Examines the historical background and the recent economic and political changes in the Balkan countries, focusing on ethnic conflicts, developmental trends, and potential for cooperation among the countries and with the European Union. Other topics include foreign trade, economic growth, and international relations. For academics and researchers in international studies, political science, and history of the region. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Eleanor Cameron (1912-1996) was an innovative and genre-defying author of children's fiction and children's literature criticism. From her beginnings as a librarian, Cameron went on to become a prominent and respected voice in children's literature, writing one of the most beloved children's science fiction novels of all time, The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet, and later winning the National Book Award for her time fantasy The Court of the Stone Children. In addition, Eleanor Cameron played an often vocal role in critical debates about children's literature. She was one of the first authors to take up literary criticism of children's novels and published two influential books of criticism, including The Green and Burning Tree. One of Cameron's most notable acts of criticism came in 1973, when she wrote a scathing critique of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Dahl responded in kind, and the result was a fiery imbroglio within the pages of the Horn Book Magazine. Yet despite her many accomplishments, most of Cameron's books went out of print by the end of her life, and her star faded. This biography aims to reinsert Cameron into the conversation by taking an in-depth look at her tumultuous early life in Ohio and California, her unforgettably forceful personality and criticism, and her graceful, heartfelt novels. The biography includes detailed analysis of the creative process behind each of her published works and how Cameron's feminism, environmentalism, and strong sense of ethics are reflected in and represented by her writings. Drawn from over twenty interviews, thousands of letters, and several unpublished manuscripts in her personal papers, Eleanor Cameron is a tour of the most exciting and creative periods of American children's literature through the experience of one of its valiant purveyors and champions.
Whitney La Rocca and Jeff Anderson adapt their vibrant approach to grammar instruction in Patterns of Wonder, Grades Prek-1: Inviting Emergent Writers to Play with the Conventions of Language. Here, young, emergent writers are invited to notice the conventions of language and build off them in this inquiry-based approach to instructional grammar. The book comes with standards-aligned lessons that can be incorporated in just 10 minutes a day. Patterns of Wonder’s responsive, invitational approach allows young students to play and inquire about language and experiment, take risks, and have fun. Inside you’ll find: Ready-to-use lesson plan sets that pinpoint and build across the most common needs of emergent writers An adjusted invitational process adapted for young learners, and the "Phases of Emergent Writing" as tools to plan for effective, scaffolded instruction How to position grammar concepts about print instruction across three overlapping levels of support: oral language, illustrating, and writing Over 200 engaging picture book recommendations to stir curious classroom conversations Patterns of Wonder, Grades PreK-1 provides a simple classroom routine that is structured in length and approach, but provides teachers flexibility in choosing the texts, allowing for numerous, diverse voices in the classroom. The practice helps students build cognitive recognition and provides a formative assessment for teachers on student progress. Grounded in play, conversation, and most of all, wonder, Patterns of Wonder brings the authors’ irrepressible excitement for inquiry and writing instruction to the ways we support our Pre-K, Kindergarten and 1st grade emergent writers. The Patterns of Power series also includes Patterns of Power, Grades 6-8: Inviting Adolescent Writers into the Conventions of Language; Patterns of Power, Grades 1-5: Inviting Young Writers into the Conventions of Language; Patterns of Power, Grades 9-12: Teaching Grammar Through Reading and Writing; and Patterns of Power en Español. Grades 1-5: Inviting Bilingual Writers into the Conventions of Spanish.
CD-ROM provides video segments and accompanying text wihich illustrate methods of using literature circles to teach literature in an 8th grade classroom.
This text is designed specifically to meet the needs of preservice teachers who have had little experience working in middle-grade classrooms. Three ideas are central: * teaching language arts at the middle level is a complex activity that demands expertise in the use of a variety of strategies, * reading and writing are key processes of language arts study, but so are speaking, listening, and viewing/visually representing, and * teaching the processes of effective communication is crucial, but middle school students must also begin to learn the content of the field--literature, language, and media. Teaching Language Arts in Middle Schools gives balanced attention to various teaching strategies, processes, and content, demonstrating how all of these connect to improve students' abilities to communicate. In this text: *Research and theory are summarized and applied to practice *A non-prescriptive approach is integrated with practical information *Debates in the field are acknowledged *Additional reading and research are emphasized *The author's voice and point of view are explicit
"Shattering the Looking Glass is a thorough, comprehensive volume that defines, analyzes, defends, and often critiques the current state of Children's Literature within American Culture. The book is designed to tackle the major concerns revolving around Children's Literature today, including: the influence of politics and political agendas on the market, quality, and themes; the disagreements over the integration of diversity and diverse ideas into books for children; theoretical and academic discourses that are feeding topics, characters, and narrative structures; and, threaded throughout all of these topics, is a discussion of how these texts can be integrated into the classroom. This book is ideal for the in-service professional who wants insights into the current cultural mindset concerning children's literature, as well as professors who integrate theory and culture into undergraduate and graduate education courses."--pub. desc.
Building on Michael Graves's bestseller, The Vocabulary Book, this new resource offers a comprehensive plan for vocabulary instruction that K–12 teachers can use with English language learners. It is broad enough to include instruction for students who are just beginning to build their English vocabularies, as well as for students whose English vocabularies are approaching those of native speakers. The authors describe a four-pronged program that follows these key components: providing rich and varied language experiences; teaching individual words; teaching word learning strategies; and fostering word consciousness. This user-friendly book integrates up-to-date research on best practices into each chapter and includes vignettes, classroom activities, sample lessons, a list of children's literature, and more.
