Junior Books

I love this book because it reminds me of how sweet, magical, and all too brief childhood is. I've read it to and now with my daughter and we laugh at the specifics of the role reversal fantasy. The soft illustrations complement the gentle goodness of the story. It's a favorite at our house.

This book is beautifully crafted, with extremely clever dialog. The author clearly demonstrates her understanding of the bond between mother and daughter. The book evokes wonderful images of a warm moment shared with a child. The illustrations too lend a great deal to the story.

I'm a homeschooler and my 8 year old son is studying American History this year. We have quite a few of the books from the "If You Lived..." series to go along with his studies, but when I saw this book I knew he would love it. These books are well written and entertaining. My son reads these himself or asks me to read them to him for fun rather than "school."

Children will enjoy delving into the Middle Ages with this book. Written in Q&A style, they'll learn all about living in a Medieval times, from dressing and housing to basic economy and warfare. Very appropriate for both young readers and tweens. A nice addition to your child's history shelf!

I was one of Jeffrey Wilhelm's 7th grade students, and actually, I am one of the ones who is mentioned in this book. i remember filling out the endless forms for allowing my interviews and work to be allowed into this book.

When I was presented with the book in 2000, about 5 years after my 7th grade year, I was excited. The book described my 7th grade reading class experience perfectly, and the techniques were ones that i experienced firsthand, which excited all of my classmates, as well as myself, about reading. I don't think any of us read that much for fun as we did for that class.

I read the book from cover to cover, even though only one chapter pertained to me, and i am not going into the teaching field. if you are looking at getting your students, or yourself into reading, get this book.

IMAGINING TO LEARN is the most readable of the five books I have read on process drama. Wilhelm and Edmiston write with personality, which seems to be rare in the field. I found seventeen drama strategies scattered through the book. Having these strategies close at hand makes it easier to guide the students as they take off with a topic.

The chapter on using drama for inquiry was intriguing. It makes me want to teach my next class as an investigation, using drama strategies plus other comprehension strategies. Brain toys are fun!

This book is an awesome resource for teachers of middle school mathematics. If you are someone who is always trying to get kids to learn and truly appreciate math by engaging them in stimulating lessons, but instead you find that standards and curriculum seem to get in the way, this book is a find. The book begins with an explanation of the different levels of activities based on the congnitive demands they place on the students, and it continues with indepth, thought-provoking case studies that are extremely realistic and easy to relate to. This text is useful and accessible.

Teachers College Press has just published a book from the QUASAR Project, intended to help people implement staff development. I've been reading it this week, and it's just about the most useful resource I can imagine in planning on-going staff development to help teachers implement mathematics programs designed around the NCTM standards. (At the high school level, this includes curricula like Core Plus and the Interactive Mathematics Project (IMP). At the Middle school level, this includes programs like Connected Mathematics. At the elementary school level, this includes programs like Investigations in Number, Data, and Space. Many of these curricula have been selected as "exemplary" by the Department of Education.)

The book is called "Implementing Standards-Based Mathematics Instruction: A Casebook for Professional Development". As the title indicates, it contains a number of "cases" for teachers to study and discuss, as they learn to implement high-level mathematics tasks successfully. The strength of the book is that it is organized around QUASAR's "Mathematical Tasks Framework". This framework trains teachers to analyze mathematics tasks as being at any of a number of levels: Doing Mathematics; Procedures With Connections; Procedures Without Connections; Unsystematic Exploration; Nonmathematical Activity.

QUASAR has found that tasks tend to degrade, i.e., they can be designed at a high level ("doing mathematics" or "procedures with connections") but migrate to a "lower" level either when the teacher initially sets up the lesson, or as the lesson procedes (the "implementation" phase). Their data (which I've seen in other studies, not this case-book) demonstrates that student achievement is enhanced when the task is designed, set up, and IMPLEMENTED at a high level. The case-book describes factors that cause a high-level task either to be implemented at a high level, or to degrade. Then, it provides cases (i.e., classroom teaching episodes described in great detail)in which one or the other happens, and helps teachers analyze why. Not only are the cases themselves very useful for learning: the process of analyzing the cases gives teachers the skills they need to analyze their OWN lessons.

