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I was recently talking with a mother of twins who admitted that her biggest struggle was not having enough one-on-one time with each twin. I thought of classroom teachers and how they struggle with the same thing. Wouldn’t you love to spend more individual time with each of your students? Unfortunately, it’s not always possible. And yet, Read Naturally’s placement procedure requires just that. The placement assessment asks you to sit with one student at a time, sometimes for several minutes. What if you just don’t have time? Read more

Checking initial placement will help ensure optimal success. After a student completes between three and six stories, you need to check to make sure the student’s level and goal are appropriate. To make this task as straightforward as possible, our curriculum experts worked hard to put together detailed guidelines, available for free on our website. Read more

It's time to head back to the classroom with Read Naturally's Read Live program. Learn more about our online reading assessment and intervention tools during this limited availability public webinar offered exclusively to you and your staff. Read more

To celebrate Read Live's fourth birthday, we solicited the help of Read Live’s best friends—a.k.a., our tech support staff. We asked them to tell about the growth and personality they’ve observed in Read Live over the years. Here are some fun facts: Read more

Think back to the beginning of the school year. What did your struggling readers sound like? How was their fluency and comprehension? Now think about these readers today. Do they read more confidently? Have they made significant gains? Read more

Do you have students who seem more focused on rate than overall reading improvement? It’s natural for some Read Naturally students to get caught up in the “game” of trying to read faster and faster with each timing. But as you know, fluency is about accuracy, expression, and rate, which together lead to comprehension. To pass a story, the Read Naturally Strategy requires students to meet all four of these criteria. Remind students that the ultimate goal is comprehension, not speed. If a student persists in being overly focused on rate, consider the following remedial actions: Read more

Are you looking for high-quality, research-based reading curricula at an affordable price… or even for free? Chances are, Read Naturally offers just what you need. Our highly effective tools target all aspects of reading development. Educator favorites include: Read more

Picture yourself participating in a parent-teacher conference for one of your students. If you are a literacy specialist, a Title 1 teacher, or a special education teacher, it is always a bit awkward when the regular classroom teacher or the parent turns to you and says, “I don’t really know what Jamie does when he leaves class for reading intervention!” Even though regular classroom teachers and parents are usually involved in planning a student’s intervention, and they receive several formal reports about a student’s progress during the year, they may not necessarily be aware of what the student is doing day-to-day. Read more

Last week, I helped assemble gingerbread houses for my son’s Kindergarten class to decorate. I sat down at a table covered in empty milk cartons, graham crackers broken into various shapes, and buckets of icing. The other parent volunteers and I exchanged timid looks until the teacher met with us and showed us a fully assembled prototype. It was then that we understood what our process should be. When we saw the finished product—the goal—we could relax and get to work. Read more

Nothing can replace the learning that happens when students interact personally with a good teacher. Not even the most sophisticated computer can compete with that. However, the use of technology in connection with face-to-face learning can have huge benefits for both teachers and students. That's one reason why blended learning—a mix of online and classroom learning—is gaining popularity in schools around the world. Read more