Teachers need high-quality instructional materials at their fingertips to address students' diverse needs. As a former reading interventionist, I know how important this is. For teachers who work with students who are performing below benchmark, knowing where to intervene can feel overwhelming, especially when educators don’t have the instructional materials they need to meet students' needs. 

Most schools use screening and benchmark assessments, followed by diagnostic assessments, to identify students at risk of reading failure and pinpoint the specific areas of reading they struggle with. Once students have been identified, instructional interventions must begin—but determining how to address each student's individual needs can be complicated. Read Naturally solutions can help meet those needs with clear, targeted support. 

How Read Live Programs Support Reading Intervention 

Over my 20 years as a reading interventionist, I was fortunate to have access to a range of high-quality instructional programs from Read Naturally. I found great success with Read Live because it helped address most of my students' individual needs. For my students in need of fluency instruction and support with comprehension and vocabulary, I used Read Naturally Live and Read Naturally Live—Español. For those in need of phonics support, Word Warm-ups Live provided explicit, systematic instruction in phonics, decoding, and word analysis. And for my students, who all needed independent reading practice, One Minute Reader Live provided a guided reading experience that helped them develop fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary skills. 

Benefits of Comprehension Builder 

I always had students, however, who needed additional support. They needed explicit instruction in comprehension, so over the years, I used a handful of different programs and even created lessons on my own. But I always wondered if I was meeting their needs as best I could. So, you can imagine my excitement when Read Naturally released Comprehension Builder—the Perfect Companion to Read Live! 

Comprehension Builder is a practical resource that makes it easy for teachers to meet the instructional needs of their students who struggle with reading comprehension. It incorporates evidence-based practices from reputable sources, such as the Institute of Education Sciences Practice Guides, Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade and Providing Reading Interventions for Students in Grades 4–9. The program includes lessons on important before-, during-, and after-reading strategies that all readers should learn to use, as well as lessons on answering specific types of comprehension questions and how to write a retelling or summary of what they have read.  

Tips for Using Comprehension Builder 

If I were still working as a reading interventionist, I would definitely add Comprehension Builder to my collection of instructional materials. I would use it as a companion program to Read Live for my students who need more intensive reading comprehension instruction. For all my students, early in the school year, I would teach the Section 1 before-, during-, and after-reading strategy lessons. Then I would use my students' performance data, such as their scores on Read Naturally Live quiz questions, to inform my use of the Section 2 question-specific lessons. Depending on my students’ needs, I might teach 1–2 lessons per week, and for my older students I would allot a little more time to comprehension instruction. Also, I would use the Beyond the Lesson activities to extend the strategies learned and give my students additional practice throughout the year. If you are a user of Comprehension Builder and Read Live, please share your suggestions and/or experiences! 

What Teachers are Saying About Comprehension Builder 

My enthusiasm for Comprehension Builder is shared by educators who have used it with their own students. This past school year, a group of teachers piloted Comprehension Builder in their classrooms, and this is what they had to say: 

"This resource is very useful for teachers of students that require explicit teaching. Students are engaged with the lessons, which go hand in hand with the Read Naturally Live passages and comprehension questions."  —Billie R., Title I Teacher 

"The [Comprehension Builder] lessons are in the same format students will see in Read Naturally Live, which is very helpful. I have seen an increase in understanding of the question type from several of my students in their quiz performance." —Middle School Specialist 

"In my role, I have 30 minutes, sometimes only once a week, to work with a student on comprehension. These systematic lessons allow me to do that strategically and the prep is minimal." —Special Education Teacher 

"It is nice to have all the resources prepared for me. The lessons are clear and concise and at multiple grade levels so I can use the same base lesson for different groups of students easily. The students were very willing to participate in the lessons." —Middle School Intervention Specialist 

Try Comprehension Builder for Yourself 

If you are looking for the perfect companion to use with Read Live, download two free lessons from Comprehension Builder and to learn more, watch the Comprehension Builder: Basics Webinar. Also, if you are not a current user of Read Live, but are interested in trying it out, sign up for a free trial and see for yourself how you might combine Read Live with Comprehension Builder to accelerate your students' learning!