Helping Every Student Tackle Challenging Texts – 2026 ReadWorks Impact Story Contest Winner

​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.

​One memorable example was our work with historical nonfiction. After reading articles about Hoovervilles during the Great Depression, students were able to discuss the causes and effects of poverty, analyze how people survived difficult circumstances, and write informational essays using evidence from the text. Students who initially struggled to write more than a few sentences were able to organize their ideas into complete paragraphs using facts and vocabulary from the articles.

The impact of ReadWorks went beyond improved reading skills. It helped create curiosity in my classroom. Students began asking thoughtful questions, making connections between texts, and seeing themselves as researchers and historians. They learned that reading is not only about answering questions—it is about understanding the world around them.

As a teacher, I value resources that are research-based, easy to implement, and truly meet the needs of diverse learners. ReadWorks has become an important part of my literacy instruction because it provides students with opportunities to access rigorous content while receiving the support they need to be successful.

After more than two decades in education, I continue to believe that the greatest moments in teaching happen when students realize, “I can do this.” ReadWorks has helped many of my students reach that moment. It has transformed hesitant readers into more confident learners who are willing to tackle challenging texts, share their ideas, and use evidence to support their thinking.

For my students, ReadWorks has been more than just a reading resource—it has been a bridge to confidence, knowledge, and a love of learning.

Written by: Colleen Perez