Education Teaching Books

I like the theory and implementation strategies behind this book! It was easy to read and understand, too. I bought it for an education/ teaching methods course and I've used it to write every lesson plan, unit plan since. It relates to the idea that classrooms are made up of so many diverse types of learners that you must try and vary your instruction. (It's a lot like Howard Gardner's "Ways of Knowing".) It gives suggestions on how to add "difference" to your lessons. A lot of school corporations near where I live are adopting "DI" as well. It's catching on along with "Understanding by Design." Differentiated instruction works really well with Special Needs students, too. I recommend that anyone teaching these students at least read a copy of the book if not keep one for their own libraries!

I cannot review this item because AMAZON SCREWED UP THE ORDER - NEVER RECEIVED THE ITEM, AFTER 15 years of business - Could not get any satisfaction when trying to resolve the issue. The address on my order was correct, the same address that I have received MANY other orders at - Sorry - can see it, can't review it!!

Tomlinson presents the material in an easy to read and use format. The book is easy for the teacher to use immediately, either read one chapter at a time or all the way through. A great resource. Now if we could just get the regular education teachers to give it a try!!

Carol Tomlinson is a master at making sense out of pedagogy, making what is complex, clear, and making the principles inspirational. She is excellent at weaving together all the best practices in education to give 21st century teachers what we've been dying to hear -- that all approaches we've been taught have some merit, somewhere, for some child. The art is in the weaving it all together, which is what differentiated instruction is all about. This book is essential. Read also Understanding By Design Expanded 2nd Edition and then search for any book that differentiates specifically for your content area. Amy Benjamin is wonderful at not only English instruction and Social Studies but sampling other subjects (see Differentiated Instruction: A Guide for Middle and High School Teachersand then there's Tomlinson's and Strickland's Differentiation in Practice: A Resource Guide for Differentiating Curriculum, Grades 9-12. If you have these on your shelf, you have great foundational principles plus great specific models to work from. NCTE has also just released the first book of differentiated lessons that I've found on Shakespeare, Teaching Romeo and Juliet: A Differentiated Approach. We've still got a long way to go as a profession to providing ready-made models that teachers don't have to invent on their own, but we're getting there. If you're in English, Benjamin and the NCTE book should get you started.

How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms is essentially a very watered down version of constructivism. This is not a bad thing, in fact constructivist theorists knew others would catch on as the accountability movement grew. The book talks specifically about student centered learning and authentic assessment as well as disposes myths about what differentiated learning is and is not.

As the accountability movement matures, I believe we will see that Tomlinson and others who discuss differentiation are really part of the larger strain of constructivist theorists who are rooted in the idea of making learning meaningful through authentic class explorations of knowledge as well as authentic assessment.

This is an excellent simple to read book. Very good for young and older people. My sons and I have read many times over. I would recommend to anyone!

At first, I just wondered why cats appear in this book because I wasn't quite sure what cats had to do with Asperger Syndrome. But, on second thought, Kathy Hoopmann might help parents with AS kids increase their understanding. Even adults with AS are sure to see what AS is like because she illustrated AS not only by words but pictures! We can't put down this book just because it's for kids only!
If possible, I'd have liked her to explain in advance why she associated cats with AS.

I'm an SLP with a son who is autistic. I purchased this for my kids' cousins to help educate them. This book is compassionate, truthful, and witty. Great for all ages. Highly recommend it!!

Great book for everyone who knows someone in the Autism spectrum. Great Kitty pictures. Great Message. Love it

We recently learned that our son has Asperger's Syndrome. So I bought this book for all three of his Grandmothers for Mother's Day, and hope that they all have learned from it. As soon as I saw this in a local bookstore and leafed through it, I fell in love with the book! Yes, there are lots of charming cat pictures, but it is far more than just cute. I love the humorous way that it explains Asperger's. Very entertaining and informative!

This book was good, except that it is pretty much exactly like "What Great Principals Do Differently" I wish I had read a review about it prior to buying BOTH of them..A good read for teachers.

In these early weeks of summer break I have still been thinking about teaching and what has gone before, along with what will present itself in 'the fall' (which for us means the end of July!). This book reminds me what I want to be as a teacher: respectful of all, motivating and challenging, in charge and yet (gasp!) nice!

Teaching is the most wonderful profession in all the world: the opportunity to truly make a difference in the lives of not just students, but their families as well as our colleagues and even our own families. Why not aspire to greatness? And does it really come as a big surprise that the qualities of a great teacher vs. one who is good, fine, or even mediocre may lie in actions and choices rather than in methods and superior knowledge? Why is it that we are taught the importance of repetition in teaching to an objective, and yet we ourselves get cranky if we feel something is "repetitive?"

