Benchmark is awful - what can be done

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:It sounds like Benchmark is a mess in the lower grades. How about for grades 4 & 5? How much better is the newer Benchmark Advance 2022 better for upper grades?

It's just as bad. It repeats the same topics year after year, so kids are bored. Plus readings are all at or below grade level, so anyone who is above grade level is extra bored and unchallenged.

Same main topic or same content? Because those are two very different things. The first could be very helpful and provide both foundation, depth and appropriate spiraling. The second would be very boring. I also thought with the new 2022 version there was going to be more novel study?

The units all cover the same topics and just have different readings. So for example, every year they will do a unit on westward expansion.

I could be okay with this because this is a very broad topic are there are some lots of topics under Westward expansion that could be covered. Especially if we consider Westward expansion most expansion beyond the 13 Colonies.


Settling of the MidWest
Settling of the West
Trail of Tears
Settlement building

My daughter keeps saying that she has read all this before. I checked and it is technically different texts, but it's all making the same points, so I understand why she is bored. The bigger problems are the structural ones--not following the science of reading, not offering above grade-level texts--but it would be nice to have content that actually engages the students.

This. The not-well-done spiral curriculum is a problem too, but secondary.

For examples of Benchmark's upper grade materials, 5th graders read a chapter from Call of the Wild and a chapter from Tom Sawyer. The nonfiction materials are generated by Benchmark and are very dull. At our school the students and teachers found the unit on corn so awful that they now skip it.

Do kids ever read entire books, or is it just these chapters?

Teachers can assign online books on Benchmark to a reading group. But whole-group time and most reading-group time at our school is using the base Benchmark materials, which is just excerpts. If your school has purchased enrichment materials or offers ELC, then kids in the enriched reading group can get non-Benchmark offerings added in. However, this is optional and some schools only offer Benchmark. Ours has some enrichment but does not offer ELC, so the offerings outside of Benchmark are pretty sparse and only offered to kids who qualify for enrichment.

So does that mean that the only kids regularly reading entire books are the ones who qualify for enrichment? This is just astonishing to me. I remember reading full books regularly starting in 3rd grade at my public school in the NYC suburbs in the 90s. My daughter is going into K and I’m just very disturbed by all of this.

I've heard this is an issue throughout common core and it's a real disservice to getting kids to develop as readers.

Who decided this was a good idea? It fails kids on so many levels. It means they’re not really being exposed to literature, not developing endurance as a reader who is able to read increasingly longer pieces (which is obviously critical if any of them are expected to succeed in any humanities/social sciences undergrad or grad program), etc.

I think the philosophy is the curriculum needs to prep kids for test taking so they are used to reading short stories and articles and analyzing them

That’s really depressing that it’s all about prepping them for tests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like Benchmark is a mess in the lower grades. How about for grades 4 & 5? How much better is the newer Benchmark Advance 2022 better for upper grades?

It's just as bad. It repeats the same topics year after year, so kids are bored. Plus readings are all at or below grade level, so anyone who is above grade level is extra bored and unchallenged.

Same main topic or same content? Because those are two very different things. The first could be very helpful and provide both foundation, depth and appropriate spiraling. The second would be very boring. I also thought with the new 2022 version there was going to be more novel study?

The units all cover the same topics and just have different readings. So for example, every year they will do a unit on westward expansion.

I could be okay with this because this is a very broad topic are there are some lots of topics under Westward expansion that could be covered. Especially if we consider Westward expansion most expansion beyond the 13 Colonies.


Settling of the MidWest
Settling of the West
Trail of Tears
Settlement building

My daughter keeps saying that she has read all this before. I checked and it is technically different texts, but it's all making the same points, so I understand why she is bored. The bigger problems are the structural ones--not following the science of reading, not offering above grade-level texts--but it would be nice to have content that actually engages the students.

This. The not-well-done spiral curriculum is a problem too, but secondary.

For examples of Benchmark's upper grade materials, 5th graders read a chapter from Call of the Wild and a chapter from Tom Sawyer. The nonfiction materials are generated by Benchmark and are very dull. At our school the students and teachers found the unit on corn so awful that they now skip it.

Do kids ever read entire books, or is it just these chapters?

Teachers can assign online books on Benchmark to a reading group. But whole-group time and most reading-group time at our school is using the base Benchmark materials, which is just excerpts. If your school has purchased enrichment materials or offers ELC, then kids in the enriched reading group can get non-Benchmark offerings added in. However, this is optional and some schools only offer Benchmark. Ours has some enrichment but does not offer ELC, so the offerings outside of Benchmark are pretty sparse and only offered to kids who qualify for enrichment.

So does that mean that the only kids regularly reading entire books are the ones who qualify for enrichment? This is just astonishing to me. I remember reading full books regularly starting in 3rd grade at my public school in the NYC suburbs in the 90s. My daughter is going into K and I’m just very disturbed by all of this.

