This level 7 reading course will teach students strategies for word identification and identifying important information found in expository text. The reading skills covered in each session include: defining words in context, making predictions, drawing conclusions, identifying main ideas and supporting details, compare and contrast of differing perspectives, author's purpose, inferencing skills, sequencing of events, analysis of information, and application skills. The topics covered in the articles used for each session are described in the article titles:
•	Brain-reading software allows those who are paralyzed to communicate, by Ian Sample.
•	Brainy move enables man to regain use of hand, by Associated Press. 
•	Just imagine: School holds world’s first brain-powered drone race, by Associated Press.
•	Touching moments in prosthetics: New bionic limbs that can ‘feel,’ by Washington Post.
•	Researcher enables patient to use brain to move fingers on prosthetic arm, by Baltimore Sun.
Each of these articles are adapted by Newsela and written at an 8.0 to 8.5 reading level. The 8th-grade level is used to challenge the reading of 7th-grade readers. 

The class will be taught using a guided reading approach with an instructional delivery style that focuses on questioning. The questioning strategies used will allow students to demonstrate their level of understanding of the text, their ability to remember important details, their capabilities to apply and analyze the information from the text, and their ability to evaluate the information of the text based on the evidence provided. 

Students will interact with the teacher and other students through discussions, sharing of personal knowledge, and sharing summary writings that reflect their understanding of each article read. 

The structure for each session is as follows:
1.	Before reading: (30 minutes)
•	Share the writing response activity from the previous lesson. 
•	Survey the text by numbering the paragraphs of the biography then discussing photographs or other visual aids presented in the text.
•	K-W-H-L. Complete the K (know) column of the K-W-H-L chart and preview the W (What to know) and H (How I will learn) columns of the chart. 
•	Word Study: Students will be given words to predict meanings and match with dictionary definitions for each word. 
•	Interest builder. The teacher provides a video clip or other resource designed to motivate and interest in reading. 

2.	During reading: (30 minutes)
•	First reading – survey the article, review end-of-text questions, make predictions, read and identify words to clarify using context clues.
•	Second reading – strategies for identifying the main topics of each paragraph, creating a sequence of events chart, and creating a summary map to use for the class assignment. 

3.	After reading: (30 minutes)
•	Answer comprehension questions identifying if the information is found in the text or if the answer is inferred.
•	Vocabulary matching.
Assignment directions.
•	Summary writing assignment.
Evaluation
1. Student responses to comprehension questions and vocabulary matching activities (Goal: 75% accuracy). 
2. Independent work to complete a summary of their article. (Writing rubric for evaluation provided. Goal minimum score 3 (good) to 4 (excellent).