I am very glad I bought and read this book, and plan to share it with my fellow teachers and administrators.

What a fabulous book to use as a book study with teachers of all levels and experiences! It is a quick-read with ideas that can be implemented as soon as the chapter is done being read. The book lends itself to deep, thought-provoking conversation between staff members whether you are a first year teacher or a "well-seasoned" teacher. Teachers don't want to put the book down once they start reading it. Whitaker draws his readers in by consistently talking about "great" teachers and the effective practices they use. A "must read" for every educator!

If you're an education student or already a teacher this book is mildly inspiring, however it does not offer anything you haven't already heard or read. Most advice is practical and common sense i.e. "form relationships with your students" "don't yell or demean them" "make it 'cool to care'"
There are many more books out there with more substance. The bulk of the author's career is as a school principal (he only taught for a couple years) so the text is written from an administrator's point of view, therefore there are idealistic philosophies and it lacks applicable classroom strategies or solid case scenarios. I do not recommend this book. Although a short read, it is mostly fluff.

I have a new found respect for teachers. I read this book for research purposes. I grew up with undiagnosed ADD and I made it all the way to the tenth grade rarely passing a class. To this day I do not know why or how I made it so far with such low grades. I have often wondered why teachers didn't care and how I got by. I have inattentive ADD, meaning I am not hyperactive in the physical sense. Therefore, in order to help others, I am researching the other side of the story and I must say, for my needs, Dr. Whitaker has given me a new found respect for the teacher profession. I had no idea what teachers go through and reading this lets me know, as a former 'bad' student, that teachers have a lot to overcome too.

I thought he was right on when saying that teachers should think about how they treat their very best students and teach all of their students the same way. As an observer, who was ignored, and trust me, I wanted to be ignored, I always found it fascinating how two or three students would take up 80% of the teacher's time.

I went ten grades before dropping out without ever a teacher taking any real concern for me (with the exception of second grade), some of the reviewers have said here that his ideas are common sense... if that's so, let me assure you from the perspective of a kid, with a very high IQ, who got by nearly all of his teachers with barely any consideration, that I don't see how these ideas are common sense. I think they are very valuable and if they had been followed by my teachers, I wouldn't have gotten away with it and would have been helped.

That's just what I believe. It's a great book and I am impressed!

I am the author of:

One Boy's Struggle: A Memoir: Surviving Life with Undiagnosed ADD

We are not born racist. Racism is taught by adults, society and the media. My father-in-law and great grandmother grew up in Oklahoma when there were signs that said "No Indians Allowed" even though Native Americans were the original inhabitants and white people were the invaders. If you study the history of the United States, our history is colored by racism against blacks, various European immigrants, Chinese and Japanese immigrants, and the original inhabitants, Native Americans.

When you are an accepted member of the dominant culture, it can be difficult to discern the obstacles and discrimination individuals from other cultures experience. This book seeks to educate the reader and counselor/student to an awareness of discriminatory and racist behavior that is common in the United States in order to better serve counseling clients from cultures different than our own. It should only be the first step towards gaining multicultural counseling skills.

The goal of this book is to provoke the student to rethink their own attitudes towards racism and other cultures and to better understand how their actions and comments may be perceived by individuals from different cultural/racial backgrounds. Students who approach this book with an open mind will become better counselors and citizens of the world.

I have to read this for a class that just started. So far, it is readable unlike some textbooks. It seems well organized. The subject matter seems to be relevant.

Fast shipping, excellent communication, book in great condition and acurate description of the item provided. Will do biz. with again.

I teach a masters level counseling psychology course. I require this book for my students. I don't require that they agree with it, but I require that they are open enough to reading it and having an intelligent discussion about issues of diversity in therapy. Many of my students will work with clients who are of a different ethnicity than themselves. Although understanding some of the cultural norms of differing populations is important, it is more important that my students are aware of the conscious and often unconscious biases that they as therapists carry into their sessions. It saddens me that so many seemingly good White people, have issues discussing race and their own privilege. Racism is one of the most contagious diseases on the planet, and unfortunately to some degree- we have all caught it. But if we simply deny it, we will never heal. And even if you feel you are the most enlightened of White people, your clients of color may still see you as White, which will add a very important dimension to the therapy.
I also have had the luxury of working in several large agencies where I hire and fire therapists. I always ask a question about diversity. I would never be able to hire many of the reviewers here. With their indignation when told they have privilege, and their 1950's attitudes about race and culture, they would lack the necessary competence to work with people of color. One day, ethical standards will change- and they will find it difficult to find a place in the therapeutic community to do any work at all.

