Know the Code!

Mr. Todd Clark reads to his class. All sixth graders take a semester long reading class.

A students draws her picture.

“Good readers are like code-breakers.” This is the premise of a reading comprehension unit in Mr. Todd Clark’s sixth grade reading class at Lakeside Middle School. To develop his students’ reading skills, Mr. Clark is using a four unit curriculum created by the sixth grade teaching team two years ago. Each unit emphasizes a particular reading skill: Fluency, Comprehension, Analysis of Text, and the Author’s Purpose. This curriculum is aligned with the Grade Level Expectations (GLEs) and Essential Academic Learning Requirements (EALRs) set by the State and follows an Understanding by Design model. At the end of each unit, a project is completed in which students showcase what they have learned.

Unit Two stresses reading comprehension and teaches students twelve strategies. To practice these strategies, the class is reading The Back Pearl. Before beginning to read, the class applied some “Before Reading” strategies: They “accessed prior knowledge” by reviewing what they had read; they “made predictions” about what would happen next; and they asked “I wonder” questions to help guide their reading. As Mr. Clark read (modeling voice and diction), the class stopped to discuss and summarize the passages, which practices “During Reading” strategies, often “defining unknown words in context.” Mr. Clark also helped the students make a visual reference as to where the action was taking place by locating points on the classroom map.

To reflect on their reading, an “After Reading” strategy, Mr. Clark asked his students to draw a picture of their favorite part of what they had read that day. After creating their picture, they were to select a quote from the passage to accompany it. The quote was to be a text-based reason to read the book; one that would tantalize a prospective reader, without giving away the story.

In addition to reading The Black Pearl in class, the students are reading a book of their choice at home. As they read at home, they are to be practicing the reading strategies learned in class. One student and his mom are doing just that. He shared that as they read Old Yeller together, they stopped and discussed what they had read, summarizing the important parts of the passages.

At the end of the unit, the project will be based on the book that the sixth graders are reading at home; the students will become the teachers. They will develop lesson plans to teach nine of the reading comprehension strategies that they have learned in class. Then in small groups, the sixth graders will actually teach their lesson plans.

Through using this reading curriculum, Mr. Clark is giving his students specific skills for improvement. During class, these skills are practiced so that they become ingrained. Then the students demonstrate their newly acquired skills by applying them through a project. As the sixth graders become better readers, all subject areas improve; knowing the code leads to improved student learning.