Marketplace : Product Reviews :
Product Reviews April 2007
Each month Teaching Pre K-8 reviews outstanding products for the classroom.
This month's products are:
Boyds Mills Press
Evan-Moor Educational Publishers
Greenwillow Books
Pelican Publishing Company
ZAMWorks!
Science. Disney Educational Productions
Boyds Mills Press
Simon & Schuster
Math Dictionary
Now, when did you ever find a math dictionary that was fun? Well, we just did. Math Dictionary (Boyds Mills Press, 2006) is for kids ages 10 and up, and for their teachers and parents, too. It's easy to use for young users who might be a bit soft on dictionary skills. The author, Eula Monroe, also offers synonyms and related words that share the same root. There are photos included to show real-world connections to many mathematics terms. For example, there's a photo of the sub-structure of a bridge to illustrate the word "arc," a multi-turreted house to illustrate the word "angle," and so on.
There's a feature called "Did You Know?" incorporated throughout the book. The information presented in this feature is spun off from one of the definitions and is like a trivia game, but with related – not random – definitions.
The premise for this book is to encourage the language of mathematics as being integral to our daily lives. Math Dictionary does that. $19.95, plus s/h.
Boyds Mills Press
www.boydsmillspress.com
Pre-planning
It may seem early days, but most teachers are great planners and we thought you'd like to know about the neat daily plan book we received. It will be terrific for organizing your plans for next year.
Daily Plan Book – Garden Theme was produced by Evan-Moor and this company really knows what teachers want. The book is spiral bound, and has enough features to satisfy new and experienced teachers. Besides the regular school day and weekly schedules, there is a place for the map of the school, the discipline plan and ways to integrate the curriculum. It's for grades K-6 and has a wonderful cover! Well done. $8.99 plus s/h or at your local school supply dealer. There are many other neat new titles, so be sure to check the website.
Evan-Moor Educational Publishers
www.evan-moor.com
Terrible Storm
One of Carol Otis Hurst's last books is a wonderful picture book, full of Carol's wry humor. In Terrible Storm (Greenwillow, 2007), she recounts the snow of the century (fact) and how her two grandfathers weathered three days of snow, trapped in the worst possible place for each of them. Gregarious Grandpa Otis was alone in a barn, and solitude-loving Grandpa Clark took refuge in an inn – with a lot of other people.
Carol's inimitable humor shines forth in the spare dialogue, and her storyteller's pacing make this a superlative read-aloud. Treat yourself and your kids to a treasure. $16.99 at your bookseller.
Greenwillow Books
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
A new book
Steven Layne is one of our favorite teachers – and authors. And, his new children's book has just been published. Love the Baby (Pelican Publishing, 2007) is a clever take on sibling jealousy when a new baby comes home.
Children in this situation will enjoy hearing Steven's story over and over, because, in the end, things really do work out in a comforting way. Children realize that not only is there enough love to go around, but being a big brother is also pretty special. $15.95 at your local bookstore.
Pelican Publishing Company
www.pelicanpub.com
ZamWorks!
This unusual name is an acronym for Zoo & Aquarium Media Works. We had not heard of this company, but we really liked the product they forwarded. It's a unique wildlife conservation curriculum called "Zam's Quest" and it's for grades five to eight. The program allows students to develop real-world solutions to real conservation issues.
Zam's Quest is multidisciplinary in approach and carefully makes children aware that there are many stakeholders in conservation dilemmas and, usually, no black and white answers.
The program follows a format throughout the book: The conservation problem is laid out, a fact sheet on the subject is next, there's an additional fact sheet covering the geologic area of the subject. Character cards are included for each of the stakeholders involved in the problem with points of argument listed, a worksheet for organization of one's thoughts (from the point of view of the character selected from the character cards), and a role playing situation. Finally, there's a creative writing exercise giving the point of view of one of th e stakeholders in the problem.
A large component of the program is www.ZamsQuest.com a content-rich website. There are additional activities available there. Blogs from experts in the various relevant conservation areas are included. The teacher's guide is spiral bound for ease of use and is quite good. The owner of the curriculum is Nature Issues. We saw Watershed Runoff Edition, Pollution Edition, Invasive Species Edition, and Overfishing Edition.
