Education Teaching Books

This book is an excellent resource for anyone teaching writing to children (K-6). It has easy-to-read formatting and has lots of examples woven throughout. It has lists of mentor texts that can be used to share the craft of writing and show children how authors use writing for many different purposes. The books and strategies in the book lend themselves to helping students take risks in their writing. Great book!

Shelley Harwayne's recommendation for this outstanding resource says it all in her first line. Harwayne states that Mentor Texts is "a trustworthy book". It truly is. Lynne Dorfman and Rose Cappelli have crafted a remarkable resource for teachers, parents and writers. Every school district should order multiple copies for their staff development departments and hand it out to veteran and beginning teachers.

One of the primary reasons this book works so well is that Dorfman and Cappelli are in classrooms living what they write about - this is a real difference-maker in a teacher resource book.

The thrust of this book is using real literature as mentor texts for writers. Dorfman and Cappelli write that mentor texts are books that are filled with possibilities for writers to learn from and that they can become "as comfortable as a worn pair of jeans". This book will, no doubt, become as tattered and worn and comfortable as a worn pair of jeans for me as I teach writers of all ages. However, just like I buy multiple pairs of jeans that I know fit well, I plan to buy multiple copies and keep them on my bookshelf.

Buy this book if you write, teach teachers, teach writers or even if you are an editor.

I can't wait for their next book, Non-fiction Mentor texts!

Bravo!
The Legend of the Teddy Bear

"Mentor Texts: Teaching Writing Through Children's Literature, K-6" is the collaboration of Lynne R. Dorfman (a writing extension teacher for the Upper Moreland School District in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania with more than thirty years experience) and Rose Cappelli (a primary-grade reading specialist in the West Chester Area School District in West Chester, Pennsylvania with more than twenty years of experience). These two seasoned and expert reading teachers explain just how the authors of children's books create the wonder felt when boys and girls become immersed in them. They address just what students and teachers learn from these authors and their books if utilized as writing mentors. "Mentor Texts" is very nicely organized around the characteristics of good writing: focus, content, organization, style, and conventions. Classroom teachers and novice reading tutors are shown that 'mentor texts' can serve as a practical scaffold for student work; are provided with student writing examples demonstrating how students take risks as writers; teacher writing examples illustrating the power of the teacher as writer; and a comprehensive annotated list of children's literature including specific suggestions for teaching points. Of special note are the 'Your Turn' lessons at the end of each chapters showing how to put the ideas discussed in that chapter into practice. Expertly written in a conversational style, employing numerous illustrative anecdotes, and thoroughly 'user friendly', "Mentor Texts" should be considered mandatory reading for anyone charged with the responsibility of teaching writing at the elementary school level.

This is one of the best resources for teaching writing that I have ever purchased. It's very "user friendly" with the "Your Turn" lessons and it's packed with great strategies and plenty of quality picture book titles to use for classroom "read like a writer" lessons on author's craft. As a literacy facilitator for my school, I have recommended that my principal purchase more copies for our third grade teachers to use this year for process writing minilessons and strategies that link reading to writing. Congratulations to the authors for an outstanding resource! Katie Wood Ray would approve, I'm sure!

I have read other reviews and I have found a lot of negativity.
This book does tell you that these (the strategies named in the book) strategies do work because of research indicating that it does affect student behavior. And, it does indeed tell you how to do things in the classroom, and it tells you what to change or address. So, yes go ahead and buy this book...its good stuff. The actual book is much smaller than the photo.

"Classroom Management That Works: Research-Based Strategies for Every Teacher" is a good book for new or about to be teachers. The book will give the novice clear explanations and root know-how to managing you class.

I bought this book for a graduate course I'm currently taking. I wish I had this book years ago, when I first started teaching. Classroom management is the most important part of effective teaching. This book combines research and clearly explains what's most effective and what isn't.

