Step | Explicit Instruction | Feedback |
| Set a Purpose: “Here’s where you have a choice of which story you would like to read. There are 12 stories to choose from. You are in charge and can choose the stories in any order.” Guided Practice/Modeling: “Look at the pictures and the titles to see what is interesting to you.” (Ask the student which stories they think they would like best and why.) “If you want to hear the title of the story before you decide, click on the picture. After hearing the title, you can decide to click ‘yes’ to read the story or click ‘no’ to return to the select a story screen.” | Feedback: Remind the student to choose a story quickly and provide positive feedback when they do. |
| Set a Purpose: “For this step, you will be working on vocabulary skills. When you click on a word, you will see a pop up with the definition which will be read to you. Sometimes there will be a sentence using the word or a picture to go with it. Becoming familiar with these key words will help you understand the story better. Guided Practice/Modeling: “Let’s look at the first word together. (Read the word to the student.) “Have you heard that word before? Tell me what you know about this word already. What else do you notice about this word? (Based on the age of the student, point out the parts of the word and/or identify the part of speech.) “When I’m learning a new word, I find it helpful to hear it multiple times. I’m going to read the first word for you this time. When you work on your own, the computer audio will read it to you. It’s important to focus on the audio in order to learn the words and what they mean. (Mute the sound and have the student click on the word. Pronounce the word and ask the student to repeat the word. Read the definition. Ask if the student has any questions about the definition and answer their questions. If there is a sentence, read it to the student and then ask the student to read it with you. If there is a picture, talk with the student about how the picture relates to the word.) “Let’s listen to the next one together.” (Unmute the sound and have the student click on the word. Model attentive listening as the word and definition are read aloud.) “Because I like to hear new words multiple times, I often click them again to hear them repeated. However, we don’t want to take too much time on this step so make sure you only do that a couple of times.” Gradual Release: “You’ve shown me that you know what to do in order to learn about the key words. You’re doing a good job! I’m going to work with another student while you do the rest of this step on your own.” | Feedback: Remind the student to actively listen while looking at the words on the screen and compliment them when they do. |
| Set a Purpose: “Making a prediction helps to get your brain ready to start thinking about what the story is about. That makes the story a little bit easier to understand.” Guided Practice/Modeling: “When I am making a prediction, I use the title, the picture, and key words to help me think about what I already know about this topic. (Talk with the student about the title, picture, and key words. Share what you think the story will be about. Ask them what they know about the topic.) I know I only have a couple of minutes to write my prediction, so I think of one or two sentences to write. (Decide on a sentence together.) Then I type my prediction. I read it to see if it makes sense before clicking Next.“ (Ask the student if they feel comfortable doing the prediction for the next story on their own.) | Feedback: If you notice (or anticipate) that the student has difficulty typing the prediction, ask them to signal the teacher the next time they get to that step. Additional Options: The student can tell the teacher their prediction and the teacher can type for them. The teacher can provide a notebook where the student can write the prediction. (Note: the student will need to type something – like a period – in the box before the Next button will be enabled.) The teacher can provide a sentence starter for the student such as, “I think this story will be about...” |
| Set a Purpose: “The cold timing will help us know how fluently you can read a brand-new story out loud. When you finish reading, we’ll see your score on the graph in blue.” “You’re going to read the story on your own. Click on any word you stop or stumble on or want to skip. I might tell you if I notice that you missed a word, but that’s ok—this is just your first read. When you’re ready, click on Start Timing and start reading.” | Feedback: As the student reads the story, quietly remind them to click on words they miss. Eventually, they will be more comfortable noticing and clicking on words they don’t know. After the timer sounds and the student clicks on the last word they read, discuss any words they missed. |
| Set a Purpose: “The read along step helps us learn to read more fluently, with expression, like we talk. When we read fluently, we understand what we read.” Guided Practice/Modeling: Read the first few sentences of the story like a robot—no expression, no pauses—or very fast. “Can you tell what the story is about/what is happening in the story when I read like that?” Read the same few sentences with expression, pausing at commas and periods and emphasizing important words. “Is it easier to understand when I read it that way? Why?” Independent Practice: Have the student practice reading the first few sentences with expression. | Feedback: If the student doesn’t pause at periods, remind them that a period is like a stop sign when you’re driving. “What happens when we ignore stop signs?” Have them go back and reread the sentence, then praise them for their efforts. |
| Set a Purpose: “The practice step is your chance to practice reading the story fluently on your own, see if you can meet your goal, and learn something new.” Show the student how to find their level and goal at the top of the screen. Guided Practice: “What do I need to remember when I’m reading? When do I pause?” Independent Practice: “Now it’s your turn. You’re going to read for one minute and click on the last word you read. Your score for each practice will show up in the box under the image.” | Feedback: After listening to the student read the first few sentences aloud, remind them to pause at periods and commas and emphasize important words. Point out their scores in the box below the image for the story and praise them for their efforts. |
