Look to Read
by Smartbox
Adam
Last Update 10 days ago
Article contents
- Overview
- Who's it for?
- What you get
- Before you start
- Setting up Look to Read
- Using Look to Read
- Literacy progression (stages explained)
- Activities
- Support for communication
- Access settings
- Typical & atypical use cases
- Downloads and documentation
- Request a licence reset
- Troubleshooting
1. Overview
Look to Read is an interactive literacy programme designed to help children explore reading in an engaging and accessible way. It combines animated stories, phonics-based learning, activities, and communication support, and works with touch, eye gaze, switches, and pointer access.
It contains 6 animated stories that gradually build early reading skills.
Each story:
It contains 6 animated stories that gradually build early reading skills.
Each story:
- Highlights every word so it can be read one at a time
- Speaks each word aloud when it is selected
- Includes animations that bring the story to life
- Comes with activities to practise sounds and understanding
- Includes a symbol-supported chat page to talk about the story
2. Who's it for?
Look to Read is suitable for:
- Children just starting literacy
- Children who already have some reading skills
- Learners with additional needs, including attention or learning difficulties
- Children who use AAC or alternative access methods
- Touch
- Eye gaze
- Switch access
- Pointer or mouse
3. What you get
Look to Read includes:
- 16 animated stories across 4 stages
- 64 learning activities
- Gradual introduction of:
- 95 sounds (phonemes and graphemes)
- 100 high-frequency words
- A symbol-based chat grid for every story
- Printable book-choosing cards
4. Before you start
Before using Look to Read:
- Make sure the learner’s access method (touch, eye gaze, switch, pointer) is working on the device
- If using eye gaze, install and set up the eye-gaze camera software first
- Decide whether high-contrast mode is needed
- Start with earlier stories unless the learner already has confidence with sounds and words
5. Setting up Look to Read
You can download the program here: Look to Read (EXE)
- Your activation code will be supplied by email.
- Enter your activation code to unlock all activities.
- If needed, use the Buy Online option to purchase a licence.
6. Using Look to Read
Reading stories
- Each word is selected in order
- When a word is selected, it is spoken aloud
- After the final word, the animation plays
- Learners can work at their own pace
- Touch / pointer: touch or hover over each word
- Eye gaze: look at each word to select it
- Switch: press the switch to move through words
7. Literacy progression (stages explained)
Look to Read introduces sounds and words in the same order commonly used in schools.
Stages 1-4
Stages 1-4
- Stage 1: simple 2–3 letter words and single vowel sounds
- Stage 2: more consonants and double letters
- Stage 3: consonant clusters and some digraphs
- Stage 4: more complex combinations and split digraphs
8. Activities
Each story includes four activities that build learning and understanding. Activities include:
- Listening to story sounds
- Spelling and building words
- Finding words
- Recalling key events
- Sentence building (Stage 4)
9. Support for communication
Chat grids:
- Include core words like want, more, stop
- Include story-specific vocabulary
- Can be used before, during, or after reading
- Support commenting, predicting, and giving opinions
10. Access settings
Eye gaze
Switch access
Touch / pointer
- Use the eye-gaze camera to control the cursor
- No dwell or mouse click is required in the camera software
- In Look to Read, choose:
- Instant reading
- Dwell reading (delayed)
Switch access
- Supports one or two switches
- One switch:
- Press to read each word
- Automated scanning for activities and chat grids
- Two switches:
- One to move
- One to select
- No scan speed needed
Touch / pointer
- Select each word directly
- Activities and chat grids allow free selection
Visual impairment
- High-contrast mode uses yellow and blue colours
- Improves visibility of text and icons
11. Typical & atypical use cases
Typical uses
- Daily phonics and reading practice
- Shared reading in class
- Independent reading sessions
- Repetition to build confidence
- Exploring cause and effect for early access learners
- Using only the chat grids for communication practice
- Focusing only on activities rather than full stories
- Allowing the learner to choose stories using printed cards
12. Downloads and documentation
- Look to Read (EXE)
Your activation key will be supplied by email
- This workbook accompanies the Look to Read eye gaze software. It is for teachers, parents or anyone else facilitating eye gaze sessions and is a tool to track progress over time: Look to Read Workbook
13. Requst a licence reset
If you need to transfer your Look to Read licence to a new computer, you can request a licence reset from Smartbox by filling in the form on their website: Licence Reset Form
14. Troubleshooting
| Problem | Possible cause | What to try |
| Words don’t read aloud | Access method not set | Check Settings → Access |
| Eye gaze not responding | Camera software not running | Start eye-gaze software |
| Switch scanning too fast | Scan speed too high | Set scan speed to Slow |
| Text hard to see | Visual needs | Turn on High Contrast |
| Learner skips stories | Starting too far ahead | Try earlier stage |
| Learner disengaged | Too challenging | Repeat favourite stories |
If any part of this article was unclear, or you think there is something missing (extra steps, examples or images etc.), let us know and we'll update the article:
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