Previous critical reviews have detailed pretty much everything I found of this book (except the expectedly mindless "liberal" comments), so I'm just adding to the general consensus of this text as deeply flawed but useful. The revolutionary rhetoric Sue and Sue utilize is indeed dated and counterproductive; what may have been necessarily and productively inflammatory fifteen or twenty years ago now plays as tired and old. There is much to be said for smashing the cocoon of power and privilege, but critical thought long ago graduated to more comprehensive vistas than "whitey bad, everybody else good." My biggest beef with this text is that it's used in graduate courses when it should be applied at the introductory, first year undergraduate level where shock value has considerable weight. At the graduate level I expect far more comprehensive, subtle, and nuanced investigations of whatever subject I'm studying.
However, at the same time I read on this site more than a smidgeon of exactly the sort of calcified, racially privileged bleating which the authors try so clumsily to fracture, so obviously their task is hardly finished. I just hope they either a) pass the torch to a younger, more adept generation of cultural authors, or b) attend to the coherent criticisms of their work carefully, and take them to heart for the next edition.

Learning by Doing should be the consummate staff development guide for all schools. Creating a common language, the right language, about PLC's is what needs to happen to get all of the arrows going in the right direction in any educational environment on any initiative. I look forward to implementing it with my new school!

Professional Learning Communities are the big buzz currently. Does your school district have professional learning communities? Have you wondered where to start? Have you wondered how your professional learning communities are doing? If you've wondered about any of those, then this is the book for you.

Learning by Doing is a great handbook for administrators and teachers to use as they implement professional learning communities in their school. This handbook gives an overview of the different components of the professional learning community process. As schools implement the professional learning community process this handbook is also a useful tool to assist in self reflection and evaluation.

As a school is developing professional learning communities, this handbook is a great resource to use through the process. It begins by giving advice on how to clarify the purpose of professional learning communities, how to build collaborative teams, and how to establish team norms. The collaborative foundation is essential to the success of the professional learning communities. The professional learning communities must collaborate in order to increase student achievement.

The handbook also shares information about how to collect data, how to use the data to improve results, and how to implement interventions in order to improve student achievement. These components help the professional learning community develop strategies to help each individual learner in their classroom. Schools must develop and support a pyramid of interventions in order to meet the students' needs.

This handbook includes many useful reproducible handouts and continuums which help analyze the progress of each professional learning community. The continuums are great conversation starters for the professional learning communities to use to evaluate their progress. This handbook can help your school improve the PLC process through self reflection and evaluation.

If you are looking for tools to help your Professional Learning Communities improve, this book is for you.

If you want to learn an entirely new set of buzz words, this is the book for you! It is not enough that we have RTI's, IEP's, IDEA, SLP's and the beloved NEA. We need PLC's as well! And we also need to (drumroll please) LEARN BY DOING! That's a new one, I always thought that teachers were supposed to learn by not doing!

What was most remarkable about this book was the utter lack of usable content. While it does an excellent imitation of Charlie Brown's teacher (indecipherable blah, blah, blahs), it says absolutely nothing new. It is uncanny, the book is utterly devoid of originality or new information. Just a plodding restatement of old ideas wrapped in new jargon.

Yet when another reviewer pointed out the obvious, that the emperor was in fact stark naked, he was immediately attacked by the true believers. I in no way wish to deny those who love fads and jargons from their periodic "fix" of meaningless initials and empty slogans. But could you please stop forcing it onto your fellow educators?

This book is a must read for any administrator or potential administrator that is looking for new ways to improve their schools. Very practical and flexible with many scenarios and worksheets that can help you to determine where your school is and how to get it where you want it to go.

Excellent Book!! Extremely valuable resource for schools that are working toward a true Professional Learning Community. Easy to read and very practical.

Jonathan Kozol's "The Shame of the Nation" is an insightful analysis into the re-segregation of America's schools.

Kozol spends an equal amount of time examining the root causes for the re-segregation of America's school as well as the on-the-ground effects that re-segregation has wrought.

