Introduce some NEW "heroes" to your guided reading collection!
Rigby is a valued and trusted partner to teachers across the country for high quality guided reading books. At Steps To Literacy we have been proud to include Rigby content in our guided reading collections for over a decade. Recently, Rigby expanded its offering to include a new series- Hero Academy!
True to the Rigby that we have grown to know and love, the Hero Academy titles are meticulously leveled, and offered in formats that range from early readers to chapter books. Each carries with them the predictable text and illustrations we would expect to see. What makes these titles extraordinary is their explicit focus on Social Emotional Learning within the context of guided reading. The recent push for federal funding for Social Emotional Learning means that this series couldn’t have been released at a better time.
The first page of every book starts with an explicit introduction to the main and supporting characters along with some details about what makes that main character special. The attention to detail across this series is incredible as the format and trim sizes change and grow as the reader does. Titles at the Kindergarten levels have large square trim sizes that make it much easy for young students to hold the book and see everything in the spread. The Kindergarten leveled titles also contain a final page with picture support that facilitates the practice of retelling a story.
As we reach levels towards the end of Grade 1 and beginning of Grade 2, the trim size becomes more reminiscent of a chapter book but refrains from actually including any chapters. From there, once we reach levels in the middle of Grade 2, we finally see a chapter book trim size with a chapter book format to match.
Front and back matter is all about supporting the teacher/caregiver! Front matter includes bullet points to guide you in ways to motivate students to read, support on blending sounds, high-frequency words, and a call-out to the important vocabulary in the text. Additional bullet points provide tips on guiding children who may be struggling with skills such as decoding, fluency, and reading with expression. Back matter provides a list of open-ended questions to support children as they reflect on their reading as well as provides prompts to extend the learning outside of the text.
On-level collections for Grades K – 3 are available now! CLICK HERE to view our Hero Academy offerings. Looking to customize a guided reading collection? Please contact us directly or your local Steps To Literacy representative and join us in celebrating this wonderful release from Rigby!
