Xtreme Reading: Teaching Reading Strategies to Middle and High School Students Reading Below Grade Level

Xtreme Reading is a 1-year program designed for middle and high school students who need explicit strategy instruction to develop the reading skills needed to master critical course content. The program focuses on 6 reading strategies: Word Mapping, Word Identification, Self-Questioning, Visual Imagery, Paraphrasing, and Inference. Xtreme Reading's core instructional approaches include direct instruction, teacher modeling, paired student practice, and independent practice. Reading motivation and self-directed learning are encouraged through collaborative learning, self-selection of highly engaging texts, and teacher think-aloud modeling. The curriculum includes trade books that are used to practice the reading strategies and encourage independent reading and a student binder that incorporates strategy cue cards, worksheets, and fluency/comprehension tests.