Reading Instruction Books

Why and how the author wrote the book is as interesting reading as the book itself. Norma Broude came to realize Impressionism as a subjective art and the fact that is was seen as objective and scientific bothered her. This led to an awareness of myths, misconceptions and the role of gender bias. In Part I she brings out the many continuities between Romanticism and Impressionism. In Part II she reviews much of the scientific and fomalist critical thought of the late 19th century. In Part III, she discusses "feminine gendering" of Impressionism in the late 19th century and it's "Masculinization" in modern times. I learned some important issues about art criticism and its personalities as Ms. Broude explains the positions of several prominent art critics and social historians. If you can manage the author's very academic style, and bear with her occasional sarcastic anger, this is a very scholarly and worthwhile read for anyone interested in art or sociology. It will really make you think and hopefully broaden your appreciation of concepts not usually addressed in the study of art.

This book did more for my understanding of the magnitude of the number of ways about thinking about art than any other. Broude is able to clearly and coherently explain how standard readings of 19th Century art ignores gender. This is a must-read for anyone who desires to understand the answer to the question'what is a feminist reading?'

I've tried a few texts for teaching music fundamentals to non-music majors and this is one of the better books. I really like that the book starts with the keyboard as a visual representation of music theory. The book could use updated music excerpts/examples. Also- the fact that students tear out workbook pages renders the book invalid for buyback programs. A separate workbook would be a much better option for college use.

Gary White takes a different approach to learning the study of music, one which should serve as a model for other books of this type. Much more focus is pute on interaction and music-making (i.e., active, rather than passive learning). This can be used independently of a classroom experience, though it is intended for that situation, and works better when there is a teacher to clarify notational issues.

This book has a variety of great activities. I feel much more prepared as a phonics teacher now that I have this book. It is a wonderful reference.

The book was received in a timely manner. It was new and just as described in the advertisement. It was useful and considerably priced. I didn't have to wait long. Shipped right away.

Easy read, Great for those first starting a classroom and those that are learning to become teachers. Gives examples and explanations. This book can also help with inclusion and the different centers allow for students to help each other and to learn on their own.

This is an EXCELLENT resource on how to set up literacy stations in the primary grades where students are engaged in authentic reading, writing, discussing, researching, and thinking activities. No more "keep them busy" worksheets! I realized that my students will learn MUCH more when I allow them to conduct research on a topic of interest with a buddy and then choose how to present their findings to the class, or pretend to be the teacher while reading a favorite read-aloud to a small group, or engage in easy-to-create word play games. Those are just a few of the MANY ideas I gained for my 3rd grade classroom from this wonderful resource. The book also explains how to maximize your classroom space for optimum use of stations, how to make accomodations for the different learners in your classroom, how to incorporate the various subject areas into your stations, and how to gradually release responsibility for learning to your students. An EXCELLENT resource--I only wish I'd come across it sooner!

This very informative look at Greek Sculpture is the perfect book for any person looking for a basic overview of this period of art. This book is written well, in a very understandable prose, and an essential for any researcher looking for basic information and controversial angles/connotations for the greek statuary. Also, check out the Jensen sources.

One of the great strengths of Nigel Spivey's book is his questioning of the usual art historical approach to Greek art as product of genius, a matter of personalities similar to the artists of the Italian Renaissance. He thinks it is futile to search for the originals of the great Greek sculptors when only copies survive. "How then, can the historical meanings of Greek sculpture be fathomed without primary reference to the sculptors themselves." Spivey asserts that with the exception of the Parthenon, Greek sculpture was not created as art for its own sake, rather as an expression of Greek religious, social, and political beliefs. He quotes the respected, art historian, E.H. Gombrich to support his thesis, "Iconology must start with a study of institutions, rather than symbols. Spivey gives philosophical weight to his thesis by referring to Michel Foucault's statement that art is a game of power, "And in that game, institutions and customs are more powerful than individuals"
Spivey writes a concise refutation of the ideas of art historians J.J. Winkelmann and E. H. Gombrich that the impulse in Greek culture to make naturalistic, figurative sculpture and depart from the conceptual art of the early Archaic period was driven by the beginning of democracy in the 5th century B.C. Spivey does not completely discount the connection between style and democracy. He thinks that the development of Classical Greek sculpture in the 5th century was more complex and explains all the historic and artistic developments that led to what Gombrich termed, "The Great Awakening."
Of interest to artists and those studying art history is Spivey's explanation of the technical development of Greek sculpture from limestone to marble to bronze. He even includes a set of instructions on the carving of a kouros figure.
The second half of the book concerns the use of Greek sculpture in religious rituals, the concept of heroic nudity, a critical analysis of the sculpture of Pheidias, the emergence of the naked Aphrodite, the sculpture of the Hellenistic age, and finally a discussion of Roman and modern attitudes toward Greek sculpture.

