Intended to increase reading motivation in students, this book features tales of ghosts and poltergeists. The tales range from the legendary to the contemporary. These accounts of ghost stories in the book provide subject matter for thoughtful interpretation and discussion, while challenging students in four critical reading categories: main idea,…

This short, narrative pamphlet on the roles of engineers in environmental quality control accompanies the appropriate grade level curriculum guide. (BP)

This book provides a resource for mathematics teachers to understanding the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' (NCTM) standards and implementing these standards in their teaching. Five standards are overviewed: (1) number and operation; (2) algebra; (3) geometry; (4) measurement; and (5) data analysis and probability. Lesson plans are…

This book focuses primarily on mathematics content but restates it in the current context of expanded pedagogical knowledge. It covers content that is traditionally introduced through the sixth grade and carries the development of it into the seventh and eighth grades. The book introduces some newly important concepts as well, but other topics…

Middle school students consolidate their understanding of integers and rational numbers, increasing their facility with fractions, decimals, and percents and encountering proportionality. This book shows how students can explore these important ideas in such diverse activities as exchanging currency and using area models to develop algorithms for…

This book captures the power of young people's visual responses to literature. It recounts the experience of a teacher who encouraged her students to respond to their readings through sketched interpretations--and, like pieces of writing, the sketches became a vital part of the curriculum as vehicles for discussion and reflective tools for…

This is part one of a two-part SMSG text for grade seven students whose mathematical talents are underdeveloped. The reading level of this text has been adjusted downward, chapters shortened, and additional concrete examples included. Nevertheless, the authors warn that the text may not be appropriate for the very slow non-college-bound student.…

Describing a teacher's struggle to help her seventh-grade students reach their full potential, this book is about girls--their learning, their social dilemmas, and their dreams, hopes, and fears. The book reveals the obstacles the teacher faced and how her students collaborated with her to become curriculum builders as they explored issues such as…

Algebra is one of the top priorities of mathematics instruction for the elementary and middle grades. This book is designed to help 6-8 teachers meet the challenge of making algebra an integral part of their mathematics instruction and realize both what to teach and how to teach central algebraic concepts. Classroom-tested lessons help teachers…

This is part two of a two-part SMSG text for grade seven students whose mathematical talents are underdeveloped. The reading level of this text has been adjusted downward, chapters shortened, and additional concrete examples included. Nevertheless, the authors warn that the text may not be appropriate for the very slow non-college-bound student.…

Based on the work of a seventh/eighth grade school teacher and one of his classes, this guide provides teachers and other interested persons with step-by-step instructions for conducting research and interviews to publish a local history of the community. Chapters provide information on the following topics: (1) introducing the topic of local…

This book introduces journal-writing prompts in mathematics for grades 7-8. Content prompts, attitudinal or affective prompts, and process prompts are presented. Each of the content prompts relates or connects topics within and outside of mathematics, targeting important or meaningful concepts and skills. The content prompts also provide…

This book, compiled by teachers, administrators, curriculum planners, and librarians located throughout California, is meant to (1) encourage students to read and to view reading as a worthwhile activity; (2) help local curriculum planners select books for their reading programs; and (3) stimulate educators at the local level to evaluate their…

This book offers teachers a handbook for teaching literacy to diverse students in grades 3-8. The balanced literacy method combines the best practices of phonics and other skill-based language instruction with the holistic, literature-based approach in order to help teach reading, writing, and speaking in a clear and approachable format. This…

This book is intended for researchers and teachers interested in literacy and concerned about classrooms as a context for literacy activity and learning. The book contains the following chapters: (1) "What It Means to be Literate about Classrooms" (Lyn Corno); (2) "Beyond Access: An Ethnographic Study of Reading and Writing in a…