This review is part of a series of assignments submitted for the graduate level course EDUC 5255: Digital Literacies and New Media in Spring 2020. The authors are M.A. students in Literacy Education at the University of Colorado-Boulder. Each author reviewed a digital tool or application they use in K-12 settings.
Screenshots from the tool publisher website and app (Lexia) are used for educational and review purposes, adapted and transformed under fair use guidelines.
What is Lexia Core 5?
By Jess Mould
Lexia Core 5 gives teachers the opportunity to add differentiated literacy instruction for grades Pre-K through 5th. The lessons are personalized, student driven, and easy to progress monitor. For easy use they are available in both paper and electronic formats.
Use it For:
- Whole-Class Mini Lessons
- Small Guided Reading Groups
- Reading Rotations
- Formative Assessment
How can you access it?
(from Technical Setup Guide)
★Handheld Devices
○Ipad : There is an app
★Laptops or Desktop Browsers:
○Chrome ○Edge ○Firefox ○Safari
Context of use in my classroom
Lexia Core 5 is something I use daily in my own classroom. It is an online resource that is provided to us by the district and highly encouraged. The app is very student-driven with students taking an online assessment to get their initial placement at the beginning of the year (there is an option to just roll over their data from last year too). Students then work at the level they were placed at their own pace. They get to choose what activities they want to complete each day. Lexia is also very data driven so I can see when a student has logged time and how much they have improved based on the time they were logged in for. If a student is struggling Lexia will pull up paper lessons on a specific skill that I can then give to the student one on one or in a small group. Although Lexia most definitely does not replace whole group instruction, even small group instruction, it does add a great data-driven supplement that I can use to monitor and track students growth.
Review
Pros:
★It does not give students a typical reading a book experience, adding variety to their reading schedule
★It is data driven so you can see results from all that they do
★It engages students with games
★Has a placement test that initially levels students
★It comes with paper lesson resources for whole and small group instruction.
Cons
★Without a district or school program, it may become expensive to use,
★Students may just sit and take 60 guesses when responding to items, and eventually at some point move on.
Similar Apps
★Raz Plus ○Allows students to choose their own books at the teacher designated level and read and answer questions
★Espark ○Works with students through readings and watching movies to hit ELA standards
★Freckle ○Allows students to work through readings and answer questions all while being monitored.
Sample Activities
Sample videos with activities for phonics, phonological awareness, structural analysis, vocabulary, automaticity/fluency and comprehension are posted in the Scope and Sequence section of their site.
The Literacy and Media Lab 