I teach reading to students who are struggling with reading fluency and comprehension. I am trying both to increase their skills and decrease the struggle involved in simply trying to read.

Read Naturally Reading Curriculum has been proven to help students in reading fluency and comprehension. It combines teacher modeling, repeated readings, and progress monitoring. The students listen to a story on a CD and then read the story to the teacher. The students are motivated because they keep track of how many words they read per minute and color a bar graph chart to show growth. They can see the results immediately as their skills improve. Students also answer reading comprehension questions that pertain to the nonfiction stories they are reading in the curriculum. They retell stories in their own words, which helps in written language as well as reading comprehension.

Students using the Read Naturally curriculum not only gain fluency and comprehension, but also show increased self-esteem and confidence in their academic abilities. They monitor their own progress, giving them control over their learning and fostering a drive to better their last achievement. They become excited about reading and interested in reading as they succeed.

Read Naturally has been used with great success all over the country. Its developer, Candyce Ihnot, received the 1996 National Urban Education Teacher Recognition Award for it. Locally, several teachers have mentioned that students can gain two years growth in reading in one academic year.

Read Naturally materials are available through their web site, www.readnaturally.com. I would like to purchase a set of Level .8 audio CDs and CD player with earphones. The CDs cost $105.00 and the CD player costs $55.00. The total cost of the project is $202.40 including shipping and handling, tax, and 15% fulfillment.

Thank you for helping my students conquer their reading challenges.