Apex Books Help Striving Readers Build Skills

From great white sharks to giant squid, the ocean is full of all kinds of amazing animals. Readers learn about eight of these fascinating creatures in Giants of the Sea, a new series from Apex.

Apex books blend compelling topics like these with easy-to-read formats so that striving readers have the support they need to explore their interests. Each book uses a variety of tools to set readers up for success: simple chapter titles and short paragraphs divide the text into manageable sections, while plentiful pictures and bolded glossary words give readers additional support.

Each Apex series comes with a free printable lesson plan that students can use in the classroom or on their own. For Giants of the Sea, this lesson plan is a worksheet that helps students build familiarity with dictionaries and glossaries. Readers are invited to choose a book in the series and write down new or unfamiliar words they encounter as they read it. The lesson guides readers through looking up these words’ meanings and using each word in a sentence of their own. Through this activity, readers not only build comprehension of words in the book but also gain a tool they can use in the future. By helping students develop skills and strategies like this, Apex books equip striving readers to become thriving readers.