Students need practice with the sustained, demanding work that grade-level whole-book reading provides—to improve engagement, build stamina and focus, and become skilled readers. Whole Book Comprehension: Teaching and Assessing Fiction and Nonfiction for First-Grade Reading is the perfect low-prep, high-impact supplement to any core reading program or curriculum.
How Whole Book Comprehension Supports Grade 1 Readers:
- Builds the mental stamina first graders need to tackle longer texts
- Develops inferential comprehension, text-based discussion, and writing about reading skills in grade-level fiction and nonfiction
- Grows vocabulary
- Supports knowledge-building
- Provides targeted responsive instruction with integrated assessment tools
- Instills transferrable research-based comprehension strategies
Use it Flexibly Across Your Day and Year:
- In your ELA block: whole-class, small-group explicit instruction in grade-level whole books
- As a meaningful independent activity and deep comprehension assessment
- In science and social studies: with titles that connect to your units
- In WIN time, intervention, or enrichment: explicit instruction with a complete text
- As a complete summer school program
Ready-To-Use
With 29 ready-to-use lesson plans, rubrics, and printable materials, plus a bank of research-based strategies and a streamlined, practical teacher's guide.
Using eight standards- and grade-level-aligned authentic fiction and nonfiction books, these tools help you provide:
- Explicit strategy instruction
- Vocabulary- and knowledge-building opportunities
- Rich writing about reading and discussion opportunities
Plus, a dedicated chapter in the Teacher's Guide shows you how to extend this approach to any whole book.
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