Teaching Books

I am a reading specialist at a K-8 school. I found this to be an excellent resource to put into practice myself and to share with classroom teachers. The writing style makes it easy to read and there are very practical strategies to put to use right away. This should be required reading for every teacher to know how to effectively approach teaching comprehension stategies to their students.

Up-to-date research on what works when teaching reading in an easy to read format. Personal experiences.

I did not care for the writing style of this book. (Too chatty and conversational.) The "think-aloud" and "questioning" examples sounded forced and patronizing.

During my credential program, I heard and read about think alouds and comprehension strategies, but didn't get to see those in practice in the classroom. I knew they were important, but didn't know how to implement them. This book offered practical advice (for multiple grade levels) that will help me begin to teach these strategies in the fall. The authors describe a clear structure for teaching comprehension, and offer real world narratives of teachers using the strategies. There was a lot to think about in this book, and I'm sure I'll be reading it again!

Ellin Keene has added a lot more depth and practicality in her second edition. All teachers of reading should read this book!

This book uses a lot of airy fairy language derived from post-structuralism and post-modernism to rehash the same old constructivist views that have been paraded in educational circles for decades. The information presented is nothing new and the interpretations are filtered through the eyes of constructivist bias. The fact that much of the Piaget's theory has been discredited by scientific enquiry seems to have escaped the knowledge of the author. Methods of teaching that are affiliated with the constructivist thought, including Reading Recovery are glorified, even though they fail to produce the goods when compared to methods of explicit reading instruction like synthetic phonics. Knowledge is not innate. Some things have to be taught. In many subjects such as science, structuring the environment to lead children to make their own discoveries is something that all teachers should be doing. They don't need this book to tell them that. However, many children will fail to learn to read and write properly without given explicit instruction in phonics and the building blocks of language. Constructivists take the point of view that explicit instruction detracts from creativity, but they fail to back up this assertion with scientific evidence.

We are using this book as a book study group in our elementary school It serves as a great springboard for conversation about teaching strategies and learning. The book provides insights to new teachers as well as seasoned teachers and can serve as a way to share and reflect as a learning and teaching community.

I purchased this book based on a review I read in a popular teacher magazine put out by Scholastic. I was looking for a book I could read quickly and find information that would help me understand how my language affects my students. This book did give me that information, but I had to search for it, something I did not have the time to do. I wonder who the the targeted audience was for this book? Certainly not an overwelmed 2nd year 4th grade teacher with 26 students.

This is an important work for any teacher to read. It helps the teacher focus on how he or she can actively shape a student's identity by helping the student to develop a firm concept of self. Detailed questions and examples are given. I found this work very helpful to think about, although I don't intend to teach reading or become a reading coach. The work has helped guide me into thinking about how to turn students into powerful, confident, human beings.
Wonderful! Love it!

This book really changed my thinking about how to speak to children to promote the best learning, and what to say. Our words are powerful tools in the 'teacher's took kit' and must be used with care.

The book came in good condition and excellent timing. I am well pleased with my ordering experience with Amazon.com

This is a well written, creaive and comprehensive text. Amazon provided excellent customer service as well. Thanks.

This book is required for a class I am taking, but the school states this book is in the 5th ed. as of 2005. I will wait for the updated version. The school is selling it for $118.50.

This book is full of interesting information, but I think most of it is information that isn't very useful for regular Education majors. If you're going to be a school counselor or psychologist though, this book would be a great investment for you.

I purchased this book because it was mandatory for an education class I was taking. It was very helpful and useful in terms of my class but I don't think I would have purchased it on my own. Not to say that the book did not have lots of good information in it, but it depends on what you are interested in learning about.

Reading this book took a huge weight off my shoulders before law school. This book is a crash course not only in how to succeed in law school, but also how to think about the law as a whole. The lessons learned here are designed to frame your legal education, and helps you learn a surefire, if not complex, method to taking all law exams and tacking legal problems.

