We are thrilled to share that Read Naturally's curriculum directors have recently been featured in two high-quality educational publications accessed by tens of thousands of educators nationwide. Our Director of Curriculum, Karen McKenna, wrote an article for THE Journal entitled 5 Ways to Add Elements of the Science of Reading to a Balanced Literacy Program. THE Journal is dedicated to informing K–12 educators on ways to advance learning through the use of technology. Our Assistant Director of Curriculum, Sarah Jane Schonour, wrote an article for SmartBrief Education entitled Providing Literacy Intervention, Support Within MTSS. SmartBrief Education is a thrice-weekly brief designed specifically for educators and literacy learning supporters. 

In THE Journal article, Karen states, "The 'reading wars' turn a complex issue into an either/or, when we really should be focusing on what works best for readers during every stage of their reading instruction." Read the article for Karen's viewpoint on how the Science of Reading can be incorporated into any classroom to do what's best for students. Read Naturally programs have proudly integrated Science of Reading practices since their creation in 1991. Despite changing trends and viewpoints in how to teach reading, Read Naturally has consistently stood by what truly works and what is backed by research. We have modified our programs to reflect the changing needs of today's teachers and students, but our commitment to the Science of Reading has never wavered. Karen's explains in her article how, even in Balanced Literacy classrooms, there are ways to incorporate Science of Reading practices to get students the support they need. 

The SmartBrief Education editorial team selected our Assistant Curriculum Director, Sarah Jane Schonour, to write a piece on providing literacy intervention within an MTSS (Multi-Tiered Systems of Support) framework. In her article, Sarah Jane explains how research-based programs like Read Naturally can work well in any of the three MTSS tiers to get students the support they need. Read Naturally programs are highly customizable and provide the necessary scaffolding to help readers work at the level and and pace that will best meet their needs. Check out this blog post for more details on how reading teachers use our popular phonics program, Word Warm-ups Live, in all three MTSS tiers. When students have various needs and at are working various levels, a program that can easily adapt to support them is essential--and Read Naturally programs deliver.

Our curriculum directors have enjoyed contributing to the larger conversations happening around literacy education. We hope you enjoy their insights! If you're passionate about these topics too, we'd love to hear from you. Get in touch and let us know how we can support your work.