Cathy Duffy review of Comprehension Plus
Posted by Audree Hall
on Apr 11, 2014 6:05:54 AM
If you choose to use real books rather than a reading program with your
children, you can soothe your qualms about accountability by using a reading
comprehension resource such as this series from Modern Curriculum Press. Books A
through F are suggested for grade levels 1 through 6.
Student books are printed in full color. Each lesson begins with a short
narrative followed by a variety of comprehension and vocabulary activities as
well as some activities that stretch into areas such as grammar, map reading,
and research. At the end of each lesson is a writing assignment to be done in a
separate notebook. Since there are 30 lessons per book, you would likely use one
per week.
Narrative selections in these books are wide ranging. While some fantasy is
included, I found none of the narratives in the three books I looked through
likely to be offensive to Christian parents.
Younger levels begin with concepts like main idea and details, drawing
conclusions, order of events, fantasy and reality, fact and opinion, and
character. Each skill is continually developed each year at a more challenging
level. At the top end of the series, students add skills in literacy analysis
(character, plot, theme, setting), comparing and contrasting, paraphrasing,
recognizing the author's purpose and point of view, outlining, use of persuasion
and propaganda, figurative language, and connotation and denotation. Most levels
also work with analogies, synonyms, homonyms, and antonyms. They also cover
reading of maps, tables, charts, and graphs plus using dictionaries,
encyclopedias, the library and the Internet.
While some answers were multiple-choice, many are opened-ended questions.
That means they will take a bit longer for parents to check even though possible
answers are in the Teacher's Guide.
Children can complete workbook lessons independently if need be, but lessons
are designed to be taught. Teacher's Guides have detailed lesson presentations
that are very easy to use. However, you might find the presentation and
discussion unnecessary. For example, there are new vocabulary words in each
lesson. The Teacher's Guide instructs the teacher to discuss the meaning of
these words with students before they tackle the vocabulary exercise. However,
the student book has a glossary with definitions of these words that students
can use on their own.
These are additional discussions and writing projects in the Teacher's Guide
that are useful but not essential. The Teacher's Guide also has reproducible
tests in a standardized test format and organizational forms for children to use
for such activities as charting cause and effect, story sequence, or main ideas
and details. I recommend getting a Teacher's Guide then using as much as is
practical in your situation.
There are other reading comprehension series that use only one-word or
multiple-choice answers, but the extra writing and thinking required in this
series will be more effective for developing reading skills.
Click below to view Reading Comprehension Bundles Available at our store
http://bit.ly/1pE5K1E
Click below to view Reading Comprehension Bundles Available at our store
http://bit.ly/1pE5K1E
