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I’ve been using ReadWorks for years as a go-to resource in my classroom. When our school adopted Amplify CKLA two years ago, I was excited, but also immediately noticed a gap. While CKLA offers strong content, there just wasn’t enough time built in for kids to read independently, to practice fluency, or to really engage with the texts in a meaningful way. There were only a few passages per unit, and I knew my students needed more. That’s when ReadWorks became more essential than ever. I found out through the Amplify materials that ReadWorks has aligned articles for many of the CKLA modules, and I’ve used it every day since. I print out the articles and my students actually prefer reading that way. It makes learning feel accessible and hands-on. One of the biggest highlights was our unit on the Renaissance. My students were captivated by the articles on knights and castles. The passage on the life of a serf sparked such rich discussion, and the way the text was organized made it easier for my students to grasp complex ideas. They even enjoyed the open-ended questions, a huge win in fourth grade.  Using ReadWorks daily also helped us meet one of our key academic goals this year: fluency. I used printed articles for partner reading every single day. We read aloud together, then students read to each other. As a result, our DIBELS fluency scores jumped from 68% to 89%. All but two students ended the year in the green or blue zone. That kind of growth wouldn’t have happened without ReadWorks supplementing CKLA. The pairing has been especially helpful for science and social studies, too. We switched to Amplify Science, and while it’s informative, it’s also focused on teacher talk. My students needed more reading and connection. ReadWorks filled that gap. We used aligned science articles to build vocabulary, comprehension, and content knowledge, and it kept them engaged. Another reason I rely on ReadWorks is the ability to differentiate. I can select articles at different Lexile levels and pair stronger readers with students who need more support while I do 1:1 check-ins. This kind of flexible, responsive teaching just wouldn’t be possible with CKLA alone. I also use ReadWorks in real time during assessments. If a student rushes through a passage, I can quickly reassign it or use another aligned article as a quiz to reinforce the skill. I love that I can see how they’re doing and respond right away. To any teacher using CKLA who hasn’t explored ReadWorks yet, I would say: “Use it. It’s aligned. It’s free. It’s incredible. Why not?” ReadWorks doesn’t just supplement CKLA, it completes it. Together, they provide a well-rounded reading experience that builds fluency, comprehension, and background knowledge.
Last year, 83% of my students hit their reading benchmarks. That wasn’t luck. It was the result of using these two tools together in a purposeful way. CKLA gives me strong content, but ReadWorks is what brings it to life for my students.
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As the school years winds up, many parents may be headed into tackling homework, and parent-teacher conferences. Maintaining their child’s reading skills at home takes time and support. This is especially vital for parents of struggling readers. The good news is that you do not need to be a literacy expert to help. Anyone can help a child improve their reading comprehension and fluency by using just a few of these simple strategies.  Create a Consistent Reading HabitReading is similar to learning other skills. The more a child practices, the better they get. And the best way to make practice consistent is to form a habit. Establishing a daily reading habit—no matter how small—can help struggling readers build fluency and confidence. Here are some ideas to build a reading habit:
To help build the habit, ReadWorks developed the Article-A-Day™ routine. Each day, children read one short, high-interest nonfiction article and briefly reflect on it. These articles are designed to take just 10 minutes a day, making it quick and easy for parents and their children. Try It: Start a daily Article-A-Day routine with ReadWorks to build vocabulary and comprehension. ReadWorks is completely free and you can choose to assign the article to them for access on their computer or device, or to print the article. Use Scaffolding to Support Reading GrowthScaffolding is an instructional approach where you offer support as your child learns a new skill, then gradually step back as they gain confidence. When it comes to reading, scaffolding helps struggling readers tackle challenging texts without becoming overwhelmed. At home, scaffolding might look like:
Try It: Use ReadWorks question sets and reading comprehension worksheets to guide comprehension.  Focus on Sight Words to Build FluencyMany readers benefit from strengthening their recognition of common sight words—words that often can’t be sounded out easily and appear frequently in texts. Mastering these words can make reading smoother and more automatic. Here’s a short breakdown of common sight words, which are grouped by type:
Try It: Explore ReadWorks' full library of content for younger readers.  Let Children Choose What They ReadGiving students the chance to choose something that truly interests them—whether it's sports, fantasy, or science—can make a big difference in how they approach reading. What matters most is that they’re engaged with texts that feel enjoyable and accessible. All that leads to one question. What does your child like reading? Here are a few ideas to figure that out:
Try It: Try ReadWorks Reading Mindset Snapshot. It's a quick survey for students to complete that helps you choose what they might like to read from our library! Supporting your child's reading at home this summer doesn't have to be complicated. A few simple strategies can make a big difference. Even short, consistent efforts can help struggling readers build confidence and make steady progress.