Well I think they all get assigned Benchmark books online. But in terms of physical books, whether anyone gets anything is up to the individual school—there is no requirement that even kids in the enriched reading group get anything extra.

I don’t even mean physical vs online, though I do think reading comprehension is much better with physical materials. I am really asking whether the books the kids get assigned are full books, or are just excerpts.

Benchmark has an online library of books. But they aren’t particularly long. I think the books are written for Benchmark.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like Benchmark is a mess in the lower grades. How about for grades 4 & 5? How much better is the newer Benchmark Advance 2022 better for upper grades?

It's just as bad. It repeats the same topics year after year, so kids are bored. Plus readings are all at or below grade level, so anyone who is above grade level is extra bored and unchallenged.

Same main topic or same content? Because those are two very different things. The first could be very helpful and provide both foundation, depth and appropriate spiraling. The second would be very boring. I also thought with the new 2022 version there was going to be more novel study?

The units all cover the same topics and just have different readings. So for example, every year they will do a unit on westward expansion.

I could be okay with this because this is a very broad topic are there are some lots of topics under Westward expansion that could be covered. Especially if we consider Westward expansion most expansion beyond the 13 Colonies.


Settling of the MidWest
Settling of the West
Trail of Tears
Settlement building

My daughter keeps saying that she has read all this before. I checked and it is technically different texts, but it's all making the same points, so I understand why she is bored. The bigger problems are the structural ones--not following the science of reading, not offering above grade-level texts--but it would be nice to have content that actually engages the students.

This. The not-well-done spiral curriculum is a problem too, but secondary.

For examples of Benchmark's upper grade materials, 5th graders read a chapter from Call of the Wild and a chapter from Tom Sawyer. The nonfiction materials are generated by Benchmark and are very dull. At our school the students and teachers found the unit on corn so awful that they now skip it.

Do kids ever read entire books, or is it just these chapters?

Teachers can assign online books on Benchmark to a reading group. But whole-group time and most reading-group time at our school is using the base Benchmark materials, which is just excerpts. If your school has purchased enrichment materials or offers ELC, then kids in the enriched reading group can get non-Benchmark offerings added in. However, this is optional and some schools only offer Benchmark. Ours has some enrichment but does not offer ELC, so the offerings outside of Benchmark are pretty sparse and only offered to kids who qualify for enrichment.

So does that mean that the only kids regularly reading entire books are the ones who qualify for enrichment? This is just astonishing to me. I remember reading full books regularly starting in 3rd grade at my public school in the NYC suburbs in the 90s. My daughter is going into K and I’m just very disturbed by all of this.

Well I think they all get assigned Benchmark books online. But in terms of physical books, whether anyone gets anything is up to the individual school—there is no requirement that even kids in the enriched reading group get anything extra.

I don’t even mean physical vs online, though I do think reading comprehension is much better with physical materials. I am really asking whether the books the kids get assigned are full books, or are just excerpts.

Benchmark has an online library of books. But they aren’t particularly long. I think the books are written for Benchmark.

Wow. I guess the days of kids reading books by actual authors (Bridge to Terabithia, Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, Hatchet, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Call of the Wild, etc.) are gone. That’s really sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like Benchmark is a mess in the lower grades. How about for grades 4 & 5? How much better is the newer Benchmark Advance 2022 better for upper grades?

It's just as bad. It repeats the same topics year after year, so kids are bored. Plus readings are all at or below grade level, so anyone who is above grade level is extra bored and unchallenged.

Same main topic or same content? Because those are two very different things. The first could be very helpful and provide both foundation, depth and appropriate spiraling. The second would be very boring. I also thought with the new 2022 version there was going to be more novel study?

The units all cover the same topics and just have different readings. So for example, every year they will do a unit on westward expansion.

I could be okay with this because this is a very broad topic are there are some lots of topics under Westward expansion that could be covered. Especially if we consider Westward expansion most expansion beyond the 13 Colonies.


Settling of the MidWest
Settling of the West
Trail of Tears
Settlement building

My daughter keeps saying that she has read all this before. I checked and it is technically different texts, but it's all making the same points, so I understand why she is bored. The bigger problems are the structural ones--not following the science of reading, not offering above grade-level texts--but it would be nice to have content that actually engages the students.

This. The not-well-done spiral curriculum is a problem too, but secondary.

For examples of Benchmark's upper grade materials, 5th graders read a chapter from Call of the Wild and a chapter from Tom Sawyer. The nonfiction materials are generated by Benchmark and are very dull. At our school the students and teachers found the unit on corn so awful that they now skip it.

Do kids ever read entire books, or is it just these chapters?

Teachers can assign online books on Benchmark to a reading group. But whole-group time and most reading-group time at our school is using the base Benchmark materials, which is just excerpts. If your school has purchased enrichment materials or offers ELC, then kids in the enriched reading group can get non-Benchmark offerings added in. However, this is optional and some schools only offer Benchmark. Ours has some enrichment but does not offer ELC, so the offerings outside of Benchmark are pretty sparse and only offered to kids who qualify for enrichment.

