This Track is designed for my eighth grade Literature class that has had difficulty in the area of reading comprehension. Fifty-three percent of the students scored partial mastery or below on the 2000 Terra Nova Test. I want to help my students increase their reading comprehension on the Terra Nova test. By completing the activites on understanding characters, this should help them to better understand and identify with characters which should lead to better reading comprehension. The 6-8 Content Standard states "The student will develop the reading skills necessary for word recognition, comprehension, interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and appreciation of the written text." One of the survey questions stated "My students set goals, compare their work to standards and check their progress against their goals". I hope the students will see the need to improve their reading comprehension as one of their goals. Improvement in reading scores is a top priority in our School Improvement Plan.