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Some students reach middle school without the basic reading skills they need to succeed. The Reading Edge is an intervention that can help students build confidence and learn the strategies they need to be successful readers.

The Reading Edge is a research-based and research-proven program designed to meet the unique needs of young adolescent readers. Since the range of reading achievement is extremely broad in this age group, the Reading Edge provides programs for students at beginning through 8th-grade+ reading levels. Students are assessed and placed at their appropriate reading levels. Students reading at a third-grade level or higher focus on developing comprehension strategies using both narrative and expository texts. Students reading at earlier levels use high-interest fiction, nonfiction, and reader’s theatre to develop basic decoding skills, reading fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. All levels focus on building background knowledge and developing study skills to foster future success in school and beyond. Like all programs in the SFAF family, the Reading Edge uses cooperative-learning techniques to engage students in their learning and to create a positive classroom environment.

Middle school students who are reading at a second and third grade level have mastered basic phonics skills, but they haven’t achieved enough reading fluency to make contact with the world of adult reading, contact that first occurs at the fourth grade reading level. The goal of these units is to give students at this level the help they need to achieve a fourth grade reading level as quickly as possible. This general goal can be broken down into the following areas:

1. The students will acquire word recognition skills. In levels 2-3, you will give students direct instruction in techniques they can use to successfully decode unfamiliar words, such as using phonetic clues within the word, using other words in the text as clues, breaking down multisyllabic words, and identifying prefixes, suffixes, and base words.

2. The students will achieve greater reading fluency. Fluency is simply the ability to read smoothly at an acceptable speed with few errors and with good expression. While students can sometimes read fluently without understanding what they read, achieving fluency frees up the intellectual resources that students need to accomplish comprehension tasks.

3. The students will continue to develop their vocabulary. These students need help with both learning completely new words (a task that is particularly critical for students who are learning English as a second language) and with learning to read words that are already in their spoken vocabulary. Levels 2-3 offer activities that assist with both aspects of vocabulary development.

4. The students will learn basic comprehension strategies. While levels 2-3 appropriately emphasize fluency over comprehension, the students will learn that fluency is only important to the extent that it results in better and more efficient understanding. Fluency is thus always taught in tandem with guidance on and checks for comprehension. The comprehension strategies that are offered range from basic clarifying techniques (such as sounding words out, looking at other words and pictures for clues, and asking for help) to important strategies that contribute to active reading, such as predicting, asking questions, making mind movies, and summarizing.

5. The students will learn to write in response to what they read. Levels 2–3 focuses on helping students write correct and complete sentences, applying appropriate punctuation, capitalization, grammar, and spelling.

Curriculum
Students in the Reading Edge are grouped into separate classes according to their reading levels.

Reading Level 1 (first grade reading level) focuses on giving beginning readers the tools they need for literal comprehension. It uses a sequence of illustrated stories, presented with phonetically regular text that becomes more difficult as students master new skills.

Reading Levels 2 - 3 (grades 2 and 3 reading levels) use simple fiction, nonfiction, and reader’s theater to focus on basic decoding skills and improving reading fluency.

Reading Levels 4 - 8 (grades 4 through 8 reading levels) use short stories, novels, poetry, and nonfiction to help students learn effective comprehension strategies.

Frequent feedback motivates students in all instructional levels:

• Students get weekly feedback on their progress.
  They set individual and team goals and track their progress. Being aware of their own gains and experiencing success a step at a time motivates students to take on new challenges with confidence.
• As soon as they are ready, students are moved to the next level.
  Every eight weeks students are given a test to identify their reading level. Assessing reading skills regularly assures that students are continually challenged and do not lose momentum.
• The Reading Edge is flexible.
  Teachers can use formal and informal assessment data from The Reading Edge to tailor instruction so that it meets the needs of their students and the school and state goals.

All instructional levels of the Reading Edge allow students to progress at their own pace, gaining pride and confidence in their abilities as readers. Instruction is consistently matched to students’ gains in ability. Within each class, motivated students are given the option to forge ahead with new material, even as they help their partners and teammates. All students, regardless of achievement levels, receive instruction that is keyed to their particular needs and to level-appropriate goals.

Instructional Materials
The Reading Edge materials include:

• Teachers manuals with detailed, flexible daily lesson plans for forty weeks of instruction at each reading level
• All student materials
• Reading strategy cards
• Comprehension strategy team study tools
• Student assessment tools to monitor student progress in vocabulary, word structure, fluency, comprehension, and comprehension strategies.

Note: Levels 2 - 8+ of the program are built around classroom sets of trade books that schools purchase through a commercial vendor.

Sample Lessons
Use the following link(s) to browse sample lessons from The Reading Edge.

The Reading Edge - scope and sequence
The Reading Edge - sample lesson from Reading Level 2
The Reading Edge - sample lesson from Reading Level 5
The Reading Edge - sample lesson from Reading Level 8

Professional Development
The professional development provided by SFAF staff is designed to support district and school leaders and teachers as they make substantial changes in their approach to classroom instruction. Your SFAF coach will build a partnership with your school and district through training sessions, on-site coaching, scheduled telephone meetings, quarterly progress reports, and informal telephone support.

Initial Training
A two-day initial training is provided to prepare teachers for a smooth Reading Edge implementation. The training focuses on:

• Instructional strategies embedded in the lessons to support the development of word recognition, fluency, and comprehension skills.
• Elements of the lessons that provide engaging images, routines, and practice needed to ensure success for each student.
• Tools to assess student progress and adapt lessons to meet students’ needs.
• Cooperative-learning strategies that provide the practice and repetition students need at the middle school level.
• Social problem-solving skills taught to build a powerful and positive classroom (and school) climate.
• Support for administrators and district personnel as they prepare to manage the program, monitor student progress, and support a high quality implementation of the Reading Edge.

Goal-Focused Achievement Planning
Goal-focused achievement planning sets the stage for success. You and your SFAF coach develop specific goals and monitor student progress.

• Every quarter, the Reading Edge teachers, school leaders, and your SFAF coach review student progress.
• Goals and interventions for the following quarter are planned based on the data.
• Your coach prepares quarterly reports on student progress for teachers, schools, and the district office.

Ongoing Coaching and Support
As the year progresses, you will have a variety of ways to work with your SFAF coach to review your progress and refine goals. The schools involved in the Reading Edge will receive:

• Quarterly visits by your SFAF coach, who will observe classes, meet with the Reading Edge teachers and administrators, review data on student progress, and set new goals.
• Follow-up telephone meetings with the Reading Edge teachers. These meetings support implementation of the program by providing teachers with further training, troubleshooting, goal-setting assistance, and help with assessment issues.
• Unlimited, informal telephone support for all staff members.
  

Next Steps
Do you want to learn more about the Reading Edge? Please call and talk to one of our staff members at 1-800-548-4998, ext.2372, or fill out the information request form online.

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