Category: Book Reviews

Two Books to Support New Teacher Mentoring

Carol Pelletier Radford’s 2017 books can help beginning teachers by giving their mentors detailed guidelines, a clearly defined schedule, and routines that allow flexibility for both mentor and mentee, says school district new-teacher liaison Michael DiClemente.

Differentiating ELA Instruction with Menus

With its ready-made product menus and immediate applicability, Differentiating Instruction with Menus is one of those books that won’t gather dust, as teachers will turn to it for quick reference throughout the school year, says ELA and gifted facilitator Kim Rensch.

50 Activities for the First Day of School

Walton Burns’ easy-to-use book can help teachers find creative ways to accomplish the necessary and often mundane tasks that come with the start of school. Renee Bogacz notes most of often engaging activities can be adapted for any subject area or grade level.

The Next Step Forward in Guided Reading

Fourth grade teacher Alex Valencic looks forward to integrating Jan Richardson’s assess-decide-guide framework into his guided reading instruction. Beyond its thorough introduction, the book shows in detail how students at 5 levels of reading can develop their skills.

How to Differentiate Rigor and Assessment

The refreshingly clear way that Barbara Blackburn collects and presents best practices in her book on rigor and assessment should help teachers become more effective at providing well differentiated instruction in a positive classroom environment, writes Roy Palmer.

Disrupting Thinking: Why How We Read Matters

Veteran ELA teacher Lisa Belcher finds Disrupting Thinking to be a fabulous reminder that our students need teachers to be their guides to finding intrinsic motivation to read for more than simply finding answers to questions. Beers and Probst include helpful tools.

School Leadership through the Seasons

School Leadership through the Seasons: A Guide to Staying Focused and Getting Results All Year By Ann T. Mausbach and Kimberly Morrison (Routledge/Eye On Education Book, 2016 – Learn more) Reviewed by Mary Langer Thompson The co-authors of...

People Skills for Today’s Wired World

Physical ed teacher and coach Kelly Lang finds Kirt Manecke’s Smile & Succeed for Teens a teen-friendly guide offering tips and techniques that they can use to develop their social skills, make positive first impressions, and strengthen their job searches.

Stick to Routines to Promote Math Reasoning

In Routines for Reasoning, authors Kelemanick, Lucenta and Creighton make the case for establishing and sticking to routines to foster mathematical practices for all students. Educator Rita Platt finds she is “a better teacher and thinker for having read it.”