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Product Reviews August/September 2004
Each month Teaching Pre K-8 reviews outstanding products for the classroom.
This month's products are:
Delta Education
Pelican Publishing Company
Richard C. Owen, Publishers
firsthand
Carol Otis Hurst
Scholastic
Aladdin Paperbacks
Garlic Press
Daily Bite Publications
ETA/Cuisenaire
Free Spirit Publishing
Prufrock Press
From Delta Education
We received a softcover Science Dictionary from Delta that we think is just super. There's one 8 1/2" x 11" book for grades 3-4 (64 pages) and another for grades 5-6 (80 pages). Each book contains standard dictionary features (guide words, syllable breaks, age-appropriate definitions, etc.).
Not only are these great for science, but dictionary skills and vocabulary are built on an individual basis. This is the ideal package to enhance a truly integrated curriculum. The grades 3-4 book contains more than 1,000 words most commonly used in science at that specific level, and a sample sentence for every word and appropriate reading level. The grades 5-6 edition includes over 1,400 words.
For each of the books there are accompanying Science Dictionary Copymasters available for teacher use. These contain 10 activity sheets covering dictionary usage skills. It couldn't be easier for you.
The Science Dictionary is $6.95 per copy or $59.95 for a package of 10, plus s/h. The Science Dictionary Copymasters are $7.95 plus s/h.
Delta has done a really great job on this product.
Delta Education
800-442-5444
Verses for Dad's Heart
We received a pre-publication copy of the beautiful book of poetry by Steven L. Layne entitled Verses for Dad's Heart.
Steven Layne is one of our favorite people. This former middle school teacher now works in the area of staff development. He founded an educational consulting firm designed with the classroom teachers in mind and also works with Staff Development for Educators (SDE). Lucky are the people with whom
he consults.
Dr. Layne's book, Verses for Dad's Heart, explores the unique yet over-arching role of a father in a child's life – even the lives of grown-up children. The subject matter – the many faces of being a Dad – are so real world.
This is not only a lovely addition to your library, and a great example of using language well, but lends itself to character education discussions.
This 40-page, 7" x 10" book would also be a great gift to a very special Dad. $16.95 plus s/h.
Pelican Publishing Company
www.pelicanpub.com
Margaret Mooney
Need we say more? Margaret is that so very wise teacher who can communicate her enormous expertise to us in such a way that we feel we can achieve the success with children that she has. Her new book, A Book Is a Present, (Richard C. Owen, 2004) is a gift to all of us.
The book deals with knowing how to determine a text's complexity and how to select the most appropriate resources to teach reading. And, we can only make these informed choices about what to use and how to present it when we know what our selection offers. Only then can we match a book to a student, rather than the other way around or by trying to manipulate a student's skills to cope with an unsuitable text.
As Margaret states: "Knowing how to consider the textual and illustrative features of a book enables the teacher to identify those that would encourage application of strategies and skills that are secure within each learner, those that would offer practice of skills and strategies currently being acquired, and those that would present an achievable challenge."
There are 10 chapters in this books, starting with "Leveling – By Whom and for Whom" through "What Kind of Book Is It?," "Supports and Challenges," "A Book Is a Present," "At First Glance," "Presents from the Author," "Presents from the Illustrator and Designer," "The Present Itself," "Presenting the Present" and "The Lasting Present." We spent a great weekend reading and pondering each of these chapters. They really require that one think through one's approaches to teaching reading with great honesty and simplicity. It's all doable, with Margaret's guidance. For instance, we've never seen the design and illustration factor as an element of reading suitability dealt with in such depth and detail. We learned a lot.
There are two main sections to the book: the first part includes Margaret's understandings about various aspects and features of books and how these support readers and writers. The second half details the features of a range of texts and offers suggestions on how they might be presented to readers and writers. Then, as if this terrific book were not enough of a bargain, shrink-wrapped with Margaret's book are two of the titles to which she has referred: The Birds at My Barn (16 pages – 230 words) and Minibeasts (24 pages – a compilation of science news items). These examples give us specific opportunities to apply Margaret's comments, which then result in deeper understanding. Page after page and chapter after chapter of A Book Is a Present are full of specific, how-to information. The books are paperback and the package is $26.95 plus s/h.
First and foremost, Margaret is a talented teacher and that comes across loud and clear. The whole book – all 150 pages – is a gift to us.
