By George Scott
Project Director, Academic Equity Advocates
Great readers have one thing in common. The more they read effectively translates to higher academic performance throughout their public and higher education careers as well as their professional careers.
At Junior High ELA Resources, we recognize that learning to read effectively sometimes takes hard work and discipline. However, it leads to a lifetime of enjoyment as well as a higher level of college and professional success.
That’s why we have developed literally dozens of reading assignments with skills tests to advance both comprehension and writing skills.
In today’s public education system, if students can read short stories or articles close to their grade-level, they can usually pass their middle school or high school English classes. Most will also be able to pass their state’s student testing programs such as the STAAR testing program in Texas.
However, some students go much farther than that. They master high-level reading and writing skills with such ease that they “hit the roof” on the verbal portions of the SAT and ACT college entrance tests that pave their way to higher education.
In many cases, the classroom environment is challenging for teachers who have wide range of students with different skills from below grade level to higher levels of performance. Since teachers must often support the struggling readers the most, grade-level readers are sometimes not challenged enough to lift themselves to that higher level.
How can “average readers” jump to that higher level?
For those students who are not performing at genuine grade level skills, it is often up to the parents and the students themselves to get extra support that lifts the students to higher language levels.
Reading widely among many types of books is a big predictor of success in English classes and college-entrance exams.
Junior High ELA Resources has lessons that target the needs of this group of students.
Whatever skill set is targeted (catching up or advancing), the lessons present concepts and skills in an easy-to-understand format which is complete with practices and answer keys.
Here are some examples of lessons that target genuine grade-level or higher skills that can raise achievement and pave the way for a junior high school student to have dramatic success in high school.
HIGHLIGHT THESE STORIES find the links
Middle School Vocabulary – 60 Words – Advanced Level
Middle School Vocabulary – 100 Words – Basic Level
Vocabulary Development (Context Clues) – Silly Words
Literary Terms Vocabulary Master List & Definitions – 8th Gr./HS Digital, Print
Don’t Fall for These Logical Fallacies
Here is a lesson that focus on reading comprehension. It is the story of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi which includes a full copy of the story, a study guide, quiz and answer key. It is a clever story with a challenging message of friendship, courage, and loyalty. It really targets the interest and grade level of middle school students. How your child performs on this lesson will give strong insight into reading comprehension skills or deficiencies.
The bottom-line goal of Junior High ELA Resources is to help you provide your students with the support they likely will not get in the modern world of compromises enforced in the public education system. That includes:
- Both remediation and strengthening basic skills in reading, writing and grammar.
- Exposure to high quality literature and outstanding writing passages with lessons and quizzes that solidify reading comprehension.