Fluent Reader+ is a partnership between Imagine Learning and SoapBox Labs to save teachers time by electronically evaluating students' Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) audio recordings, allowing Imagine Learning to calculate scores for Words Correct Per Minute and Accuracy for each applicable passage. These scores are displayed in the students' Portfolio for you to view.
This tool is appropriate for progress monitoring and for supplementing running records.
Check out the FAQs below and download the Fluent Reader+ flyer to learn more.
FAQs
1. How does my school or district sign up for Fluent Reader+?
If you are interested in adding Fluent Reader+ to your student licenses, please contact your Account Executive (AE).
2. Will the Fluent Reader+ tool work for non-native English speakers?
Yes! SoapBox Labs' technology was built specifically for children and works accurately regardless of a student's accent or dialect.
3. How/when do my students encounter the Fluent Reader+ activities?
There is not an activity unique to Fluent Reader+; we use the Oral Reading Fluency activities labeled Fluent Reader that already exist in Imagine Language & Literacy. The difference is in the scoring. If your school does not have Fluent Reader+, then you must review the recording artifacts yourself. If your school has implemented Fluent Reader+, the reading samples from Fluent Reader activities will be electronically reviewed and scored. (You can also listen to them yourself if desired).
There are 2 ways students can encounter the Fluent Reader activities, which require students to read aloud for 1 minute.
- The first method is within the context of a book unit. Imagine Language & Literacy assigns the ORF activities automatically as part of students' individual learning pathway starting in Grade 1 in the Beginning Books curriculum.
- The second method is for you to intentionally assign the activities to students via a playlist.
4. How is the Portfolio report different for Fluent Reader+ users?
You'll have 2 additional columns added to the report—Words Correct Per Minute and Accuracy. You'll also have a color-coded legend that applies only to audio items that have been evaluated by SoapBox Labs. The background color of the data in the Accuracy column corresponds to the percentages shown in the legend. The Accuracy score shows the percentage of words that the student read correctly for that particular passage.
In addition, the Filter by drop-down menu contains an option for Fluency Scored, which allows you to view only those items that have been analyzed by SoapBox Labs.
Note
Only Fluent Reader recordings are evaluated by SoapBox Labs; Read and Record activities are not. Therefore, Read and Record artifacts and all writing artifacts will always contain N/A in the Words Correct Per Minute and Accuracy columns.
Caution
To ensure accurate evaluations, SoapBox Labs requires a minimum sample rate of 16kHz for audio files. Sample rate can be adjusted in the settings of most systems, so if you receive an audio error with a student's file, check your microphone settings to adjust the sample rate. Then reassign the activity to the student for them to redo the assignment.