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Picture yourself participating in a parent-teacher conference for one of your students. If you are a literacy specialist, a Title 1 teacher, or a special education teacher, it is always a bit awkward when the regular classroom teacher or the parent turns to you and says, “I don’t really know what Jamie does when he leaves class for reading intervention!” Even though regular classroom teachers and parents are usually involved in planning a student’s intervention, and they receive several formal reports about a student’s progress during the year, they may not necessarily be aware of what the student is doing day-to-day. Read more

Last week, I helped assemble gingerbread houses for my son’s Kindergarten class to decorate. I sat down at a table covered in empty milk cartons, graham crackers broken into various shapes, and buckets of icing. The other parent volunteers and I exchanged timid looks until the teacher met with us and showed us a fully assembled prototype. It was then that we understood what our process should be. When we saw the finished product—the goal—we could relax and get to work. Read more

Nothing can replace the learning that happens when students interact personally with a good teacher. Not even the most sophisticated computer can compete with that. However, the use of technology in connection with face-to-face learning can have huge benefits for both teachers and students. That's one reason why blended learning—a mix of online and classroom learning—is gaining popularity in schools around the world. Read more

Attention, Read Live users! We discovered that a number of people using the Read Live iPad app were not aware of some of the enhancements made over the summer. 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

If you know a student with access to an iPad, you’ll be thrilled to learn that Read Naturally now offers FOUR great iPad-compatible tools. iPad tools for Read Naturally Live, One Minute Reader, Funēmics®, and the all-new Splat-o-Nym are sure to boost your students’ reading achievement using research-proven methods and innovative technology. 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

I’m in book club with a group of friends. When the book club began, everyone was eager to read again. “I haven’t read an actual book in so long!” many of the members confessed. So we got together and had rich discussions about wonderful books… for a few months. Then we started discussing TED Talks. Now we mostly just get together and chat. I’ve done a little investigating and have come to realize that this trajectory is strikingly common among book clubs. Why don’t we read books anymore? 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