Volume 1 Review Week:
The following is excerpted from Volume 1 of Five in a Row. © 1994 - 1998 by Jane Claire Lambert, all rights reserved.

If you'd like, take a week to review the books, authors and illustrators you've studied in Five in a Row. Recall which titles were award winners and figure out which book is the oldest, and which book was written the most recently. Discuss the stories you and your student particularly liked and which characters or ideas were your favorites.
Look again at the art work and review the elements of art that you have learned. If you have kept an illustrated chart of art definitions and elements, review it now. Examine your student's art work for the semester and point out examples you feel are outstanding. Let him see how much he has learned!
If your student has kept a notebook, leaf through it with him, recalling various projects and reviewing concepts in Social Studies, Geography, Science and Math.
In Language, review the elements of a story and literary devices. If you have kept an illustrated chart of these items, use it for a comprehensive review. Look over the exercises and stories and poems that your student has written. Point out specific work that was creative or excellent.
Review the vocabulary words using your illustrated list or file box. Recall the stories in which they appeared and practice using them.
See how many story disks your student can correctly place on the Literature Map. If you have studied the continents and oceans, practice placing those, too. Review the lessons in finding directions and compass points on the map and around his home and neighborhood.
Thank you for using Five in a Row. I hope you enjoyed using it with your students as much as I've enjoyed it with mine. If so, you'll want to continue with Volume 2, which contains stories that can be used any time, but will fit particularly well into the spring semester. And please share Five in a Row with a friend.

Volume 2 Review Week:
The following is excerpted from Volume 2 of Five in a Row. © 1994 - 1998 by Jane Claire Lambert, all rights reserved.

If you enjoyed the review week in Volume 1, take a week to review the books in Volume 2, along with the authors, illustrators and illustrations of these stories. Recall titles which were award winners and figure out which book is the oldest, and which book was written most recently. How many titles are more than twenty years old?
Discuss the stories you and your student particularly liked and which characters or ideas were your favorites. Did you have a particular theme that was exciting to you or that touched your emotions? What type of story was your favorite; the look back into the past (Three Names or Down Down the Mountain), the animal stories (Ferdinand and others that overlap categories), the animal fantasy (The Tale of Peter Rabbit), the stories that focus on nature (Owl Moon), the true story (The Giraffe That Walked to Paris), or the ribbon roll, backtracking type of story (Gramma's Walk), etc.?
Look again at the art work and review the elements of art that you have learned. Be sure that you have added the new information in Volume 2 to your art chart, possibly labeled Artist's Choices or Choices Artists Can Make. Volume 2 additions include: foreshortened circles and squares (Harold), knowing your subject (Giraffe), vanishing point-an element of perspective (Three Names and Harold), interpreting a painting (Three Names), surface lines-an element of shading (Wee Gillis), scenes of war time (A New Coat for Anna and They Were Strong and Good), design and texture (Mrs. Katz and Tush and Follow the Drinking Gourd), performing artists and promotional posters (Mirette On the High Wire and Babar, to Duet or Not to Duet), size and dimension-elements of perspective (Ferdinand and All Those Secrets of the World), Islamic architecture (Miss Rumphius), additional ways to achieve the effect of night (Little Red Lighthouse), rhythm (Follow the Drinking Gourd), cut-away view (Follow the Drinking Gourd), portraying quiet action (Gramma's Walk), and double sets of illustrations for a story (Gramma's Walk).
Look now at your student's work for the semester and point out the examples in which you see the most effort, learning for expertise. Let him see how much he has accomplished.
If your student has kept a notebook, leaf through it with him, recalling various projects and reviewing concepts in Social Studies, Geography, Science and Applied Math, or use the index under these topics to guide your review. You may quiz by mentioning the science and geography topics and asking in which story they appear. What were we reading when we talked about cork from trees, or lighthouses, the highlands, bullfights, Niagara Falls, owls, etc? Then review the information, first by asking your student what he remembers about that topic and then adding an additional idea or two that he might omit and discussing the information.
In Language, review the new information in Volume 2, and add it to your literary charts, "Choices Writers Can Make", such a Hyperbole, a literary device found in Three Names, Writing Descriptions (Three Names), Foreshadowing an element of a story (Wee Gillis), and many more. (*Jane includes many more examples to look for in Volume 2.*) You may want to do a year-end review of some of the informatio in Volume 1 as well.
Also review your student's own writing projects, poetry, etc., and re-enjoy them together. Your student will see the variety that he accomplished and be encouraged to continue writing and expressing himself in many different forms.
Review the vocabulary list using your illustrated list or iluustrated file box cards if you wish. Recall the stories in which they appear and practice using the words in oral sentences.
Again, see how many story disks your student can correctly place on the Literature Map. If you have added your own information (where grandparents live or other geographic places) be sure to include it in the review. Practice finding directions on a map and while traveling or hiking or in your student's neighborhood. Review the Crisis Thinking Skills and any Survival Skills Techniques.
For fun, take the story disks from Volume 2 and line them up in front of your student. Then ask, "In which stories do you remember the characters had to have patience?" Have him pick up the story disks for the books that he chooses. (He might answer Down Down the Mountain, A New Coat for Anna and maybe Owl Moon). Whatever the answer, ask where in the story the character had to deal with patience and even if you do not still have the books, you probably will remember the stories well enough to recap and discuss. This type of comparative discussion, "how was the character patient in this book as compared to the other", is an important thinking skill, especially for your older student. Much high school and college work is based on this type of comparative discussion. In the same manner, other review topics and titles might include: Friendship between older and younger people (Gramma's Walk and Mrs. Katz and Tush), Being Yourself (Ferdinand and Wee Gillis), Resourcefulness (Down Down the Mountain and A New Coat for Anna), Making the Most of Your Situation (Gramma's Walk and Miss Rumphius - when she was not well), Disobedience (Peter Rabbit and All Those Secrets of the World), and Imagination (Harold and the Purple Crayon and Gramma's Walk), etc.
Thank you for spending this year with us in Five in a Row, Volumes 1 & 2. We hope you and your student enjoyed it, had fun together and found many books to know and love. And if you've enjoyed Five in a Row, please share it with a friend!

Volume 3 Review Week:
The following is excerpted from Volume 3 of Five in a Row. © 1994 - 1998 by Jane Claire Lambert, all rights reserved.

If you'd like, take a week to review the books, the authors and illustrators you've studied in Five in a Row, Summer Volume. Recall titles which were award winners and figure out which book is the oldest, and which book was written most recently. Were there more older stories or more stories written in recent years? Discuss the stories you and student particularly liked and which characters or ideas were your favorites. Gather all the story disks for the summer volume and see if your student can name each one. Let him put them in order beginning with his favorite, next favorite, etc.
Look again at the art work in any books you still have and review the elements of art that you have learned. If you have kept an illustrated chart of art definitions and elements, review it now. Look at the art work he has done over the summer and point out examples you feel are outstanding and let him see how much he has learned. Use specific compliments such as "Your use of line and design is excellent in this picture" or "I enjoy the variety of colors you chose for this work" or "This picture is so full of expression and action, I almost want to jump right in!" or "The balance is pleasing in this scene."
If your student has kept a summer notebook, leaf through it with him, recalling various projects and reviewing concepts in Social Studies (Traditions, Culture, Transition to Industrial Age, Shyness, Loneliness, Paul Revere's Ride, etc.), Geography (Kansas, the Yukon, Maine, Ohio, Mountains, etc.), Science (Ants, Salamanders, Sheep, Wheat, Bees, Gog, Altitude, etc.), and Applied Math (Measuring, Tallying).
Review the vocabulary words using your illustrated list or illustrated file box. Recall the stories in which they appear and practice using them.
See how many story disks your student can correctly place on the Literature Map. If you have studied and made disks for Mountain Ranges, rivers or Great Lakes, etc., practice placing those on the map, too. Remember to practice directions, and compass points on the map, around the classroom, and on outings.
Thank you for using Five in a Row to supplement your summertime reading. I hope your summer was a special one, and that you had fun together with stories that you'll remember. And if you've enjoyed Five in a Row, please share it with a friend!