My students love learning, but they come to me with very different starting points. Some have rich experiences and vocabulary. Others need more support building background knowledge before they can truly engage with text. That gap sometimes feels impossible to close.

When my students do not have the background knowledge, vocabulary or personal experiences that help them learn about new concepts, I love using ReadWorks to close those gaps. 

Let me give you a concrete example. I showed my students a video of baby sea turtles hatching and making their way to the ocean. They were captivated. But here's the thing: watching a video was only the beginning. They needed to read about it, to anchor those images in language and build real vocabulary and comprehension.

Ever since I was 6 years old, art has been my favorite hobby. I love trying different kinds of art, like pencil sketches, acrylic paint markers, fine liners, and markers. Drawing is how I express my ideas, and I enjoy creating everything from nature scenes to abstract art and anime.

When I was 8, my parents told me about an Earth Day art contest. The theme was about how nature helps protect our planet. I was excited to draw, but I realized I didn't know enough about the science behind the topic. That's when my parents introduced me to ReadWorks.

​My name is Colleen Perez, and I have been an educator in Elizabeth, New Jersey, since 2003. Over the years, I have taught kindergarten, first grade, second grade, and fifth grade, and I have also served as a reading specialist. Throughout my career, one thing has remained constant: every student deserves access to meaningful, engaging texts that help them grow as readers and thinkers.

This year, I had the privilege of teaching fifth-grade students with a wide range of academic needs. My classroom included students with varying reading levels, students who needed additional literacy support, and multilingual learners developing their English language skills. One of my biggest goals was helping students become more confident readers while building the background knowledge they needed to understand complex texts.

That challenge is where ReadWorks became an essential part of our classroom.

At the beginning of the year, many of my students struggled with informational text. They had difficulty understanding challenging vocabulary, identifying central ideas, making inferences, and citing evidence from the text. They often approached nonfiction reading with hesitation because they felt that the topics were too difficult or that they did not have enough knowledge to understand what they were reading.

I began incorporating ReadWorks articles into my daily reading instruction, using Article-A-Day and targeted passages connected to our fifth-grade curriculum. The variety of topics allowed my students to explore science, social studies, and historical events while strengthening their literacy skills. During our units on topics such as the Great Depression, Hoovervilles, World War II, and other historical events, ReadWorks provided accessible, high-interest texts that allowed students to build background knowledge before engaging in deeper discussions and writing assignments.

One of the most powerful moments I witnessed was the change in my students’ confidence. At first, many students relied heavily on teacher support to answer questions and explain their thinking. As we continued using ReadWorks, they became more independent in annotating texts, discussing vocabulary, and finding evidence to support their responses.

For my multilingual learners, ReadWorks became an especially valuable tool. The Spanish-English paired texts gave students access to important concepts while allowing them to connect new English vocabulary to their existing knowledge. This helped students participate more confidently in classroom discussions and improved their ability to comprehend grade-level content.

I also appreciated the flexibility that ReadWorks offered. I could differentiate instruction by assigning articles at appropriate levels, providing additional supports, and using question sets to guide student thinking. It became a resource that supported whole-group lessons, small-group instruction, independent practice, and intervention.

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!