Richard C. Owen, Publishers
www.RCOwen.com
New from Heinemann
Teaching the Qualities of Writing, grades 3-6 is the most amazing product. It's a ready-to-use writing curriculum that provides your students with the instruction they need to improve the quality of their writing. This package has an added plus: while your kids are improving, you are, too. This program develops the teacher's ability to read and assess students' writing.
There are 112 ready-to-use lessons, a CD-ROM (which provides author videos, student writing discussions and print resources) and a Teacher's Guide which has a program overview, planning charts and assessment forms.
These lessons explore the a) ideas, b) design, c) language and d) presentation of writing and then show how, or when, the writer's voice is infused, the writer's personality energizes the writing. These four parts of the program are structured to be of most help to students: they're simple to use and understand. First, Ideas: strong writing conveys rich, plentiful ideas that are developed in engaging ways. Design: helps the writer present his or her ideas in an orderly fashion. This adds shape and overall design to one's writing. Language: the language the writer chooses directly affects how we experience the ideas put forth. Finally, Presentation: all the possible pitfalls of poor handwriting, spelling errors and disorderly papers must be corrected.
The authors tell us that "Voice is not a separate quality but a common thread that infuses all four qualities. Voice manifests itself in the kinds of ideas the writer chooses to put forward, how he decides to organize them, and in the particular way this writer's work appears on the page." The authors, by the way, are the estimable JoAnn Portalupi and Ralph Fletcher.
True to the Heinemann way, these lessons are really easy-to-use. They are on 11" x 9" card stock and the front of the card provides a straightforward lesson in a three-part structure. The back of the card provides exemplar texts and other lesson-specific teaching support.
The Teacher's Guide introduces the concept of the program and offers strategies for choosing lessons based on genre, interest and need. The guide also includes many examples of assessment and record-keeping forms.
The CD-ROM, Looking at Student Writing, provides video and print resources to support your writing curriculum. The authors provide practical advice on how to teach with TQW. There's an electronic presentation that allows you to listen in as the authors analyze 24 samples of student writing.
The list of ideas and topics is so large that we couldn't think of including it all. There are 112 cards in the set. Go to www.teachingthequalitiesofwriting.com and you'll be able to peruse the whole list at your leisure. There's a lesson on creating a poem from a story, another that gives the helpful advice, "Lead with a Question." How about "Work with a Recurring Detail" or "Develop a Scene" or a zillion other exciting, comprehensive ways to get kids to enjoy the process while becoming better and better writers.
Just $80 plus s/h for this astounding package. and we can't recommend it highly enough for all teachers, whether new or experienced.
firsthand
www.firsthand.heinemann.com
The Gold Standard
Carol Hurst, longtime Teaching K-8 columnist has prepared CDs of two of her most popular teacher's handbooks. Picture Books in the Classroom addresses concepts and skills across the curriculum through children's literature.
There are over 250 pages of books and activities not only across the regular curriculum, but including those oft-forgotten areas of music, art and physical education. In addition, there are 35 picture books perused in depth, and 21 author studies.
This CD version of Picture Books in the Classroom is in PDF so you'll need the Adobe Reader® program (download it free at www.adobe.com) to get you into the book. You can either print the text of the book and use it in loose-leaf format, use just a portion of it or use it on screen. There's a super skills chart and an extensive index. The format gives the titles, author, illustrator and publisher information, then provides a short summary of the book. Varying numbers of activities follow. For instance, Kevin Henkes is introduced in a short summary with information about his growing-up years. There is a separate statement about his work and 16 activities follow, all based on Kevin's picture books. The activities range from making a chart of the characters in Kevin's books and selecting words that describe these characters to finding a way to show the advantages and disadvantages of being an only child as Lilly was in Julius, the Baby of the World.
There is so much information on the CD for just $29.95 plus $2.50 p/h that we feel it's the best investment you'll make for your reading program.
Carol's second CD, In Times Past, integrates U.S .history with literature in grades 3-8. This is Carol's ever-popular book that's been updated. There are 336 pages of practical ideas for activities, research and discussions using kids books. One section of the CD looks at history through a wide lens and provides ideas for considering the scope of events. Another section follows one strand, such as immigration, throughout our history. Yet another section takes the more usual chronological approach, which looks at the culture of the time as well as the events. There's a very special section in which the teacher can dive into an era through a single novel. Carol's daughter, Rebecca Otis, helped out on this one. It's also $29.95 plus p/h.
Frankly, we can't imagine any teacher being without either of these CDs. Do visit Carol's website. It's more than worth your time.