The analysis regarding the root causes is pretty near flawless. Kozol rightfully excoriates those who have abandoned the promise of the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education. He also rightfully pinpoints the moment in legal history where the momentum of Brown v. Board of Education was reversed in the Supreme Court case of San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez. For a more in-depth treatment of the broken promises of Brown v. Board of Education, one should read Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools by Jonathan Kozol and Jim Crow's Children: The Broken Promise of the Brown Decision by Peter Irons. Instead, Kozol points out that America's educational system has reverted back to a perverted Plessy v. Ferguson "separate but equal" system allegedly discredited by Brown v. Board of Education.

For the teachers locked inside this system, Kozol depicts the demoralizing impacts the system has upon its students, its teachers and its administrators.

Kozol's solution appears to be twofold: (1) reform from inside the system and (2) completing what was started in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's. One gets the feeling that Kozol is not altogether sanguine about either prong of the solution. Reforming the inside of the system would require a concerted effort on the part of teachers, administrators (and even students) and becomes more difficult each and every day in an era in which schools and school districts are receiving less and less resources. Re-starting the Civil Rights movement seems even less likely given the inertness of politics at almost every layer of government and the large degree of escapism afforded to the citizenry of the United States (internet, tv, movies, video games, etc.).

Kozol wonders aloud why Brown v. Board of Education is celebrated and it is clear that the answer is that it allows America to soothe its collective conscience to celebrate the "end" of segregation. If only that were true...

Sheesh....if Kozol is suppose to be some type of expert in public education, you think he would have marshaled a few facts to bolster his case. If, as other reviewers assert, the target audience for this book is the comfortable suburban parents and schools, then the book has failed. Suburbanites are sophisticated enough to require valid data to support an argument. Kozol offers nothing but anecdote and appeals to emotion. Not very convincing.

Kozol's got this rag doll in his mouth and won't let go. Who can blame him? The schools are in bad shape and, one supposes, someone is at fault. Why not blame everyone except the students? An alternative perspective might suggest the rise of a new phenomenon rarely mentioned by those advocating increased funding: Willful ignorance and the cult of pride. I work in the inner city. Many of my students refuse to do anything and are backed up by their parents. "You can't make me" is their slogan. No administrator will back up a teacher who assigns homework to kids who won't do it. The kids come to school three days a week and routinely take 6-weeks to visit their grandparents south of the border. The girls wear $100 nail jobs, $150 tennis shoes, and won't carry their books because they have bad backs. 25% of the kids stay home on rainy days. Charter schools make the rules the public schools refuse. The kids drop out because they won't accept discipline programs based on "consequences." After years in the local PS, they can't cope with being forced to take responsibility. No doubt, Kozol knows well that some schools have more lap tops than others. This may be a "savage inequality," but for the life of me I can't see how a lap top is going to make up for the lack curiosity in students devoted to gang culture.

Jonathan Kozol is very good at exposing the shameful conditions of inner city schools serving an overwhelmingly poor and minority student population. As after I read his earlier book "Savage Inequalities" a number of years ago, I came away shocked at just how bad things still are for so many of this nation's schoolchildren.

Kozol's solution to all the problems facing urban schools is simply to fund them at the same level as the wealthiest suburbs. There is no examination of whether that funding target is appropriate, which is a very important question. Perhaps the ritzy suburbs are spending too much and wasting money on frills such as lavish sports facilities and so on. It's one thing if the residents in that community are willing to pay for those frills but quite another to ask the overburdened taxpayer to provide the same to all schools.

Kozol takes the typical educrat position on all the hot button issues, from vouchers to standardized testing to phonics to gifted & talented programs (all of these are bad in his view) to universal government-run preschool (good in his view). He doesn't provide much in the way of convincing data to support his arguments, which suggests that they are based on ideology rather than sound research.

After his time spent as an educator, Jonathan Kozol devoted his career to that of an educational reform activist. He has visited what seems like thousands of schools throughout the United States and the communities that make up those schools to bear witness to the shameful secret that lies hidden in plain sight. Kozol's message in "The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America" is not too different from the message he has written about in previous books - America still has 'second class citizens' who do not receive the same schooling, services, opportunities, rights, the same anything that the white majority does. With his argument that school integration has regressed to a level almost on par with the school segregation that existed before Brown vs. Board of Education, his message is a wake up call to anyone in education and to any American citizen.