So does that mean that the only kids regularly reading entire books are the ones who qualify for enrichment? This is just astonishing to me. I remember reading full books regularly starting in 3rd grade at my public school in the NYC suburbs in the 90s. My daughter is going into K and I’m just very disturbed by all of this.

Well I think they all get assigned Benchmark books online. But in terms of physical books, whether anyone gets anything is up to the individual school—there is no requirement that even kids in the enriched reading group get anything extra.

I don’t even mean physical vs online, though I do think reading comprehension is much better with physical materials. I am really asking whether the books the kids get assigned are full books, or are just excerpts.

Benchmark has an online library of books. But they aren’t particularly long. I think the books are written for Benchmark.

Wow. I guess the days of kids reading books by actual authors (Bridge to Terabithia, Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, Hatchet, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Call of the Wild, etc.) are gone. That’s really sad.

And then everyone wonders why kids don’t like to read- the benchmark passages/books are truly awful. I really don’t get any of this.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like Benchmark is a mess in the lower grades. How about for grades 4 & 5? How much better is the newer Benchmark Advance 2022 better for upper grades?

It's just as bad. It repeats the same topics year after year, so kids are bored. Plus readings are all at or below grade level, so anyone who is above grade level is extra bored and unchallenged.

Same main topic or same content? Because those are two very different things. The first could be very helpful and provide both foundation, depth and appropriate spiraling. The second would be very boring. I also thought with the new 2022 version there was going to be more novel study?

The units all cover the same topics and just have different readings. So for example, every year they will do a unit on westward expansion.

I could be okay with this because this is a very broad topic are there are some lots of topics under Westward expansion that could be covered. Especially if we consider Westward expansion most expansion beyond the 13 Colonies.


Settling of the MidWest
Settling of the West
Trail of Tears
Settlement building

My daughter keeps saying that she has read all this before. I checked and it is technically different texts, but it's all making the same points, so I understand why she is bored. The bigger problems are the structural ones--not following the science of reading, not offering above grade-level texts--but it would be nice to have content that actually engages the students.

This. The not-well-done spiral curriculum is a problem too, but secondary.

For examples of Benchmark's upper grade materials, 5th graders read a chapter from Call of the Wild and a chapter from Tom Sawyer. The nonfiction materials are generated by Benchmark and are very dull. At our school the students and teachers found the unit on corn so awful that they now skip it.

Do kids ever read entire books, or is it just these chapters?

Teachers can assign online books on Benchmark to a reading group. But whole-group time and most reading-group time at our school is using the base Benchmark materials, which is just excerpts. If your school has purchased enrichment materials or offers ELC, then kids in the enriched reading group can get non-Benchmark offerings added in. However, this is optional and some schools only offer Benchmark. Ours has some enrichment but does not offer ELC, so the offerings outside of Benchmark are pretty sparse and only offered to kids who qualify for enrichment.

So does that mean that the only kids regularly reading entire books are the ones who qualify for enrichment? This is just astonishing to me. I remember reading full books regularly starting in 3rd grade at my public school in the NYC suburbs in the 90s. My daughter is going into K and I’m just very disturbed by all of this.

Well I think they all get assigned Benchmark books online. But in terms of physical books, whether anyone gets anything is up to the individual school—there is no requirement that even kids in the enriched reading group get anything extra.

I don’t even mean physical vs online, though I do think reading comprehension is much better with physical materials. I am really asking whether the books the kids get assigned are full books, or are just excerpts.

Benchmark has an online library of books. But they aren’t particularly long. I think the books are written for Benchmark.

Wow. I guess the days of kids reading books by actual authors (Bridge to Terabithia, Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, Hatchet, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Call of the Wild, etc.) are gone. That’s really sad.

Pssst. Kids can read books on their own. Pass it on!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like Benchmark is a mess in the lower grades. How about for grades 4 & 5? How much better is the newer Benchmark Advance 2022 better for upper grades?

It's just as bad. It repeats the same topics year after year, so kids are bored. Plus readings are all at or below grade level, so anyone who is above grade level is extra bored and unchallenged.

Same main topic or same content? Because those are two very different things. The first could be very helpful and provide both foundation, depth and appropriate spiraling. The second would be very boring. I also thought with the new 2022 version there was going to be more novel study?

The units all cover the same topics and just have different readings. So for example, every year they will do a unit on westward expansion.

I could be okay with this because this is a very broad topic are there are some lots of topics under Westward expansion that could be covered. Especially if we consider Westward expansion most expansion beyond the 13 Colonies.


