QUESTION:
Area of Concern: Reading Fundamentals
Submitted by: Teacher
Grade Level: Middle School
Competency: Below Level
ANSWER:
A good program for you to start with is Reading Shape-Up. This program helps students master specific reading skills: main idea, vocabulary, sequence, fact-opinion, factual recall, and inference. A tutorial introduces each concept. Students receive help and personal feedback while they work through the software. The program is written for students reading at a 3rd through 8th grade level.
It is probably wise to use a combination of Merit programs with your boys. An interactive and varied approach to learning helps students overcome, troublesome academic concepts. Therefore, I would also consider looking at the Basic Skills Pack (which includes Reading Shape-Up) and several other reading, writing, and math programs for struggling students.