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BrightFish Reading

Reading at grade level is a challenge - as many as one in three students has difficulty.

As text becomes increasingly complex, these struggling readers fall further behind. Many fail or drop out. At BrightFish Learning, we think this cycle can be changed.

That’s why we’ve designed BrightFish Reading to make grade-level content more accessible – so students can master curriculum standards and become better readers.

How It Works

BrightFish Reading is an online program for grades 2-10 that deconstructs grade-level passages into manageable chunks. In sequential, scaffolded activities, students “construct” the text, moving from words and phrases up to full passages. They build word recognition fluency, vocabulary and higher-order comprehension skills while practicing with on-level text that is relevant and age-appropriate.

Students choose from a wide range of fiction and non-fiction passages aligned to standards and Lexile® measures to accurately match readers with grade approproate texts. Teacher-created audio and video feedback provides ongoing instructional support. And as students work through the program, they earn points that can be redeemed for fun rewards.

BrightFish Reading uses structured practice and gamification in a unique process that can help your struggling students master grade-level passages in days instead of months.

BrightFish Reading is an on-level intervention that students access on any connected device. On their personalized dashboard they collect stories, track their progress and redeem points. Our tour begins in the Stories Tile.

Based on their assigned grade level – from 1 to 10 – students are presented with a menu of fiction and nonfiction stories. The stories are ordered by Lexile, from lowest to highest. Students click on the story of their choice to begin.

BrightFish Reading enables students to read grade-level material by breaking it down into manageable chunks. Students “construct” the text following a structured sequence. Each activity is locked until the previous one is mastered.

Each story starts with an introduction, a quick warm-up activity that gives students a chance to think about the passage they are about to read – and collect some early points!

Next, students work on words from the story, in visual match and sound match activities. Accuracy and speed is monitored by the BrightFish system. Words get more difficult as they complete levels 1 to 5.

Once students master the words from the story, they move on to show fluency in more difficult phrase combinations – this is unique to BrightFish.

Next, students practice with key vocabulary words that are essential to the meaning of the passage – context-specific, academic or technical words. They see a definition, examples and an image. The words can also be read aloud.

Students select the best usage of the word in a multiple choice exercise. Specific feedback is provided for each incorrect and correct response. Points are awarded based on the number of tries.

Students work with vocabulary words in a variety of ways to build their understanding and confidence – including synonym/antonym organizers, drag and drop sentences and writing activities.

Now students apply their word knowledge to paragraphs and understanding facts and details. Questions are modeled from high-stakes tests. Technology-enhanced items, such as this 2nd grade example, engage and motivate.

In post-reading, students read the full passage and apply higher-order thinking to concepts such as theme and author’s purpose – including this 6th grade graphic organizer activity. Audio enables students to hear the story read aloud.

Video questions engage students and encourage comparisons between media to develop a deeper understanding of the text.

As students master activities, they collect points that can be redeemed in the BrightFish Games Store. Fun, educational games provide tangible rewards.

Students feel a sense of pride and achievement as they track their own progress and earn badges and certificates that can be printed to share at school and home.

BrightFish Reading Product Comparison

Students are motivated through game theory as they achieve mastery rewards, unlock levels and accumulate points which can be cashed in for interactive educational game play.