Jacob's Ladder Reading Comprehension Program
The Jacob's Ladder Reading Comprehension Program targets reading comprehension skills in high-ability learners by moving students through an inquiry process from basic understanding to critical analyses of texts, using a field-tested method developed by the Center for Gifted Education at William & Mary. Students in grades 7-8 will learn to comprehend and analyze any reading passage after completing the activities in Jacob's Ladder, Grades 7-8 (2nd ed.).
Each set of student workbooks includes 5 student booklets, divided by grade level and area of emphasis (short stories, poetry, biographies). Corresponding to the activities in Jacob's Ladder, Grades 7-8 (2nd ed.), students read high-interest passages, then complete skill ladders connected to the short story readings to move them from concrete thinking skills to higher order, critical thinking skills. The ladders include multiple skills necessary for academic success, covering language arts standards, such as sequencing, determining cause and effect, classifying, inferencing, and recognizing main ideas.
Grades 7-8
Joyce VanTassel-Baska, Ed.D., is the Jody and Layton Smith Professor Emerita of Education and former Executive Director of the Center for Gifted Education at William & Mary in Virginia, where she developed a graduate program and a research and development center in gifted education. She also initiated and directed the Center for Talent Development at Northwestern University.
Dr. Tamra Stambaugh is the Director of Programs for Talented Youth at Vanderbilt University. She is the coauthor (with Dr. Joyce VanTassel-Baska) of Comprehensive Curriculum for Gifted Learners, Overlooked Gems: A National Perspective on Low-Income Promising Students, and the Jacob's Ladder Reading Comprehension Program.