I found this book very helpful in understanding features of law school that are important there but not necessarily taught there. It also is done in an interesting way, so that it's not just a completely practical guide to exams. It *is* practical, but it's got some intellectual content, too. Worthwhile for the law student.

I had Fischl for Contracts at UM a few years ago and highly recommend it if you find yourself in a similar position. The examples are pretty close to the type of questions he and other law school professors ask on exams. Think of this book as a Princeton Review type lesson on how to master the test not the material. It does a good job breaking down the different types of issue spotters etc and is helpful for those with no exam experience. I recommend it to my 1L friends (the ones I couldn't talk out of going to law school. 4 stars only because even knowing what to expect didn't help my grade in his class!

What a great book. I'm just sorry that I didn't discover it until my 2L year. I feel so much more prepared for exams this year, thanks to the great advice and information in this book. I plan to give my copy to the student services library when I leave law school, because I think every single 1L should read it!

Reading this book before school started had the benefit of getting me thinking about law and legal analysis. But it had no impact on my grades (I'm at or near the top of my class in all subjects and top overall). More importantly, it SHOULDN'T have any impact on one's grades. Attending the lectures, reading the cases, preparing your own outline, participating in class and seeking help from the professor when necesssary; THESE are the vital steps for success in law school.

I gave up using commercial aids for one crucial reason: they distracted me from getting inside the head of the professor and really grasping the nature of the topic. People who try to take artificial shortcuts like using a commercial aid will never excel. If their intellect cannot naturally expedite the studying process, how could a quick summary give someone that special, incisive grasp of a topic? In such a case one would be better off doing all the assigned tasks properly and methodically. Disagree with me at your peril!

To be fair, after reading this book, I was able to provide some clever answers in class during my first month at school. After that, I was so involved and interested in the assigned materials, I long surpassed what this book could offer.

I strongly feel that some of the reviews of this book posted here are too harsh. Judging from a few of the comments, it seems that some might expect this to prepare them for the GRE Math Subject Test - which is very different from this book's intention, which is to prepare one for the math section of the General Test. The level of difficulty of the problems is not too hard - if you're looking to score a 800, this may not be the book for you - but it's perfect for those of us struggling to get over the 650 mark. The practice problems, for the most part, realistically resemble what one might encounter on the acutal test, and there are only a few GRE-tested math subjects that don't appear in this book. In just over a week of studying primarily with this book, I went from practice tests in the mid-600's range to a 720 on the actual test, so it definitely seemed to be a good investment.

This book is just ok as far as a review of math goes. I haven't touched this kind of math in ages; therefore, I am relearning the material. This book does not go far enough into the explanations of the answers. It just simply gives the answers without explaining how the problem got solved. That is not helpful if you are not getting the correct answers and you feel you are doing everything right. I would not suggest this book to anyone for that reason, unless you have a solid grasp on the material and just need some practice.

Don't waste your time and money buying this book! It wasn't helpful at all! I found that Baaron's Math part is really comprehensive and educative. This book is very easy and has nothing to do with real GRE exam. I would also recommend to subscribe for some internet quiz to do better on actual test. Good luck everyone!

I thought this would be a complete math review but it doesn't even go through the probabilities and the questions are way easier than the actual tests. If you have no knowledge of the math part it would work but if you are looking for high math score this is definitely not enough.

If you're looking for a book to prep you for the quantitative section of the GRE, this workbook by Kaplan is not a comprehensive prep book. I personally found Barron's to be the best guide in helping me with the Math section of the GRE. I bought this book thinking it would a good practice book, but I found it to be average and the practice questions are much easier than the questions I found on the actual GRE.

This is a book your kids will enjoy, as far as you would ever expect your kids to enjoy a math workbook. The puzzles do build up a bit of suspense, and I like the problem solving approach. Recommended!

I'm a private math tutor and am using this book as a Friday reward for two sixth grade girls who are studying algebra one with me. It is challenging in some interesting ways. It is full of story problems to be unraveled, about two kids who are detectives. I had given it to my daughter, who was the first year teacher and she said her kids loved it more than any other part of math. They can be solved alone or in groups. I really recommend this book.

