Tamra Stambaugh

Jacob’s Ladder Reading Comprehension Program: Nonfiction, Grade 3 by Tamra Stambaugh and Joyce VanTassel-Baska is a solid resource that offers thoughtful, scaffolded reading activities aimed at developing higher-order thinking skills. While it’s designed for third grade, I’ve found it adaptable for my fifth-grade Integrated Co-Teaching (ICR) classroom, especially for students who benefit from structured support. The tiered ladder format encourages deeper comprehension and offers a show more clear pathway for students to move from literal to inferential thinking. The nonfiction texts included are engaging and offer a nice variety of topics, which helps keep students interested. show less

I found the book Effective Curriculum for Underserved Gifted Students to be over my head; it is not a book for a parent or layman. It is meant for a specific target audience, i.e. the education provider for underserved gifted students. The volume is slim and quite dense in its information. It does not provide practical lists of steps to take, but rather, resources and methods from which the experienced educator can draw to develop a curriculum that will meet the needs of diverse populations show more of gifted students (for example, minority or impoverished students that would otherwise not be identified.) As I am not the target audience, I found the book boring beyond words. I will pass it along to the TAG coordinator for our school district. I'm sure she will find it useful. show less

The buyer should be aware that this book is for high-ability fifth graders and is therefore on a level that would cause many fifth grade students to struggle. That being said, it appears to be an excellent resource for teaching and assessing reading comprehension. Since reading comprehension is so often overlooked into today's world of Dibel's testing, I believe this resource is very valuable to those who truly want to make sure that comprehension is taking place.

This text is an intelligently written compilation of theory and pedagogy related to serving the educational needs of the gifted and talented rural student. While families may glean insight from this book, its target audience is professional educators and it reflects high-end scholarship presented in the unique vernacular of education.

The text revolves around the essential understanding that the "rural-ness" of gifted and talented rural students must NOT be compromised in the process of show more providing these students with appropriate learning opportunities. The values, beliefs, and experiences that are attributable to "rural-ness" represent elements of culture from which these students draw meaning and identity. This rich fund of knowledge is to be appreciated, embraced, and incorporated in to the education of gifted and talented rural students as the valuable learning resource it is.

I highly recommend this book for all educators, especially those serving rural communities. show less