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What is it?

A basal reader is an elementary-school textbook that teaches reading by combining stories with practice exercises. It is typically a short-story that highlights (figuratively or literally) certain vocabulary words or concepts.

Basal Readers

When searching for basal readers, you must visit the Curriculum Collection located in the southeast corner of the third floor. The easiest way to identify them is by looking for the short and skinny books among the curriculum materials. 

 

Make sure you grab all the teaching materials that go with the reader. These may include a textbook, a workbook, an assessment guide, a reading guide, or other documents. The most important thing to get is the teacher's manual, or teacher's edition, which is typically spiral-bound.

 

Using the teacher's manual, identify which unit and lesson your basal reader is designed to accompany. Sometimes this is indicated near the barcode on the back of the Basal reader. For example, GR3-7-2 would indicate Grade 3, Unit 7, Lesson 2. If this information is not available, do your best to match the topic of the reader to the content of the unit/lesson. Here is an example of matching the readers to the correct page in the teacher's manual:

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Don't forget to check the other materials to see if there is anything that can be used alongside the basal reader, like a worksheet.