Jacob's Ladder Reading Comprehension Program, Level 2

The Jacob's Ladder Reading Comprehension Program targets reading comprehension skills in high-ability learners by moving students through an inquiry process from basic understanding to critical analyses of texts, using a field-tested method developed by the Center for Gifted Education at the College of William and Mary. Students in grades 2 8 will learn to comprehend and analyze any reading passage after completing the activities in these books.

In the form of three skill ladders connected to individual readings in poetry, myths/fables, and nonfiction, students move from lower order, concrete thinking skills to higher order, critical thinking skills. Each book, geared to increasing grade levels, includes high-interest readings, ladders to increase reading skill development, and easy-to-implement instruction. The ladders include multiple skills necessary for academic success, covering language arts standards, such as sequencing, cause and effect, classification, making generalizations, inference, and recognizing themes and concepts.

Jacob's Ladder, Level 1 is geared to students in grades 2 3, Level 2 is aimed at learners in grades 4 5, and Level 3 is based on skill development standards for students in grades 6 8. However, each book may be used across grade levels to provide increasing levels of difficulty in mastering reading comprehension.

The Jacob's Ladder guides provide teachers with an explanation of the nature and substance of supplementary tasks in reading comprehension that will help prepare students for their state assessment tests. At the same time, these tasks will move them from basic reading comprehension to more critical reading behaviors. Also included are an overview of the goals and objectives of Jacob's Ladder tasks and suggestions for implementation, giving every teacher of gifted readers the tools needed to create a successful reading classroom.

Grades 4 5

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Resource

By Got Book? - April 26, 2010

This book is an excellent entry in the area of reading comprehension, especially geared to high-ability readers. The selections are a good mix of fiction and non-fiction, along with some student-written pieces, offering a good variety of genres from which to choose. The targeted skills include summarizing, paraphrasing, creative synthesis, consequences and implications, cause and effect and sequencing. The activities involve working on these skills and this can be done from a basic level to a higher level, progressing up the "ladder" of depth of skill. These are important skills for students to work on, and often gifted readers do not get to work enough on further development of these skills because they are already high-ability readers. Of course it would be nice if it were a bit cheaper, but it is worth the money. As a teacher, it is an invaluable resource which will be used over and over. As a parent, it is an excellent resource for supplementing what your child is doing at... read more

After school

By K. M. Kramer - February 4, 2013

I used this for part of an after-school program. It was a helpful tool for students a bit ahead of the curve. Activities require students to read and analyze, applying higher level critical thinking skills.

Awesome resource!

By Anne - October 24, 2012

I am a homeschooler and for the past three years, I've been using Harcourt Trophies as my daughter's primary literature curriculum. I supplement with Evan-Moor's Read and Understand Poetry. For fourth grade, my daughter is using the two book studies I wrote this summer (for The Door in the Wall and The Secret Garden) along with the EM's Poetry and Harcourt Trophies fourth grade book. The books studies I wrote follow Bloom's Taxonomy and will challenge her to think deeper about what she is reading. But, she is struggling. None of these specifically walk my daughter through to a deeper level of thinking. So, how do I get her there?

I found a great resource that does all of the work for me. Sometimes I need that. I don't have time to develop all of the curriculum I want myself. The curriculum I found is this reading comprehension program. I have books 1 and 2. I am actually going to order Primary Book 1 and begin there with both my daughters. I have been using Book 1 with the... read more