DreamBox Reading | Discovery Education Nurture Curiosity Fri, 25 Jul 2025 15:18:41 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.3 3 Ways Adaptive Learning Supports Foundational Math and Reading for Elementary Students https://www.discoveryeducation.com/blog/teaching-and-learning/adaptive-learning-supports-foundational-math-and-reading/ Fri, 11 Jul 2025 17:38:38 +0000 https://www.discoveryeducation.com/?post_type=blog&p=193626 Every student deserves to feel seen, supported, and capable of success, but in today’s classrooms, that’s easier said than done. With wide-ranging skill levels across math and reading curriculum, learning gaps, and growing demands on teacher time, it’s hard to give every learner what they need, when they need it. That’s where interactive learning platforms […]

The post 3 Ways Adaptive Learning Supports Foundational Math and Reading for Elementary Students appeared first on Discovery Education.

]]>

Every student deserves to feel seen, supported, and capable of success, but in today’s classrooms, that’s easier said than done. With wide-ranging skill levels across math and reading curriculum, learning gaps, and growing demands on teacher time, it’s hard to give every learner what they need, when they need it. That’s where interactive learning platforms with adaptive technology can play a vital role. 

what does curiosity look like png

1. Adaptive Learning Solutions Fill Skill Gaps and Prevent Learning Loss​

Learning is cumulative, and small skill gaps can become major roadblocks if left unaddressed. Adaptive programs can identify missed concepts early, sometimes before a teacher even sees them, and automatically provide targeted practice or revisit foundational concepts. 

The How: Continuously Detect, Assess, and Target  
Adaptive learning programs work behind the scenes to detect when a student is struggling. The programs don’t wait for formal, summative assessment to intervene. Instead, programs like DreamBox Math and DreamBox Reading use continuous formative assessments to analyze patterns like repeated errors, hesitation, and inefficient strategies. The programs then respond instantly to offer support the moment a student needs it, without disrupting a student’s learning momentum. At the same time, these programs capture student progress and provide data-rich reports that offer educators actionable insights, enabling them to differentiate instruction, target small-group work, and make informed decisions that deepen student learning. 

Why it Matters

Catching learning gaps early keeps students on track and prevents them from falling behind. This proactive, just-in-time support is especially effective in addressing unfinished learning and avoiding costly remediation. 

Fast Fact

Many educators already know how impactful adaptive instruction can be, in fact 93% of teachers believe that adaptive learning would help students learn more effectively.

2. Meet Students Where They Are Whether Behind or Ahead of Grade Level​

Adaptive learning platforms don’t just deliver digital content. They respond in real time to how each student learns, creating personalized virtual learning experiences that boost confidence, fill knowledge gaps, and help every student grow, at their own pace, and in their own way. 

The How: Track, Analyze, Adjust in Real Time
Adaptive programs track more than just right or wrong answers, they continuously analyze how students solve problelms, how long they take, and where they hesitate. Based on this data, programs like DreamBox Math and DreamBox Reading adjust instruction in real time, tailoring the content, pacing, and scaffolding in real time.

Why it Matters

Adaptive learning solutions help create the Zone of Proximal Development, the space where learning is most effective because it’s just beyond what a student can do independently, but still within reach.

Fast Fact

Did you know that about three quarters of students say that learning at their own pace would increase the likelihood of engaging in lessons, feeling empowered in school, and feeling more prepared for the future?

3. Adaptive Learning Builds Growth Mindset and Confidence

A growth mindset is essential for learning. Adaptive learning technology reinforces this by helping students connect effort with progress. As they receive feedback and independently overcome challenges, they gain confidence that their abilities can grow with practice.

The How: Encourage Exploration, Productive Struggle, and Independence
DreamBox Math and Reading lessons are designed to support agency and progress through independent exploration and productive struggle. This type of adaptive technology offers hints and scaffolds only when necessary, allowing students to learn and grow by trying things, making mistakes, and seeing what works. As students successfully solve problems on their own, they build confidence and become more willing to take on new challenges.

Why it Matters

Students who believe they can figure things out are more likely to stay engaged, take academic risks, and develop lifelong learning habits.In this space of productive struggle, students stay motivated and make progress, challenged by content that’s appropriately difficult, not too easy, and not overwhelming.

