Junior Books

This is the book that I have been looking for. It is full of practical advice from beginning to end with endless information on how to create stories at all levels. It is also very generous with the stories that are provided in the book. If you want a book to tell you how to use stories in the EFL classroom then this is it. Once you have read this book you will be able to take any story and adapt it to the needs of your students. I highly recommend this book for teachers of English. This author certainly understands the needs of the EFL teacher and the students will definitely enjoy doing the activites laid out in the book. Wonderful!

Using Folktales presents an insightful approach to teaching English as a second language, using folk and fairy tales that are found in every culture. The many stories and activities provided lend themselves to easy use or adaptation. Eric Taylor skillfully weaves theory with practicality, creating a high-interest way of language learning. Of special interest are the many multi-levelled tasks the author provides, which should make this book indispensable for those teaching a typical class with its many ability levels. Teachers of English-speaking students who teach a folktales unit will also find this book quite valuable.

It tastes good and is in good taste. This is a great source of fine cooking in the Virginia tradition. Lots of seafood and goodies.

The Junior League of Hampton Roads, Inc. is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism and to improving the community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusisvely educational and charitable. Recipes in Very Virginia were triple tested prior to publication. Profits from the sale of this cookbook are returned to the community through the projects of the Junior League.

Vision & Voice reinforces the theories and practical applications introduced in Rief's first book, Seeking Diversity. As a fellow middle school teacher, I have relied on the examples and activity suggestions that are clearly organized in her book. Among a short list of dedicated educators who have transformed Language Arts, her approach to the subject matter is fresh and easy to apply in the classroom.

As a teacher, this is the BEST book I have read in a long time because it offers real-life solutions to real-life problems. It's honest. It's real. It's beautiful! Professors in the Ivory Tower and officials in government continue the tinny discourse on ways to make reading "important" to students. In Linda Rief's middle school class, the future is taking shape NOW. Valuing the worth of each student, Rief continues to inspire their journey in language arts. Every story in the book is true. Like "Seeking Diversity", this book is full of examples from her middle school classes. She challeges her students to use all of their senses. We see how her students learn about the Holocaust and drug use by reading books, participating in discusions, then creating vivid murals. The artwork is vivid and incredible. Rief's core philosophy is that the expression to the written word is not limited. It can be in the form of art. Not all students can write that 10-page paper. The drawings and painting students create come straight from their souls. Is this not to be valued? The book is arranged clearly and consisely. There are many pages devoted to illustrations, including the color murals created by the students. Rief "teaches" the reader how to implement her program. The CD, which comes with the book, is extremely helpful. Even if you are not a teacher, treat yourself. In a world of negative voices about teachers and young people, this is a vision of hope. Bravo!

As an adult, I was fascinated by this book. I enjoyed the photos and the biography. I think this is a book for adults and children to read together and to use as a springboard for dialogue about life's challenges and how to deal with them, as well as the discrimination faced by a minority. It is all about the incredibly difficult challenges that one man has gone through (discrimination, parental loss as a child, polio, etc.), and is inspiring in how he reinvented himself over the years and managed to find success.

I found this book very inspirational, as it tells the life and struggles of an artist and Hollywood special effects master. The language sparked my interest and made me want to read more. I especially enjoyed the details about Chang's work with Walt Disney Studios and the Star Trek TV show. The book made me feel that I personally knew someone famous. This is an interesting story of a man who accomplished so much. As an educator, I would recommend the book to students and to adults. It will help others realize that we CAN get past difficult times and that we can nurture our own creativity in order to see our own dreams come true.

My little girl loves this book. It is simple, beautiful and very moving. It resonates with the heart and makes you sigh "ah"
at the end in a contented way. Especially wonderful for children lucky enough to grow up with a fur-friend or two.

Such a sweet book. Its perfect for any little kid...mine is kindergarten age. Easy words and very repetitive so she is learning to read it on her own - which is awesome. The characters in this book are basically my daughter and her dog...its like it was written for us!!

Tarry Lindquist has done it again for teachers. In this book, teachers are given real strategies to put the newly adopted Social Studies standards to work. Using real-life examples from her own classroom, she shares an incredible wealth of ideas that are easy to put to work!

As a new teacher, I struggled with ways to bring Social Studies into my classroom without using lectures. Tarry Lindquist provides not only suggestions but complete lesson and unit ideas as well as resources and references. My students LOVED the ideas I borrowed from Ms. Lindquist, and I can't wait to use more of her inspirations this year.

This book is a must have for anyone interested in "translating" the Reggio Approach to the United States. In many ways the kind of "co-constructing" which it describes and to which it ascribes the success of the Chicago Commons Project is what the reader is invited to do--it's all about process and so very much about learning. Thanks to all 3 authors for this important work.

