http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/booknook/?utm_source=rss Good reads for educators Copyright 2010, Thinkmap Inc. All Rights Reserved. en Thu, 03 Dec 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.visualthesaurus.com/images/common/logo_on_white.gif http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/booknook/?utm_source=rss Search for a word in the Visual Thesaurus word http://www.visualthesaurus.com 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 00:00:00 EST 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 00:00:00 EDT 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 00:00:00 EDT 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 00:00:00 EDT 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 00:00:00 EDT 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 00:00:00 EDT 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 00:00:00 EDT 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 00:00:00 EDT http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/booknook/1855 Book Nook http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/booknook/1838?utm_source=rss While teaching roots and affixes may help students make sense of unfamiliar words, supplying students with long lists of "word parts" can sometimes be overwhelming and unproductive. In this excerpt from Building Background Knowledge for Academic Achievement: Research on What Works in Schools (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0871209721?ie=UTF8&tag=thevisualthes-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0871209721), academic vocabulary expert Robert J. Marzano explains how to focus instruction on those affixes and roots that will give you the most vocab-enriching bang for your buck! Mon, 04 May 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/booknook/1838 Book Nook http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/booknook/1822?utm_source=rss You may have heard the educational buzz phrase "essential question" a lot lately, but do you really know what it means? Or how to develop meaningful essential questions of your own? In this excerpt from Learning to Question to Wonder to Learn (http://fnopress.stores.yahoo.net//letoqutowoto.html), technology and teaching guru Jamie McKenzie, Ed.D. explains what makes some questions "essential" and provides some examples for every grade level. Mon, 20 Apr 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/booknook/1822