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Composers, evaluation and novelsFun with Composersby Deborah Ziolkoski
Two new resources – one for ages three to six and the other for ages seven to 12 – explore creative ways to interact with the music of some of the greatest composers of all time. The books are based on the teachings of German composer Carl Orff, who in 1924 founded a school of gymnastics, music and dance. Orff’s program allowed children to make music using their voices and simple percussion instruments. The book for younger children features Dvorak, Bach, Strauss, Mozart, Haydn and Saint-Saëns, while the one for older children includes Brahms, Grieg and Bizet. Each musical excerpt is presented with stories, songs and movement, as well as ideas for improvisation and accompaniment. There are reproducible activity sheets and biographies of the composers. A CD is included with both the student text and the Teacher Guide. Teachers also receive a DVD that demonstrates some of the activities in a sample lesson in a classroom setting. The musical excerpts are well-known and will be familiar to many children. The text for ages three to six is ideal for teachers looking for imaginative ways to present music to their students. In the hands of an Orff specialist, this material would be even more enriching. Numerous opportunities to incorporate literacy and cross-curricular activities present themselves for ages seven to 12.
John Phillips, former head of music and drama at Richmond Green SS in the York Region DSB, is on secondment to the Ministry of Education. Evaluating StudentsHow Teachers Justify and Defend Their Marks to Parents, Students and Principalsby Alex Shirran
This resource presents an overview of a marking process that is research driven and universally applied, stressing transparency as the most important value. Each of the six chapters starts with a real-life situation confronting a teacher and describes how the situation could be handled to avoid conflict with parents, students and principals. Included are marking rubrics and criteria, curriculum objectives and reproducible examples of unit, lesson and monthly plans. There are even ideas on how to record anecdotal student marks. Shirran has based his book on years of classroom experience, and uses compelling case studies to back up his suggestions. He offers teachers a wealth of information on best practices for clarifying student assessment, and in so doing provides a comprehensive approach to all issues related to marking. This is a worthwhile tool for both the novice and experienced teacher.
Elda Fredette is a Special Education resource teacher at St. Vincent’s Separate School in Oakville. Daughters of the Arkby Anna Morgan
The story starts in 939 BCE as Aleesha and her family travel from Jerusalem to the court of the Queen of Sheba in Ethiopia. During the journey, Aleesha uncovers a conspiracy to steal the sacred Ark of the Covenant, which accompanies them on their travels. The second part of the story takes place almost 3000 years later, in 1984, and is based on true events and real characters. Debritu, who is part of the Ethiopian community of Beyta Israel, travels with her brothers to find safety in Israel. An emerald that Aleesha stole from the Ark of the Covenant connects the lives of the two girls. It is passed from generation to generation of Ethiopian Jews and eventually comes to Debritu. Like The Diary of Anne Frank or Number the Stars, Daughters of the Ark explores the courage and tenacity of the two Jewish girls in the face of great danger. It opens many rich possibilities for teachers at both the junior and intermediate levels. For advanced Grade 5 and older students, it not only provides an excellent study of non-traditional female characters, but presents research possibilities for the politics and culture of the African-Jewish experience. This novel can be tied into the Grade 5 social studies curriculum by taking a different approach to early civilizations, or to the Grade 7 or 8 geography curriculum.
Jennifer Wyatt teaches Grade 4 at Havergal College in Toronto. Well-Schooled Fish and Feathered BanditsThe Wondrous Ways Animals Learn from Animalsby Peter Christie
Each chapter covers a different aspect of animal life in relation to behaviour: food, fear, mating, tool making, communication and sophisticated habits. The pages are packed with examples of social learning: rats learn to avoid poison, starlings figure out how to steal cash from a coin machine, humpback whales learn to sing, and fish learn by staying in schools. Applying the latter concept to your classroom should be easy! The book targets ages eight to 11 and includes many beautiful pictures with insets to balance the text. An index facilitates access to specific topics. Students who wish to dig deeper can use the bibliography. This resource would be a valuable addition to elementary classrooms and libraries.
