Curriculum Books

This book is awesome! The lessons are easy to follow, fun, and engaging for all different types of learners. The book is designed in a way that will make it easy to differentiate instruction in the classroom. These approaches to Math will take the stress off of so many students struggling to learn the subject. Learning about integers can be frustrating and confusing. I really love the lessons in Chapter 5 that engage students in games or dance to learn....I think children will really connect with that.

This book is great! It is filled with relevant and fun activities that even the most experienced math teacher can utilize in their classroom. I especially liked the detailed and "user friendly lesson plan format", the inclusion of national standards, and the Home/School Connection section. I also really liked the Geometry Activity in Chapter 6! Here various types of learners identify many types of angles using different learning strategies, such as making a sun-dial with the teacher to conceptualizing and creating their own oragami figures. Inexpensive and common classroom supplies make these imaginative activities possible for kids with all types of learning levels and schools with all types of budgets.

I just received my copy and plan to utilize it in my classroom! It really can help any middle school math teacher that has different ranges of students learning styles in their classroom. These days with the strong push to have inclusion classrooms rather than having students pulled out this book will quickly become an asset to any teacher. This book provides the teacher with classroom lessons that are broken down so that they are able to gear the lesson to the different learners in the classroom. It also gives examples of the home/school connection, which is particularly important to reinforcing the lessons being taught at home. I would STRONGLY recommend all middle school teachers or anyone that works with middle school aged students grab a copy of this and utilize in your everyday practice.

I just received a copy of this book and I couldn't wait to look through it. I immediately found at least 10 activities that look like fun and would capture the attention of all types of learners, from gifted children to students with special needs. I especially like the home/school connection section that focuses on homework that includes participation from family members and is geared towards the interests of young teens. A math problem might ask a student to find the area of her bedroom, or draw a graph of favorite ice cream flavors of friends and relatives. I also found value in the first section of the book, which explains learning styles, intervention strategies, and how to set up an inclusive classroom. I highly recommend this book to anyone who teaches or works with middle school aged children.

Dan Brown's book is fiction, but there are claims that he makes that have confused some of the basic issues of Christianity. This thoughtful and well produced video curriculum will help to dispel many of the myths and untruths spelled out in the novel. I used this in my church and we found it very useful in opening dialogues with those who have read the book or seen the movie.

Exploring the Da Vinci Code with the dvd is absolutely great for exposing the lies of the book by Dan Brown.

Lee even includes the FAQ and Evidence for the identity of Jesus based on discussions with real historians in this area of history.

I recommend everyone get this and use it to share the truth with followers of Dan Brown of those duped by him.

The Discussing the Da Vinci Code Curriculum Kit by Lee Strobel and Gary Poole contains three items: a DVD, a group discussion guide, and the book Exploring the Da Vinci Code by the same authors. In this review I will cover the DVD and it's discussion guide. The accompanying book will be reviewed independently.

This curriculum was put together with "seekers" in mind. "Since the primary audience for this guide is the not-yet-convinced seekers, the ideal place to use Discussing the Da Vinci Code is within the context of seeker groups." (10) The emphasis is group discussion such that if the proposed schedule is followed participants will spend about 17 minutes watching the DVD and 43 minutes conversing per session.

The DVD and discussion guide are broken down into four sessions in which Lee Strobel visits some of the historical locations utilized in The Da Vinci Code and interviews contemporary scholars. In the first session, the topic of historical analysis is discussed with historian Paul Maier. The second session poses the question "Can we trust the four Gospels?" to New Testament scholar Scot McKnight. Strobel interviews Kathy McReynolds in session three about the role of women in Christianity and Jesus' relationship with Mary Magdalene. The final session deals with the divinity of Jesus with scholar Mark Strauss.

Considering the proposed "seeker context," the discussion guide is very well done. It provides great questions for discussion while provided many quotes from scholars, Dan Brown, and facts throughout the booklet. In the back of the guide are several appendices that recommend further resources, state the facts, and give arguments for the true identity of Jesus that is affirmed by historic Christianity.

