Third Grade Reading Comprehension Success (Sylvan Workbooks) (Language Arts Workbooks) [Paperback]

Sylvan Learning (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up | Series: Language Arts Workbooks

Good reading skills are essential not only for third-grade academic success, but also for lifelong learning. The teacher-reviewed, curriculum-based activities and exercises in this workbook will help your children catch up, keep up, and get ahead. Best of all, they’ll have lots of fun doing it! Some of the great features you’ll find inside are:

REASON TO READ
Colorful book covers, story descriptions, and articles teach kids how to predict what a story will be about.

STOP AND TO STORY
Illustrations and short stories on toys, superheros, roller coasters, and more
show how to absorb and think about the facts of the story along the way.

PICTURE THIS!
Drawing exercises help kids visualize what they’re reading.

WHAT'S THE WORD?
A combination of funny made-up and real words helps kids learn vocabulary
in context.

MIND MAP
Fill-in-the-blank charts help kids analyze stories for main ideas and details.

PLUS!
CHECK IT! STRIPS
Reinforce concepts and build confidence as kids check their own work.

Give your child’s grades and confidence a boost with 3rd Grade Reading Comprehension Success.

Why Sylvan Products Work

Sylvan Learning Workbooks won a Honors Award from the National Parenting Publications Awards (NAPPA) as a top book series for children in the elementary-aged category. The NAPPA is the nation’s most comprehensive awards program for children’s products and parenting resources, and has been critically reviewing products since 1990. The Award recognizes Sylvan Learning Workbooks as some of the most innovative and useful products geared to parents.

Sylvan's proven system inspires kids to learn and has helped children nationwide catch up, keep up, and get ahead in school. Sylvan has been a trusted partner for parents for thirty years, and has based their supplemental education success on programs developed through a focus on the highest educational standards and detailed research.  Sylvan’s line of educational products equips families with fun, effective, and grade-appropriate learning tools.  Our workbooks and learning kits feature activities, stories, and games to reinforce the skills children need to develop and achieve their academic potential.  Students will reap the rewards of improved confidence and a newfound love of learning.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"If you are looking for some good, fun, learning books for your child, I definitely recommend the Sylvan Learning series." -thedadjam.com

"Samantha loves these books because to her, they are not school work. They are fun activities. But really she is learning, and doing the same work she does at school."
 -Mommymandy.com
 
"Since I was beginning homeschooling and looking for a good 'workbook' type system for my child to learn from aside from our other homeschool activities, I decided to try it out. My son loves the workbooks." –thedomesticdiva.com

"The activities are FUN and our son doesn't realize that while he's having fun he's also learning and reinforcing what he's learned." -Shescribes.com

"My daughter has picked up some great study habits and she loves that we don't spend hours on one subject. I recommend these workbooks to everyone homeschooler or not, as they can really add to your child's learning experience." -Thedirtyshirt.com

"I love how each activity in a section connects to eachother, which allows the child to really grasp the concepts. The pages are full of interesting stories and fun activities. The workbooks also make it easy for kids to check their own work which will help them gain confidence in their skills." -Melissaclee.com

"As an early childhood teacher, I know that good reading, vocabulary, and spelling skills make an essential foundation for both academic success as well as lifelong learning.  Sylvan Learning Workbooks & Learning Kits are an awesome resource that I'd have no problem recommending to the paretns of any of my students who are struggling.  The teacher-reviewed, curriculum-based activities and exercises in these books are great for helping a child achieve success with reading, provided that they're worked through with a loving and patient adult." - TheOpinionatedParent.com

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Sylvan Learning Publishing; Workbook edition (January 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375430008
• ISBN-13: 978-0375430008
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 0.4 x 11 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #72,134 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not What I was Hoping For, March 22, 2010

By 

Stanley Cup "Hockey Mom" (Holly Springs, NC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Third Grade Reading Comprehension Success (Sylvan Workbooks) (Language Arts Workbooks) (Paperback)

(What's this?)

My son is an above average reader, but his reading comprehension is a bit of a struggle for him, so I was looking for a reading comprehension workbook to help him improve these skills. When I saw that the Sylvan workbook was available through the Vine program, I immediately ordered it. The Iowa tests were looming at his school, and I wanted him to build his confidence in this area. When we got the workbook, he went right to work. Within a matter of hours, he completed most of the book, and therein lies the problem. If you have a child who has average or better reading comprehension skills, the material in this book will not be a challenge for him or her. The material that was covered in the book were mostly things that were covered in his second grade class, and did not seem all that grade appropriate. I was surprised to see that children were asked to draw pictures for book titles. This is something that he covered in first and second grade, and no where in his third grade curriculum is it even addressed any more. The same goes for looking at pictures and choosing one of four multiple choice questions as the answer. It just seemed really basic. I would imagine that a child who struggles with reading might find the book helpful, but if you are looking to improve on a skill where your child is already better than average, I would look somewhere else.