Nice and challenging. My kids are happy with it. I give them one challenge from this book on the drive to school every morning and give them 10-15 mins to complete. It's nice to have books like this. They're only 8&9 but they cover most of it.

I used a couple of these mysteries in my 5th grade classroom. The students enjoyed them because it was different then the way they usually practiced problem solving. The only downside to this book is that I think it is more challenging than the ages suggested. There were only a few stories that were appropriate for my 5th graders and those were still very challenging for them. I wouldn't reccommend this book to someone with a general ed. 4th grade classroom but it is perfect for junior high (6th, 7th, 8th) students!

This product helped my grand daughter who was having math difficulty better understand math concepts. She was having fun at the same time.

I used this book as a supplement to a "Reading Spanish" book I acquired, and found it to be very helpful. It has a large array of questions, and it was very easy to navigate through the book according to what my primary book was covering. Unfortunately, if you were to use this book from front cover to back cover, it teaches language in the same fashion that made it so difficult to learn in secondary school - starting with present tense, imperfect, etc. then on to participles and future tense. Learning the participles first is easier, as I found when using this book as a supplement. Grammar is incredibly well explained, and your mastery of the language will be quicker, and you will feel more confident when using this guide.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I bought it expecting a good and thorough workbook on Spanish grammar, which it is thorough. However, it's frustrating because some of the exercises don't seem to "go with" what the chapter is covering. There's a translation exercise at the end of each chapter and after dutifully translating as I had just studied, I turn to the back and the answers are completely different. There are some glaring errors in the book too. Example: "Mi hermano cumplio treinta..." is translated as "my brother turned twenty". If a beginner such as me can catch this - it's glaring. The frustration was so great that after struggling through 3 chapters, the book now sits on the shelf - a bad place for books. I've since purchased The Ultimate Spanish Review and Practice and am working along quickly with this user-friendly and consistent book.

This has been a great book for me. I have some knowledge of Spanish but I need to learn much more. The book is written at the right level for me. I have some knowledge and a basic vocabulary. The book provides a good review of various points of Spanish Grammar. I find the exercises really help but I have to actually do the exercises for the material to sink in. I like the translation exercises.

I have found a few minor errors in the answer section as a previous reviewer noted but nothing major so far. (e.g. making a word plural when it was singluar in the question.)

While I realize there have to be limits, I do wish the book had more questions and exercises. The more I do the better I become.

I found the order of the book is a little odd. All verb work is in the front. Chapters on nouns, adjectives and pronouns are in the back. While you could jump around, this sesquence means that most readers will understand nouns and adjectives well before they are studied in the book.

This is a good supplement for other text books. The explanations are concise and to the point. This book is a good reference book.

I give this book 3 stars simply because it is a crash course in many of the topics that give learners of Spanish a hard time. It is very little information about a whole lot of subjects, but as with the other books in the series it does do a fantastic job given the crammed feeling of the book. I would recommend this book only after completing the other three titles in the series, or as a refresher course. There is simply too much information in this text and it is not covered as thoroughly as I would have liked for me to give it a higher rating. This text is not for the truly beginner Spanish student.

Practice Makes Perfect is good but being a beginner found it a little difficult to follow and understand all workbook assignment short quizes. The intermediate student would have no problem.

This book is ideal for anyone wanting to sharpen his/her English grammar skills. As a virtual assistant who does quite a bit of editing for my clients, I have used the contents of this book as a quick reference when something stumps me. Whether you are learning English as a second language or you are a writer or editor wanting to look up a little-known grammar rule, you will find that this comprehensive reference book is perfect for your needs. If you aren't sure if it will cover the topic(s) you're looking for, the author has the entire contents of the book online at grammarbook.com so you can take a look before you buy. This book has been a great help to me and several of my colleagues, and I would highly recommend it to others!

