The One Minute Reader provides materials based upon the average reading levels of E- Early First Grade through 5 Mid-Fifth Grade level. Each reader provides a series of short minute long stories, an audio CD, a red and blue double end pencil, and a one minute timer specially made for the Read Naturally program.
While using the One Minute Reader the student marks off words they do not recognize the first time through with the blue pencil giving them a cold score. They then listen to the story and read along with the provided CD. Next they read the story again on their own. They take a quiz to see what they have learned from the story, testing comprehension. After that they read the story to an adult of their choice. And finally they go through and mark the reader with the red pencil to gather their hot score showing how much improvement has been made while reading.
We really love the concept of the One Minute Reader in our family, though my children didn’t care a lot for the stories that were included. However, this concept could be easily adapted to our own story books and probably will be in the future. My children did enjoy having the questions to answer at the end of the stories, as well as the fun activities and stickers that were included for use with the program. I also think had I been able to review a full set of the One Minute Reader instead of just a sample of this program we may have enjoyed it a lot more. Still this particular program would make a great addition to those homeschoolers using a more formal type of curriculum, aiding in fluency and strengthening reading instruction.
You can purchase One Minute Reader through Read Naturally for $99.95 for the full bundle per grade level. It is also available in a starter pack for $24.95 and per book for $12.95 each per grade level. Extra timers, pencils and other accessories are also available through the website.
You can read more reviews of Read Naturally’s One Minute Reader and their other program, Read Live, on the TOS Homeschool Review Crew blog!
