Educational Books

I am a Christian Educator and director of Christian Education for my local church and organization. I found Creative Bible Teaching a most important book to add to my library. It is a resource that cannot be matched.

This book takes the reader through a five step process of biblical lesson preparation. It begins with Studying the Bible. This step assists the lay person, Bible college student or seminarian in the study of the Bible for the purpose of teaching the Bible. The second step is entitled "Focusing the Message". The reader is instructed in how to take the message of the passage and make it relevant to the modern day learner. Teachers are given practical help in assessing student needs and in designing the class to targe those needs. The third step involves Structuring the Lesson. Here readers are taught how to structure a lesson for maximum impact and student involvement. The fourth step is the teaching step. Here the actual teaching process is explored. The final step is the evaluating step. Effective teaching depends on evaluation and imporvement. This section of the book helps teachers gain insights into their teaching and assists in developing ways to improve. All in all the book is designed to be a systematic presentation of the lesson preparation process.

Creative Bible Teaching has shown me many dimensions I had not known, regarding teaching. I think it to be of tremendous assistance especially to those who are just beginning as teachers and to those who are using it as part of an independent or online study course.

The book is divided into five sections: (1) "Studying the Bible," (2) "Focusing the Message," (3) "Structuring the Lesson," (4) "Teaching the Class," and (5) "Evaluating the Results." The question that is posed is, "How is it that a book (the Bible), given by God to transform, seems so unproductive when taught in the very churches where it is most honored and best known?"(29). It is that particular inquiry that drives the authors to find an answer. Their findings showed the lack of an effective teaching method. Through this book, the authors hope to educate ministry leaders and teachers the "hook, book, look, and took" technique of Bible teaching. The foundation of any Bible teaching starts with a clear understanding of who God is (that He is the Creator) (28) and how He speaks (that God used people to write the Bible) (38). The Bible provides the human race with God's plan for salvation and reconciliation. Richards and Bredfeldt discusses various ways to read and understand the Bible. For example, they suggest that while reading the Bible, one should ask probing questions like "Are there any repeated words or phrases?" (79). When teaching the Bible, it is imperative that the age of students is factored into the lesson. The authors point out that the task for teaching adults is different than teaching preschoolers. For instance, adults desire a challenge and an emotional supportive learning environment (245), while preschoolers learn best in an active, participatory play setting (296). The inclusion of the "summary of developmental characteristics" and "spiritual developmental tasks" for students from preschool to adulthood is helpful, but the student's needs assessment seems too complicated for the average Sunday school teacher to complete (106). The section entitled, "Questions for Discussion and Further Study" facilitates the application of the information read (333).

This book is an asset to teachers. It provides a way to reach the students without confusion

The book is great and arrived in wonderful condition--no scratches or creases at all!!

LeFever covers it all: the creative process, drama in the classroom, mime, simulation games, storytelling, discussion, case studies, creative writing ... and more-a myriad of methods to mobilize and motivate students of all types.

Brimming with concrete examples and explanations, this book is all you need as a teacher to revitalize your classroom approaches-and see results.

This is a very good teching tool. It is the best that I have every used. Methods work for all age groups.

No one is meant to lose their virginity at the age of five. "Cucumbers Have Thorns and Snakes Love Strawberries" is the shocking and depressing true tale of a five year old in a terrible world of sex, drugs, and violence. Young Janice's mind is scarcely able to process all of these vile things. Though biographical, "Cucumbers Have Thorns and Snakes Love Strawberries" is very much a story of psychological horror, with an impact upon the reader that will long be remembered.

In reading this book I was captured by the sincerity of the words and the shock of the experiences of sexual, physical and emotional abuse the author went through. This book is also shocking, and sad. I respect Janice Sullivan's honesty and strength to first, allow herself to remember these experiences and second to share them with us. She truly deserves our support in her journey to help others who are in these same situations and may feel as if they are alone and no one cares or will ever understand.

Cucumbers Have Thorns is a page turner. Janice Sullivan has achieved a feat that only the best are able to accomplish: the true art of story telling. BUT this is not a fairytale! Her story envelopes you and takes you on a journey through darkness and redemption. Her life is inspiring, a true testament to the power of faith and a blinding example of how important it is to have the support and love of family in your life.