Settling of the MidWest
Settling of the West
Trail of Tears
Settlement building

My daughter keeps saying that she has read all this before. I checked and it is technically different texts, but it's all making the same points, so I understand why she is bored. The bigger problems are the structural ones--not following the science of reading, not offering above grade-level texts--but it would be nice to have content that actually engages the students.

This. The not-well-done spiral curriculum is a problem too, but secondary.

For examples of Benchmark's upper grade materials, 5th graders read a chapter from Call of the Wild and a chapter from Tom Sawyer. The nonfiction materials are generated by Benchmark and are very dull. At our school the students and teachers found the unit on corn so awful that they now skip it.

Do kids ever read entire books, or is it just these chapters?

Teachers can assign online books on Benchmark to a reading group. But whole-group time and most reading-group time at our school is using the base Benchmark materials, which is just excerpts. If your school has purchased enrichment materials or offers ELC, then kids in the enriched reading group can get non-Benchmark offerings added in. However, this is optional and some schools only offer Benchmark. Ours has some enrichment but does not offer ELC, so the offerings outside of Benchmark are pretty sparse and only offered to kids who qualify for enrichment.

So does that mean that the only kids regularly reading entire books are the ones who qualify for enrichment? This is just astonishing to me. I remember reading full books regularly starting in 3rd grade at my public school in the NYC suburbs in the 90s. My daughter is going into K and I’m just very disturbed by all of this.

Well I think they all get assigned Benchmark books online. But in terms of physical books, whether anyone gets anything is up to the individual school—there is no requirement that even kids in the enriched reading group get anything extra.

I don’t even mean physical vs online, though I do think reading comprehension is much better with physical materials. I am really asking whether the books the kids get assigned are full books, or are just excerpts.

Benchmark has an online library of books. But they aren’t particularly long. I think the books are written for Benchmark.

Wow. I guess the days of kids reading books by actual authors (Bridge to Terabithia, Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, Hatchet, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Call of the Wild, etc.) are gone. That’s really sad.

Pssst. Kids can read books on their own. Pass it on!

Agreed. I work as a school librarian and my students are very enthusiastic about borrowing library books

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like Benchmark is a mess in the lower grades. How about for grades 4 & 5? How much better is the newer Benchmark Advance 2022 better for upper grades?

It's just as bad. It repeats the same topics year after year, so kids are bored. Plus readings are all at or below grade level, so anyone who is above grade level is extra bored and unchallenged.

Same main topic or same content? Because those are two very different things. The first could be very helpful and provide both foundation, depth and appropriate spiraling. The second would be very boring. I also thought with the new 2022 version there was going to be more novel study?

The units all cover the same topics and just have different readings. So for example, every year they will do a unit on westward expansion.

I could be okay with this because this is a very broad topic are there are some lots of topics under Westward expansion that could be covered. Especially if we consider Westward expansion most expansion beyond the 13 Colonies.


Settling of the MidWest
Settling of the West
Trail of Tears
Settlement building

My daughter keeps saying that she has read all this before. I checked and it is technically different texts, but it's all making the same points, so I understand why she is bored. The bigger problems are the structural ones--not following the science of reading, not offering above grade-level texts--but it would be nice to have content that actually engages the students.

This. The not-well-done spiral curriculum is a problem too, but secondary.

For examples of Benchmark's upper grade materials, 5th graders read a chapter from Call of the Wild and a chapter from Tom Sawyer. The nonfiction materials are generated by Benchmark and are very dull. At our school the students and teachers found the unit on corn so awful that they now skip it.

Do kids ever read entire books, or is it just these chapters?

Teachers can assign online books on Benchmark to a reading group. But whole-group time and most reading-group time at our school is using the base Benchmark materials, which is just excerpts. If your school has purchased enrichment materials or offers ELC, then kids in the enriched reading group can get non-Benchmark offerings added in. However, this is optional and some schools only offer Benchmark. Ours has some enrichment but does not offer ELC, so the offerings outside of Benchmark are pretty sparse and only offered to kids who qualify for enrichment.

So does that mean that the only kids regularly reading entire books are the ones who qualify for enrichment? This is just astonishing to me. I remember reading full books regularly starting in 3rd grade at my public school in the NYC suburbs in the 90s. My daughter is going into K and I’m just very disturbed by all of this.

Well I think they all get assigned Benchmark books online. But in terms of physical books, whether anyone gets anything is up to the individual school—there is no requirement that even kids in the enriched reading group get anything extra.

I don’t even mean physical vs online, though I do think reading comprehension is much better with physical materials. I am really asking whether the books the kids get assigned are full books, or are just excerpts.

Benchmark has an online library of books. But they aren’t particularly long. I think the books are written for Benchmark.

Wow. I guess the days of kids reading books by actual authors (Bridge to Terabithia, Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, Hatchet, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Call of the Wild, etc.) are gone. That’s really sad.

Pssst. Kids can read books on their own. Pass it on!

