We always welcome questions about best practices with your Read Naturally program and how to make sure you are implementing your school’s program correctly. Many of the questions we get are about the passing step. Here is a quick roundup of some of the most frequently asked questions.
Q: One of my students always reaches his goal rate, but makes lots of errors – sometimes as many as 10 in one story. Should I let him pass?
A: No. Students really need to make three or fewer errors to pass. If students become very inaccurate, you can drop the reading rate goal and/or require that the student read the story accurately to you before attempting the final timing.
Q: How long should it take for a student to pass a story in the Read Naturally program?
A: If students are doing all 10 steps of the Read Naturally strategy, they should be able to pass a story in approximately 45 minutes. If the students are not required to do the prediction and retell steps, they should be able to pass a story in about 30 minutes (when using the program daily as recommended). It is okay if it takes a student a little more time to pass a story. In general, the more a student uses the strategy, the more efficient they become. If you begin to feel that the student is taking a long time to pass a story because the material or goal is too difficult for that student, you may want to adjust the level or goal.
Q: Does the accuracy standard for passing a story change for students who do two-minute or whole-story timings?
A: No, students who do two-minute or whole-story timings still need to make three or fewer errors in order to pass a Read Naturally story. The two-minute and whole-story timings are used by students whose reading has shown improvement. So the higher standard of only three errors on longer passages is reasonable and desirable.
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!
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