Whooo's Reading Review for Teachers - Common Sense Media

Whooo's Reading is a reading website designed to help students think critically about what they read. Students log whatever book they're reading and then answer ... ForParents ForEducators ForAdvocates UsermenuSignin Join Share WebsitereviewbyPatriciaMonticelloKievlan,CommonSenseEducation| UpdatedApril2021 Visitwebsite Whooo'sReading Read,write,andsharewithinnovativeindependentreadingplatform Visitwebsite Learningrating Seefullreview Communityrating Notyetreviewed Writeareview Privacyrating Notyetrated ExpertevaluationbyCommonSense Grades 4–8 Subjects&Skills EnglishLanguageArts,CriticalThinking Greatfor InstructionalDesign,Differentiation,Assessment,FormativeAssessment Price:  Free,Paid Platforms:  Website Seehowwerateandreview Takealookinside6images Pros:Open-endedquestionsinvitestudentstoreadcritically,andsharingtoolshelpstudentsrecommendfavoritereadstotheirclassmates. Cons:Avatarsandrewardsmaylackappealforolderstudents;auto-generatedquestionscanbetoogeneral. BottomLine:Withafewthoughtfultweaksonthepartofteachers,thiscanbeausefultoolforbuildingaclassroomcultureofactiveindependentreading. HowCanITeachwithThisTool? WhatIsIt? IsItGoodforLearning? HowCanITeachwithThisTool? Whooo'sReadinghaspaidandfreeversions,sotakeaspinthroughthefeaturesandseewhatsuitsyourclassroombest.Also,sincethisisabrowser-basedtoolthatrequiresinternetaccess,thinkabouthowyoumightexpectstudentstologinandusethetool,especiallyifyourstudentsdon'thavereliableinternetaccessathome.  Thistoolwillworkbestinupperelementaryandmiddleschoolgrades;checkoutthedeveloper'sthree-weekchecklistthatoffersstep-by-stephintsforintegratingthetoolintoyourclassroom.Youcanlearnmoreaboutcreatingcustomquestionsandtuningquizzestomatchyourcurriculum,likeincludingquestionsonvocabularyandidentifyingthemainideainatext.Youmightalsoconsiderbuildinginclassroomtimetodiscussreadingthatstudentshaveloggedfortheweek.Itcouldbefuntodisplaystudents'submissionstothebuilt-insocialnetwork("Owlstagram")ordiscusstheirfavoriterecentreads.There'sgreatpotentialheretohelpyourstudentsdeveloptheirwritingskillswhileyoubuildacultureofindependentreaders. Continuereading Showless WhatIsIt? Whooo's Readingisareadingwebsitedesignedtohelpstudentsthinkcriticallyaboutwhattheyread.Studentslogwhateverbookthey'rereadingandthenansweropen-endedquestions,writereviews,andanswerbriefreadingcomprehensionquestions.Studentscansubmittheirresponsesbytyping orspeaking,astandoutfeatureforstudentswithlimitedtypingskillsandlearningdifferences.Thewebsitehasanautomaticgradingsystemthatevaluatesstudentresponsesforlengthandcomplexity,andteacherscanalsoevaluatestudents'responsesandsendfeedback.Studentscanseewhatotherstudentsarereadingthroughtheirclassshelfand getsuggestionsonnewbookstoread.Studentsearncoinsforcompletedactivities,whichtheycanusetocustomizetheirin-appavatar.Tosetthingsup,teacherscreateanaccountandcreateaclassroster,afterwhichtheycansetupcustomopen-endedquestionsfortheirstudents.Theteacherdashboardoffersbasicdataonstudentreadingandresponses;paidsubscriptionsoffermoreopportunitiesforreportingandcustomization.Atthetimeofthisreview,therewerethreesubscriptiontiersavailable,eachwithmorefeaturesforreportingandcustomization. There'safreeversion,plussilverandgoldoptions,eachofwhichhaveabasepriceplusanaddedfeeperclassroom. IsItGoodforLearning? Thisisasolidtoolforsupportingreadingcomprehension,writingdevelopment,andstudentagency. Whileit'snosubstituteforteacher-guided,book-specificactivities,the focusonstudent-selectedbooks andwrittenresponsescan be avaluable,supplementalcomponentofanindependentreadingprogram.Foryoungerstudentsinparticular,Whooo'sReading encouragesstudentstoreadmoreandto thoughtfullyreflect onwhattheyread.Thebigsellingpointisthatthissystemfocusesonopen-endedresponsesratherthanmultiple-choicequestions,andit'sanicewaytoencouragestudentstothinkcritically,reflect,anddeveloptheirthinkingaboutwhattheyread.Somanyothertoolsforreadingbogthingsdownwithstalebooksand abatteryofknowledgecheckquestions,butWhooo'sReadingintentionallyavoidsthat. Thatbeingsaid,someoftheautomatedfeaturescanhamperatrulypersonalizedexperience.Theautomaticallygeneratedquestionscanbeabittoogeneral,andtheautomaticscoringfeaturecansometimesreward responsesthatdon'treallyshowdeepunderstandingofabook.Teacherscaneditthesescores,ofcourse,butthisillustratesthesite'smainlimitation.Thissiteworksbestwhenteachersbuildonitsautomatedfeaturesbyaddingtheirownwritingprompts,orbetteryetby invitingstudentstocreatetheirown,book-specificquestions.Thismeansabitmoreworkfortheteacher,butitalsomightofferaclearerpictureofstudents'readingcomprehensionandoverallprogress.Plus,kidsaresmart:They'lllikelybemoreengagediftheysensethattheirteachersplantoreviewtheirresponsesratherthanleavingthegradinguptotherobots. Overall,thisisahelpfulwaytodevelopclosereadingandsupportpassionateindependentreading, especiallyifteacherstailoritsfeaturestofittheirstudents. LearningRating OverallRating Engagement Avatarsandfunvisualswillappealto youngerreaders,andthefocusonstudent-selectedtextsmakesreadingfeelmorefunthanforced. Pedagogy Whilesomebuilt-inquestionscanfeelabittoogeneral,theiropen-endedformatisagreatwaytohelpstudentsbuildreadingcomprehensionanddevelopcriticalthinkingskills. Support There'satonofinfotohelpteachersgetstartedandlotsofcustomizationfeatures.Voicerecognitionandaudiosupportarestandoutfeatures. CommonSensereviewer PatriciaMonticelloKievlanFoundation/nonprofitmember Seehowwerateandreview CommunityRating Noonehasreviewedthistoolyet.Bethefirsttoshareyourthoughts. Addyourrating PrivacyRating Thistoolhasnotyetbeenratedbyourprivacyteam.Learnmoreaboutourprivacyratings ExploreOurFavoriteTools TopInteractiveWhiteboardApps Thinkingandpresentationtoolsthatmakesharingandcollaboratingeasy. GradesPre-K–12 Communication&Collaboration,Creativity BestAppsandWebsitesfortheFlippedClassroom Helpstudentsbrushuponkeycontentathomesothattheycometoclasseagertoclarify,explore,andusewhatthey'velearned. GradesK–12 LessonPlanningAppsandWebsites Paperless,painlessplanningforteachers. GradesPre-K–12 Getweeklyupdatesonthelatestdigitaltoolsandteachingstrategies. Seeourprivacypolicy.