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The Read Live program traces its origin to Read Naturally SE (Software Edition), the first customizable software intervention for struggling and developing readers. Read Live has become a web-based platform that includes Read Naturally Live, Read Naturally Live—Español, Word Warm ups Live, and One Minute Reader Live. Read Live features the following innovations in reading instruction:

1. Includes four reading interventions: Read Naturally Live, Word Warm-ups Live, One Minute Reader Live, and Read Naturally Live—Español.
2. Provides all four reading interventions with all their levels for each licensed student.
3. Includes expanded reports for evaluating student performance and allows teachers to create groups for ease of reporting.
4. Provides multiple story options for differentiating instruction so that students all work at their own pace with levels, goals, and steps customized to address their individual needs.
5. Allows students to click on any unknown words to hear them pronounced correctly.
6. Features clickable vocabulary words with definitions and often sample sentences and/or illustrations.
7. Includes optional highlighting of lines of text to support a student’s tracking as the student actively reads along with a narrator who models accurate and expressive reading at an appropriate pace.

Read Naturally Live and Read Naturally Live—Español Innovations

1. Read Naturally Live features levels in these series: Sequenced, Phonics, and Idioms.
   • The Sequenced Series provides nonfiction stories at levels 1 through 8 that build background knowledge while students work on their fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary.
   • The six Phonics Series levels (0.8 through 2.7) help students to build fluency and phonics skills at the same time. Each story focuses on specific phonics pattern(s) and phonics skills build incrementally as students progress through these levels.
   • The four levels in the Idioms Series (3.0 through 4.5) teach common American Idioms, which is interesting for all students and particularly useful for English Language Learners who are likely unfamiliar with these idioms.
2. Spanish read alongs are available for all stories through the Sequenced Series level 5.6 so that students can hear each passage in Spanish.
3. Read Naturally Live—Español provides the same content included in Read Naturally Live through level 5.6 in Spanish with directions in Spanish and an optional English language read along.
4. Read Naturally Live and Read Naturally Live—Español include bonus content in the Wordtastic word game. This is an educational wait time activity which builds vocabulary and includes a motivating points system.
5. The hot timing recording feature and the waiting room feature, implemented for distance learning, allow students to work in the program and continue making progress remotely.
6. The ability for students to record themselves reading the passage allows them to hear themselves reading, which is motivating as a confirmation of improvement.

Word Warm-ups Live innovations

1. In Word Warm-ups Live, students are placed at the appropriate level to learn phonics principles they can apply and practice to automaticity at their own pace.
2. A motivating wait-time activity develops phonemic awareness and phonics skills.
3. Students can click on difficult words to hear them pronounced.
4. A spelling step requires students to spell words with the pattern(s) in each lesson.
5. The program supports decoding and encoding. Self-check of spelling attempts is strongly supported by research.
6. Students develop word automaticity through word list practice.

One Minute Reader Live innovations

1. One Minute Reader Live provides additional stories (at levels from early first through mid-fifth grade) for students working in a corresponding Read Naturally Live level or simply for any student who could use supported practice reading and more opportunities to build background knowledge, new vocabulary, and comprehension skills.
2. One Minute Reader allows students to work independently at school and/or at home (and even over breaks, including the long summer break).
3. Students can self-select any book or story.
4. Books include motivating fun facts, riddles, and a crossword puzzle.

1. Takes the elements of the Read Naturally Strategy to provide an efficient way to teach phonics and build fluency at the same time.
2. Quiz uses words with the featured sound pattern.
3. Word list exercise provides fluency practice of featured words in isolation. Practicing word lists develops word automaticity.
4. Supports decoding and encoding.
5. Self-check of spelling attempts is strongly supported by research.

1. Direct translation of Read Naturally passages allows native Spanish speakers to get to grade level in Spanish and then, with prior knowledge, be able to transition with the same levels and passages to master the passages in English.
2. Develops fluency for those learning to read Spanish.

1. Teacher-led but still individualized in a group setting for phonics.
2. Combines the precision of direct instruction of phonics and applying phonics while reading text.
3. Passages are written and leveled with many words with the featured sounds in nonfiction text.
4. Large format presentation book provides scripts and assists with teacher instruction.
5. Includes phonemic awareness and phonics.
6. Phonetically regular and irregular high-frequency words are systematically presented in each level.
7. Spelling activities connect encoding and decoding.

1. Read Naturally SE was the first software intervention for struggling and developing readers.
2. The software eliminated prep time to create student folders and eliminated the need for CDs.
3. Allowed teachers to generate automated reports.

During the pandemic, Read Live enhanced remote learning by adding features to enable students to continue to make progress when they were separated from their teachers.

1. The recording feature made it possible for teachers to listen to and score hot timings after students recorded their readings.
2. The wait list feature alerted teachers to students who needed their attention to continue.

Among the many things the Read Naturally team is currently working on are the following:

1. Lessons for direct comprehension instruction including broad comprehension strategies and lessons to develop the skills needed to answer particular kinds of questions.
2. An automated system within Read Naturally Live to help teachers make the best decisions to promote growth for each individual student. This system will use recent student data to advise teachers with recommendations for adjusting students' levels, goals, and eventually story options. Teachers can use this guidance along with their knowledge of each student to ensure students are appropriately challenged to accelerate achievement and maximize gains.