This book has recorded delicious conversations between and among children and teachers. These rich conversations are followed by questions adults can use to help them explicate the children's meaning and their learning. The authors' interpretations follow. One is left admiring children's thinking and understanding that adults must meet a child where he is in order to join in a scientific exploration of real life with the child.

This book would be an excellent discussion tool for teacher educators in preservice or professional development workshops. Teachers need to elicit children's higher order thinking skills through conversations with them. The conversations here give one respect for children's thinking.

What Do The Experts Say?: Helping Children Learn To Read is a thorough and well-balanced presentation of the basic arguments arising from the phonics versus whole language debates regarding how children can best learn to read. In exploring this fundamental educational issue, Rona Flippo insightfully underscores the critical need for some agreement in the educational community. She presents the "Expert Study", with essential information about the various participants and study methods. The areas of agreement are then analyzed and interpreted. Flippo then moves beyond the theoretical into the real world, with practicing teachers sharing their own views and classroom experiences. What Do The Experts Say? concludes with a synthesis of the findings and invites the reader to participate in a follow-up study designed to give classroom teachers and other educational professionals an equal voice. Ultimately, only when practitioners join the conversation about how best to support developing young readers will they be empowered to make the decisions that are shaping literacy education today. What Do The Experts Say? is an important, dynamic, invaluable, benchmark contribution to the on-going national discussion regarding literacy and the teaching of reading skills in the classroom setting.

What Do The Experts Say? is a thorough and well-balanced presentation of the basic arguments arising from the phonics versus whole language debates regarding how children can best learn to read. In exploring this fundamental educational issue, Rona Flippo insightfully underscores the critical need for some agreement in the educational community. She presents the "Expert Study", with essential information about the various participants and study methods. The areas of agreement are then analyzed and interpreted. Flippo then moves beyond the theoretical into the real world, with practicing teachers sharing their own views and classroom experiences. What Do The Experts Say? concludes with a synthesis of the findings and invites the reader to participate in a follow-up study designed to give classroom teachers and other educational professionals an equal voice. Ultimately, only when practitioners join the conversation about how best to support developing young readers will they be empowered to make the decisions that are shaping literacy education today. What Do The Experts Say? is an important, dynamic, invaluable, benchmark contribution to the on-going national discussion regarding literacy and the teaching of reading skills in the classroom setting.

I have been using this book to help illiterate refugee women to learn to read, and they love that they can read this book by themselves. This is a simple book that can be memorized easily. It provides an almost instant feeling of reading success. Just what a beginner needs to boost their confidence.

I have been working with my kindergarten daughter on phonics, but the thought of being able to read a whole book by herself encouraged her to try. In just 20 minutes she has gone through it several times and now she can read it herself. She is so proud she read it to her mother herself. The book is perfect for a beginning reader..

Sheila Jenkins is the protagonist in "What's So Funny About 9th Grade?" She's just started the ninth grade at Midway Junior High, and her two main goals are to become an actress and get Ron Lawson to notice her.

At the beginning of the school year, two big events are announced that Sheila wants to participate in: a school musical (Grease) in January, and a talent show in November. Ron would be one of the judges at the talent show, and Sheila doesn't want to miss the opportunity to impress him. So, she begins brainstorming for her big night and decides she'll tell jokes since she has a great sense of humor.

Talent Night soon approaches, and despite the usual nervousness, Sheila is confident about getting Ron to notice her, if not about winning the talent show. However, one quirky part of the talent show is the gong that's brought on stage. The judges hit the gong if the person on stage has no talent (which I thought was a pretty cruel idea). And, as you might have guessed, Sheila gets "gonged". If that weren't humiliating enough, guess who was the judge who hit the gong? None other than Ron Lawson.

Sheila, of course, is devastated after that night and swears to never set foot back on the stage ever again. She spends weeks feeling sorry for herself, even avoiding her best friend Ellen Berret. ...

Sheila Jenkins is an interesting, believable character. Even though I never had the same embarrassing experiences she did, I could still sympathize with her, as will most people who read "What's So Funny About 9th Grade?"

Although this book is about kids in the ninth grade, it would probably be more suitable for younger readers in the fifth or sixth grade. However, I don't want to discourage you if you're outside this age group--I was much older before I read this book.

Recommendations: "Break a Leg, Betsy Maybe!" by Lee Kingman (theater)

This book was a great book, even though i'm 14 i still loved it. The characters were so real. They reminded me of me and my friends. The stuff that took place in the book was so real like Shelia getting into a stupid fight with her best freind. Or how Shelia gets stage fright at her schools talent night. Shelia reminded me of myself and any other typical ninth grader. I recomend you go and get this book right away!