Pssst. Kids really benefit from reading and discussing actual books as a class with a teacher. It helps them learn critical thinking skills and literary analysis techniques that they would not get from reading the books on their own. Pass it on!

[Anonymous]

No books. No book reports. One of the many reasons I pulled my kids to homeschool.

[Anonymous]

I think part of the problem is that MCPS appears really interested in automated systems that are online but that has not been proven to be the best way of teaching. Some of these products are really new and not proven and causing a lot of issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like Benchmark is a mess in the lower grades. How about for grades 4 & 5? How much better is the newer Benchmark Advance 2022 better for upper grades?

It's just as bad. It repeats the same topics year after year, so kids are bored. Plus readings are all at or below grade level, so anyone who is above grade level is extra bored and unchallenged.

Same main topic or same content? Because those are two very different things. The first could be very helpful and provide both foundation, depth and appropriate spiraling. The second would be very boring. I also thought with the new 2022 version there was going to be more novel study?

The units all cover the same topics and just have different readings. So for example, every year they will do a unit on westward expansion.

I could be okay with this because this is a very broad topic are there are some lots of topics under Westward expansion that could be covered. Especially if we consider Westward expansion most expansion beyond the 13 Colonies.


Settling of the MidWest
Settling of the West
Trail of Tears
Settlement building

My daughter keeps saying that she has read all this before. I checked and it is technically different texts, but it's all making the same points, so I understand why she is bored. The bigger problems are the structural ones--not following the science of reading, not offering above grade-level texts--but it would be nice to have content that actually engages the students.

This. The not-well-done spiral curriculum is a problem too, but secondary.

For examples of Benchmark's upper grade materials, 5th graders read a chapter from Call of the Wild and a chapter from Tom Sawyer. The nonfiction materials are generated by Benchmark and are very dull. At our school the students and teachers found the unit on corn so awful that they now skip it.

Do kids ever read entire books, or is it just these chapters?

Teachers can assign online books on Benchmark to a reading group. But whole-group time and most reading-group time at our school is using the base Benchmark materials, which is just excerpts. If your school has purchased enrichment materials or offers ELC, then kids in the enriched reading group can get non-Benchmark offerings added in. However, this is optional and some schools only offer Benchmark. Ours has some enrichment but does not offer ELC, so the offerings outside of Benchmark are pretty sparse and only offered to kids who qualify for enrichment.

So does that mean that the only kids regularly reading entire books are the ones who qualify for enrichment? This is just astonishing to me. I remember reading full books regularly starting in 3rd grade at my public school in the NYC suburbs in the 90s. My daughter is going into K and I’m just very disturbed by all of this.

Well I think they all get assigned Benchmark books online. But in terms of physical books, whether anyone gets anything is up to the individual school—there is no requirement that even kids in the enriched reading group get anything extra.

I don’t even mean physical vs online, though I do think reading comprehension is much better with physical materials. I am really asking whether the books the kids get assigned are full books, or are just excerpts.

Benchmark has an online library of books. But they aren’t particularly long. I think the books are written for Benchmark.

Wow. I guess the days of kids reading books by actual authors (Bridge to Terabithia, Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, Hatchet, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Call of the Wild, etc.) are gone. That’s really sad.

Pssst. Kids can read books on their own. Pass it on!

Pssst. Kids really benefit from reading and discussing actual books as a class with a teacher. It helps them learn critical thinking skills and literary analysis techniques that they would not get from reading the books on their own. Pass it on!

This. My kid reads long novels by himself but he would love a discussion group to talk about them. Okay, he would hate it because he wants to focus only on plot, but I would love it for him. We have supplemented with things like theater class to explain story structure/characterization/foreshadowing, but lots of kids can’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like Benchmark is a mess in the lower grades. How about for grades 4 & 5? How much better is the newer Benchmark Advance 2022 better for upper grades?

It's just as bad. It repeats the same topics year after year, so kids are bored. Plus readings are all at or below grade level, so anyone who is above grade level is extra bored and unchallenged.

Same main topic or same content? Because those are two very different things. The first could be very helpful and provide both foundation, depth and appropriate spiraling. The second would be very boring. I also thought with the new 2022 version there was going to be more novel study?

The units all cover the same topics and just have different readings. So for example, every year they will do a unit on westward expansion.

I could be okay with this because this is a very broad topic are there are some lots of topics under Westward expansion that could be covered. Especially if we consider Westward expansion most expansion beyond the 13 Colonies.


Settling of the MidWest
Settling of the West
Trail of Tears
Settlement building

My daughter keeps saying that she has read all this before. I checked and it is technically different texts, but it's all making the same points, so I understand why she is bored. The bigger problems are the structural ones--not following the science of reading, not offering above grade-level texts--but it would be nice to have content that actually engages the students.

This. The not-well-done spiral curriculum is a problem too, but secondary.

