Pulling students out of class for reading intervention can trigger a variety of emotions— embarrassment, annoyance, even indignation. For the middle-school boys in Jennifer Melton’s Tier 3 reading intervention group at Crest Middle School last year, being pulled out of PE likely added a touch of FOMO to the mix.
Read more We love hearing from our teacher community and learning about your experiences with Read Naturally. If you'd like to share your story, we invite you to submit a blog post. Every story is valuable to us, and blogs that meet our content and quality guidelines will be eligible for a special reward.
Read more As a Curriculum Associate at Read Naturally, I have the privilege of working in reading labs at local schools we partner with. These experiences have been incredibly enlightening in so many ways, but one of my most significant takeaways is witnessing how deeply students yearn for success in reading.
Read more It is a truth universally acknowledged… that students love stickers. I’ll be honest—so do I! It’s no wonder that one of my favorite tools to use in the Read Live lab is the sticker sheet.
Read more For me, summer break means a break from the reading lab—but it doesn’t mean a break from teaching! I’ve been blessed with eleven grandchildren, six of whom are still in grade school and live very close to me. It’s great to work with them throughout the year on their reading and math, but I love the extra time I get to spend with them in the summer. As with many kids, it can be more difficult to motivate them over the break. Can any of you relate?
Read more As you prepare to assess students in reading this spring, take a moment to read these wise words from Read Naturally founder, Candyce Ihnot.
Read more As another year in my Read Live reading lab winds down, I've noticed an uptick in my third graders' motivation. Many of them had been "saving" certain story topics for last, patiently waiting to read the stories that interested them the most. They're thrilled that the time has finally come. The Exploding Toads story, in particular, has been worth the wait!
Read more In my last post, I shared the many assessment mistakes I’ve made over the years. Blunders aside, I actually love spring assessments for one simple reason. The spring assessment gives me an opportunity to show my students the big picture and remind them that the best reward of all is taking ownership of their own progress. This is usually just a short conversation, but it’s one of the most important talks I will have with them.
Read more Is it really assessment season again? It feels like yesterday that I opened the lab at this new school, met my students, and screened them for reading difficulties using benchmark assessment. The winter assessment window seemed to arrive just a short time after that. And now it’s springtime already, and spring assessment window is almost here. It is time to prepare to assess the students yet again.
Read more Read Naturally founder Candyce Ihnot likes to tell the story of a little boy who went from struggling to fluent using the Read Naturally program. When Candyce asked the boy how he got to be such a good reader, he said with a smirk, “It was nothing you did.” Rather than be offended by his brutal honesty, Candyce was delighted. The boy was taking due credit for his own accomplishment. He had come to understand that he’d possessed the tools for success all along. Having found the confidence and fortitude to master a huge challenge, he could now draw on those qualities again and again—without his teacher’s help.
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