Imagine Easy Academy could be used in the classroom or as homework to support a flipped-classroom model. Teachers can easily track student progress on the modules and use this information to differentiate additional instruction. The modules provide social studies teachers with quality lessons to build discipline-specific literacy skills. Teachers should consider rolling out the lessons on research skills as a way to support students through the process of inquiry. The site's greatest potential lies in using the preloaded modules as a starting point; consider customizing this content to best match your class's learning targets.
Continue readingImagine Easy Academy (formerly ResearchReady) is a cloud-based instruction and assessment platform that helps teachers integrate reading and writing standards into their curricula. Its main goal is to support discipline-specific literacy skills in social studies (and, soon, science) classes. The site includes a variety of modules covering middle and high school social studies content. Teachers can assign the modules as-is or customize any aspect of a lesson. The modules are searchable by topic, standard, grade level, and difficulty. The site integrates with Google Classroom and other LMS platforms. Students get instant feedback on their answers and can retry questions they miss. Teachers have access to detailed reports to track progress.
Editor's Note: Imagine Easy Academy is no longer available.
Imagine Easy Academy's predefined lessons give teachers an effective way to integrate reading and writing skills into their social studies classrooms. The modules are high quality, though it's also great that teachers can modify and customize any lesson found on the site or even create their own from scratch. Using the existing modules as a starting point, most teachers could easily design and create some high-quality lessons.
The lessons themselves are made up of a series of slides that can include videos, images, hyperlinks, and multiple-choice or free-response questions. Many lessons utilize external websites, which can promote a more authentic experience for students used to Web-based research. The student interface is easy to navigate and simplified to remove distractions. However, the ability for teachers to differentiate is somewhat limited, as specific accommodations for ELLs and students with learning differences aren't fully developed. At the time of review, the site was also missing a standards-based progress report.