Carol Otis Hurst
www.carolhurst.com
Scholastic Goodies
From the wealth of material Scholastic produces, we've been provided with a bag of neat samples for your classroom.
Included were teacher's handbooks for Teaching About Thanksgiving With Favorite Picture Books (grades 1-3, $11.99 plus s/h), the New Teacher's Complete Sourcebook (grades. K-4, $19.95 plus s/h), Candidates, Campaigns & Elections (grades 4-8, $23.95 plus s/h) and Day-by-Day 100th Day Activities, (PreK-s, $ll.95 plus s/h). The books range from 64 to 192 pages, each page packed with activities and classroom-tested practices that can be replicated in your classroom. All these titles, and more, are published by Scholastic Professional Books. Do visit the The Teacher Store at www.Scholastic.com
Back to the tote bag…we also found a sample decorative set included. There's a bulletin board trimmer and matching punch-out bulletin board materials. We received the apple trimmer set (measures 39 feet): bright and colorful red apples on a yellow background. The bulletin board apples (with a giant 24" apple) come packaged with a four-page teaching guide to make your job easier. There's also a school bus set, ABC and 123 quilt and several other possibilities for your classroom. The decoratives are available at The Teacher Store at www.Scholastic.com
Another wonderful item in the bag was Scholastic TRIO – One Theme at Three Levels. This is a leveled reading collection that engages students at three levels of reading ability, all in the same content-area topic. The instructional routine provides for teaching skills, building background and conducting writing experiences in a whole-class setting. At the same time you can provide your students with small-group leveled reading experiences. One book of the trio is above level, one is on level, and one is below level for those still struggling with reading grade-level text.
We received Set 3 of TRIO and found six copies of each of the books in the "Our Country" set. "Our Flag" (below level), "The Story of The White House" (on level) and "The Statue of Liberty" (above level).
There are worksheets for each of the three titles, and a six- page Teacher's Guide. Other series in TRIO include social studies, science and language arts selections.
Visit Scholastic's website for more information on all of these great, but inexpensive, products. You won't be disappointed.
Scholastic
www.Scholastic.com
Talk About Beautiful!
Eileen Spinelli's new book Sophie's Masterpiece is truly...well, a masterpiece. Not since Charlotte has a spider captured our imagination as Sophie has.
We see Sophie grow from a gangly baby to an elegant, white-haired spider. We see her work growing from the "Oh, gosh" stage to mute awe. Eileen chronicles Sophie's life and growth so that we experience her hard times as well as her triumphs.
We won't spoil the ending for you, but we will tell you it's poignant – and maybe a metaphor – different for each reader. The art is simply gorgeous thanks to Jane Dyer.
The publisher says this book is for ages four to seven, but we can think of many uses for it at other levels in many other areas of the curriculum. 32 pages, $6.99 (paperback) at your local bookstore.
We'll never step on another spider.
Aladdin Paperbacks
www.SimonSaysKids.com
From Garlic Press
The Early Sign Language Series is outstanding. Your response to the first four books: An Alphabet of Animal Signs, Foods Signs, Pets & Animals, and First Signs was so great that the publisher decided to extend the line.
The size of these board books is 6"x 6." The content is interesting as it takes an adult approach to the vocabulary covered, though the format is designed for children.
And it's the content that's important. For instance, there are signs for 104 familiar foods in the Food Signs book.
It's more and more critical that we all try to reach out to others. For those living in a hearing-deprived world, having someone try to speak to them in sign language is priceless. This applies, too, for our toddlers who are just learning language and have the extra burden of deafness.
We've heard that we can give our children the gift of a foreign language...well sign language is a foreign language. Don't miss this series.the books are $6.95 each and are available at school supply dealers as well as at the publisher.
Garlic Press
www.garlicpress.com
Daily Bite
The seven looseleaf binders, one for each grade level K-6, are just chock-a-block with quick daily review in the areas of language arts, math, patterning and sequence, analogies and geography. You no longer have to take your time to put up your unpunctuated sentences or that math question on the board each day. This series provides two language-based questions each day. You'll find four entries per day.
Why make yourself crazy? Take a look at these materials and relieve your day of another chore. Each book contains transparencies best suited to the second half of the year when daily review is so critical...yet seems so tedious.
This company also creates testing transparencies (graded), Language Bites (English Daily Review for grades six, seven and eight), Math Morsels for Intermediate, Pre-Algebra and Algebra as well as Middle School/High School Spanish and French.
