Course Description

Independent Reading for Middle School Students is designed for students who have scored below the 25th percentile on the most recent Stanford 9 standardized reading comprehension section or below 350 on the Virginia Standards of Learning Grade 5 English test, reading comprehension section and are not receiving additional resource services. 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. The assessments at the end of each semester will be used to exit the student from the class or recommend his or her continuation in the program.

This is a Pass/Fail semester course. Throughout the semester several evaluations will be administered to seek levels of achievement. At the end of the semester, an assessment is given to determine the student's final achievement status.