Reading

(240) 740-7258
Resource Teacher: Tess Hiller
Theresa_M_Hiller@mcpsmd.org

The Staff:

  • Natalie Brown – Paraeducator – Natalie_D_Brown@mcpsmd.org
  • Dani James – Critical Reading / Read 180 – Danelle_D_James@mcpsmd.org
  • Diana Kelly – Academic Reading / Literacy in the Digital Age – Diana_J_Kelly@mcpsmd.org
  • Edmund Ryan – Critical Reading / Read 180 – Edmund_F_Ryan@mcpsmd.org

The Courses:

All of the courses taught by the Reading Department are designed with one goal in mind:  Students will meet grade-level expectations for reading.

Read 180 – Read 180 is an intervention that focuses on basic skills in reading.  The program, which is published by Scholastic, Inc., has four main components.  They are small and whole group instruction using a workbook called the ReaL Book, technology-based instruction using proprietary software, and independent reading.  This course is also offered for students in the ESOL program.

Critical Reading – Critical Reading focuses on basic reading skills.  Students learn to use a variety of strategies to increase comprehension.  Among the strategies are: identifying Main Idea, identifying Facts and Details, Inferencing, recognizing Cause and Effect, tracking Sequence of events and identifying Author’s Purpose among others.

Academic Reading – This course is designed to help students succeed in college as well as in higher level classes in high school.  The class focuses on application of reading strategies to specific types of texts.  For example, there are units on reading history texts, short stories, and news articles from various sources, among others.  Lessons are supplemented with technology-based instruction focusing on vocabulary and non-fiction texts.

Literacy in the Digital Age – Literacy in the Digital Age uses Problem-Based Learning to help students improve their reading skills and increase their knowledge of topics of interest to them.  Students identify a problem and learn to research.  Using primarily on-line sources, students research the topic and develop solutions to the problems that they have identified.