Margaret Grift is a school library consultant in Brampton. Tell Me a StoryDevelopmentally Appropriate Retelling Strategiesby Jill Hansen
Author Jill Hansen is an experienced classroom teacher and her knowledge of children’s books is excellent. Many titles categorized by children’s interest and reading levels are listed. A variety of reproducible rubrics and checklists provide tools for evaluating children’s progress as they learn to retell stories effectively. Other practical inclusions are card-game reproducibles and storyboard ideas for the classroom and hallway. Retelling is part of Ontario’s kindergarten curriculum. This resource would be a welcome library addition for teachers who want more direction on how to instruct and evaluate this important pre-reading and writing skill.
Laurel Van Dommelen is a senior children’s librarian with the London Borough of Enfield, England. The Novel ExperienceSteps for Choosing and Using Novels in the Classroomby Larry Swartz
Swartz sees reading as a literary journey. To help teachers and students enjoy their travels, he combines his personal philosophy of literature with practical tips. For example, he notes 10 aspects of reading comprehension – like drawing inferences or activating prior knowledge – and offers ideas for graphic organizers. He encourages readers to keep literature logs, which serve to place them “at the centre of their learning” and “foster the connection between reading and writing.” Swartz also includes book and author lists for students in Grades 4 to 9. The flip chart concludes with checklists and questionnaires that teachers can reproduce for classroom use.
Ruth Latta teaches a course in novel writing with the Ottawa-Carleton DSB. Trash ActionA Fresh Look at Garbageby Ann Love and Jane Drake
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Fun with Composers, Fun with Composers Inc, Surrey, BC / Teacher Guides, softcover, each $99.95 (CD and DVD included): ages 3–6, 96 pages and ages 7–12, 112 pages / Just for Kids Guides, softcover, each $19.99 (CD included): ages 3–6, 88 pages and ages 7–12, 88 pages, tel 1-888-700-1333, fax 604-541-2918, 
Few tasks create as much soul searching for teachers as grading and evaluating students. These are minefields that often generate hostility from parents and challenges from students. Alex Shirran’s highly practical book gives teachers an excellent tool in the theory, practice and politics of marking, so they can defend their evaluation and teaching practices.
Daughters of the Ark is a novel about two girls, separated by thousands of years, who face dangerous journeys to new lands.
A unit on animal behaviour would not be complete without this well-researched and humorous book that explores how animals learn from each other. Students will be fascinated to find examples of just how smart animals can be.
Activities that focus on the retelling of stories can improve children’s comprehension levels while they learn to read. Tell Me a Story is a well-organized and logical book that is geared to students in Junior Kindergarten to Grade 3.
Larry Swartz offers a remarkable amount of useful material in this 32-page flip book. He rises above the idea that novels are merely pleasant vehicles for honing literary skills and sorting out one’s psyche. To him, reading is a powerful two-way exchange, involving both the author’s work and what the reader brings to it.
Most students are aware that recycling newspapers, pop cans and plastic bottles is a good idea. Trash Action takes that idea many steps further by offering children new ways to think about how they can reduce their ecological footprints on the planet.
Flat-Out Rock is a fun book by musician, recording artist and teacher Mike Tanner, who looks at 10 pivotal singers/rock bands of the 1960s: The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Doors, The Who, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Rolling Stones, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and Led Zeppelin. He chooses a defining event in the career of each to convey the impact they had on their audiences and their times.
Pure, a novel for adolescents by Ontario writer Karen Krossing, is set in a future society made up of genetically pure communities, conceived to protect resources rendered scarce by the depletion of the ozone layer and by a ban on fossil fuels. In this society, the genetic engineering of humans is forbidden and “skidge” – the genetically impure – are banished. Purity police harshly enforce the laws. So when 15-year-old Lenni Hannix discovers she has healing powers, and the chief purity officer, Rylant, investigates, secrets about Lenni’s birth are revealed.
Whether you are a novice or an experienced teacher, elementary or secondary, Let’s Talk! is an accessible guide to discussion in the classroom. Based on the premise that we can all learn by talking with one another, the book reminds us that discussion is about ideas: sharing ideas, and expanding and learning from them, while valuing the opinions of others.
Shared reading is a topic that is gaining more and more traction with educators looking for tools to facilitate comprehension and instill a passion for reading. So what is an effective way to conduct a shared reading session?