These highly-effective, literature-based critical thinking activities develop the analysis, synthesis, and vocabulary skills students need for exceptional reading comprehension. This 192-page activity book is especially effective at helping underperforming students in Grades 6-12+ 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 House on Mango Street
The Face on the Milk Carton
Sarny
River
Out of the Dust
Sing Down the Moon
Call of the Wild
Stories and Articles
Mystery
Humor
History
Adventure
Nonfiction Topics
Science
Math
Geography
History
Biography
Inventions
Sports
The Grades 6-12+ remedial (Rx) level is organized into single-skill units with a concluding mixed-skills unit and provides an introductory lesson for each skill. Rx activities are "prescriptive" to help under-performing students in Grades 6-12+ improve their comprehension skills. Reading level is Grades 4“6; story content is Grades 6+. Teaching Support includes pretests, post-tests, lesson guidelines, and answers with detailed evidence. Reading and literary analysis skills are based on grade-level standards.
