No More Homework! No More Tests! includes the funniest poems about school ever collected in one book. These hilarious poems were written by a number of poets, including Shel Silverstein, Jack Prelutsky, David L. Harrison, Colin McNaughton, Carol Diggory Shields, Kalli Dakos, and Bruce Lansky. Sillier than a teacher with hiccups, funnier than toilet paper stuck to the bottom of the principal's shoe, it is certain to have readers laughing by the first page. This book puts the cool back in school and makes students WANT to write and read poetry. Appropriate for Grades 1-6, and Ages 5-12.
Collection of poems "written by popular children's poets, including Shel Silverstein, Bruce Lansky, Jack Prelutsky, Colin McNaughton, David L. Harrison, Kalli Dakos, and more than a dozen others who know how to find humor in any school subject."--Page 4 of cover.
Betcha laugh! This is one of the most popular collections of funny poetry for kids ever published. It's a classic because it's the first collection of poems selected by kids! It includes clever creations from some of the most popular names in children's poetry, including Bill Dodds, Timothy Tocher, Joyce Armor, Robert Pottle, Bruce Lansky, and Kenn Nesbitt. Humorous illustrations by Stephen Carpenter make this book even better.
Students and teachers will roar as Kenn Nesbitt pokes fun at silly school topics with dozens of wacky poems. Who knew school lunches and detention could be so funny? Kenn Nesbitt, that's who! Do you attend a school like the one Kenn Nesbitt describes in this hysterically funny collection of poems? There's a frenzied food fight in the cafeteria. For show-and-tell, kids burp the ABCs. Recently, "pet days" have been banned (and for good reason). And the funniest things happen when the teacher isn't looking. Kids and teachers rate these rhymes A+ (and you will, too).
Does assigning fifty math problems accomplish any more than assigning five? Is memorizing word lists the best way to increase vocabulary—especially when it takes away from reading time? And what is the real purpose behind those devilish dioramas? The time our children spend doing homework has skyrocketed in recent years. Parents spend countless hours cajoling their kids to complete such assignments—often without considering whether or not they serve any worthwhile purpose. Even many teachers are in the dark: Only one of the hundreds the authors interviewed and surveyed had ever taken a course specifically on homework during training. The truth, according to Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish, is that there is almost no evidence that homework helps elementary school students achieve academic success and little evidence that it helps older students. Yet the nightly burden is taking a serious toll on America’s families. It robs children of the sleep, play, and exercise time they need for proper physical, emotional, and neurological development. And it is a hidden cause of the childhood obesity epidemic, creating a nation of “homework potatoes.” In The Case Against Homework, Bennett and Kalish draw on academic research, interviews with educators, parents, and kids, and their own experience as parents and successful homework reformers to offer detailed advice to frustrated parents. You’ll find out which assignments advance learning and which are time-wasters, how to set priorities when your child comes home with an overstuffed backpack, how to talk and write to teachers and school administrators in persuasive, nonconfrontational ways, and how to rally other parents to help restore balance in your children’s lives. Empowering, practical, and rigorously researched, The Case Against Homework shows how too much work is having a negative effect on our children’s achievement and development and gives us the tools and tactics we need to advocate for change. Also available as an eBook
On the last day of school, Gilbert is happy it's almost over and excited about the summer ahead, yet at the end-of-the-year party, Gilbert watches as his classmates receive prizes and soon begins to wonder if he will get one for being the best of something, too. Reprint.
Another first for Bruce Lansky: the first funny poetry book about summer vacation! It will entertain kids all summer, whether they’re away at camp, traveling cross country in a hybrid or staying home with a bookshelf full of good summer reading. What I Did on My Summer Vacation contains over 40 sidesplitting poems about summer vacation that cover everything from the much-anticipated last day of school to family road trips, wacky days at summer camp, learning how to swim, dizzying roller coaster rides at amusement parks, fun-filled days at the beach, and finally, the dreaded first day of school. These hilarious poems written by Bruce Lansky, “The King of Giggle Poetry,” and his all-star gang of Giggle Poets are sure to make you count the days until summer vacation begins!
Sample Lesson from Amy Buswell and Bruce Lansky's Giggle Poetry Reading Lessons! Turn struggling readers into happy readers — For Grades 2–5. This sample lesson and introduction from Giggle Poetry Reading Lessons provides the research and methodology behind the most entertaining fluency intervention ever! As well as a kid-tested poem, customized reading lesson, an off-the-wall illustration, and zany performance tips—all designed to make the process of reading more like fun than work! Perfect for teachers and parents who want to help children improve their reading. Check out the full version of Giggle Poetry Reading Lessons available in softcover and eBook for the full lesson plan.
Death and taxes come later; what seems inevitable for children is the idea that, after spending the day at school, they must then complete more academic assignments at home. The predictable results: stress and conflict, frustration and exhaustion. Parents respond by reassuring themselves that at least the benefits outweigh the costs. But what if they don't? In The Homework Myth, nationally known educator and parenting expert Alfie Kohn systematically examines the usual defenses of homework--that it promotes higher achievement, "reinforces" learning, and teaches study skills and responsibility. None of these assumptions, he shows, actually passes the test of research, logic, or experience. So why do we continue to administer this modern cod liver oil -- or even demand a larger dose? Kohn's incisive analysis reveals how a mistrust of children, a set of misconceptions about learning, and a misguided focus on competitiveness have all left our kids with less free time and our families with more conflict. Pointing to parents who have fought back -- and schools that have proved educational excellence is possible without homework -- Kohn shows how we can rethink what happens during and after school in order to rescue our families and our children's love of learning.
