Week-By-Week Homework for Building Reading Comprehension and Fluency: Grades 3-6

I absolutely love this book for both teachers or parents looking to improve reading skills. My daughter first came home with these stories from her 4th grade teacher and I loved them so much I bought a copy to use with the students I tutor. Now I'm teaching basic skills to fifth graders and do these stories one-on-one. Each story is intelligently written with a touch of humor and jam-packed with interesting facts. Topics include American History ("Thomas Jefferson and the Big Cheese"), fiction, biography, poetry, science (Star Trek!"), and popular culture. There is one reading skill to work on per story such as using context clues, italics, or main idea/supporting details. I've just ordered Mary Rose's other similar books for math and other reading levels. One word of caution: the vocabulary may be too advanced for a struggling third grader--best for grades 4-6 unless the child is already a fluent reader.

I've been assigning these readings weekly to my fifth graders for a few years now. The parents and students love them as a quick, manageable, helpful activity they can do together in about 20 minutes. They just return it, signed, at the end of the week, and I give them credit towards their reading grade. Some parents don't take time to read with their children until it is assigned; so it's good to give them a reason to do it!

I am a forth grade teacher. I am currently using this book with my struggling reader and it works! He has trouble decoding more than he does understanding. He practices the story at home every night for 4 days and returns it on Friday. The improvement is amazing. He is feeling more confident reading other texts now.

This book is excellent for providing "at home" reading practice for your students. Our 4th grade teachers used this by sending one lesson home each week- due back on Friday. It was a great help for parents to understand ways to help their child while also giving students meaningful reading assignments at home. It has a space for parents to sign before the lesson is turned in, which is very helpful. The stories are also extremely engaging, with a variety of genres.

I have studied many reading books for my children. I cannot say enough good things about this one. Everybody seems to know what reading is about. Many parents buy reading materials without much thought. This book is about reading with "intention" and "purpose". It's skill-building drills with clear methods and objectives. It will boost your child's true ability effectively many other books won't do. It benefited my 4th grader so much that I bought another copy for my 2nd grader's future use. Before 3rd grade, I recommend the online weekly drills provided by Beestar (www.beestar.org). They are common in that reading skill objectives and techniques are meshed into nice informative material. Your child gets both in one run.