Kidbiz3000


 * __Description:__**



KidBiz3000 is a differentiated reading program for students in grades 2-5. It uses each student’s personal Lexile reading score to determine his or her reading ability and adapt non-fiction news articles and comprehension questions to match that person. Over time, KidBiz3000 retests its users and changes the difficulty of their assignments based on each individual’s improvement. KidBiz3000 helps teachers to differentiate their non-fiction curriculum for all of their students without having to invest a lot of extra time and work doing it themselves.


 * __History:__**

Achieve3000 was founded in the year 2000 by Saki Dodelson with the goal of creating a reading program that would cater to every student at his or her personal reading level. Achieve3000 went on to create different subsidiaries that focus on catering to different age groups. KidBiz3000, one of those subsidiaries, was created to service students in grades 2-5. (Other subsidiaries of Achieve3000 include: TeenBiz3000, Empower3000, and the newly formed eScience3000.) As of September 2013, Saki Dodelson is still the Chief Executive Officer of Achieve3000.


 * __Impact of Teaching and Learning:__**

The use of KidBiz3000 has been linked to higher scores on high-stakes tests. In New Jersey, an independent [|study by Dr. Diane Tracey] Ed.D. showed "students in the KidBiz3000 classrooms significantly outperformed students in the control classrooms on 11 testing measures. It's not easy to get results like that." ([|PR Newswire]). In Chicago, Illinois, a researcher from [|Rutgers University] "found that 12 schools using KidBiz3000 experienced significantly higher test score gains than similar schools in the district where the program is not being used." ([|PR Newswire]).


 * KidBiz3000 can be accessed on a PC, Mac, or tablet.
 * Students and teachers can access Kidbiz3000 from anywhere with an Internet Connection.
 * Students each get a differentiated reading curriculum.
 * Students are given non-fiction articles about current event.
 * Students are given feedback while they are working on their assignment.
 * Assignment scores are made available to student and teacher as soon as the assignment is completed.
 * Students and teachers are able to email one another.
 * The program can be set to give extra guidance to English Language Learners (only in Spanish) and mentally handicapped students.
 * Allows a parent to create an account and monitor his or her child’s progress.
 * Emails are private.
 * Emails are censored for offensive language. Any email that is caught by the filter is sent to the teacher for review.
 * A teacher can disable a student’s ability to send emails to other students.


 * __Practical Application:__**


 * __Email__

KidBiz3000 has an email feature that allows its users (students and teachers) to communicate with each other. The email system has a built in filter that monitors all messages for offensive language. The email system is a way to introduce elementary age students to the concept of receiving and sending emails in a safe environment that will not allow spam or other misleading links to appear in their inbox. The email system is a useful tool for teachers to message their students with compliments on their achievements or encouragement to try harder. Students and teachers are able to attach a single file on each email message which is useful when teachers want to send their students materials that pertain to a lesson, such as worksheets or websites, or students want to submit work that they have typed at home. Kidbiz3000 also sends students and teachers daily messages about new articles that have just been written and uploaded to the system.


 * __Search__

KidBiz3000 has a feature that allows students and teachers to search for articles based on topics. Teachers can use this function to find articles that apply to science and social studies topics that they are teaching in class while students can use this feature to find articles about topics that they are interested in. When a teacher finds an article that he or she would like to share with the rest of his or her class he or she can choose to assign that article or save it to a unit for later.


 * __Reading and Note Taking__

KidBiz3000 has staff writers who rewrite each article to match different reading levels. When a student chooses an article it will automatically direct him or her to the version of that article that was written for people on his or her reading level. As students improve in their reading abilities the articles versions they get directed to be will become more and more challenging. Each KidBiz3000 article has a section at the end of each paragraph that allows students to type notes about what they just read in that paragraph and questions that paragraph made them ask. These notes are optional and unfortunately cannot be viewed by their teacher but they are helpful to those with poor memorization skills because they can be used in the next step while the students are answering the compression questions. This section encourages students to build up their note taking skills.


