Get Ready to Read The reader selects the story he or she wants to read and thinks about what he or she might learn from it. Choosing the story deepens the reader’s investment in the material, and thinking of a prediction prepares the reader’s mind for reading the story.
Time Yourself Reading The reader times him- or herself as he or she reads the story and determines a words correct per minute score. This step establishes a baseline for progress monitoring, the component of the Read Naturally Strategy that motivates the reader to improve.
Mark Your Cold Score in Blue The reader graphs the cold-timing score in blue. Marking the graph provides a visual of the baseline data.
Read Along With the CD The reader reads along quietly with a recording of the story, typically three times. This step is the teacher-modeling component of the Read Naturally Strategy, which helps the reader learn new words and master others as well as learn proper pronunciation, expression, and phrasing.
Read Alone, and Raise Your Score The reader practices reading the story without audio support, typically three to ten times, until able to read it accurately and with expression. This step is the repeated-reading component of the Read Naturally Strategy, which helps the reader improve fluency, master difficult words, and understand the story.
Take the Quick Quiz The reader answers questions about the story. Responding to the text holds the reader accountable for meaning, develops the ability to answer many types of questions, and provides information about how well the reader comprehends the story. If the answers to all questions in a book are correct, the answers provide the solution for a Joke Jumble.
Read for an Adult The reader reads the story for an adult to show that he or she can read it accurately and with appropriate expression. The reader can also talk about what he or she learned from the story.
Mark Your Hot Score in Red The reader graphs the hot-timing score in red above the cold-timing score (in blue), to show how much he or she has improved.