While it's neat to see Lee Strobel "on location," he doesn't really engage the sites he visits, so that seemed somewhat pointless. Strobel is more known for his investigative journalist approach, which he applied well on the DVD. He asks good questions that provoke good responses form the reputable scholars.

The DVD also has some promotional trailers, which could be shown to get people interested in joining the discussion group. The graphics and navigation of the DVD are extremely well done. The DVD together with the group discussion guide make Discussing the Da Vinci Code a thought provoking curriculum that will be useful for seekers and curious Christians alike.

I was really impressed with the material. A bonus that is not indicated on the material package or on the DVD is that it is CLOSED CAPTIONED CC for the hearing impaired. I am Deaf and really liked the fact it IS CC but Zondervan should indicate this on the packaging.

I'm sure you dont need me to tell you what the story is about, there are 3 other posts doing that. so.....
I recieved my copy of this book very early on. about month after it was first released. (my claim to fame, Steve Voake is related to me, his dad is the son of my grandmother's brother.. confusing eh?) And found the book a brillient literary work. tho a little disturbing that one of the main characters had the same nickname as me.. I recently read the book again to find anything i had missed and was again amazed by its brilliance. I just need to get my mits on the sequal, the web of fire..

This book is about a child Sam Palmer who goes to a world of giant walking bugs, to fulfill a prophecy he has never even heard of. I think this is a great book. The characters are extremly well developed and hilarious, especially Skipper who I find is one of the best characters I have ever come across.

A wonderful book! imaginative powerful moving. I loved it. Skipper especcially is a brilliant character anyone can relate to. Sam is a young boy in a different world with bugs the size of fighter jets and adventure and danger around every corner. Anyone with an open mind should try it!

Sam Palmer has always been fascinated with insects, but now he's become obsessed. Suddenly insects also appear to be fascinated with Sam. Wherever he goes, a few wasps follow him. One day he finds a horsefly in his room. He gently corrals it in a glass and sets it free, informing it that it isn't very smart. But that fly knows more than Sam could ever imagine.

Meanwhile, an army in the state of Vermia in another world called Aurobon prepares for war against humans on earth. Their weapon: a virus to be spread by mosquitoes. As they refine their technique, word comes that "the Dreamwalker" has been found --- and that she has a son. Odoursin, Vermia's evil emperor, demands the boy be brought to him.

Sam takes a bike ride and notices a peculiar cloud of wasps. He can't resist following them. Pain stabs his neck, and then everything goes black.

He awakens to nighttime in a strange landscape, marshlands lit with blue-green light. Confused and frightened, he walks toward distant city lights. But his travels are disrupted by a horrendous encounter with a slavering pack of creatures like no one has seen on Earth. The crazed beasts are intent on killing him. Sam realizes he will surely die, but then a group of soldiers appears. His relief is short-lived, however, when the soldiers act like he's a criminal, violently hauling him off to prison. What is going on?

Vermia's enemy state is called Vahlzi, and the army is led by Commander Firebrand. Realizing the Dreamwalker's son has been kidnapped by Vermia, Firebrand decides to send a rescuer, Skipper, who is his best pilot despite her young age.

In prison, Sam meets Skipper who gives him hope of escape. Looking through the window of his cell, he sees three moons and realizes he's in a whole new world. When Sam learns the truth behind his plight, he's shocked. He must fight the evil that seeks to destroy Earth's humans. Meanwhile, his damaged body on Earth remains in a coma.

This original book is filled with ideas I found myself discussing repeatedly with family and friends. In the midst of an urgent plot fueled by a dangerous mission, we find humor, a gutsy female role model, friendship, family relationships, questions about the guardianship of Earth and the balance of nature --- plus a subtle, thrilling celebration of life itself. Speaking of celebration, I understand a sequel to THE DREAMWALKER'S CHILD is in the works. Hooray!

PS: Dear Hollywood: What are you waiting for? This book has "movie potential" stamped on it in huge red letters.

--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon (terryms2001@yahoo.com)

When your meetings have become grey with dullness, consider a little humor.

When the seriousness of business seems to have sunk everyone into boredom, try a little comedy.

When your co-workers are sitting like bumps on a log, get the energy going again with a morsel of mania.

