Mary Humpal Bain

Reading Logically - Level Five, Fine-tuning Mary Humpal Bain

Publisher Marketing: If you can read, you can teach someone else how to read by using Reading Logically! This is the final book in the five-book series of Reading Logically. This book combines the reading lessons from Book Five, Fine-Tuning, in the 440-page book, Reading Logically, with the Just for Fun exercises from Book Five, Fine-Tuning, in the 290-page companion book, Reading Logically Just For Fun! There are several minor changes in this book, and several additional pages, but the vast majority is taken from the two books, Reading Logically, and Reading Logically Just For Fun! Reading Logically has been used successfully with pre-school and school-age children, English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) students, and adults. When using these books, all students have learned to read, or have greatly improved their existing reading skills. The series stresses phonics, using word families such as bat, cat, rat, to demonstrate how the combination of letters makes specific sounds. The use of word families continues throughout the series. One example is the lesson on words ending in "tion" with the words, action, location, station, and others used in the story that follows. One of the reasons these books are so successful is the immediate and concentrated practice of new skills. For example, after the two-page lesson on "When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking," there are seven pages of enjoyable stories with a multitude of words that help to "cement" the concept firmly in the student's mind. There are lessons on "hard and soft c," "contractions," "compound words," "the many sounds of ough," as well as silent letters, and words in which both vowels are pronounced, such as "lion" and "create." Many words are broken into syllables as part of the lesson and, in the later lessons, there is often a table after each story, showing the longer words broken into syllables with punctuation marks. Because these tables provide immediate assistance, this helps to keep the student focused on the lesson. Challenge Lessons, Exposure Lessons and Reviews are scattered throughout the books. There are even some stories that are Just for Fun! Reading Logically Just for Fun! provides additional practice in reading and is filled with enjoyable activities, such as crossword puzzles, synonyms and antonyms, alliteration, and more, as well as many stories. There is also a multitude of silly poems and limericks that helps to reinforce the lessons in Reading Logically.