For examples of Benchmark's upper grade materials, 5th graders read a chapter from Call of the Wild and a chapter from Tom Sawyer. The nonfiction materials are generated by Benchmark and are very dull. At our school the students and teachers found the unit on corn so awful that they now skip it.

Do kids ever read entire books, or is it just these chapters?

Teachers can assign online books on Benchmark to a reading group. But whole-group time and most reading-group time at our school is using the base Benchmark materials, which is just excerpts. If your school has purchased enrichment materials or offers ELC, then kids in the enriched reading group can get non-Benchmark offerings added in. However, this is optional and some schools only offer Benchmark. Ours has some enrichment but does not offer ELC, so the offerings outside of Benchmark are pretty sparse and only offered to kids who qualify for enrichment.

So does that mean that the only kids regularly reading entire books are the ones who qualify for enrichment? This is just astonishing to me. I remember reading full books regularly starting in 3rd grade at my public school in the NYC suburbs in the 90s. My daughter is going into K and I’m just very disturbed by all of this.

Well I think they all get assigned Benchmark books online. But in terms of physical books, whether anyone gets anything is up to the individual school—there is no requirement that even kids in the enriched reading group get anything extra.

I don’t even mean physical vs online, though I do think reading comprehension is much better with physical materials. I am really asking whether the books the kids get assigned are full books, or are just excerpts.

Benchmark has an online library of books. But they aren’t particularly long. I think the books are written for Benchmark.

Wow. I guess the days of kids reading books by actual authors (Bridge to Terabithia, Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, Hatchet, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Call of the Wild, etc.) are gone. That’s really sad.

Pssst. Kids can read books on their own. Pass it on!

Pssst. Kids really benefit from reading and discussing actual books as a class with a teacher. It helps them learn critical thinking skills and literary analysis techniques that they would not get from reading the books on their own. Pass it on!

Pssst! There are these adults called parents who can read and discuss books with their kids. You should try it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like Benchmark is a mess in the lower grades. How about for grades 4 & 5? How much better is the newer Benchmark Advance 2022 better for upper grades?

It's just as bad. It repeats the same topics year after year, so kids are bored. Plus readings are all at or below grade level, so anyone who is above grade level is extra bored and unchallenged.

Same main topic or same content? Because those are two very different things. The first could be very helpful and provide both foundation, depth and appropriate spiraling. The second would be very boring. I also thought with the new 2022 version there was going to be more novel study?

The units all cover the same topics and just have different readings. So for example, every year they will do a unit on westward expansion.

I could be okay with this because this is a very broad topic are there are some lots of topics under Westward expansion that could be covered. Especially if we consider Westward expansion most expansion beyond the 13 Colonies.


Settling of the MidWest
Settling of the West
Trail of Tears
Settlement building

My daughter keeps saying that she has read all this before. I checked and it is technically different texts, but it's all making the same points, so I understand why she is bored. The bigger problems are the structural ones--not following the science of reading, not offering above grade-level texts--but it would be nice to have content that actually engages the students.

This. The not-well-done spiral curriculum is a problem too, but secondary.

For examples of Benchmark's upper grade materials, 5th graders read a chapter from Call of the Wild and a chapter from Tom Sawyer. The nonfiction materials are generated by Benchmark and are very dull. At our school the students and teachers found the unit on corn so awful that they now skip it.

Do kids ever read entire books, or is it just these chapters?

Teachers can assign online books on Benchmark to a reading group. But whole-group time and most reading-group time at our school is using the base Benchmark materials, which is just excerpts. If your school has purchased enrichment materials or offers ELC, then kids in the enriched reading group can get non-Benchmark offerings added in. However, this is optional and some schools only offer Benchmark. Ours has some enrichment but does not offer ELC, so the offerings outside of Benchmark are pretty sparse and only offered to kids who qualify for enrichment.

So does that mean that the only kids regularly reading entire books are the ones who qualify for enrichment? This is just astonishing to me. I remember reading full books regularly starting in 3rd grade at my public school in the NYC suburbs in the 90s. My daughter is going into K and I’m just very disturbed by all of this.

Well I think they all get assigned Benchmark books online. But in terms of physical books, whether anyone gets anything is up to the individual school—there is no requirement that even kids in the enriched reading group get anything extra.

I don’t even mean physical vs online, though I do think reading comprehension is much better with physical materials. I am really asking whether the books the kids get assigned are full books, or are just excerpts.

Benchmark has an online library of books. But they aren’t particularly long. I think the books are written for Benchmark.

Wow. I guess the days of kids reading books by actual authors (Bridge to Terabithia, Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, Hatchet, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Call of the Wild, etc.) are gone. That’s really sad.

Pssst. Kids can read books on their own. Pass it on!

Pssst. Kids really benefit from reading and discussing actual books as a class with a teacher. It helps them learn critical thinking skills and literary analysis techniques that they would not get from reading the books on their own. Pass it on!

Pssst! There are these adults called parents who can read and discuss books with their kids. You should try it!

