Review: See How They Run

See How They Run: Campaign Dreams, Election Schemes, and the Race to the White House by Susan E. Goodman is a 96-page picture book about presidential elections and the election process. Goodman covers the history of democracy, the electoral college, legal requirements for president, campaigning, political parties, campaign financing, and how ballots are counted. Written in 2008, the book includes presidents from George Washington to George Bush.

What I love about the book is that it's fun to read. It presents facts in an entertaining way by including funny sidebars and humorous illustrations. Goodman includes both the bad and good of the American political process and encourages kids to do what they can to get people to vote. If I had to guess, I think the author and/or publisher is

Teaching Composition Can be FUN!

Most language arts curriculum teach grammar and mechanics, but spend very little time teaching actual composition skills. Here’s a resource that will make teaching composition fun for the kids.

Don’t Forget to Write for the Elementary Grades includes 50 lessons for ages 5 to 12, as well as a self-assessment checklist, evaluation rubrics, and common core curriculum standards.

Here’s what makes this book effective:

• Each lesson includes activities to get the kids interested in writing such as a watching a video, building something, brainstorming, or role-playing. This sets the stage for the writing assignment.
• Next, students are invited to discuss the prewriting activity. This prepares them for the actual assignment.
• Finally, the students are given the assignment along

Ready, Set, GO!!

Its the third week of August, and I can feel the winds changing! Yes indeed, my friends. The school year is approaching once again!

There are two additions to my treasure trove of curriculum that has me particularly giddy this year. The first is a math book named for a precocious little professor that goes by “Fred”. The Life of Fred is a series of math books covering everything from fractions through calculus and trigonometry (as well as biology and economics). However, what makes Fred so different from other Math curriculum is that it is specifically written with the “math-phobic” in mind. Fred’s creator (Stanley Schmidt, Ph.D) has had plenty of experiences with less than enthusiastic math students. After teaching on both a high school and college level for over 15 years, Dr.