 * __Vocabulary Building__

KidBiz3000 works to build students’ vocabulary by introducing them to new words in each article. Students have the option of reading each word and definition or clicking on each play button to have the word and definition read to aloud. The vocabulary words are developmentally appropriate for each student’s reading level and will become more and more challenging as a student’s reading level improves. The words in the vocabulary list will appear within that article and a question or two in the comprehension activity may reference one of those words.


 * __Comprehension Activity__

Kidbiz3000 has a written a set of comprehension questions at the end of every article. The comprehension questions test how well each student understood the article that he or she just read. The difficulty of an article’s comprehension questions are directly related to each student’s reading level in order to make the activity developmentally appropriate. Students have the ability to refer back to the article while they are answering the comprehension questions, which allows to them practice real world information seeking skills.


 * __Instant Feedback__

KidBiz3000 provides immediate feedback to students while they are answering each comprehension question (top picture) and at the end of the comprehension activity (bottom picture). If a student gets a comprehension question correct the program will compliment him or her; however, if a student gets a question wrong the program will give him or her one more chance to try the question again. At the end of the comprehension activity the program will show the student his or her cumulative score for the article. In that report, the left column shows each question that was asked, the middle column shows whether he or she got the answer correct on the first try, and if he or she didn’t get the answer correct on the first try the right column shows if he or she got the answer correct on the second try. KidBiz3000 only uses the score that each student received on the first try to determine that student’s rate of improvement.


 * __Polling__

KidBiz3000 offers students a chance to take part in a poll before and after they have read an article. This aspect is used to help students think about what they just read and compare their opinion with that of others who read the same article. It is also designed to make students familiar with polling questions, bar graphs, and data analysis. The poll is not scored, it is just a fun bonus activity that appears at the end of every article.


 * __Tracking Data__

KidBiz3000 creates charts for teachers to review their students’ progress. Each chart shows the name of a student, the title of the articles that he or she has completed activities for, his or her Lexile level, any modifications that were made for that student, his or her score on the first try, his or her score on the second try, and the date and time that each activity was completed. Reports can be customized to encompass only a certain period of time within the school year or to follow only a certain student. The chart shown above is a great way to track which students completed their KidBiz3000 homework the night before and what each person scored. Teachers are able to use these reports to see how their students are progressing and which students still need extra help or motivation. The reports will also contain annotation notes next to a listed activity that tells the teacher a student finished an activity very quickly and is assumed to have guessed or that a student took a lot of time to finish the activity and might not have understood what he or she was reading.


 * __Unit__ __Building__

KidBiz3000 allows teachers to search for articles that relate to the content they are teaching in class and save those articles in a group called a “Unit.” The articles that are housed in a Unit will display the Hawaii Content and Performance Standards that they relate to. Those articles can be assigned to the students in that teacher’s class at anytime the teacher chooses. Furthermore, the teacher who created the Unit may share it with other teachers in his or her grade level or in his or her school!


 * __Demonstration:__**

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 * __References:__**

(2013). About Us. Retrieved September 15, 2013, from @http://www.achieve3000.com/about-achieve3000 (2012, April 26). Achieve3000 Demo (KidBiz3000). Retrieved September 15, 2013, from @https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzdfY6Xc5sk (2013). Achieve3000 Help. Retrieved September 15, 2013, from @http://help.achieve3000.com (2013). Board of Directors. Retrieved September 15, 2013, from @http://www.achieve3000.com/about-achieve3000/board-of-directors (2013). Literacy Solutions Elementary School (Grades 2-5). Retrieved September 15, 2013, from http://www.achieve3000.com/literacy- solutions/grades-2-12/elementary-school-grades2-5 (Novermber 8, 2004). Year-Long Study Documents Strong Link Between KidBiz3000, a Web-Based Reading Program, and Significantly Higher  Test Scores. Retrieved September 28, 2013, from [|http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/year-long-study-documents-strong-link-] [|between-kidbiz3000-a-web-based-reading-program-and-significantly-higher-test-scores-75258222.html]


 * __External Links:__**

www.KidBiz3000.com


 * __About the Author:__**

Coby Thornton is an fourth grade teacher who works for the Department of Education and a graduate student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He is pursuing a master’s degree in Education Technology. Mr. Thornton has personally utilized KidBiz3000 in his classroom for the last three years.