The fact that so many students love working in Read Naturally programs brings us great joy. But we are most delighted when students no longer need our programs. The whole point of a Read Naturally intervention is to one day exit the program as a fluent and confident reader. The sooner this day comes for a student, the better!
Read more Claire Ihnot Hayes is an Educational Consultant for Read Naturally who meets with educators nationwide to train them in Read Naturally programs. One of the most frequent questions Claire receives from educators is, “How can I adapt Read Naturally programs to meet the various needs of my students?” Older students, younger students, and ELL students have different needs and thus require different adjustments. We recently sat down with Claire to document her favorite tips for adapting Read Naturally Live to optimize success for a diverse body of students. These tips work for Encore students as well.
Read more Read Live is highly customizable to meet each student’s individual needs. Our phonics offerings within this program are no exception. Read Live makes it easy for students who need phonics support to either progress sequentially through systematic phonics instruction, or to focus specifically on the phonics pattern(s) they need to master.
Read more Last year, we rolled out one of our most exciting Read Live innovations to date: Independent Placement! This feature allows newly enrolled Read Live students to complete the placement process independently--saving teachers valuable time! Independent Placement uses speech recognition technology to analyze students' fluency as they read placement stories. Based on this data, the program assigns students an appropriate level and goal so they can begin working in Read Live as efficiently as possible. If you intend to take advantage of this amazing new feature, here are some tips:
Read more The start of the school year is all about getting to know your new students—their personalities, their interests, and their individual needs. Determining which students need extra support in reading, and what that support should look like, are some of the most important decisions you’ll make this year. Thankfully, we’re here to help. Educators can choose from a number of reputable assessments to screen for reading concerns. From there, Read Naturally can help you interpret the data and choose the appropriate intervention.
Read more Students taking high-stakes tests must have the capacity to read for extended periods of time. Whether they’re reading a series of questions, or reading to comprehend a lengthy passage, endurance is crucial to their success. How can we help build reading stamina?
Read more One of the things that sets Read Naturally programs apart is our high-interest, nonfiction stories. Struggling readers need to feel motivated to read, so we try to find unique topics that will hold their interest and spark their curiosity. When we read about the work of the nonprofit APOPO, not only were we inspired by its mission, but we knew we had the makings of a great story. Since then, our Rats to the Rescue story in Read Live and Encore II Level 5.6 has become a crowd favorite.
Read more We're thrilled to announce that our Read Naturally Live program has just taken a giant leap forward with two groundbreaking new features: Independent Placement and Data Mentor! Read Naturally Live now incorporates the latest speech recognition technology to allow students to place themselves in the Sequenced series of the program without teacher support. Students using Independent Placement will get started in Read Naturally Live with an appropriate level and goal faster than ever—and teachers will save hours of valuable time. Meanwhile, our new Data Mentor tool will analyze students' story data and make recommendations for placement adjustments to help ensure their level and goal are customized for success.
Read more Comprehension gives the act of reading a purpose and opens the door to enjoyment of reading. Indeed, deriving meaning from text is why we bother reading at all! Yet comprehension can be a struggle for any student, but often it’s especially challenging for multilingual students. What can we do to set them up for success in Read Naturally Live and Read Naturally Live—Español?
Read more In my last post, I shared the many assessment mistakes I’ve made over the years. Blunders aside, I actually love spring assessments for one simple reason. The spring assessment gives me an opportunity to show my students the big picture and remind them that the best reward of all is taking ownership of their own progress. This is usually just a short conversation, but it’s one of the most important talks I will have with them.
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Share your student’s success story—nominate him or her for our Star of the Month award. Win a Barnes & Noble gift card for the student and a Read Naturally gift certificate for your class!
