Ditch That Textbook

Ditch That Textbook
Author: Matt Miller
Publisher:
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2015-04-13
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9781946444257

Textbooks are symbols of centuries-old education. They're often outdated as soon as they hit students' desks. Acting "by the textbook" implies compliance and a lack of creativity. It's time to ditch those textbooks--and those textbook assumptions about learning In Ditch That Textbook, teacher and blogger Matt Miller encourages educators to throw out meaningless, pedestrian teaching and learning practices. He empowers them to evolve and improve on old, standard, teaching methods. Ditch That Textbook is a support system, toolbox, and manifesto to help educators free their teaching and revolutionize their classrooms.

I Survived the American Revolution, 1776 (I Survived #15)

I Survived the American Revolution, 1776 (I Survived #15)
Author: Lauren Tarshis
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Total Pages: 107
Release: 2017-08-29
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0545919754

Bestselling author Lauren Tarshis tackles the American Revolution in this latest installment of the groundbreaking, New York Times bestselling I Survived series. Bestselling author Lauren Tarshis tackles the American Revolution in this latest installment of the groundbreaking, New York Times bestselling I Survived series. British soldiers were everywhere. There was no escape. Nathaniel Fox never imagined he'd find himself in the middle of a blood-soaked battlefield, fighting for his life. He was only eleven years old! He'd barely paid attention to the troubles between America and England. How could he, while being worked to the bone by his cruel uncle, Uriah Storch? But when his uncle's rage forces him to flee the only home he knows, Nate is suddenly propelled toward a thrilling and dangerous journey into the heart of the Revolutionary War. He finds himself in New York City on the brink of what will be the biggest battle yet.

The Dot

The Dot
Author: Peter H. Reynolds
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Total Pages: 33
Release: 2022-05-31
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 153621809X

Vashti believes that she cannot draw, but her art teacher's encouragement leads her to change her mind and she goes on to encourage another student who feels the same as she had.

The Knowledge Gap

The Knowledge Gap
Author: Natalie Wexler
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2020-08-04
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0735213569

The untold story of the root cause of America's education crisis--and the seemingly endless cycle of multigenerational poverty. It was only after years within the education reform movement that Natalie Wexler stumbled across a hidden explanation for our country's frustrating lack of progress when it comes to providing every child with a quality education. The problem wasn't one of the usual scapegoats: lazy teachers, shoddy facilities, lack of accountability. It was something no one was talking about: the elementary school curriculum's intense focus on decontextualized reading comprehension "skills" at the expense of actual knowledge. In the tradition of Dale Russakoff's The Prize and Dana Goldstein's The Teacher Wars, Wexler brings together history, research, and compelling characters to pull back the curtain on this fundamental flaw in our education system--one that fellow reformers, journalists, and policymakers have long overlooked, and of which the general public, including many parents, remains unaware. But The Knowledge Gap isn't just a story of what schools have gotten so wrong--it also follows innovative educators who are in the process of shedding their deeply ingrained habits, and describes the rewards that have come along: students who are not only excited to learn but are also acquiring the knowledge and vocabulary that will enable them to succeed. If we truly want to fix our education system and unlock the potential of our neediest children, we have no choice but to pay attention.

Literature-Based Teaching in the Content Areas

Literature-Based Teaching in the Content Areas
Author: Carole Cox
Publisher: SAGE
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2011-01-12
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1452237611

Forty classroom-tested, classroom-ready literature-based strategies for teaching in the K–8 content areas Grounded in theory and best-practices research, this practical text provides teachers with 40 strategies for using fiction and non-fiction trade books to teach in five key content areas: language arts and reading, social studies, mathematics, science, and the arts. Each strategy provides everything a teacher needs to get started: a classroom example that models the strategy, a research-based rationale, relevant content standards, suggested books, reader-response questions and prompts, assessment ideas, examples of how to adapt the strategy for different grade levels (K–2, 3–5, and 6–8), and ideas for differentiating instruction for English language learners and struggling students. Throughout the book, student work samples and classroom vignettes bring the content to life.

