Collection: Ratio Holmes

Fun Read for Higher Level Readers
As a Gifted and Talented Teacher and Coordinator, I often have teachers ask me for high interest books that challenge and excite their high level readers. Horatio Holmes fits that bill. Some of the reasons I really enjoy this book and look forward to more in the series:

-It is relatively short. At 56 pages, teachers can use this for small group pull out and will be able to finish it within a short amount of time. I recommend teachers read it with their high readers to model using context clues and dictionaries if needed for vocabulary.

-It has high level vocabulary. It is rare that many students I support in 1st/2nd grades come across words in grade level books that stump them. Books that have higher level vocab are usually independent reading and the teacher doesn't have ability to model what to do when you come to an unknown word.

-It introduced the idea of a red herring. My students loved learning that term. We did some research as to what it meant and its etymology. We had a fun discussion about red herrings in other books and movies.

-It is fun. My students enjoyed the characters and loved that it was a mystery to solve.

I look forward to more books coming out in this series and hope that Keystone Canyon can provide more resources to help teachers utilize this book and others in the classroom.
Mel P