Mastering Reading Comprehension (4th & 5th Grades)

Improve reading comprehension skills while learning test taking strategies and gain confidence on standardized reading tests.  This ongoing course will prepare your child for standardized reading tests by learning test taking tips, while focusing on a Common Core Reading Comprehension skill each week. Students will learn and strengthen reading comprehension skills by using them in authentic ways, and then integrating those comprehension and test taking skills together, so students not only become better test takers, but better life long readers.  

We will use a variety of materials in weekly classes, such as high interest reading passages, visuals, or short films to apply the reading skill of the week.  The format of the class will vary based on the skill for that week.  Later in the course we will apply the comprehension strategies learned while completing practice reading test passages.  At the end of each day's class we will practice the skill we learned that day with a fun game of Blooket or Gimkit to solidify skills in an engaging way.

Each weekly class will be structured as follows:
Introductions/Ice Breaker
Review of skill 
Modeling of skill as we begin to read the text/short story/short film of the day
Guided and Independent Practice of skill while reading the text of the day
Blooket or Gimkit game to review skill to end the class (As time permits/if applicable to skill)

*Note: Classes do not build upon the prior class each week; students may join class at any time.*
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SCHEDULE FOR SPRING 2025 CLASSES:
Week of April 26 - Nonfiction Summarizing
Week of May 3- Nonfiction Text Structures
NO CLASS WEEK OF MAY 10
Week of May 17 - Nonfiction Summarizing
Week of May 25 (Last week) - Test taking strategies with nonfiction passages

SCHEDULE FOR FALL 2025 CLASSES:
Week of 9/7 - Visualizing
Week of 9/14 - Summarizing
Week of 9/21 - Inferencing
Week of 9/28 - Theme
NO CLASS WEEK OF 10/5
Week of 10/12 - Character Traits
Week of 10/19 - Compare and Contrast Characters
Week of 10/26 - Fiction Test Taking Strategies
Week of 11/2 - Context Clues
NO CLASS WEEK OF 11/9
Week of 11/16 - Nonfiction Text Structures
Week of 11/23 - Nonfiction Central Idea
Week of 11/30 - Nonfiction Summarizing
Week of 12/7 - Nonfiction Test Taking Strategies
Week of 12/14 - Nonfiction Test Taking Strategies

SCHEDULE FOR SPRING 2026
Week of 1/4 - Inferencing
Week of 1/11 - Tone and Mood
Week of 1/18- Compare and Contrast Settings
Week of 1/25 - Fiction Test Taking Strategies
NO CLASS WEEK OF 2/1
Week of 2/8  - Nonfiction Central Idea
Week of 2/15- Author’s Purpose
Week of 2/22 - Author’s Reason and Evidence
Week of 3/1 - Nonfiction Test Taking Strategies
NO CLASS WEEK OF 3/8
Week of 3/15 - Figurative Language
Week of 3/22 - Poetry
Week of 3/29 - Test Taking Strategies with Poetry

Each weekly class will be structured as follows:
Introductions/Ice Breaker
Review of skill 
Modeling of skill as we begin to read the text/short story/short film of the day
Guided and Independent Practice of skill while reading the text of the day
Blooket or Gimkit game to review skill to end the class (As time permits/if applicable to skill)