Sheila Feigelson comes from a long line of appreciators of humor, & her book offers you ways in which to liven up those dreaded hours of dry statistics & logistics.

She also lets you know when NOT to crack a joke!

Well written, lightly treating a serious subject. Try ENERGIZE YOUR MEETINGS WITH LAUGHTER, you will like it, & you will like the change in your meetings!

When your meetings have become grey with dullness, consider a little humor.

When the seriousness of business seems to have sunk everyone into boredom, try a little comedy.

When your co-workers are sitting like bumps on a log, get the energy going again with a morsel of mania.

Sheila Feigelson comes from a long line of appreciators of humor, & her book offers you ways in which to liven up those dreaded hours of dry statistics & logistics.

She also lets you know when NOT to crack a joke!

Well written, lightly treating a serious subject. Try ENERGIZE YOUR MEETINGS WITH LAUGHTER, you will like it!

Sheila Feigelson is an all-star humor-in-meetings innovator. Her book is overflowing with great ideas. I recently tried one of her tips for nametags and increased donations from my non-profit board by 25 percent. Our meetings have become more productive, and nobody throws things anymore. Thank you, Sheila! Everyone should buy this book. I'm buying ten more copies right now!

Sheila Feigelson is incredible, and this book is a knockout. It's chocked full of so many great ideas that the meetings of my corporate board have become the most productive they've ever been. People don't dread coming to the meetings anymore; instead, they start thinking--weeks ahead of time--for ways to be funny and find opportunities for laughing together.

Feigelson's methods could and should revolutionize your meetings. Buy a copy today!

I buy this book for my good friend who escaped from Denmark during the War. He is Jewish and gives lectures to small school children and groups on the flee of Jewish Danish citizens from Germans. He loves this book.

I first read this book about 30 years ago and have read it several times since. A wonderful affirmation of honor and courage that appears in ordinary people. Every high school student should be encouraged to read it.

This book had a great impact on my life. Having met one of the members of the Dansih undersground after reading this book, and hearing his account, I was impressed by the ring of truth from the author. As a Danish-American, I was truly inspired by the heroism. I wanted to buy a copy for my Jewish-American friend, but was dismayed by the fact it is out of print. This book had a major impact on my general philosophy of life and how to behave in a moral manner. It shows regular people can be heroes. It should be recommended reading for high school kids as an uplifting example of positive morale acts. It is, for adults, an affirmation, in historical perspective, of decency and respect for other human beings. Rated in my top 10 of all books I've read.

My Danish-American mother gave me this book to read when I was 12. It's a pity that it's no longer in print, as I am looking forward to my own child reading it. The book's strength is its description of flawed and ordinary people who managed to do the right thing at a time when it really mattered. The book upholds the importance of affirming the value and dignity of individual human beings even if the goverrnment or prevailing ideology discourages doing so. A paean to ordinary decency.

I enjoyed this book very much. It was a great story of a shy little boy named Robert. I'm shy too sometimes so I can relate to him. And who hasn't been bullied at school? I'm glad he finally stood up for himself. It was a sad ending but it felt right. People live, people die. That's just the way things are.

Awesome book, reminiscent of David Almond's Skellig. Robert becomes a hero when he faces the room at the top of Chance House. Not only does he rescue Edith Sorrel from death, if only briefly, but he saves himself from the frightened boy who is bullied by others. There is a magical quality to the writing that transports the reader to the places so hauntingly described in the book.

My gradmother gave this book to me for my last birthday. When I read the back of the book, I pretty well made up my mind that this isn't the kind of book for me. When I was getting to the end of my book pile this summer, I figured that it was about time to read it. And now, I'm very glad that I did! This book inspired me to follow my dreams, and not many novels have done this. It says in the last chapter, it says that luck is something that you have to make for yourself, which I found a very interesting perspective. I would recommend this book to anyone who is feeling left-out or under any strong emotion. This book truly lifts your spirits, and makes you feel like you can fly.

Not much is more cruel than the way young people may treat the one they consider to be the "class nerd." Such is the case with Robert Nobel, often called "Norbert" by his primary bully, Jonathan Niker.

