New approach for reading comprehension with 7th grade boy needed...

[KetchupAdvisory]

I'm seeking a good approach (whether method/curriculum/new way of thinking and teaching my boy) to reading comprehension for my soon to be 8th grade son.  He took his first ever standardized test, and this really bright guy who is a voracious reader and writer (but not the tops in spelling/grammar) and otherwise did just as I expected he would, tanked in reading comprehension.  My mind is a bit boggled, and I don't put a lot of stock in standardized testing (if I did, he wouldn't be taking his first one in middle school), but I do feel like it's revealing something for me to work on with him (I mean yeah, he could have just been tired at that point, or distracted, but, I'm going to go with the idea that this is telling me something worth thinking about).  How?  We've read aloud for so many years, and books are a huge part of the culture in our home, but I do think, upon reflection, that perhaps something has been neglected on my part.  Where would you start with this?  

I've been reading this forum for almost a decade, and have never ever joined or posted until today.  Thanks for all the wisdom :).  

** I edited this from "classical approach" to just "new."  I just need a new way to walk down this road.  🙂

[HomeAgain]

I don't know if there's a specific classical approach, but I'd start with Reading Detective, all the way at the beginning of the series.  I'd give him a highlighter and sit there with him as he went through each passage, challenging him to prove that his answer is correct and find the evidence that supports it. 

[PeterPan]

Here's a little $7 test, doesn't take long, maybe 45 minutes, and it cranks out useful info. https://serpmedia.org/rise/  It gives you cut scores to know what areas are affecting reading and need intervention. So at the cut scores, the student does not need specialized instruction but is ready to mainstream that. 

Did you prep for the test at all by going over the types of questions? Does he have attention issues? It's very possible, given this was his first standardized testing, that the format or wording of the questions threw him or that you're seeing an attention or fatigue issue, like you're saying. Did you administer the test yourself or did someone else? Was it done in long blocks or dribbled over many days? You can ask him whether he felt fatigued or whether he noticed anything. He might give feedback and tell you his hand hurt or that he had trouble erasing or got bored or had trouble finishing.

I wouldn't assume what's going on till you have more data, just my two cents. It would be easy enough to administer another test of some kind, see what happens yourself.

[ElizabethB]

First, test his reading grade level to make sure he's at grade level, a few grades above makes comprehension even easier, you can use my syllables series if he is behind.

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On Reading/Resources/40L Test.pdf

http://thephonicspage.org/On Reading/syllablesspellsu.html

Then, try some questions yourself with the McGuffey readers, they have comprehension questions starting in book 4, use the PDF version.

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14880

If comprehension is truly the problem, I like the CAP Reasoning and Reading series, they separate out comprehension into smaller underlying skills and teach each one:

https://classicalacademicpress.com/series/reasoning-reading/