35 and Counting
By Patricia Broderick and Allen Raymond

Don't miss this one
This book is outstanding. Dear Miss Breed by Joanne Oppenheim (Scholastic Nonfiction) is really a must-read. It tells the true stories of the young Japanese Americans incarcerated during WWII, and a librarian who made a difference to these children.

The horror of those days is told without drama; this is a recounting of the ordinariness of the lives of all involved. Making it all the more poignant are the inserts from letters of Miss Breed to "my children."

When children were to be sent to the camps, Miss Breed provided them with stamped postcards, addressed to her, so she would know where they were and could send books to them. She did this throughout their internment. The letters she received in return are excerpted throughout the book. The children were amazing; they started libraries in the camps with as few as 10 books.

We could go on and on, but our recommendation is to read this 288-pager. It's a great read-aloud we think you'll enjoy as much as the children will.
Scholastic
www.scholastic.com

Arts-in-Literacy Kit
There are six kits planned for this new project from School Specialty Publishing. The brainchild of John Lithgow, each kit presents three lit sets of informational books written by classroom teachers. These kits are named for characters in the stories Lithgow has written over the last several years.

The books increase in difficulty from emerging reader material A Crash, a Roar, and So Much More! through The Amazing Incredible You! for confident readers and finally to Pockets That Hop for independent readers. These are the titles in Marsupial Sue, kit one. Also in the kit you'll find the Teacher's Writing Guide and the Teacher's Reading Guide, two 64-page handbooks that present extension/enrichment activities, reproducibles and so on. And there's more! There are Marsupial Sue Student Writing Prompts, one book for each grade level, K through grade three. Marsupial Sue Self-Assessment Guide, two posters and a large stack of bookmarks completes the kit.

Level Two activities for grades K-1 are intended to be shared with students dictating most of the written work to the teacher. Level Three activities for grades 1-2 use guided writing. Students practice their writing skills with assistance. Level Four activities are for grades 2-3 and are designed to be completed independently. The structure of these activities and writing prompts make them easy to use on a mix-and-match basis.

Activities offer practice in fiction, nonfiction, poetry and a variety of other forms such as lists, letters and charts and meet national standards.

These are nifty kits with really user-friendly designed books and you'll love the storage aspects of the kit. Find out lots more about the kits at the School Specialty Publishing website.
School Specialty Publishing
www.schoolspecialtypublishing.com

Radius™
We saw the neatest new digital learning system at the spring National School Supply and Equipment (NSSEA) conference. The Radius™ Digital Learning System from Learning Resources and incorporates the benefits of an interactive CD with advanced card-reading capabilities to create a new teaching platform.

The way it works is that students, individually or in small groups, can access content on pre-recorded cds by scanning colorful, easy-to-use activity cards. There's a record and playback feature that enables students to hear up to two minutes of their responses. The LCD screen provides large, easy-to-read visual reinforcement. By using existing Radius Card Sets and content-rich CDs, students have the capability to learn a diverse number of subjects through varied lesson patterns and simple, hands-on interaction. Radius CD Card Sets are sold separately and cover a wide range of ages, grades and subjects, including ESL/ELL. Card sets available at this time are in the areas of phonics (Alphabet Awareness, Short Vowels, Long Vowels, Rhyming Word Families, etc.), and Reading (Reading Fluency, Reading Comprehension, Picture Vocabulary for ELL, Math Concepts for ELL and more). It's important to note that there are broader applications for Radius and these cards than those listed. The company has lots of plans for additional card sets in many ground-breaking areas.

Stereo headphones with microphone and channel speakers are available as accessories.

It's tough to individualize as much as we'd like and this Radius Digital Learning System can help immeasurably. The system itself is $229.95, the card sets are $39.95 each, the headphones with microphone is $36.95 and the speakers are $26.95. Also available at school supply stores.
Learning Resources
www.learningresources.com

Mysteries for Writing and Critical Thinking
Writing prompts and critical thinking exercises are based on seven mysteries in Mysteries for Writing and Critical Thinking, an 80-page book of reproducibles for grades 4-8.

The activities require students to break down clues and filter evidence using everything from deductive reasoning to math and science skills. After their research, students write their conclusions from the perspectives of suspects, investigators and attorneys. We really like this book; it takes us away from skill-and-drill and lets kids give their brains a workout.

