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Real-World Classroom Aids
By Patricia Broderick and Allen Raymond
Besides a great math book, here are some other items we just had to tell you about
The Math's the Thing
A neat book for grades K-2 can make your classroom math lessons really hum along. Minilessons for Math Practice from Math Solutions Publications is a 159-page gem you'll use every day. Although designed for use during transition times, these activities take only five to 15 minutes to teach, and can be repeated throughout the school year, so it makes them ideal for individualized activities while still providing for whole class involvement.
The mini-lessons offer experiences in number and operations, algebra, geometry, data analysis and measurement. The format of each of the 27 mini-lessons starts with an overview that explains the math involved, a list of key questions to ask students and a brief vignette of how the activity unfolded in a classroom. Then come the ideas for extending the activity throughout the year. There are also some black lines masters included.
This book is so handy, we can't imagine a K-2 classroom without it. Just $19.95 plus s/h from Math Solutions Publications, (a Marilyn Burns company).
Math Solutions Publications
www.mathsolutions.com
H is for Honor: A Military Family Alphabet
This is an alphabet book for the twenty-first century. Each of the letters in H is for Honor; A Military Alphabet by Devin Scillian (Sleeping Bear Press, 2006) denotes words associated with the military and military life.
This book deviates from other alphabet books by the expanded information included on the side of each spread. For instance, the letter "R" stands for "Rise and Shine," as well as for "Reveille" and "Retreat." The information included on the side of the illustrations explains the use of horns to communicate with soldiers, and goes on to define "Reveille," "Retreat" and "Taps."
This is a clever idea, and the content will probably be all too familiar to those children who have seen one or both parents go off to war. On that front, it does spark reading motivation. $17.95.
Sleeping Bear Press
www.sleepingbearpress.com
Patricia McKissack
This prolific author has given us a companion to The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural (Yearling, 2001), a Newbery Honor book for which she also won the Coretta Scott King Author Award. Porch Lies: Tales of Slicksters, Tricksters, and Other Wily Characters (Schwartz & Wade, 2006) is just as superb.
Pat has a terrific ear for dialogue and the 10 stories recounted are new/old and spellbinding. We'd not heard of "slickster tricksters" before and thoroughly enjoyed spending time with them. The stories all beg to be read aloud.
However, the introduction by Pat should also be read aloud. It's worth the price of the book. This storyteller transports us to her Mama Frances' front porch on hot summer nights. She tells us just how she knew the point in a story when the "porch lies" were being told. We can taste the lemonade and the homemade tea cakes.
Daddy James, Pat's grandfather, told tales of Pete Bruce as a "vehicle to teach a value, to encourage us to think critically." This book teaches so much about the value of story and the power of story. How great is that?
The whole flavor of this wonderful collection is comforting. One doesn't want the book to end. $18.95 at your local bookstore.
Random House Children's Books
www.randomhouse/kids.com
Se Habla Español?
The new English Picture Dictionary for Spanish Speakers from LeapFrog SchoolHouse is very, very impressive. We know that a strong vocabulary is critical to success in learning a second language, and that's just what this technology-enhanced program does: It builds vocabulary. The interactive dictionary comes in two volumes, representing 45 common themes with 20 new words introduced with each theme. Each of the more than 1,000 common English words is translated from English to Spanish and back to English and the words are used in a complete and contextualized English sentence.
The children use the Quantum LeapPad® personal learning tool with a built-in microphone to listen, record and practice their pronunciation. The two volumes cover different proficiency levels; the first volume includes basic vocabulary and the second addresses more complex and academic language.
There's a common classroom handbook with beginner and intermediate level activities to accompany each theme. The activities embed the series into classroom lessons as well as providing enrichment cultural notes and teacher tips.
We really like this product. In fact, we think a lot of teachers will have a lineup of English-speaking kids wanting to learn some Spanish from this exciting tool. Prices start at $144. – a great investment.
LeapFrog SchoolHouse
www.leapfrogschoolhouse.com
IGUANA Magazine
This new magazine is all in Spanish. It's for kids from 7-12 and is really worth looking at.
A kids' magazine all in Spanish! How great is that? You'll find kids stories, interviews with children's book authors, experiments, poetry and games; all the things kids love in their own magazines.
Designed for ages 7-12, this is a must-have for your classroom, not only for Spanish-speaking kids, but for all kids. The non-Spanish speakers will pick up a lot of Spanish from the layouts and the illustrations. IGUANA was designed to resonate with Latinos in the United States and preserve the Latin culture. Published bimonthly, subscription price is $29.95 ($24.95 for school subscriptions). Sample copies are $5.25.
IGUANA
www.IGUANArevista.com
Teaching Reading
If you're looking for the most comprehensive resource for research-based reading instruction, it's here. In a three-ring binder format you'll find classroom-tested lessons and strategies that help students activate prior knowledge, monitor comprehension, make inferences, write in response to fiction and nonfiction texts and even more! Scholastic is the publisher, and Laura Robb is the author. This program is for grades four and up.
Because of the binder format, you can customize the information to meet your classroom needs. You can rearrange the lessons, add new ones and record notes on what works.
More specifically you'll receive rubrics, assessments and graphic organizers, 65 step-by-step strategy lessons, 25 transparencies of selected lessons, 65 reproducible practice pages leveled for differentiated instruction, and special sections for language arts and content-area teachers.
Also included are techniques for organizing classroom libraries for independent reading, and there's even a professional study guide.
If teaching reading is part of your daily life, then Teaching Reading is for you. 475 pages plus 25 transparencies. $79.99 plus s/h.
Scholastic
www.scholastic.com
Black Rabbit Books
This company is a distributor of books from publishers with whom we were not familiar, but want to be.
