What is Oxford Owl?

Oxford Owl is a website from Oxford University Press with thousands of resources to support kids learning at home and school. The site has math games, spelling tips, handwriting tips, creative writing tips, expert advice, phonics framework, and free e-books, just to mention a few. You'll find this site helpful whether you're a parent homeschooling your kid or a teacher looking for extra educational materials. In this blog post, I'll be mainly focusing on the oxford owl reading section. 

‍

Oxford Owl Reading is an online reading program that helps children learn to read. The program uses a series of games and activities designed to help children practice recognizing letters, sounds, and words. Children who use Oxford Owl Reading typically improve their reading skills by at least 20% over a period of 6 months. This means that after six months, these children are able to read at least twice as fast as when they began. This is because Oxford Owl Reading teaches children to recognize letter patterns and sound combinations rather than memorizing lists of individual letters and sounds.

‍

Here's how Oxford Owl works:

1) Children play a game where they must identify a target word (like "cat") among several distractors (words like "bat").

2) They repeat this process until they correctly identify the target word.

3) Then they move on to another set of words.

4) Repeat steps 1 through 3 until they've identified every single word in the book.

5) Finally, they're ready to test themselves against the entire book.

6) After completing step 5, children receive feedback on their performance.

7) Users continue playing the same game for 30 days straight.

8) Children keep track of their progress by recording their scores in a journal.

‍

‍

Is Oxford Reading Owl Free?

Yes, fortunately, the oxford reading owl is free, but not entirely. Oxford Owl website has a bookshop section with activity books, children's fiction, dictionaries, and other educational materials for early readers that you got to pay for. For instance, the free subscription gives you access to 130 eBooks, while the paid version has an extra 420 eBooks.  

‍

All books in the library are selected from the bestselling books in Oxford collections, so you'll get a perfect book for your kid even in the free section.

‍

‍

If you're a teacher, Oxford Owl for School allows you to share the class library with all kids using one class login. All pupils with access to the class log will be able to access the storybooks and enjoy reading about their favorite characters, at home or at school.

You can also access storytelling videos, book recommendations, teaching notes, and activity sheets for free. 

Note that you'll need to register to get access to the resources. 

‍

Oxford Owl Reading Levels 

There are different reading levels depending on your child's age and abilities. The program has reading materials for kids aged 3-11. As a first user, you go through a thorough onboarding process that allows you to choose the right reading level for your kid. 

‍

‍

Some of the questions you're asked to determine their perfect level include: 

‍

• Your child's age
• How long your child has been reading
• How comfortable your kid is with reading complex words

‍

Your kid is also asked to read a passage and answer some questions to gauge their understanding capacity. After the exercise, you get the reading level that's right for your kid and some book suggestions that they might enjoy. 

‍

Can I Download Oxford Owl Books?

No, you can neither download nor print the e-Books on Oxford Owl Books. But if you prefer a printed book to an eBook, you can always order one on their site. 

However, the eBooks are tablet-friendly, so your child won't strain while reading. 

‍

‍

Oxford Owl Login: How Do you Get into Oxford Owl?

To become a member, you simply need to register here. You can also see the "Join Us"  button at the right corner of your screen. 

‍

You'll get instructions on which details you need to enter, and after you add your email address, you'll get a confirmation email in your email. 

And once you've confirmed your email is valid, your free membership is activated.

‍

Final Thoughts on Oxford Owl Reading 

Oxford Owl reading is an excellent resource for children aged 3-11. It has hundreds of eBooks and other educational materials, which can help improve your kid's English skills and spelling skills.

However, it still has its setbacks, such as limitations to download and print the ebooks. As well as the library updates that may remove some ebooks that you may still need. 

However, in general, it's a great tool to enhance reading for kids both at school and at home. 

Have you used the Oxford Owl Reading before? How was your experience?

‍

Beyond Oxford Owl

Developing comprehension skills is more than just a phonics program. Children need to develop their abilities to make meaning out of the texts that they read in and out of the classroom. Our block building resources have been used to create playful approaches for developing English skills. Because the blocks can be moved around, they are perfect for advancing blending skills and punctuation skills. This semipermanent way of writing and reading means that children are free to edit what they have created.

‍

We have found that this promotes our freedom to try out new ideas without any fear of failure. Because we are using brightly coloured blocks, the approach also enhances concentration skills. Children are more willing to 'have a go', if their initial ideas don't work they can amend their model and try something else. Imaginative ideas are often the byproduct of this iterative process, it's difficult to sit down with a blank piece of paper and create fun story ideas out of nowhere. Using a physical tool enables children to experience learning with their hands. This domain is called embodied cognition. Whether you are delivering a lesson on grammar or a straightforward comprehension exercise, these learning kits promote progress across the curriculum.

‍

‍