As a teacher I have witnessed what Kozol writes about firsthand. I taught in a de facto segregated school that exhibited the classic signs of neglect Kozol mentions - antiquated building, overcrowded classrooms, military-style discipline, heavy emphasis on test preparation - the list goes on and on. I've witnessed firsthand the trials and tribulations that children of color and poverty can often bring to the classroom, only to have their education shortchanged as well. Kozol's plea is passionate; it is a shame that America continues to have segregated schools and that some school districts do whatever they can to guarantee that minorities are excluded all the while claiming that race isn't the issue. It is a shame that minority children have to go to classes in condemned buildings and that their curriculum is centered almost solely around raising test scores in math and reading to meet government demands. How can they meet those expectations when they do not receive the same education as the majority students? It is a shame that the landmark decision of Brown vs. Board of Education has failed and we still hail it as a triumph. It is a shame that schools named for courageous civil rights leaders are segregated schools, bearing witness to the exact opposite of what these leaders hoped to bring about. It is a shame that too few seem to care about these issues and that it may take a movement even larger than the civil rights movement to make any changes. It is a shame that some fail to recognize still that separate is never equal.

Why should those who have the most receive the most (in terms of education and opportunities) while those who have not or have the least receive the least? This is a question that one elementary student posed to the author. He was saddened that the only response he could give her was that after numerous years of asking that same question, he didn't have any good answer for it. Perhaps there never will be one. And even though that is one issue other reviewers have raised with "The Shame of the Nation", there are limited answers or suggestions Kozol can give with the state that education is in today. One author and the teachers and principals and government officials that he interviews cannot give a simple answer to a complex problem that is sadly most likely never going away and that will only continue to get worse. To paraphrase Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., America will never be a first class nation while it still has second class citizens. If we are failing our children in their education, how are they ever going to be prepared to succeed in life?

TEACH LIKE YOUR HAIR'S ON FIRE was our book club's recent selection. Several members are retired teachers, and were stupified at the amount of time the author devotes to his class... and somewhat skeptical. Those of us who aren't teachers found literally dozens of fascinating, practical tips about interacting with children in a variety of situations... travel, reading, character development, dining, finances... This is a terrific book, not only because it paints a fantastic picture of possibilities and change, but also because it is infused with such enthusiasm.

Rafe Esquith does not claim to be a teaching genius. He is honest about mistakes he has made over the years but his dedication to his students and his principled approach to teaching shine through on every page.

His classroom management skills are centered on Lawrence Kohlberg's Six Levels of Moral Development. As I read about his students accomplishments and challenges it occured to me that a teacher can get a lot of teaching done when students are willing to learn and will forgo disruptive behavior.

One the most moving things about Esquith's Room 56 is the fact that former students return there on Saturdays to study and learn. Esquith shares book lists and resources that he uses and is brutally honest about faculty meetings and the latest ineffective fads in reading and writing instruction.
Teachers and school administrators will be inspired by this book.

This is a great book for any educator. It contains valuable ideas and insight into what teaching is like in the urban setting Under No Child Left Behind.

For one of my education courses I was assigned to read this book. I thought it was an excelent book and there were so many great Ideas in this book. The author used a lot of great ideas in his classroom and knew how to get the students involved. He taught students morals and trust, which is not often seen in classrooms. The book gives great ideas on how to teach students. I really enojyed every chapter of this book and plan on using it as a reference later in the future. Giving students the gifts Rafe gave his students is something that almost seems impossible, but he managed to do it. Reading this allowed me to believe that it is possible. This is an excellent book and I would recommend it to everyone that is in or plans to be in the education feild.

I was assigned to read this book for my educational psychology field experience class. It is written very well and had a nice flow to it, making it a book you could read without putting it down or wanting to put it down. The book is inspiring and full of ideas to incorporate into the classroom..or outside of the classroom. I was pretty much overwhelmed. I do not know how any teacher can get the funding or approval for half of the things Rafe enables his students to do..such as the abundance of field trips...cross country. Regardless, those are things to aspire to and learn how to make more easily accessible to your students. There are a lot of great resources throughout the book; such as: websites for material, fundraising ideas for class materials, community outreach ideas and much more. I took away from this book a way to make the classroom a place of respect while still a place of adventure and fun. A lot of the ideas still seem a bit overwhelming to me but that is why reading a book is so great, you can take from it what you will. And after reading this book, I can now apply the concepts that I see fit for my future classroom and make a safe haven of my own.

This book has many great ideas! It is very simple and to the point. YOu can turn around and use these lessons tomorrow.

I wish every teacher in America could teach reading this way- we would have classrooms full of kids who LOVE to read instead of kids who get DRILLED to death with phonics and word attack skills.... phonics is important but learning to choose appropriate books and LOVING them will create LIFE LONG readers... this author knows that and shares her thoughts in a fabulous way :)

We just finished a Book Study @ school using this book! We all thought her suggestions were great (especially the one about not ONLY using running records & DRA levels to "label" readers) but using individual conferencing also.
Mini Lesson Ideas abound! Specifics are included throughout! A must-have in your personal/professional library for ANY Elementary School Reading Teacher!

