How It Works

Read Naturally Steps

Select a Story
Students choose any story from the set shown for their assigned level and curriculum. Because students select which stories they want to read, they develop a sense of ownership of their own learning.

Key Words
Students listen and read along as key words and their definitions are read aloud. This practice helps developing readers learn how to pronounce the words and understand what they mean.

Prediction
Students use the story title, key words, and pictures to write a brief prediction of what they think the story is about. Students prepare to read by first thinking briefly about the topic.

Cold Timing
This step establishes a baseline for measuring improvement. As students read the story for the first time, they time themselves for one minute, marking unfamiliar or difficult words. This process increases a student's awareness of unknown words and alerts teachers to words or word patterns they may need to teach.

Graph the Cold-Timing Score
Students graph the number of words read correctly in one minute. Cold-timing scores—total number of words read correctly minus the number of difficult words—are typically marked in blue. In Read Naturally Live and Read Naturally SE, the computer calculates and graphs the cold-timing score automatically.

Read Along
Students read along with a recording of the story several times. Using teacher modeling, students learn new words, proper pronunciation, expression, and phrasing. To get the most out of this step, students should subvocalize quietly as they read along to make sure they aren’t just listening to the audio recording.

Practice
Students time themselves as they practice reading the story several times without the recording. They continue to reread the story until they achieve or exceed their predetermined goal rate.

Answer the Questions
Students answer quiz questions about the story, a process that encourages students to read for comprehension and ensures that they understand what they are reading.

Pass
The teacher times the student as he or she reads the story. As with the cold timing, the teacher subtracts the number of errors from the number of words read in a minute to get the correct words-per-minute score.

To pass a story, students must read at their goal rate, make three errors or fewer, read with good expression, and answer the comprehension questions correctly.

If a student does not pass, the teacher points out areas that need more work, and, if necessary, assigns some remedial action, such as reading along again or continuing to practice.
 

Graph the Hot-Timing Score
When students pass a story, they graph their hot-timing score in red above the blue bar representing their cold-timing score. In Read Naturally Live and Read Naturally SE, the computer graphs the hot-timing score automatically. When students see their progress, they build self-esteem and feel motivated to continue improving.

Retell
Students retell the story, either in writing or orally, which requires them to think about the ideas in the story rather than just the words.

Practice and Pass the Word Lists (Phonics Series)
The phonics levels include Word List steps in place of the Retell step. Students practice word lists featuring specific sounds and letter patterns until they are able to pass the word list by reading it for the teacher.