Thank you so much. The book came in a decent period of time and it was brand new. It is exactely what I needed. Thanks.

Ask a classroom teacher what he or she thinks about educational research, and there's a fair chance you'll hear, "It's fine, but it does little to help me deal with real classroom instructional issues." In fact, that would've been my response until I read Bruce VanSledright's "In Search Of America's Past." Not only has this book challenged the way I look at research on teaching and learning, but also it has impacted how I see the discipline that I teach (history) and the ways that my students can conceptualize and work within that discipline.

Through "In Search Of America's Past," VanSledright escorts the reader through his quest, as both classroom teacher and researcher, to change what a group of fifth-grade students think about history from "just a bunch of facts" to an investigative process by which interpretations are built on documentary evidence. After several chapters, it becomes obvious to the reader that the author is an experienced classroom teacher and researcher who effectively balances both roles and understands how to communicate his findings and ideas to educators at the K-12 and university levels. He empathizes with teachers who try to make their content meaningful to students in the face of watered-down, high-stakes tests. He offers suggestions for modeling and reinforcing good historical investigation strategies with students. And he is both realistic and responsible in discussing his expectations for deep analysis in the history classroom and the purposes of such analysis.

Many middle- and high-school teachers will see the subtitle, "Learning To Read History In Elementary School," and consider passing up this volume. As an eleventh-grade history teacher, I can assure you that doing so would be a huge mistake. While VanSledright notes that his efforts with fifth-graders were "met with some conditional success" (p. 134), he establishes that elementary students are capable of demonstrating basic competencies in dealing with historical ambiguity and biased or conflicting evidence. Just think of what a high school student could do with proper instruction! As well, he discusses issues that are important to social studies teachers and scholars across the board, from critical evaluations of "typical" social studies textbooks to the struggles involved with trying to change student's perceptions of what history is and why they should learn it.

Admittedly, VanSledright's teaching context is as unique as yours or mine, and therefore, his book should not be read as The Solution to all things ailing social studies teachers and teaching. But it is strong in documenting innovative methods and key questions about teaching and learning for social studies teachers to consider, and it provides a forum for bridging existing research on history teaching with classroom practice. Kids are thoughtful inquirers, not living encyclopedias, and Bruce VanSledright shows us that. Can our students construct their own informed interpretations of history and articulate their positions? They can if we show them how to do it. I'm in search of more work like this.

Excellent resource for teaching non-fiction. The next best thing to an in-person training with the author! The author is a great work-shop presenter too.

WOW! This is a book that is easy to read and gives you useful ideas and lessons to bring back to your room right away. The author's message and ideas are expressed in an easy to read and inviting manner... Tony Stead makes you want to read more. He backs all of his examples with specific grade leveled lessons from K-3. Rubrics are included for grading as well as leveled texts to incorporate your writing with the area of reading. I have recommended this book to many people in my district and they have also loved it. As we shift our teaching to a more inquiry based science approach I know I will use this book more. Areas of writing it focuses on: persuasive writing, descriptive writing, instructional writing (directions, recipes, maps), biographies and many more! This book is not to be missed!

I HAVE REALLY ENJOYED BOOK I AND BOOK II OF JUNIOR BRAINBUSTERS. THERE ARE HOURS OF ENJOYMENT. THE SCRAMBLED WORDS ARE OF EVERYDAY WORDS THAT EVERYONE KNOWS, PLUS THEY GIVE YOU CLUES TO GO BY. IT IS A BIG BOOK, WITH LARGE PRINT. IT SEEMS TO BE FOR SMART KIDS, BUT I'M 65 YEARS OLD, AND I LOVE IT. I SURE HOPE THEY COME OUT WITH BOOK III. THE BOOKS FOR ADULTS, ARE SOMETIMES OVER MY HEAD.
STONGLY RECOMMEND IT.