Like every other youngster Roberts wants to have friends, to be recognized as a person of value. It seems this will not happen until he takes part in what is called the Elders Project, an endeavor in which members of his class visit the elderly residents of a rest home. Jonathan considers these older folks "vegetables," but Robert sees something more and this is a vision that changes his life.

Edith, thought to be quite a bit off, becomes Robert's friend and it is through her story that he eventually finds himself.

Director/actor Philip Franks invests understanding and suspense into this unforgettably moving tale.

- Gail Cooke

THese are really fun phonics readers. They have flaps on some pages with additional words and art work .. The art is fabulous!

If you are looking for cute, fun books to help teach your children phonics, get the Usborne Phonics Readers! We prefer the board book versions of these books, as opposed to the paperback versions, because they are more sturdy and include fun lift-the-flaps. The text is simple, direct, and even funny. Stephen Cartwright's illustrations are adorable.

"Frog on a Log" was the first book in this series we purchased. It was such a hit that we decided to purchase "Goose on the Loose" and "Fat Cat on a Mat" for some phonics variety, and they are loved just as much.
My kids, ages 1 and 3, love to read these books over and over and over and over... so beware of that before you buy!

All of the Easy Words To Read series are fantastic for children just learning phonics. My reading delayed and dyslexic students finally have something fun to read. Great illustrations, nice little story line and best of all, they are made up of mostly phonetic words that repeat. This repeation and phonetic approach is of major importance when instructing young readers with reading difficulties. I use these books with my private students and in the early grades in the primary school where I run a volunteer reading program. I hope that more of the same will soon be on the market.

This book is about a frog that sits on a log by the bog. He suddenly jumps over the bog with one big hop and starts to jog. When the frog stops jogging it's foggy outside and a dog appears. The dog starts running and bumps into the log causing the frog to fall off the log. Frog gets up and gets back onto his log and along comes Pig through the fog. Pig is looking for the dog, but he bumps into frog's log causing frog to fall into the bog. The next day its sunny and frog straps himself onto the log, Pig and dog push the log and it falls into the bog with Frog tied to it.


This book would be wonderful to teach children about phonics and the different sounds. You could use this book to teach children about regular phonics and irregular phonics. This book forces children to sound out the words and since the words rhyme it makes it easier to figure out the difficult ones. This short book can also be used to teach kids to pay attention to details. It could be used as a game to see who could find the duck on each page the fastest. This book can also be used to teach beginner readers about sequence of events. After reading the book you could have each child draw pictures in the order of how the story happened which would also teach the children creativity and art. This book can be used to teach kids about the letter y and all its different alternate endings such as ie and the i sound. This book can teach children about several different endings such as "ed" as an alternate ending for the "t" sound and ow as an alternate ending for the "ou" sound.


This book is wonderful to teach children about rhyming words and phonics. I like how it gives information about phonics at the beginning of the book. It also provides a page at the back of the book that goes more into the irregular words that the reader will find within the book. It gives a list of the words and provides some details about how to sound the word out. The pictures are colorful and fun to look at. The illustrator also adds a small yellow duck to every picture that the reader is supposed to find. This provides the reader with some entertainment before, during, and after reading this book. This is a great book for children just learning how to read and I would love to use this book in my classroom someday.

Hungry

Great Colonial American Projects is the dream book for teachers to help their students understand what real life was like in Colonial America. The author not only provides an array of inexpensive models for kids to build to "recreate" objects colonists used in their daily lives, she has also manages to write about history and historical figures in a way that will connect with kids and have them asking questions. I love to read history, and I enjoyed the spirited and informative style with which Bordessa writes.

I bought this book the other day to suppliment our homeschooling curriculum. I was SO impressed. It was so much more than I was expecting. I thought it would just be a few projects and crafts that you could do with your kids to give them some impressions of Colonial life. I had no idea it would be so well thought out, with so many great historical facts. I really got the feeling that I had learned SO much more about how the Colonists had lived, in an everyday-type of perspective, after reading this book. My son and I are getting ready to start a Colonial History Unit and I am so excited. We are going to start reading the book together and do the projects as we go. And because there are so many interesting things in this one book, I'm sure it will take us a bit longer than I had originally thought. I can't wait to get started!

