One of the things that sets Read Naturally programs apart is our high-interest, nonfiction stories. Struggling readers need to feel motivated to read, so we try to find unique topics that will hold their interest and spark their curiosity. When we read about the work of the nonprofit APOPO, not only were we inspired by its mission, but we knew we had the makings of a great story. Since then, our Rats to the Rescue story in Read Live and Encore II Level 5.6 has become a crowd favorite.

APOPO trains rats and dogs to use their powerful sense of smell to help rid the world of landmines and tuberculosis. Hidden landmines are present all over the world, creating hazards to people, animals, and the environment. APOPO trains rats and dogs to efficiently and safely detect the explosive scent so that the landmines can be located and dismantled. APOPO-trained rats can also detect tuberculosis. Quickly identifying this disease can save lives and prevent further transmission. APOPO rats can check 100 saliva samples for tuberculosis in 20 minutes—a task that would take a lab technician up to 4 days.

In our Rats to the Rescue story, students learn about APOPO, how rats can do certain jobs more efficiently and more safely than humans, and how the rats’ work on landmines and tuberculosis saves lives. Our hope is that students reading this Level 5.6 story will improve their reading skills AND come away with interesting knowledge that broadens their horizons. Our stories tend to broaden the horizons of our staff as well. In this case, those of us who used to despise rats have now changed our minds!

You’ve heard it said hundreds of times: Learning to read turns into reading to learn. Being able to read fluently allows students to comprehend the texts that will enhance their lives in numerous exciting and unexpected ways. At Read Naturally, our mission is to give students the support they need to learn to read while simultaneously offering interesting content that they will want to read to learn.

Thank you to APOPO for inspiring our Rats to the Rescue story, for inspiring us here at Read Naturally, and especially for inspiring the thousands of students who’ve read about your heroic rats. If you’d like to learn more about APOPO, check it out!

Do your students have a favorite Read Naturally story? Is there a topic they couldn't wait to research further? Please share in the comments.

*Giant pouched rat image taken from APOPO website.