Teach Secondary - Issue 13.2

R E V I E W teachwire.net/secondary 80 Reading interventions are among the most complex activities in a secondary setting to get right. If you’re in need of a programme that’s proven successful at improving the reading abilities of young people, look no further than Reading Plus. I’ve seen the power of Reading Plus first-hand in numerous settings, in terms of improving reading ability and more importantly, reading confidence. It remains one of the select few ways in which I’ve seen reading develop across a school, with almost zero cost in terms of time and workload for classroom teachers. Reading Plus gets young people reading in a way that builds self-efficacy and maturity. The platform has a simple aim – to develop more accomplished readers. It does this by being essentially bespoke to each individual user. Upon logging in for the first time, learners undertake an initial baseline test which matches them to one of 14 levels aligned to their reading ability. Each level has 70 to 80 fiction and non-fiction texts assigned to it. After each reading activity, the algorithm selects the most appropriate text for students to tackle next, based on live data. This makes the program hugely efficient at responding to learning needs, while requiring no input from teachers with respect to marking or assessment. Reading Plus actually makes children read better . The platform’s ‘guided window’ feature trains learners in how fast they ought to read with the aid of a moving box, thus reducing both the extraneous load for readers as they encounter new pages and any temptation they might have to skip ahead. What’s more, it gradually speeds up, stretching readers to increase their words per minute reading rate over time. In this way, Reading Plus encourages the building of visual skills, getting readers to develop their reading muscles and train their eyes in moving effectively and efficiently when scanning words – a particularly helpful feature for weaker readers and EAL learners who may be used to reading from right to left. Reading Plus is also designed to build vocabulary confidence and expose learners to a plethora of different words. To that end, its highly accessible and engaging vocabulary section boasts 2,500 words. Automated reading programs are, however, often criticised for their non- individualist, one-to-one humanistic input. Here, however, teachers are easily able to effectively target and intervene with learners as they progress. Data concerning each student’s fluency, words per minute, accuracy and comprehension is readily available via a highly functional and navigable interface, thus keeping teachers informed as to precisely what each learner is struggling with in a matter of seconds, rather than through laborious marking. An online platform that provides valuable insights into students’ reading abilities and can help them become more efficient and enthusiastic readers over time A T A G L ANCE ENG L I SH • A web-based reading platform • Designed to help readers become more efficient and effective • Adaptive intelligence matches learners to texts and continues to do so throughout • Huge range of fiction and non-fiction texts • Online nature makes it easily accessible for students and teachers alike REVI EW BY ADAM RICHES ...you are looking for an all-inclusive reading package that enables tailored reading experiences for all learners. P I CK UP I F . . . Reading Plus Impressive assessment facilities to ensure reading material is pitched at appropriate levels for each learner A huge range of texts that ensures learners will be exposed to many different types of reading Online functionality and usability that’s second to none Contains content applicable for use at KS1 through to KS4 V E RD I C T For more details visit www.readingsolutionsuk.co.uk