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Product Reviews March 2007
Each month Teaching Pre K-8 reviews outstanding products for the classroom.
This month's products are:
The Exceptional Company
Henry Holt and Company
Evan-Moor
Pelican Publishing Company
Heinemann
Travels with Music
The Exceptional Company
This is a new-ish company started by a long-time friend of Teaching K-8, Kevin Casey.
The Exceptional Company "...exists to provide educators, caregivers and exceptional children the best selection of supplemental learning materials and classroom supplies available from a single source – all created with a dedicated focus on their specific needs."
This month we received the first proprietary products from this company, "The Exceptional Reading Comprehension Series – Red Level Reading." The specific kit we saw was Morton & Friends. This kit includes 75 full-color 8-1/2" x 7" four-page story booklets with reading comprehension questions. There are three each of 25 stories. Each kit also contains an extensive 48-page Teacher's Guide filled with teaching tips, classroom management forms, student achievement record keeping, vocabulary worksheets, etc. The kit covers reading levels 1.3-2.5. Interest level is 1-5.
The objectives for the stories are to help children recall details, use context clues to discover words and meanings, to find the main idea, to follow sequence and to recognize up to 120 new vocabulary words. The overriding feeling for the children is that their ability to read enables them to choose reading materials that please and interest them. It doesn't get any better than that for any child.
There are three other kits on this level: Mikie, Pets and Laughs & Secrets. These last two kits have interest levels of 1-8. This company is worth a good bit of your time. You'll love this reading series.
The Exceptional Company
www.exceptionalcompany.com
What Is Science?
This is a delightful picture book illustrating and celebrating science in its many forms. Poet Rebecca Kai Dotlich enchants with her spartan choice of words, each one perfect. The artwork, in a contemporary style, provides many opportunities to "read the art" and is by Sachiko Yoshikawa. $16.95 at your local bookstore. Henry Holt and Company is the publisher.
www.henryholtchildrensbooks.com
Take It To Your Seat...
Evan-Moor has prepared a wonderful series entitled "Take It to Your Seat," which covers various centers. We particularly liked "Vocabulary Centers – Grades 4-5." In this 192-page book there are 12 full-color centers and the vocabulary encompasses science words, analogies, heteronyms, homophones, homographs, computer compound words, prefixes and suffixes and geometric figures.
Making the centers is easy, as absolutely everything you'll need is included and the directions are as simple as can be. There's also terrific professional development included in the questions asked of the teacher as to the use of centers. Not only are the centers colorful, but the art is also clever.
Once you've got these made, your teaching load will be lightened considerably. $24.99 for each book and there are books for the various grades in the areas of math, literacy, science, phonics, geography, writing, vocabulary and early learning. Available at your school supply dealer, but add s/h if you order direct from the publisher.
We also saw The Never-Bored Kid Book, which contains drawing lessons, hidden pictures, dot-to-dots, riddles, puzzles, etc. A winner at $14.99 plus s/h.
www.evan-moor.com
Edna Hibel – An Artist's Story of Love and Compassion
It's rare that a great artist has much to do with the writing of his or her biography. Edna Hibel is the exception. The book, Edna Hibel – An Artist's Story of Love and Compassion (Pelican Publishing Co., Inc., 2006) is by Millie Clarkson, Edna Hibel and Theodore Plotkin. It's presented in coffee-table book format and is stunning. The size affords beautiful reproductions of some of Hibel's work.
We loved the tone of the book, which intersperses Edna Hibel's reminiscences with a timeline of her life. It's an effective technique and suits this artist known for love and compassion.
Not only will your students be fascinated by the artwork, but they can also get a sense of how one can use his or her talent to send powerful messages that can unite people around the world. There are life lessons in many of Hibel's quotes: "You know, 'To thine own self be true.' It sounds simple to be yourself, but oh my, it's a struggle. The more I learn to handle my tools and the more self-confident I become, the easier it is to be myself."
There are many layers in the book and it can be used in many areas of the curriculum. Acquiring this book is a lovely way to celebrate Youth Art Month. The book is $60 and available at your local bookstore.
www.pelicanpub.com
Reading Aloud
The authors of Reading Aloud Across the Curriculum (Heinemann, 2006) are Lester M. Laminack and Reba M. Wadsworth, extraordinary teachers. Every paragraph of their book is filled with classroom-tested tips and ideas for using read-aloud strategies across the curriculum.
These authors have looked at many titles through the lens of the national standards and selected those titles that best support the various areas of curriculum. Even the discussion of how to use the standards is outstanding. There are three specific units of study each for social studies, language arts, science and math; 12 units altogether.
Each of the children's books chosen for inclusion is presented with author and illustrator listed as well as publisher and ISBN number. Then, there's a summary of the story with additional suggestions of how the values and theme of the story can be extended.
We'd like a copy of this title for every elementary teacher – and some middle school teachers also. $25 plus s/h.
www.heinemann.com
Travels with Music™
The DVD Travels With Music – Series One is an interactive exploration of 15 world cultures through the music of those cultures. The video can be enjoyed as master musicians tell their stories, or the content can provide the material for an educational game based on the knowledge gained from the musicians profiles.
This is a great social studies enrichment tool. The company produces other interactive cultural material to enrich your classroom. Just $99.
www.travelswithmusic.org
March, 2007, Vol.37, No.6
