Each level in the Read Naturally Live and Read Naturally Encore Sequenced and Phonics series includes 24 high-interest, nonfiction stories. Each level in the Read Naturally Live Idioms series includes 12 stories per level. Several readability formulas were used, and the stories in each level (1–8) represent a diverse range of topics that cover several content areas, such as history, science, and biography. The carefully written stories in each level are appropriate for that level and interesting to students. Most stories contain at least one interesting fact that the average adult is unlikely to know. So, the content is designed to be an appropriate intervention for a wide range of ages.

Each student is placed in a level that is challenging but not frustrating. So, if a struggling high school student reads within the range of grades 1–8, that student can work in Read Naturally. 

One Minute Reader has content for grades 1–5.  So, a student who reads within the range of grades 1-5 can work in One Minute Reader.  

Choosing the right Read Naturally Program

All of the Read Naturally Strategy programs focus on fluency, but each story includes comprehension questions. Because students know they must answer these questions, they are accountable to read for meaning, not speed. So, although the programs do not focus mainly on comprehension, a student who needs intervention for comprehension can certainly benefit from working in Read Naturally—especially students who respond well to the structure of completing the same steps for each new story. 

For example, each story in the Sequenced series (Read Naturally Live and Read Naturally Encore) has five to nine different types of questions, depending on the level. The question types always follow the same pattern (e.g., Question number one is always a main idea question). This makes it easy to determine the types of questions that are difficult for a student, so you can provide additional instruction from your core program for those specific question types. 

Lessons for teaching each question type were developed by a teacher who uses Read Naturally. This resource is available on the website:

  A Teacher’s Strategy for Teaching Comprehension Questions in Read Naturally Strategy Programs

Read Live has two ways to address the phonics needs of students: Word Warm-ups Live (WWL) and the Phonics Series in Read Naturally Live (RNL). The table below can help you determine which Read Live program is right for your student. Then use the built-in Read Naturally Live placement test and/or the Word Warm-ups Live Phonics Assessment to determine an appropriate assignment and goal for each student.

Each story in the Phonics series provides a short phonics lesson, and the student reads a story that includes many words with that featured phonics element. Specific phonics skills are taught in each level—0.8 (short vowels), 1.3 (long vowels), 1.8 (blends and digraphs), 2.3 (r-controlled), 2.6 (short vowels), and 2.7 (long vowels). 

In Read Naturally Live and Read Naturally Encore, a student can be placed in the Phonics series, and the student works mostly independently. The teacher is only required for the Cold-Timing step and for the Hot-Timing/Pass step. 

In Read Naturally GATE, the teacher provides direct instruction to a small group (up to six students) who are not yet ready to work mostly independently. The three levels of the GATE program are based on the stories from the Phonics series—0.8 (short vowels), level 1.3 (long vowels), and level 1.8 (blends and digraphs).

 Download Phonics series sample stories

 Download GATE sample lessons and stories

Yes!  The software and data for Read Live are "in the cloud."

Students can use the same User ID and account number to continue working across desktop computers, laptops, Chromebooks, or iPads.  

Yes!  The stories are the same. One Minute Reader has six levels, from early first grade through mid-fifth grade.  

In One Minute Reader Live (a component of web-based Read Live), each level includes six books with five nonfiction stories organized around a specific theme.
 Learn more about One Minute Reader Live

Each level of the One Minute Reader books with audio includes eight books with five nonfiction stories organized around a specific theme.
 Download sample stories from the One Minute Reader books 

Mostly Independent: Programs that are categorized as mostly independent require the teacher to be present only for a couple of steps, and the student works independently the rest of the time. For example, the teacher must be present only for the Cold-Timing step and the Hot-Timing/Pass step in Read Naturally Live, Read Naturally Encore, Masters Edition, and One Minute Reader (Book/CD format). The recommended teacher-to-student ratio for Read Naturally Live is 1:8. The recommended teacher-to-student ratio for the other programs is 1:6.

Independent: One Minute Reader Live is designed to be completely independent. The teacher is not required to be present as the student works through the steps of a story.

Teacher-Led Small Group: The GATE program is a teacher-led small group program. The teacher provides the instruction to a small group (up to six students) with similar needs. The teacher presents the scripted lesson and guides the students through each step.

Multilingual learners have the option of doing the Read Naturally Live (RNL) or Read Naturally Encore in Spanish (Levels 1.0–5.6). Many teachers use the Spanish series of RNL or Encore programs with Spanish-speaking readers who need to improve fluency in Spanish before learning to read English as a new language. Others will use the programs in conjunction with its English equivalent, with students who are learning to read in a new language, having the student complete the story steps in their native language first in order to gain an understanding of the story content and vocabulary, before working through the same story steps in the new language.

Alternatively, both Read Naturally Live and Read Naturally Encore provide the option of having a student listen to (or read along with) the story in Spanish to build background knowledge and understanding of vocabulary, within the English Sequenced series, levels 1.0–4.5. In Read Naturally Live, the teacher can select the story option “Spanish Read Along.” The student will view the Spanish text and listen to (or read along with) the story in Spanish prior to doing the Read Along step in English. In Read Naturally Encore, the student can be directed to listen to the CD track with the story in Spanish prior to doing the Read Along step in English.

 Should your students read along in Spanish?

In Read Naturally Live—Español (a component of web-based Read Live) and Read Naturally Encore II—Español series, each Spanish story is, a translation of the same story in the the English version of Read Naturally Live or Encore II. In most cases this content is comprised of Spanish translations that closely match the corresponding English content. However, in order to avoid phrases and constructions that would be too unnatural in Spanish, some story text, questions, and vocabulary words were altered.

The Spanish-language program can be paired with the corresponding English-language program. A student whose first language is Spanish can complete all of the steps in Spanish first to gain an understanding of the story content and vocabulary before working through the same story in English. Some teachers may also choose to use these stories to support a student who is learning to read in Spanish.

In the English versions of Read Naturally Live and Read Naturally Encore, the student only listens to (or reads along with) the story in Spanish to gain an understanding of the story content and vocabulary before doing the Read Along step. The rest of the steps are completed in English.