All schools need effective solutions to help students achieve reading proficiency. Effective reading solutions:

  • Are evidence-based.
  • Align with the Science of Reading.
  • Develop foundational reading skills.
  • Address the essential components of reading.
  • Provide explicit and systematic instruction.

Read Live meets these criteria and more. This program keeps students motivated and engaged while accelerating reading achievement. It was developed by Candyce Ihnot at Hale School in Minneapolis as part of her research for her Master’s paper. If you are looking for an evidence-based reading solution whose strategy is backed by scientific research and over three decades of classroom use, you’ve come to the right place.

Read Live’s Strategy Is Evidence-Based.

Read Live uses the Read Naturally Strategy to develop reading proficiency. A number of robust studies prove the efficacy of the Read Naturally Strategy. These studies have been reviewed and found to contain substantial evidence to support use of the Read Naturally Strategy under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015). Additional evidence-based studies can be found here.

Read Live Aligns With the Science of Reading.

The Science of Reading is a research-based approach to teaching reading. Even before it was called the Science of Reading, the Read Naturally Strategy aligned with evidence-based best practices in reading instruction, using the research-proven methods of teacher modeling, repeated reading, and progress monitoring to deliver statistically significant results. Read Live uses the evidence-based Read Naturally Strategy to systematically develop the skills students need to become proficient readers.

The phonics component, Word Warm-ups Live, delivers scripted, research-based phonics lessons to develop automaticity and decoding skills. Students further develop these skills in Read Naturally Live, which builds fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension through a motivating system, resulting in the ability to read proficiently and make high-level inferences from text. Research-based methods are used every step of the way. Examples include direct instruction of phonics elements; audio-supported, student-friendly vocabulary definitions provided in context; narrations of each story read at three different speeds; the ability to practice the story in short, motivating increments to build fluency; comprehension questions, prediction, and retelling requirements; leveled, high-interest reading passages; and more. From start to finish, the Read Live system uses scientifically proven methods of teaching students to read efficiently and well.

Read Live Develops Foundational Reading Skills.

Phonological and phonemic awareness, phonics and decoding, fluency, and print concepts are widely recognized as foundational reading skills. Read Live develops phonological awareness, phonics, and decoding through targeted instruction in Word Warm-ups Live. Read Naturally Live develops fluency as students use the Read Naturally Strategy of teacher modeling, repeated reading, and progress monitoring with leveled material and words-correct-per-minute fluency goals. Print concepts are reinforced throughout, as students interact with the functions and conventions of print (noticing how letters form words, reading left to right, pausing for punctuation, etc.) as they work through phonics exercises and stories, both with a narrator and on their own.

Read Live Addresses the Essential Components of Reading.

Read Live develops and supports the essential components of reading identified by the National Reading Panel—phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Word Warm-ups Live begins in Level 1 to support students with early phonological awareness and phonics needs, such as decoding consonant-vowel-consonant words like bat. By the end of Word Warm-ups Live Level 3, students master the phonics skills to decode complex multi-syllabic words like precautionary. Read Naturally Live targets fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension as students work through high-interest, leveled stories. Each story requires students to learn key vocabulary words, meet a words-correct-per-minute fluency goal and read with expression, and answer several comprehension questions correctly before completing the Pass Step.

Read Live Provides Explicit and Systematic Instruction.

Developing and struggling readers need explicit and systematic instruction when it comes to phonics and fluency. Word Warm-ups Live delivers phonics instruction through scripted lessons and targeted exercises with built-in audio support and progress monitoring. The program builds from early to complex phonics skills. In each lesson, students receive direct instruction in the featured phonics elements, affix, or word analysis; then they practice reading word lists to develop decoding skills and automaticity. The program is highly customizable so students can focus on the specific phonics skills they need to develop and then systematically move into more complex material. Students then apply their decoding skills as they progress through the leveled stories in Read Naturally Live. In Read Naturally Live, students work through a series of motivating steps to build fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Audio support, progress monitoring, and accountability measures ensure they consistently work in challenging but not frustrating material—the ideal level in which they can accelerate their reading achievement.

If you are looking for an evidence-based, scientifically backed reading program, Read Live is your solution.

Read Naturally is committed to applying the best reading research to provide effective reading solutions. Since 1991, we have consistently developed programs to deliver on our promise for better tools, better readers, and brighter futures. Scientific research on how students learn to read is the backbone of the Read Naturally Strategy and the Read Live program. For more information, including White Papers, Rationale & Research documents, studies, and more, visit the Research section of our website.

Sign up for a free trial of Read Live to use this program free for 60 days. Now is a great time to explore the program and set it up for your students.