“I have a connection to Yusra! Did you know there was a war in El Salvador before?” - Mariana “When do refugees get to go back home?” - Imani “This is like how in The Librarian of Basra there was fighting in her country too.” - Zion These types of rich comments and questions did not used to occur during my foundational literacy small groups. In fact, in my early days of my professional learning around structured literacy, there wasn’t much student discussion happening in my teaching at all. I was (and am!) completely in awe of the brain-changing power of phonemic awareness and phonics instruction for emergent readers. Especially because my teacher preparation program- like many others- did not address these core components of reading development, learning about structured literacy was completely transformational for me after years of “balanced literacy” practices. I was eager to support students to crack the code with my new toolbox for decoding instruction. The Science of Reading Beyond Phonics As a first grade teacher at the time, my whole group and small group instruction became characterized by phonemic awareness activities, letter:sound correspondence drills, elkonin boxes, word chains, blending lines, spelling dictation, and decodable texts. These are all evidence-based practices that I still use daily, but my overemphasis on them left very little space for comprehension questions, vocabulary instruction, and background knowledge building. I did not fully realize it at the time, but my enthusiastic and well-intentioned approach to foundational skill instruction was still not representative of the full breadth of skills required of a proficient reader. It also was not consistently grounding my students in the ultimate goal of reading-meaning. I’m glad that questions around the potential overemphasis on phonics have risen to the surface in the discourse around the Science of Reading. It’s clear that our students need and deserve reading instruction that addresses all strands of Scarborough’s Reading Rope. Still, that’s easier said than done when as educators, we are contending with jam-packed instructional blocks and countless competing academic priorities. Educators are also not being offered many instructional resources that authentically address both word recognition and language comprehension needs. Luckily, ReadWorks offers FREE nonfiction decodables that do just that! Not All Decodable Texts Are Created Equal  Decodable texts are a powerful component of effective literacy instruction for beginning readers, providing them opportunities to confidently solidify previously taught letter:sound correspondences and gain fluency. As decodables expert and author of Choosing and Using Decodable Texts, Dr. Wiley Blevins, states, “It’s in the application that the learning sticks. Decodable texts are the critical application tool.” But he also reminds and cautions us that decodables must be used for more than just phonics instruction! He shares that decodables can also be instructional tools for vocabulary, comprehension, writing, and syntax (2024). Unfortunately, not all decodables lend themselves to that work. I know my fellow early literacy teachers have all encountered decodable texts that were not designed beyond a lens of a particular phonics skill. I wish this example was more of an exaggeration, but unfortunately, it really isn’t. Why would a hot dog be on a cot in any situation? Why would it even potentially be on a log? Surely we can provide our students with short ‘o’ practice that isn’t quite so nonsensical. ReadWorks nonfiction decodables allow educators to bridge word recognition and language comprehension instruction instead of taking a myopic focus on one or the other. Students are invited to grapple with rich academic vocabulary as they read exciting texts about Simone Biles, extreme weather and faraway lands. As Dr. Julia Lindsey, author of Reading Above the Fray and expert collaborator on ReadWorks decodables, reminds us, the best decodable texts aren’t just decodable – they hold real meaning. They should contain engaging stories and be filled with interesting facts for students to learn. We should not be sacrificing meaning in the name of decodability, and with ReadWorks nonfiction decodables, we don’t have to! Cracking the Code While Making Meaning I now serve as a K-2 Reading Specialist and still provide direct, explicit instruction to target the lower strands of Scarborough’s Rope every day. I have the privilege of witnessing the impact of explicit, systematic phonics instruction on my students’ DIBELS data and in the moments they beam with confidence as they independently decode an entire sentence for the first time. When I use ReadWorks decodables, my students get ample phonemic awareness and phonics practice, rooted in the context of a rich nonfiction text. We warm up by quickly blending and segmenting words with the target skill. This image shows a review of the ‘ea’ and ‘ee’ spellings of long ‘e’ to prepare to read the decodable text about Yusra Mardini. Then we practice our continuous blending with words from the text, as well as review words with previously taught letter:sound correspondences.   ReadWorks nonfiction decodables allow me to provide explicit vocabulary instruction and activate rich background knowledge as I introduce the decodable text. Pre-teaching the word ‘refugees’ and explaining why Yusra Mardini had to leave Syria allowed my students to make brilliant connections to other global conflicts they already knew about, including one in a student’s own home country. We know that like Velcro, new knowledge sticks best to existing knowledge. This type of understanding just isn’t possible with decodables that lack the substance to serve as new pieces of Velcro for our students. This strategic background knowledge building packs an even more powerful punch when paired with ReadWorks Article-A-Day routine, which is topically aligned to the decodables.
