CommonLit: Let's Build Better Readers

Photo credit to Rich Grundy: link to image attribution

@LisaBerghoff

Having a background in special education is fascinating. I don't have a particular curricular focus that is the driving force behind what I do. I like to think of it as teaching kids how to learn as opposed to teaching kids content. Since this is the case, I have spent years honing my craft at adapting other people's curriculum, and in doing so I have realized how text-heavy school learning is. Think about the lessons you taught today. How were your students presented with material? Did you verbally tell it to them in lecture format? Did they read about it? And how did you know that your students mastered whatever you wanted them to learn? Did they write? Did they speak in class? 

Could you teach the same class tomorrow without using language? Of course not. Language is rooted in pretty much everything we do in education and the language often comes in written form. Imagine if reading is difficult for you, as it is for so many students. It would be a challenge to learn, even if you are capable of mastering the concepts, if reading is a struggle. Regardless of your content area, we are all literacy teachers. Fortunately, there are tools we can use that can help our students improve their reading skills.

CommonLit is a totally free online platform that provides teachers and students with an extensive library of leveled texts ranging from grades 3-12. You can search by genre, theme, lexile, and even literary device. One feature that I really like is the book pairing tab. If you are teaching a book CommonLit can provide supplemental reading passages that can offer background information to your students.  There are also text sets that cover specific topics. There are options for printing if you prefer to assign hard copies to your students. Otherwise, you sign up using your Google credentials and then give your students the code so they can join your class. 

Once you have your account set up, you can browse the library for text that works for your class. You can preview the entire text as well as the guided questions, assessment questions, and discussion that goes along with that text. 

Each text begins with a short introduction that gives your students some background information.  It also prompts students for specific aspects of the reading to pay attention to. There are accessibility features built in to the passages in CommonLit. Students can have the text read aloud to them. They can also adjust the font size, look up and translate words, and highlight parts of the text. 

Here is CommonLit's 2 minute video explaining how it works. 

Here is the first part of Dr. Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream speech as it appears in CommonLit. As you can see, there are guided notes for students to click on along the way. There is also related media that students can view, and a parent guide which lists information about the text as well as questions and discussion prompts parents can use at home. In addition, vocabulary words are provided for students and they can choose to work in English or Spanish. 

On  the teacher dashboard, you can give students feedback, assign texts, and view student progress. Once your students have completed some assignments, you can see how they're doing. Here is an example of student progress. 

Image from CommonLit.org

Getting up and running with CommonLit is simple. Setup your account or log in, choose a lesson, share it with your students, and then see how they do. When you are assigning text, you can choose guided reading mode. This mode will present students with questions as they read. Once they answer a prompt, more of the text will appear. This is wonderful for students who may get distracted or easily overwhelmed with too much text on a page. 

CommonLit has earned a five-star rating from Common Sense Education for it's simple to use features, expansive text library, and built in accessibility.  If you ever have students reading in your class, regardless of the content, I would encourage you to take a look at CommonLit. 

Give it a try! As always, please let me know if I can be of assistance.