Flexible Structure, Structured Flexibility: Reading Instruction in Grades 5 and 6

In grades 5 and 6, McLean School’s youngest Middle School students are ready to take reading and writing to the next level. By now, they know: every symbol has a sound and every sound has a symbol. Together, we move beyond the basic code to develop and deepen phonics skills, pattern awareness, and comprehension. And true to form, McLean meets students where they are with intimate groupings that allow every student to be and feel successful. This is helpful for all students, and especially those who may have challenges with reading, such as dyslexia.

Our students vary in terms of the level of embedded classroom support they receive. Still, all follow the same scope of learning, from sentence and paragraph structure to vocabulary development and more. What may differ are the novels or texts we use in teaching or the approach to a lesson, depending on the students and their strengths. Within the different classes, all students are receiving lessons centered around the same ideas of plot and character development that follow an age-appropriate theme.

At McLean, our smaller class sizes are what truly set us apart. In the Middle School especially, this means that each student is able to get more personalized learning attention across all subjects. A typical class size at McLean is between 10 and 12 students. In classes that require more remediated attention, we are fortunate to have our K-12 Literacy Coordinator and Instructional Leader, Coordinator of Learning Services, Reading Specialist, or our in-house Speech Language Pathologist push in to further support our students’ learning. Having more adults in the room allows for more focused discussions about what is happening in our book or helps with decoding and encoding specific vocabulary words.

For some of our students, reading comes naturally, while for others, it may be one of the main reasons they are attending McLean. Part of our Grades 5 and 6 Curriculum is to help with the decoding and spelling of words. We primarily follow the spelling patterns from Orton-Gillingham (OG) Training. Depending on the class, we start with closed syllables, which are the easiest to recognize and understand, and then move into concepts related to words with different spelling patterns and endings like “-tion”.

Giving students this daily practice helps them get more comfortable with spelling words and, later, reading them. In literature class, students spend a great deal of their class time reading aloud from their novels. Practice and studies have shown that giving students time to actively read in class helps with confidence in reading as well as prosody and fluency. We make time in class to read because some students are reluctant to do so at home, and it allows teachers an opportunity to actively correct students in the moment. This class structure also provides more opportunities for students and teachers to discuss the reading. We can focus on vocabulary, plot, and character development.

At McLean, the magic of our English and literature classes stems from our flexibility and attention to detail. We can see every child where they are and match our teaching to their specific needs. With that in mind, we are able to pick vocabulary, novels, and stories that interest our students and engage them beyond the words on the page.

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