Product Description
40+ fall ideas centered around an element of the weather, a seasonal activity or a holiday. Patterns and step-by-step directions are included where needed. ... Read more

Product Description

Many people have written about how theory (or research) relates to practice; Jim is one of those rare professionals who live the relationship.

Customer Reviews (6)

almost too specific
This book paints a very engaging picture of Jim Burke's AP classroom.It's what I call a "neat ideas" book.It's packed with "neat ideas":activities that sound engaging and valuable and intellectual. I could print out the handouts and use them in my class very easily.(If I taught AP English)

It doesn't, however, teach me enough to design my own curriculum or thoughtfully use questioning in my own classroom context.

An important addition to any education collection
WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA? QUESTION-DRIVEN UNITS TO MOTIVATE READING, WRITING, AND THINKING shows how planning around questions gives students tools to understand content, deepen comprehension, and clarify thinking. Teachers will appreciate this narrowed focus on the role of question-and-answer in the learning process, and will find this an important addition to any education collection.

Practical Advice for English Teachers
Here are lessons and advice based on successful experiences with a wide range of Jim Burke's students, all based on the concept of using inquiry as the foundation of units, lessons, and learning.

Jim draws on and makes connections with many of the best contemporary thinkers as he provides the theoretical bases for his chapters. Although many of the lessons deal with specific texts, they are easily adaptable to any works a teacher might be using in class.

This important book is supported by superb graphics, online access to handouts and organizers, and useful appendices.

What's the Big Idea
Look beyond the title. That's my advice for anyone thinking about purchasing this book. I bought the book out of respect for its author, an extraordinarily thoughtful teacher who has contributed much to the teaching profession.

What is especially valuable about What's the Big Idea is not just the "big ideas"--or guiding questions of the book's title. While questions may help a teacher structure a lesson, the book moves beyond being merely an application of the essential questions pedagogy. The book presents many practical ideas for structuring and sustaining deep levels of student inquiry into whatever the subject of study. And that is the book's grandness--wonderful lessons that help teachers create conditions of deep engagement that Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls flow.

In addition to the materials in the book itself, there are helpful links from the book to parallel resources on the publisher's website that make the printing of clear copies of handouts easier.

There are books out there that attempt to frame teaching and learning through one narrow theory or approach. What's the Big Idea is different. In it, Jim Burke tells a wonderful story, a story informed by years of teaching, supported by research, and immersed within the individual journeys of his students to explore, learn, and discover.

Big Idea Review
Another great Jim Burke book for secondary ELA who want to create flow in the classroom. ... Read more

Product Description
Vibrant alternatives to conventional ways of paintingfill this best-selling book, helping watercolorists of all levelsexperience new dimensions of growth.

Sixty-four bold experiments promote originality in composition,concept, and technique. Accompanying each experiment and exemplifyingits theme is a full-page painting by a fine artist-Georgia O'Keeffe,Reuben Tam, Sam Francis, and Nathan Oliveira, among dozens ofothers. Practical advice tells the reader how to overcome specificpainting problems and become a more spontaneous watercolorist. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

For those who can't DRAW
Take a load of old t shirts, dip them in paint and throw them at a canvas. Roll your car over the canvas several times.

Tear up some cardboard boxes, spill paint onto the torn pieces and press into a canvas. Use random colors as well. Blindfold yourself.

Stand on a ladder and drip paint onto paper or canvas lying on the floor. Throw feathers and macaroni into the drips.

Using a squirt gun filled with paint, stand back and "create" your painting by squirting it on. Rub your naked body into the wet paint. Dance in it.

THIS IS A BOOK FOR THOSE AFRAID TO DRAW OR PAINT. AFTER ALL, WALKING ON A CANVAS WITH PAINTED SHOES CAN BE "FUN" THEY SAY. WHO KNOWS, MAYBE LEARNING TO DRAW FROM NATURE IS JUST OLD-FASHIONED AND NOT WORTH THE EFFORT? I DOUBT THAT TO BE TRUE.

Essential for those doing abstract in watercolor
This is not your average watercolor book. It was recommended to me by an artist of some repute, who uses the principles to paint non-abstract, but very expressionistic watercolors.

Somewhere in the examples of various artists' works, you might find something to stimulate your own sense of the abstract. There are exercises to free up the imagination and use different ways of looking at composition or watercolor media to express new ideas. Not for those looking to do ultra-realism.

