Individualized, Web-based lessons provide scaffolded instruction with embedded practice, assessment, remediation, and review to meet each student at their level.
Take an interactive walkthrough of The Digital Experience at http://flexliteracy.com/walkthrough.
There are roughly 5,000 activities throughout FLEX Literacy that teach more than 100 English Language Arts objectives. The activities in each lesson, guided by animated instructional hosts, provide daily practice or support the student's individualized skill sequence.
The Digital Experience is self-managing and self-paced with adaptive opportunities for acceleration and remediation. It is made up of 560 lessons, and accommodates students with Lexile scores from Beginning Reader to 1300L. Lessons are comprised of the following activities:
Daily Activities
-Fluency
-Vocabulary
-Reading Practice
-Word Study
Individualized Skill Building Activities
-Foundational Skills
-Comprehension
-Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics
-Literacy Analysis
-Text Elements
-And More
Each lesson provides scaffolded instruction to help students develop specific skills, including foundational skills; comprehension; grammar, usage and mechanics; literary analysis; text elements; and vocabulary and language.
Model
FLEX Literacy is unique in that it actually teaches skills within a digital setting, as opposed to simply providing supplemental practice. In each lesson, the student builds various skills which are instructed using the gradual release pedagogy of Model, Guide, Monitor. The Model activity seen here shows the student how to identify the theme, moral, or lesson in a narrative text.
Guide
FLEX Literacy is unique in that it actually teaches skills within a digital setting, as opposed to simply providing supplemental practice. In each lesson the student builds various skills which are instructed using the gradual release pedagogy of Model, Guide, Monitor. The Guide activity seen here helps the student identify and use adverbs.
Monitor
FLEX Literacy is unique in that it actually teaches skills within a digital setting, as opposed to simply providing supplemental practice. In each lesson the student builds various skills which are instructed using the gradual release pedagogy of Model, Guide, Monitor. The Monitor activity seen here asks the student to practice making nouns and pronouns agree; a skill he/she learned in previous Model and Guide activities.
On a daily basis, each student receives practice in five activity types, including fluency, vocabulary preview and practice, word study, and reading practice.
Fluency
Lessons regularly assess students’ fluency by having them record themselves reading a passage aloud. Each passage appears four times, including a cold read, modeled read, silent read with comprehension questions, and hot read. Teachers can review and grade the recording in FLEXWorks. The Fluency activity seen here is a Cold read.
Vocabulary
In each lesson, the student is introduced to three new vocabulary words in a Vocabulary Preview activity like the one seen here. Throughout the remainder of the lesson, the student encounters these words in a variety of activities. At the end of the lesson, the student will complete a Vocabulary Review that includes the three newly learned words along with three previously learned words.
Word Study
In each lesson, the student encounters one or more word study activities which provide instruction and practice with prefixes, suffixes, and root words. Each series of activities introduces one or more prefixes, suffixes, or root words, and then provides question items in which the students identify a word that uses the correct prefix, suffix, or root. The Word Study activity seen here reviews the root words “photo” and “chron”.
Reading Practice
In each lesson, the student encounters a number of assessments, including a Progress Monitoring Activity that updates his or her Lexile score, a Fluency Activity which allows students to record themselves reading a passage, and skill-based Mastery Checks which confirms skill proficiency. The adaptive nature of The Digital Experience automatically triggers acceleration and remediation of skills when necessary. The Reading Practice Master Check seen here assesses the student’s ability to analyze a selection and choose the appropriate words to complete the sentences.
Assessment and performance data collected by both the teacher and system provide a balance of quantitative and qualitative data. Embedded assessments tailor instruction to meet individual student needs, and provide acceleration and remediation opportunities based on performance. FLEXWorks progress reporting informs teachers and administrators on a student, classroom, grade, and district level.
Assessments include:
Diagnostic Placement Test
Fluency and Lexile Assessments
Mastery Checks
Benchmark Tests
Student Self-Assessment
Benchmark Test
Mastery Check
The game-like interface and navigation of The Digital Experience drives student participation. The experience keeps interest levels high by providing ongoing encouragement and engagement as students progress through instructional activities. Students are motivated with reward points and kept on task by limiting the amount of time allotted to customize their avatar and decorate their personal rooms.
Customizable Avatars
Game-like experience
Animations and Videos
Instructional Games
Engaging Activities
Personal "room" to decorate
This sampler gives a look inside both the assessment resources and differentiated instruction resources books. Included in the assessment resources book are program entrance/exit strategies, student self-assessment, critical thinking applications, mastery checks, and scope and sequence documents. Included in the differentiated instruction resources book are individualized instruction lessons, Decodable Reader support, English Language Learner strategies and lessons, and contrastive analysis charts.
This printed guide provides an overview of the Digital, Print, and Project Experiences and how they interact, as well as the research base for the program, guidelines for effective implementation, and user instructions to get started with FLEXWorks.
