The silent reader
A child can sit through a whole year without anyone hearing them read aloud.
PUPILREAD · FOR PRIMARY HEADS
She read the question aloud without a stumble. Then answered a different question.
Each child reads aloud for two minutes on any phone and answers three questions about meaning. In 48 hours you’ll hear your whole class — who reads fluently, who understands, and which words to teach before Friday’s chapter.
In 48 hours: every child in one class, heard.
READ-ALOUD · 2 MIN
The farmer stored the grain in a dry room so that it would not spoil before the rains came.
62 words a minute · sample
Paused at “spoil” — pre-teach it before Friday’s chapter.
Is this your starting point?
I’m and what hurts most is
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY
Reading doesn’t finish in Class 3. It quietly stalls.
rural 14–18-year-olds can’t fluently read a Class 2 text in their language
ASER 2023 Beyond Basics · asercentre.org · ASER 2023 main findings
average correct on Class 6 questions using inference to understand texts, 2024
PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024 (NCERT) · parakh.ncert.gov.in · national report
of rural 14–18-year-olds could read simple English sentences, 2023
ASER 2023 Beyond Basics · asercentre.org · ASER 2023 main findings
SOUND FAMILIAR?
A maths mark lost to a single word.
Children decode the words but miss the meaning, so they lose marks in maths and science on ideas they actually know. And with forty children and one period, few teachers ever get to hear each child read.
Marks lost to wording
Maths and science marks fall on the question’s words, not on the idea.
English on paper only
Children copy English answers they can’t yet read back to you.
HOW IT WORKS
Hear every child read. Every single week.
Two minutes aloud, three questions about meaning, and tomorrow’s hard words taught first.
1Hear
Each child reads a short passage aloud on any phone — Kannada, Telugu, Hindi or English.
2Check meaning
Three questions test understanding, not memory. At least one needs reading between the lines.
3Pre-teach
Tomorrow’s chapter words come first, with pictures and the child’s home language.
4Reading Corner
Idle classroom boards play a short read-along during free minutes.
PupilReadFluent but not following? Next week’s passage leans on meaning, not speed.
THREE WAYS TO START
Start by listening to one class. Go further when you’re ready.
Every way ends with a reading map of your children, in their languages. Choose how much help you want and change it any time.
For principals who want to hear one class read before anything else.
- 1Pick a class and a language
- 2Children read aloud for two minutes
- 3Open your class reading map
- YOU’LL SEE IT
- In 48 hours
- WHAT IT TAKES
- Free. No card, nothing to install.
For primary heads who want every class heard, with our team alongside.
- 1A 30-minute call with your language HoD
- 2Passages matched to your own textbooks
- 3Day-14 readout: fluency and meaning
- YOU’LL SEE IT
- Day 3
- WHAT IT TAKES
- A short paid pilot, credited to year one
For owners who want a weekly reading programme run for them.
- 1We pick passages from your textbooks
- 2Our team runs the weekly reading rounds
- 3Word lists to teachers, read-alongs home
- YOU’LL SEE IT
- Week one
- WHAT IT TAKES
- Set-up plus per student, quoted for your school
WHAT YOU’LL SEE FIRST
The moment: nine fast readers who can’t say what they read — and the twelve words to teach first.
MAKE IT YOURS
Read-alongs in a voice your children already trust.
ONLY AT YOUR SCHOOL
Read-alongs in a teacher’s or parent’s voice
A favourite teacher — or a child’s own parent — records ten minutes. Read-along stories then play in that voice, in Kannada or English. Each voice needs written consent, is labelled as AI, is used only for reading, and is deleted on request.
- Written consent for each voice, revocable
- An “AI voice” label on every read-along
- Used for reading, and nothing else
READ-ALOUD · 2 MIN
The thirsty crow dropped one pebble, then another, until the water rose to the top.
Read-along · Amma’s voice (AI)
“pebble” lights up as Amma’s voice reads it.
Your textbooks
Passages from your own readers and chapters, not generic stories.
Your languages
Kannada, Telugu, Hindi and English — one child can read in two.
Your idle boards
Reading Corner plays read-alongs on classroom boards in free minutes.
WHY IT GETS BETTER EVERY TERM
Every reading makes next week’s passage fit better.
Each two-minute read updates the child’s level, so the next passage is a little harder — never a lot — and the word list follows your timetable.
It listens to your children every week, so each passage lands just past what they can already do.
- 1Child reads aloudTwo minutes, any phone
- 2Fluency heardWords, pauses, self-corrections
- 3Meaning checkedThree questions, one inference
- 4Words pre-taughtBefore tomorrow’s chapter
- 5Next passage fitsA little harder, never more
- ↻ Each child’s reading level
WHERE IT LEADS
Once you can hear every child, you notice who needs more.
When your reading data points somewhere new, we show you the maths and the next small step. You decide.
WHEN YOU NOTICE
30% or more of a class reads fluently but misses meaning questions for three weeks.
PupilSpeakTHE MATHS · AN EXAMPLE
e.g. 360 children × 3 minutes × 10 oral checks = 180 teacher hours a year
WHEN YOU NOTICE
A child stays two levels below their class after six weeks of support.
Inclusion deskTHE MATHS · AN EXAMPLE
e.g. 8 children × 2 hours per evidence pack = 16 hours a term
WHEN YOU NOTICE
60% or more of a class reads aloud every week for four weeks.
ChittyTHE MATHS · AN EXAMPLE
e.g. 400 families × 2 read-alongs a week × 30 weeks = 24,000 home reading sessions a year
A SCHOOL FIRST · BALLARI · SINCE 2001
We teach children to read too. Here’s what we commit to.
PupilTree is a working school group in Ballari, teaching children since 2001. Founding schools shape PupilRead with us, hold founding terms for three years, and can step away easily if it isn’t earning its place.
Founding terms
Founding-school pricing, held for three years.
Stop on day 14
No reading map your teachers trust? Stop, and take all your data.
Voices stay theirs
Every recorded voice is deleted the day its owner asks.
Nothing published without you
No number about your school goes anywhere without your written yes.
WHAT WE’LL TRACK WITH YOUChildren heard each weekReading level movementMeaning questions answeredWords pre-taught
QUESTIONS
The questions a primary head should ask.
Didn’t see yours? Ask on WhatsApp — a person replies, usually within the hour.
Ask on WhatsAppNo. A shared family phone, one class tablet or the classroom board all work.
Who in your Class 5 reads well but misses the meaning?
Hear one class read this week, free. In 48 hours you’ll know — and have the words to teach first.
No labels on children, everConsent for every voiceEasy exit by day 14