This is a direct, systematic, and highly interactive reading comprehension program that teaches students practical strategies to bolster their reading and vocabulary skills for the reading tests. It's also a class for 3rd graders who want to prepare for the ITBS/OSA reading test.
This course will build up the solid fundation for the reading and vocabulary skills by using comprehensive reading and vocabulary level 3A and 3B along the year. Students will also learn the test strategies and sharpen the test skills by engaging in practice tests from multiple leading resources in class or out class as homework.
Students in 3rd-6th grade who score in the 99 percentile in ITBS/OSA Reading, together with a 97% in either the ITBS/OSAS Math or CogAt test, will qualify for the SUMMA program in Middle School. For additional information on the SUMMA program at BSD schools, please check this link: https://www.beaverton.k12.or.us/departments/teaching-learning/student-programs/talented-and-gifted
The class is designed with a one-year curriculum for Grade 3-4 students:
Level 3A: Students will start with the "Make Connections 3“ book to build up comprehensive reading skills with the high-quality of scientific reading. Six books from Comprehension Library 3 will be used in/out of class for students to apply their newly acquired skills and strategies. We use the ”Vocabulary Workshop for Comprehensive 3“ for expanding students' vocabulary with a comprehensive reading context. Level 3A usually takes 12 to 14 weeks to finish.
Level 3B: After finishing the Make Connections 3 book, we will continue with the "Reading Detective Beginning" and "Close Reading Complex Text 3" book in level 3B to further refine reading skills with more complex high-quality text. We will use the book "Wordly Wise book 3" to power up students' vocabulary further by putting the words in multiple contexts. The Online Reading Skill Unit Tests will be used to have students to practice the reading tests in the standard format and assess students' reading skills. Level 3B usually takes about 20 weeks to complete.
Students will build up the following skills along the year:
1. understand skills such as cause and effect, drawing conclusions, and predicting outcomes.
2. locate, interpret, and organize key information in a text.
3. analyze words in a text using vocabulary strategies.
4. utilize text features such as maps, graphs, tables, photos, and glossaries to aid comprehension.
5. interpret a variety of genres including biographies, science & social studies texts, Greek myth, and much more!
Student books for Level 3A:
Vocabulary Workshop for Comprehensive 3
Make Connections 3
6 books from Comprehensive Library

Books in PDF will be uploaded to the students' class page before the term starts. The "Vocabulary Workshop for Comprehensive 3" is included in your registration. You may buy the "Make Connections 3" book at the group discount price on Sunshine's website via this link:
http://www.sunshineeliteeducation.com/course.php?term=39
Instructor:
Meagan Andrus