1. Improving reading comprehension and fluency skills.
Megan Urlichs - Manor Lakes College
Founder – Wyndham Teach, Connect, Learn
Thanks for having me today. I hope you all get something out of todays presentation that you can take back to classroom and use next week. My name is Megan I currently teach grade 5 at Manor Lakes College out Werribee way. I have been at the college since 2010 which was our second year. We are a p12 college with 2 learning houses for students with additional learning needs we currently have an enrolment of with predicted enrolments upwards of 3000 before new schools are built. I am also the founder of Wyndham Teach, Connect, Learn a professional learning network for teachers in the City of Wyndham and the surrounding suburbs to share and learn from each other. I run school holiday workshops for teachers and a holiday program for Girls in STEM.

2. Presentation Goals
To explore a range of reading websites that have been proven to improve reading comprehension skills across the curriculum.
To explore Flipgrid as a tool to provide teacher and peer feedback to improve reading fluency.
The goals for todays presentation is to show teachers how they can use websites and apps in conjunction with traditional reading methods. The websites discussed today can be used as a reading session warmups, reading groups activity, link with science and humanities studies, improving general knowledge, independent and shared reading.
We will also explore flipgrid and how it can be used to assess fluency and students can self assess and get feedback about their reading.

3. Programs we will explore today
Digital Readworks
Study Ladder
Kids News
BTN – Behind the news
Google Classroom
Links to traditional methods
Flipgrid
Question at end of list to see if any one has used or is familiar with any of the programs.

4. Digital Readworks ReadWorks Digital
Lexile levels
Easy to Differentiate for reading groups or individually
Strategy and Topic choices
Easy record keeping
Only setback is stories contain American Content
Digital readworks is free and set up in lexile levels and F&P. you can assign a text to the whole class or differentiate for reading groups. You can choose topics that link t what you are studying at the moment or front load information (we do humanities for ½ term and science for the other ½) so we are doing science in the second half of this term so I will put in Space related texts to front load information and build knowledge before we start the topic. Lets have a look at the site and how it works. Click link and discuss

5. Study Ladder Australian Curriculum Linked K- 6
Set tasks for whole class or to differentiate for groups and individually
Assessment and progress reports
Discuss the site – Australian and linked to the curriculum. It has maths, reading, science and more and can be set up for independent activities and reading group activities. I also use as an early finisher activity. Explore the site.

6. Kids News Herald Sun written in student friendly language.
Levelled by complexity of language or content
Range of comprehension tasks not just question and answer
Archived articles with set of comprehension questions and writing tasks
daily to teacher with upcoming stories and linked information
Free for the remainder of this year and then $2 per student in 2018
Discuss and then explore

7. BTN – http://www.abc.net.au/btn/
Student focused
Weekly stories
Current affairs and student voice stories
Questions prepared and link to each story with ability to extend/go further
Links to other schools and competitions
Visual text, Whole class discussions or individually on iPads, Note taking (AVID strategies) Summarise, Questions Connections with country school, fireworks competition

8. Google Classroom
Traditional Pen and Paper comprehension activities made digital to complete in Google classroom
Stored in one place for easy feedback and assessment
Although it is still just a worksheet on a computer it saves paper, is easy to set up and be organised weeks ahead of time. Warm ups and activities for regular feedback and assessment

9. Reading Groups - Linking the traditional and the digital
Guided reading - Students are also recorded to provide student/teacher feedback
Shared Reading - Listening to each other read and questioning about reading, feedback for improvement
Independent reading - 20 minutes daily with 5 students reading aloud to the teacher
Digital websites as a reading group activity - individual or in pairs and read aloud together. Websites have text to talk capabilities.
Daily teacher Modeling - Class read aloud

10. Flipgrid - Feedback and Fluency Assessment
Read F & P levelled text aloud and recorded for fluency
Book Reviews
Text summaries
Maths Exit Tickets
Research Presentations
Global Connections
Flipgrid – I am a certified educator and ambassador. GO into program to discuss

12. Contact Details
Megan Urlichs - Grade 5 Teacher, Manor Lakes College, Victoria
Facebook - Wyndham Teach, Connect, -