Antidote for cliches
I find this book a superb counter to the myriad watercolor books on the market. There is nothing wrong with the realistic painting those books encourage and teach, but the medium offers much more and this book opens up those other vistas.

Good ideas for starting a watercolor painting.
If your looking for different compositions to try out in watercolor, this books fits the bill.

I liked the great descriptions of compositional techniques which is followed by large color painting examples.

Some ofthe painting examples scream for you to do them better. What a challenge! ... Read more

Product Description
Veteran teacher Janiel Wagstaff shows how to harness the power of children's names to teach key reading and writing skills. ABC Name Walls jumpstart lessons on letter-sound correspondence, identifying beginning, middle, and ending sounds, and blending and segmenting sounds. The more advanced Chunking Name Wall helps students spell and decode using patterns in classmates' names. Wagstaff offers tips for creating the walls, introducing the names, and systematically teaching the skills children need to become successful readers and writers—all in a fun and motivating way.For use with Grades K–2. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great Resource
I used this book with my kindergarten teachers at an in-service early in the school year.It is an excellent resource with plenty of ideas to involve children using their names for learning.I will continue to share the ideas and recommend this book to pre-K and Kindergarten teachers. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description

What readers will love about this book is that it offers big-picture understandings of teaching, then it zooms in and offers the details of that teaching.
- Katie Wood Ray, author of About the Authors

Customer Reviews (4)

If You Teach 1st Grade, You Have to Read This Book
This is an excellent resource book.In our school, we use Lucy Caulkins Units of Study.First Grade Writers is a great companion book for Caulkins' work. It starts with building a community of writers and pattern books.The children are so successful and it is easily differentiated.This is a book that you will continually revisit throughout years.
A must have for first grade teachers!

Excellent resource for First Grade teachers
This is a helpful guide for First Grade teachers who want to incorporate the writing process into their classroom. The information is clear and well-organized and follows the flow of the school year.

An essential companion for teachers of First Grade Writers
Stephanie Parsons' book speaks directly to teachers. It explains the thinking behind a writing workshop - what we need to understand in order to set our own goals for our students and to plan and organise successful units of study. I love the way she has provided a consistent framework for the development of each unit of study; this so helps my own planning and then develops each part of the framework giving examples of possible teaching points. I have recommended this book to every First Grade teacher I know.

Right on Target
I love this book! I have been teaching first grade for eight years, and this book really addresses first grade writers as they truely are. It has some wonderful, concrete ideas for improving their writing. I especially like the suggestions of Read Aloud titles to teach specific writing points. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Arts & Activities, published by Publishers' Development Corporation on January 1, 2002. The length of the article is 697 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: A day in the life of Mary Cassatt. (An idea: worth trying).(artist)(Brief Article)
Author: Julie Stoppel
Publication: Arts & Activities (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2002
Publisher: Publishers' Development Corporation
Volume: 130Issue: 5Page: 42(1)

Article Type: Brief Article

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Arts & Activities, published by Publishers' Development Corporation on November 1, 2001. The length of the article is 1072 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Expressionism.(classroom ideas)(Brief Article)
Author: Guy Hubbard
Publication: Arts & Activities (Magazine/Journal)
Date: November 1, 2001
Publisher: Publishers' Development Corporation
Volume: 130Issue: 3Page: 25(3)

Article Type: Brief Article

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description
Speaking Across the Curriculum gives teachers ready-made speaking and listening activities that can be infused into any curriculum. Over 50 activities help educators encourage debate and discussion, and teach students speaking and listening skills, develop a media presentation, persuade an audience, and speak spontaneously. Activities also help students analyze and evaluate arguments and sources, including Web sites. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

All teachers should read this!
This book is excellent. It should be required reading for those getting their teaching credential, and for all current teachers. While it is designed for high school, many of the exercises work or can be adapted for middle school. Elementary school teachers should read it as well. They need to know what their students need later; plus, they can create their own spin for some fun activities in lower grades.
And this isn't just about speaking. It's about thinking critically (and expressing those thoughts). No classroom is complete without it.
... Read more

Product Description
If you are looking for ideas and tips that can impact your students’ reading and writing, this outstanding resource book provides hundreds of classroom-proven suggestions. ... Read more