The school-to-home connection is more important than ever.  The need for distance learning over the past year has created challenges for teachers, parents, and students. This year, learners can't afford a “summer slide.” Luckily, learning with Read Live doesn't need to stop for summer. By engaging parents as partners, students who have been working in Read Live at school can have more support and continuity in their instruction. We want to share some tools and resources to help your students take advantage of reading opportunities with Read Live, even during the summer months, from home.

We recently hosted a webinar discussing this topic in-depth. Watch the recording of Read Live's School-to-Home Connection.

Independent Reading Practice with One Minute Reader Live

One Minute Reader Live is an excellent option for supporting students’ literacy development outside of school. This fully independent program enables striving readers of all ages to build on their progress with structured, audio-supported reading practice anywhere with an internet connection and an appropriate device.

If your school or district has Read Live licenses, students can be granted access to One Minute Reader Live and work in the program outside of school without any direct support from teachers. They don’t even need a parent to support them; it’s completely independent!

To be successful, you’ll need to communicate key information to students and parents. Students working at home will access the program using the same URL and login credentials they use at school. This parent letter can help you introduce the program to new parents and this steps poster can help guide parents through the process. The Student’s Guide to One Minute Reader Live is the best way to train students how to use the program. The videos will also be helpful for parents to view. This Working Through a Story video is another good option for teaching parents how One Minute Reader Live works and what’s expected from students at each step.

One Minute Reader Live is a great way to keep students reading over the summer. By sharing this option with parents and providing the appropriate supporting resources, you can establish a school-to-home connection for continued reading development over the summer. 

Parents as Partners with Read Naturally Live

Students can also continue working in Read Naturally Live over the summer. This requires enrolling the student’s parent as a Read Live Assistant to support their child’s progress. The Overview of Using Read Live in a Distance-Learning Model includes an entire section about Empowering Parents to Complete Pass Activities. This same process can be used to enable parents to support students from home over the summer.

To be successful, parents will need training in how to conduct timings, count errors, rate expression, and pass students on stories. When parents log in, they will see a page with useful information for assistants including a special Overview for Assistants video that explains the process and expectations for each step. We’ve also developed a welcome letter that explains Read Naturally Live to parents and this steps poster to help guide them.

Please keep in mind that parents will not have the ability to change levels, goals, and story options. Ideally you will log in periodically to check reports and make these adjustments as needed. Your ongoing communication with parents over the summer will maximize success.

Help Students Overcome the Summer Slide with Read Live

The “summer slide” is real. Students can lose significant progress if they don’t continue reading over the summer months. Read Live now includes multiple options for keeping students engaged and supported during break. More than ever, this summer will be critical for developing readers. Please consider extending Read Live access to your students and make sure they maintain their progress going into the next school year.