Book Reviews
Are They Really Reading? Expanding SSR in the Middle Grades
By Jodi Crum Marshall
Stenhouse Publishers, 2002
Determined to make a difference for her struggling readers, Jodi Crum Marshall forged a classroom environment where students learned to take reading risks, where their reading interests soared, and where their voices became the driving force behind literacy instruction. (Read the entire review)
Bully Busters: A Teacher's Manual for Helping Bullies, Victims, and Bystanders
By Arthur Horne and Dawn Newman
Research Press, 2000
Bully Busters provides both new and veteran teachers with a useful combination of current reserach on the issue of bullyingas well as practical ways to prevent and control bullying behavior. (Read the entire review)
By Ron Clark
Hyperion Publishers, 2004
The Essential 55 reads like a manual of social expectations. After receiving a deluge of media attention--best-seller lists, bookstore displays, and guest appearances on the Oprah Winfrey Show-- educators have been flocking to its pages seeking the secrets of one educator's success. Critics of the book caution us to view the actions of this Disney Teacher of the Year with tentative optimism. After all, many of his strategies seem harsh and resulted in both controversy and strife. But regardless of its perceived flaws, The Essential 55, does serve a valuable purpose for its readers and merits the examination of middle elvel educators. (Read the entire review)
In Control:Building Program for Teaching Young Adolescents to Manage Anger
By Millicent Killner
Research Press, 2001
In Control is a user-friendly practical manual designed with the classroom in mind. This manual provides an opportunity for teachers and students to actively learn management techniques. (Read the entire review)
Raising Student Aspirations: Classroom Activities for Grades 6-8
By Kristine M. Fox and Russell J. Quaglia
Research Press, 2003
Raising Student Aspirations invites its readers to explore a variety of strategies to make the middle school classroom both affective and engaging. According to the book's introduction, students can achieve and flourish when eight conditions are incorporated into the classroom. (Read the entire review)
The Middle School Survival Guide
By Arlene Erlbach
Walker Books for Young Readers, 2003
Fitting in. Academics. Changing Expectations. Serious Issues. These topics might find themselves at the forefront of most young adolescents' concern lists. Arlene Erlbach covers each of these points in her new resource for middle school students, The Middle School Survival Guide. Exploring a wide range of relevant content, the guide serves as a road map for students navigating the challenges of change. (Read the entire review)
Yellow Brick Roads: Shared and Guided Paths to Independent Reading
By Janet Allen
Stenhouse Publishers, 2000
Janet Allen's book, Yellow Brick Roads: Shared and guided Paths to Independent Reading likens teachers to Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz searching for answers to ensure student literacy success. In this guide for veteran and new teachers alike, Allen points out that the first step on the path to literacy success is to ensure that students have a supportive environment . Yellow Brick Roads illustrates many of the strategies that are designed to provide such an environment to ensure literacy success for the reluctant and struggling reader. (Read the entire review)
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