As I have just re entered teaching after 9 years looking after my children, I have found this book to be an excellent resource. It has up to date ideas on teaching lterature, and has helped get some thoughts together for teaching writing.

I had to read this book for a class and ended up buying it for my home library. It is very easy to read and pertinent to applying literature instruction to the 6 traits of writing. It gives very good examples and explanations while not beating the subject to death. I was unfamiliar with the 6 traits before I read this book and I came away feeling like I knew enough to implement it in my own classroom. It has very good ideas and is eloquently worded. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking to enhance their writing instruction.

What's Your Motivation?: Inspiration And Instruction For Those Wantings To Understand Their Purpose Throughout Life by educator and public speaker Annette R. Johnson is a motivational guide which especially appropriate for faithful Christians seeking to spiritually re-orient themselves. Guidelines for learning to love oneself, develop a spiritual connection with the Higher Power, share a successful relationship, help one's children reach their potential, learn how to listen to God, and much more fill the pages of this excellent advisory. The diverse subjects cover range from money, to finding the right life partner, to overcoming internal and external obstacles, and is enhanced with thematically appropriate quotations from Scripture to reinforce the practical wisdom offered.

How does knowing what motivates you impact your life? According to Annette Johnson, motivators determine your destiny. In WHAT'S YOUR MOTIVATION, Ms. Johnson separates our being into four distinct parts and calls them motivators. They are the body, mind, heart and Spirit. Each of these motivators has certain characteristics that direct a person's behavior. When applied to certain areas of our lives, the motivators we value most tend to be the overriding factor in our actions. As an example, Johnson states, "The body motivates those who live to satisfy the senses."

Ms. Johnson has assembled a very informative guide to analyzing motivation in one's life. She interjects scriptures from the Bible and her real life experiences to enhance readers' understanding of how motivators work in particular areas of their lives. She also imparts some knowledge about maintaining proper motivation as you grow spiritually and how to recognize motivators in others. I found this guide to be an educational experience that I can easily carry with me in my everyday life.

Reviewed by Brenda M. Lisbon
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Very helpful for determining spelling and morphology levels of children. Easy to implement in the classroom.

Word Journeys is a great supplementary resource to educators who are familiar with word study. Ganske includes a straightforward introduction to developmental word knowledge and assessment of same. Her years of classroom experience make this an authentic and highly usable text. Teachers will find the supplemental word lists in Appendix 1 to be a great source of words for sorting activities and the reproducible forms in Appendix 2 easy to use and very practical. Those who are new to word study will find this text easier to follow than Words Their Way(Bear,Templeton,Invernizzi and Johnston). Word Journeys is a welcome addition to the field of spelling and word study.

This book isn't so bad when paired with several other study aids. The slant of the text is done from a far more technically linguistic perspective. While I can appreciate (and actually enjoyed it from that point of view), it's far less efficient than, say, using the Genki study system on your own, or the infamous Rosetta Stone program. Either of those two will probably suit you far better. This makes an excellent supplement and reinforcement to either. If you're technically minded it might also be interesting from that viewpoint, as well.

In any case, I find it a useful addition to my Japanese library. It's come in handy for some nice changes in scenery while studying. You may find this as well, if you're collecting books to augment your studies.

This is the best book for learning Japanese on your own, that I have bought. It is as good or better than most textbooks that I have read.
There are lots of examples and vocab as well as grammer. Only complaint is that the book uses different size letters to teach you the correct pitch for each word, but it is nothing you can't get used to.

This book was also a pretty good add to my collection. Although I found some parts of the book to be rather dry and somewhat boring, I feel that this it would prove to be a rather excellent tool for beginners.

First off, this book it not going to have you speaking japanese once you finish reading it. What is will do, and do VERY well, is explain to you the complicated and heady rules and structures of japanese sentences and grammar. I found it to be a fabulous tool in showing everything from conjugating verbs to structuring simple sentences, all the way up to more comlicated sentences. Until I bought and used this book, I found that most books on Japanese were very vague on japanese grammar. The method of teaching tended to revolve around loosely explaining, and then showing students different sentences over and over until the meanings and usages eventually sunk in. The author here(who states early on that he is an engineer by career) uses a much more logical and systematic approach. He uses flow charts and lays out the stuctures of the senteces bare, explaining each part and how it works. Rather than naturally figuring it out ( which could take a great deal of time) he points out how everything works and encourages you to make use of this knowledge. In this manner you are shown the things you would learn naturally and then shown how to corelate it to equivlant english meanings. This is the way that adult brains glean knowledge best. Given a bit of time and practice, the english associations soon fade away and you can look a Japanese sentence and understand both its meaning and its stucture!
As you progress through the book, the sentences get more challenging and build on things you've learned in previous chapters, so it becomes a natural preogress for your mind to learn the next step. It's a very effective and rewarding method, because as you may know when learning a language, the more you learn, the more you WANT to learn...it becomes fun and addicting. Struggling to memorize the usages of particles and verb versus noun cojugations only slows down the process and can take away the students' desire to stay at it. "Japanese Step by Step" helps alleviate this; it really helps you feel like Japanese is not an impenetrable force...just another language that's a little different than your own.
However, as i first stated, this book alone is not going to have you speaking perfect japanese. It's a terrific resource that I think every student of the language should have...in ADDITION to at least one other comprehensive text (and/or audio lessons, and even better, live classes). My only complaint is that this book WAS designed for IBM employees originally, and as such teaches strictly very formal, professional japanese...the type an educated adult would use in the office or workplace. This is not a bad thing per se, but if you strictly learned to speak like this, you would sound rather awkward in social or family situations, particuarly among the younger crowd. But again, I don't recommend this as your sole learning source, just a strong supplement!
Anyone who's fist dipping into the Japanese language will find a lot of help in this book, and any intermediate student can benefit from it as an informative reference text. There's a lot to be learned here; I know I wasn't disappointed!!

