As students in the northern hemisphere ease into the summer break from school, supporting literacy skills remains top of mind for educators and families. Recent studies highlight the importance of maintaining literacy skills throughout the summer to prevent learning loss. The key is to keep young minds engaged in reading during this break from school. This is where Reading Coach comes in, offering a free AI-powered solution to support students’ summer reading practice.
Reading Coach, available in public preview, provides personalized and engaging reading fluency practice. It features safe, one-of-a-kind AI-generated stories, access to fully accessible Immersive Reader, targeted practice on challenging words, and rewards that keep learners inspired and motivated. Reading Coach can help your students practice reading throughout the school year—and all summer long!
How to use Reading Coach
Follow these quick steps to help students get started with Reading Coach online in any browser. Reading Coach is also available by downloading the Windows app.
- Go to https://coach.microsoft.com/webapp
- Sign in with your Microsoft personal account as an individual learner at home or with your school account (if your school has enabled Reading Coach). Note: School IT leaders can enable Reading Coach by signing up for the preview and following the enablement instructions. Students or educators can then sign in with their school Microsoft account.
- Explore, practice, and enjoy!
Try these features in Reading Coach to challenge and engage students:
- Let students choose what happens in each story chapter, charting their own reading journey through the AI-generated story.
- Provide choice through fiction and non-fiction passages in the leveled library.
- Support all learners by using the fully accessible Immersive Reader.
- Boost learning with coaching on challenging words.
- Personalize reading by adding your own content for students to read based on their interests.
- Watch as students check out their progress and earn badges, unlocking new characters and settings for the next story.
Three modes in Reading Coach for endless reading possibilities
Build foundational skills with Microsoft 365 solutions
Explore Learning AcceleratorsReading Coach offers students three reading modes, including generating a story with AI, reading a passage from its digital library, or using text from an article or textbook.
- “Create a story” mode features 15 main characters, ranging from dogs to dragons, and seven diverse locations. Students choose one character and one location, then set their reading level, from kindergarten to middle school. With these selections, the AI generates a complete story with a captivating beginning, middle, and ending. AI-generated story content is moderated for content quality, safety, and age appropriateness following Microsoft’s Responsible AI Standard.
- “Read a passage” mode provides students with a digital library powered by Readworks. The library is categorized by Lexile level and word count, allowing students at all stages of reading proficiency to access text and improve their reading fluency.
- “Add a passage” mode enables students to add their own text from articles, textbooks, or other sources. This supports reading any passage and offers students practice on challenging words within that text.
Join the Reading Coach Summer Reading Quest
Looking for an exciting way to keep your students reading all summer long? Bingo! Encourage your students to take the Reading Coach Summer Reading Quest to meet their summer reading practice goals and earn exclusive stickers and posters!
Here’s how it works:
Download the resources.
- Access the Reading Coach Summer Reading Quest bingo card and related information, available in four languages, in the Reading Coach Materials OneDrive folder.
- Find everything you need to help students and families get started, including instructions, email templates, and additional resources.
Engage in summer reading.
- Have students read and complete tasks from their bingo board throughout the summer.
- Each task focuses students on a different aspect of reading including repetition, consistency, performance, word practice, and real-world reading.
Log your classroom’s activity.
- At the start of the new school year, fill out a form to log your classroom’s reading activity and request swag.
Stay tuned for more!
- To stay tuned for updates and get swag for completing the quest, join the Reading Coach Educator Community or the Reading Coach Family Community.
Whether you’re in the northern hemisphere enjoying summer break or elsewhere in the world, Reading Coach is an excellent tool to provide students with personalized and engaging reading fluency practice and real-time coaching. Join us in the Reading Coach Summer Reading Quest to support your students’ summer reading practice. Learn more about how to get started with Reading Coach in the Build reading fluency with Reading Coach training module on Microsoft Learn.
