Good basic site for helping students learn difficult text

For middle school students, who are still reading primarily novels within the English curriculum, Rewordify is truly a benefit. Its algorithm underscores difficult vocabulary words and surely aids reading comprehension. However, from my use, the algorithm concerning high school level reading material truly leaves something to be desired. Words are replaced with definitions that make reading awkward and sometimes even more difficult than the original text. The technology, then, becomes something distracting rather than beneficial to learning. Moreover, it would be better if the website had some sort of scanning feature for documents and readings. For particularly dense texts, I cannot imagine requiring my students to type in the entire text when they are struggling to ascertain its meaning. As mentioned in the "How I Use It" section, the website could also be improved dramatically so that students can navigate it easily. It is a great starting point to a problem that needs to be addressed in the classroom, yet it surely has its flaws.

Rewordify is a great tool to help differentiate reading and build vocabulary for every student. The extensive library and cut-and-paste options make it easy to adjust your classroom readings for students at every level. I like the settings options that allow me to adjust the readings to five levels of difficulty as well as how the text is changed. I can choose to have difficult words replace (click on them to see the original) or highlighted (click to see the definition). I prefer to have the original with a simplified word in brackets after it. I can also have the two versions displayed side-by-side or just have a column of vocabulary words and definitions. I just received some PD about reaching my ELL students. I realized the need to provide alternate readings so I can assess if they are having issues at the vocabulary level or at the content comprehension level. Rewordify makes it a ton easier to offer adjusted readings at just the right level. (I also love that it's a free tool.) I haven't experimented with creating a class yet, but I'm excited to try it soon. Rewordify allows teachers to create a class and enroll their students. The teacher can assign reading and follow the students' progress. It'll even create a chart of their vocabulary progress. The user interface is pretty easy to use, but it is a very dry, uninteresting page. It's clear the designers have worked hard to make a utilitarian, no-frills resource without much concern for eye-catching graphics.

Rewordify is a valuable tool even if it is used only to simplify complex texts for students. However, there are various valuable components to this website that cannot be missed. Once a class is set up, students can be assigned differentiated texts and vocabulary. Rewordify also offers various vocabulary help. At first, using the site may seem complicated but there are many helpful videos and explanations. Rewordify is an excellent approach to differentiation.