http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/booknook/?utm_source=rss Good reads for educators Copyright 2012, Thinkmap Inc. All Rights Reserved. en Wed, 16 Nov 2011 05:00:00 UTC http://www.visualthesaurus.com/images/common/logo_on_white.gif http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/booknook/?utm_source=rss Book Nook http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/booknook/3038?utm_source=rss Ed-tech guru Jamie McKenzie has published a fascinating new book entitled Lost and Found: A Guide to Discovery Learning through Purposeful Wandering. In this excerpt adapted from the chapter "Finding the Best Words," McKenzie explains how tools like the Visual Thesaurus can "expand our thinking palette." Wed, 16 Nov 2011 05:00:00 UTC http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/booknook/3038 Book Nook http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/booknook/2580?utm_source=rss Earlier this week, we interviewed Anne H. Charity Hudley and Christine Mallinson about their new book, Understanding English Language Variation in U.S. Schools. One intriguing section of the book discusses how students from culturally diverse backgrounds can be assisted in developing academic vocabulary. Here we present an excerpt describing how one creative student approached learning SAT vocabulary via rap. Thu, 20 Jan 2011 05:00:00 UTC http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/booknook/2580 Book Nook http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/booknook/2085?utm_source=rss "Survival of the Fittest" is just one example of the many slam-dunk vocabulary activities that Janet Allen offers to teachers of all content areas in Inside Words: Tools for Teaching Academic Vocabulary. Check out how this activity could play out in the science classroom in our lesson plan (http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/lessons/2063/), "Vocabulary Bursting With Energy." Thu, 03 Dec 2009 05:00:00 UTC http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/booknook/2085 Book Nook http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/booknook/1982?utm_source=rss In this selection from Inside Words: Tools for Teaching Academic Vocabulary, Janet Allen presents a great instructional activity to make words come alive for students, encouraging them to see how vocabulary relates to real-world context. Mon, 14 Sep 2009 04:00:00 UTC http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/booknook/1982 Book Nook http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/booknook/1945?utm_source=rss In this opening chapter of Vocabulary at the Center (http://www.eyeoneducation.com/prodinfo.asp?number=7124-9), veteran teachers Amy Benjamin and John T. Crow explain how words can function as "gateways" to student knowledge and academic achievement. Mon, 10 Aug 2009 04:00:00 UTC http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/booknook/1945 Book Nook http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/booknook/1924?utm_source=rss If "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally" saved you in learning the order of operations in mathematics, then you should check out what Nancy Frey and Douglas Fisher have to say in Learning Words Inside and Out (http://www.heinemann.com/products/E02612.aspx) about using keyword mnemonics to help commit words to memory. Wed, 22 Jul 2009 04:00:00 UTC http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/booknook/1924 Book Nook http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/booknook/1901?utm_source=rss In this excerpt from his new book Beyond Cut and Paste (http://fnopress.stores.yahoo.net/becu.html), ed-tech guru Jamie McKenzie explains why having your students turn their backs on you may be a good thing in the laptop classroom! Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:00:00 UTC http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/booknook/1901 Book Nook http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/booknook/1888?utm_source=rss Teachers, are you wondering how you can use Visual Thesaurus word maps to introduce new concepts to your students? Check out this excerpt from Sharon Walpole and Michael C. McKenna's Differentiated Reading Instruction (http://www.guilford.com/p/walpole2) for some ideas. Tue, 16 Jun 2009 04:00:00 UTC http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/booknook/1888 Book Nook http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/booknook/1870?utm_source=rss Since there never seems to be enough time for in-class vocabulary instruction, this excerpt from Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction (http://www.guilford.com/p/beck8), by Isabel L. Beck, Margaret G. McKeown, and Linda Kucan, can help teachers decide which "Tier Two" words to prioritize. Mon, 01 Jun 2009 04:00:00 UTC http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/booknook/1870 Book Nook http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/booknook/1855?utm_source=rss In this excerpt from Active Literacy Across the Curriculum: Strategies for Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening (http://www.eyeoneducation.com/prodinfo.asp?number=7023-1), Heidi Hayes Jacobs (http://www.eyeoneducation.com/Authors/hayes_h.asp) advocates developing students' "word power" by borrowing methods from the foreign language classroom. Mon, 18 May 2009 04:00:00 UTC http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/booknook/1855