RN Bookmark

The new school year is quickly approaching. Soon the building will be flooded with students both familiar and new. To ensure a smooth start for all of your students—and, most especially, for you—advance preparations to your classroom and curricula are essential. Read more

We’re excited to announce the release of our best-ever version of Read Live: Read Live 2.0. This release includes a number of important updates for security and performance. Read more

Reading without comprehension is about as much fun as looking at a page of jumbled letters. What’s the point? The reason we read is to gain knowledge, to enrich our lives, and to be entertained. None of these things can happen without comprehension. Read more

On airplanes, they tell you to secure your own oxygen mask before assisting others. You’re only able to help another person if you have enough air for yourself. This advice can be applied metaphorically to any situation in life—and it’s the kind of advice that is especially difficult for teachers to follow. Teachers are the ultimate helpers. Without hesitation, they’ll set aside their own needs to help a student or colleague in need. So how do they avoid running out of oxygen? For many teachers, the answer is S-U-M-M-E-R. Read more

To look into the eyes of a young person and see that he or she is struggling is difficult for anyone—but it’s especially difficult for the child’s parents. Students who struggle with reading often feel frustrated, tired, sad, angry, embarrassed, and a whole host of other emotions. The parents of these students often feel many of these same things. Many want to help their children but don’t know where to start. “What if I don’t have a background in education?” “What if I don’t have enough hours in my day?” “I know nothing about literacy instruction—what if my efforts to help end up confusing the child even more?” “There are so many programs claiming to help struggling readers—how will I choose the best one?” These are just a few of the many questions that can overwhelm a struggling reader’s parents. To these parents, our answer is simply: Let us help. Read more

How do you think your students are doing on their summer reading lists so far? It’s fun to imagine them leaned up against a shady tree with a good classic, isn’t it? (A teacher can dream!) Wouldn’t you love that kind of lazy day? Who’s to say you can’t have one—or several? Summer reading is important for teachers too. And usually, after a busy school year, it’s quite a treat. Read more

Plenty of research confirms that schools with positive climates, in which the students have strong social-emotional skills, are ideal learning environments. Teachers and parents don’t need research to believe this—it’s common sense that when people are shown kindness as opposed to hostility, they’re far more apt to succeed in school and beyond. Read more

Yet another school year is drawing to a close, which means it’s time for our annual State of the Blog address. Each year, we highlight the Top 10 RN Bookmark posts from August through May. This is a great way for teachers to catch up on salient content they may have missed during the hustle and bustle of the school year. It’s also a great way for us to learn what resonates most with our readers, so that we can offer you more of this content in the future. Read more

A large, nationally representative survey recently conducted by Scholastic found that 94% of preK through Grade 12 teachers and principals believe students should have time for independent reading. Most teachers believe that, when students are given the time to read and enjoy books of their choice, engagement increases and a greater love of reading is fostered. However, just 36% of teachers say they actually set aside this time every day. In classrooms where independent reading does occur, students read for an average of 22 minutes. Read more

Though we’ve had a very good year, I have some ideas for making things even better next year. (Don’t all of us teachers begin to think of next year even before the current year ends?) Read more