even more impactful for your class this year.

So what’s new in game based learning on the platform? 

Deepen student engagement with Badges!

As students play Read to Lead’s learning games, they now have the opportunity to earn digital badges that recognize development of a particular competency. Badges are centered around engagement, literacy, SEL, and career skills. Watch as students earn badges, track their success, and are more motivated than ever to continue reading and leading! 

Level-up project based learning with Quests! 

To deepen the learning from immersive game-play, we’ve added Quests which offer project-based learning experiences that allow students to dig deeper, learn more about themselves, and solve complex problems. Students will have the opportunity to take a strengths finder test, create a vision board, and so much more!

Invite students to be the boss in our newest learning game!

Drum roll please….. a brand new game series is coming soon. This summer, we collaborated with Blackrock’s Financial Inclusion team to create a new learning game that immerses students in the day-in-the-life of an Asset Manager. Students are sent on an important mission to take on the role of the “boss” as they read closely, make complex decisions, and lead a diverse team! Be sure to check back soon as this series is released in the coming weeks ahead!

Join a community built for educators, by educators

We’re uniting our most-passionate educators by forming a national community of Educator Leaders who are committed to empowering the next generation of readers and leaders, solve real classroom challenges, and be a part of the future of ed-tech. Sound like you? Start your application here!

Get up and running faster

Have questions with your account? You can use the Live Chat function on our website, check out the Help Center, or join a free Onboarding Training Webinar.

Best part is, this is just the start. Hold onto your hats – more updates are coming soon!

Create a free account or log in to create your class and begin building your students’ literacy, life, and career skills!

The post Back to School – What’s New – 2023 appeared first on Read to Lead.

This year, Read to Lead is partnering with the Financial Inclusion Team (FIT) at the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, to develop four online learning games that will inspire middle school students to explore careers in financial services, while building their literacy and leadership skills. Read to Lead and BlackRock FIT network’s shared goal is to empower young people nationwide to envision themselves as leaders in the finance world, deepen their financial literacy skills, and connect the dots from school to careers in financial services.

Here is a behind-the-scenes look at our game creation process:

Step 1: Ideation of learning game series

To kick off the ideation process, the Read to Lead team and BlackRock FIT volunteers engage in a “day in the life” exercise to better understand finance professionals’ goals, challenges, roles, problem-solving strategies, and overall mission. Then, through multiple one-hour ideation sessions, the team creates a gamebook that articulates a description of the work environment and outlines authentic storylines with characters who come from diverse backgrounds. 

“Student learning is at the heart of our design process. We strive to ensure students have authentic ways to see themselves in different careers while making real-world decisions,” says Juliana Hess, Director of Research and Learning Design. “That’s why we’re thrilled to partner with BlackRock’s FIT network. Thanks to their support and expertise, we can provide students with the unique opportunity to ‘be the boss’ in a financial services office and lead a team that works in asset management and investing.”

Step 2: Storyline development

The Read to Lead team reviews each potential story idea developed through our collaborative sessions with BlackRock FIT volunteers. Each story idea goes through a rigorous selection process as the team considers if it would provide students with an accurate and informative look into finance careers and motivate them to build their English Language Arts (ELA) and social-emotional learning (SEL) skills.  

Ali Tepper, Director of Content and Curriculum, shares, “The basic formula for each storyline consists of the boss learning about a problem or opportunity, gathering evidence on both sides of that problem by communicating with staff, completing a workplace task to help critically think through the problem, and making 6-8 smaller decisions that lead up to the big, final decision at the end of the game.”

Step 3: Content development and design

Once the stories are selected, the Read to Lead team storyboards each story from start to finish. The team then collaborates with a scriptwriter and a web development studio to bring the characters and storylines to life. The scriptwriter works to create engaging character dialogue that aligns with student learning goals, while the web development studio is tasked with creating the artwork behind the workplace settings and characters.

Nicholas Overton, Director of Software Engineering, works directly with graphic designers to ensure that the design features will motivate and engage students while they’re playing the learning game. He says, “We’ve been intentional about adding features to the game experience to help students grow SEL skills – like new realistic facial expressions for our characters, so students can receive social and non-verbal cues, and navigate complex conversations like they would in the context of a real day at work.”  

