Jacob's Ladder Reading Comprehension Program: Nonfiction Grade 5

Nonfiction has become a central feature in language arts, as well as other content areas. Because of that, this volume is particularly useful for teachers who may struggle to find strong non-fiction pieces for students to analyze.The strength of this book to me is the ready-to-use gathering of quality non-fiction readings, along with a wide variety of activities and reflective questions to go with those readings. The readings are divided by content area: science, math, social studies, and the arts. They are strong, encompassing a variety of genres and opportunities and perspectives. For that reason, I recommend the book.I do question, however, the need for this complicated "program" that, in my opinion, is really Bloom's with some Depth & Complexity thrown in. The first part is entirely overwhelming, asking teachers to master the "ladder" system that is unnecessary to use the readings and accompanying activities. Why? This is just extra work for a teacher, and I don't think I would have flipped past the first part if I'd picked it up to consider it for my own class.There are record keeping forms and rubrics included, but I don't find those helpful because they relate to the ladder system, so you have to buy in to that in order for them to be useful.Overall, I'd say that if you are looking for a collection of varied non-fiction readings with good questions and activities, this is a great place to find that. I'd skip the whole "ladder" thing, although I have a feeling that would make the authors shudder. They cite the research showing that many reading programs are lacking, yet I don't know that that's persuasive to the idea that we need another: rather, I think we should use with better fidelity frameworks that already exist.*Note: I received a review copy without charge in exchange for an honest review of the book.