Discovery Education

Discovery Education (https://www.discoveryeducation.com) is an online platform offering information on technology and science fields. This website also provides excellent literacy resources, as it features a curriculum that integrates STEM content into an interactive experience for students to engage with online.

In addition to being a valuable literacy resource, it’s important to remember that students don’t just read through traditional text—they also read and communicate through coding. This website offers coding practice, which is itself a form of communication and reading in the digital world. For students interested in coding, this website would be an excellent resource.

*Contribution by Anthony Ponce

The Free Reading Program

The Free Reading Program (https://freereadingprogram.com) is a literacy website designed for users to create accounts for their students, providing them with opportunities to complete various literacy activities aimed at improving their skills. The website offers a wide range of activities, from foundational skills to Level 6 content. Each level includes diverse tasks, such as matching words and reading passages followed by comprehension questions.

Users must create an account to access all the materials available on the site. Signing up requires only an email, and accounts are free. Once registered, users can access resources tailored to the grade level they teach or the reading/literacy level of their students. Teachers or account holders can add students to their account and assign passwords for student logins. The website provides activities targeting various literacy skills, including sight words, which feature word lists and basic vocabulary. Additionally, students can read stories accompanied by interactive activities.

One notable feature of The Free Reading Program is the "play" button, which reads text aloud. This feature is particularly helpful for students struggling with reading and literacy. At the end of each activity, a star rating displays the number of attempts and the percentage of correct answers, making it an excellent tool for tracking progress and evaluating improvements in students’ reading and literacy skills.

As users explore higher levels, the activities become increasingly specific. For example, Level 5 includes vocabulary-building tasks focusing on homophones, homonyms, antonyms, figurative language, easily confused words, prefixes, and suffixes. These activities are particularly beneficial for students needing additional practice in these areas.

This website serves as an excellent supplemental resource for teachers to integrate into classroom activities. With its extensive features and diverse reading activities, The Free Reading Program supports students at all levels, whether they are working to improve their literacy skills or seeking extra practice to enhance and enrich their abilities.

*Contribution by Joanna Ponce