Drawing tricks and stories.

This book supplies stories, essays, lesson plans and specialized storytelling strategies to help teachers "level the playing field" for all learners and better serve children with special needs. More than 57 percent of the over 6 million American children with disabilities are in inclusive (i.e., general) classrooms; "self-contained" classrooms serve children whose disabilities are either more severe or disruptive. As much as 20 percent of the children in an inclusive classroom are identified as "disabled," with the highest percentage of these having learning disabilities. While most classrooms have at least one child with a disability, teachers often have little or no training in educating and caring for these children. The need for resources that support educators working with children with disabilities or social/emotional difficulties is clear. This book fills this critical need, supplying school and public librarians, classroom and special area teachers, and storytelling teaching artists with storytelling strategies for reaching and teaching children with special needs in inclusive classrooms, self-contained classrooms, and public and school libraries. These full-text stories, essays, and lesson plans from experienced storytelling teaching artists provide educators with a wide range of adaptable storytelling and teaching strategies for specific disabilities and enable storytellers to discover news ways to perform their storytelling magic. The book also offers compelling real-life anecdotes that demonstrate the impact of these strategies in inclusive and self-contained classrooms; presents an introduction to the skills of storytelling, why they are useful, and how to use them; and includes suggested modifications for a wide range of disabilities as well as detailed resource lists.

A step-by-step guide for teachers to the benefits of visual note-taking and how to incorporate it in their classrooms. We've come a long way from teachers admonishing students to put away their drawings and take traditional long-form notes. Let's be honest: note-taking is boring and it isn't always the most effective way to retain information. This book is a guide for teachers about getting your students drawing and sketching to learn visually. Whether in elementary school or high school, neuroscience has shown that visual learning is a very effective way to retain information. The techniques in this book will help you work with your students in novel ways to retain information. Visual note-taking can be used with diverse learners; all ages; and those who have no drawing experience. Teachers are provided with a library of images and concepts to steal, tweak, and use in any way in their classrooms. The book is liberally illustrated with student examples from elementary and high school students alike.

More effectively meet the diverse literacy needs of the growing Latino population by learning how to evaluate and select quality Latino children's literature. Latinos are the fastest growing and largest ethnic minority in the United States. The number of Latino children is at a historic high. As a result, librarians and teachers in the United States must know how to meet the informational, cultural, and traditional literacy needs of this student demographic group. An ideal way to overcome this challenge is by providing culturally accurate and authentic children's literature that represents the diversity of the Latino cultures. Much more than simply a topical bibliography, this book details both historical and current practices in educating Latino children; explains why having quality Latino children's literature in classrooms and libraries is necessary for the ethnic identity development of Latino children; and offers a historical overview of Latino children's literature in America. Web resources of interest to educators working with Latino children are also included.

Materials to be used by public libraries in planning summer library programs for children in 1996.

Flannel board storytelling is a warm, intimate, wonderful way to share a story. The author has created patterns for 28 folktales, poems, and songs, 'Five Enormous Dinosaurs, ' 'The Strange Visitor, ' 'The Princess and the Pea, ' and 'The Little White Duck' among them. Briggs shows how to make a flannel board and story figures, includes time-saving lists of materials needed and color suggestions with each story, and gives simple directions for successful storytelli