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Sight words are extremely challenging. Often they’re hard to conceptualize, and they don’t follow typical phonics patterns. But sight words come up again and again in the English language. It’s essential that students learn these high-frequency words as soon as possible in order to become successful readers. Read more

Imagine a tennis teacher holding the tip of your racquet to trace the arc of your swing. Imagine a dance teacher walking through the steps of a routine along with a class of students. Modeling is necessary for mastering just about any complex skill. When we work alongside someone who has mastered a skill, we’re in a much better position to master it ourselves. Read more

A Valuable Independent Word-Learning Strategy

As you know, vocabulary is a key component to success in reading. There are many benefits to having a large vocabulary, but none is more valuable than the positive contribution that vocabulary size makes to reading comprehension (Nagy, 2005).

So how many vocabulary words should you aim to teach your students per year? Read more

Why and when should Read Naturally students switch from one-minute to whole-story timings? Read more

Sharpening a new stack of pencils, decorating a clean bulletin board, organizing the books on the shelf… year after year, certain rituals mark the beginning of school. For Read Naturally teachers, certain rituals also mark the beginning of your program. We want to direct your attention to some previous blog posts—“oldies but goodies”—that contain valuable information about getting your Read Naturally program off to the best possible start. Read more

As you think about Read Naturally’s role in your school this coming fall, you’ll want to consider the most effective way for teachers and reading specialists to be trained in the strategy and materials. Read Naturally offers a variety of training options to accommodate any situation. Read more

When we redesigned our website this past spring, our goal was to create a user-friendly information hub where educators would feel supported and involved. Based on the feedback we’ve gotten so far, site users have been extremely satisfied. If you haven’t had a chance yet, be sure to check it out! We want to draw your attention to a couple of areas we’re especially excited about. Read more

Does “summer reading” sound to your students like a chore? You know reading can be just as exciting as any other summer activity, but your students may need a little convincing. These last couple weeks of school, take some time to brainstorm and share all the fun possibilities for summer reading. The web is full of information on this topic. Here are a few of our favorite resources: Read more

As the end of the school year approaches, you’ll likely want to report out on the progress your students have made using the Read Naturally strategy. Many educators create end-of-year reports on each student, send home letters to explain progress to parents/guardians, and summarize overall performance for the school principal. Because reporting is a critical part of your Read Naturally program, we’ve worked hard to make this process easy and user-friendly. Read more

We hope your students spend the upcoming summer break running around playgrounds, catching fireflies, and having plenty of fun. We also hope they maintain the reading skills they’ve worked so hard to develop this year. Is there a way to combine having fun with continuing to build reading... Read more