My students then look out for the target phonics pattern as they read, while I provide supportive feedback around accuracy and fluency. Finally, we do some encoding as another chance to practice the pattern and orthographically map words from the text. Another added benefit of using a rich decodable text is that students have the opportunity to not just spell, but authentically write. I’ve been blown away by their thoughtful takeaways from these decodable texts. This level of thinking and learning simply cannot be compared to reading about a hot dog on a cot.  There is no question that our students need instruction in how to crack the code. It is their civil right and our responsibility as educators. I’m incredibly grateful to be able to use and create instructional materials that allow me and other early literacy teachers to support our students in becoming codebreakers within the context of rich, meaningful texts that are worthy of being in front of them. You can learn more about how to use ReadWorks decodables and explore a sample lesson plan here. Learn how to use aligned decodables in our new and updated Scope and Sequences page in the previous blog: Scope It Out: A Better Way to Plan with ReadWorks. Written by: Celestina LeeReading Specialist, First Grade Teacher, and ReadWorks Educator Support Specialist While debates swirl around the federal role in education, it is important to remember that we all have at least one shared goal: helping students learn to read at grade-level. Yet, bringing grade-level texts to all readers requires providing supportive instruction for those who are not yet confident grade-level readers, and this level of differentiated instruction is a very real challenge for teachers. ReadWorks has developed research-based resources to help teachers achieve our shared goal of grade-level reading for all. The Grade-level Gap First, let’s look at the research. The negative impact of working with only below-grade-level materials on students’ chances of becoming successful readers is clear. For example, when a fourth-grade student only reads second-grade texts, they have only practiced second-grade skills and, therefore, fall further behind their on-grade peers who are practicing fourth-grade skills (Shanahan, 2020). Researchers have labeled this the “Matthew effect:” the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer (Perc, 2020; Merton, 1968). Students need to work with grade-level texts to encounter the vocabulary, sentence structures, and genres that come with ever-increasing text complexity, even if they are not currently reading independently at that level. However, just because these findings are clear does not mean that it is clear to teachers how to support students in tackling grade-level work. In our 2022 research study with TNTP, we found that, in schools serving more students in poverty, students got less access to grade-level work. This builds on TNTP’s 2018 report The Opportunity Myth where researchers found that students—and especially students of color, those from low-income families, those with mild to moderate disabilities, and English language learners—spent the vast majority of their school days missing out on grade-appropriate assignments. Balancing Expectations and Support One of the key considerations is student motivation because tackling challenging reading is, well, challenging! And as humans, we are not naturally wired to want to do things that we think we might fail at. Motivation researchers have found that a sense of success can help us move past this fear of failure. A 2024 study, one of Edutopia’s top research studies of the year, found that “remembered success” can be a “straightforward, cost-effective way to increase the likelihood that students will choose to engage in and persist at [difficult] tasks” (Finn, Miele, & Wigfield, 2024). Providing easier material at the start or end of an assignment can give students the motivation to tackle more challenging material. How ReadWorks Promotes Grade-level Reading for All ReadWorks has distilled all of this critical research into two straightforward resources for teachers to use in their classrooms the very next day. First, our StepReads center grade-level texts for all readers alongside scaffolded texts as a tool for both accessing the grade-level text and developing a sense of success. When a teacher assigns StepReads, students receive both the grade-level texts and carefully written scaffold texts, the StepReads, that contain all of the content of the original text within less complex syntax and vocabulary. By reading the