Schools and Instruction Books

The cover calls this edition the "Brief Edition" I am almost tempted to buy the $50.00 edition

While the issue I have is the 1995 edition I found this book fairly useful. While nothing in it "reinvents the wheel" the information is concise and well laid out. It is a good resource for any beginning high school history teacher.

I attended Lin Kuzmich's conference this Spring and was really impressed with her. She is so knowledgeable, yet delivers literacy information in a very user-friendly, casual way. The book is good and has practical, useful resources you can implement immediately.

Differentiating Math Instruction starts by providing detailed information about "the mathematical brain" and multiple intellegences as related to mathematics learning. From there, the author explains easy-to-follow plans for differentiating instruction in elementary mathematics classrooms. This book includes many strategies and activities, as well as websites worth visiting for further information. It would be easy to implement many of the strategies discussed in the book without having to read the entire book, so busy teachers should not feel overwhelmed when attempting to add differentiation to their toolkits. I would recommend this book as an excellent starting point for learning more about differentiated mathematics instruction.

Just like other books published by Dorling Kindersley, this one is profusely illustrated by closely-spaced drawings and photographs that almost crowd out text. It's a short book, at 72 pages, but it covers, however briefly, artists' materials used in drawing, as well as a large number of drawing techniques and subjects.

Artists' materials covered include pencils & colored pencils, pens & inks, chalks & charcoal, pastels, watercolors and paper. Techniques covered include ways of working, getting started, linear drawing, tonal drawing, layout & construction, forms and modeling. And subjects covered include buildings & architecture, interiors & exteriors, landscapes, figures & drapery, life drawing & portraits, movements & gestures and drawing for painting.

This is a good catalog of drawing techniques and subjects, but if you're interested in learning to make accurate, detailed, realistic drawings, it's not the one for you. Drawings by the author are quite impressionistic and underworked by comparison with those in, say, How to Draw the Human Head by Louise Gordon or Botanical Illustration in Watercolor by Eleanor B. Wunderlich or Rendering in Pen & Ink by Arthur L. Guptill.

This book focuses in well on different aspects and teaches you new techniques in easy to follow instructions.

This book does have very nice pictures and the instructions are clear. It targets the beginner but if you have a little experience you would still get something out of it. I didn't find it as good as some other instruction books that are out there, so don't make it the ONLY watercolor instruction book that you have in your how-to collection.

Step by step instructions help your budding young artist transform imagination into reality on paper. From organizing materials to tweaking the drawing with your own personal style, DRAW Magical Fantasies provides easy instructions and a light approach to drawing fantasy characters. A great follow-up to 1-2-3 Draw, another book in this series of art books.

It may not possess the most eye-popping aesthetics, but it certainly will help you with the PRAXIS II Education of the Young Child and other early childhood tests.

Other texts take you through a long, drawn-out way discussion of topics pertinent for the PRAXIS, but this text gets right to the point and tells you the info you need without any window dressing. For example, discussions on Lev Vygotsky, Piaget, High/Scope, Montessori, and Reggio Emilia are only 1-2 pages long...and they STILL tell you all the essentials you need to know.

If you want to gain expertise in applying NAEYC Developmentally Appropriate Practices in your classroom, this book highlights those points, too. For example, on Page 24, you will find a discussion on how educators often mistakenly apply elementary teaching practices while teaching in early childhood grades. Each NAEYC-related topic is marked with a depiction of the NAEYC logo. Wonderful!

You know the best part? The book swiftly, but comprehensively, devotes a chapter to EACH early childhood grade from preschool to third grade. In other words, you get to compare how your practice will change and stay the same throughout each grade. I've never seen this organization in an early childhood book. It's excellent!

Even though the book greatly impresses me, I had to take off one star because it does not include concepts for the ESSENTIAL infant/toddler years. That's easily remedied by picking up Gonzalez-Mena & Eyer's INFANTS, TODDLERS, AND CAREGIVERS.

Fantastic...maybe...even 4.5 stars!

"Educational Computing in the Schools" is the book version of the September, 1999, "Computers in the Schools" journal. As such it is written for an educated audience which has a good foundation in the problems of computers, communication, and literacy.

In the space of 16 articles by 22 authors, the themes of technology, communication, and literacy are reviewed. Each of the articles is short and to the point. Indeed some, if not most, leave this reader looking for more. Thus I truly appreciated the extensive reference sections with each article.

Of the most practical importance was the article by Harvey Barnett, "Becoming Literate About Copyright and Internet Issues." In six pages he outlines the major issues confronting those who publish or use materials. Indeed, he raises many questions about the copyright of electronic materials, questions which need to be answered by the courts.

The last two articles question the continued existance of both books and reading. A scary thought, the idea that books and reading may be heading for extinction. Neither author draws such a conclusion, however.

This book is a good resource for it points to many different research projects. Indeed, it whets the appitite for more.