Buy and read this book. If not for yourself...read it for all of the young people who lie homeless on the streets at night, while we are in our warm beds. Read it for all of the boys and girls who are being molested and feel that they have no one to turn to or trust. Read it for the thousands of victims of domestic violence. Read Cucumbers Have Thorns to educate yourself on the harsh realities of our world and be inspired in knowing that with faith, you too can overcome anything. Ms. Sullivan's experiences are a learning lesson for us all. Discuss this book with your children, family and friends. Some topics are not "comfortable" or typical "dinner table conversation," but they should not be ignored!

Kudos to you for having the courage to bring your story out of the darkness and into the light! Your courage and strength will bring forth change for others.

Janice E. Sullivan has exposed the unpleasantness that goes on in some families when male members abuse young girls. She was molested several times by different members of her family, starting at age five, and each one attempted to convince her that there was nothing wrong with what they were doing. Her step-grandfather was one of the men who attacked her. His abuse was rampant and she couldn't get anyone to believe her, so when her grandmother threw her out, she ended up on the streets and homeless at fifteen, begging food from her friends and an occasional bed to sleep in. As an adult, she realized that she had a difficult time being sexually involved with a man, even when she was in love with him. With a parade of men, Janice discovered she was looking for love, but the men she chose were always physically abusive toward her, and mentally destroying her self-esteem.

CUCUMBERS HAVE THORNS AND SNAKES LOVES STRAWBERRIES is a heart-rending story of one youngster's trip through sexual abuse, poverty, alcohol and a need for her mother's love. While the subject is frightening, Sullivan tells it in a manner that makes it impossible to put down. Will Janice survive? That is the critical question that keeps those pages turning. Sullivan has done a marvelous job of bringing a delicate subject to the forefront. This is a book adults should read. Maybe there is an abused child in their midst they are unaware of, who could use help.

Reviewed by Alice Holman
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

I am a Chef Instructor and this book is been very helpfull. It is very complete from the measurements to the cost control and is easy to understand.

I'm a culinary student and found this book very helpful for converting units into metric units. It helped me with my baking class because it showed how to convert measurements properly and with great accuracy. I also used the following to study for the National Servsafe Test which is also on amazon.com:
Study Guide for the National Servsafe Exam: Key Review Questions and Answers with Explanations (ISBN: 0971999678). It showed me the type of questions asked on the exam. In addition, was quite helpful for my sanitation class. Get both books if you're in culinary school.

This book clears up the math questions for all levels of preparing foods. From the diference in dry measure to liquid measure to getting the quantities right for the number of guests you are feeding. Bravo!!

This is what I've been waiting for. For those of us who aren't too good with numbers and measurements (foodservice math), this is a god-send. It's got great information and it makes the whole subject of "culinary math" reasonable and understandable.

The 3 principles explained in this book are the basis of any consistent philosophy of school leadership.

As a masters student in a leadership program I have been reading the current literature around leadership for the past two years. Donaldson's book is by far in my top five. Easy to read and accessible, this book offers hope for the future of our schools. The model that he proposes for school leadership is both practical and filled with great ideals...anyone who has worked in a school will know that the author "knows his stuff."

I highly recommend the book.

Deborah Meier wrote:

"Wonderful, wise, and well said... This book lays out a way of thinking about what leadership might entail, alongside the details of why it doesn't happen and what it would require for it to become a reality." Meier is Principal, Mission Hill Elementary School, Boston; Founder, Central Park East High School, NYC

Tom Sergiovanni wrote:

"Few books will teach you more about leadership, how it works, and how it can slip into the nooks and crannies of a school. Donaldson sets a new standard for timeliness and relevance. A must read for school faculties who want to come together to work more effectively with kids." Sergiovanni is Professor, Center for Educational Leadership at Trinity University, San Antonio TX

Roland Barth wrote:

In this volume, Gordon Donaldson demonstrates that he is the ultimate `reflective practitioner'. Like a good academic, his gift to the reader is a refreshing model of school leadership.; But like a good practitioner, he offers a model based on the realities of the school culture.... I wish I had had Cultivating Leadership in Schools as my partner during my own turbulent days as a school principal." Barth is author of Improving Schools from Within, the founder of the Harvard Principals' Center and a former professor at Harvard

Gayle Moller wrote:

This book clearly and concisely explains why school leaders are frustrated in their jobs. In this book, practitioners will find a friend in the author who explains the obstacles to leading in schools, yet offers practical solutions through a leadership model that more closely reflects a school's organization." Moller is the former director of the South Florida Center for Educational Leadership and currently teaches at Western Carolina

This little volume scrapes away the layers of thinking and strategies that have built up over the years and have been proferred to school principals. It begins with the simple, underlying question: "How is it that schools can be lead?"

