Why is it fun to play games? Researchers have found that it’s the learning aspect of games that makes them fun. When we’re playing games, we’re making choices, realizing consequences, mastering skills, and working toward goals. We’re developing our understanding of systems and rules. Our brains are highly stimulated by this kind of learning, and we’re motivated to keep doing it. The best part is that our brains are working hard, yet we don’t feel drained by the effort—we’re just having fun!
Read more Congratulations to Star Student Brianna P., a fifth-grade student at Bryant Elementary in Owosso, MI! Brianna's teacher, Dede Raffaelli, had this to say about her:
Read more Did you know there is a downward spiral of reading failure? It starts with the foundational skills. Beginning readers who have difficulty learning to read words accurately and fluently may continue on a downward spiral, making it harder and harder to catch up.
Read more We’re pleased to announce that Funēmics®, our popular new phonemic awareness program, is a recent winner of the National Parenting Center’s Seal of Approval! This prestigious award is given seasonally to the highest quality products in the parent/child consumer market.
Read more Educators around the country—and around the world—are finding that Read Naturally programs work wonders with ELL students. The audio support, student-friendly vocabulary definitions, and high-interest story topics are just a few of the features that make our programs an ideal fit for this population. We love when ELL students learn to read English fluently with Read Naturally programs—and we love when educators take the time to share this progress. ELL instructor Kristina Hasanova is one such educator.
Read more Congratulations to Star Student Westin D. a second grade student at Big Pine Elementary in Big Pine, CA! Westin's teacher, Carrol Hambleton had this to say about him:
Read more The six levels of the One Minute Reader iPad app now contain eight books each instead of five. That’s 90 more stories and 60% more content at the same price.
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 I've spent the past five years obsessed with the creation of Funēmics, and I've talked about it quite a bit with my family members, who collectively speak five languages and have lived in six different countries on four continents.
I grew up as an American in Saudi Arabia, and my family was part of a global community called ex-patriots—whatever that means. For us, it meant that when my sister Erica graduated from college, she moved to Florence, Italy; when my brother Patrick fell in love, it was with a Swedish girl in Rome; and when my Dad remarried, it was to a beautiful woman from Ecuador. More conventionally, I found a hockey player from northern Minnesota, but he happened to live in Aschaffenburg, Germany.
Read more Sight words are extremely challenging. Often they’re hard to conceptualize, and they don’t follow typical phonics patterns. But sight words come up again and again in the English language. It’s essential that students learn these high-frequency words as soon as possible in order to become successful readers.
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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!