Levels K and one are $59.95 plus s/h, the others are $89.95 plus s/h. It's best to check Daily Bite's website for specific information.
There are certain nuts and bolts products that can make our lives easier. This is one of them.
Daily Bite Publications
www.dailybite.com
Literacy Resource
Whether you're a new kindergarten teacher or an experienced one, keeping up with today's assessment requirements and research is enough to drive you ‘round the bend. And nowhere is this tougher – but more necessary – than in the field of literacy. Teaching reading. Two simple words, but the source of so much angst.
Miriam Trehearne, K and early literacy specialist, has put together one of the most comprehensive guides to help teachers easily work with not only the "how" of teaching beginning readers, but "why" certain strategies work. She addresses the areas that research indicates are essential to reading success including oral language, phonological awareness and print awareness.
In each of the the seven chapters of this huge guide the author provides the relevant research (chewed down and practical), the assessment content, linking assessment to instruction, closing thoughts and blackline masters to implement the topic.
There is an extensive Introduction that covers literacy in kindergarten, the language learner, literacy goals in kindergarten, literacy skills in kindergarten, making your kindergarten developmentally appropriate and a continuum of children's development in early reading and writing. Chapter One addresses print awareness, Chapter Two takes on phonological awareness, Chapter Three tackes oral language, Chapter Four deals with the kindergarten day, Chapter Five looks at early intervention for students at risk, Chapter Six makes the connection between home and school while Chapter Seven wraps up with volunteers, buddies and paraprofessionals.
The layout of each page makes the guide very easy to use. There are lots of kids' books recommended for specific subjects addressed, and handy checklists for teachers. There's even a blackline master for a placement on segmentation.
This Resource Guide is an incredible bargain at $79.95 plus s/h. We honestly thought the selling price would be much higher. There's a sampler available for the asking. Our best advice is to go to the publisher's website and read all about it!
ETA/Cuisenaire
www.etacuisenaire.com
Free Spirit Press
This company produces consistently excellent resources for those hard-to-handle affective areas. If you don't know their work, it's worth your while to take the time to get acquainted. They promote themselves as the company "that helps kids help themselves," and they certainly do that.
One of their new titles is The Kid's Guide to Working Out Conflicts . If you teach middle school and want a peaceful classroom, this one's for you.
The author, Naomi Drew, a former teacher hits head-on those topics that make this book a goldmine. There are eight steps for kids from "Open Your Mind," through "Decide to Become a problem Solver," "Become a Better Listener," "Use Win/Win Guidelines," "Manage Your Anger and Gain Control," "Learn to Manage Stress and Stay Calm, Cool, and Confident," "Be Smart About Bullying" and "Build Yourself Up from the Inside Out." All of these topics are right on target for today's kids.
We learned a great deal, too. Did you know that 60% of those people who were considered bullies in grades six – nine ended up being charged with a crime by age 24? Or that 160,000 kids a day skip school for fear of being picked on and bullied!
The book also provides a great list of additional resources and nine reproducible pages for a conflict-manager's action plan, day by day. 160 pages, ages 10 - 14, $13.95 plus s/h from the publisher. Also at your local bookstore and online bookstores.
Free Spirit Publishing
www.freespirit.com
Writing Like Writers
This is the title of a super guide whose subtitle is "Guiding Elementary Children Through a Writer's Workshop." We hear so much about writer's workshop, but this book really takes the reader by the hand. It starts with the basic information about preparing materials for a writing classroom. It makes so much senseto approach the process this way. The checklist will start new teachers and veteran teachers on the right foot. Chapter One also includes information on connecting writing instruction to writing standards and the home/school partnership. The next seven chapters work through living the writer's workshop, exploring the writing process, teaching effective writing strategies, teaching the elements of story structure, teaching the craft of writing and assessing writing. The last chapter deals with a conceptual framework of instructional decision making.
Handy reproducible pages save time and provide insight into your class as writers. The Glossary is impressive and the many, many pages of teacher's references, children's references and website references are invaluable.
This book is 289 pages of pure help for teachers. It's just $27.95, paperbound, 8 1/2 x 11. Visit the website of this company – it was new to us – and enjoy. The tag line on their letterhead reads "The Nation's Leading Publisher Supporting The Education of Gifted and Talented Children." True, we're sure, but we can't think of a child or teacher, gifted or not, who wouldn't benefit from this book.
Prufrock Press
www.prufrock.com