And it begins with a simple goal: to develop a practical model of school leadership that promises to address the two most pressing issues facing school leadership today: 1) serve the learning needs of children and their communities and 2) prove practicable and fulfilling to leaders themselves.

From this point of origin, Gordon Donaldson casts a fresh eye on what he calls "the everyday realities" that surround people who seek to lead. He finds in his chapters entitled "The Conspiracy of Busyness" and "The Planetary Culture of Schools" that if people approach leadership in the classical paradigm of "one organization, one leader", they are destined to fail in schools.

Donaldson then generates a provocative new model that he argues is "congruent with the everyday realities of schools". Building from the work of Barth, Rost, Heifetz, Helgesen, Sergiovanni, and Darling-Hammond, he proposes a relational model in which leadership is "plural" - blended among people with diverse roles, talents, and responsibilities but who share a common purpose and a disposition for action. Leadership, he claims, engages three intertwining "streams" of a school's life: relationships among adults and between adults and children; purposes and commitments to them; and the belief that "we act in common" to attain our purposes.

The bulk of Gordon Donaldson's book explores what principals and teacher leaders can do to participate in leadership in the three streams. In doing so, he helps us distinguish between these two roles (both of which he claims are absolutely essential to a strong school). He goes on to examine, then, what particular skills and dispositions stand principals and teacher leaders in good stead as they go about this important work. Here, he calls upon the work of Daniel Goleman, Nel Noddings, Robert Evans, and Peter Senge among others.

The book's grounding in "realities" gives it resonance for teachers, principals, counselors, and even citizen leaders. Its descriptions of leader activities and the skills necessary for them makes it useful to people intent on learning to lead and searching for a more useful model for their own leadership experience.

I purchased this to use while homeschooling my first grader. He is a good reader so he has been doing this study independently. This is one of the first things he wants to do everyday. He often does two lessons a day because it is so fun.

In our home state of VA, mapping is required in kindergarten. Our regular homeschool curriculum does not include mapping or geography at the kindergarten level, so I use this handy resource for our mapping lessons. There are 36 weeks worth of lessons, each including a map and a couple of questions to answer about the map each day of the week. The questions are separated by day, but you can easily complete as many questions as necessary to fit into a one or two-day a week geography lesson.

The information within this book follows the SOLs fairly closely with definitions like "a map is a drawing of a place from above" and "you use a map to find places". The questions are short and should be relatively easy for young readers. Pre-readers (like my son) shouldn't have any trouble answering the questions if they have them and the answer choices read aloud. There are also transparencies that match each of the map pages included in each lesson.

I like the variety of the maps in this book. There are maps of rooms, communities, states, a zoo, a county fair, etc. There is even a treasure map! Lessons include using a map, understanding what a map is, understanding what a map key is, and using a map key. I like that the maps are visually appealing to youngsters without being too silly and they are easy to read.

This book includes information on national geography standards and a teacher page with advice for each lesson. There is also a simple glossary. The pages are perforated and you can give these to students individually without handing them the entire book. Of the very many educational workbooks I have purchased for our classroom, this one is definately the most usueful.

This is a good introduction to maps, including how to use map keys and compass directions to find locations on the map. A wide variety of maps are introduced, including fictional zoo maps, theme park maps, city maps, along with explanations of the globe, the world map, the seven continents, and various state maps.

After each map, there are a series of questions, two per day, Monday - Friday. At the end of the book are transparencies, for overhead projectors, for each map in the assignments.

My four year old loves this book. We do the full weeks questions in one sitting. We tear out the overheads and write on them with transparency markers, making our own tour routes and finding locations. It makes learning maps very fun.

This is a very nice book, and it is great for homeschooling.

My daughter is in Kindergarten and she likes it. It is well written.

