Blog #6: i-Ready

Every day in my internship classroom we take the students to the computer lab to spend 30 minutes on i-Ready. i-Ready is a website that provides both reading and math instruction to students. At this time, we are just utilizing the reading portion of the program. What makes i-Ready different from many other educational computer programs is the way that it is able to differentiate instruction for the students. At the very beginning of the year, when my students first signed onto i-Ready, they were given a diagnostic test that determined where they were at in their literacy instruction. The test measured several different categories including: phonological awareness, phonics, high-frequency, words, vocabulary, and comprehension of both fiction and informational texts. The test then determined their “level” in these categories. They could be on, below, or above level. With this information the program is able to give lessons to students in the areas in which they most need help. For example, my students who are below level are getting practice with phonics and high-frequency words. My students who are on-level are getting more practice with vocabulary and comprehension of texts. Also, the students wear headphones, so not only are they seeing the information, but they are also hearing it read to them. This is especially important for my students who are not strong readers.

The way the program is set up, every new concept is a new lesson. For example, a lesson could be about prefixes or suffixes. There is a consistent pattern to the lessons. First the students are given a tutorial of what they are going to learn about and do, and then they are given the opportunity to practice. Then they are quizzed on the information; if they do well on the quiz then the lesson has been completed and they move on to another concept. If they do not do well on the quiz the lesson will be repeated.

My students love i-Ready. I often say that it is the only time of the day where they are completely quiet and focused. The program truly is highly engaging for students. The graphics are colorful and kid-friendly. The lessons are interesting to them because they are meaningful. Students will often call me over to their computer to show me how a lesson they are working on is something that we have recently talked about in our small groups or as a whole class. i-Ready also has other features that keeps students interest high. For example, the students are able to pick out their own background for their home page- there is everything from sports teams to animals. Also, they earn coins by completing lessons and are able to use these coins to play fun games within the program.

As a teacher, my favorite part about i-Ready is the reports that we are able to view and utilize. Within the “teacher” part of the program we are able to pull up information about the students and how they are doing in the program. On one page we are able to see the class as a whole, who’s on level, who’s below, etc. Then by clicking on the names of individual students we are able to pull up detailed reports about the areas in which they are excelling and the areas in which they are struggling. These are very specific and even provide ideas for classroom lessons, done during small group time, which would be beneficial to the student. For example, when looking at the report of one of my students I can see that she able to decode one-syllable words with both shorts and long vowels sounds. I can also see that she is having a hard time with decoding words that have inflected endings like “reaching” and “tested.” Knowing this I can print out a scripted lesson about the issue to use during small-group with her and other students who are having the same problem.

The use of technology in the classroom is so important in this day and age. In , Cunningham and Allington (2015) discuss how a wide variety of formats need to be used when teaching students how to be the best readers they can be. They also mention how important it is that “skills and strategies are explicitly taught” (Cunningham & Allington, 2015, pg. 10). i-Ready does both of these things by allowing students the opportunity to learn all aspects of literacy, from phonological awareness to comprehension, on the computer using activities, games, and assessment.

The ability of i-Ready to differentiate instruction is something I have never seen before in a computer program and something that I think is also hugely important. Cunningham and Allington (2015) also discuss in the need to differentiate instruction, especially for students who are struggling. There is only so much time in the day in the classroom and while I know that my CT and I are doing the best we can to reach every student, every day, it is reassuring to know that they are getting help from another source too.

My hope for the future is that my students continue to show such high levels of engagement with i-Ready. I also hope that we will one day soon be able to implement the math portion of the program, to see if that helps my struggling mathematicians as much as its reading counterpart has helped my struggling readers. Only time will tell.

Addresses FEAPS 2 i

References

Cunningham, P., & Allington, R. (2015). Classrooms That Work: They Can All Read and Write (6th ed.). New York, New York: Pearson.

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