The delightful activities in this book provide the perfect approach to introducing students to the special kind of writing used to create poetry. They will gain an appreciation for this captivating way of expressing humor, personal feelings, strong emotion, or entire stories. Beginning poets will quickly become caught up in the enjoyment of writing their own simple rhymes. They will learn about and practice the different forms of poetry such as couplets, triplets, quatrains, haikus, and free verse. Inspiring examples, clever illustrations, and plentiful stimulating suggestions help to motivate and encourage the creative development of expressive poetry. Student gain confidence in their writing abilities and will experience pride as they share their poems with their classmates.

Students will write great short reports as they follow the guidelines in this step-by-step book. After reading each one-page story, students answer key questions designed to extract important facts from the written information. The questions are structured in logical sequence and require complete-sentence answers. Then the answers, along with the topic sentence, are written on a blank copy of the report page (included in this book), resulting in a short report on the topic. A terrific step-by-step approach to skillful writing.

Students will write great book reports as they follow the guidelines in this concisely structured book. Outline headings and leading questions prompt students to include essential information and selective portrayals of main characters, settings, or story objectives. Description-enhancement lessons help to stimulate interesting or colorful accounts of the story's characters and content. A vocabulary enrichment page is included on which readers list unusual or difficult words found in the book. Definitions are added to ensure understanding of the terms. Tips for oral book reports and fun activities such as designing a book jacket or drawing sequence cartoons representing story parts round off the lessons in this unique book.

Identifying logical order. With each of the 24 lessons in this unit, students are challenged to cut out four lively drawings and paste them down in their logical sequences. Example: Read the clues about feeding time at the zoo. “The elephant is fed last. The zebras are fed after the hippo. The hippo is fed first.“ Color, cut, and paste the pictures in order.Word/image association, reading, and following directions are all utilized to better develop critical thinking, vocabulary, and reading comprehension skills.

“I can fly. I have feathers.” Which image/word goes with this statement: cardinal, bat, aardvark? The 24 illustrated lessons in this book ask students to match images with sentences or sketches with words. All sorts a creatures are featured from a “tarantula” to a “tick” and a “flamingo” to a “ferret.” Of course, creative coloring is all part of the fun.

Tackling that blank sheet of paper! To get students over the common trepidation of “Where to begin?” this lesson unit presents 48 stimulating story-starters sure to motivate reluctant writers. Example: “I’m a quarter. I can tell you some good stories about where I’ve been. One day…”Plenty of space has been left for students to weave their tales. Creative writing composition, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and penmanship skills will all get plenty of practice.

Reluctant readers of all ages are sure to have fun while they improve their reading skills with Mini Mysteries. Kids love a good mystery, and they won't be disappointed with the 26 "who-dunits" detective Sam Sherlock encounters in this reading comprehension-listening-thinking skills book. Question pages encourage fact-finding, analyzing, predicting outcomes, and more! 56 pages.Please note: Contains some mysteries that may be more appropriate for mature students. Reading Level 2.6-5.3 | Interest Level Grades 3-12

Build Basic Skills the hands-on way!Young readers will have a great time as they complete over 60 fun-filled activities designed to improve reading, handwriting, comprehension, and fine motor skills! Each delightful lesson includes an easy-to-read mini-story followed by simple writing and comprehension activities. As a reward for completing each lesson, students are invited to color the story's lively illustration. Great for building reading confidence!

From Australia to Tanzania and beyond - your students will love discovering fascinating facts about faraway places while they improve their reading comprehension, writing and research skills. Students read a high-interest article about each country or continent then answer specific reading comprehension questions that encourage them to read for details and find facts. In addition, a variety of extended bonus activities are included to insure that your students receive a thorough understanding of each country while building basic skills. Bonus activities include: extended writing activities for each country, extended "Research-the-Facts" activities for each country, "World-Record Facts" and activities, "Write-to-the-Embassy" bonus activities, and more!

From Australia to Zambia and beyond - your students will love discovering fascinating facts about faraway places while they improve their reading comprehension and geography skills. Students zero in on specific areas of the world as they use the colorful, 11x17" map (included) and a variety of other maps to learn about other lands. Skills emphasized in this book include: recognizing that a map is a symbolic representation of all or part of the earth, using a legend or key, using symbols and patterns to interpret features, using terms of direction (far, near, above, below, etc.), using cardinal directions (north, south, east, west), and much more!