Although an answer key is provided, students may use creative and critical thinking to form alternate conclusions. $10.99 plus s/h or at your school supply dealer.
Teacher Created Resources
www.teachercreated.com

Super Labels
This company has the best ideas for labeling! Working labels, that is. In today's world there are so many allergies and caveats, it's hard to keep track. With very young children, it's also difficult to rely on them to remind you about their allergies, etc.

Enter Label It or Lose It. This company has wonderful labels of all types, guaranteed to stick. They're washable, too. And, the ordering process couldn't be easier – it's all done online. The price depends on the number and type of labels, so visit their website. You'll see how you can make your life easier – and your students' lives safer.
Label It or Lose It
www.labelitorloseit.com

Signing Babies
Use American Sign language (ASL) with your preverbal kids – your own or those you have in day care or preschool? You bet. New research has documented that the benefits of ASL signing with young (very young) children are powerful. And one company that excels in ASL signing resources for the hearing world is Sign2Me.
One of their products, Sign With Your Baby® has great information for the adult in book, DVD/video and Quick Reference Guide formats. This package is just $49.95 plus s/h. We think it will be great for new mothers as well as in all special education situations.

Sign2Me® Flash Cards, the newest product, have several beginner series packs grouped according to animals and colors; family, clothing and toileting; objects and emotions; actions, etc. These are $11.95 a pack, plus s/h.

We all know the old axiom "What's good for the exceptional child is exceptionally good for all children." These products certainly prove that statement. Find out more about this company (a subsidiary of Northlight Communications, Inc.) and their terrific method of signing with children as young as 11 months.
Sign2Me
www.sign2me.com

Shapes Etc.
If it's clever cut-out notepads, rubber stamps and stamp awards, nametags, bookmarks and even outfits for cut-out people, there's one-stop shopping at Shapes Etc.

So many of the items from this company make our days easier. It also provides reasonably priced end-of-year gifts that we all like to give.

A new book from Shapes Etc. is Quick & Easy Clothes that provides outfits to cut and color. This is super for special education situations when we're teaching kids about appropriate clothing for the seasons, as well as community helpers, costumes and so on. Just a very handy resource.

There are also terrific directions on how to make a shaped book open flat and other ideas for using many of these classroom time-savers.

Visit Susan DeMuth at the new website of Shapes Etc. to see the complete range of items available. It's coming soon.
Shapes Etc.
www.shapesetc.com

Tilbury House
The special mission of this publishing house is to "bring to market children's books that help children develop empathy and understanding and demonstrate how one person can make a difference in today's world." And that's just what they do.

The two new titles we saw were paperback editions of books that have been out of print for several years.

The Mushroom Man (ISBN:10 0-88448-278-2) is the story of an elderly man who works in the dark in a mushroom factory and who is very lonely. He tries befriending animals, but they leave him. He finally finds a true friend, a mole. This is a lovely story about true friendship.

Muskrat Will Be Swimming (ISBN:10-0-88448-280-4) is the tale of a little girl who is part Native American and part French. She lives in a lakeside community that's made up of trailers and winterized cottages. She is hurt by classmates who don't understand her life and call her ugly names. It is her grandfather who tells her of a legend concerning Muskrat that helps her to accept where she's from and who she is.

Both of these books are beautifully illustrated and bound to be a hit with your class. We'd use them as read alouds because they could lend themselves to wonderful discussions in the area of character education. Just $7.95 at your bookseller (plus s/h if you order direct from publisher).
Tilbury House Publishers
www.tilburyhouse.com

FitFlixs Kids Fitness
These three DVDs are the new generation of fitness programming and bound to be a sure-fire hit with your class. You'll like them, too!

The DVDs are structured with 10-minute Fun Fit Blasts and Rainy Day Games for the Classroom, each featuring a different fitness format; Yoga, dance, strength, core movement skills and so on. You can pop this into the DVD player and then all you have to do is exercise right along with the kids. Great for grades K-6 (and for home). The second DVD for school use is Parachute Play and Ball Games. This DVD goes a bit further and teaches strategies, interaction skills. Partner play is emphasized in the ball games as well as cooperative team games and individual skill development.

DVD number three is entitled The Best Games for Fun and Fitness. This combines organizational skills and drills, and offers sections on teaching skills and trouble shooting, warm ups and cool-downs, circle and group games, tag variations and other cooperative creative play games.

The best part of these DVDs is the fact that they instill a love of fitness in students. Once that's done, it's one less thing teachers have to worry about. Whew!
Each DVD is $19.95 plus s/h. There's a price reduction if you buy all three so be sure to check out the website.
FitFlixs Kids Fitness
www.fitflixs.com