Level 6: Reading and Study Skills

The Level 6 program is designed for high school students (entering ninth, tenth and eleventh graders). At the high school level, reading skills affect academic performance in almost every discipline. At this age, students need effective strategies for tackling the more challenging fiction and nonfiction they read in high school and beyond. Class meets once per week for five weeks, and each class is 2 hours, 30 minutes long.

Student Testimonials

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Program Goals

  1. Increase students' reading speed, comprehension, and enjoyment in fiction.
  2. Teach students to effectively read, study, and take notes in textbooks and other nonfiction.
  3. Build students' vocabulary.

Activities

High school students are taught skills and techniques to help them read more efficiently and enjoy reading more. Teachers model each skill, coach student practice one-on-one, and provide students with guidance on applying these skills to a variety of reading material. Students learn techniques that enable most to double their reading speed over the course of the program. Teachers provide direct instruction in vocabulary skills that students need to be successful in their current and future reading. Students also learn over 200 vocabulary words that frequently appear on the ACT and SAT.

Students spend the first part of every class session and homework session reading and discussing a classic work of literature, The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien. Teachers lead discussions that help high school students to structure their comprehension. These discussions are engaging and thought-provoking and encourage students to identify with the characters and inhabit the story in a meaningful way. Teachers challenge students to participate actively and to dig deep into rich, imaginative literature. In order to further support their comprehension and absorption, students watch an instructional DVD in conjunction with their at-home reading.

Students are also taught strategies for reading, studying and taking notes in nonfiction, including textbooks and journal articles. Students are trained to extract main ideas and identify supporting details, and to structure their comprehension by teaching them to recognize how information is organized. Students also learn a reliable system of taking notes that increases comprehension, recall, and success on tests. The skills we teach give students the confidence to successfully tackle challenging reading material that is otherwise overwhelming to many high school students.

High school students come to class on the first day with a great deal of intellectual curiosity and a real desire for effective mentorship from the teacher. Some are initially hesitant to participate due to self-consciousness and a lack of confidence. Teachers meet this hesitancy with high expectations and the confidence that every student can be successful; teachers create an atmosphere of sincere engagement and hard work.

Finally, both students and parents are provided with strategies to ensure that the skills practiced in class become habits. Teachers provide all students with an individualized Book Level Recommendation which corresponds with The Great Adventure Booklist that all students receive. The booklist represents the best titles in classic and near-classic young adult literature organized by level of difficulty and genre of interest, such as Adventure, Realism, Historical Fiction, Science Fiction, and Literature.

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My reading skills have greatly improved. I read more effectively: I understand and remember the things I read better. I don't have to reread previously read chapters. My speed in reading has greatly increased which helps me enjoy the things I read.

— Level 6 student