News-O-Matic for School, 2014-15,
Nonfiction Reading
Frequently Asked Questions
We wrote this FAQ for teachers who have
questions about the new News-O-Matic for
School features.
If you are having another question, please
look at our General FAQ here:
http://press4kids.desk.com
Or send us an email at:
[email protected]
THE APP WANTS ME TO
LOGIN! WHAT’S HAPPENING?
It comes with a number of new features that
require users to log in to the app in order to
function properly.
For instance, customizing the reading level for
a student requires that the student logs in to
News-O-Matic for School. The app can then
identify the student and serve him the relevant
reading level.
Registering as a teacher and creating student
accounts is optional.
Here is the list of new features requiring login:
-  Create one or more classes
-  Choose different reading levels by student, group or class
-  Assess students’ reading & comprehension with embedded daily
multiple-choice questions, aligned to the CCSS
-  Customize questions by student, groups or class and align it to the
CCSS
-  Chat live with the classroom
These features do not require login:
-  Save or print articles
-  Check citations for every article
-  See articles in Spanish and English
-  Hear articles through the Read-to-me feature in English and
Spanish
HOW DO I REGISTER AS A
TEACHER?
Tap here to register your teacher
profile!
Tap here to skip registration and
use News-O-Matic as usual (note
that you can register at any time).
Registration form
Fill out the registration form, choose
a username and a password.
Enter your school’s ZIP code, and
check if your school is in the list.
If your school is not in the list, click
the “Add School” button!
Adding your school
If you are in the U.S., select your
school’s state (if not, leave blank).
Enter your district’s name, your
school name, and click “Register”!
You should see this
confirmation screen.
Please check your email
(including your spam folder),
and click the confirmation
link to activate your account!
Tap the bubble head button to
access the login tab.
Tap the “Login” tab to access the
login page.
Use your new username and
password to login as a teacher!
You should see a red
“Teachers” button.
Tap it to bring the Teacher’s
Dashboard.
HOW DO I CREATE A CLASS AND
CREATE PROFILES FOR MY
STUDENTS?
In the Teacher’s Dashboard, tap the
“Menu” button, then tap “Add Class”.
Enter the name of your class, the
grade and at least one student’s first
name, last name, username and
password (passwords have to be 6
characters or longer).
Click the “Save Class” button.
To add students to your classroom,
tap the “Menu button”, then tap
“Class Login Info”.
Enter your new students’ names,
usernames and passwords
(passwords must be 6 characters or
longer).
Click the “Save Class” button.
The app will save these new profiles
(it may take some time), then display
the red “Saved” success message.
HOW DO I ADD CUSTOM
QUESTIONS?
To add custom questions, first select
the edition you want to add questions
to.
Then, tap the blue “Assessment
Questions” button.
Tap the article you want to add a
picture to.
Then, tap the “Add Question” button.
Select the CCSS standard you want
to test with the question.
Add the text of the question.
Select the students who will see the
question (ticking “Full Class” selects
every student), then tap “Save”.
The question is ready!
HOW CAN STUDENTS
ANSWER QUESTIONS?
Using a student account, open the
article that you added the question to
(make sure that you ticked the
student’s username during question
creation).
Using the arrows, scroll down until
you see the “Questions” button.
Tapping the “Questions” button brings
two multiple choices questions and
the article’s custom question.
Once your students have answered
the questions, they can submit their
answers by tapping “Send”.
The app register the answers: note
that the button now reads “Sent”.
Once your students have answered
the questions, they can submit their
answers by tapping “Send”.
HOW DO I CHECK MY
STUDENTS’ ANSWERS?
To check a student’s answers, open
the dashboard, then click the
“Answers” button next to the student’s
name.
Note that the app also displays total
score, current edition score and
previous edition score.
This brings the student’s answers.
You can see the student’s answers
for different articles and different
editions.
HOW DO I USE THE CLASS
CHAT?
To turn on the Class Chat, in the
Teacher’s Dashboard, tap the Class
Chat “On” radio button.
In an article, tapping the “Class Chat”
button on the left side of the screen
will open the Class Chat window.
Type your answer, then tap the “Post”
button!
HOW CAN I MODIFY A
STUDENT PROFILE PICTURE
AND INFO?
Tap the bubble head button to
access the “Who Are You?” tab.
Tap the “Who Are You?” tab to
access the profile page.
On this page, you can edit the
student’s avatar and name!
HOW DO I GET THE SPANISH
TRANSLATIONS?
Open an article.
Using the arrows, scroll down until
you see the “Spanish” button. Tap it.
Tapping the “Questions” button brings
two multiple choices questions and
the article’s custom question.
Once the Spanish text is displayed,
you can have it read to you in
Spanish by tapping the “Read to Me”
button!
HOW DO I CHANGE A
STUDENT’S READING LEVEL?
Open the Teacher’s Dashboard by
tapping the red “Teachers” button on
the app’s homepage.
Tap the “Reading Level” menu next to
the name of the student, then tap the
desired Reading Level.
The Reading Level has been
changed!
Don’t find the answer to your
question?
Send us an email at
[email protected]!
We’re always happy to help!