Most steps are on by default, because they are important to a student’s success. However, there are times when you may want to turn a step off (or on) for a particular student. Refer to the table that follows for examples of when you would turn off a particular step. Note that some steps are mandatory and cannot be turned off.
To turn story steps off or on:
- Open the Story Options page, either at the student's workstation or in the Staff Member Module.
- To turn a step off:
- In the Staff Member Module, clear the check box for the step.
- In the Student Module, change ON to OFF for the step.
- To turn a step on:
- In the Staff Member Module, check the box for the step.
- In the Student Module, change OFF to ON for the step.
- Click Save or Save & Close.
See Also
Reasons to turn steps off
| Step | Why you might turn the step off |
|---|---|
| Key Words | By default, the Key Words step is enabled. It may be beneficial to turn off the step if you have a student who already has a good vocabulary and would profit more from using the time to practice reading or if you have a student who is clicking on key words as a play activity rather than to learn the words. |
| Prediction | By default, the Prediction step is enabled. You may want to turn off the step if you have a student who does not have adequate keyboarding skills. As an alternative, you can have the student write the prediction in a notebook. |
| Cold Timing | By default, the Cold Timing step is enabled. Consider carefully before turning off the Cold Timing step, since this step provides valuable data that both you and the student can use to monitor performance. It would be very unusual to turn off this step; this step provides motivation for the student and contributes to the success of the strategy. One scenario in which you may want to consider turning off this step is if you have a new student who finds it unusually intimidating or stressful to be timed on a story that he or she has not practiced. If the stress of a cold timing is so great that the student loses motivation, then you can turn off the step until the student becomes more confident and comfortable with timed readings. Note: If the Cold Timing step is turned off for a student, or if the step is performed without a teacher present, Read Naturally Live's Data Mentor feature will not be able to make suggestions for the student. |
| Read Along | By default, the Read Along step is enabled. Consider carefully before turning off the Read Along step; this step is crucial to the success of the strategy. If you have a student who is close to meeting his or her long-term, grade-level fluency goal and will soon be able to leave the program, you may want to gradually reduce the number of read alongs required until, finally, you can turn off the step entirely. Very rarely, a student may have an auditory "photographic memory," so that the student can actually memorize the entire story by listening. In this case, you may need to reduce the number of read alongs or turn off the step entirely. |
| Quiz | By default, the Quiz step is enabled. It would be very unusual to turn off this step, since the questions not only help the teacher test comprehension but also remind students that they are ultimately reading for comprehension—not speed. Turn off this step only if comprehension is clearly not an issue for the student and the student would profit more from focusing on fluency rather than comprehension. Note: If the Quiz step is turned off for a student, Read Naturally Live's Data Mentor feature will not be able to suggest changes to the student's assignment. |
| Retell | By default, the Retell step is enabled. If you have a student who does not have adequate keyboarding skills, you may want to turn off the Retell step. As an alternative, the student can retell the story orally or by writing in a notebook. You may also consider turning off this step if you prefer to hear the student orally retell the story during the Pass step, which gives you the opportunity to better understand the student's thinking or to explain vocabulary words. |
| Word List | By default, the Word List step is enabled for students working in the Phonics series. If you have a student who successfully decodes the words in the stories at an automatic level and reads the stories with good accuracy, you may want to turn off the Word List step. |
