Written by members of one of the best-known and longest-standing teacher study groups, this compelling collection of essays explores the intersection of though, language and culture as revealed in classroom discourse. Focusing on classroom issues, this insightful volume shows teachers how to make reflection play a key role in their teaching and planning and how to translate research into improved teaching and learning in the classroom.

Written by members of one of the best-known and longest-standing teacher study groups, this compelling collection of essays explores the intersection of thought, language, and culture as revealed in classroom discourse. Focusing on classroom issues, this insightful volume: Shows teachers how to make reflection play a key role in their teaching and planning and how to translate research into improved teaching and learning in the classroom. Includes research with diverse groups of students in a variety of settings, including pre–K, elementary school, high school, and special education classrooms. Features a chapter on the evolution of the renowned Brookline Teacher Researcher Seminar. Describes how this influential group functions, explaining how veteran teachers developed theories based on classroom investigations and collaborative work. Chapters by Cynthia Ballenger, Cindy Beseler, Susan Black-Donellan, Karen Gallas, Steve Griffin, Roxanne Pappenheimer, Ann Phillips, and Jim Swaim. “Teachers need just what the Brookline Teacher Researcher Seminar offers in this book . . . wonderful, engaging, and intellectually stimulating.” —Ruth Shagoury, Lewis and Clark College “The Brookline Teacher Researcher Seminar, whose story and work is on display in this book, transformed how we think about teaching, classrooms, and research. Based on the authors’ own experiences and the highly innovative strategies they devised to work together, these teachers developed powerful ways of studying language in classrooms. In the end, they have improved children’s lives and set a new standard for teacher research.” —James Paul Gee, University of Wisconsin–Madison

How do children learn that the word "dog" refers not to all four-legged animals, and not just to Ralph, but to all members of a particular species? How do they learn the meanings of verbs like "think," adjectives like "good," and words for abstract entities such as "mortgage" and "story"? The acquisition of word meaning is one of the fundamental issues in the study of mind. According to Paul Bloom, children learn words through sophisticated cognitive abilities that exist for other purposes. These include the ability to infer others' intentions, the ability to acquire concepts, an appreciation of syntactic structure, and certain general learning and memory abilities. Although other researchers have associated word learning with some of these capacities, Bloom is the first to show how a complete explanation requires all of them. The acquisition of even simple nouns requires rich conceptual, social, and linguistic capacities interacting in complex ways. This book requires no background in psychology or linguistics and is written in a clear, engaging style. Topics include the effects of language on spatial reasoning, the origin of essentialist beliefs, and the young child's understanding of representational art. The book should appeal to general readers interested in language and cognition as well as to researchers in the field.

Gives lists of words introduced at each of seven reading levels, plus a thesaurus, advice, tips, and samples for writers of children's books.

An encyclopedia designed especially to meet the needs of elementary, junior high, and senior high school students.

This master class in writing children’s and young adult novels will teach you everything you need to know to write and publish a great book. The best children’s and young adult novels take readers on wonderful outward adventures and stirring inward journeys. In The Magic Words, editor Cheryl B. Klein guides writers on an enjoyable and practical-minded voyage of their own, from developing a saleable premise for a novel to finding a dream agent. She delves deep into the major elements of fiction—intention, character, plot, and voice—while addressing important topics like diversity, world-building, and the differences between middle-grade and YA novels. In addition, the book’s exercises, questions, and straightforward rules of thumb help writers apply these insights to their own creative works. With its generous tone and useful tools for story analysis and revision, The Magic Words is an essential handbook for writers of children’s and young adult fiction.

I know some Big Words. I'll teach them to you. Although you are small, you can use Big Words too. Big Words aren't scary. They're big fun to learn. I was taught once and now it's your turn. The eighth hilarious picture book by the #1 New York Times bestselling team of Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell helps little people communicate in a big person's world. With grown-up words like cooperate, respect, patience and considerate, a big, boisterous and zany family celebrates the power of language and discovers that words—big or little—are the bridge that connects us all.