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We are pleased to report that the Closing the Gap organization recently featured Read Naturally on its Front Page Report, which highlights the products and developments that are influential in the area of assistive technology. Assistive technology is any product or tool that helps people with disabilities in the tasks they set out to accomplish. Closing the Gap is internationally renowned as the leader in assistive technology news, resources, and professional development.

Nothing motivates a struggling reader more than experiencing his or her own success. That’s why Read Naturally programs incorporate goals and progress monitoring graphs to show students continuous proof of their improvement. Students are even more motivated when teachers and parents help celebrate this success. If you’re looking for ways to show your Read Naturally students how awesome they are, here are some ideas:

Although the default settings in Read Live tend to work well for most students, the program is highly customizable. Teachers who adjust the program settings to suit the diverse needs of their students often find that a slight tweak is all it takes to help a struggling student soar. How can teachers change the default settings? And when are such changes indicated?

The Holiday Season is upon us, along with all the extra student excitement that makes this time of year oh-so-special. By this point in the school year, Read Naturally students have become more competent in reading and are advancing through stories and levels more quickly. How can you empower them to keep up their skills over winter break?

We at Read Naturally have something extra to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Over 1,000 education professionals recently voted for their favorite educational technology tools via THE Journal’s fourth-annual Readers’ Choice Awards. We’re pleased to announce that Read Naturally won a platinum award in the category of Favorite Interventions & Remediation Software! Click here for the full list of winners.

Imagine that a fourth grader comes home from school raving about a math game he got to play on an iPad at school. He asks his mom if he can continue playing the game at home. The mom finds the free game online, and it seems legit, so she agrees. A little extra math practice can’t hurt, right? But when she goes to check on her son a short while later, it’s clear he’s not using the game to improve his math skills at all. He’s solving problems like 2+2. He likes this “math game” because he has figured out how to make it 1% math practice and 99% just a game. (He has also weaseled his way into extra screen time.)

At Read Naturally, we value educating teachers as much as we value educating students. In order for struggling readers to become fluent readers, teachers must learn the best ways to support these students. We believe all teachers should have access to this information, which is why we offer a variety of teacher training resources free of charge.

My first grader came to the last section of his “Halloween word problems” math worksheet yesterday and let out a giant groan. The instruction was, “Now write a Halloween word problem of your own.” It was challenging enough for him to read and then solve the problems. Now he had to write one, too? “But writing takes forever!” he complained.

After working with a boy named Mathias for a couple of weeks, Read Naturally founder Candyce Ihnot had a hunch that she had placed him in the wrong level. How could she be sure? And what could she do to correct her mistake? The answer was to check his initial placement. Then, after Candyce found the appropriate level and goal for Mathias, she came up with a creative solution to ensure his needs were being met.

Investing the time to train your students well in the Read Naturally Live program will yield incredible benefits later. When the steps of the program are easy and automatic for students, they can devote all their mental energy to the important task of reading. That’s why we created A Student’s Guide to Read Naturally Live—a free training resource we hope all Read Naturally Live teachers and aides will take advantage of. This resource makes Read Naturally Live training easier, more efficient, and more enjoyable than ever before.

Make Your Student a STAR!

Read Naturally Star of the Month​Share your student’s success story—nominate him or her for our Star of the Month award. Win a Barnes & Noble gift card for the student and a Read Naturally gift certificate for your class!

pointer Submit a Star-of-the-Month entry

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