Support the foundations of fluency with Reading Coach

  • 10 minutes

Reading Coach prompts each learner to record and read using an accessibility-first design.

Accessibility

Microsoft’s Immersive Reader visually scaffolds the work of reading to build confidence for emerging readers. All readers can benefit from Immersive Reader as they progressively read at higher and more challenging levels.

Immersive Reader offers solutions for every learner, including learners with dyslexia and other learning needs through:

  • Text preferences – Learners can adjust the font, size, and visual spacing of the text and select a theme based on color and contrast preferences.
  • Grammar options – Learners can choose to colorize nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in the text to build a foundation for proper grammar and sentence structure. Learners can also choose to divide words into syllables to help them pronounce each word properly.
  • Reading preferences – Learners can use the Line Focus tool in Immersive Reader to spotlight one, three, or five lines of text at a time to reduce competing visual information from surrounding lines.
  • Per-word support – Younger readers and language learners can get support for specific words through the picture dictionary for visual definitions and Listen feature for pronunciation.

Every reader can customize their reading view according to their individual needs to minimize distractions and maximize engagement while they practice.

Word Practice

Reading Coach is an app that can help learners improve their reading fluency. Fluency is the ability to read text with:

  • Accuracy
  • Speed
  • Expression
  • Comprehension

Screenshot of a Reading Coach word practice screen with options to hear the word, open the picture dictionary definition, and practice saying the word.

Fluency is a key skill for learning and enjoyment, but it requires practice and feedback. The app uses AI to identify and correct the words that learners struggle with and offers personalized practice with phonics and phonological awareness.

When a reader substitutes, omits, inserts, mispronounces, or repeats a word, Reading Coach identifies the words they struggled with most. It then presents them as personalized practice. Reading Coach breaks down each practice word by phoneme/syllables for the learner to practice individually. Learners can listen to, break apart, and practice recording each word until they master it. Reading Coach uses AI to adapt to each learner and provide personalized support where they need it most.

Screenshot of the Word Practice screen in Reading Coach showing five words that the reader struggled with most during their reading.

Reading Coach is based on research-based, proven techniques for enhancing literacy and fluency. It shows learners their progress and improvement with valid fluency measures like accuracy and speed. Reading Coach can help learners become more confident and fluent readers.