| Set a Purpose: “The quiz step is your chance to show what you know by answering some questions about the story. You can go back to the story any time to find the answer.” Guided Practice: “What is this question asking me to do?” Guide the student to the purpose of each question, i.e., main idea, detail, vocabulary, and show them how to go back to the story and find the answer. Independent Practice: “Now it’s your turn to answer the questions. The computer will tell you if you’re right, and we can go back and correct the ones you miss during the review step.” | Additional Resources: If students are struggling with a particular type of comprehension question, reference the Comprehension Tips and Comprehension Builder in the Read Live Staff Module for teaching strategies for the different types of questions. Feedback: Remind the student to take their time when answering the questions and read all the answers before choosing one. |
| Retell Set a Purpose: “A main reason for reading is to learn something new. For this step, you are going to retell or summarize the story so I can see all the things you understood and remember about the story.” Guided Practice/Modeling: “When I am getting ready to write a retelling, I like to look back at the story one more time. This helps me remember what the story was about – but I can’t just copy from the story – I need to tell it in my own words. Let me show you an example.” (Show the student a retell that has already been written.) “In my retelling, I usually start with the main idea and add related details. I have some sentence starters to help you build on the details.” (Share the list of sentence starters.) Gradual Release: “Let’s write this retelling together. Tell me your ideas and I will type them. We can discuss the main idea and details as we go.” (Work on the retelling together.) You did a nice job with the retelling. Do you feel ready to do one on your own??” Word List Set a Purpose: (Think of an age-appropriate activity the student may have practiced – like tying shoes or playing a sport, an instrument, or a video game and use that example in this conversation.) “Remember when you were learning to (insert activity)? Did you do it quickly and easily the first time you tried it? Did you need to practice over and over until it became easy and automatic for you? Well, that is what practicing the word list step does. You get to practice the list multiple times in order to reach your goal. As you continue to practice, reading the words will become easier and more automatic. Soon, you won’t have to stop and think about each sound in the word – you’ll be able to read it right away.” Guided Practice/Modeling: “Let me show you what I mean.” Read the list of words down and across slowly. Then do it again with fewer pauses and more automatically. Gradual Release: “Let’s read the words together.” (Read the words with the student.) “Great job! Now it’s your turn to try it on your own.” Spelling Set a Purpose: “As you learn to read words, you can also start to learn how to spell them so you can use the words in your writing.” Guided Practice/Modeling: (Place a small whiteboard and marker in front of you and the student.) “When I am trying to spell a word, I say it very slowly and stretch it out.” (Choose a word the student is likely to know and demonstrate.) “When words rhyme, I can follow the pattern.” (Write additional rhyming words on the whiteboard.) “I’m going to say a new word slowly. Tell me the letters in the word and I’ll write them down.” (Write down what the student says.) “This is the correct spelling of the word.” (Write the correct spelling above the previously written word.) “Do they match?” (If yes…) “You got it right!” (If no…) “Let’s see what’s different and change the first word to match the correct word.” (Discuss the changes needed and show how to make the changes.) Gradual Release: (Watch for signs the student is ready to do this independently.) “It looks like you are ready to do this on your own for the spelling step.”
| Retell Feedback: If you notice (or anticipate) that the student has difficulty typing the retelling, ask them to signal the teacher the next time they get to that step. Additional Options: The student can tell the teacher their retelling and the teacher can type for them. The teacher can provide a notebook where the student can write the prediction. (Note: the student will need to type something – like a period – in the box before the Next button will be enabled.)
Word List Feedback: When a student says a word incorrectly, ask them to pause for a moment. Slowly pronounce the word by sounding it out. Then, have the student sound out the word with the teacher. Prompt the student to look at the letters in the word as they sound out the word. Finally, have the student read the word without sounding it out first.
Spelling Feedback: When comparing the correct word to an incorrect attempt, let the student know they made a good effort and show them which letters are correct (and can stay the same) and which letters are incorrect and need to be changed. |
| Set a Purpose: “Now it’s time to pass this story. This is a chance to show your improvement with the number of words you read correctly compared to the cold timing. After I score your hot timing, you’ll see a graph in red that shows how well you did. During this step, we can also see how you did on the quiz and the retell (or word list).” Guided Practice/Modeling: Gradual Release: “You seem ready for the hot timing. Do you have any questions?” (Answer any questions.) “When you’re ready, click on Start Timing and start reading.” | Feedback: Because the errors show up in the first box on the pass timing screen, it is tempting to tell the student how many words they missed. Instead, look at the second box that shows how many words they read correctly and let the student know how many words they got right. On the pass/review work screen, show the student how they did on each step. Praise them for what they did well in specific language. (For example, “Wow! You answered all of the quiz questions correctly on the first try.”) Give corrective feedback and guidance for any step that did not meet expectations. (For example, “It looks like some of the words are still tricky for you. I’d like you to go back and read along with the narrator again to practice the words in the story. Before you read along, please click on the blue words to have them read to you.”) |
Read Live User Guide
Explicit Instruction and Feedback
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