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Sharpening a new stack of pencils, decorating a clean bulletin board, organizing the books on the shelf… year after year, certain rituals mark the beginning of school. For Read Naturally teachers, certain rituals also mark the beginning of your program. We want to direct your attention to some previous blog posts—“oldies but goodies”—that contain valuable information about getting your Read Naturally program off to the best possible start.

I’m in book club with a group of friends. When the book club began, everyone was eager to read again. “I haven’t read an actual book in so long!” many of the members confessed. So we got together and had rich discussions about wonderful books… for a few months. Then we started discussing TED Talks. Now we mostly just get together and chat. I’ve done a little investigating and have come to realize that this trajectory is strikingly common among book clubs. Why don’t we read books anymore?

As the end of the school year approaches, you’ll likely want to report out on the progress your students have made using the Read Naturally strategy. Many educators create end-of-year reports on each student, send home letters to explain progress to parents/guardians, and summarize overall performance for the school principal. Because reporting is a critical part of your Read Naturally program, we’ve worked hard to make this process easy and user-friendly.

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The Read Naturally strategy delivers remarkable results when used correctly. Numerous studies have proven this fact, and countless teachers observe it every day. If you’re using the Read Naturally strategy and not getting the results you hope for, one simple change will often do the trick:...

This time of year can find many students lacking in motivation. Thankfully, there are many simple ways to spice up your Read Live or Encore program to keep your students engaged.

One easy way to give students a motivation boost is to have them track the number of stories they complete each week. As they try to match or beat their score from the previous week, students are incentivized to put forth their best effort each day.

​One of the things teachers love best about the Read Naturally strategy is the concrete data they acquire about their students’ fluency development. The graphs and reports you generate in Encore and Read Live give you a clear picture of each student’s growth. Knowing how to apply this information ensures your students continue to progress at an appropriate pace.

​When you make a small mistake, do you point it out? Or do you move on and pretend it never happened? Often, we have a tendency to do the latter. So it’s not surprising that your students may be hesitant to call attention to their own errors while reading. In Read Naturally strategy programs, however, we ask them to do just that. Here’s why:

​At the beginning of the school year, I always get a lot of questions about placement. A very common placement question is: Do I conduct placement on students who were working in Read Naturally Live or Read Naturally Encore last year?

What are some similarities and differences between the Taj Mahal and the Golden Temple? What do Read Naturally programs have in common with the Common Core State Standards? How do these questions relate to each other, and most importantly, how do they relate to free resources for teachers?

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) specify that students should have the ability to analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics. Drawing comparisons in this way helps students build knowledge and think critically about the different approaches of various texts.

Wouldn't that be wonderful! In reality, many students are impatient for your help. Fortunately, Read Naturally has a few tricks up its sleeve to keep your students engaged as they wait.

When students reach their goal on a Read Naturally story, they should read the story again, answer the comprehension questions, and continue practicing until you’re able to pass them. After completing these tasks, students should work on wait-time activities.

Make Your Student a STAR!

Read Naturally Star of the Month​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!

pointer Submit a Star-of-the-Month entry

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