Reading Homeschool Curriculum

Chester Cricket finds a picnic basket full of delicious things to eat, so he hops in for a quick meal - and then becomes trapped as a bag of roast beef sandwiches is set in on top of him! By the time he gets free Chester discovers he is far away from his country home in Connecticut, and is lost, alone, and afraid amidst the hustle and bustle of a New York City subway station. Chester is found by Mario Bellini, a young boy whose family runs a small newsstand. Although his mother protests, Mario's father allows him to keep the cricket in the newsstand. Chester quickly makes friends with Tucker, a mouse, and Harry, and cat, who spend their days scrounging through the garbage of the subway. Tucker and Harry decide to help Chester make the best of his situation and introduce him to city life. Soon, with the help of all his friends, Chester begins to enjoy himself and his 'adventure.' Mario has been told that crickets bring good luck, but when Chester accidently eats half of a two-dollar bill, and Tucker nearly burns the newsstand to the ground, Mama Bellini believes the cricket has brought them bad luck. Chester vows to repay the Bellinis for their kindness and the trouble he's caused, but all he has to offer is the music he makes by rubbing his wings together. Chester's musical talent, however, catches the ear of a music teacher who writes about it in the newspaper. before long the Bellinis' newsstand has more customers than ever thanks to Chester's beautiful music. Interactive CD-rom.

The second component of Hewitt's junior high Lightning Lit series which covers reading and composition at the eigth-grade level. Each of the twelve chapters includes reading classical material as well as applying a literary lesson. Students read six full novels plus six shorter pieces taken from the book, Stories and Poems for Extremely Intelligent Children by Harold Bloom. This Student Guide consists of the lessons which cover author's purpose, setting, vivid language in poetry, writing about culture, details in writing, character development, figurative language, conflict, symbolism, humor, meter in poetry, and writing a literary analysis. Mini-lessons cover taking notes, rewriting in your own words, free verse and ballad, rewriting your own words, citing sources, bibliography, fun poems, genre fiction, sentence structure, and more. The workbook (sold separately) gives students the chance to practice the skills and concepts learned in the lessons along with composition skills, thinking skills (e.g., differentiating fact from opinion, identifying bias), and grammar review (e.g., capitalization, pronouns and antecedent). Book-length works are sold separately. The Teacher's Guide is also needed since it includes answers to comprehension questions and the workbook pages, a teaching schedule, extra teaching help for the lessons, help in choosing appropriate writing exercises, and discussion questions. Recommendations: Although this is listed as an eighth grade text, students cannot be easily boxed into grades. A seventh grader who is a strong reader and likes writing would be able to do well with this course. This course can also work for the ninth grader who needs to work at the foundations of composition. Books (in addition to Bloom's Stories and Poems) include: Treasure Island, A Day of Pleasure, A Christmas Carol, The Hobbit, My Family and Other Animals, and To Kill a Mockingbird. New paperback, 2nd Edition.

This big collection of tiered reading-response sheets enables you to match the right activity with all your studentswhether they re reading at level A, N, or anywhere in between! That means your students will be able to do skill-building, level-perfect seatwork while you work with small groups. That also means your students will build valuable comprehension and writing skillsindependently. A must-have for all K-3 teachers with guided reading programs! For use with Grades K-3."