The primary goal of functional literacy is reading. Thus, to begin with, it is necessary to determine what is meant by “reading”. Common sense defines reading as the process of extracting and constructing values ​​from a text. Knowledge of the language in which reading is conducted occupies a central place in the reading process, and without this knowledge reading simply cannot take place. So, reading is a language skill where the reading process is consequently connected to the listening process. Taking this into account, reading should be defined as the ability to code the printed meaning so the reader can already get the meaning, and which is the reader's spoken language (Tunmer, n.d.). Reading is one of the most powerful and time-tested communication tools. Communication takes place both through reading and through understanding, since the more a person understands, the better he can communicate with people. Reading provides a solid foundation for communication and connects with the world.

Reading is also a necessary aspect in learning a foreign language. Extensive reading is an effective approach in reading pedagogy that encourages students to read more texts and is also a method that constantly receives support and recognition in the field of second language learning (Yamashita, 2013). Extensive reading means a quantitative approach to reading in order to gain a general understanding of what is being read. This approach is designed to develop good reading skills, expand vocabulary and structure, and to foster a reading culture (Richards & Schmidt, 2002). Nevertheless, as practice shows, extensive reading, as well as reading, as we used to see it, is no longer of interest to students and is perceived as archaism or a necessary boring reality of learning. The digital generation requires a digital approach to learning.

Digitalization of education is a powerful trend in terms of reforming and modernizing the global educational environment. Digitalization means the conversion of all types of information (texts, sounds, images, videos and other data from various sources) into a digital language. Digitalization phenomenon is granted as a significant state and a turning point that shifts the history of education (Stuart, 2014).

Thus, since students today spend considerable time reading electronic media resources, they need digital reading skills and a good understanding of what they read. However, many people still agree that reading on the screen leads to superficial reading, lack of attention and poor understanding. Therefore, this work presents a platform for collaborative reading with annotations and an interactive platform for analyzing reads and improving reading performance in a collaborative digital reading environment.

ReadWorks is a universal educational platform, the purpose of which is to resolve the crisis of reading comprehension and the gap in US student performance. Based on cognitive science research, ReadWorks creates world-class content, teacher guidance, and integrated tools that enhance teacher performance and student achievement.

ReadWorks is a unique platform that contains authentic texts in all areas of educational material, as well as varying resources according to the age of the students or, in our case, according to the language skills of the students, as it is possible to choose resources by topic, duration of the text and its academic character. The need to consider student learning styles and a differentiated approach to selecting resources for reading and analysis make this platform a valuable educational resource. ReadWorks interactive learning platform is designed specifically to solve the problem of so-called boring reading. The ability to provide teacher feedback on read and analyzed material provides a serious approach for students, and also stimulates independent learning.

How to extend students’ vocabulary to improve their productive skills? To discover the answer to this question mixed methods research was considered appropriate enough based on different approaches such as statistical analysis and interviews (Creswell, 2013). One of the first things we did was interview students (asking open-ended questions) before starting the reading work on the current topic to assess their primary level. After reading a variety of short articles and passages on Readwroks and completing question sets students were once again interviewed in order to gauge whether they could express themselves better in speaking. The research took place in the classroom during the lessons. The participants of the research were selected from grades 7 to 11. Each teacher collected their own data through recording students’ talks. After listening to their recordings, oral answers were analyzed, focusing on the complexity and accuracy of the vocabulary used. Following that students progress has been analyzed through summative assessment results that provided us with primary experimental results on the usefulness of Readworks implementation. In the next term it is planned to conduct the same work but both speaking and writing skills will be assessed at the beginning and end of the unit topic. Regarding writing skills, students will write a paragraph on the studied topic at the beginning of the unit and after some practice on Readworks, repeat the activity to compare the paragraphs and analyze the differences. The research methodology assisted to study how reading tasks, related to the subject content, developed students’ specific vocabulary and thereby improved their productive skills (Scribbr, n.d.).

The experience and practice show the positive impact of Readworks articles and different tasks on students reading stamina and ESL students’ knowledge on various topics, they became aware of famous scientists, politicians, astronauts, sportsmen, expanded their vocabulary on the topics of technology, space, science, history. Moreover, they turned into active readers, started to ask teachers to assign new ones and enjoyed them a lot. Apparently one of the meaningful parts of the articles was global citizenship improvement. In fact, by conducting an Action Research with students we, the group of teachers can say that this reading platform creates a desirable atmosphere as for our learners, so for teachers too. It makes the teacher’s job much more effective and less time-consuming, it meets the learning objectives, additionally the reading results are displayed digitally and kept as an archive on their pages. The Readworks can be used in any language level and it helps to engage students in the process. By conducting this group research, we found out a new approach to engage students in reading that is beneficial in taking summative exams for students. It also helped us to become more reflective practitioners. Certain limitations include the lack of culturally connected reading sources which at the moment can be reached only through follow up discussions. Hence there is a certain possibility to explore the topic in a deeper way and make an attempt of creating the similar sources connected to the cultural content.

Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. California: SAGE Publications. Holden, J. (2004). Creative Reading. London: Demos. Khan principles. (n. d.). Retrieved on 23.12.2019 from https://www.khanacademy.org/ Lyon, R. (1997). Statement before the Committee on Education and Workforce. U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved on 22.12.2019 from http://mirror.apa.org/ppo-OLD/lyon.html. Richards, J. C., Schmidt, R. (2002). Longman dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistics, (3rd ed.). London: Pearson Education Stuart, K. (2014). What every parent needs to know about video games: a crash course. Retrieved on 23.12.2019 from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jun/02/parents-guide-videogames-playstation-xbox-wii-apps-children Scribbr. (n.d.). How to write a research paper. Retrieved on 10.01.2020 from https://www.scribbr.com/category/research-paper/ Tunmer, W. (n.d.). The Cognitive Foundations of Learning to Read: A Conceptual Framework for Teaching Beginning Reading. Massey University: Institute of Education. Retrieved on 22.12.2019 from https://www.ldaustralia.org/client/documents/Tunmer%20conceptual%20beg.%20rdg.%20paper.pdf. Yamashita, J. (2013). Effects of extensive reading on reading attitudes in a foreign language. Reading in a Foreign Language 25 (2), pp. 248-263.