Expertly-Crafted Student Materials

Engaging reluctant, struggling readers in the act of reading is a challenge. Many of them view reading as “schoolwork”—the type of schoolwork they do not do well. They seldom experience the pleasure of getting lost in a good book.

For each unit, students receive a Student Handbook to help them organize their class work and to help teachers monitor student work. The handbooks contain a wealth of information and activities, including

• Explanations of the goals, expectations, and main products
• Places for students to record the expected behaviors for each class ritual
• The student’s independent menu
• Sample course forms, charts, and rubrics
• A section for recording assessment information and goals
• A section for planning and reporting on cross-age tutoring sessions
• Forms for recording students’ daily independent reading, home reading reports, and annotated bibliography of completed books
• Vocabulary activities
• Spelling and punctuation guides
• Sentence-combining exercises

At the end of each unit, teachers may have students turn in their handbooks as evidence of their work, making the handbooks useful for grading purposes.

In addition, each student uses a notebook to keep their reading responses and collect their writing drafts. The notebook’s ongoing nature makes it a valuable student resource and a source for evidence of their growth over the year.