We hadn't heard of this company, Black Rabbit Books, but learned that it's a distributor of books from various publishers - all of them good. We saw wonderful information books.
Some of the titles will enchant the younger kids, although the Who Eats Who in... (fill in Rain Forest, City Habitats, Rivers and Lakes, in the Desert, etc.) series is accessible for kids from grade three and up. Younger children will be morbidly fascinated – as they always are – with the idea of ocelots not much bigger than house cats hunting at night. The food chain for city animals is also explored.
Another series of six 32-page books is entitled Straight Talking and explores "Alcohol," "Ecstasy," "Marijuana," "Cocaine," "Tobacco," and "Inhalants." This is for grades eight and up. The authors do a good job of making the reader understand how devastating these drugs are without being preachy. There are six books in this series also. It's $21.95 per book (plus s/h) for school/library binding.
A third set we wanted to tell you about is the How Does it Work series. These six titles cover sports technology, music technology, space technology, household technology, communications technology and entertainment technology. Your students will really get into these books! We learned so much from the book on music technology, and the book on sports technology will be a winner with all your grades four and up students. These books are wonderful for kids having reading problems. They're heavily illustrated with lots of labels on the parts of the illustrations, and they're...well, they're just plain interesting. The price is $18.95 each, plus s/h for school/library binding.
Black Rabbit Books
lonabrb@hickorytech.net
Give Me a High Five
There's a new magazine for kids ages two to six, and they're going to love it. It's called Highlights High Five™, and it's published by Highlights for Children.
If you're looking for poetry – Highlights High Five™ has it. If you're looking for great read-aloud material to read with your children, Highlights High Five™ has it. Puzzles? Yep, Highlights High Five™ has them. Crafts? Skill-building activities like "Hidden pictures?" and "What's Wrong with this Picture?" Yes, yes and yes.
The Premiere Issue has wonderful patterns for finger puppets on heavier stock, all ready to be cut.
The whole idea of Highlights High Five™ has been well-thought out and will bring many hours of joyful learning to little ones and their parents - children's most influential teachers. $29.76 for six issues that will be enjoyed over and over again.
Highlights for Children
www.highlights.com
High Noon Books
Lit sets guaranteed to hook your low reading level students.
Sound Out chapter books for ages seven to eleven bring excitement and drama where it is most needed - with older, low-performing students. In this nonfiction series called "X Sports Sound Out," each book has 28 pages and is just pocket size. High Noon Books has taken the necessary drill for low reading skills and couched it in great X Sports stories with a chapter format. These won't be resisted by older kids reading at first-grade level.
The covers are action shots and the topics are great:
There's also a glossary of high-frequency words for easy reference in the back of each book. One set of the six titles is $19.95 and the classroom package of five sets of six books is $89. Add s/h to both prices.
There are other hi-lo series for ages 11-18 (second-grade reading level) etc., like "Hawk Davidson: Extreme Athlete." These books involving sports, but also mystery, are slightly longer - 44 pages - and follow the same general format. Pricing is the same as above.
This series has a workbook to accompany it ($17.00 plus s/h). The reproducibles serve as a great practice tool.
The High Noon Books division of Academic Therapy has always produced top-notch material for students reading below grade level, and it just seems to get better and better. We'd suggest you visit them online and ask for their catalogs.
High Noon Books
www.HighNoonBooks.com
Where's the Glitch?
This is the provocative title of a new handbook from Heinemann. The glitch in this instance refers to the problems in the reading process experienced by learners. These glitches block learning at some point or other and the result is struggling readers, frustration and lack of success.
In Where's the Glitch?, author Mary Shea shows one how to use modified running records (MRR) to pinpoint where readers struggle with comprehension, to determine their current reading level and to assess the skills they already possess. The author explains how to take an MRR and get meaningful assessment data, even in a busy classroom. Then, this great teacher describes how to use that information to plan interventions that not only integrate instruction in literacy skills, but also with other content area studies as well.
Also included is a helpful tutorial CD that gets one started with MRRs and reproducibles and scripts for practice. The CD goes step by step (marking miscues, analyzing miscues, calculating percent of accuracy, determining a fluency score and evaluating retelling). You can't miss with this book at your side. Best of all, you can practice on your own time until you're comfortable with the process.
The result of all this is, of course, reflective, independent and strategic readers. Who could ask for anything more? For grades five to eight. $21 (but just $18.90 online) plus s/h.
Heinemann
www.heinemann.com
500 Great Books for Teens
Anita Silvey's great choices for books teens will love, from adventure and survival tales to graphic novels.
Anita Silvey is someone we've admired for years and there's no more respected voice in children's literature than hers.
According to a recent study, only 16% of 15-to-17-year-olds read daily. The number-one reason they give for not reading? They can't find books they like.
Well, that excuse is no longer valid. Anita has interviewed kids all over the country and has come up with a definitive list of 500 books, with an emphasis on books published in the last five years.
This resource is divided into 21 sections representing different reading tastes and genres from the usual to the unusual: adventure and survival, fantasy, edgy, trend-setting novels ("grit-lit"), historical fiction, autobiography and memoir, romance, graphic novels, science fiction, war and conflict. These are but some of the sections.
After each listing Anita has written a short review and has given a candid statement of why some of the books are loved by teens and unacceptable to adults. Her reviews are definitive and guaranteed to pique a teen's interest. The titles are grouped by century in the back of the book.
We really can't think of a book more helpful to librarians, teachers - and kids. It's informative, well-written and it's Anita's usual superb job. $26 at your local bookstore.
Houghton Mifflin
www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com
January, 2007, Vol.37, No.4
