Middle School students seem to have difficulty comprehending what they read. Often they will read an entire book or short story and be unable to relate many of the details. This unit contains activities that center on improving comprehension skills. It addresses the Tennessee Language Arts, Reading Grades 6-8 Content Standard of developing the reading skills necessary for word recognition, comprehension, interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and appreciation of the written text. The learning expectation of "Request Reciprocal" is using comprehension strategies to enhance understanding, to make predictions, and to respond to literature. The second lesson, "What a Character" involves characterization in reading and allows the students to analyze the characters. It meets the learning expectation of recognizing biases and persuasive devices found in various texts. The lesson "Reading Better and Faster" helps teach the students to use some simple methods to pay better attention and get more out of reading. It addresses the learning expectation of using cognitive strategies to evaluate text critically. Lesson four involves the students in individual novel reading and making journal entries about the novel. It meets the learning expectation of improving comprehension strategies to enhance understanding, to make predictions, and to respond to literature. The last lesson, Literature Review reviews literary works before being tested on the book "To Kill A Mockingbird". It addresses the learning expectation of developing an understanding of and respect for multi cultural, gender, and ethnic diversity in language use, patterns, and dialects.