Read, Write, Checkmate both teaches chess to students and provides educators with an outline for a classroom literacy project. Chess expert, Alexey Root, describes her project to have kids read and write about chess while learning to play and excel at the game. Patterned after an actual project undertaken with 25 middle school students, this book features all you need to know to teach kids to play well and reinforce their reading and writing skills at the same time. All activities are linked to the NCTE/IRA national standards for language arts. Lesson plans, over 100 chess diagrams, parent letters, annotated bibliographies and all other needed information project in the classroom is included. Grades 3-8.

Chess captivates children. Connect their interest to education with Science, Math, Checkmate, an activity book and teacher resource for grades 3-8. Students learn chess rules and strategies through activities coded to the 32 pawns and pieces on a chessboard. The 16 pawn activities require no chess knowledge, 14 of the piece activities build on students' growing familiarity with chess, and the two king activities challenge budding chess experts. Within the chess activities, students practice national standards of scientific inquiry and mathematical problem solving. Improved thinking in science, math, and chess are the winning results: Checkmate!

The introductory chapter discusses the scientific inquiry and mathematical problem solving standards, explains the coding system for the chess activities, and details what materials should be purchased. Chapters 2 (scientific inquiry), 3 (mathematical problem solving), and 4 (inter-disciplinary) each contain 10-12 activities at different grade and chess levels. The book ends with an appendix of the rules of chess. It includes approximately 100 chess diagrams. Grading rubrics and check lists are offered with each activity to assist teachers in assessing student learning.