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Leaving
By Patricia Broderick and Allen Raymond
May and June are always a bittersweet time in the classroom
You've coaxed, created, supported, rejoiced. You've given your all. And now you have to watch the whole package walk away. The fact that they're more confident, are excited about learning and prepared to move on is due to you. Bittersweet knowledge.
And then there are the children who will be waiting outside your door in September, eyes lit by excitement; ready for your special magic.
Self-Esteem Passport
A truly clever idea pops up every so often, and we found one of these ideas at the National School Supply & Equipment Association conference in March.
The Self-Esteem Passport is a small booklet in which a child writes in the various sections. The "Be Proud of Your Looks Visa Section" provides space for a photo. However, there are also lines in which the child is encouraged to write why the photo was selected, and to "determine for yourself what is attractive about you." The statement further reads "Admiring all of your features bolsters your self-esteem because it is the highest form of self-acceptance." There's a "Physical Attributes Visa" section, a "Self-Confidence Visa" section, "Acceptance of Faults Visa" section, "Sense-of-Humor Visa" section, "Personal Courage Visa" section, "Choosing to Risk Visa" section – and that's just the first half of the Passport.
It goes on to cover the Power of Failure, Giving Up Resentments, Being Your Own Best Friend, Your Uniqueness, Freedom from Guilt and a place to capsulize all one's newly discovered self-esteem strengths. This can be a very effective tool for intermediate and middle school kids. About $6.95 each; call for bulk pricing.
The company that published this Passport, ODT, also has an unusual line of maps, like an equal-area map. A visit to this website is really worth your time.
ODT Maps, Inc.
www.ODTMaps.com
Free Spirit Publishing
This company consistently produces superior books for young children and teens. Their purview is the affective domain and the content of their books ranges from far and wide social skills and relationships, emotional learning, character education to bullying and conflict resolution.
Free Spirit also produces teacher resources, counseling and support materials and special needs materials for gifted as well as LD and ADD children.
One of their new titles that caught our attention is Dude, That's Rude! (Get Some Manners). Using a cartoon format and kid-friendly text, the basics of polite behavior are covered. Just think of the quality of life in your classroom improved 100% by kids knowing how to treat a guest and be one, body manners, the Ten Top Table Manners (yea!) and so on. There are even the essentials of "e-tiquette" (politeness online), Cellphone Manners and Public Manners (playing and watching sports, behavior on buses, trains etc.). Free Spirit makes the point that manners are major social skills. 128 pages, $8.95, for ages eight to 13. There's also a handbook for teens on the topic of manners.
So many good books come from Free Spirit Publishing.
Free Spirit Publishing
www.freespirit.com
Leave it to Eve Bunting
From her bottomless well of creativity, Eve Bunting has given us a new alphabet book. S is for Shamrock: An Ireland Alphabet (Sleeping Bear Press, 2007) takes the reader through the alphabet with short poems about an Irish location, custom or object. One of us is Irish and has visited Ireland many times, but we still learned a great many things we'd not known. We learned about hedge schools and that the letters x and z do not exist in the Irish alphabet.
The book carries an expanded explanation including historical data about the keyword on each spread. The illustrations provided by Matt Faulkner are great fun. For instance, the "I is for Irish wolfhound" page shows a dog on its hind legs, dancing with a member of the court. Only kings and noblemen were allowed to own wolfhounds in old Ireland.
There's a great deal that can be done with this book in every area of the curriculum. $17.95 at your local bookstore.
Sleeping Bear Press
www.sleepingbearpress.com
Baffle Gab™
This is a fun vocabulary-building game that made its debut in the consumer market. Now it's available for schools, and kids can have a great time with it while honing vocabulary and writing skills.
The interesting aspect of this game is that it will be great for intermediate and upper grades – not always the grade level that comes to mind when we think of vocabulary building. Because of the fast-paced game format, older kids will be intrigued. The publisher recommends it for ages seven to 13.
The game involves pulling five word cards and, at a signal, each person writing a story using the words displayed. There are all kinds of scoring regulations affecting position of the words on the cards in the composed sentences, words used as proper nouns and so on. There is also the opportunity for word challenges, and word definitions are included on the reverse of the word cards.
The kit includes word cards, Bone Bucks (rewards) pads for stories and a timer. The term Baffle Gab comes from the game's mascot, Gabby.
There are also other extensions available for use with this game: Baffle Booster Themes™ and Baffle Booster™ Famous Lines. There's also a Spanish version of the game.
Why not visit this company's website and look over their products? You could use the games with your own children during the summer and bring them to school in the fall. We're just so impressed that these games are for older kids. All of the pieces go into a handy carrying case, so this could be ideal for small group work. $29.95 plus s/h.
