Each book is divided into thematic units that help students focus their reading and thinking.
The Big Leagues: Giants in the Sports Arena
Unit One: Record Breakers
Unit Two: Breaking Barriers
Unit Three: Teamwork
Can You Believe This? Unbelievable Truths That Are Stranger Than Fiction
Unit One: Straight Out of Sci-Fi
Unit Two: Secrets of the Past
Unit Three: Freaks of Nature
Crime and Punishment: Famous Crimes and Trials in Truth and Fiction
Unit One: Classic Criminal Capers
Unit Two: Society on Trial
Unit Three: Crimes of the Century
Facing Mother Nature's Wrath: Natural Disasters Throughout History
Unit One: Fire and Ice
Unit Two: Water, Water Everywhere
Unit Three: Earth and Sky
Over the Edge: Extreme Sports in a Modern World
Unit One: Ups and Downs
Unit Two: Sports With a Kick
Unit Three: Are You "Board?"
Sending Out an S.O.S.: Modern Disasters That Rocked the World
Unit One: Shortcomings of Progress
Unit Two: Rebellions Against Society
Unit Three: Signposts of America
These content-area workbooks with high-interest, accessible selections offer reinforcement and practice of essential reading skills. The reading levels range in difficulty so you can match lessons to your students' instructional reading levels.
FEATURES
- Teaches both narrative and informational standards-based reading skills.
- Skill activities following every section and unit reinforce the same set of essential reading skills and strategies
- identifying main idea and supporting detail
- making generalizations
- determining cause and effect
- drawing conclusions
- recognizing inferences
- using context clues
- Many titles blend with the social studies and literature curricula so reading practice is relevant and meaningful.
- All of the high-interest selections and over 70 percent of the history selections are nonfiction and teach informational reading skills.
Preparation for state and national tests
- The open-ended and multiple-choice questions match the format of state and standardized tests.
- Graphic organizers and writing prompts ask students to compare and draw conclusions from several selections.
- National and state language arts standards are reflected in the skill activities at the end of each selection and unit.
- End-of-unit test items match the format of most state and standardized tests.
TEACHER GUIDES
- guided reading lesson plan for each selection
- frontloads vocabulary
- offers critical thinking questions with strategies identified
- provides literacy focus with related literary skill
- overview of reading strategies
- answers for all student activities