What is the Core Skills Workout?

The Core Skills Workout is a collection of eight skill-based activities that come with every issue, designed to help your students "bulk up" in the skills they need most to become strong, analytical readers.

What skills does the Workout cover?

Summarizing

Making inferences

Text evidence

Central ideas and details

Text features

Text structures

Tone

Mood

Where do I find the Workout?

You can find the Core Skills Workout activities at Scope Online on the Resources tab for each article and story. We offer all eight activities with every issue of Scope, so you can always use the current issue to focus on the skills you want.

Why is it so great?

Lots of reasons! But here are four:

1. It works with YOUR scope and sequence.

As skills arise in your scope and sequence, you can choose the Core Skill activity that supports your teaching goals—that day.

2. It’s a great reinforcement tool.

Use the Workout to reinforce the skills students have learned or to help students who need extra practice in a particular area.

3. It’s ready for differentiation.

Most Core Skills Workout activities are offered on two levels.

4. It’s versatile.

You can use it in all sorts of ways—small groups, whole group, independent practice, or assessment.

Plus you get ready-to-go reference materials!

A reference sheet is available for each of the eight skills covered in the Workout, such as this one for text structures. Project the reference sheets on your whiteboard, upload them to Google Classroom, or print them for students to keep in their binders. You can find all the reference sheets in the Activity Library.

Putting it all together is a breeze.

And don’t miss our “Read, Think, Explain” activity (on two levels). It covers the same eight skills in one tidy, guided-reading activity, with tasks for students to complete before, during, and after reading. This is great for students who are reading Scope independently. It’s also great for whole-class reading—just pop it up on the whiteboard and work through it as you read an article together.