[Reading Eggs] 5 Tips for Planning Your Time in Reading Eggs Effectively

Using technology for learning and using technology for learning effectively are two different things. If you’ve ever seen a program implementation go awry, then you know the difference. Successful implementations however, all have one thing in common: shared, clear expectations about how teachers and students are using the program to drive learning, whether class takes place in a virtual, hybrid, or in-person classroom.

To help support this effort for Edmentum’s 3-in-1 early literacy program, Reading Eggs (including Reading Eggspress and Fast Phonics), we’ve compiled five tips to ensure that students are using the program effectively to develop foundational literacy skills and go on to become lifelong readers.

1. Focus the Bulk of Learning in the My Lessons Area

When students hop into Reading Eggs and Reading Eggspress, there are so many exciting learning areas to explore—it’s good to give students a little guidance. For these learning areas, the sequenced and thoughtfully scaffolded My Lessons section is where students should be spending most of their instructional time.

These leveled lessons begin with a Placement Test (which can be reassigned at any time in the My Progress area) to help determine where students should begin based on their current reading skills. From there, each levelled lesson is comprised of short, explicit activities to allow direct instruction, individual practice, and reinforcement targeted at building essential reading skills. Each of the core Reading Eggs lessons also conclude with a 10-question quiz to give educators a pulse check for understanding. For this reason, you’ll reap the biggest learning rewards when students spend the bulk of their learning time here.

For students who may be struggling with phonics and need additional remediation, Fast Phonics is a great learning area to visit within the Reading Eggs program. Fast Phonics is comprised of fun-filled mountain “Peaks,” or lesson sequences, designed to target key phonics areas such as letter-sound recognition, blending, and spelling.

In the teacher reporting dashboard, educators will find valuable data to help them drive instruction and stay connected as students develop fundamental literacy skills. Upon navigating to the reporting area, educators will see a central aggregated view that offers a snapshot of class usage, progress, and performance. When teachers drill in a little deeper, they can view performance on these specific assessments. In the Reading Eggs area, teachers can even drill in to right and wrong answers to more closely see where learning breaks down and where intervention may be needed.

2. Make Library Time Purposeful

The digital Library is available to all Reading Eggs students as another popular hotspot for learning. Here, students can self-select from over 2,500 books via quick search or by genre. They can also refine their book options by Reading Age or Lexile level to align with their current reading ability. For maximum success, we recommend coaching students on how to find books that are both interesting and appropriate, such that time in the Library is spent reading, not browsing.

In the Reporting area, educators are able to review the number of books read as well as scores earned on book quizzes for individual students and entire classes. Consider using this information to host a reading challenge in your classroom!

3. Consider Ancillary Learning Areas

Both Reading Eggs and Reading Eggspress have secondary learning areas for spelling, vocabulary, grammar, and writing that infuse gameplay with learning. These exciting learning spots are powerful for well-rounded literacy skill building, but your students may need a little guidance to know how and when to leverage them. After all, solely building grammar skills without any phonics or phonemic awareness isn’t going to create a well-rounded reader.

4. Explore Teacher Materials as Needed

In addition to all of the digital lessons available to students in Reading Eggs, Reading Eggspress, and Fast Phonics, there are parallel offline materials for each and every one through printable and digital worksheets. Knowing this, it’s possible to build whole-class offline assignments around a specific skill (like reading, vocabulary, spelling, handwriting, or phonics) OR assemble individualized worksheet bundles for your learners to use. As an educator, simply access Lessons from the left navigation to search printable teacher and student PDF printables that are available.

Additionally, the Teacher Toolkit is another great option for finding educator materials that enhance the learning experience. Here, you can locate digital Big Books for shared reading as well as more printables, activities, and PowerPoint lessons, among other diverse tools available at your fingertips.

5. Don’t Forget About the Power of Engagement

Call it hiding broccoli in the brownies, call it fun embedded in learning, but either way—there’s a reason that students ask: “Can I play Reading Eggs?” To them, it feels like fun. In so many ways, the thoughtful engagement features are the beauty of this program. They also require clear expectations and thoughtful planning on the part of the teacher to work effectively.

When students complete learning activities in Reading Eggs, Reading Eggspress, and Fast Phonics, they earn redeemable rewards that act as currency. In Fast Phonics, students earn yeti coins that can be used to change their avatar’s color in the Yeti Shop. In Reading Eggs and Reading Eggspress, students earn Golden Eggs that can be used to play games or shop for each student’s avatar. But before your students spend all their learning time lost in the Arcade or Plaza, it’s important that you, as the classroom leader, set some ground rules and create some time for fun too! After all, you can’t expect Golden Eggs or Yeti coins to maintain their luster if you never let your students reap the rewards of their efforts.

Determining Your Schedule

Once you understand the key areas of Reading Eggs, you can more easily map out how your students should be spending their time.

A recent case study found that students who spent just 30 minutes per week in Reading Eggs saw significant growth in their reading abilities. Here is just one example of how a 30-minute digital block each day could be divided among the key learning areas in the program to drive comprehensive reading support:

Interested in learning more about how you can leverage Reading Eggs to drive growth in your virtual, hybrid, or in-person classroom? Visit our website, or check out our Getting Started page to dive into more Reading Eggs resources and need-to-know features.

This post was originally published March 2020 and has been updated.