Advanced Reading
Teacher: Audrey Benson
Contact Information: Audrey.Benson@qacps.org
Course Description:
Maryland's College and Career-Ready Standards in English Language Arts integrate standards from
different strands. The curriculum for reading focuses on Reading Literature and Reading Informational
Text. Within these standards Key Ideas and Details, Craft and Structure, Integration of Knowledge and
Ideas, Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity, Comprehension and Collaboration, and
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas will be addressed. For a list of standards for sixth grade Reading,
please refer to the Common Core website at http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy
Junior Great Books:
Your child was selected for the Junior Great Books program which will take place during reading class. The
literature in Junior Great Books has been selected to challenge the reader and provide rigorous discussion.
At times, your child will be reading a variety of informational and literary text to support his/her reading
level. In addition to focusing on the communication processes of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and
viewing through the study of language and literature driven by Maryland's College and Career-Ready
Standards, Great Books Roundtable will be integrated during the course of the year. Roundtable is a
researched based innovative middle school program that combines the proven Great Books Shared
Inquiry™ method of learning with high-quality literature. Students will develop reading comprehension
strategies and critical thinking skills through in-depth reading, discussion, and writing.
Textbooks:
● Collections by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
● Great Books Roundtable
Materials:
● Composition/Spiral Notebook (1)
● Sticky Notes (1 pack of 100)
● Pencils, highlighter, dry erase marker
● Silent reading book
● Chromebook (fully charged)
● Agenda Book
● Section in binder labeled “Reading”
Classroom Procedures:
The primary goal of reading instruction is for the reader to gain the skills and strategies necessary to
become a proficient reader. Proficiency in reading allows an individual to reap knowledge from a text,
giving him/her a deeper, more complete, understanding of the world. In order to do that best, reading
instruction will include, but will never be limited to the following:
-direct instruction of powerful reading skills and strategies
-guided and independent practice of taught skills and strategies
-assessment/reteaching of strategies and skills
-small and whole group discussions
-close reading of complex texts
-independent reading of complex texts
-expression of ideas about a text through writing
-speaking and listening instruction and activities
Homework Policy:
Students are expected to complete unfinished class work at home when needed. I try to plan instruction
so students will be able to finish the majority of work in class. If your child is consistently spending large
amounts of time at home completing classwork, please contact me, so we can determine the reason. The
only ongoing homework for students is to read independently for at least 120 minutes a week and turn in a
reading log which documents their reading.
Grading Policy:
Please refer to the grading policy for Queen Anne’s County.