District-adopted textbooks guide the instruction in reading and language arts. Whenever it is appropriate and meaningful, teaching units integrate all the content areas listed above. Language and thinking skills are emphasized continuously as students talk, think and write about the content of history and literature. In the Unified Studies block periods described above, students are grouped heterogeneously. Basic texts for literature are McDougal Littell for sixth grade, Scribner's, Scott Foresman and Prentice Hall for seventh, and Prentice Hall for eighth grade.
All teams have Heath's Grammar and Composition for the study of grammar and usage and composition.
Reading instruction at the middle school level also occurs in content classes through a year-long, interdisciplinary team scope and sequence, Reading Across Disciplines. Currently implemented in all middle schools at the sixth, seventh and eighth grade levels, this reading project takes advantage of the existing structure of teaming using proven, effective reading and study strategies. With the Reading Across Disciplines Units, the team introduces, models, teaches and regularly reviews a sequential set of reading and learning strategies. This systematic team approach allows teachers and students consistent language for instruction and reinforcement. Students are provided with opportunities to apply learned reading strategies and to respond in writing to a wide range of subject areas and learning situations.