Fast Fact

Recent research found that 94% of superintendents believe that personalized learning solutions that leverage adaptive technology to customize instruction to each student’s skills, preferences, and interests, can effectively boost student confidence.

Create Student-Centered Learning Environments with Adaptive Learning

Adaptivity isn’t just about technology. It’s about creating responsive, student-centered classrooms. By choosing adaptive learning tools like DreamBox Math and Reading, educators can support every learner, close skill gaps, and build the confidence students need to succeed, now and in the future.

Ready to learn more about adaptivity?

The post 3 Ways Adaptive Learning Supports Foundational Math and Reading for Elementary Students appeared first on Discovery Education.

]]> what-does-curiosity-look-like.png Back-to-School Breakthroughs with DreamBox Reading https://www.discoveryeducation.com/blog/de-news/back-to-school-breakthroughs-with-dreambox-reading/ Wed, 28 May 2025 20:53:46 +0000 https://www.discoveryeducation.com/?post_type=blog&p=191719 Back-to-school season is a chance to reset, refocus, and reinvest in what works best for students. And this year, there’s a powerful new enhancement to DreamBox Reading aimed at helping every student become a confident, capable reader.  This back-to-school year, DreamBox Reading, a personalized literacy program that dynamically adapts to every student’s needs within and […]

The post Back-to-School Breakthroughs with DreamBox Reading appeared first on Discovery Education.

]]>

Back-to-school season is a chance to reset, refocus, and reinvest in what works best for students. And this year, there’s a powerful new enhancement to DreamBox Reading aimed at helping every student become a confident, capable reader. 

This back-to-school year, DreamBox Reading, a personalized literacy program that dynamically adapts to every student’s needs within and between lessons, is expanding its support all the way through fifth grade. DreamBox Reading’s enhanced capabilities are focused squarely on helping educators accelerate foundational reading skills through engaging, personalized instruction rooted in the Science of Reading. 

Blog Hero Images 16:9 BTS DB Reading Updates

Making a Difference in Literacy

We don’t need more statistics to know that too many students struggle with reading and that strong foundational skills are critical for academic and lifelong success. But we do need better resources to address shortfalls—especially as the demands on classroom time keep growing, learning gaps persist, and the needs of students become more varied. 

That’s where DreamBox Reading steps in. The new enhancements for Back-to-School 2025 are built specifically to meet this moment: filling gaps, engaging learners who’ve started to fall behind, and saving educators time.

What's Coming to DreamBox Reading for Back to School

DreamBox Reading ELA Update May2025

Expanded Coverage for Elementary Schools 

DreamBox Reading now supports students from PreK through grade 5, with new lessons specifically for upper elementary learners. These lessons focus on foundational skills like phonological awareness, phonics, decoding, guided reading, word recognition, vocabulary, fluency and spelling—skills that many students in grades 3-5 still need help mastering. With ready-to-learn, developmentally appropriate lessons all in one platform, DreamBox Reading gives teachers an additional way to support students without adding more to their plates.

A New, Engaging Experience Built for Older Learners

Students in grades 3-5 need a different learning experience than those in younger grades. DreamBox Reading introduces a redesigned interface tailored to this age group, striking a balance between playfulness and purpose. The new environment motivates students to participate without feeling like the program is “too young” for them.

By designing the experience to  align to their needs, interests, and age, students are more likely to stick with it. That sustained engagement leads to more practice, deeper skill development, and a stronger connection to reading—exactly what educators need to see, especially for learners working to catch up. 

DBR Student Dashboard Update May2025

Smarter, More Personalized Instruction

The heart of DreamBox Reading is its intelligent adaptivity, built upon the same award-winning technology as DreamBox Math. DreamBox Reading continuously adapts to student input—not just right or wrong answers, but how they interact with the lessons. The curriculum personalizes instruction in real time, offering timely scaffolds, feedback, and supports when students need them most. Whether a student is breezing through vocabulary practice or struggling to decode new words, the program responds with the right level of guidance. 

This means educators don’t have to spend hours creating differentiated plans for each student—DreamBox Reading does it in real-time, continuously adapting to where the student is and what they’re ready for next. Teachers get a clear picture of student progress, including insights they can use for whole-class instruction, small groups, or one-on-one support. And for students, the result is instruction that feels intuitive, manageable, and empowering.

