" Read, Write, Checkmate starts with explanations of the board and of the pieces and how they move, then examines special moves and situations. Root includes exercises to help reinforce each lesson. Read, Write, Checkmate includes entertaining essays by students." -- Arches "Showing how chess meets educational objectives for students in grades 3-8, this work contains 4 chapters (2-5) that are appropriate for students as well as for instructors to learn chess. Drawing on her experience teaching courses at the University of Texas--Dallas that explore the use of chess in classrooms, Root provides numerous reproducible handouts for use by readers of the book. This is a welcome addition to an elementary or middle school library as well as to public libraries that might want to implement chess in the library." -- ARBAonline "In this volume, Root, a chess expert and education scholar at the U. of Texas at Dallas, utilizes chess to help students in grades three through eight with literacy.

She shows teachers how to teach chess to students, how it meets educational objectives, and how to have kids read and write about chess while learning to play. The main chapters of the book can be read directly by students, which are about the board, pieces, moves, rules, and how to notate and annotate games, write about chess, and create a book literacy project. The final chapter explains how chess can be used in libraries. All activities are linked to NCTE/IRA national standards for language arts. The book was based on Root's literacy project with middle school students." -- Reference & Research Book News.