I think like many classroom teachers, one of my main difficulties is finding a good classroom management style that works. So I was looking forward to reading this book and getting some new ideas and information. However, the book does not really go into much detail about how to implement the strategies that they list. They really just kind of scratch the surface, naming a few effective strategies, but then spending the majority of their time talking about HOW effective these strategies are.
Imagine if your favorite television show was Lost on ABC. You found a book in the store called Lost -- America's New Classic. So you bought it, expecting to find cast information, episode synopses, and spoilers for upcoming seasons. Instead, upon opening the book, you find the results of studies done with Nielsen families and network executives, proving with hard data just how popular Lost is. No real information about the show, just a lot of tables, pie graphs, etc. to show its popularity.
This is effectively what Classroom Management That Works does. It does give a few tiny samples of some strategies to try, but mostly, they give charts and graphs about how many standard deviations away from the norm you can expect to be if you implement these strategies.
In some cases, in fact, I was not sure exactly how accurate I could take these results to be. When one study is done with 1,021 subjects, and another is done with only 109 subjects -- can you really compare the results side-by-side?
Overall an interesting read, but to be honest, not all that helpful.

First, I should start by saying I'm a 23-year-old teacher who graduated from Penn State University. I've been teaching now for about 5 months.

I have bought about a dozen education "how-to" books from Amazon over the past year, and the best purchase I have made (by far) is the first book by this author, "Classroom Instruction that Works." So I think that my expectations when buying this book may have been too high.

The best part of this book is, like the first book, everything is based solidly in research which is outlined in a detailed, yet easy to understand format. However, this book just doesn't thrill me...here's why:

1) Part of this book focuses on school-wide discipline systems. This is pretty much useless to me as a classroom teacher.

2) Unlike "Classroom Instruction...," this book's design is to break each item down by first talking about the issue in an elementary school setting and then in a secondary school setting. Therefore, right off the bat, about half the book is useless to me.

3) This book describes the biggest management factors and where specific problems can arise, but it doesn't go into specific solutions.

4) Lastly, I feel that this book isn't as in-depth as I was hoping for. I think any teacher with any amount of experience is probably beyond the suggestions in this book. Overall, my students are well behaved, but I have one class that is consistently a problem. I was hoping this book would give me a new idea or approach. It didn't. Honestly, I'm way past making eye contact and proximity, if you know what I mean.

Overall, this isn't a bad book, but I can't say I found it helpful. Honestly, I hope the author got lazy or was rushed when writing this. Part of me is afraid that maybe this book is top quality and I'm the reason the management tools aren't working in my troubled class.

While, I haven't been very successful in finding a good, practical book about classroom management, if you're looking for a book about instruction techniques, I would recommend "Classroom Instruction that Works."

I was disappointed in this book. It wasn't what I expected at all. There wasn't much substance to the content.

My kids love these activities. They are great for seatwork and extension of skills.

Wan to understand why our education system is in the shape that it's in? READ THIS BOOK! Explains why lower income schools perform the way they do....must have for any educator's collective of continuing education books. Worth reading twice!!

Kozol's Savage Inequalities paints a frightening picture of urban schools in the United States. He describes schools that are overcrowded, dilapidated, and flooded with sewage. He asks why we allow our children to go to schools in conditions where none of us would choose to work. He deeply explores the issue of inequality in funding. While he does suggest equalizing funding, he is careful to mention that the problems facing schools are complex and require innovative solutions. I know many teachers have read this book, but we need policymakers and elected officials to read it as well.

I needed this book for a class I was taking. WOW!, it was a real eye-opener. As it was really hard to read because it is sad. How amazing that there are schools here in the United States that are in dire need. I would reccomend it, but be prepared to cry.

