The Reading Puzzle: Vocabulary, Grades 4-8

Download a Sample Lesson Plan and Student Activity

Give students the reading skills they need to succeed!

Can all your students read fluently, independently, and with understanding? As puzzle pieces fit together to complete a picture, reading skills are dependent upon one another to make reading meaningful for students. The Reading Puzzle series helps you organize instruction to better develop students' core reading skills—including phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension—to make them successful readers.

Derived from the research-based strategies in Elaine K. McEwan's bestseller Teach Them ALL to Read: Catching the Kids Who Fall Through the Cracks, these standards-based, easy-to-use activities will set students on the course to reading success. This book offers practical techniques that include teacher modeling, guided practice, and independent application, and provides creative reproducibles and ready-to-use tools such as graphic organizers and visual prompts.

Focus your vocabulary instruction for all proficiency levels, including at-risk students, and integrate vocabulary effectively into a complete reading curriculum. Targeted vocabulary instruction includes:

• Choosing appropriate read-alouds
• Word selection and planned instruction
• "Take Five" presentation techniques
• Extensive reading
• Direct instruction lessons
• Word awareness and word learning strategies

Use these engaging strategies to inspire students, expand their reading proficiency, and deepen every reading experience!