I bought this for my 6 year old. She loves it! She takes it in her backpack to school to work on in the bus line! Alot of the puzzles are just at her level. Some of them are a little harder because they have to do with capitals or cities that she is not familiar with. I also bought one for my 11 year old. Jumble Brain buster Junior I and II are great.

This book offers just what kids love--hands-on activities that allow them to be creative and have a lot of fun while learning about other cultures. Normally it takes teachers inordinate amounts of time to research and design such activities. Carol Peterson has done that and wrapped it all up in one neat, ready-to-go package. If I were still teaching, I'd definitely use this in my classroom.

Author Carol Peterson has created a winner in this guide to creating living history events for children. Peterson takes three historical themes--ancient cultures, Native American culture, Colonial America, and Pioneers--and deftly uses a combination of crafts, games, recipes, legends, and songs to give children experiences they'll never draw from a textbook. Teachers, home-schooling parents, scouting leaders, and camp counselors will find this book brimming with creative projects. "Jump Back in Time" can be used on many levels--as a resource for school-wide or organization-wide events, classroom-level activities, or with individual kids. Parents will find great ideas for doing a little "stealth educating" while playing with their kids. As an educator, I highly recommend this book.

I absolutely love the "Junior Astrologer:Cancer" book. I turn to it as a source of inspiration, edification, or just for a good laugh. I recommend this series to anyone with a thirst for knowledge, or a yearning for self exploration. So all you moonshiners, scuttle out and claw yourselves a copy!

This is probably the most inviting, beautifully done, charming series of astrological books for children and their parents that I have seen. The illustrations are perfect and the text is meaningful and obviously written by a knowledgeable astrologer, with a great sense of humor to boot. Each booklet contains a generic Welcome to Zodiac Zone which introduces the reader to a brief history of astrology. (Little side squiggles unobtrusively teach, such as "The word zodiac comes from the ancient word for "circle of animals" or my favorite "Psst! Looking for predictions? Sorry. The best astrologers know that the stars don't make things happen--people do!") There is a colorful astrological map showing the 12 signs, glyphs and dates, 2 pages of planets and even a few sentences on elements and qualities, all done in a very easy to read, fun fashion, good information comprehensible to the young and their parents. Each sign gets quite a treatment, enough that could even help a youngster, not only

We cheked this book out from our library and have learned a great deal from this book over the last two weeks!

Now we are going to BUY it. What a great resource!

There are many ways to make a fire, start a fire, kinds of kindling, etc.
Instructions and tips are in great supply here: making and cooking on a "hobo stove", making your own mess kit, how to make different shelters, how to set up different tents, making a latrine, whittling techniques, cooking over a fire, recipes, protecting your matches, sharpening knives and axes, refletor fires and ovens, making a teepee, and the list is quite long of additional things to learn.

The photos and illustrations may be black and white, but who cares? This book is very good and I highly recommend it.

Enjoy that time outdoors with your children. Teach them these skills while they are young!

I first read this book when I was 11 years old. I was extremely interested in learning absolutely everything there was to know about camping, hiking, woodcraft, etc. I was delighted to find this book on a dusty shelf at the back of the library. It tells you how and what to pack for your trip, be it a day hike or a month long camping trip in the backwoods. There are many recipies for lunch/dinners that can be cooked all in one pot, as well as the traditionals like some-mores and lots-mores. The book tells you how to build different kinds of fires, depending on what type of fire you need: fire for light, heat, cooking, or the sit-around fire. It also tells you how to keep your fire going all night, and even how to start a fire without matches!!! There are many kinds of tents the book talks about, how many people they sleep and what type of trip it's for, as well as how to construct make-shift shelters from trees, blankets, logs, and canoes. There is a section of the book that tells how to make little extras, like cabinets, picnic tables, etc. This book has so much info-- even how to predict the weather accurately!!! This book contains ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING that you would ever need to know. I HIGHLY recomend it! It's advanced enough for the old-time camper, but also ideal for the beginner, like I was at the time. Great for both adults and kids. The Junior Book of Camping and Woodcraft caused me to want to go out on my own backcountry adventures, and I did!