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When you were a kid, what were your favorite chapter books? I couldn't get enough of the Anne of Green Gables series (the heroine had me hooked from the first pages, when she insisted on the "e" at the end of her name). My seven-year-old currently laughs out loud (and stays up way past bedtime) reading Judy Blume's Fudge books. We loved the B.F.G. so much we're hoping to see the movie later this summer. And who doesn't love the Magic Treehouse series? Everywhere I turn, I seem to meet another Jack and Annie fan. Read more

Each year, new educators set foot in their own classrooms for the very first time. These newly trained educators are eager to put their skills to use and make a positive impact. Are they prepared? Read more

If you’re on Facebook, you’re all too familiar with the high that comes from receiving a “like” on one of your posts. Researchers have suggested that this quick hit of dopamine in our brains can be as addicting as the most powerful drugs. We aren’t addicted to likes (or drugs!) here at Read Naturally, thank goodness. But we do know that likes are a good way to measure the appeal of a post. We use this data to figure out how to give our Facebook followers more of the content they want and less of the content they don’t. Read more

If you’ve been following our blog, you know that our most popular posts are the ones in which we offer free resources. Teachers can’t get enough of this useful content! Have you downloaded these resources yet? Read more

One day, while our kids were coloring together, I overheard my brother-in-law ask his daughter if she needed more crowns. “Is she drawing a royal family?” I wondered. “Is she planning to play dress-up later?” Imagine my surprise when I realized my brother-in-law’s... Read more

“What does it take to raise reading achievement in a whole school?” A classroom-teacher-turned-reading-coach recently asked this question to one of our favorite experts on literacy, Tim Shanahan. As usual, his answer was detailed, thoughtful, and full of important insights. Read more

Children are masters at reading our expectations of them. What we communicate with our body language, mood, and tone of voice while interacting with them often speaks louder than the actual words we say. And when we have expectations, guess what? For better or worse, the children live into them. Read more

Learning to decode words is a difficult skill in its own right. ELL students have the added challenge of learning this skill in a nonnative language. It goes without saying that these students need lots of extra support. What should this support look like? Read more

Why are video games addicting? Neuroscience answers it with complicated data on neuron pathways and dopamine. Ask a child, and his answer will be much simpler: Because they’re fun! Read more

“While we may ultimately teach students enough test-taking strategies to eke out a passing score and earn that high school diploma, we are missing a crucial opportunity to show our students that they, too, can be real readers.” Read more