Follow the steps below to import an article into Accelerated Reader 360 Assigned Reading using a Microsoft Word template.
Articles are imported as part of the process of creating a skills practice assignment. You need to go through the entire process of creating an assignment in order for the article to be found by other teachers or students. Articles that don't have assignments can't be found.
Follow the steps below on a computer, not a tablet, for best results.
Who can do this with standard user permissions?
District level administrators, district staff, school level administrators, school staff, teachers
- If you have a Home page tile like the first example below, select Manage Content. If your home page is Renaissance Next, select AR under My Apps on the left side of the page as shown in the second example below; then, select Manage Content in the menu that opens.
If you have already opened Accelerated Reader 360 Assigned Reading, you can also select Add Content at the top of the page. - On the Author Content page, select Create an Article Assignment.
- Select import your own under "Find Article."
- In the window that opens, first enter the title and author for the article. This information is required. The source is optional, but it can help you find the article again later. A description will appear in search results and can help you and other teachers get a sense for the article's content.
- Check the grades that the article is intended for. The grade levels will be shown for the article when teachers search for articles, and they will help teachers find the article when they choose to search for specific grades. When students find their own articles, the grade will also help determine whether the article should be shown for a student.
- Enter the ATOS level for the article.
To find this level, copy the text of the article. Then, go to http://www.renaissance.com/products/practice/accelerated-reader-360/atos-and-text-complexity/ and scroll to the bottom of the page. Select Analyze Text.
Select the language of the text; then, paste it into the text field. (If you have the text saved in a text file or Microsoft Word file, you can choose that file instead.) Select Submit.
After a short amount of time, the ATOS level and other information will be shown. Return to the Import Article window and enter the level. - The Lexile® Measure is optional; you can enter it if you know the level and you would like it displayed with the other article information. Note that if you do not enter a Lexile® Measure, teachers will not be able to find the article when they filter articles by Lexile® Measure.
- Next, choose a topic. To start, click Select in the Topic field. Select a Topic that applies to the article; then, select one or more Subtopics. Both a Topic and at least one Subtopic are required. Select Done to save your selections.
The subtopics that you chose will be shown in the field. You can remove a subtopic by selecting the X to the right of its name. - Keywords are optional, but they can help teachers find articles by searching. Type each keyword that teachers could use to find this article; then, press enter. Each keyword will be shown as you enter it, and you can remove any one by selecting the x to the right of the word.
- Next, go to step 2 in the window and select Download Article Template to download the Microsoft Word file that you will use to import the article.
The options that you see when you click the Download link depend on your browser and operating system. On Windows computers, in many cases the file can be seen at the bottom of the browser window as it is downloaded, and you can click the file name there to open it; if not, the file is put in the Downloads folder (or opened in Microsoft Word if you have chosen to do that). On Macintosh computers, the file is either placed on the Desktop or in the Downloads folder; the browser may give you the option to open it.
- Open the file. Make sure that you are using a version of Microsoft Word that supports .docx format. You may need to select Enable Editing at the top of the window to begin working in the file.
Microsoft Word 2007 or above is required. Note that Microsoft Word Online is not compatible.
- In the file, copy in a cover picture (which teachers will see in search results) as well as the content of the article. Be sure to delete the text that is already in the field.
- When you are done, save the Microsoft Word file, using a name that will make it easy to find.
Your imported article will be available to everyone in the district once you create an assignment for it. You can share the file with teachers at schools in other districts who would like to use the article. The teachers will still need to enter the article information as described in these steps.
- There are two ways to upload your article file:
- You can drag the file from the folder on your computer into the dashed box in the Import Article window.
- You can select click to browse your computer and select the file.
- You can drag the file from the folder on your computer into the dashed box in the Import Article window.
As the article uploads, you will have the opportunity to cancel it if necessary.
After you upload the file, you can select Delete if you need to delete the file and upload a different one. You can only upload one file per article.
- To finish, select Import Article.
- The article will be imported. When the process is done, you will see a message to tell you that the article is being imported. Select OK. You will go back to the Find Article step, where you can search for and select the new article as described above; note that the article may not be findable for about 5 to 10 minutes after you import it. When you find the article, you'll notice that it has a "User Authored" icon.
The articles that you import must have an assignment as well in order to be found by teachers and students, so be sure to finish the steps for creating a skills practice assignment. See Adding Your Own Skills Practice Assignments.