If we want our students to become better readers, we need to begin to provide them with texts that are more challenging for them. Matching students with texts at their reading level does little to challenge students. However, when we provide students with a text that is at grade level, or even above their grade level, and we challenge our students while also working along side them to delve into the text and understand that text, now we are building competency. This evidence based approach helps students to read, struggle, and ultimately comprehend more complex texts.

Reading grade-level or challenging texts in middle school pushes students to decode words they don’t understand, to use context clues, to look at text structure and text features to help them understand the text. We may even look at literary devices or figurative language. We may analyze word choice and author’s point of view. The key word here is we. We scaffold all instruction. If we know that there will be gaps in schema, we front-load some important information about the text or the time period of the text. When students have a better understanding of the subject matter of the text, their background knowledge will help to deepen their comprehension.

We are also upfront with our students about the text and the challenges they may face. When using challenging texts, we have a game plan. We know exactly what strategies we are trying to teach with each text, and we let our students know what specific skill we will be working on with each text.

While vocabulary is an important component of reading, we try not to get too in the weeds with teaching our students new vocabulary words each and every time we read a new text. There is not enough time in our daily classes to consistently work on vocabulary. What we do teach is a word attack strategy called the 30-15-10. We have students learn and understand the 30 most common prefixes, 15 most common root words, and the 10 most common suffixes in the English language. When they understand word morphology, they are better equipped to understand and break down unfamiliar words.

While we make it a point to always teach with grade-level, or above grade-level texts, we also believe in a balanced reading approach. Students can read whatever text they like for their independent reading practice. These texts can be below their reading level at times. After all, the point of independent reading is reading for pleasure. Don’t we all read what makes us happy? Don’t we also read books that are below our reading levels? We have to stop this narrative that we must have students reading at their level at all times. Or, write about their reading at all times. Or, read across all genres. It kills reading for some students. We know the ultimate goal is to get students to read all different types of texts, but can’t we have them do that in class?

Are you looking for some awesome texts to read to your middle or high school classes? Check out some of our favorite stories to read by authors of color. Also, these crowd pleasing short stories will really get your students invested in the text. As always, pick and choose which strategies you want to teach up front. Be specific with your instruction and scaffold, scaffold, scaffold.

Happy Teaching!

Why We Teach With Above Grade Level Texts