Quick Guide to:

The Reading with USA TODAY Program

How to use the program?

• You have 56 lessons to choose from.

• Study the cross-referenced by reading standard.

• Select a lesson based on students’ needs.

• Use the lesson with any issue of USA TODAY.

• Repeat the lesson for reinforcement.

Student motivation is an important, determining factor of the success with which students respond to literacy instruction and develop literacy skills.

Advancing Adolescent Literacy in Urban Schools

The Council of the Great City Schools Research Brief

What in USA TODAY motivates your students to read?

Meaningful

High Interest

Engaging

Relevant

Real World

Real Time

What impact does motivation have on students?

Hillsborough County student feedback:

• 25% said they read more• 50% felt there were better readers• 44% were more confident about

reading• 35% said they have different tools to

help understand what they read on standardized tests

• 35% said they are more aware of what is going on in the world

Teacher feedback

“I can’t tell you how excited I was on Wednesday when the papers came and ALL of my students were EXCITED to come to class so that we could READ about the election results !! All day I heard -- we got the newspapers right ?? Can I keep it?? They were more than thrilled. It was such an AWESOME teachable opportunity – the colors/charts/graphs/maps etc. I felt so empowered as an educator to be able to GIVE them something that they wanted (not only needed), and I felt like they knew that MY class was a source for information --- they were interested to read and investigate and see for themselves what it meant to be informed !!!”

What are the program components?

Optional: Online Lexile Assessment

Lessons

Professional Development

USA TODAY

What features in USA TODAY make it ideal for struggling readers?

Let’s take a look at the newspaper first:

Ideal features for resistant readers

Exclusive features that provide practice with

informational text

Color coded sections help students focus

Clear & concise style

Graphics, Snapshots provide practice

interpreting charts, graphs

High interest news engages students

Color photos that provide visual cues

“Lines”: Opportunities to read small chunks of

text successfully

Build students’ background knowledge

EACH LESSON:

* Uses USA TODAY.* Includes step-by-step instruction.* Teaches a reading strategy.* Has students practice the strategy.* Allows for collaboration.* Can be adapted for differentiated

instruction.* Encourages transference of the skill

to other texts.* Should be used repeatedly for

reinforcement.

Now let’s look at the lessons themselves:

How can you best leverage the program?

Lesson planorCross-ref. chart

Lesson Reinforce Assess

If you have questions or concerns, please email us at education@usatoday.com