Middle School Literacy: Supporting Student Success in the Content Areas

Supporting Literacy in the Classroom- Creating an environment for success.

Know your students-
Spend time getting to know students as learners.
What supports or services do they require for success. (Tier I, II, III).
Ask Questions
- Find a building resources (perhaps one of our talented LA
teachers) that can support your work and troubleshoot your questions.
Make it a Goa
l- Consider using literacy strategies as part of your Q-Comp growth goal.
Instructional coaches provide resources and a sounding board to grow your skills.
Standards and Curriculum:
Identify the academic vocabulary and texts students will need to navigate to master content
materials.
Collaborate with reading support staff, teachers and mentors to build classroom strategies
that meet the needs of a middle school student.
Dont reinvent the wheel- find ways to build off the strategies students already use in their
reading and language arts course.
Staff Development
- Seek out opportunities to learn more about the importance of literacy in student
success and new strategies that will fit the needs of content specific reading.
Cheerlead
- Create a positive learning environment that encourages students to take risks and build
their skills. Learning is a journey that requires both encouragement and feedback.
Fluency in the Content Area
Fluency: Ability to read text with speed and accuracy.
Importance
: Fluent readers spend less time decoding words and can therefore focus on the meaning of
the text.
Checklist for supporting Fluency:
Oral Reading Fluency Assessment:
Track the words correct per minute
Create Leveled Reading Assignments:
Use support curriculum resources to develop texts for readers with varied fluency abilities.
Newsela
: Online tool, provides non-fiction reading opportunities with ability to sort news
articles based on Lexile.
Provide opportunities for interventions and extension:
Small group work
Additional staff support in and outside of the classroom for students requiring Tier II and III
services.
One on one work with students to hear progress and identify areas for growth.

Word Recognition and Vocabulary

Word Recognition: The accurate reading of words.
Vocabulary:
The body of words used in a particular language or occasion.
Importance
: The ability to read words accurately is important in the development of our vocabulary and
the ability to build our vocabulary by reading words in context. (Gallagher, 2006)
Checklist for supporting Word Recognition and building new Vocabulary (Graves, 2006):
Incorporate short word recognition based activities.
Review new words and provide tools for students to learn correct definitions.
Make connections to new words from previous units.
Make connections to new words and other content areas.
Provide multiple experiences for students to experience new words.
Identify the words students will need to use to navigate unit texts.
Show students how the new words can be used in context.
Make sure you USE the word- supports students and their ability to pronounce the word
correctly.
Use images or create images with students to support new word recognition.
Comprehension of Content Material
Comprehension: The ability to understand what is readthe ultimate goal of reading.
Importance
: Comprehension of material allows students to bring new and personal meaning to their
learning.
Checklist for supporting Comprehension:
Daily Review of Material: provides an opportunity for teachers to track students understanding and
for students to overlearn material.
Overlearning materials is the understanding of materials to the point of mastery
(Mastropieri & Scruggs, 2002).
Monitor the students understanding and adapt instruction as needed.
Provide Scaffolding.
Create supports for students to build new skills or knowledge.
Opportunities for Connections: Meaning and understanding of new material is increased with
students can connect learning with past experiences. (Sousa, 2001)
Create or seek out curriculum that contains opportunities for students to connect new
learning to past experiences.

Citations and Resources

Gallagher, K.
Deeper Reading: Comprehending Challenging Texts, 4-12.P
ortland, Maine: Stenhouse, 2004.
Print.
Graves, Michael F. T
he Vocabulary Book: Learning & Instruction
. New York: Teacher's College, 2006. Print.
Mastropieri, M. A., & Scruggs, T. E. (2002). Effective instruction for special education. Austin, TX: ProEd.
Sousa, David. 2001. How the Brain Learns. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.