One of the biggest misconceptions about the Science of Reading for middle school, that I have been trying to combat for years now, is that it ends after students learn to decode. But middle school teachers know that decoding is only the beginning. Students in grades 6–8 continue to develop vocabulary, background knowledge, syntax, fluency, and higher-level comprehension skills every single day. These are SoR things!
So, as I looked through the Ultimate ELAR Middle School Bundles, which each contain more than 105 resources from multiple experienced middle school ELA teachers… I wondered:
How well do these bundles actually align with what we know about effective secondary literacy instruction?
Rather than sorting the resources by traditional ELA categories, which is how they’re organized by our hosts, I decided to evaluate each grade-level bundle through a Science of Reading lens.
Evaluating the Bundles Through a Science of Reading Lens
Scarborough’s Reading Rope reminds us that skilled reading is made up of much more than decoding. By middle school, most students are spending the majority of their instructional time strengthening the language comprehension strands of the rope. That means that we need to be intentionally strengthening their:
- Background Knowledge
- Vocabulary
- Grammar and Syntax
- Fluency
- General Reading Comprehension
- and, just for kicks, Writing Connected to Reading
(If you’d like a deeper dive into Scarborough’s Reading Rope and the Science of Reading in secondary classrooms, you can find those here and here.)
Using those six categories, here’s how I felt each bundle aligned.
| Science of Reading Component | 6th Grade | 7th Grade | 8th Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Background Knowledge | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★★ |
| Vocabulary | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★★ |
| Grammar & Syntax | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★★ |
| Fluency | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★☆☆☆ |
| General Reading Comprehensio | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
| Writing Connected to Reading | ★★★★★ | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★★ |
| Overall SoR Alignment | 9/10 | 9/10 | 9.5/10 |
Let’s look a little closer at why.
Background Knowledge
One of the biggest strengths that I’m seeing across all three bundles is the emphasis on knowledge building. Yay!
Instead of practicing isolated reading skills, the resources offered in the bundles give students opportunities to encounter nonfiction texts, historical context, research activities, informational reading, and cross-curricular topics that expand what they know about the world.
The sixth-grade bundle lays a strong foundation with informational texts, nonfiction reading packets, research activities, and content-rich reading lessons.
The seventh-grade bundle continues that progression with environmental science, world religions, media literacy, civil rights, and other knowledge-building opportunities tied to authentic reading experiences.
The eighth-grade bundle takes it even further by weaving historical context, cultural studies, research, and disciplinary literacy into literature instruction. With these resources, you can ask students to not only understand texts, but also to understand the world surrounding those texts.
This emphasis on building background knowledge aligns beautifully with current Science of Reading research.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary instruction is another major strength throughout the bundles.
Across all three bundles, teachers will find opportunities for students to develop academic vocabulary, practice context clues, explore shades of meaning, and encounter new words in authentic reading situations.
Where the eighth-grade bundle really stands out, though, is its inclusion of morphological awareness.
The 8th grade bundle has resources to help students move beyond simply learning definitions and begin studying:
- Greek and Latin roots
- Morphology
- Connotation and denotation
- Vocabulary within authentic literary texts
Morphology could be one of the most powerful vocabulary tools in secondary classrooms because it gives students strategies for unlocking unfamiliar academic vocabulary across every content area.
For teachers wanting to strengthen vocabulary instruction through a Science of Reading approach, the eighth-grade bundle offers the strongest progression.
Grammar and Syntax
Grammar instruction looks very different through a Science of Reading lens.
Rather than teaching grammar as isolated rules to memorize, and only ever mentioned in relation to writing instruction, research suggests students benefit most when grammar supports reading comprehension in context.
All three bundles include quality sentence-level work, including sentence structure, expansion activities, grammar lessons, and syntax practice. I know this for a fact because I put a lot of them in there! Ha!
But the progression becomes increasingly sophisticated across the grades.
The sixth-grade bundle focuses on foundational sentence structure and sentence expansion.
The seventh-grade bundle introduces more complex clauses, sentence types, punctuation, and syntax activities connected to authentic texts.
By eighth grade, students are working with verbals, appositives, participial phrases, advanced sentence structures, and grammar embedded within literature.
Instead of grammar existing in isolation, it becomes another tool for understanding increasingly complex texts.
Fluency
If there is one area where I’d love to see additional resources across all three bundles, it’s fluency.
