To better support classroom realities and accelerate student learning, we automatically upgraded all Being a Reader, Second Edition accounts to the brand-new Being a Reader, Expanded Second Edition on our new Learning Portal—at no extra cost to you.
Your New Digital Lesson Flow
If you currently use our print manuals, you can continue to use them for your foundational teaching. However, by logging into the new platform, you will unlock a dynamic digital lesson flow that seamlessly weaves in all our new, highly requested features.
What’s New in the Expanded Second Edition?
Grounded in the science of reading, this cohesive literacy system brings powerful enhancements directly to your digital dashboard:
- Designated English Language Development (D-ELD): A built-in, yearlong K–5 curriculum featuring daily 30-minute lessons. It perfectly connects "into and from" your core Reading strand lessons, allowing English Learners to seamlessly apply new language skills.
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Enhanced Assessment & Progress Monitoring: We’ve added robust, curriculum-embedded tools to help you regularly monitor growth, including:
- K–1 Listening Comprehension Assessments (teacher-administered)
- Grades 2–5 Reading Comprehension Assessments (student-facing)
- K–2 Weekly Vocabulary Checks & Grades 2–5 Comprehension Checks
- Fresh Classroom Texts: We’ve updated several core read-aloud and instructional texts across Grades 1–4 to bring engaging new stories into your classroom (such as Lion on the Inside, Everything Naomi Loved, and Saving Seeds). Your digital lesson flow will automatically reflect these exciting new titles.
Log in to the new Learning Portal to view your updated digital Teacher’s Manuals, student Language Notebooks, projectables, instructional media, digital assessment record sheets, and more.
What Texts Changed?
| Grade | Unit | Original Text | Replacement Text |
| 1 | Unit 5 | Emmanuel’s Dream | Lion on the Inside: How One Girl Changed Basketball |
| 2 | Units 4 & 9 | Erandi’s Braids* | Everything Naomi Loved |
| 3 | Unit 1 | Subway Baby | The Boy and the Jaguar |
| 3 | Unit 1 | Our House Is On Fire* | Saving Seeds in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault |
| 4 | Unit 1 | Ho’onani Hula Warrior | Alan and His Perfectly Pointy Impossibly Perpendicular Pinky |
| 4 | Unit 1 | My Home After Iraq* | Hawai’i |
*Comprehension Checks for these texts can be found on the Learning Portal. After clicking into your assigned program, select the unit, Unit Resources and Teacher's Manual, then select Assessments for Print.
Why Did the Texts Change?
The decision to include new read alouds (and new books for small group comprehension) was driven by a variety of reasons e.g. the information in the existing book had become somewhat out-of-date; we wanted to re-balance the content, genre, or complexity of grade-level offerings; we considered teacher and district feedback; or we became aware of new or newly available texts that we wanted to add.
The existing texts you have remain wonderful books and effective teaching tools. As a learning organization, we are always looking for ways to adapt and improve on what we’ve developed, and that was the motivating force behind these current changes
If you are interested in purchasing the new texts that align to the Being a Reader, Expanded Second Edition. please contact your local representative or complete the form here.