The reading modes in Reading Coach
Reading Coach offers three ways for learners to choose a passage or story to read. The options include:
- Create a story using AI
- Read a passage from our library
- Add your own
Create a story
Create a story with AI in Reading Coach is an interactive feature designed to engage learners in the art of storytelling. It guides the reader to construct unique narratives by choosing their own characters and settings. Microsoft’s AI safely and responsibly crafts a story for the learner to read by checking for potentially inappropriate content. The stories are tuned specifically to the reader according to:
- Designated reading level
- Designated character and setting
- Challenging words in prior chapters
- And more
To create a story with AI:
- Select a main character from a set of options.
- Choose a location for the story.
- Set the reading level for the passage using sample text as a guide.
The levels for Create a story and Read a passage (following section) help create a personalized experience for learners.
- Levels 1–2: Readers who know basic letter sounds and phonemes. Readers might benefit from an educator or parent reading the text out loud to them.
- Levels 3–4: Readers in the early stages of independent reading. They’re comfortable with basic vocabulary and sentence structures.
- Level 5–6: Readers who can comprehend sophisticated texts. They can understand abstract concepts, infer meaning beyond the literal text, and analyze characters and plot developments.
- Level 7–8: Readers who are comfortable with complex texts on varied subject matter. The vocabulary, sentence structure, and topics are more challenging.
Reading Coach generates multi-chapter stories based on the reader’s selections. The reader can choose from many options like a friendly dragon soaring in the skies above a castle or a unicorn grazing peacefully with its friends near a magical mountain. This personalized selection is unique to each reader. For a struggling reader, this engagement in the experience of crafting the story might turn the reading experience into an educational adventure of their own.
When the first chapter of a story ends, the reader chooses what happens in the next chapter. This “pick your own path” approach can encourage learners to keep reading. The following chapter includes the words the learner found challenging in the prior one, for seamless and progressive practice.
Read a passage
To access the sample library with Read a Passage in Reading Coach:
- Select the Read a Passage option from the homepage.
- Choose a level.
- Pick any one of the sample passages to read aloud.
With this feature, learners choose from a set of reading passages provided by ReadWorks. ReadWorks passages are leveled texts. Choose a level to create the best experience and maintain the readers’ interest.
Inside Reading Coach, ReadWorks offers over 110 leveled passages that cover a diverse range of subjects, including science, famous figures, and nature. This access to both fiction and nonfiction texts ensures an expert-validated approach to literacy.
Add a passage
The Add a Passage option allows for moderated practice in which an adult provides the passage for the learner to read. To access the Add a Passage feature:
- Select the Add your own option from the homepage.
- Copy and paste the passage title and content into the text boxes.
This feature allows the adult to consider a learner’s reading level, interests, and learning style to provide passages that are likely to engage and motivate the reader. The reader can then use Immersive Reader’s accessibility-first features to read the passage with their preferred display settings, such as customized font size and background color.
Other uses for the Add a Passage feature include:
- Choosing texts to complement or reinforce learning
- Offering passages about current events
- Assessing a learner’s continually growing skills
- Providing spelling or vocabulary word lists for practice
- And many more innovative uses
Reading history
Reading Coach makes it easy to get back into the flow of reading by allowing learners to:
- Pick up where they left off with in-progress readings
- Celebrate and review past texts they've completed
- Track their progress over time
Reading Coach features the most recent in-progress reading on the home page of the app and saves both in-progress and completed stories. Readers can return to those stories at any time from the History page, under Keep Reading and Read Again.
The History feature in Reading Coach is more than just a record of past activities. It's a tool for reflection, motivation, and strategic learning.
The History feature:
- Provides a detailed overview of past texts and progress
- Helps learners understand their reading journey
- Celebrates learners’ successes
- Helps learners plan their next steps