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Get With The Programme – Use These Digital Resources To Boost Your Pupils’ Enjoyment Of Reading

Rather than being the enemy of literacy as some assume, technology can be its enabler, as Martin McKay explains…

Martin McKay
by Martin McKay
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Technology can make a powerful difference for secondary students who struggle with dyslexia and other literacy challenges.

Text-to-speech programmes let pupils hear what’s on screen being read aloud by their computer or tablet. Talking dictionaries can boost comprehension, while other tools like picture dictionaries are a big help for young people whose first language isn’t English, making it easier to understand a tricky or unfamiliar word.

Assistive technology is like the stabilisers on a bike, giving gentle support and encouragement to make a learner’s reading journey more confident. There’s firm evidence for the effectiveness of these tools. US research shows that word prediction software encourages school pupils to write twice as much, for example. What’s more, their writing tends to include significantly longer and more mature words.

But where’s a good place to start if you’re looking for suitable online content to help pupils practice reading, either on their own or with supervision?

Choose your content

The first obvious answer is to offer material that children are enthusiastic about and can relate to. If a pupil is engaged with the content they’re reading, they’re vastly more likely to spend time challenging themselves. With the right content – and the right supports – reading suddenly becomes a pleasure rather than a boring, confusing or stressful activity, even for the least confident student.

Topical news and current affairs stories are an excellent way to grab a child’s imagination, and fortunately there are plenty of sites out there offering content that’s tailored for younger readers. A favourite with many teachers is Newsela – a regularly-updated resource that gathers together hundreds of articles from respected outlets like Associated Press, on subjects ranging from politics, science and sport to the arts.

A handy feature of the site is the ability to click a button and instantly see four different versions of the same article re-written for different reading levels. Don’t be put off by the inevitable Americanisms and US spellings; most kids take them in their stride. If you like, a useful trick is to copy the article text into a Word document and then let your spell-checker take care of all those ‘colors’, ‘meters’ and ‘favorites’.

Another excellent free resource, also from the US, is ReadWorks.org, which offers a huge range of non-fiction and literary passages that are ideal for online sharing. It’s easy to browse by lexile level, grade/reading age or topic. You can also pick passages that pinpoint particular skills or strategies, like ‘character’, ‘genre’, ‘author’s purpose’ or ‘drawing conclusions’. Better still, this non-profit site is funded by voluntary donations, so it’s refreshingly free of irritating adverts.

Geared to younger pupils, UK-based Discovery Education Espresso offers a vast choice of curriculum-matched content up to KS2 – though it’s valuable for some older pupils, too – and provides access to a huge selection of stories, fact files, news bulletins and more.

While site access is subscription-based, there’s also a smattering of free literacy resources to try.

Unleash their imagination

It’s horses for courses with every student, and there are some pupils who just aren’t going to get motivated by news or current affairs. A rich alternative vein to explore is the world of fan fiction. Characters from Harry Potter and Sherlock Holmes to Batman and the Twilight saga have generated a massive volume of free third-party content that many younger readers eagerly devour.

Sites like FanFaction are bursting at the seams with thousands of works inspired by film and TV, cartoons, comics, books and graphic novels. It’s a great resource, but one that comes with an obvious word of warning. You’ll definitely want to browse yourself and identify content that’s appropriate before sharing with your students.

Compared with just a few years ago, today’s technology provides vastly improved support for pupils with literacy challenges. But don’t forget that any framework is only as good as the content it’s used to deliver – so don’t be afraid to use your own imagination and spend some time tracking down material that’s sure to be a hit with the most reluctant readers.

Martin McKay is chief technology officer at Texthelp; for more information, visit www.texthelp.com or follow @texthelp

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