Schools and Instruction 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.

Educational Renewal Review By John Goodlad

Reason the author wrote the book:

1)Packaged 19 postulates for better teacher preparation. 2)Said schools should be and have a center of pedagogy, which includes outside sources-collaboration.

Purpose/theme of the book:

1)To be a proponent of better teacher preparation-thus having better schools 2)Center of pedagogy-school of education, arts and sciences, and local school districts make up this center. 3)Collaboration between K-12 and universities

Application to educational administration:

1)Have better teacher preparation programs 2)Have involvement in different departments-collaboration 3)Communication, collaboration, and common purpose are essential to good leadership, better schools, and teachers 4)Leadership must be shared and spread around

Key thoughts or ideas

1)Good societies have good school not the other way around. 2)Ambiguity is not a dirty word one should embrace it. Closure is a dirty word. 3)A partnership ethic must be encultured. 4)Concept of lifelong learning should be a part of the socialization process from the onset of education. 5)Inquiry and reflection should be habitual.

LL ENGLISH FOR NEW AMERICANS is an excellent resource for a self-study program as well as a great addition to an ESL (or, in my case, EFL) classroom. ESL/EFL students will find its format easy to follow and its content useful for their everyday needs in the States. The accompanying video and audio cassette are motivating and provide ample practice for listening skills. The accompanying workbook provides practice for written skills. The ESL teacher will also appreciate LL ENGLISH FOR NEW AMERICANS as a stimulating supplement in the classroom. Many activities can be expanded into roleplays and many situations can be transferred to students actual needs. Without a doubt the program is recommendable to both students and teachers.

I examined this book for consideration as a possible textbook in the course, "Fundamentals of Arithmetic and Logic" that I will be teaching next semester. When looking at such books, I use the following criteria:

*) Is the writing clear and straightforward? Can the elementary education student understand what is being described?
*) Are the examples ones that the students can relate to? Are they artificial or do they have real meaning to the student?
*) Is the coverage within the bounds of what I want to cover in the course?

The book meets every one of my requirements; I found the explanations very clear and within the bounds of the weaker students. The examples are understandable and I found myself mentally doing a few of them as I looked it over. I have yet to make my final decision regarding the textbook that I will use and have several other books that I need to examine. However, I can say that this is clearly one of the better options available.

A British art historian and critic, Lorne Campbell serves as research curator at the National Gallery in London. His fully illustrated book serves as a catalogue of fifteenth century paintings from the Netherlands (including the Low Countries and northern France) in full color, accompanied by many details, comparative illustrations, and technical photographs. Campbell manages to teach the reader not only a vast amount of information regarding the pictures and their artists, but also an overview of the whole School. By using a broad historical context, Campbell comments on an array of subjects: the painters and their patrons; the ways in which the pictures were used; how the painters' workshops functioned; how their assistants were employed; how the necessary reference material was gathered, used, and circulated; how the pictures were painted; and he takes the results of pictures and makes supported generalizations about materials, working practices, and techniques. The greatest Netherlandish painters were men of astonishing creativity, and immense visual sophistication. The two most renown are Rogier van der Weyden (1399-1463) and Jan van Eyck (1380-1441). Other notable painters discussed by Campbell are Bouts, Campin, David, van der Goes, Marmion, and Memling. Undoubtedly, the strongest feature of this book is Campbell's extensive technical investigation of each painting. His knowledge and expertise in the subject is obvious. It is a superbly produced plethora of facts, and I am certain it is the result of many years of patient research. In fact, I counted a total of 2,241footnotes that correspond to 194 references (luckily, there's a helpful index in the back)! For example, Portrait of Giovanni (?) Arnolfini and his Wife, by Jan van Eyck, runs to thirty-eight pages and 312 footnotes, with eight color reproductions, a photo of the reverse, and a dozen comparisons. On the other hand, the forte of the book could also be its downfall. Campbell states that the book is meant for the interested general reader as well as the specialist. True, an amateur reader, like myself, can read the text and understand most of Campbell's message - granted, with considerable effort. But I assume the detailed art terminology involving x-radiographs, infrared reflectogram photographs, and microscopic paint samples would better serve an art specialist. Also, Campbell ironically states in the preface that he doesn't want to overburden the text with references. Considering the vast amount of references he did in fact use, I am interested to see a book by Campbell that is `overburdened.' Although the book is dense with technical jargon, I suggest it for anyone wanting to learn more about art during the Renaissance. As opposed to Campbell's book Renaissance Portraits, which apparently has weakly supported claims (as presented in class), this book is saturated with solid research and convincing claims. By using scientific and historical evidence, Lorne Campbell analyzes the methods and working practices of the era; moreover, his book adds to the contemporary understanding of the Netherlandish artists' incredible accomplishments.

In many schools the art flexible grouping has gone the way of slide rules. This book presents a compelling argument for integrating flexible grouping into existing reading programs.

The authors offer a variety of methods for group. The methods are well explained. Samples schedules and techniques for grouping facilitate understanding of how to use the methods presented.

This book is certainly not a quick fix. The authors wisely stress the need for careful planning and implementation. Readers will, however, find themselves in possession of a useful tool for integrating flexible grouping into their instructional repertoire.

Mr. Freer's book is unique in that it succeeds in addressing the person behind the student and not just treating them as only a voice to be shaped. Mr. Freer's love for his topic is evident in his writing, and he clearly shows his care in making sure that the instructor takes every opportunity to encourage their students while still addressing the more technical aspects of teaching this level of choir.

This book offers a fairly wide selection of activities for almost any composer project or unit. Each activity is grouped by the type of skill used; i.e. Creative Drawing or Enrichment Activities. The skill level is also included: Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. The activities are interesting and are fun for the students. Most of the activities however, are geared toward beginner and intermediate levels, and would be best used with elementary students; there are not as many for the upper grades. Other than that this book is well thought out and well put together, a very good resource for teaching composers to students and incorporating some writing/research/drawing skills as well!

I was introduced to the book by The AmericanJunior Golf Association(AJGA)