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Do you ever feel like you’re assessing all the time? You’re assessing the weather and the traffic. You’re assessing what to say and how to teach. You’re assessing all the information that comes across your desk and computer screen. You’re even assessing whether or not to continue reading this post, aren’t you?

Oh yeah, and you’re assessing your students. There are benchmark assessments, progress monitoring assessments, and Read Naturally-specific placement assessments. What’s the difference? Is anyone confused? Read more

We are pleased to feature Karen Hunter as a guest blogger today on RN Bookmark. Before becoming Read Naturally’s Director of Curriculum & Professional Development in 2007, Karen was a reading specialist, special education teacher, and teacher trainer for 30 years in California. There she developed a passion for teaching the crucial and often difficult skill of spelling to struggling students. Bringing her expertise to Read Naturally, Karen was instrumental in the development and management of our spelling product, Signs for Sounds. In this post, Karen shares information on the importance of teaching spelling. She includes resources that will help you evaluate your current spelling curriculum or a new program you might be considering. Read more

As you know, fluency is a complicated skill to teach. This is because fluency itself is highly complex. Therefore, setting aside time to deepen your knowledge of this skill is important. When you understand the ins and outs of fluency, you will be more effective in helping your students master this key component of reading success. Read more

Over 20 years ago, when Candyce Ihnot was working toward her master’s degree in Special Education, she grappled with the question of how to keep her students motivated. She had read the research and asked the experts, but her most meaningful answer came from her daughter Claire, a competitive swimmer. “Claire, how do you stay motivated to swim all those laps?” Candyce asked one day after practice. Claire looked at her mother as though the answer was obvious. “My coach times me,” she said. Read more