This reading platform aims at overhauling and changing the way kids study and the way educators teach. Programmed questions and instructions pop up while a kid is reading a text from the class. Using this tool, educators can personalize the reading experience for their learners; it also helps them to create and share the contents of their study digitally.

Website: https://www.curriculet.com/

What Users Love About the App

“Great customization features help teachers boost students’ close reading skills with text checkpoints that test comprehension.”

“As a tool for annotating and enhancing reading materials for students, Curriculet is second to none. The ability to add not only text annotations but questions, images, and video make Curriculet unique. I especially love that students can add their own annotations as they read and respond to the text. This tool would be a fantastic addition to any literature classroom, and for teaching students to read analytically in the content areas as well!”

“I have my seniors re-read a text they read as freshmen. This time, they’re looking at it with a much more critical eye, examining the nuances of the descriptive language. Curriculet was helpful because it let me target certain areas of the text to have students stop and examine the language. I could also target and pinpoint what I wanted them to examine. Because of the way it’s set up, it made student interaction with the text more immediate than pencil/paper analysis.”

“Some definite strengths of this product are that it allows for open-ended grading and interactive annotations in reading mode. The program includes image-rich assessments and data reports for teachers that show student time on tasks, the homework they’ve completed and also gives class averages. The interface reminds me of Google Drive, very clean-looking. I like the fact that the program has ready-to-use Curriculet units, which you can use or edit to add your own content to as well. You can also create your own, original Curriculet for your students to use.”

“I think it is an excellent teaching tool, especially since I can modify the questions/annotations/quizzes that are in each article. It ensures students are meeting the ELA CC standards: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1—Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences are drawn from the text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.4—Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone). Teaching to these standards is often difficult in science, but this site integrates them very well.”

What Users Dislike About the App

“One of the negatives is that so far, the company only has classic novels (although they have a good amount of non-fiction), so if an English teacher is interested in using this, the product does not contain any young adult literature or common novels taught in grades 4-8. It has more high school-level novels. Overall, this is one of the best e-reader, curriculum-based products I’ve seen. I would use it in my own classroom, but there is just not enough middle school curriculum on it just yet.”

“Students have to enroll themselves. I had them do this as a whole class activity, but students coming later in the year have to do it on their own. I would prefer adding students myself as a whole class.”

“Curriculum provides teachers with an outstanding tool to help their students in meeting the literacy standards associated with the new Common Core State Standards. Students can join the class created by the teacher but have to do so themselves as the teacher cannot simply create accounts for them. I know that this tool is new, but their current choices of available content is lacking. I hope that this grows over time, but the ability for a teacher to upload their own content does help to combat this issue.”

“As a librarian, I would love to share this resource with my teachers—if only it worked.”

“A recommendation tool for related reading could increase personalization and engagement; adding paid features can get pricey fast.”