The workbook's ease of use is what stood out the most for me. I enjoy a hands on approach and being able to test my newly acquired knowledge with the quizzes truly helps. She also presents a lot of extra information on her website for free [...] which is great for those who may not have the financial means to supply a classroom with books.

The rules and examples in this book are so clear and concise that I actually enjoy learning and reviewing English. Whenever my kids come home with a grammar, punctuation, capitalization, or homonym question, we grab The Blue Book, knowing we'll find a rule that will get us out of confusion. We love to challenge ourselves with all of the great quizzes provided also. I showed my children's teachers the book and now they are ordering it as a textbook for their classes. It takes hard work to make a subject seem easy. Jane Straus deserves high praise for achieving this.

MY HUSBAND AND I OWN SEVERAL PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN NEW JERSEY. WE HAVE MADE THE "BLUEBOOK" MANDATORY FOR ALL OUR STUDENTS. "JANE"-THANKS, YOU MAKE OUR JOB MUCH EASIER. BARBARA AND DANIEL R. DEL BAGNO--PRINCETON EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE--KENDALL PARK,NJ.

As an editor and lover of punctuation (yes I admit it), it is wonderful to know that there are books such as The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation out there. I find myself referring to it most days of the week. It is an indispensable tool, and I wouldn't be able to do my job well without it. It is easy to read, easy to search for topics, and contains the answers to the most common issues that arise during the process of writing and editing. Simply put, it is invaluable.

When I viewed the sample pages of the book, I was excited. I became even more thrilled by the positive reviews others gave. However, when I received the book and quickly flipped through the pages, I was highly disappointed. I was under the impression that the pages would be colored. My assumption was wrong. Nonetheless, as I took a better look at the ideas presented, I became more assured that I made a great purchase. The authors provide a brief bio on the artist and simple projects related to the artists' style. Therefore, I am not too sad about the book being in black and white. As a teacher who loves to teach art, I know I will use this book as a resource for art projects.

*There is now a link available for this book to view colored copies of the artwork, but now for every artist.

Filled with information on both artists and schools of art with simple projects for each, this book will be very useful at home or in the classroom.

I've read some of the reviews for this book that complain it is not in color. If you know anything about being an educational publisher, you know that they don't make a lot of money, and publishing in color is not a easy option. I think if you use this book, and work with the website that shows all the art in color ([...]), you'll be fine. This is an excellent book and well worth the price. I just reviewed MaryAnn Kohl's newest book, and it IS in full color, so it appears that she listened and did what she could to answer your comments, which is impressive, because it must have been a financial challenge. Good for you, Bright Ring Publishing! i hope it sells well!!! I think if you rethink what this book is for, then you can just let the color come from the children's expression of their own art works. Don't worry about what is on the book page other than the idea of an art project that is AMAZING as well as easy for you to put together for the kids. The kids are more interested in what they can create than in what your book has in it. Again,go to Bright Ring's website and all the color you ever dreamed of will be there for your enjoyment.

This is a great book to have on hand to teach art or for a rainy day. I love how she goes through various artistic means of expression: buildings, sculpting, painting, etc. She talks about an artist (and includes a picture & some info) and then you create! Very, Very clever! LOVE it! But then again, I love all of the Mary Ann Kohl books we've bought!

I have taught elementary art for over 20 years... I wouldn't be without this book. It is a fantastic resource on some of the more famous artists. I highly recommend this book

I'll be honest with you. I couldn't finish this book. It's though refreshing and draws a great deal of westerners' attention to the oppressive Iranian society and regime but hey the author has written a very boring book. Maybe because I know the Iranian society pretty well and therefore the book is boring to me. I am not sure but I have heard three of my friends (Canadians and Americans) who read this telling me that they had a hard time understanding this book or how boring it was. But all in all, this book was/is a necessary one to shed light on the problems of the Iranian society. 3 out of 5 stars

The delivery time was excellent. I gave this as a gift, so I can't comment on the product.