The program is presently in use in 10 states. Cost is $299 and that includes 25 student workbooks. Additional workbooks are $6.95 each. Training is available live or online. Add s/h. Do visit the website for a lot more information on this "now" program.
ZAMWorks!
www.ZamsQuest.com
The Way Cool Game of Science
Bill Nye, the Science Guy has created a series of new interactive DVD games about... what else? Science. Disney Educational Productions is the producer so, of course, the graphics are outstanding.
The DVD pulls randomly from hundreds of standards-based questions. Answers are supported by clips from Bill's library of shows. Fourth through eighth graders are hooked on this series.
Teachers love it, too. it's Standards- based, easy to integrate in your science curriculum, simple to use – 20-30 minutes of play time turns an incorrect answer into a teachable moment – and builds student confidence. Each game is a quiz, so this makes it nice prep for Standardized Tests. There's even on-screen scoring.
Just now there are 11 DVD's. There are also printable teacher resources and links to more questions and online materials. The series is organized into three sets: Life Science (Structure and Function in Living Systems, Reproduction and Heredity, Regulation and Behavior, Populations and Ecosystems and Diversity and Adaptation). Earth Science (Earth Structure and Movement, The Solar Systems and Galaxies, Earth History and Resources) and Physical Science (Force and Motion, Energy Transfer and Matter).
Individual games sell for $49.95 and that includes s/h. We think you should contact Disney about pricing for sets, the whole series – whatever combination best suits your school.
A lot of us, present company included, are science challenged. This series would have solved so many problems for us! Find out more about this super product at the website below.
www.EduStation.Disney.com
Boyds Mills Press
We received prepublication copies of two really must-have titles from this publisher. Piggy Wiglet is the delightful tale of a pig who chases a dream, only to find that, at the end of the day, his dream can be found right at home. David Harrison is the poet extraordinaire who chronicles the journey of Piggy through countryside, park, zoo, town and home again. The rhymes are ear-tickling. The rhyming words used throughout make this is a super read-aloud, and a great aid for children working toward fluency. The art by Karen Stormer Brooks is sure to please the two-to-six age range of the book. This little gem is $16.95 at your local bookstore.
Another outstanding book in the shipment we received was Remembering Grandpa by Uma Krishnaswami with art by Layne Johnson. The book deals with Daysha's Grandma's "bad case of sadness;" a very sensitive subject, handled incredibly well.
We've never been a big fan of bibliotherapy in general, but this book could make converts of us. The two rabbit characters are portrayed in a simple, elegant style; there's nothing cutesy about them though they are absolutely endearing. The specific choice of words for the text creates the same visual image the artist rendered. The depth of perception of grief and loss on a child's level, and the resulting healing is nothing short of spectacular.
This book deserves a permanent place in every class. For ages six to eight. $16.95.
www.boydsmillspress.com
Mary Higgins Clark
We're not normally in favor of "celebrit" books because, by and large, those we've seen have not been very good. However, we have another exception to the rule. Successful and master-mystery writer Mary Higgins Clark has just given us Ghost Ship (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2007).
This tale of a modern day nine-year-old boy meeting an historical boy on a Cape Cod beach has the requisite exciting sea captains, dangerous storms, great fires and a mysterious belt buckle. There's also a very, very clever, thus typically Clark, denouement. A real child-pleaser. But we liked it, too.
The rich sailing history of the Cape is brought to vivid life not only by Ms. Clark's masterful writing, but by the evocative art of Wendell Minor. In fact, the detailed art makes the story accessible to a wide range of emergent readers as well as fluent readers. This story is not just for reading and language arts work, but also lends itself to meaty social studies explorations.
On the flyleaf Ms. Clark states that, although this is her first book for children, she's been telling stories to children for a long, long time. Ah. A celebrity who understands that the first rule for a great children's book is – a great story. $17.99.
www.simonandschuster.com
April, 2007, Vol.37, No.7