Final Thoughts: Ready for a New Year of Reading Success

Educators have never been clearer about what they need: tools that are grounded in research, easy to implement, and built to truly support student learning. DreamBox Reading’s back-to-school updates check all these boxes—and then some. Whether you’re trying to close learning gaps, fortify literacy skills, or simply reach every student more effectively, this is one upgrade that’s worth exploring. 

As you prepare for a new school year, know that you’re not alone in tackling the challenges of literacy. With the right resources, the path to proficiency can be a little smoother—for both students and teachers.

See what else Discovery Education has in store for Back-to-School 2025!

Explore DreamBox Reading and How it Supports Every K-5 Learner

The post Back-to-School Breakthroughs with DreamBox Reading appeared first on Discovery Education.

]]> Blog Hero Images (16:9) – BTS DB Reading Updates DreamBox Reading-ELA-Update-May2025 DBR-Student Dashboard-Update-May2025 The Five Components of Reading https://www.discoveryeducation.com/blog/teaching-and-learning/the-five-components-of-reading/ Mon, 07 Apr 2025 19:34:25 +0000 https://www.discoveryeducation.com/?post_type=blog&p=183681 Background: Who determined the five components of reading? Congress asked the National Reading Panel NRP to determine the best approaches to help children read. As a result of their research and evaluation, the organization issued an evidence-based, nearly 500-page report of their findings. Teaching Children to Read divided reading instruction into five components and summarized available research. […]

The post The Five Components of Reading appeared first on Discovery Education.

]]>

Background: Who determined the five components of reading?

Congress asked the National Reading Panel NRP to determine the best approaches to help children read. As a result of their research and evaluation, the organization issued an evidence-based, nearly 500-page report of their findings. Teaching Children to Read divided reading instruction into five components and summarized available research. NRP then made instructional recommendations for each component. 

dreambox reading image png

 The components are:

  1. Phonemic awareness
  2. Phonics
  3. Fluency
  4. Comprehension
  5. Vocabulary

Within these five categories, the report determined several key takeaways, including: 

Phonemic awareness and phonics:

  • These early components are critical to reading proficiency, but not the end goal.

  • These components should be systematically taught and integrated with spelling instruction.

  • Educators intentionally decide the order that phonemic awareness and phonics skills should be taught.

Fluency, comprehension and vocabulary:

  • Strong fluency – created by automaticity and language comprehension and a solid vocabulary –  is necessary to become a proficient reader.

  • Students unable to recognize and understand words, can’t achieve fluency and decode unfamiliar words.

  • Fluency allows for better text comprehension, which allows students to build vocabularies for greater comprehension of more complex texts.

The report also determined that most students need substantial instruction in phonics-based skills to achieve fluency, strengthen comprehension and develop their vocabulary.

Reading Scores Decline for the First Time in Two Decades

In 2022, the National Center for Education Statistics conducted a special administration of the NAEP long-term trend reading and mathematics assessments to examine student achievement during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scores from over 7,000 9-year-old students indicated:

  • Average scores in 2022 declined 5 points in reading since 2020.
  • This decline is the largest average score decline in reading since 1990.
  • Students in the most underserved populations saw the most dramatic shift. Reading scores dropped 10 points for students in the bottom 10th achievement percentile.

These scores are alarming and it’s urgent to respond strategically and quickly. If these students don’t get access to the right resources and support, they’ll be at greater risk of not building reading proficiency well enough to excel in other areas. Now is the time to provide effective intervention strategies to help students find success this year and beyond to graduate on time, pursue post-secondary opportunities and compete in a global economy.

Strategies to Consider for Literacy Instruction Across Teaching Reading

The NAEP test results analyzed over 7,000  9-year-old  4th grade students. This is a critical period for readers because starting in grade 3, students transition from learning to read, to reading to learn. As children read to learn, DreamBox Reading helps develop the components of reading. They include reading comprehension, vocabulary and fluency – a component often not addressed in the silent reading phase.

Below you’ll find a brief description of each component as well as some easily incorporated strategies to support improved reading outcomes.