It took forever for me to start this book because I didn't think I would like it. However, It was extremely well-written...I thought that the weaving of the history of Tehran with the story of the girls/women in the book club with the review of the books (the great gatsby, Lolita, and Daisy Miller) was done so seemingly effortlessly. I felt like I was learning so much about all three topics and was fascinated by each.

When I read this book, I was going through a very tough time at work...undergoing alot of institutional injustice. This was the perfect book to read during that trying time...I think it helped me to see that people can live inside of a world of injustice and ridiculous, illogical rules and still find art and beauty and love and friendship and that in some ways these things are cultivated more fully by repression and tragedy.

Reading Lolita in Tehran is one of the most beautifully written books I have read. Full of lines such as "Life in the Islamic Republic was as capricious as the month of April, when short periods of sunshine would suddenly give way to showers and storms."

Another one I liked is: "A novel is not an allegory... It is a sensual experience of another world. If you don't enter the world, hold your breath with the characters and become involved in their destiny, you won't be able to empathize, and empathy is the heart of a novel. This is how you read a novel: you inhale the experience. So start breathing."

She uses this logic with her own writing, drawing you in to revolutionary Iran. Deftly comparing and contrasting nightmarish, totalitarian scenes of the Islamic Republic's `morality guards' that feel like something straight out of 1984 with scenes and analysis from novels as diverse as Lolita and The Great Gatsby.

A very enjoyable and one of a kind book.

Why should you avoid reading this memoir at all costs? Because it is incredibly poorly written, repetitive, condescending, obvious and yet obtuse, and one of the worst literary offenses I've had the misfortune of encountering.

The author cannot decide if she wants to focus on her love of books, or her time in Tehran, and while I good writer would manage to blend these two concepts together in a thoughtful way, Nafisi chooses to just jerkily jump back and forth between the two topics, so that neither "story" gets to develop very much. The ties between the two are heavy-handed and artless, by which I mean that the author will explicitly explain how Nabokov or Lolita represented her situation in Iran, rather than crafting these ideas and allowing the reader to draw these parallels on his or her own. She firmly sticks to telling rather than showing, which makes for a pedantic and frustrating read. Chapters are arbitrarily demarcated, and the same thoughts and ideas pervade each one. Of course, the author is so discursive in her writing that were it not for this repetition, one might have no idea what was going on at all. The author, in her bid to be poetic and "deep", manages to sacrifice lucidity and meaning. She frequently peppers her writing with paragraphs replete with sentences that sound nice, but don't actually mean anything or logically follow the idea she's thus far been conveying. For an English professor, she writes like a 10th grader, and seems to have committed the cardinal sin of NOT having drawn up an outline before hand, leaving her writing a jumbled, opaque mess. Plus, when it comes to literature, she's as bad as the ayatollah she condemns, as she presents all of her opinions and interpretations of the works as though they were fact and the only way to correctly read the texts in question. A little acknowledgment that her own personal experiences may be coloring her views would have tempered some of her more grandiose claims, and would have introduced some subtlety and self-awareness that this book ultimately lacks but desperately needs. I would have loathed to take a class with her!

The structure of the narrative (such that it is) is poor, the narrator herself is frustrating, and the ideas are simplistic and obvious. Often times the writing comes off as "twee" and overly quaint (e.g., referring to one of her acquaintances as "her magician"; calling the members of her book group "her girls" even though some of them were married women with children of their own...). Perhaps some degree of excessive sentimentality is excusable in a memoir, but here it's just reproachable because the whole novel feels incredibly inauthentic. Nafisi cloaks her story in her overwraught writing, akin to the hijabs and chadors the women in her story must wear, rather than letting anything true shine through. It all rings false and fails to deliver anything of value, and it also completely failed to connect with this reader.

Overall, this is a badly written book that fails spectacularly. It just goes to show that just because you love books, that doesn't mean you should go ahead and write one. I made it to page 70 before the repetition and poor writing finally got the best of me. Save yourself the headache and just read Lolita instead, wherever you are.