Tips and Ideas
Creating Additional Reading Opportunities
After-School Reading Club
Create an after-school Read Naturally opportunity that meets for one hour several days a week. Students can spend 30 minutes working on a Read Naturally story and 30 minutes doing homework. Volunteers and assistants can help out with the final timings. Participation in the club can be used as a reward for selected students, creating excitement around the activity and motivating other students to progress in their reading.
– From Sharon Brumbley, Maple Elementary, and
Scott Baker,
University of Oregon [Springfield, OR]
Practice Makes Proficient
The “piano lesson” approach is designed especially for students who need extra help with their reading. The teacher copies a calendar and graph on to the back of the stories which are sent home with the student. At home, the student reads along while the parent or guardian, providing the teacher modeling of the Read Naturally strategy, reads the story slowly out loud. The student practices in one minute timed segments, recording the number of times they practice on the calendar and their initial and final timings on the graph.
When the student feels confident, he or she can reach the predetermined goal rate—with three errors or less, correct phrasing, and good pronunciation—the teacher does the final timing. Students must complete one to two Read Naturally stories a week to participate.
– From Judy Innvaer, Amy Bjurlin, and Jennifer Hess,
Woodcrest Elementary
[Spring Lake Park, MN]
Enlisting Older Students as Tutors
Junior high school students who are struggling with reading themselves act as Read Naturally tutors for younger students. As tutors, they conduct the cold and final timings and provide assistance where appropriate. Both younger and older students benefit from this arrangement with improved reading skills and increased confidence.
– From Nancy Evans, WildwoodSchool [Chicago, IL]