Nature through Time

Nature through Time
Author: Edoardo Martinetto
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 468
Release: 2020-07-27
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3030350584

This book simulates a historical walk through nature, teaching readers about the biodiversity on Earth in various eras with a focus on past terrestrial environments. Geared towards a student audience, using simple terms and avoiding long complex explanations, the book discusses the plants and animals that lived on land, the evolution of natural systems, and how these biological systems changed over time in geological and paleontological contexts. With easy-to-understand and scientifically accurate and up-to-date information, readers will be guided through major biological events from the Earth's past. The topics in the book represent a broad paleoenvironmental spectrum of interests and educational modules, allowing for virtual visits to rich geological times. Eras and events that are discussed include, but are not limited to, the much varied Quaternary environments, the evolution of plants and animals during the Cenozoic, the rise of angiosperms, vertebrate evolution and ecosystems in the Mesozoic, the Permian mass extinction, the late Paleozoic glaciation, and the origin of the first trees and land plants in the Devonian-Ordovician. With state-of-the art expert scientific instruction on these topics and up-to-date and scientifically accurate illustrations, this book can serve as an international course for students, teachers, and other interested individuals.

Wonderstruck

Wonderstruck
Author: Brian Selznick
Publisher: Scholastic
Total Pages: 325
Release: 2015-09-03
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1407166557

Ben's story takes place in 1977 and is told in words. Rose's story in 1927 is told entirely in pictures. Ever since his mother died, Ben feels lost. At home with her father, Rose feels alone. When Ben finds a mysterious clue hidden in his mother's room, both children risk everything to find what's missing.

On the Banks of Plum Creek

On the Banks of Plum Creek
Author: Laura Ingalls Wilder
Publisher: Zondervan
Total Pages: 388
Release: 2006-12-21
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0060885408

Laura and her family move to Minnesota where they live in a dugout until a new house is built and face misfortunes caused by flood, blizzard, and grasshoppers.

Ambitious Science Teaching

Ambitious Science Teaching
Author: Mark Windschitl
Publisher: Harvard Education Press
Total Pages: 483
Release: 2020-08-05
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1682531643

2018 Outstanding Academic Title, Choice Ambitious Science Teaching outlines a powerful framework for science teaching to ensure that instruction is rigorous and equitable for students from all backgrounds. The practices presented in the book are being used in schools and districts that seek to improve science teaching at scale, and a wide range of science subjects and grade levels are represented. The book is organized around four sets of core teaching practices: planning for engagement with big ideas; eliciting student thinking; supporting changes in students’ thinking; and drawing together evidence-based explanations. Discussion of each practice includes tools and routines that teachers can use to support students’ participation, transcripts of actual student-teacher dialogue and descriptions of teachers’ thinking as it unfolds, and examples of student work. The book also provides explicit guidance for “opportunity to learn” strategies that can help scaffold the participation of diverse students. Since the success of these practices depends so heavily on discourse among students, Ambitious Science Teaching includes chapters on productive classroom talk. Science-specific skills such as modeling and scientific argument are also covered. Drawing on the emerging research on core teaching practices and their extensive work with preservice and in-service teachers, Ambitious Science Teaching presents a coherent and aligned set of resources for educators striving to meet the considerable challenges that have been set for them.

New Virtual Field Trips

New Virtual Field Trips
Author: Gail Cooper
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 172
Release: 2001-01-15
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0313009031

Better than ever, this latest edition brings you more than 440 of the most exciting, educational, and innovative Web sites available for taking your students on unforgettable Internet field trips. The Coopers have responded to your requests with more than 100 new trips to visit sites that tie into National Science Standards, use inquiry-based learning, or encourage independent studies. The book follows the same topical easy-access subject organization, cross-referenced to save you time. Sites that incorporate sound, animation, video, and instructions on downloading software for site navigation are also new to this edition. Whether you are headed to the ocean bottom or outer space, don't hit the information superhighway without this book as your road map. You'll avoid inappropriate and hard-to-navigate sites, and students will thank you for the trouble-free virtual trips.