Step 4: Playtesting

When a playable prototype is built, the Read to Lead team pilots the online learning games in three middle school classrooms, so that students can playtest the new content and provide feedback on features to add, change, or fix. BlackRock FIT volunteers are also invited to playtest the new learning games, so they can provide their feedback and final insights.

Step 5: Launch of new online learning games!

After several months of consulting with BlackRock FIT volunteers, educators, students, and other stakeholders, Read to Lead unveils the new suite of online learning games. The overall creation and launch of the new financial literacy learning games is possible because of BlackRock FIT Network’s partnership and a generous grant from the Max and Lorayne Cooper Foundation. Thanks to the support of our donor community, the new Read to Lead learning games are freely accessible for middle school students in classrooms across the country. Teachers and parents can create a free account here! 

The post Behind the Scenes of Read to Lead Game Creation appeared first on Read to Lead.

This summer, we collaborated with the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy’s faculty and students to create a new learning game that immerses students in the day-in-the-life of a lead Pharmacist. Read to Lead’s partnership with the University of Pittsburgh was made possible by an introduction from a generous supporter of both institutions, Constance Curran.

Ali Tepper, Read to Lead’s Director of Content and Curriculum shares about the experience, “Collaborating with UPitt School of Pharmacy provided a special opportunity to bring to life meaningful workplace scenarios from the pharmacy industry for middle school students. This creative partnership spanned the entire production cycle from ideation to piloting to ensure students had the most authentic and engaging experience possible in the world of pharmacy.” 

During the learning game, students are sent on an important mission to take on the role of the “boss” as they read closely, make complex decisions, and lead a diverse team during a time of crisis! Like all of our learning games, Community Pharmacy simultaneously supports middle schoolers to develop literacy, social emotional learning, and career skills. “Student learning is at the heart of our design process. We strive to ensure students have authentic ways to see themselves in different careers while making real-world decisions. The current-day experience of taking on the role of a pharmacist is extremely timely for students navigating the pandemic,” said Juliana Hess, Director of Research & Evaluation at Read to Lead.  

Aligned to ELA standards and the CASEL framework, during each learning game students read approximately 3,000-5,000 words, make 7 leadership decisions, and reflect on those decisions through metacognitive prompts and reflections.  “Our product team has been intentional about adding features to the game experience to help students grow social and emotional skills — like new realistic facial expressions for our characters, so students can receive social and non-verbal cues, and navigate complex conversations and decisions like they would in the context of a real day at work,” Nicholas Overton, Director of Software Engineering at Read to Lead shared.

In addition to the new game series, we recently launched a new Performance Report that is the first of its kind! For the first time ever, educators can assess not only English Language Arts (ELA) skills, but also Social Emotional Learning (SEL) skills. We know every classroom is full of students with different needs and ability levels – especially this year, as students are returning from remote-learning – so being able to see student performance in real-time is critical to being able to determine what to teach next. 

Speaking of what to teach next… one of the report’s newest features is the Game Recommendations where the platform takes the guesswork out of what to teach next and actually suggests what learning game to assign—based on students’ past performance, allowing for a truly low-lift differentiated learning experience. Achieving the ultimate goal of low-lift lesson planning for the educator but keeping it high-impact for the student. 

Best part – Read to Lead is still committed to being 100% free for educators and students. No tricks about it! 

“Our donors make it possible to offer Read to Lead at no cost, and we are incredibly grateful to The New York Life Foundation, the Max and Lorayne Cooper Foundation, and the S & L Marx Foundation for providing the generous philanthropic support that made these new learning games and features a reality,” Nick Haynes, Managing Director of Development at Read to Lead shared.

Educators, sign up for a free account here and start empowering the next generation of readers and leaders!

The post New Learning Game Series Added to the Read to Lead Platform! appeared first on Read to Lead.

Over the last semester we’ve been hard at work taking your feedback and ideas to make Read to Lead even more impactful for your class. 

So what’s new?