This was the first book I bought when I decided to study japanese and I will never regret it. In fact, when I look through some other books on the same subject I almost think that I would never have continued studying if I had not bought this book.

This book starts of with presenting the structure behind simple japanese sentences so that you can say "That building is high" or "I like apples" after the first 1-2 chapters (say 30 minutes of reading).

Come chapter 4, time, place, adverbs and other things are covered and although it is impossible to learn how all the particles are used in different situations the first time you read about them you will always have some of their usages explained as a valuable reference.

Once you progress through chapter 4 you will have a solid foundation on which to build upon. The author then covers bits and pieces that appear again and again in common japanese speech and can really help you improve your japanese through almost no work at all.

I strongly recommend reading about these bits and pieces and then watching a japanese film. You will notice that these expressions appear again and again with different verbs in different situations. And as you hear them, you will remember what they meant and understanding will no longer be a problem.

I hope this review was somewhat coherent. I like this book and I have tried to explain why.

This book teaches you pretty much everything you need to know about the RICA. From examples to a detailed description of the format of the test, it certainly helped me feel very prepared. The only thing to watch out for is that the questions in the book are easier than those on the RICA (for the most part). So, I would suggest using it along with the practice test you can download from the RICA website. Between the two you should be more than sufficiently prepared.

Of the 4 books I purchased for RICA, this one is the one that best mirrors the actual exam (just took it). The questions are concise and constructed well. The case studies and essay questions are very close to those on the test as well.

Don't waste your time on the XAM book. It's awful. Get this one and the book called "Case Studies in Preparation for RICA" by Rossi. The Cliff Test Prep is ok, but if you're choosing carefully, this is the one to get.

Good luck!

I took a class that had chapters from this book for some of the assigned reading. Other than practicing a case study, we did little more with it. When I took the RICA, without any additional studying, I passed it the first time. I have a friend whom I consider genius who is on his third attempt. I told him about this book (I'd loaned it to another friend already) and this time he passed it.
Pay particular attention to the "case study" preparation section. It's invaluable for the test!

I thought this book was a GREAT way to review for the RICA. I am sad to say that I think I learned more about teaching reading from this thin review text book than I did throughout my whole teacher education program (I won't say which University I am at!)!

To get the most use out of this book here is what you should do. Set up a grid like the one I am going to try and explain to you how to make (see below) and then fill it out as you read. This book totally saved me and I passed the RICA and did very well on it (I got 4 pluses on the first two domains, and the case studies, and 3 pluses on the 3rd and 4th domains).


GRID MAKING DIRECTIONS:

1) Your grid will have three columns and twelve rows.
2) The first row will be labeled like so (I will show each cell in between lines like this |xxxx|xxxxx|xxxx|):

Area | How to teach it | How to test it

3) The different "areas" are listed below. Put each area name in a different row.

- Phonemic Awareness (PH)
- Concepts About Print (CAP)
- Phonics and Word Identification (PHON & WRD)
- Spelling (SPL)
- Comprehension (COMP)
- Literary Response (LIT RESP)
- Content Area Literacty (CONT LIT)
- Independent Reading (IND RDG)
- Writing (WR)
- Vocabulary (VOCAB)
- Structure of English (STRUC ENG)

4) Now your grid will have each area listed but how to teach that area and how to test that area are blank. As you read the book fill in those two blank spots for each area and you will be all set.


TRUST ME. THIS BOOK IS AN EXCELLENT REVIEW FOR THE RICA. AND NOW THAT YOU KNOW HOW TO SPECIALLY USE THIS BOOK TO STUDY FOR IT YOU ARE ALL SET! GOOD LUCK!!

I just took the RICA exam and used this book as well as course material to prepare for the exam. I found "Ready for RICA" lacking in its depth and context. It provides a consice overview of the content areas but lacks in its review of strategies. I also noticed it focused too much on elementary compentency and not enough on higher grades or ELD.
I don't know if I passed the RICA yet, but I did not feel this book prepared me enough for the actual exam.