Just as students are always working to learn more and teachers are always refining their craft, we at Read Naturally are always striving to make our solutions more effective, more efficient, and easier to use—because better tools lead to better readers with brighter futures.  

35 years ago, Read Naturally founder Candyce Ihnot revolutionized reading instruction by developing a system that maximized students' time spent reading and optimized teacher-student interaction. The system allowed students to work mostly independently, at their own level and according to their needs and readiness, while the teacher would circulate to check in and deliver targeted support. That system was the Read Naturally Strategy: teacher modeling, repeated reading, and progress monitoring.  

The teacher modeling piece was possible because each student had access to audio recordings, so students could practice reading along with a skilled reader even without the teacher present. 35 years ago, that audio was delivered through cassette tapes. Later, we moved to CDs, and then developed the first software intervention for struggling and developing readers (Read Naturally Software Edition, which became Read Live in 2011)—both toward the same goal of making our tools even better for students and teachers. 

For years we have felt—and heard from teachers—that the CDs bring a number of pain points when it comes to classroom management. There are a lot of items to keep track of (CDs, CD players, and timers), CDs are easy to scratch or break, and even finding the correct track number costs students precious seconds that could be spent reading. We also know that a growing number of schools face device limitations and screen-time restrictions.  

That's why we're especially excited to announce Read Naturally's latest innovation—a one-of-a-kind, custom-designed audio player.  

As with every tool we've developed, the audio player builds on what worked and makes it even better. 

Like the CDs, it includes all the supporting audio (the read alongs, glossary words, phonics lessons, etc.). Unlike CDs, it's simple for students to navigate to the right story, step, or glossary word without searching for track numbers.  

The player is also a timer and a words-correct-per-minute calculator. Students can do a one- or two-minute timing with the bell sounding at the end. For a whole-story timing, students use the stopwatch, enter the number of words they read correctly, and see their score. The word count and total time display underneath, so students and teachers can quickly check that the data was entered correctly and makes sense.  

The player's size makes it easy to handle and keep track of, its buttons are easy to press, and its text is large enough to read at a glance. 

It's USB-C rechargeable and has a standard headphone port. A charging station and headphones will be available as optional add-ons. 

So this audio player solves the screen-time issue for schools with restrictions, and for teachers who want to provide individual teacher modeling without the distractions an iPad, computer, or even a traditional MP3 player can bring. It also simplifies classroom management by consolidating the CDs, CD player, timer, and calculator into one device.

A lot of thought went into every detail of the design, all to make things as easy as possible for students and teachers. From the very beginning, Candyce did everything in her power to make instructional time as efficient as possible for students, even carrying sharpened pencils on her belt so students wouldn't have to get up. We carry that same commitment through the design and development of all our solutions.

The Read Naturally audio player will be available soon for pre-order with our Encore II materials. Keep an eye out for more information!