This book is helpful by providing learning activities in a fun way. Recommended! ( )

This book is geared toward gifted student in Grades 2-4. There are a lot of examples of ideas for the teacher to incorporate into the curriculum.

The book is well written and would probably be most helpful to a language arts teacher. ( )

This is an Early Reviewers review for “Transformation in Stories and Argument” which is geared towards Gifted Learners in Grades 2-4. This Unit Book is focused on 14 lessons; Lessons 1-7 deal with Transformation in a literature, Lesson 9 addresses persuasion via emotions and data. Lesson 9 deals with Informational and Scientific literature as well as making critical judgements about claims in various science literature. Lesson 11 discusses the use of Graphs; underlying how the presentation of graphs can influence reception of an argument. Lesson 12 covers the transformation of physical space for conveying a narrative; e.g. the Bull and the Fearless Girl sculptures and various use of visual media. Lesson 13 inspires the student to think of various ways in which he or she may transform the world and uses several real-life examples. Lesson 14 assigns a Final Project that consists of 8 different possible projects in which to demonstrate what has been learned throughout the unit. Appendix A is very useful in further information and instruction on using the various models provided in this Unit. Appendix C covers the grading Rubrics for the Unit.

I found the first seven lessons to be very helpful for providing a good understanding of how a narrative is structured, both for comprehension and for writing. The overall length of time is 90-120 per lesson which would fit well for Block Scheduling; for other scheduling breaking down a lesson into 2 or 3 separate sessions might work as well. Like all teaching material it is vital to look over the material first, and I would suggest that a teacher should feel free to adapt the material to fit the individuals needs of their classroom.

Overall, this book is certainly worth checking out; especially for its focus narrative structure, various tools of persuasion, and – perhaps most importantly – making critical evaluations of various arguments. ( )

A wonderful resource for Language Arts teachers of gifted and advanced student learners in grades 2-4. This book includes high-interest activities for both fiction and nonfiction. I highly recommend this book for teachers to include in their own libraries. ( )

Transformations in Stories and Arguments is an excellent book for teachers of ELA gifted and advanced learners in second through fourth grade learners. Developed by Vanderbuilt University includes content and tasks for these learners so they may develop skills. Included at the beginning, in additions to an introduction, are a pretest and a rubric. The sections are:

Transformations in Our World

Transforming Writing through Character Development

Developing and Transforming Characters and the Problems they Face

Transformations in Point of View and Perspective

Transformations inStructure and Organizations

Transformations Using Word Choice and Imagery

Revealing Messages and Theme Through Transformations

Transformations in Narrative Writing

Transformations, Emotions, and Data

Transformations in Scientific Arguments

Transformations in Mathematics

Transformations of Space

Transforming My World

and a Culminating Project

I believe that this book should be in each ELA teacher in grades 2-4 and beyond.

I was given this book by the publisher. The opinions in this review are entirely my own. ( )