Passages (and Beyond!)

---

By Passages (and Beyond!), what we really mean is any full-length writing that has a beginning, middle, and end. For many students, it is shorter 1-3 page writings that we face most often and that defines the reading comprehension experience. This is true for classroom assignments as well as for many standardized tests, including both college/grad school entrance exams as well as statewide assessment/achievement testing that all students and parents and love so much! It is these passages that make up the majority of the Read It Write! instructional program for How to Read full-length writings.

Chapters are essentially slightly longer than passages. They are full-length and have a beginning, middle and end, so we attack chapters in much the same way we attack a passage. Book chapters differ from passages in that they tend to be longer (some book chapters can be quite long- 30 pages or even more!) and they are not self-contained. In other words, the chapter also needs to be framed within the Big Picture of the book it is a part of. Not to worry, the Read It Write! program has you covered!

Books also follow the basic How to Read blueprint of find and attack the Big Picture. The typical extended length and multitude of chapters in a book of course presents additional challenges for readers. But that is why we are all here, and it is nothing that Online-RCA and its Read It Write! program can't handle full well! Academic journal articles will be classified either as books or as passages depending on their length and whether or not the article has chapters or chapter-like breakdowns to it.