Reading Comprehension

Simply put, comprehension means making meaning from text. However, getting to comprehension can be complex and requires three processing systems:

  • Phonological: Recognizing familiar words or being able to decode unfamiliar words.
  • Meaning: Understanding the meaning of each word.
  • Context: Understanding the meaning of sentences and entire texts.
reading students jpg

One simple strategy to support students’ reading comprehension is to incorporate read-aloud instruction. Use turn-and-talk, open-ended questions, small-group discussions and student-student discourse to ensure 100% student engagement.

Another strategy, or resource, to support the development of comprehension skills is an online literacy program like DreamBox Reading. Adaptive technology can offer personalized scaffolding to build independent reading skills. The DreamBox Reading program automatically customizes lesson features including content level (based on an initial assessment), reading rate, opportunities to reread texts and questions interspersed throughout each lesson. The program also allows students to self-select reading texts that are engaging and further build content knowledge and vocabulary.

Vocabulary

Vocabulary is the knowledge of what a word means and how to pronounce it. Students develop vocabulary by sounding out words. Making sense of the word then informs comprehension. Readers must understand the meaning of words in order to understand the full content of the text.

read aloud jpg

Read-alouds, a great strategy for improving reading comprehension, can also help build students’ vocabulary. A 2019 research study found that young children whose parents read aloud to them five books a day enter kindergarten having heard about 1.4 million more words than kids who were never read to.

In addition to vocabulary acquisition that can be formally taught before and during a read-aloud, a combination of turn-and-talks, small-group discussions, and student-student discourse can further grow students’ vocabulary.

Additionally, an adaptive reading program with built-in vocabulary support can supplement whole- and small-group instruction. It provides personalized vocabulary development and improvised reading comprehension. For example, the vocabulary component in DreamBox Reading teaches students a research-based compilation of highly valuable, cross-curriculum, general academic vocabulary. Students master words through activities such as matching a vocabulary word with its synonym, selecting sentences where it’s used properly, and completing sentences with members of its word family.

DreamBox Reading also teaches students “2,400 Words to Master” a research-based compilation of general academic vocabulary. Their word mastery is continually evaluated, and students receive support for academic words they struggle with. These words are systematically included and repeated within their reading selections to help them progressively increase complexity of texts.

Developing Reading Fluency

There are two types of reading fluency:

  • Oral Reading Fluency: In grades K – 2, students build foundational skills, such as phonemic awareness and phonics skills. During this phase, they also develop oral fluency. Students demonstrate speed, accuracy and expression as they read aloud. It’s immediately apparent when a student doesn’t read a word or sentence correctly. A teacher can then intervene appropriately and quickly.
  • Silent Reading Fluency: Silent reading fluency becomes increasingly important beginning in 3rd grade. It’s the ability to read silently with attention and concentration, ease and comfort, at grade-appropriate reading rates and with good understanding. 

Silent reading fluency is taught the least yet tested the most. The challenge for teachers is how to teach silent reading fluency. Both nonproficient and proficient readers can struggle with low reading fluency, which affects motivation and engagement. Fluent readers are able to focus on comprehension, read increasingly complex texts, and become a more confident and engaged reader.

Reading solutions with embedded assessments can help identify students’ strengths and weaknesses and what they need from the start. This data allows for targeted instruction and can inform areas of fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, confidence and interest. With greater access to student data, educators have insight into where students are and what they need to grow.

notebooks and pencils jpg

Students cannot develop comprehension without vocabulary or fluency skills. However, many intervention programs fail to address silent reading fluency. So, students are limited in the progress they can make across other critical skills. DreamBox Reading is the only reading solution that supports silent reading fluency. Educators can leverage the Intelligent Adaptive Learning technology to guide and support reading fluency and provide each student with just-right instruction. Reading fluency allows students to focus more deeply on comprehension, read increasingly complex texts and become a more confident and engaged reader.

As students develop and hone the skills necessary to become readers, they must engage with the right content to become better readers. Technology can match students with the right lessons for their vocabulary, comprehension and fluency levels. It can adapt and adjust to ensure they remain within their zone of proximal development. As they build intersectional skills in every area, just-in-time technology, like DreamBox Reading 3 – 12, can provide personalized scaffolds and support based on student behavior and needs.

The post The Five Components of Reading appeared first on Discovery Education.

]]> dreambox-reading-image.png reading-students.jpg read-aloud.jpg notebooks-and-pencils.jpg