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March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.

The achievement scores of 4th and 8th grade students in reading have barely budged since 1992. Reading ability is the barometer that measures the success or failure of students. Middle school students who are deficient in reading are most likely to be deficient in other curricular areas as well. 

So what does it mean to teach reading in the middle school classroom? The culture of most schools and classrooms is primarily one of standards-driven, whole-group instruction. Increased student and teacher accountability is attributed to high-stakes assessments. Because of this, most teachers primarily engage in whole-group instruction. We need to make sure that students can independently read and understand grade-level assessment, or those scores will never budge.

 

The most asked question should be--what type of instruction is the most effective for the struggling or at-risk students in our classrooms? There are four types of instruction--differentiated, explicit, systematic, and supportive. If teachers want more of their students to get to grade-level reading, then we need to move from large-group to small-group instruction.

What are the research-based instructional models? Always begin with a daily review, which can strengthen previous learning and lead to fluent recall. Have students identify similarities and differences. Teachers should provide verbal input about what will happen in a lesson, what the goals are, why it's being done, how it will help students, and what the role of teacher and students will be.

We should provide concise instructions on any particular task with a specific outcome or learning. Students need wait time in order to process the instructions and respond and ask clarifying questions.

Teachers should model the strategies for making connections, inferences, and writing summaries. We should remind students to remember or think about something they were taught previously or to restate something in a way that they will remember it.

Guided Practice--leading students through a supervised rehearsal of a skill, process, or routine to ensure understanding, accuracy, and automaticity.