We love providing educators with free resources. Not only do these materials help struggling students, but they tend to make teachers’ lives easier. In recent weeks, we’ve shared free resources to help students correct common spelling errors as well as free resources to help students master visually confusing letters. This week, we’re sharing three free supplemental resources for students working in Read Live and Encore. These resources include:

  1. Crossword Puzzles
    A student who would benefit from extra work in vocabulary can work on a crossword puzzle while waiting for a teacher to come for the Cold Timing step or Pass step. These crossword puzzles provide students with an opportunity to use the vocabulary words that are highlighted in Read Naturally stories and defined in the glossaries. There are 24 crossword puzzles for each Read Naturally Live and Encore level, one for each story. Each crossword puzzle includes a word bank from which the student can select the correct answer and then check off each word as it is used in the puzzle. Download the free crossword puzzles here.
     
  2. Comparison Questions
    To boost comprehension and encourage critical analysis of Read Naturally story text, offer comparison questions to your students. For levels with paired stories about related topics, each story pair has three comparison questions that a student can answer using knowledge obtained from both stories. Other questions have students compare non-paired stories, encouraging analysis between different topics, and giving students opportunities to make deeper connections. Download the free comparison questions here.
     
  3. Structured Retell Step
    If your students could benefit from extra emphasis on writing and comprehension, consider requiring a more robust retell step. Lynette Bachman, a reading teacher in Illinois, formatted the Read Naturally Retell step similar to the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) writing. As a result of this emphasis on writing stronger retellings of the stories, Lynette’s students produced well-organized writing responses both in their classrooms and on the ISAT standardized test.

    For a structured retell, students will refer to the Retell Step Directions page to guide them step-by-step through retelling each story. They will use the Retell Organizer to identify the main idea and at least two details from the story. They will then write their retellings of the stories and use the Retell Checklist to check their work against a list of requirements before the teacher reviews their work. The students give themselves a plus (+) or check mark in each square indicating they checked for that specific element. Download the free Retell Step Directions, Organizer, and Checklist here.

These fun "extras" can provide an additional challenge to your students and help accelerate their progress. Thankfully, they won't provide an extra challenge for you. All you need to do is click and print!