Free Downloads 35 Reading Passages For Comprehension: Main Ideas & Summarizing
Repeated practice builds mastery, and this book provides exactly the practice students need to master the reading skills of summarizing and finding the main idea. The 35 reproducible pages in this book feature high-interest nonfiction reading passage with short-answer practice questions that target one of these essential reading comprehension skills. Flexible and easy to use—in school or at home—the book also includes model lessons, assessments, and an answer key. For use with Grades 4-8.
Series: 35 Reading Passages for Comprehension
Paperback: 48 pages
Publisher: Teaching Resources (July 1, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0439554128
ISBN-13: 978-0439554121
Product Dimensions: 0.2 x 8.5 x 10.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #29,726 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #72 in Books > Education & Teaching > Schools & Teaching > Instruction Methods > Language Arts #147 in Books > Education & Teaching > Schools & Teaching > Instruction Methods > Reading & Phonics #8840 in Books > Children's Books
Age Range: 9 - 13 years
Grade Level: 4 - 8
I got this as a part of a set to help me teach Summaries and Main Ideas.I liked the broken down steps that these worksheets offered. I did find the comprehension questions short, but for focusing only on Summaries and Main Idea, these books are great.The pages are not overtly decorated and are appropriate for students in upper middle school/junior high (6-9th).Most of the questions of the paragraphs are written as if they might appear on a standardized test, which is helpful, but it is unfortunately lacking in the development of written out answers.What also seems to be missing: an approximent reading level for each passage. I would have liked to see a few passages from reading level 2 or 3: so do stay in the 4th-8th grade levels.Overall: this is great to effectively check in repeatedly that a student can Summarize and find the Main Idea of a short piece quickly.
I couldn't wait to start using this in my fifth grade classroom. We were preparing for our quarterly district assessments. Since it was by Scholastic, I didn't mind that I couldn't "look inside" to preview the passages. Two days later, I received the book and was disappointed to see that the passages were only one paragraph long. This could work for fourth grade; however, our test passages can be one to two pages long. One paragraph is not enough to adequately prepare our students because we are working on the endurance to read through a long passage to ascertain the main idea.
My daughter is in 3rd grade and an avid reader but when it came to test questions she would be confused my all the detail of a story. This serial is fantastic all the passage are very interesting and we both have a great time reading them. I highly recommend these for grade 3 to 6, maybe 7th. great practice for the summer too!
I agree with the reviewer who said that the passages are too short. They are ONE PARAGRAPH! (Though I admit that often a one paragraph passage can be more difficult to summarize since it is usually itself already something of a summary and, thus, there is not much 'fluff' to cut out.)But what irks me the most (as a homeschooling parent) is that there are no model summaries in the answer key to help both teacher and student: i.e., the answer key says only "summaries should include the information from answers 1 - 4." Which means, of course, that the authors didn't want to exert the effort to actually write and provide model summaries for the answer key.My sons and I did the first Summarizing exercise this morning and although each of them identified all of the correct details for questions 1 - 4, their summaries left MUCH to be desired. I wrote a summary of my own to show them as a model, but it would have helped me immensely if the answer key would have provided a sample answer . . . SINCE THAT IS WHY I BOUGHT THE BOOK. If I wanted to write my own summaries I could have picked an excerpt from any book or article -- for free -- and written the necessary summary to model for my students. I purchased this product as a time saver and because I assumed the authors would be better at writing summaries than I am -- and they probably ARE, which is why it is so maddening that they take our money yet do not provide us with the benefit of their expertise.Bottom line: It is SUCH A COP OUT for a product to state that it contains an answer key but to then load the answer key with statements like "See student work," "Summaries will vary," or (and this is my personal favorite): "Evaluate student's work." Yes, I'd LOVE to evaluate my student's work, dude, if only I had an ANSWER KEY to help me do that!
I am a school librarian and I have found this book to be very useful at the beginning of a class when I take attendance,in the middle of my class when some students are selecting books, or as a filler at the end of a class. The reading passages are short enough to fit on a smartboard so you don't have to waste paper by photocopying. Although I have used the multiple-choice questions, I find it much better to just ask the students to write down the main idea and details to support the main idea. I have found that the students really like the reading passages.
Noting main ideas and summarizing are skills that are necessary in all walks of life. This book will assist students in grades 4-8 on these two critial thinking skills.Any way to provide enhancement in determining main ideas and summarizing written passages are essential skills. Help a child learn these skills through this delightful book.
I use this series of books to reinforce skills for my four kids during the summer months when they are not in school. The pages are simply and clearly laid out. Instructions are clear and simple. All ages of kids are able to work on these independently. I tear the answer pages out of the back of the books so I can check their work when they finish pages. The concepts are clearly explained and taught in concise interesting formats that the kids enjoy doing.I will continue to buy books from this series for my kids through the years.
We use it every day in class. A great review tool and skill builder to supplement direct instruction. PDF copies posted on the SMARTBoard make for great student-centered lessons that focus them on finding evidence in nonfiction texts to support main ideas and corresponding details.
35 Reading Passages for Comprehension: Main Ideas & Summarizing Speed Reading: The Ultimate Speed Reading Course to Increase Your Reading Speed (speed reading techniques, speed reading for beginners, speed reading training) (Genius Guide: Step By Step Book 3) Summarizing, Grades 1 - 2 (Spotlight on Reading) The Key Ideas Bible Handbook: Understanding and Applying All the Main Concepts Book by Book Reading Comprehension, Grade 3 (Skill Builders) Scholastic Success with Reading Comprehension, Grades 1 Nonfiction Reading Comprehension: Social Studies, Grade 3 Scholastic Success with Reading Comprehension, Grade 3 SHSAT Verbal Prep Book To Improve Your Score In Two Months: The Most Effective Strategies for Mastering Scrambled Paragraphs, Logical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension on the SHSAT GRE Reading Comprehension & Essays (Manhattan Prep GRE Strategy Guides) PowerScore LSAT Reading Comprehension: Passage Type Training (Powerscore Test Preparation) LSAT Strategy Guides (Logic Games / Logical Reasoning / Reading Comprehension), 4th Edition GMAT Reading Comprehension (Manhattan Prep GMAT Strategy Guides) The PowerScore LSAT Reading Comprehension Bible (PowerScore LSAT Bible) (PowerScore LSAT Bible Series) The PowerScore LSAT Reading Comprehension Bible Steck-Vaughn Bilingual Reading Comprehension: Reproducible Grade 1 Steck-Vaughn Bilingual Reading Comprehension: Reproducible Grade 2 Reading Comprehension, Grade 6 (Skill Builders) Reading Comprehension, Grades 7 - 8 (The 100+ Series(TM)) Reading Comprehension, Grade 4 (Skill Builders)
