Read Along by Google Boosts Reading Skill Levels
Help your students learn to read with an premium new feature just released for Google Classroom.
What is Read Along in Google Classroom?
Read Along was launched in 2019 as an Android reading app to help young readers have fun while learning to read. Read Along has an in-app reading buddy who guides readers along as they read aloud, offering assistance when they struggle, and rewarding them with stars when they’re successful.
In 2024, Read Along in Google Classroom was deployed as a new feature that helps students build their independent reading skills by enabling teachers to assign differentiated reading activities, based on Lexile® measure, grade level, or phonics skills. The digital reading buddy, Diya, gives students real-time assistance and pronunciation support, with the help of AI. Read Along offers engaging and inspiring reading assignments, while providing educators with insights on students' reading progress over time, including their accuracy, speed, and comprehension.
Features available upon release
Access 800+ fiction and non-fiction books in the Read Along library within Classroom, including texts from publishers like Heggerty and ReadWorks. Each book is categorized by Lexile® level, grade level, or phonics skills and some have comprehension questions.
Personalize the experience for each learner by assigning books with the right difficulty level based on a student’s reading abilities.
Check for understanding by assigning books with comprehension questions.
Read Along in Classroom will be available globally, so students around the world can practice their reading skills in English.
Why teachers should try read along in Classroom
Read Along in Classroom provides fun and engaging reading assignments for students, while also enabling educators to track performance and more easily identify students who need extra support. Some key highlights include the ability to:
Help boost reading skills with activities for each student based on their reading level or phonics skills.
Provide instant help for students, with the help of AI-powered reading buddy, Diya to give students in-the-moment assistance on correct pronunciation and more.
Get important insights about your students’ progress including their accuracy, speed, and comprehension.
Support English language learners in building their reading skills, with additional support in Spanish
Technology serves as a powerful resource for enhancing education. Among the numerous tools available, Google’s “Read Along” stands out as an innovative platform for improving literacy and comprehension skills in students. Utilizing artificial intelligence (AI), this reading tutor provides immediate feedback as students read aloud, highlighting mispronounced words and offering helpful pronunciation tips in a user-friendly way. This approach builds students’ confidence and fosters fluency as they progress through their reading journey.
“Read Along” features an extensive library of books tailored to different interests and skill levels. The collection includes curriculum-based materials, fairy tales, stories about animals, and books focusing on numbers, among other topics. These books are categorized by difficulty, such as Level 1 and Level 2, allowing students to progress at their own pace.
As students read their chosen books aloud, the application highlights each word in real time and provides audio support when a word is mispronounced. The interface is engaging, featuring a supportive virtual assistant named “Diya,” who motivates and encourages students as they read.
After completing a book, the app suggests further reading tailored to the student’s skill level. By analyzing which words students find challenging or easier, the AI personalizes the learning experience. It adjusts the difficulty of the material and ensures students receive the right level of guidance and support.
Teachers can seamlessly integrate “Read Along” into Google Classroom using the Assignment tab. This feature allows educators to assign specific books for students to read independently, whether in the classroom or at home. Once the assignment is completed, the app generates individualized reports detailing students’ performance. These reports include metrics such as word accuracy, pronunciation support provided, comprehension questions answered, and areas where additional practice might be needed.
For example, a sample report from a Google Classroom assignment might indicate the percentage of words a student pronounced correctly on their own, the number of assisted words, and comprehension scores. This feedback helps educators identify areas where students may require extra support and allows for targeted interventions.
“Read Along” can also be effectively incorporated into broader literacy programs, such as DEIS literacy targets, or used in special education settings. It is particularly valuable for supporting students with dyslexia or fostering a greater interest in reading across classrooms.
By leveraging the potential of “Read Along,” teachers can create an engaging, personalized, and effective learning environment that supports the literacy development of all students.
Read along is like a tutor for children whereby you can select specific books for the children. They can read and the tutor will help them identify words that they're not sure of. It's designed to help them to go back and read over those challenges. Teachers can use this data to guide discussions on an individual basis. It alleviates the demand on teachers to do so many personal reading evaluations. This is all part of Google's initiative for new features specializing in personalized learning. It's available for practice in reading American English, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese.