The Challenger Adult Reading Series is one of the most enduring and user-friendly publications I have encountered in adult education. Our adult learners and volunteer tutors all love the high-interest reading, targeted exercises, consistent formatting, and wide variety of topics. When using Challenger, learners can work closely with a tutor to explore stories from around the globe. The reading levels range from almost non-reader to GED preparation. We recommend this series to both our adult basic education (ABE) and English language learners (ESL).
Learners with all types of goals can benefit from using the Challenger series, but it is especially helpful for those working on reading comprehension. The Challenger series has a way of sparking our learners’ interest in reading, in a way that can create lifelong lovers of reading.
New Readers Press recently updated the readings and added more visual content in the second edition. Each book in this series contains 20 lessons, plus review, which are designed to develop reading, writing, and reasoning skills while integrating speaking and listening skills. Each lesson begins with a word study and reading selection, as well as a wide variety of activities and exercises designed to encourage continued conversations and critical thinking.
There is also the companion workbook, Writing for Challenger, which provides additional writing prompts for each Challenger lesson. Also, the Teacher’s Manual offers a wealth of extension activities and teaching strategies that can increase the impact of each lesson for learners while saving instructors time in lesson planning.
In sessions, a great way to extend your practice for a reading selection is by asking your learner, what happens next? Your learner can share what they would do in the situation or what they imagine the characters will do next. Challenger is not only great for critical thinking and discussion prompt but also can turn into an extended writing project.
One free online resource to continue practicing the vocabulary is a set of word games for each book. Those can be found at here and here