I had no idea about the extent of education inequalities due to racism, location, and socioeconomic inequalities. This book truly opened up my eyes to this, and made me think a whole lot differently about it. Those that did not agree with it, in my opinion, are being closed minded and trying to deny this problem because of that or because they have not actually witnessed it like the author did. The saddest part of this is that this book was written over 15 years ago, meaning that from what I gather, not much has been not to solve the problems facing educational inequalities. It seems as if in our nation, the only thing that is ever done, if anything, is to put a band-aid on the problem (i.e. school vouchers, reparations, affirmative action which would not even be needed if all schools were equal.) If we want to solve the problem, we have to get to the ROOT of the problem. When children, in this case black children, are in elementary school and open up their first textbooks, what is the first thing that they learn about their ancestors? That they were slaves. Not that they were kings and queens in their native Africa, but that they were slaves and all the negativity surrounding that. And who writes a vast majority of these textbooks? White, conservative males; not to say there is anything wrong with them, but why not a black author for this particular topic?. Why instill this in the young minds of children, all around, to have this mentality from a young age? The first things we ever learn are the things that will stick with us for the rest of our lives. Black children have an inferiority complex instilled, white children have a superiority complex instilled, and racism is perpetuated. This book is a true eye opener, and I believe everyone should read it, regardless of their race or political beliefs.

I read the book as a class assignment, and found the contents to be biased and out of date. I contacted the schools in question, and found that during the past 20 years, changes have taken place for the better.
Also, some of the original fact-finding lacked details from some officials of the times - especially since I was growing up in Boston at the time of his writing, and I did not view things the same at all - also, too much use of the word "Ghetto". I was a kid from the projects, got kicked out of one high school, stayed back my senior year in the next, did not get any proper guidance then. Now I am retired from Govt., working as a high school sub.teacher, with a Master's Degree. My entire class had issues with the author's writings. Too bad...

This is a timeless treasure of mathematical understandings generated by Marilyn Burns and her associates. These activities, coupled with hands-on training for teachers, can make a tremendous difference in the mathematical understanding of elementary and early middle school teachers. Most important in this edition are the addition of Burns' revised thinking on Teaching Arithmetic (part 3), and her compilation of discussions for 40 activities (part 4). These two additions have rounded this meaningful math resource into a powerful tool for on-going staff development.

Book was on my doorstep in a flash! Excellent condition. Very satisfied!! A++

I received the text book in a reasonable amount of time. The information in this book is extrememly helpful for those who are in the teaching field, or even for those who have children and want to help with math homework.

I haven't finished reading this entire valuable resource, but it has a great conceptual framework followed by creative ideas. I teach 7th Grade Mathematics overseas where my students have not had a great basis in analytical thinking and I look forward to using these ideas with my classes this year.

I love this book! It is a great resource with ideas for getting kids interested in math and what questions teachers should ask themselves as they teach. It also points out common mistakes students make and their thought processes for getting there. It is divided into sections by mathematical topics and also has dozens of lesson plan ideas, both for full lessons and those quick time-fillers. This is the most reader-friendly textbook I've ever had to read for a class--it's so easy to read!

This book is so informative and practical for parents of preschoolers. I came across it when looking for an age appropriate book list for my preschooler. I am trained as a reading teacher and love the reasearch this book is based on. It is clear and easy to understand and really helps parents to know what skills to focus on with their kids. I also take it with me to the library and use the list in the back to help me select books for my daughter. Way to go Core Knowledge! I love your stuff!

This is a good book that is full of songs and things to do with your preschooler. We really like it and have fun with it.

This book is fantastic! It's extremely well designed and engaging for preschool aged children. The illustrations are beautiful which makes the book fun and interesting to young children. There are also companion activity books that are available through the Core Knowledge Foundation that are excellent! I have three children from ages 1-5 all of whom will benefit from this book!

I received this book as a gift to use with my small children. My children ages 20 months and 3 years thoroughly enjoy it. They like each section, especially the stories, the history and the science. It is presented in a simple format that helps children learn.

The nursery rhymes and stories are great. I was even excited to be reminded of some fond childhood memories of certain nursery rhymes and songs, etc. I agree with the other reviewer, I wish that a CD (or even the sheet music) was included to help with the songs if you do not remember the tune.

If you teach your children using units, this book can be a great resource. For instance, it helped me with a unit we were studying at home about the American Flag. When I ask my 3 year old who was the first to sew an American Flag, she responds "Betsy Ross". She will also tell you that there are 50 stars on the flag, each representing a state in the United States of America. She also has learned that George Washington was the first president of the United States. All of this knowlege is because of this book and because of reinforcing exercises that we do at home.