Curated Playlists to Keep Students Engaged 

Super-charge student engagement with new curated playlists that target different literacy skills practice ranging from Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary Development to Social Emotional Learning. Best part? New curated Playlists are dropped every few months to help you teach timely topics like Bullying Prevention Month and National Career Development Month too! Need a jump-start to getting started with Read to Lead? Jump into a Playlist and assign it to your class. 

Pro tip: Planning for substitute teacher days? Simply assign your class a Playlist, and point your Sub to the premade wrap-around curricula including lesson plans, discussion questions, and more. You’ll be able to track student progress from afar on the new Performance Reports! (Read on to learn more about that!)

Teach the Skills Your Students Need Most 

You can now search the learning game library by Reading Standard, SEL Competency, Lexile Range, or Grade Level! Find the learning games and wrap around materials you want to teach and assign the material right from the library! 

No matter which learning game is chosen, students will be reading approximately 3,000-5,000 words, making around 7 leadership decisions, and reflecting on those decisions through metacognitive prompts and a written reflection.  

Pro tip: With standardized testing season around the corner, focus on the Reading Standards your class needs to practice most. Do a learning-game blitz where you incorporate 15-20 minutes of independent game-play in the beginning of each class or as an early-finisher activity!

Know Where Each Student Stands

The new Performance Report is here and it is the first of its kind. For the first time ever, you will be able to assess not only English Language Arts (ELA) skills, but also Social Emotional Learning (SEL) skills. Easily toggle between the two views and choose to Save the Report as a PDF, Print, or Email as well. 

The gradebook feature also allows you to see how each student performed, and where they need more practice. View the class overview, or drill down to each individual student for a more detailed view.

Pro tip: Use the Performance Report to know where to focus in small-group settings or during Station Rotation. Easily identify trends and areas to go deeper with students. 

Know What Skills to Teach Next 

Teachers are busy, so we’re trying to make life just a little easier. The new Recommendation feature populates the learning games your students should play next based on their past performance on the platform– taking the guess-work out of deciding what to teach next. 

Pro tip: Use this feature to assign additional learning games related to the skills your students need more practice with. This is a great extra credit or early-finisher activity to deepen learning where students need it most.

Best part is, these updates are just the start. We’re dedicated to helping you empower the next generation of readers and leaders. More updates are coming soon! (Rumor has it… there is a new learning game series cooking… and the theme is timely– Pharmacy!) 

Create a free account or log in to create your class and begin building your students’ literacy, life, and career skills!

Need help implementing Read to Lead? Email us support@readtolead.org and our expert team of former educators and ed-tech peeps will reach out!

The post What’s New – Winter Product Release appeared first on Read to Lead.

So what’s new?

Seamless tech integrations  

You can now integrate Read to Lead with the tech tools you’re already using! Get up and running at the speed of light with Clever and Google Classroom Single Sign On (SSO) and rostering integrations. One username and password unlocks Read to Lead on any device – say goodbye to forgetting your password!

Shorter games, deeper daily engagement

Turbocharge reading engagement with NEW 15-minute learning games. Teachers, you told us 15-minutes is the ultimate time-block for independent reading and would be the most seamless to integrate into your classrooms.  Now you have more time for classroom discussions, debate, and wrap-around supplemental curricula found on the platform! 

A community built for educators, by educators

So many of you have asked how you can be more involved in game-creation and ideation. That’s why we’re uniting our most-passionate educators by forming a national community of Educator Leaders who are committed to empowering the next generation of readers and leaders, solve real classroom challenges, and are a part of the future of ed-tech. Sound like you? Start your application here!

Get up and running faster

Have questions with your account? Want to talk to a human? You can use the Live Chat function on our website and our Customer Success Team will be there for you. You can also check out the Help Center, or join a free Onboarding Training Webinar.

Best part is, this is just the start. Hold onto your hats – more updates are coming soon! (HINT: A brand new game series!)

Snag your free account or log in to create your class and begin building your students’ literacy, life, and career skills! New school year – it’s on!

See you on the leaderboard!

Read to Lead Team

The post Back to School – What’s New! appeared first on Read to Lead.