Baffle Gab
www.bafflegab.com
From Guilford Press
We received a great handbook, Differentiated Reading Instruction: Strategies for the Primary Grades from Guilford Press. There is no "education-ese" used, just solid practical ideas for Kindergarten through grade three.
Basically, the book answers the question "How can we meet children's diverse needs and accelerate literacy development for all within regular classroom instruction?" Tried- and-true lessons are the answer, and these are included.
The format of the book consists of an introduction of a topic, the research on that topic and then frequently asked Q and A's. It's a very easy-to-use resource. $24 plus s/h.
www.guilford.com
Maupin House
Middle school teachers can breathe a sigh of relief. There is now a great handbook to help teach writing. It's Teaching the Story: Fiction Writing in Middle School. Along with the book there are more than 70 customizable transparencies and reproducibles included on the accompanying Resource CD. The "instructional blocks in this book break down the process of creating a short story into manageable lesson plans."
The book starts with the very basic idea of providing private writing space for students, as well as access to a thesaurus and dictionary. Once these basic needs have been met, students engage in Learning from Literature. Well-known authors help you teach students story composition. Students will make the connection between reading and writing.
The ideas in the book then help you encourage students through every step of the writing process, from brainstorming to critiques to the elements of story to genres.
This book is worth its weight in gold – but it's just $23.95 plus s/h from Maupin House. For grades six to eight.
www.maupinhouse.com
Simple Pleasures
In today's heavily scheduled world, few children have the opportunity to revel in the outdoors with no goal in mind but to enjoy Mother Nature. The newest release from The National Arbor Day Foundation encourages learning about the outdoors with fun experiences. Learning With Nature Idea Book: Creating Nurturing Outdoor Spaces for Children is a practical resource for educators.
The book presents 10 field-tested guided principles for creating outdoor learning spaces. These range from an open area for large motor activities to a nature art area, a music and movement area, gardens and on and on. Other guiding principles include incorporating trees and live plants.
This book will be ideal for parent groups or business partners volunteering to build an outdoor area for the children. $19.99 plus s/h.
www.arborday.org
Early Intervention
Intervention terms can be so confusing. And for parents, who are hearing difficult news interspersed with intervention terms...well, the whole situation can be very stressful.
In 1993 Woodbine House published an indispensable guide, The Early Intervention Dictionary: A Multidisciplinary Guide to Terminology, and it was an immediate success. In 1999 the guide was updated.
Dedicated users of this guide requested a new edition to accommodate the developments and new research in the field. With the upsurge in the diagnosis of autism and mental health disorders, help was needed. Author Jeanine G. Coleman complied, and we now have a 2006 edition with over 400 new definitions as well as updates to existing definitions. The more than 4,000 terms in this handy book are arranged alphabetically, and are defined with simple language. Terms are cross-referenced.
Parents and professionals – early interventionists, therapists, healthcare workers, and teachers – are the ones who swear by this guide. Shouldn't you, too? $21.95 plus s/h.
www.woodbinehouse.com
New on the Job
The sub-title for this book from American Library Association Editions is A School Library Media Specialist's Guide to Success. This is a wonderful hands-on, step-by-step hand-holder for everyone transitioning from library school to a real-world job, or even transitioning from a different type of library.
Along with wonderful library skills information, the book provides job-search strategies, how to discover your work philosophy and how to create acceptable library policies. Most importantly, it reveals the secrets of successfully collaborating with teachers and communicating with the principal. Both of these skills are vital to any school employee, but critical for the Library Media Specialist.
In 224 pages authors Ruth Toor and Hilda Weisburg have provided a success manual for Library Media Specialists. Just $38.00 plus s/h. ALA members get a discount.
www.ALAstore.ALA.org
NAEYC
This book, The Intentional Teacher, is a how-to delineated by the subtitle: Choosing the Best Strategies for Young Children's Learning. Examples of early childhood best practices are clearly given in six key areas of responsibility: planning curriculum, structuring the physical learning environment, scheduling the program day, interacting with children, building relationships with families and assessing children's development.
The author, Ann S. Epstein, equates best practices with intentional teaching and after going through this book, we can agree. There are eight major sections to this book: Introducing Intentional Teaching, Best Practices for Intentional Teaching, Language and Literacy, Mathematics and Scientific Inquiry, Social Skills and Understandings, Physical Movement, The Visual Arts and Reflections on Intentional Teaching. The content-area section topics provide child-guided experience and adult-guided experience. Ms. Epstein feels that it should not be child-directed learning vs. adult directed learning, but rather a middle ground where children and adults share the responsibility for learning.
There are excellent resources listed as well as impressive list of references. This book will serve you well for many years to come. $20 (nonmember), $15 (member) plus s/h.
www.naeyc.org
May, 2007, Vol.37, No.8
