re all about building knowledge and vocabulary—but we’re also about the love of reading. To help you dive into your summer books, we’ve pulled together a list of essentials available at some of our favorite shops. 1. The "Read Anywhere" Tech & Tools Summer reading is all about flexibility. These tools make it easy to take your library on the go. Our literacy experts recommend listening to professional development books like Rock Your Literacy Block, by Lindsay Kemeny, or Small Groups, Big Results, by Julia Lindsey.
Creating a "reading sanctuary" shouldn't stop at the classroom door.
Stay cool while the plot heats up.
The best free resource for preventing the summer slide is the ReadWorks Article-A-Day summer packet, which provides 8 weeks of evidence-based reading practice. We love summer reading journals, and these pool floats are perfect for reading on water.
Final Thoughts Summer is the bridge between what we’ve learned and what we’re about to discover. We hope these essentials help you find your "flow" and recharge your batteries for the year ahead. What’s on your summer reading list this year? We’d love to hear your recommendations in the comments! Disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, ReadWorks may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. These funds support our nonprofit mission to provide free, high-quality reading instruction to millions of teachers and students. Thank you for supporting literacy through ReadWorks. Understanding text isn't always about what is said. Sometimes it’s about what’s not said. That is where inferencing comes in. Teaching students to make inferences helps them become active and sharpen their ability to think critically. Whether students read fiction or complete reading tests, strong inferencing skills can help them become more thoughtful, independent readers. What is Inferencing?
Inferencing vs. PredictingWhile inferencing and predicting both involve critical thinking, they serve different purposes. Inferencing is about understanding what is currently happening or has already happened; predicting is about anticipating what will happen next based on clues. In other words, inferencing is about understanding the past, but predicting is about anticipating the future. If the student reads that a person is holding a dripping umbrella and shaking it off, they might reasonably infer that it’s raining outside. On the other hand, a prediction might involve guessing that the character will go inside to dry off. How to Teach InferencingTeaching inferencing is most effective when it’s done explicitly and modeled frequently. Start by thinking aloud as you make inferences during shared reading. Highlight clues in the text, pair them with what you already know, and walk students through the thought process. Teachers can use inferencing worksheets, anchor charts, and sentence stems such as “I think ___ because ___.” Another way to build inferencing skills is by using inferencing pictures, such as wordless comics or storyboards. These visuals offer students opportunities to practice drawing conclusions based on visual clues alone. As students build confidence, introduce texts that require more subtle interpretation. Regular practice with inferencing activities across genres will help them improve reading comprehension and begin using the strategy independently. Inferencing IEP GoalsFor students with IEPs, inferencing goals can help target specific comprehension challenges. Strong IEP inferencing goals clearly define measurable outcomes, provide practical support for instruction, and align with grade-level standards to ensure meaningful progress. Pairing these goals with scaffolded inferencing activities and consistent exposure to diverse texts can accelerate student growth. ReadWorks offers resources that support differentiated instruction and personalized reading goals. Strengthen Inferencing Skills with ReadWorksWhether you're working with early readers, supporting struggling students, or looking to enhance literacy instruction across your classroom, inferencing is a foundational skill that deserves attention. This ability extends beyond the classroom, helping students navigate real-world situations where they must read between the lines. For instance, inferencing helps children understand social cues, interpret media messages, or make informed decisions. Ultimately, it helps students become more empathetic, perceptive, and adaptable individuals.
Use ReadWorks’ library of inference question set worksheets, leveled texts, and paired question sets to make inferencing instruction clear and effective. ➡️ Explore our full library of inferencing resources to get started! |
