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Many teachers associate Read Naturally programs like GATE+ and Read Live with reading intervention—targeting students who need extra support to read at grade level. These programs are chosen by tens of thousands of educators worldwide for their ability to deliver quick and impactful results to this population of students. But did you know these programs also work well for grade-level and advanced students? Thanks to ongoing research, improvements, and innovations to our programs over the years, they now serve a much wider range of learners than most teachers realize.

Here's a look at how GATE+ and Read Live can benefit grade-level and advanced students, while simultaneously providing support for students who need extra help.

GATE+

All kindergarten, first, and second graders benefit from effective phonics instruction rooted in the research-based methods of Orton Gillingham. Our GATE+ program delivers exactly that. This program can be used as a phonics intervention with a small group. It also offers direct, explicit phonics instruction to an entire classroom of students with a range of skills.

GATE+ starts with short vowels and systematically moves all the way up to digraphs, blends, and suffixes. Detailed scripts for each lesson make it easy for any teacher to deliver these lessons. Students complete activities within each phonics lesson with and without teacher support, which provides the scaffolding they need to master the skills. GATE+ comes with PowerPoint slideshows; a flipbook with student lessons on one side and a teacher's script on the other; and printable assessments, student workbooks, and other materials. These materials are designed to make it easy to teach GATE+ to an entire classroom at once. Within this model, there are still options for differentiation. Bonus word lists for each lesson can be used as enrichment for students who are ready for an extra challenge. Students graph their individual scores on reading passages, developing fluency as they try to beat their previous score. The program also incorporates opportunities for the teacher to listen to each student read individually. 

If you’re looking for a phonics program that will engage your entire classroom while checking all the boxes for effective instruction, GATE+ is your best bet.

Download a free sample here.

Read Live

Between the four programs in Read Live, there is something for everyone. Word Warm-ups Live provides direct phonics instruction; Read Naturally Live develops fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension; Read Naturally Live—Español builds these skills in multilingual learners; and One Minute Reader Live allows students to improve their reading skills independently.

While the comprehensive Read Live platform is the go-to reading intervention for students who are falling behind, it also works well for grade-level and advanced learners. Here’s how:

• Students learning phonics enjoy practicing their skills and beating their scores on timed word lists in Word Warm-ups Live, while also receiving audio-supported phonics lessons. They apply their skills while reading stories featuring the phonics patterns they learned. Teachers have the option to select easier stories for beginning readers, or harder stories for more advanced readers.

• Read Naturally Live includes high-interest, nonfiction content from an early-first through an eighth-grade reading level. When used with the motivating Read Naturally Strategy, these carefully leveled passages and quizzes build fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Readers also have the option to hear passages read in Spanish, and several levels develop phonics. With this huge range of content and an individualized placement system that pairs each reader with the right level of material, Read Naturally Live has the ability to strengthen the skills of struggling readers, advanced readers, and everyone in between.

• Read Naturally Live—Español offers Spanish translations of the Read Naturally Live content, and many teachers use it to support English Learners at a range of levels. Teachers also use this program with students learning Spanish. It’s a great enrichment tool for Spanish Learners to develop their fluency and vocabulary in this language.

• One Minute Reader Live is any elementary classroom teacher’s best friend. Students reading at an early-first through fifth-grade level can use this program completely independently. They progress through interesting stories and quizzes, earn points, complete joke jumbles, learn fun facts, watch their scores improve, and more—all while building fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary. The audio-supported content ensures that students can work through each story on their own, and the highly motivating system makes them want to keep doing it. They can even use it at home!

Read Naturally programs like GATE+ and Read Live help all students increase their confidence and skills as readers. Using the Read Naturally Strategy, students get the motivating quick wins they need to stay engaged. When students feel successful, they’re more likely to push themselves further—becoming not just proficient readers, but exceptional ones.

We know from decades of working with readers of all ages and abilities that it’s difficult to find one program that can meet everyone’s unique needs. But all students deserve to have their needs met, whether they need intervention or enrichment. By expanding our programs beyond intervention, we aim to reach as many students as possible and accelerate reading achievement across the board.