As with some of the other reviewers, I did not like that the answer key is next to the questions on the page. I know it is used as a means for self check, but a child can just as easily flip to the back of the book to look up the answers. The answers cover multiple pages of questions, so you have to flip back and forth to see the correct answers once you are past the first two pages anyway. I did not have the heart to cut the answer keys off the page in case they got lost, so I just folded the keys over so they could not be seen on the page where he was working. Little eyes like to wander, so I am not sure the placement of the answer key was all that well thought out by the publisher.

The pictures are engaging and the stories are interesting enough that your child will not be bored with the material. It just lacks the challenge and age appropriate materials that I had hoped to find in this product.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Unremarkable Workbook, March 30, 2010

By 

Spudman (Pasadena, MD United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Third Grade Reading Comprehension Success (Sylvan Workbooks) (Language Arts Workbooks) (Paperback)

(What's this?)

Over the past forty years (Ouch!)I've seen and used more language arts workbooks than Paris Hilton has dresses. Personally I prefer books with a specific focus rather than the smorgasbord approach used in this Sylvan Learning activity book. Immediately I was tipped off to its ultimate mediocrity by the impossible glittering generalities and superlatives on its cover.
Since I work with teachers, I took the opportunity to share this book with other educators and elicit their epinions. The five teachers who previewed this book at my request unanimously found the book bland and lacking in visual enhancements.

My observations:
I don't like the placement of the activity answers, preferring to have them bunched at the end of the book. It puzzles me why a teacher or parent would even need an answer key for a third grade workbook anyway. My copy is randomly opened to page 41. The answers to the page 41 activities are printed on page 41.I'm guessing that parents are supposed to cut these out ahead of time.

The illustrations look like something out of a 50's or 60's schoolbook. Perhaps the cartoon theme will appeal to some third graders. The book's format is not aesthetically pleasing, but looks antiseptic and generic.

Be aware that some questions require the reader to determine part of speech. (noun, verb, adjective)
Readings include a good variety of topics and some make for interesting reading.

I don't like that this workbook is not self-contained. Students are asked to fill in formulaic worksheets based on outside reading. There are too many pages of this ilk for my liking.

Skills covered in this book are: predicting, facts, context clues, main idea, details, and sequence. In the sequence activities students are never advised to look for sequence clues like time words and transitions.

My favorite feature of "Reading Comprehension Success" is the inclusion of a $10 off coupon for a Sylvan reading assessment. For a program that may cost well into the thousands, the ten-dollar coupon is laughable.

Finally: I wouldn't recommend that a parent buy this workbook, and I wouldn't want to use it with any of my students. Parents looking for supplementary materials should optimally visit a teacher supply store to get a hands on view of materials.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars High Interest Supplement, February 25, 2010

By 

Book Dork (Southern California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Third Grade Reading Comprehension Success (Sylvan Workbooks) (Language Arts Workbooks) (Paperback)

(What's this?)

As a fourth grade teacher I frequently use third grade materials to help those of my students that stuggle. While this wouldn't be something I used in the classroom, due to copyright issues, I could definitely see parents using it with their struggling children, or even those on par for extra practice.

Positives:
- The text looks appealing to students, who often use black and white workbooks all day at school. It is bright, colorful, and has fun illustrations.
- The stories are high interest, motivating students to keep working.
- The various reading comprehension skills that the text covers (predicting, context clues, main idea/details, etc...) match up to many language arts curriculums used in schools.
- Provides a cut-out "Check It" section that parents can use to correct pages.
- Divides skills into before, during, and after reading.

Negatives:
- This doesn't provide parents with much guidance as far as working with the students. In fact, the text prompts the students to do a lot of their own checking. While this is a nice idea, if a student is struggling, they probably need some adult supervision and assistance.
- I don't know if this necessarily would help bring a child up that much; there are only a few activities for each skill, and few chances to review.

I think this books would be great for the summer; it would provide students with a good review. It could also be sued with more advanced second graders, or students that are just slightly behind in third grade. For those that are truly struggling, I suggest talking to the child's teacher.