I would recommend this book to anyone with small children who has the desire to help their children have a love of learning.

I love this series of core knowledge books. The new preschool book contains everything from nursery rhymes and other simple poems, delightful stories from around the world, simple science, history lessons (LOVE the history!) to pictures of famous artworks and recommendations for preschool music and more. It's a great beginner's guide to start a preschooler on a lifetime journey of being in love with learning.

This is a book on the teaching of writing to middle and junior high students. The writer-teacher may know her stuff, but does not know how to instruct students or her reader-teachers. This is basically--as most books of this type are--a "what to do" book and not a specific "how to" book. My negative comments are intertwined.

1. "[A chosen] motivating topic: 'That's So annoying!' The focus: To create focus with a clear topic sentence."

Students do NOT want to see the above nomenclature written on their assignment paper or the board. And, besides, in fiction, many paragraphs DON'T have topic sentences.

2. "Assignment: Write about something that annoys you; use details that convey FULLY [emphasis mine] why this is so bothersome."

The phrase "Write about" is SO overwhelming to weak writers as well as most students. They do not know how to "convey fully" or weave "details" into their writing. Thus, this admonition just adds to their frustration and dislike of composing.

3. "Warm Up: Think of something universally delightful to your students such as ice cream or amusement parks. With students, brainstorm the things that are wonderful about ice cream or amusement parks; write their responses on the board in a word web so they can see the specific details."

"Universal" does not apply to individual students--more options should be presented or the student be allowed to come up with an annoying topic. A "word web" is still confusing to many teachers--as well as students--and its effectiveness is debatable; I never used it. It is basically a hodge-podge (brain storming) way of listing words, and connecting with lines to those words/ideas that seem to go together. There's a better way to accomplish this. Also, "specific" details are not revealed via a word web. In addition, too many teachers do not understand HOW to "brainstorm." So, they should be given some help here.

4. "After reviewing paragraph structure, have the class compose a great topic sentence: Move them away from the overly general or bland (such as 'Ice cream is great!') to something more specific and interesting (such as 'Creamy, smooth, and sweet ice cream in its many varieties is the perfect solution to life's little troubles.')"

Just HOW is a teacher to "review paragraph structure"? This is a cog in the wheel of instruction right off. HOW does a teacher move students into exciting, catchy topic sentences? Actually, I like the "bland" in this bland topic sentence. No help for the teacher or student here. And is a 4th-8th grader going to come up with a sentence like that?

5. "Discuss how the topic sentence gives the writer somewhere to go."

Textbooks, workbooks and too many guides much overuse the word "discuss." What ARE some discussion points? What about the idea of adding a topic sentence AFTER the paragraph is written--if it needs one at all?

And thus the book continues for many more lessons. Boooring.

A Non-Workbook, Non-Textbook Approach to Teaching Language Arts: Grades 4 Through 8 and Up

This is a generally good book. I like that it spends a little more time on some of the concepts that are generally difficult for students.

I have my own tutoring service I have used this book to help my students who do not like writing. The prompts located in the book are great ways for children to use their imagination and be creative in many different ways and capacities. I would suggest this book for any teacher or parent who is trying to finds ways to help that struggling student to enjoy writing.

I was disappointed to discover this book is more like 50 activities, not 50 lessons. I realized only after I ordered this book that it is a slim 64 pages. Each "lesson" is like an idea for a student writing assignment, although many of them are not particularly inspired. I tried to use this book with middle school students, but many of them complained that the assignments were cliche and forced them to write on prompts they had heard before (like write an autobiography, describe someone's personality in a paragraph, write about something that annoys you, write about the weather today, etc.). I felt that half of these prompts were things that as a teacher, I could easily come up with on my own. The other half are fine and good, but brief. For my purposes, this book could be condensed to a two-page list of creative writing / essay topics.

At 9.99 for 64 pages, you are better off spending 19.99 on a 300 page book that will last beyond a few weeks, and do more than list off writing prompts.

