What is the eSpark Reading Lab?
With Reading Lab, students work through word lists while eSpark’s AI-powered tutor, Fennec, listens to their pronunciation and delivers just-in-time micro-interventions for words they struggle with.
How it works
Each Reading Lab activity targets a specific foundational reading skill and asks students to pronounce five words. eSpark’s Reading Lab host, Fennec the Fox, listens to and analyzes each response.
If a student pronounces a word correctly, Fennec marks it correct and moves on. If a student misreads a word, Fennec delivers a real-time micro-intervention by breaking the word into phonemes, modeling correct pronunciation, blending the sounds, and asking the student to repeat.
After the activity, teachers can view how many words each student read correctly and listen to audio recordings of every response. If five or more students complete Reading Lab activities in a day, teachers also receive an email summary with grouping recommendations and suggested assignments for students needing additional support.
Is there any additional setup required?
The only unique consideration for Reading Lab is microphone permissions on student devices. For detailed technical instructions and troubleshooting, check out this article.
Reading Lab via Nova-Aligned Curricula
Reading Lab, aligned with your Phonics Curriculum, is available via Nova in the teacher dashboard. From your select curricula, you can view the scope & sequence for your lessons and choose the one you are currently working on. Then assign it to students.
Reading Lab via Browse All Assignments
You can also find Reading Lab assignments via the Browse All Assignments button in the teacher dashboard. From the Assignments section, type “Reading Lab” into the search bar. This will bring all Reading Lab activities to the top. Note: you can also search for the skill, e.g. “r blend” or “ch digraph.”
The Student Experience
Students will see the Reading Lab Assignment in the From My Teacher section at the top of their screen when they log in. The most recent Assignment will show first in the list.
Each Reading Lab Assignment is composed of three parts:
An instructional video that introduces students to the assigned skill.
A concise 2-minute explainer video that walks students through how to complete the activity. (Note: These explainer videos will be included in early back-to-school activities but may be left out for future activities as students gain confidence.)
The Reading Lab activity itself.
Fennec guides students through five words, adapting in real time to their responses. Students who pronounce every word correctly move quickly through the activity, with a 100% accuracy score reported to the teacher. If a student struggles, Fennec delivers immediate micro-interventions after each misread word.
Fennec models the word by pronouncing each phoneme and blending them, then asks the student to repeat. If the student still responds incorrectly, Fennec says the word once more, marks it incorrect, and moves on.
After five words are complete, Fennec will congratulate the student on their hard work and provide a recap of the full word list.
View the results
After a student completes a Reading Lab assignment, teachers can view progress in the Assignment Tracker under Student Reports. Selecting an assignment shows scores for all completed students, and clicking a student’s name reveals correct/incorrect words and audio recordings of their responses.
When students complete five or more Reading Lab activities in a day, you’ll receive an email summarizing which students are struggling, with one-click options to assign remediation and a link to schedule the next lesson in your scope and sequence.
keywords for search: Reading Lab, Phonics Decoding