What is myON News?
If myON News is available on your site, students, teachers, and administrators can open it by selecting the News icon at the top of any myON page.
myON News delivers developmentally appropriate content, based on current events, in a year-round daily news feed within the myON literacy ecosystem.
- Since launching in April 2017, myON News has been publishing 5 student-friendly articles every weekday.
- Every news article is written for K-8 students and reviewed by a child psychologist.
- Articles are available in English, Spanish, French, Arabic, and Mandarin with recorded audio, and they are presented at three levels in English. Multimedia features are also available within each article.
- Individual articles incorporate links to authentic multimedia resources and books within myON to further student understanding and exploration of topics.
Which level of myON News articles will my students see?
Students will see articles at a level based on the upper end of their Zone of Proximal Development. If students have taken assessments, the ZPD is based on their assessment scores. If not, a ZPD appropriate for their grade level is used.
There are three levels of news article, based on the following ATOS book levels:
- <= 3.6
- > 3.6 and < 5.4
- >= 5.4
Can I change the level of the news for a teacher account?
Teacher's see upper-level news articles. To change the level of news articles that show in the teacher's search, you will need to adjust the grade level in the teacher's user profile. To do this, on the teacher’s main page, click your name in the top right corner; then, click User Info. In the Experience Settings section of the User Information page, use the Grade Level drop-down to choose the appropriate grade. Click Save.
What news categories does myON News, powered by News-O-Matic, have?
- Arts
- Around the world
- Animals
- U.S.
- Sports
- Discovery (science and technology)
- Wacky
- Kids in the news
- Money and Economics
- Technology
- Career
- Community and Me
- Canada
My students have been reading news stories. Why aren't their reader meters changing?
The reader meter will only move when students are reading books in the program; news articles do not count toward words read. The reader meter is what is used to determine when the students are eligible for their next Benchmark assessment. If your subscription includes Lexile® assessments, reading the news will not count towards the requirements for the next Benchmark assessment.
How can I verify which students are reading the News?
Educators can open a news article to see how many students have read it, how much time was spent reading, and how many students liked or disliked the article; the information is shown below the article text.
When you view a student's information, the News Quizzes tab will list the news quizzes that the student has taken and their scores on each quiz.
Two reports also provide information on myON News. The News Reading report will tell you how many articles each student is reading and for how long. The News Content report will show you which articles/editions and article categories are being read the most.
Why isn't anything popping up when I click the running headlines on the Front Page?
Running Headlines are the 2-3 headlines that display in the bottom right hand corner of the myON News page. Only one headline will display at a time, and the headline will change to the next headline after a few seconds on the screen. When a running headline includes the words “Tap for,” clicking it will open a popup window about that headline. Not all headlines will have a feature to tap on.
Are there new Teacher Guides available every day?
Teacher guides are available in the program for most, but not all days. The Teacher Guide button will be in the bottom left corner of the page under the available articles. Note: Teacher's Guides are suspended during the summer (stopping about mid-June and resuming in mid-to-late August).
When I look through the previous editions, yesterday's is missing. Why is that?
The Current edition will be the most recently published edition (red header). Previous editions (yellow header) will show the Published Date at the top. News articles are published at 5pm EST, Monday-Friday. If you are looking at the Current article at 2pm on a Thursday and click the back button, the Published Date of the previous edition will show Tuesday. There are no missing articles. The Current articles you are reading are Wednesday’s articles. It is like a physical newspaper; the newspaper is printed on Tuesday night for Wednesday news.
Why isn't the map feature working properly?
When you are viewing the map, a popup message will open that asks you to allow myON News, powered by News-O-Matic, to know your location. If popups or mapping features are blocked by your IT department, the map will not show the location of your students in relation to news around the world.
Is there an easy way to search myON News?
myON News includes a searchable archive. This allows educators and students to find news articles previously published. You can use the keyword text box to either search for your own keyword (like "animal news") or select a specific category to show all articles in that area.
Can I Set Minimum Grade Levels for News Articles?
District administrators can set minimum grade levels for individual news articles or those with special content flags. Building administrators may also be allowed to do this. For more information, see Managing Access to News Articles.