These highly-effective, literature-based critical thinking activities develop the analysis, synthesis, and vocabulary skills students in Grades 3-4 need for exceptional reading comprehension. This 192-page activity book is especially effective at helping students understand challenging critical reading concepts such as making inferences, drawing conclusions, determining cause and effect, using context clues to define vocabulary, and making predictions and generalizations.
Students read and analyze short literature passages and stories that include fiction and nonfiction genres. Then they answer multiple-choice and short-response questions, citing sentence evidence to support their answers. Concepts and skills covered include:
Literary Analysis Skills
Define vocabulary using context clues
Recognize figurative language
Identify main idea, supporting details, and theme
Recognize literary devices
Identify story elements: theme, plot, setting, and characters
Reading Detective Beginning includes the following genres:
Award-Winning Literature Excerpts
The Barn
Sable
Dexter
The Cricket in Times Square
The Stories Huey Tells
Sideways Stories from Wayside School
Chocolate Fever
Stories and Articles
Mystery
Humor
History
Adventure
Nonfiction Topics
Science
Math
Geography
History
Biography
Inventions
Sports
The Grades 3-4 (Beginning) level is organized into single-skills units with a concluding mixed-skills unit. Teaching Support Includes: pretests, post-tests, lesson guidelines, and answers with detailed evidence. Reading and literary analysis skills are based on grade-level standards.