There are some wonderful fluency-supporting activities, including Reader’s Theater, poetry, and reading intervention materials. However, fluency represents a much smaller portion of the collections than vocabulary, comprehension, or writing.
Middle school students still benefit from opportunities such as:
- Phrase-cued reading
- Repeated reading
- Poetry performance
- Prosody practice
- Oral reading routines
- Performance reading
These types of activities continue strengthening comprehension long after students become accurate decoders.
Fortunately, fluency is one of the easiest areas for teachers to supplement alongside these bundles.
General Reading Comprehension
This is where every bundle shines.
Across all three grade levels, you’ll find a ton of really great opportunities to teach:
- Theme
- Inference
- Text evidence
- Character analysis
- Author’s purpose
- Point of view
- Main idea
- Plot
- Text structure
- Literary analysis
Rather than relying on isolated skill worksheets, many of the activities in these bundles encourage students to read authentic literature, discuss ideas, analyze evidence, and think critically.
That combination supports deeper comprehension while keeping students engaged.
Writing Connected to Reading
One of my favorite aspects of these collections is how consistently reading and writing are connected. Science of READING is my thing but literacy is so connected to writing as well.
And teachers who use these bundles will not have students simply answering comprehension questions.
Students will be writing arguments. They’ll be analyzing evidence. They’ll be responding to literature, researching, developing narratives, defending claims and so on!
This kind of integrated literacy instruction reflects what we know about adolescent learning. Reading and writing strengthen one another, and these bundles provide numerous opportunities for students to practice both together.
So Which Bundle Would I Recommend?
The good news is that there really isn’t a bad choice.
Each bundle offers high-quality resources and strong alignment with many important components of the Science of Reading for middle school.
If you teach sixth grade…
The sixth-grade bundle provides an excellent foundation.
Its combination of vocabulary development, sentence structure, informational reading, writing instruction, and reading intervention resources makes it especially valuable for helping students transition to the increased literacy demands of middle school.
If you teach seventh grade…
The seventh-grade bundle serves as a bridge between foundational literacy instruction and deeper analytical thinking.
Students spend more time making inferences, analyzing literature, building background knowledge, discussing texts, and strengthening sentence complexity. And these are all absolutely essential components of language comprehension.
If you can only purchase one bundle…
I would recommend starting with the 8th Grade Ultimate Middle School Bundle.
While all three bundles are strong, the eighth-grade bundle offers the most comprehensive alignment with the Science of Reading.
Its emphasis on morphology, Greek and Latin roots, sophisticated syntax, grammar in context, rhetorical analysis, historical context, analytical writing, and disciplinary literacy creates a well-balanced collection that reflects many of the language comprehension strands emphasized in Scarborough’s Reading Rope.
And… BONUS, it also includes my complete Long Way Down unit, making it my personal favorite but also one for teachers looking for research-aligned instruction. =)
But, if you teach multiple grade levels and can afford it…
The 6-8 Mega Bundle offers the greatest overall value. It includes over 325 resources for only $95. That means you’re getting every resource for just a quarter each.
Instead of thinking about individual resources, think about the progression students experience across grades. The sixth-grade collection establishes strong foundations. The seventh-grade collection deepens language comprehension and analytical thinking. The eighth-grade collection prepares students for the increasingly sophisticated reading and writing demands of high school.
Together, they create a thoughtful progression that supports students as they continue developing into skilled readers and writers.
Final Thoughts
One of the things I appreciate most about these bundles is that they demonstrate what Science of Reading for middle school can actually look like in practice.
You know it is a soapbox for me but, too often, conversations about the Science of Reading stop after phonics and decoding. But literacy instruction continues long after students have learned to sound out words.
Our middle school students still need explicit instruction in vocabulary, syntax, background knowledge, and fluency so that they can build toward grade level comprehension. These bundles have so many of those priorities while providing engaging, classroom-ready resources from a ton of experienced ELA teachers.
No collection is perfect, and I’d still love to see more fluency, but overall, I was impressed by how well the bundles support the language comprehension strands that are so critical for teenage readers.
Whether you’re teaching sixth, seventh, or eighth grade, these bundles provide a strong starting point for building a middle school literacy classroom that aligns with current research while keeping students engaged in meaningful reading and writing.
If you have any questions about any of the bundles, please do not hesitate to reach out to me or drop them in the comments. Happy Reading!
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