New Workbook for Reading and Writing
Improvement for grades 3 and 4

Aesop's Fables: The Modern Aesop

This new workbook contains reading and writing exercises in the Split-TRAC^TM Text Reconstruction format developed by Dr. Arthur Whimbey, the lead author for the series.  The Split-TRAC exercises in Aesop's Fables: The Modern Aesop are designed for use at the 3rd and 4th grade levels.

Adapted from the traditional Aesop's Fables, these modern versions present simple, compelling stories emphasizing moral values in the TRAC Structures for Learning format, designed to use proven text reconstruction methods to build reading and writing skills.  Each story is expertly written by Dr. Arthur Whimbey and Dr. Myra Linden, the well-known educational researchers and authors of textbooks for developing reading and writing skills. Each story includes attractive illustrations by L. G. Sims. 

The workbook joins the New Intelligence software reading series Aesop's Fables: The Modern Aesop for use at the same grade levels, giving a school similar content and exercises in both software-based and print-based instructional materials; the availability of similar content in both software and print-based formats allows a school flexibility in providing reading-improvement text reconstruction exercises to students with or without access to computers. 

The ten fables in the workbook are the same as in the Aesop's Fables: The Modern Aesop software, and include The Tortoise and the Hare;  The City Mouse and the Country Mouse;  The Lion and the Mouse;  The Cats, the Monkey, and the Cheese;  The Boy Who Cried Wolf;  The Fox and the Crow;  The Fox and the Grapes;  The Lesson of the Sticks;  The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg;  and The Cat, the Mice, and Their Plan.

Relative difficulty levels range from "less difficult" to "moderate" to "more difficult".  The stories are grouped by difficulty level -- less difficult, moderate, and more difficult.  Within each of these categories, the stories are also ordered by increasing difficulty level.

The workbook contains 59 pages of exercises in easy-to-read type, with illustrations by L. G. Sims' for each story.

The workbook capitalizes on the power of the text reconstruction methods developed by Dr. Arthur Whimbey to make the student an active learner.

Dr. Whimbey comments, "In the critical area of reading comprehension, reading specialists know that students construct meaning as they read, if they read carefully and thoughtfully - an essential process in developing reading skills and improving comprehension.  The Aesop's Fables workbook extends these skill-building exercises to students at the 3rd and 4th grade levels."