This week's tech tip is a tool that can help teachers with differentiation in the classroom. Providing texts that are differentiated for students based on reading level or language proficiency is often one of the most daunting tasks when trying to differentiate a lesson. This is because t is time consuming- either because you are scouring high and low for a text that covers the same content in more simple language (which can also be expensive if you do find it), or because you end up rewriting it yourself (which takes time and thought).
This week's tech tip is to use ReWordify. You simply copy and paste the text of your reading into the box on the website and click "ReWordify Text". The computer program usually rewords the text fairly accurately, simplifying some of the most difficult words to yield a more readable text. Even cooler, you can print out a number of "learning activities" based on the text you entered. My favorite is the vocabulary list with definitions- a list of all the "rewordified" words and their definitions.
Sometimes, in order to get the text perfect for your very lowest students, you may still have to make additional changes yourself, but rewordify can still be a great starting point, making the process much easier.
Why this is great for ELLs:
In order for our ELLs to acquire language and content, they need to be provided with comprehensible input. Rewordify makes it easier for teachers to ensure that students are still getting the same content knowledge while presenting that knowledge in a comprehensible way. It's a win-win for teacher and student, making the differentiated classroom that much easier to manage.
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