Course Description

Independent Reading for Middle School Students is designed for students who are reading below current grade level placement. Students are recommended for placement in this course based on multiple criteria which include results from prior Standards of Learning and other standardized testing. The students will receive instruction in five key areas: phonological awareness and decoding, reading fluency and word recognition, vocabulary and phrase meanings, reading comprehension, and writing in response to text. The majority of the reading selections will be nonfiction to build student success in reading content-area textbooks. Sustained independent reading will be incorporated into the class to develop the student's reading fluency. Formal assessments of student progress will be administered at the end of each nine weeks grading period.

This is a Pass/Fail course. Students are expected to stay in this course for the entire year unless results from mid-year assessments indicate that the student is ready to exit the program.