Immersive Reader is a free, easy-to-use tool that that’s designed to improve reading comprehension and fluency for students of all abilities. Packed with features that can read aloud or translate on-screen text, Immersive Reader incorporates research principles that increase access for all students. Best of all, Immersive Reader is available for free in popular classroom applications like the Edge browser, Teams for Education, Flip, Minecraft, and Microsoft 365 products like Word. That means your students have reading support while they are working on a project, collaborating with classmates, or researching on the internet.
Whether a student needs Immersive Reader to read at a slower pace or only provide picture clues without narration, you can customize the learning experience and provide specific accommodations for your students. The features help students like Karrick Johnson overcome dyslexia and become confident, self-directed readers in the classroom.
Learn how to use Immersive Reader to address a variety of reading activities in your classroom.
Launch Immersive Reader whenever or wherever reading support is needed
Immersive Reader delivers built-in, non-stigmatizing help whenever students encounter difficult reading passages–like when they are asked to read and understand information in a Word document. Get started by opening Word for the web in the Microsoft Edge browser or looking for the Immersive Reader icon in another Microsoft 365 application.
Tip: If students can’t see the Immersive Reader button in the ribbon, maximize the window so that it is full screen. Select the arrow next to Immersive Reader to return to the word processor when students finish.
Adjust read aloud speech with Voice Settings
Immersive Reader reads aloud on-screen text while highlighting words, and it includes options like rate-of-speech for adjusting how passages are spoken.
- Voice Settings: Customize how Immersive Reader reads aloud passages
- Voice Speed: Increase or decrease the rate of speech
- Voice Selection: Choose the gender of the voice
- Play: Start read aloud
- Pause: Stop read aloud
Tip: Students with audio processing delays can reduce the voice speed to better understand spoken words. Others might benefit from listening to long passages at faster rates to quickly consume more content. If the voice is too fast or slow, students can return to Voice Settings and make further adjustments to completely control their reading experience.
Make on-screen text more accessible with Text Preferences
Immersive Reader allows students to change how text appears on the screen during independent reading activities. Options like line length and font spacing improve reading speed for struggling readers or those with learning disabilities like dyslexia.
- Text Preferences: Customize how Immersive Reader displays text on-screen
- Text Size: Increase or decrease character size and control line length
- Increase Spacing: Add padding between lines
- Font: Choose a font
- Themes: Change the background and font color
Tip: Adjusting options in Text Preferences causes the passage to immediately change. This helps students set up Immersive Reader so that it best displays text based on their own reading needs and improves recognition.
Use Grammar Options to integrate literacy activities into any reading passage
Immersive Reader breaks words into syllables and identifies parts of speech. Both features complement effective literacy instruction and support student reading development.
- Grammar Options: Customize on-screen text with grammatical conventions
- Syllables: Break words into syllables
- Parts of Speech: Identify and color-code nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs
Tip: Select and change the color drop-down menu to match the part of speech to an English textbook. When the color of the parts of speech in Immersive Reader corresponds to other sources, students are better able to form connections between grammatical concepts and in-class activities.
Provide individualized, just-in-time reading assistance with Reading Preferences
Immersive Reader includes line focus options, picture clues, and translation services when students need reading accommodations to understand on-screen text.
- Reading Preferences: Add tools that improve reading comprehension
- Line Focus: Show one, two, or three lines of text and mask other words
- Picture Dictionary: Show a picture and provide the pronunciation of selected words
- Translate: Choose from one of over 70 languages to translate on-screen text
- Translate (By word): Include language translation and pronunciation when using the Picture Dictionary
- Translate (Document): Convert all the on-screen text into another language
- Reading Coach: Assess fluency by recording and analyzing students as they read on-screen text
Tip: Provide varying levels of support for non-native English learners by using Document (more assistance) or by word (less assistance). Show students how Immersive Reader speaks on-screen text in another language when either option is chosen. Families can also use Immersive Reader to translate English into their preferred language provided they have a Microsoft 365 account.
Assess fluency and practice challenging words with Reading Coach
Reading Coach in Immersive Reader is a new feature that listens while a student reads aloud and automatically provides a fluency report and word identification activities.
TIP: Save time conducting assessments by using a Word document with a standard passage that all students read using Reading Coach in Immersive Reader. Encourage students to use a headset or find a quiet spot when recording for more accurate analysis. Ask students to complete practice activities and then re-record to assess growth in word identification. Learn more about using Reading Coach in Immersive Reader!
Download A Quick Guide to Immersive Reader and start using Immersive Reader today!
