RN Bookmark

“I’m not smart enough.” “I’m not good at this.” Has a student ever said these things to you? How do you respond? Pinched for time, it may be tempting to flippantly disagree (“Sure you are!”) or brush the comments off. But taking the time to help the student change his mindset may be one of the most effective interventions you can make. Read more

We at Read Naturally know that “busy with limited budget” describes most, if not all teachers. That’s why we’ve worked hard over the years to develop top-notch digital tools for professional development. Many of these resources are free! Read more

Earlier this year, we offered a free resource to all Signs for Sounds users. Kristin McDaniel, an educator in California, created Signs for Sounds Level 1 Word Sorts—a great activity for students to extend their learning after completing a Signs for Sounds lesson. We offered these Word Sorts, with instructions, for free on our website. Educators couldn’t download the content quickly enough—which is why we’re now offering even more! We’re happy to report that Signs for Sounds Level 2 Word Sorts are now available to download, for free! Read more

Congratulations Caden B. from Sligo, PA on being named Read Naturally's October Star Student! Read more

I was recently talking with a mother of twins who admitted that her biggest struggle was not having enough one-on-one time with each twin. I thought of classroom teachers and how they struggle with the same thing. Wouldn’t you love to spend more individual time with each of your students? Unfortunately, it’s not always possible. And yet, Read Naturally’s placement procedure requires just that. The placement assessment asks you to sit with one student at a time, sometimes for several minutes. What if you just don’t have time? Read more

Do you have students who confuse one letter with another letter? For example, a student might incorrectly read big for the word pig or dig. A student can easily confuse lowercase letters like b, d, p, and q. This is because each of these letters has an overall form that is identical or very similar to another letter’s form when rotated, flipped, or reversed. Read more

“What’s Read Naturally?” Have you ever asked this question? Has anyone ever asked you? We’ve spent 24 years answering it—and we’ve gotten pretty good at it. So what’s our best Read Naturally spiel? We turned it into three quick, informative YouTube videos. Read more

William E. from Whitesville, KY is Read Naturally's September Star Student winner! William is an eighth-grade student at St. Mary's of the Woods Catholic school. Read more

What kinds of texts do you give your students to help them build fluency? Do you offer texts that are easy for them to read and comprehend independently? Or do you push them to work at a more challenging level? Literacy expert Tim Shanahan addresses this important question in his article What Texts to Use to Teach Fluency? We’ve summarized his research-based findings here, some of which may surprise you. Read more

Checking initial placement will help ensure optimal success. After a student completes between three and six stories, you need to check to make sure the student’s level and goal are appropriate. To make this task as straightforward as possible, our curriculum experts worked hard to put together detailed guidelines, available for free on our website. Read more