Spectrum | Reading Workbook | Grade 3, Printable
[{'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2020', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'I am a reading tutor and this is my favorite workbook. It is particularly good for students who have difficulty with inference and causation. Topics are a mix of fiction and related non-fiction. Along with other 3rd grade tasks, it teaches how the emotions and interactions of the characters affect their behavior. It has some direct answer questions and some that require inference. An example is a story about a boy having a bad day at soccer practice and wanting to quit. The student has to identify characteristics of the boy and the coach as well as why the boy wants to quit. It asks for the students to identify parts in the story that tell how the boy is feeling and what he is thinking. The next story is the mother asking questions to identify that the boy missed lunch and coming up with a solution of a snack before practice. The questions then relate back to the student if they ever wanted to give up. A drawback is that the Grade 3 is prominent on the cover, but pages can be pulled out for delayed readers. The stories and illustrations could easily be used with late elementary.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2020', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-3 review-rating', 'review_body': 'We purchased 9 of these Spectrum books (3 Reading, 3 Language Arts & 3 Writing, Grades 6, 3, &1) and we ended up returning all of them, except for Spectrum Reading, Grade 1. We started homeschooling on our own after the schools closed down due to COVID-19. I bought these books as a way to help the kids round out their school year since the public schools were in a scramble to adapt to online learning. While I love their set up, it required too much daily writing. We bought 9 of these books so this review is going to be copied and pasted on to each one.\n\nIf you have a reluctant writer or are planning on buying several different Spectrum workbooks for one child, then I will warn you that the workbooks require a lot of writing. A LOT of writing. If you do love the layout of these books, then I would suggest that you alternate which ones your child works on in a single day. My oldest daughter (6th grade) is not a reluctant writer and even she dreaded having to do these books. So if you want to try them out I suggest only getting one at a time and doing only a page a day. A lesson is generally 2-3 pages. If you have a reluctant writer those 2-3 pages will take over an hour to complete. If you child has no issue with writing, then they might be a good fit. Or if you are just wanting one workbook to help your child brush up on certain skills it can be a great choice.\n\nI also noticed the the workbooks seem to stay on the same topic no matter which grade level book you are working out of. So if the 6th grade book was on a lesson about pronouns, then the same lesson number would also be about pronouns in the 3rd & 1st grade books. So this can be helpful if you have multiple children and want to keep them on the same lesson idea. Just be aware that while many line up exactly there are a few off here and there.\n\nThe only one of these workbooks we enjoyed is the Spectrum Reading, Grade 1. There is little to no writing required in the book. The first half is an ongoing story about Little Duck. So you read three story "clips" and then ask your child the questions written below the clips. This is normally only a few minutes long, depending on how talkative your child is when it comes to the answers. The other side of the lesson generally has 1-3 photos in 3 rows and the directions are as simple as circling what goes together, number the sequence, write the beginning sound, write the ending sound, identify the cluster, etc. Very little writing. We haven\'t yet gotten to the second part of the book, but it looks like it is going to be longer stories with comprehension questions. I can update my review once we hit that part.\n\nIf you need ideas for what else to look for in case you decide against these workbooks: We ended up switching out our 6th grade writing for an actual writing program (Essentials in Writing), our 3rd & 1st grade writing book was switched out for Writing with Ease (available on Amazon, highly recommend if you have reluctant writers). Our 6th grade language arts was switched out for the same program she does for writing. The language arts for 3rd &1st grade was switched out for Grammar Galaxy. Our 3rd grade reading workbook was replaced with 180 Days of Reading, 4th Grade (same comprehension workbook, but the answers are in multiple choice form instead of writing out long answers). Our 6th grade reading has been replaced for now with Evan Moor\'s Greek and Roman Myths Literature Pockets (also on Amazon).'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2018', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'As a 2nd grade teacher, I highly recommend this workbook for any rising third grader or as a review for third graders. I use Spetrum in my classroom and the activities are always great quality—just meat and potatoes, no frills. The pages are easy to read and there are short explanations given in the book. There are review pages for each chapter, called chapter tests. It’s very traditional, which is what works so well.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2018', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': "My son dreads reading and answering questions because he has a hard time with comprehension. I gave Spectrum Reading workbook a try and to my surprise he actually sits down to read and try his best with answering the questions in a calm and content manner. I'm thinking it has alot to do with the stories. I highly recommend."}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2021', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'This book is so awesome for reading comp and writing. My son us in 4th grade he is on the spectrum and is at a low 3rd grade reading level I read the stories and he answers the questions so fat working out of it for a month I have seen him grow leaps and bounds with language and comprehension'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on September 13, 2018', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': "My six year old had completed the AAR series (through the end of level 4), and I've been using cheap Dollar Tree comprehension books. They were ok, but they were familiar stories so it wasn't easy to discern if my daughter was actually comprehending (or just remembering the movies). That being said, this book has a fewer pictures and a ton of information. I love it, and she's learning too. :-)"}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2021', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': ' We have loved Spectrum math for 1st and 2nd grade so we bought it for 3rd as well. It is very straight forward and excellent addition to our curriculum. We also use online programs in addition to this workbook!'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2017', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'If you have never got spectrum workbooks you should. Out of all workbooks I have tried I prefer spectrum the best. Depending on your child, this is just right. I always buy a grade ahead and keep my son challenged. This is a good sized which will keep them occupied year long.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2020', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'Love these books for comprehension. We try do do a couple a day... works on reading skills, comprehension, critical thinking and writing. An added bonus is the stories are interesting! I wish they gave a little more space for answers, I think practicing complete sentences is important...'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2022', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'The short stories. Clear and concise'}]