When working on reading skills with learners on the spectrum, one area of struggle that I see pretty consistently is a major challenge with reading comprehension. I have met many students who can read far more fluently than their reading comprehension level. But we need both. We need to make sure our kids are understanding what they are reading – or else, what really is the point?

I having been wanting to create a curriculum set completely focused on reading comprehension ever since I created the Language Arts Leveled Daily Curriculum. I loved how Language Arts incorporated grammar, writing, and other reading skills but I knew how useful a resource dedicated to reading comprehension would be. Today, I’ll answer the most frequently asked questions about this new resource and share all about how this could work in your classroom: 

What levels are there? 

There is a Level 1, Level 1.5, Level 2, and Level 3. The bundle includes all 4 of those levels. This is a little different than previous curriculum subjects. I included level 1.5 because there is a pretty big jump from level 1 to level 2. I heard from many of you who had students who were ready for more of a challenge but still had emerging writing skills. The Level 1.5 will bridge those two levels while still having minimal writing. This resource will work really well alongside the Language Arts Curriculum and/or Functional Literacy Curriculum. I designed this to be used collaboratively with these subjects. I also think this would work really well as an extension of Edmark! 

How do I know what level to choose?

I want to make sure you choose the level that is exactly right for each student. That is why I took a screen video of each level (found here) so you can see what each level looks like and the difficulty level. You can also view the curriculum map for each level in the product preview. Also, check out this skill matrix to see the prerequisite skill for each level. 

What’s included in each level?

Each Level includes 8 units each with a different focus topic, set of sight words, and/or book skill. Each unit includes 20 activities, a pre and post test, grading rubric, and an anchor chart. Many of the units also include picture and/or word flashcards for sight words. There is also a 9th review unit. All of the activities include embedded data sheets to include data on sight words or book extension skills. Additional data sheets, lesson plan templates, and detailed instructions on use are included. 

What research was used to develop this curriculum?

This curriculum incorporates a balanced phonics and sight word approach. The research this curriculum is based on is listed here. This curriculum utilizes Fry Sight Words in Levels 1.5, 2, and 3. Levels 2 and 3 align to Fountas and Pinnel and Lexile Levels with reading levels listed in each unit of the curriculum maps. All texts included in this resource are leveled using both systems. The passages gradually get more difficult as the levels go on.