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Does “summer reading” sound to your students like a chore? You know reading can be just as exciting as any other summer activity, but your students may need a little convincing. These last couple weeks of school, take some time to brainstorm and share all the fun possibilities for summer reading. The web is full of information on this topic. Here are a few of our favorite resources: Read more

This week, young readers from coast to coast will unite in celebrating the longest-running literacy initiative in the nation: Children’s Book Week. For the first time ever, official events are being held in all 50 states! In addition, classrooms, libraries, and booksellers across the nation will commemorate this important literary holiday with readings and activities. Read more

Spring conferences are fast approaching! As you share your students’ fluency progress with their parents/guardians, point out the ways they can support this progress at home. Consider offering our “fluency at home” letter, which explains to parents how they can use teacher modeling, repeated reading, and progress monitoring at home. Read more

​One of the things teachers love best about the Read Naturally strategy is the concrete data they acquire about their students’ fluency development. The graphs and reports you generate in Encore and Read Live give you a clear picture of each student’s growth. Knowing how to apply this information ensures your students continue to progress at an appropriate pace. Read more

To engage struggling readers, we need to provide interesting content written at their level. Unfortunately, most articles in the mainstream news don’t meet these criteria. Does this mean struggling readers won’t be able to read about current events? Not anymore. Read more

I am lucky to participate in Minnesota’s Early Childhood Family Education program with my two children. At the beginning of our weekly class, each parent shares a joy. The purpose of this ritual is to build a culture of gratitude, even on days when our job feels thankless. After recovering from the stomach bug, we’re thankful for health. When it’s brutally cold outside, we’re thankful for a warm place to gather. Our kids keep us up all night, but we’re thankful for their smiles. Read more

“O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” Ask your students what this famous Shakespeare line means, and many will tell you Juliet is wondering where Romeo is. As you probably know, she’s not. She’s wondering why he is. The confusion about this quote is not surprising. Wherefore in the world does wherefore mean why? It’s just one of the many puzzling nuances of the English language. Read more

Which students will you assess for weaknesses in phonics? In some schools and at some grade levels, teachers are required to assess all students using specific assessment tools. In other schools and perhaps in higher grade levels, teachers may want this valuable information, but recognize that individual diagnostic testing of all students is not necessarily an effective use of time. Read more

Wouldn't that be wonderful! In reality, many students are impatient for your help. Fortunately, Read Naturally has a few tricks up its sleeve to keep your students engaged as they wait.

When students reach their goal on a Read Naturally story, they should read the story again, answer the comprehension questions, and continue practicing until you’re able to pass them. After completing these tasks, students should work on wait-time activities. Read more

If your students have been using Read Naturally since the beginning of the year, they should now have a pretty good handle on using the program. You should be able to spend your time monitoring their progress and differentiating instruction instead of reminding them what they need to be doing. In addition to checking their hot and cold timings to look at their progress (and making any necessary adjustments), you should be checking how each student is doing on the comprehension questions. Is the student getting at least 80% of the questions correct? Do you have some students who are consistently getting certain questions wrong? Read more