Great Books for High School Students, Starting a School Garden Business, and More

New Books - Reviewed in NEA Today, September 2004

Fiction

Daffodil
By Emily Jenkins

Daffodil and her sisters all look alike and have to don their designated colors each time they dress up, until one day the girls get upset and throw fits. With humor and charm, author Emily Jenkins tells the tale of triplets looking for their own identities based on something more than appearance in the colorfully illustrated Daffodil. 32 pp. From Farrar, Strauss and Giroux/Frances Foster.

Moses Sees a Play 
By Isaac Millman

Moses, a deaf child who goes to a special school with other deaf children, makes a new friend when his class is joined by hearing students from another school for a production by the Theatre of the Deaf. In Moses Sees a Play, different signs and deaf terms are used to teach children about diversity in others and how to connect with them. For elementary school ages. 32 pp. From Farrar Straus & Giroux.

The SOS File
By Betsy Byars, Betsy Duffey, and Laurie Myers

To earn extra credit, 12 students in Mr. Magro's class have written stories about their emergency situations during the year. Now it's time to gather and read them aloud. Each chapter of The SOS File tells another of these tales. Find out why someone doesn't deserve extra credit. This book suitable for ages 8–12. 80 pp. From Henry Holt & Co. 

Nonfiction

The Excellent 11 
By Ron Clark

The Excellent 11 names and explains the importance of 11 different personality traits that Clark feels make a good teacher and a good parent. The traits are intertwined and illustrated with Clark's personal stories and reflections about his experiences as both a student and a teacher. The book expands on Clark's previous work, The Essential 55, but focuses on fewer topics more in-depth. From Hyperion.

Great Books for High School Kids
By Rick Ayers and Amy Crawford

Can—or should—less conventional, controversial books be taught in the classroom? Great Books for High School Kids, compiled by two high school English teachers, considers this question with essays by teachers about the ways their students reacted to, learned from, and came to love the books they encountered in school. The book also includes lists of some classic and not-so-classic books that teach important lessons. 240 pp. From Beacon Press.

Greed and Good
By Sam Pizzigati

Between 1983 and 1998, more than half of the increase in America's wealth went into the pockets of the top 1 percent of Americans. That's one way to measure the sweeping change that is transforming the nation, the subject of Greed and Good by Sam Pizzigati, the former NEA publications director and a veteran writer on the economy. Pizzigati explores how the growing chasm between the richest and the rest of us is damaging American society and democracy. $34.95. From The Apex Press, call 1-800-316-2739.

Growing Ventures 
The National Gardening Association

Growing Ventures: Starting a School Garden Business walks teachers through the process of starting and running a "green" gardening business with their students. The book includes guidelines, activities, diagrams, and resources to engage young people ages 6 to 22 in planning a community-based enterprise. 64 pp. $19.95. Call The National Gardening Association at 800-538-7476, ext. 143.

Investigating Safely
Terry Kwan, Juliana Texley, John Summers

Written by teaching veterans, Investigating Safely: A Guide for High School Teachers quickly brings rookie and veteran science educators up to speed on what they need to make their labs and classrooms safe. Peppered with useful sidebars and examples, the easy-to-read book is organized with the complex needs of today’s high school labs in mind and addresses topics from storing and disposing of hazardous chemicals, to accommodating students with special needs, to the unique safety requirements of specific disciplines. 214 pp. From NSTA Press®. 

Kids Taking Action
By Pamela Roberts

From picking up dog poop to voter registration and awareness, there are many things kids can do in the community to enhance their education experience. In Kids Taking Action: Community Service Learning Projects, K–8 , Roberts describes community service learning and offers 18 project ideas, some more detailed than others. A helpful resource list is included. 126 pp. From Northeast Foundation for Children. (Currently unavailable.)

Polar Bear Math
By Ann Whitehead Nagda and Cindy Bickel

If your elementary school students aren't getting into fractions, tempt them with Polar Bear Math. The right side of the book chronicles the true tale of polar bear cubs Klondike and Snow, who are raised by zoo staff after their mother abandons them. The left side includes lessons on fractions that reflect the math used to raise the cubs: How much should the cubs eat? What fraction of the day do the cubs stay at the zoo? 30 pp. From Henry Holt & Co.

Organizing and Managing the Language Arts Block
By Lesley Mandel Morrow

In Organizing and Managing the Language Arts Block: A Professional Development Guide, reading specialist and educator Lesley Mandel Morrow gives teachers new and creative ideas on how to revive their language arts lesson plans and teaching methods in the elementary school classroom. Morrow uses case studies of different grade levels to illustrate teaching methods, following them up with planning ideas and activities for language arts instruction. 348 pp. From National Professional Resources, Inc.

My Soul Looks Back in Wonder
By Juan Williams    

To honor the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, Juan Williams tells the stories of more than 30 people who experienced the fight for equality first-hand. The tales in My Soul Looks Back in Wonder: Voices of the Civil Rights Experience , create a fresh, intimate view of history in the making and reveal just how much the battle for civil rights affected the lives of every American. 216 pp. From Sterling Publishing Company.