This. More parental involvement is needed now, but that’s only a problem of you make it one. Book reports were dumb and boring anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like Benchmark is a mess in the lower grades. How about for grades 4 & 5? How much better is the newer Benchmark Advance 2022 better for upper grades?

It's just as bad. It repeats the same topics year after year, so kids are bored. Plus readings are all at or below grade level, so anyone who is above grade level is extra bored and unchallenged.

Same main topic or same content? Because those are two very different things. The first could be very helpful and provide both foundation, depth and appropriate spiraling. The second would be very boring. I also thought with the new 2022 version there was going to be more novel study?

The units all cover the same topics and just have different readings. So for example, every year they will do a unit on westward expansion.

I could be okay with this because this is a very broad topic are there are some lots of topics under Westward expansion that could be covered. Especially if we consider Westward expansion most expansion beyond the 13 Colonies.


Settling of the MidWest
Settling of the West
Trail of Tears
Settlement building

My daughter keeps saying that she has read all this before. I checked and it is technically different texts, but it's all making the same points, so I understand why she is bored. The bigger problems are the structural ones--not following the science of reading, not offering above grade-level texts--but it would be nice to have content that actually engages the students.

This. The not-well-done spiral curriculum is a problem too, but secondary.

For examples of Benchmark's upper grade materials, 5th graders read a chapter from Call of the Wild and a chapter from Tom Sawyer. The nonfiction materials are generated by Benchmark and are very dull. At our school the students and teachers found the unit on corn so awful that they now skip it.

Do kids ever read entire books, or is it just these chapters?

Teachers can assign online books on Benchmark to a reading group. But whole-group time and most reading-group time at our school is using the base Benchmark materials, which is just excerpts. If your school has purchased enrichment materials or offers ELC, then kids in the enriched reading group can get non-Benchmark offerings added in. However, this is optional and some schools only offer Benchmark. Ours has some enrichment but does not offer ELC, so the offerings outside of Benchmark are pretty sparse and only offered to kids who qualify for enrichment.

So does that mean that the only kids regularly reading entire books are the ones who qualify for enrichment? This is just astonishing to me. I remember reading full books regularly starting in 3rd grade at my public school in the NYC suburbs in the 90s. My daughter is going into K and I’m just very disturbed by all of this.

Well I think they all get assigned Benchmark books online. But in terms of physical books, whether anyone gets anything is up to the individual school—there is no requirement that even kids in the enriched reading group get anything extra.

I don’t even mean physical vs online, though I do think reading comprehension is much better with physical materials. I am really asking whether the books the kids get assigned are full books, or are just excerpts.

Benchmark has an online library of books. But they aren’t particularly long. I think the books are written for Benchmark.

Wow. I guess the days of kids reading books by actual authors (Bridge to Terabithia, Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, Hatchet, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Call of the Wild, etc.) are gone. That’s really sad.

Pssst. Kids can read books on their own. Pass it on!

Pssst. Kids really benefit from reading and discussing actual books as a class with a teacher. It helps them learn critical thinking skills and literary analysis techniques that they would not get from reading the books on their own. Pass it on!

This. My kid reads long novels by himself but he would love a discussion group to talk about them. Okay, he would hate it because he wants to focus only on plot, but I would love it for him. We have supplemented with things like theater class to explain story structure/characterization/foreshadowing, but lots of kids can’t.

Reading is fine however comprehension is a different ball game all together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like Benchmark is a mess in the lower grades. How about for grades 4 & 5? How much better is the newer Benchmark Advance 2022 better for upper grades?

It's just as bad. It repeats the same topics year after year, so kids are bored. Plus readings are all at or below grade level, so anyone who is above grade level is extra bored and unchallenged.

Same main topic or same content? Because those are two very different things. The first could be very helpful and provide both foundation, depth and appropriate spiraling. The second would be very boring. I also thought with the new 2022 version there was going to be more novel study?

The units all cover the same topics and just have different readings. So for example, every year they will do a unit on westward expansion.

I could be okay with this because this is a very broad topic are there are some lots of topics under Westward expansion that could be covered. Especially if we consider Westward expansion most expansion beyond the 13 Colonies.


Settling of the MidWest
Settling of the West
Trail of Tears
Settlement building

My daughter keeps saying that she has read all this before. I checked and it is technically different texts, but it's all making the same points, so I understand why she is bored. The bigger problems are the structural ones--not following the science of reading, not offering above grade-level texts--but it would be nice to have content that actually engages the students.

This. The not-well-done spiral curriculum is a problem too, but secondary.

For examples of Benchmark's upper grade materials, 5th graders read a chapter from Call of the Wild and a chapter from Tom Sawyer. The nonfiction materials are generated by Benchmark and are very dull. At our school the students and teachers found the unit on corn so awful that they now skip it.

Do kids ever read entire books, or is it just these chapters?

