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Welcome to our Step into Reading
Teacher Web Site! The Step into Reading leveled series includes
age-appropriate font and decodable text—
perfect for guided reading or any reading program!
Promoting fluency and providing quality
content, Step into Reading hits curricular topics
and is perfect for integrating science, social
studies, and even math. Step into Reading
offers fiction and nonfiction
favorites, and includes popular characters such as Disney
Princess and Barbie™, who will excite even your most
reluctant readers.
Check out our What’s New section for featured
books by level and classroom activities. We hope Step into Reading
brings you one step closer to fostering your students into life
long readers. Enjoy and please feel free to share any of your Step
into Reading success stories!
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Preschool–Kindergarten
- Big type and easy words
- Rhyme and rhythm
- Picture clues
For children who know the alphabet
and are eager to begin reading. |
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Tae Kwon Do!
By Terry Pierce
Illustrated by Todd Bonita
978-0-375-83448-6
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Activities:
After reading Tae Kwon Do to the students have them write a similar story about a sport or activity they like to do.
Brainstorm a list of activities that students like to do after school. Sort them into two categories: active and idle. Discuss which ones are best for your body. As a follow-up have students create collages from magazines, newspapers, and advertisements that show children being active and healthy.
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Preschool–Grade
1
- Basic vocabulary
- Short sentences
- Simple stories
For children who recognize familiar
words and sound out new words with help. |
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Shampoodle
by Joan Holub
Illustrated by Tim Bowers
978-0-375-85576-4
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Activities:
Copy a blank, simple board game grid, and in each square add one of the words from Shampoodle included in the list below. Create small playing cards for the rest of the rhyming words (index cards cut into thirds make a nice durable option). Have students take turns drawing a card from the stack and moving to the next word that rhymes with the card they picked up. First one around the board wins. It’s easy to play several rounds in a short time period.
Rhyming pairs from Shampoodle: day/away, see/flee, in/begin, up/pup, shake/mistake, fun/run, chasing/racing, slipping/tripping, fright/tight, scare/hair, spat/scat, rest/best, blast/last, knots/dots, skunk/funk, collide/slide
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Grades 1–3
- Longer sentences
- Engaging characters
- Easy-to-follow plots
For children who are ready to read
on their own. |
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Barack Obama: Out of Many, One
by Shana Corey
Illustrated by James Bernardin
978-0-375-86339-4
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Activities:
Before reading Barack Obama: Out of Many, One, have students create a KWL chart with three columns labeled Know, Want to Know, and Learned. Students should fill out the first two columns before reading and the last column afterwards. The “know” section accesses their prior knowledge, the “want” section helps create a purpose for their reading and the “learned” section will assess their comprehension after reading the book.
Next, have students come up with a KWL chart for a president they would like to learn more about. Give students access to kid-friendly Web sites, books, and articles on different presidents. Once each student has filled in his/her chart with five new facts, have him/her share the findings with the class.
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Grades 2–3
- More challenging vocabulary
- Short paragraphs
- Exciting stories
For newly independent readers who
read simple sentences with confidence. |
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Ice Mummy: The Discovery of a 5,000-Year-Old Man
by Mark Dubowski and Cathy East Dubowski
978-0-679-85647-4
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Activities:
Have students fill out a graph for the events in Ice Mummy. List major events in the story and then rate their importance. They can use five for the highest and one for the lowest.

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Grades 2–4
- Chapters
- Long paragraphs
- Full color art
For children who want to take the
plunge into chapter books, but still like colorful pictures. |
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Dinosaur Hunters
by Kate McMullan
Illustrated by John R. Jones
978-0-375-82450-0
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Activities:
Discuss with the class that scientists create questions, or hypotheses, and then seek out facts of physical proof to support their ideas. As students read Dinosaur Hunters, have them create a list of questions that each scientist (or questioner) in the book asked about dinosaurs and their bones and what each one discovered. Once they are finished, have students write down a question or puzzle that they would like to explore.
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