I have used extensive grammar and language texts with schoolchildren. And they would hate it! Now I use this book
and it is rather quick, efficient, and to the point.
The children enjoy their sessions as they learn.
You can have them practice handwriting as well as grammar and punctuation. It is really great.

The books offers a review for many skills children should know. It's a usefully tool to begin class with and have children review what they know. There are questions for each day of the week for a 36 week school year. It has helped my students review concepts they have learned.

With educational and testing standards getting more and more difficult, it is nice having a tool to provide students with practice with language arts skills. These Daily Language Practice sheets give 1st graders a daily dose of basic editing (adding capitals, basic spelling errors, punctuation). They also include a variety of other activities including sorting words, yes/no questions, rhyming words, and other fundamentals. The Friday sheet always has a different and more lighthearted activity. There is also a Daily Math Practice book and I xerox them back to back and use them as bellwork. Both are half-sheets which are completed in about 10 minutes. Highly recommended!

Great book ! It mimics exactly what is being used in the classroom for the weekly language test. The exercises in this book have helped him to understand better and feel more confident in correcting the grammar. Exercises are brief and clear. Answers are provided in the back for the parent (as a refresher for themselves !). I recommend this book.

So far, so good. I like this series for Daily Oral Language Review. I used the fifth grade one in previous years, and the third grade version is just as good.

Excellent practical application book of concepts in the English language. The emphasis is on sentence structure and word usage (like verb agreement, capitalization, punctuation, etc.), and the analogies are good in terms of reinforcing word meanings. The only thing missing for me is the instructions for the concepts covered. For instance, explaining the use of quotation marks would have been helpful (my son is more of a visual learner than auditory - so having instructions written out helps him understand the concepts better than a lecture from me). In spite of this, my son likes this book almost as much as I do!

What I LOVE about it is the daily practice and review. I am a firm believer in small doses of practice everyday - makes a real difference in holding onto a concept. My only regret is that I didn't find this kind of book 2 years ago! You won't be disappointed!!

This book keeps my students current with the information they need to build and improve their grammar skills. They look forward to the daily exercises and participate willingly each morning. I have shared this book with other teachers and they have all since bought their own. I would highly recommend this book to any educator.

Even though this book is geared to the older elementary student, I used it to supplement my instruction for third graders. It has a wealth of strong information and contains clear and interesting illustrations.

At first glance this book looks like it is simply another children's book but once you open it the beautiful, full color photos speak for themselves! The book is 100% full color and shows a variety of men and women of different Plains tribal affiliations and their routines of daily life. Everything from styles of clothing to weapons, to men's and women's roles is covered in accurate, deatiled photography accompanied by brief commentary. Each subject is attired in meticulously replicated regalia done by the author who is a well known and respected Plains Indian authority. Another nice feature is the addition of a resource page listing historical sites of the Great Plains region. For such a small price tag this is one book that should be on every American history buff's bookshelf! You will not be disappointed!

A very well done, beautifully illustrated book for all ages, highly recommend it.

Michael Terry's "Daily Life in a Plains Indian Village, 1868" is a wonderful book that, although geared toward children and adolescents, provides a colorful overview of the ways of life of the Plains Indian peoples for all readers. The full color, large photograaphs on every page are incredible. Northern Palins replica makers and craftworkers will also find a wealth of close-up photos and descriptions of tools, weapons, and art to which they can refer in their work. If you wish you could see the Plains Indians in the full color splendor for which they are known then this is the book for you!

This is such a good book for each grade. I highly recommend it. They are short problems for each day and my twins don't mind doing them once a day (sometimes they even do more!). It reinforces what they already learned, which gives them the confidence to continue. This book also challenges them on other types problems that require me to explain, but the concept here is to get them thinking and possibly even get them prepared for what they will soon cover in school.

i got this book to keep my ingoing fourth grader focused during the summer. It has short varied activities that she looks forward to doing on a daily basis. The problem set only takes about a half an hour to complete and discuss. Great little workbook!

The book presents 36 weeks of work in M-F segments. The segments are short so there has never been a battle with my son over doing them. He is in 5th and I am using this to keep his skills fresh as they delve into newer concepts. It covers basic math facts such as add/sub/mult/div as well as ratios, some geometry and word problems. Good all-around review.

The Daily Math Practice is a wonderful tool to help keep the students up on all math skills thanks to the wide variety of problems. It is quick and easy to use in the classroom.