Read Naturally is a supplemental oral fluency reading program designed to enable students to improve reading fluency.
At Christa McAuliffe this program is used in many ways. Classroom teachers have the option of utilizing the program. Some choose to have parent or community volunteers help students receive one to one practice, while other teachers may choose to use it in the classroom with peer or big buddy/little buddy practice. At times it may even be used as a home assignment with parent participation. Regardless of how the program is administered the clear and defined focus is to increase reading fluency.
Students who read fluently read smoothly and easily. They do not need to pause to figure out words. They identify words automatically. As a result, they can focus on meaning rather than word recognition when they read. As a rule, fluent readers comprehend better that non-fluent readers. Improving reading fluency is important for developing readers.
Read Naturally is a research-based program that enables students to become fluent readers. It has three components: teacher modeling, repeated reading, and progress monitoring. It is based on several research-based theories including the following:
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Students become good readers by reading. |
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Reading along with a more proficient reader improves word recognition and reading fluency. |
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Reading a passage several times improves fluency. |
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Self-monitoring of progress improves reading achievement. |
The reading passages are of high interest to the students. They are non-fiction and suited for the student development. Please keep in mind that students need to have good accuracy at the level they are working on in order to improve fluency. Thus, students may be reading lower than grade level stories to best achieve fluency practice.
If you would like more information on how this program works or to volunteer to work with this program please contact Mary Geil or your child’s classroom teacher.