StepRead, students become familiar with the focus of the original text and more equipped, both with this background knowledge and with their feeling of success, to tackle the grade-level text, either through reading or listening (all ReadWorks texts come with audio). Our Article-A-Day routine also pairs easier texts on the same topic with grade-level texts to give students an on-ramp to tackling more challenging reading. With our simple filters, teachers can readily find the hundreds of Article-A-Day sets with these “boost” articles, and then with our digital classroom, they can assign them directly to the students who need the support. These resources are a win-win-win of research-based instruction:
Written by: Susanne Nobles Ph.D.Chief Academic Officer at ReadWorks ReadWorks is excited to add even more free curricular support for early readers! It is vital to give readers the opportunity to build background knowledge while practicing the letter-sound code that brings reading to life. Enter the new decodables on ReadWorks – a series of short, nonfiction texts designed to enhance curriculum and teacher instruction for early readers. Developed with expert writers and early reading thought leaders, these new decodables enable teachers to harness even more of the high-quality tools and sequences that ReadWorks offers. “The team at ReadWorks is dedicated to the mission of offering free reading comprehension tools for teachers, and it was essential for us to develop specific tools for early readers. The popularity of the fiction decodables aligned to ReadWorks nonfiction articles that we offer in partnership with Whole Phonics provided us a launching pad into writing nonfiction decodables that work in step with our Article-A-Day scope and sequence. Early literacy is the cornerstone of educational success, and we are excited about the positive impact that these new decodables can have on children's reading development," Susanne Nobles, Chief Academic Officer, ReadWorks Here are the powerful features and benefits of the new ReadWorks decodables and how they can be used to revolutionize early literacy education.
2. The Power of Nonfiction for Early Readers Often, knowledge and vocabulary development are sacrificed for early readers because the texts they are reading are solely focused on word recognition. Teachers can deliberately support their students’ knowledge-building by pairing ReadWorks content-rich, listening-level passages with ReadWorks free decodables on the same topic. "We’ve all heard the adage that children first learn to read, and then they read to learn. Yet decades of research show that this is a false dichotomy ... From the very beginning, children can build knowledge of the natural and social world through read-alouds ... [and] build knowledge through texts that they are learning to read themselves" (The Scientific Advisory Committee, Knowledge Matters Campaign). Source  3. Cultivating Reading Comprehension Proficiency These new decodables are particularly unique because they give beginning readers the opportunity to build background knowledge while practicing mastering the code. ReadWorks created decodables that work with our Article-A-Day scope and sequence to help students build language comprehension while they also become proficient with word-level reading. ReadWorks has been honored to have expertise on this project from Dr. Julia Lindsey, creator and author of Beyond Decodables, author of the book Reading Above the Fray, and former elementary teacher turned early literacy consultant. She says, “I’m thrilled for educators to use the new high-quality decodable texts available for free from ReadWorks. ReadWorks’ decodables are nonfiction, informational texts created via the same rigorous vetting process as their other resources. By combining decodability and content (linked to Article-a-Day), these texts have the potential to simultaneously support children’s foundational skills and knowledge development — an all-around win!” ReadWorks continues to pave the way for accessible, engaging, and transformative free resources that improve reading comprehension to reach every grade level, school, and district. Decodables for first grade and kindergarten are available now, and second grade texts are being written. Teachers can find decodables within our Article-A-Day Scope & Sequence on ReadWorks. Be sure to register for our upcoming webinar Fostering Joy in Early Readers, How to Use New decodables on ReadWorks on August 15th. Written by:
Melissa Calder, Director of Marketing and Engagement Susanne Nobles, Chief Academic Officer |