Mrs. Collins gives you a classroom teachers perspective on guiding yourself and your students down a path to discovering reading, readers and the step readers undergo to comprehend what they read. This is an easy read because Mrs. Collins narratives transforms you from the pages of the book to front and center in your classroom, working with your students.

This is an excellent source to guide teachers on how to teach Reading Workshop. It gives dialogue on mini lessons and ideas of how to set up your room. It is a must read for Reading Workshop teachers. It is a down to the minutes guide of what to do.

I am new to homeschooling and this seemed to be a good starting point for establishing what I need my child to cover in the school year. It does not tell you exactly what curriculum to choose for your child's learning style but it does guide you over all the areas children should be knowledgeable in. There are several out of print books that are recommended as well as websites that are not available. It also has some very good information in the appendixes. Overall, I would recommend this book as a great tool.

The main reason that I bought this book was that I am moving more and more toward the mindset of frugal homeschooling. However, using a library can be daunting, when one is not sure which skills and content areas need to be taught. However, with this book and a library card, you can pretty much teach your child for free. She does recommend math programs, but the ones she recommends range from 10.00 per year to expensive 110.00 programs. I believe she has made an excellent balance of skills that need to be covered, and general content areas, as well as a few curriculum tips. She is also open to the needs of different people. While she never taught her children spelling, she also recommends 3 or 4 different spelling programs. She also includes literature and fun books to teach content and skill areas, and in the end, how to prepare for college. This book is better than the Core Knowledge series for me because it's less expensive, goes all the way to 12th grade, and is written specifically for homeschoolers. However I still hope to purchase the What your __Needs to Know Series to use alongside this book.

Homeschooling is much more affordable, efficient and fun when one avoids curriculum, and this book is an excellent tool to make sure you are prepared, organized, and not missing anything important.

Do you want a parent-friendly guide to realistic educational goals for your child at each grade level? This is it. This is another must-have book for me in my venture through homeschooling. How do I know if what my child is learning is typical for their grade? Look it up in here. I did many searches online and kept coming up with grand pages written in dense "teacher-ese" about abstract geometry and linguistic comprehension... for kindergarteners. I need the easy to understand, quick version and this is presicely what I was looking for. There are also excellent resource suggestions listed in here.

I checked this out at the library when deciding to homeschool. After renewing it and then checking it out again and renewing it again, we decided to buy our own copy.

If you are homeschooling or thinking about homeschooling, this is a great year by year guide to help you decide what to cover. Extremely helpful!

I think this book could be helpful for those who have been homeschooling since day one, or are starting at day one, but I can't imagine it helping those who are removing their child from public school, as I am with my daughter. My daughter is half way through her 3rd grade year. I read through the 3rd grade chapter and was completely overwhelmed with everything my daughter did *not* know/had not been taught. And I couldn't believe some of the things the author said should be learned- in 3rd grade? So, for reference I went back to the 2nd grade chapter- almost as bad! And then I started to go to the 1st grade chapter but gave up. The fact is that this book will *not* tell you what children are learning in public schools, although the author does give links for that. It seems to me, from what I know, that this is the "Classical" approach to homeschool (this is never mentioned in the book description, and only very briefly mentioned in the introduction)- which is not what we're doing. I would think that any person pulling their child out of public school would feel as I did- completely overwhelmed & hopeless - there is just too much to "catch up" on! Each year builds upon knowledge from the previous year, and I would think that most private schools don't even measure up to the standards put forth in this book. I do give it two stars because it lists resources for teaching- books and websites mainly, and some curriculum, relating to topics listed. That is all the use this book will be of to me.

This is the book you need for creating and maintaining a solid and authentic classroom literacy program. "The First Twenty Days" alone is extreemely helpful. You can start small and grow as you feel comfortable. A little overwhelming at times but worth it!

Excellent resource. Everything needed to start a reading/writing/word study workshop. My book is full of sticky notes of things to use!

Definitely one of the most useful and comprehensive reading and writing resources that I have ever purchased for my professional library. The price is very reasonable as well!

This book has helped me tremendously with my new job as a teacher. Going to school did not prepare me as much as this book has.

Every teacher who teaches grades 3-6 should own this book. It has practical mini-lessons, rationale for teaching comprehension strategies and additional resources. If you don't already own it, you should get your hands on a copy.