Teachers can assign online books on Benchmark to a reading group. But whole-group time and most reading-group time at our school is using the base Benchmark materials, which is just excerpts. If your school has purchased enrichment materials or offers ELC, then kids in the enriched reading group can get non-Benchmark offerings added in. However, this is optional and some schools only offer Benchmark. Ours has some enrichment but does not offer ELC, so the offerings outside of Benchmark are pretty sparse and only offered to kids who qualify for enrichment.

So does that mean that the only kids regularly reading entire books are the ones who qualify for enrichment? This is just astonishing to me. I remember reading full books regularly starting in 3rd grade at my public school in the NYC suburbs in the 90s. My daughter is going into K and I’m just very disturbed by all of this.

Well I think they all get assigned Benchmark books online. But in terms of physical books, whether anyone gets anything is up to the individual school—there is no requirement that even kids in the enriched reading group get anything extra.

I don’t even mean physical vs online, though I do think reading comprehension is much better with physical materials. I am really asking whether the books the kids get assigned are full books, or are just excerpts.

Benchmark has an online library of books. But they aren’t particularly long. I think the books are written for Benchmark.

Wow. I guess the days of kids reading books by actual authors (Bridge to Terabithia, Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, Hatchet, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Call of the Wild, etc.) are gone. That’s really sad.

Pssst. Kids can read books on their own. Pass it on!

Pssst. Kids really benefit from reading and discussing actual books as a class with a teacher. It helps them learn critical thinking skills and literary analysis techniques that they would not get from reading the books on their own. Pass it on!

Pssst! There are these adults called parents who can read and discuss books with their kids. You should try it!

This. More parental involvement is needed now, but that’s only a problem of you make it one. Book reports were dumb and boring anyway.

This. I didn’t do full chapter books and novel study in English/Reading class until MS/HS, except the Diary of Anne Frank in 6th. Before that it was all short stories and poems from the reading curriculum . I mastered reading comprehension just fine and read the novels I wanted during independent reading and at home. And this was in a private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like Benchmark is a mess in the lower grades. How about for grades 4 & 5? How much better is the newer Benchmark Advance 2022 better for upper grades?

It's just as bad. It repeats the same topics year after year, so kids are bored. Plus readings are all at or below grade level, so anyone who is above grade level is extra bored and unchallenged.

Same main topic or same content? Because those are two very different things. The first could be very helpful and provide both foundation, depth and appropriate spiraling. The second would be very boring. I also thought with the new 2022 version there was going to be more novel study?

The units all cover the same topics and just have different readings. So for example, every year they will do a unit on westward expansion.

I could be okay with this because this is a very broad topic are there are some lots of topics under Westward expansion that could be covered. Especially if we consider Westward expansion most expansion beyond the 13 Colonies.


Settling of the MidWest
Settling of the West
Trail of Tears
Settlement building

My daughter keeps saying that she has read all this before. I checked and it is technically different texts, but it's all making the same points, so I understand why she is bored. The bigger problems are the structural ones--not following the science of reading, not offering above grade-level texts--but it would be nice to have content that actually engages the students.

This. The not-well-done spiral curriculum is a problem too, but secondary.

For examples of Benchmark's upper grade materials, 5th graders read a chapter from Call of the Wild and a chapter from Tom Sawyer. The nonfiction materials are generated by Benchmark and are very dull. At our school the students and teachers found the unit on corn so awful that they now skip it.

Do kids ever read entire books, or is it just these chapters?

Teachers can assign online books on Benchmark to a reading group. But whole-group time and most reading-group time at our school is using the base Benchmark materials, which is just excerpts. If your school has purchased enrichment materials or offers ELC, then kids in the enriched reading group can get non-Benchmark offerings added in. However, this is optional and some schools only offer Benchmark. Ours has some enrichment but does not offer ELC, so the offerings outside of Benchmark are pretty sparse and only offered to kids who qualify for enrichment.

So does that mean that the only kids regularly reading entire books are the ones who qualify for enrichment? This is just astonishing to me. I remember reading full books regularly starting in 3rd grade at my public school in the NYC suburbs in the 90s. My daughter is going into K and I’m just very disturbed by all of this.

Well I think they all get assigned Benchmark books online. But in terms of physical books, whether anyone gets anything is up to the individual school—there is no requirement that even kids in the enriched reading group get anything extra.

I don’t even mean physical vs online, though I do think reading comprehension is much better with physical materials. I am really asking whether the books the kids get assigned are full books, or are just excerpts.

Benchmark has an online library of books. But they aren’t particularly long. I think the books are written for Benchmark.

Wow. I guess the days of kids reading books by actual authors (Bridge to Terabithia, Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, Hatchet, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Call of the Wild, etc.) are gone. That’s really sad.

Pssst. Kids can read books on their own. Pass it on!

Agreed. I work as a school librarian and my students are very enthusiastic about borrowing library books

Not all schools have a library.