I purchased this book expecting "great colonial projects" for my homeschooled kids, and it delivered. A friendly tone draws young readers in, while drawings and graphics make the text visually appealing.

However, this author has created a far more powerful resource than that. Ms. Bordessa includes bonus features: a timeline of the Colonial period (divided by both colony and year), background of voyages, maps, a glossary, and text boxes with interesting facts and charts. "Spotlight on Famous Colonists" provides a biographical reference. "Colonial Words to Know" are helpfully placed near the passages where they're used and are also highlighted in the text. Facts are in a frame of reference children can identify with. (For example, the colonists traveled 2,700 miles across the ocean at 2 m.p.h., about the speed of a skateboard!) In this way, the projects link to the larger colonial world.

Even adults who flip through the book will learning something new. I only wish this book had been available the first ten years I homeschooled my children! But what a treat for those mothers with young children who want to bring the colonial period to life for them.

Connie Lapallo
Author, Dark Enough to See the Stars in a Jamestown Sky

This is a really great resource! I wish it had been in print when I was a teacher. Most books on colonial America tend to be a bit dry. This one is visually appealing, lively and would be very useful if your child had to do a report or was just interested in this time period. It covers all the usual things like who the colonists were, what they ate, wore, did for fun and so forth, but it also covers unusual stuff like crime and punishment and fire fighting. In addition, there are directions for dozens of easy projects such as making your Liberty Bell puzzler, marigold dye, dipped candles and a tin lantern. None of the projects take a lot of time and use easy-to-find materials - both big pluses.

An index and glossary help add to the book's usefulness. Overall, a definite pick if you're studying American history.

This book has brilliant illustrations that capture my 9 month old's attention; he actually sits through the entire book. The story promotes developement but keeps it short and simple so I can turn the page before he loses interest. I'll definately be buying more in this series!

She loved this book when she received it at 1 1/2 yrs and she still loves it a year later. The illustrations are great, and it is interactive because she is able to play along with Poppy. Highly recommended!

Imagine taking primary colors to places they have never been before. That's the experience I felt when sharing this book to young readers. Because of the style and kid-friendly theme, it was a huge success at my child's read-in day! Impressive, especially for a first time author/illustrator. I am looking for more. Hope to see them soon!

My 10 months daughter love this book. She's very excited every time I show her every page of this book. When i do the same thing with poppy, pretending to be a giraffe, penguin ...she can't stop laughing.

The illustrations is so stunning. Very nice book for children.

This calendar is WONDERFUL! Some of the figurative language needs to be explained (i.e., "keep your eyes on your own paper") but it helps parents and caregivers alike know just what our kids need direct instruction on. I hope Ms. Smith-Myles comes out with one annually.

I love my Calender. It is so real. It really just says it like it is, and as is should be. I have used many of the quotes in presentations to the school. They have come in very helpful.

This item was purchased as a gift for a relative who has Asperger's Syndrome. When asked about the "The Hidden Curriculum 2007 - One-A-Day Calendar" immediately the response was "Oh, thank you, it has already been so helpful to me. I read it from January up until the date I received it in one sitting. I didn't know alot of these things, I like it very much" and this was said in a very matter-of-fact way that frankly touched my heart. I would like to say thank you to the author of this product and have only one criticism: MORE PLEASE PROVIDE MORE OF THIS KIND OF PRODUCT AND KNOWLEDGE. Thank You so much. We are going to order one for ourselves as well to begin to try to bridge our own dismal ignorance of this broad-spectrum condition of autism.

but also great for neurotypical children. Each day presents new words of wisdom that you simply wouldn't think of saying but with AS kids you need to say. Explaining the difference between fairness and equal ("Fairness is everyone getting what they need, equal is everyone getting the same thing"), to responding directly to a police officer when asked a question, to not telling jokes at funerals, etc. Some days you can't help but laugh at the simple directness of the instruction but it's exactly what our kids need to hear and we sometimes forget to explain.