Creating a written plan that organizes ideas or facts in a logical order. The 44 lessons in this book will give students plenty of practice with all aspects of Outlining. Exercises focus on the parts of an outline, finding main and sub-topics, writing paragraphs from an outline, creating an outline and then a report, and more. With the skills taught in this unit, students will be better equipped to use an outline to write stories and reports.

Proofreading is the process of carefully going over a written report, story, or letter before the final copy is made. We proofread to be sure there are no mistakes, and when we find a mistake, we correct it… right? Unfortunately, for many students proofreading is a foreign concept. All too often students turn in a "finished" classroom assignment that is full of careless mistakes! This step-by-step book was designed to help students learn, practice, and incorporate this vital skill into their written work.

Each of the stories in this book emphasizes three to six words - all nouns found most commonly in beginning readers. Following each story are seven activities including: Questions relating to the content of the story. Complete-the-sentence exercises. Sequencing. "Yes/No" inquiries, and a "Follow Directions" task. Once young students master basic sight words, reading becomes an enjoyable endeavor rather than a dutiful task. 48-page book include an Answer key.

This activity-packed book is a great way to improve reading, writing, and research skills while teaching general knowledge and fascinating facts about the United States. Reading Comprehension: Students read a simple presentation of information about each state and then answer specific questions designed to improve reading comprehension. Skills include reading for details, locating information, and finding facts. Writing Skills get perfected as students complete bonus writing activities for every state! Research Skills get a workout as students "look-up" key information in an encyclopedia or on the Internet to help them complete the "Research the Facts" activities. Also included: United States outline maps; list of states, capitals, and abbreviations; a capitals and abbreviations test page; addresses where students can write to receive information about each state; a letter format which may be addressed to request information from a state; and more!

Kids love a good mystery, and they won't be disappointed with the 20 "who-dunits" Detective Bree Cody encounters in this captivating skill-based book.Enthusiasm will skyrocket as students join police detective Bree Cody and her cat Rico, on a trek through the adventures of police work. The high-interest stories are sure to involve even the most reluctant readers as they investigate cases of theft, a missing person, arson, and much more! Mysterious characters such as Junkyard Jesse, an old miner from Landpuddle Lake; Mr. Dower, the druggist; and even a shy little pack rat add color and intrigue to the reading passages.Reading comprehension and critical-thinking skills get a workout as students reach each mystery, then follow the clues to their logical conclusions. Clever questions and activities encourage students to find facts, read for details, analyze situations, make inferences, and predict outcomes. 48 pages.Contents Include: * 20 Mysteries plus Follow-up Questions * Story Map * Mystery Template * Progress Chart * Answer Key Reading Level 3.4-6.2 | Interest Level Grade 4-12

Retaining what is heard! Short, bright, read-aloud stories about subjects ranging from “Something to Smile About” to “Making Movies,” are at the core of the 30 lessons in this learning unit. After listening closely to each story, students are given independent activities that focus on drawing conclusions, finding the main idea, and remembering details. By getting youngsters involved in the stories, they will gradually learn more thoughtful listening techniques.

Effective reading and comprehension building exercises.After reading about “jumping beans,” “Clara Barton,” “tidal waves,” “yawning,” “neon signs,” and more, students are challenged with a series of True/False statements.All 25 lessons in this illustrated book encourage young readers to absorb what they read so they have the information needed to determine if the follow-up statements ring true or false. 28-page book includes an answer key. Reading Level 3 | Interest Level 4-8

Critical reading, thinking, and understanding are required in order to answer the questions that follow each of the short articles in this 25-lesson book.Some of the questions call for factual answers found in the text. Other questions are based on the reader’s ability to apply logic, make inferences, recognize cause and effect, draw conclusions, and use reason to come up with answers. Clever illustrations pertaining to the topics are sometimes part of the comprehension process. 32-page book includes an answer key. Reading Level 3-4 | Interest Level 4-8

Reading Made Fun for Young Minds!“Draw a blue line from the animal to its food.” “Make an X on the hat.” “Circle the title that tells about the picture.”Creative illustrations and comprehension-building directions for executing the 30 lessons in this book are sure to keep students on their toes. Whether “writing a word under its heading” or “circling phrases that do not belong,” children cannot help but hone their reading, writing, and spelling skills.