This book could be useful if you are teaching 4th-5th grade students, and like to have the structure of a book to guide you through getting the class excited about a single writing prompt. If you're a more creative type (and not a by-the-line, I read a cookbook for every detail type), you're better off giving yourself an hour to brainstorm a bunch of writing prompts, typing them up, and using your own ideas.

This is good for students who need focus, but not for students who need basic skills.

It was in good shape when got it and it's a good little book.

AS a substitute teacher, I see lots of textbooks and math worksheets for elementarty students. I ordered this when I was tutoring a 4th grader. The book does a good job of covering 4th grade material and presenting each concept in various ways. Besides core worksheets, it comes with plenty of puzzles to suppliment the topics

Topics are not as precisely organized as I would have thought but that is easily overcome. This is not a textbook, it has only workpages so some direct instruction is necessary. But I was pleased with this product

This is not a big book of worksheets and so is really only good at supplimenting the math curriculum that you're already using. Cute pages and puzzles that encourage your child to do the math and solve the riddle.

Excellent book to help young children learning basic addition skills. We started this book when my son was 4 years, 8 months. The going was slow for a while, but now we are more than halfway through the book, and I no longer have to guide him on every step. Prior to this book, he had not spent a lot of time learning to write his numbers (this was his first numbers workbook), and now he can write his number 1-29 without help.

For the reviewer who mentioned the pages were full of too many math problems for one sitting, I agree. We improvise, and I divide each page in half with a marker. He gets a sticker for each half-page he completes.

Most importantly, my son's confidence has dramatically improved. When we began the book, he was unsure of himself and easily confused by the many numbers, but time and patience has won out--and he races to get his book now.

I received this product in a timely manner,product in good condition.

I just love the Kumon workbooks because they are so well organized, with pages that are simply laid out and they introduce the information incrementally. It appeals to the learning style of my five year old. I was a tiny bit disappointed by how extremely simple this workbook is. It only covers adding 1 and 2 to the numbers 1 through 29. It says it right there on the cover but somehow I missed it. I would say it's definitely pre-school level and not kindergarten as I'd hoped. I'll probably just do a few of the pages with my five year old and order the next book to do this year with her and let my four year old use this when I need her to have busy-work. The information builds very slowly in this workbook and so it might not be ideal of the child who likes variety in their workbook pages or who struggles with being under-challenged or gets bored really quickly. However for my daughter this will be perfect.

I have brought all of the Kumon workbooks. Most of the other workbooks are full of bright colorful pictures with lessons containing just the right amount of sit down work. That is not true with this book. It is just pages full of problems -- too many of them for one sitting. They call it simple, because you are only adding 1 to numbers 1 to 29, but it is a bit much for a child trying to learn this for the first time. The book is fine for speed improvements, but find a different book for first time learners.

Propaganda. BS. In a big way. Required for courses, too bad. Tech in the classroom has so far to go. How many F-22s could provide broadband in every school? Not many. But this book is not looking at that. Bland writing, rehashed, cheerleaderish. Get a clue.

This book is a great resource for any teacher who would like to incorporate technology into the classroom. It not only gives useful information about each type of technology, but it also offers great ideas on how to integrate the specific technolgies into your lesson plans. This book is engaing, interesting and useful.

A very worthy book. In the technology realm, people are the greatest challenge, in maximizing best use of technology, and in securing its appropriate use. I'm David Scott, author of I.T. Wars: Managing the Business-Technology Weave in the New Millennium. There are many parallels between the educational challenges and business challenges in the coming years, in aligning technology to the business at-hand. Technology is now a foundational underpinning to everything, and dependencies and vulnerabilities are best understood through early and ongoing education.

The book was exactly as described; however shipping was not. I needed the textbook for class and paid for fast shipping and it was Late! I was disappointed when I contacted amazon and got no response.

I have been working on computers for 8 years and have found that this book could perhaps be the most thrown together and least informed of any I have read. For me it appears that some people had a dead line to write a book in which they knew nothing about.
I understand that there is argument of what teachers need to know about computers and technology and how useful it can be in the classroom buttttt..... Computers are here and for me a teacher of 8 years I have learned by teaching how to integrate to creat a better environment unlike the writers of this book who probably have never been teachers.