Program 6:

Speed Reading Skills and Comprehension Training for Entering 9th - 11th Graders

Speed Reading - Comprehension - Vocabulary
Study Skills - Independent Reading

Goals

This program is designed to produce active readers 
with strong comprehension and a lifelong love of 
reading. Our average student improves reading 
comprehension one or two grade levels while more 
than doubling reading speed (note).  Students also 
learn the best way to study textbooks, take notes, 
prepare for tests, and build vocabulary. The program 
is an excellent way to prepare for the SAT and ACT.

Finally, we help students to develop a greater interest in reading outside of school. This habit of independent reading contributes greatly to long-term academic and personal development.

Instructor

Instructors are drawn from the faculty of the Institute of Reading Development. Curriculum design and instructor training are supervised by Paul Copperman, a Presidential appointee to the National Council on Educational Research, and the author of Taking Books to Heart: How to Develop a Love of Reading in Your Child.

Format

The class is conducted in a workshop format, which permits the teacher to provide each student with individual attention and the appropriate level of challenge and encouragement. The teacher models skills and techniques to the class as a group, and then coaches individual students as they practice and gain confidence with their new skills, applying them to non-fiction books and to imaginative literature. At home, students continue to practice these in assigned reading from their regular school classes or in books selected based on personal interest.

Class meets for two and a half hours, once a week for five weeks. Between lessons, students practice 45 minutes to one hour, four times per week.

Skills

Speed Reading:

Students master eye-tracking exercises designed to increase reading speed and fluency. In addition to increasing reading speed, these exercises smooth out the reading process, making it less labored and distracting. As a result, students are able to concentrate more clearly on the meaning and content of what they read.

Study Skills and Strategies for Non-Fiction:

Students master a step-by-step procedure that will improve their ability to understand and retain information in textbooks and other non-fiction books. First, students learn to develop an overview of the material presented. This overview includes an understanding of the author's background, the subject matter, and the author's purpose. Second, students learn to pick out the main ideas and to link them together. These study skills provide the basis for effective note-taking and ensure active comprehension and improved retention of the material.

Reading for Pleasure and Strategies for Fiction:

Students learn to identify crucial story elements quickly, such as setting, character, problem, and plot, in order to establish a strong foundation for comprehending the story and exploring the development of characters. Students also learn to pick out the main events and link them together. Finally, students master techniques that help them to visualize more clearly what is described by the author, to identify more completely with the thoughts and feelings of characters, and to actively anticipate what comes next in the story.

Vocabulary:

Students learn Greek and Latin roots that hold the key to developing a larger vocabulary. Using our Word Power workbook, students master hundreds of new words, a useful preparation for the SAT and ACT. More importantly, they adopt habits necessary for continued vocabulary development.

Materials

Students receive a Class Manual and Workbook, which contains in-class exercises, homework activities for each week of the course, and a detailed set of notes about all skills and activities taught in the program.

See sample pages from the Course Workbook and Parent Manual
(PDF document)

Students also receive a Word Power workbook, which will help them to master hundreds of new words and prepare for the SAT and ACT.

See sample pages from Word Power Workbook
(PDF document)

In addition, students also benefit from the Reading Development Booklist. This guidebook, organized by level of difficulty, contains hundreds of listings of great literature.

Tuition is $299.

Note: Average speed and comprehension gains based upon Nelson-Denny and CTBS standardized test results.

Registration & Information

For more information or to register, please call one of our Program Directors at 1-800-964-8888.  We are available to take your call from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturdays.

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