The following is excerpted from the Introduction of Five in a Row, Volume 1, Revised Second Edition. © 1994 - 1998 by Jane Claire Lambert, all rights reserved.

Good books have always been the doorway to learning. That doorway leads to growth and an appreciation for the wonders around us. Come along on a learning adventure using picture books to open the door to art, history, vocabulary, geography, science, human relationships, applied math and writing!

No matter how young, children get a substantial educational head-start from books, and Five in a Row has been created to bring excitement and fun to learning and to enrich children's lives. These lesson plans are simple in concept, but rich in results. Read the chosen book in its entirety each day for at least a week. After each reading, choose an exercise to share with your student, and watch their world expand as you begin to show them facets of the story they would never have recognized without your purposeful guidance. As a teacher of this material, you will find that you become excited and interested in a variety of subjects too. You'll rediscover the joy of learning and you'll build a special bond between you and your student as the two of you go on a learning adventure together.

This curriculum is intended to be extremely flexible, allowing you the option to do any or all of the exercises for each story. You may elect to skip over certain exercises which do not fit the needs of your student and you may place additional emphasis on certain exercises which seem appropriate. You will find more exercises than you can use in a week, so enjoy choosing just the right lesson elements for your students.

You can adjust classroom time to fit your needs as well. By using only one lesson element each day, you can work through Five in a Row in as little as 30 minutes daily, including the time to read the book. If you choose to use all of the lesson elements, field trips and follow-up exercises, you could easily spend several hours daily. Use Five in a Row however it best suits your needs and the needs of your students.

The technique of reading the same story for at least five days in a row is one that I have tested in teaching for more than eight years. I continue to be amazed at the effectiveness of this technique! Each book will become very special to the children. They will remember more and more about the story, but more importantly, they will begin to think more criticially (even four year olds!) as they begin wondering how certain portions of the story came to be, or how the characters solved a certain problem. These results could never be achieved in just one reading.

Students will see how the illustrator accomplished certain effects and they'll be encouraged to begin exploring those techniques in their own art. You'll see your students learning about science, math and history by the things you bring to the discussion every day. Your students will have the opportunity to try new activities or to learn more about a variety of people, places or animals. You'll also discover them asking more questions than ever before. By the end of the week, a new book will have become their friend for life.

Perhaps the most valuable benefit of using Five in a Row is that the young students will learn to completely critique a work (with your guidance), and that skill will serve them well as they learn to read for themselves. Your students will begin looking to see whether a book is a Caldecott or a Newberry medal winner. They'll quickly classify a new book as either fact or fiction. They'll be able to articulate the point of view from which the story has been written. They will know about a wide variety of literary techniques and learn to recognize them for themselves. You'll be delighted when your students begin to evaluate the illustrator's medium and technique.

All of this is imparted in a fun learning environment. Students think you're just reading them a book, but they're learning so much every day! The more lessons you do together, the more skills your young students will acquire; skills which will benefit them through high school, college and throughout life!

Welcome to the wonderful world of Five in a Row. You are the leader for this adventure, so gather the children around you and have a great time!

Jane Claire Lambert
May, 1994