Looking To Learn

This handbook provides teachers with practical tips and advice on improving literacy skills for students with low vision. The book provides easy-to-understand explanations of vital topics such as interpreting eye reports, performing functional vision assessments, working with low vision service providers, and more. The valuable resource section, tables, sample reports and sidebars offer essential information on assessing low vision students and helping them use their vision effectively.

Lift the letters and discover an expression for every mood.

In Looking Closely and Listening Carefully: Learning Literacy through Inquiry, teacher researcher Tim O'Keefe teams up with university partners Heidi Mills and Louise B. Jennings to bring to life insights and strategies from Tim's class at the Center for Inquiry, a small elementary magnet program in Columbia, South Carolina. Mills and O'Keefe's earlier book (with Diane Stephens), Looking Closely, focused on phonics in Tim's holistic, transition-first-grade classroom; Looking Closely and Listening Carefully expands and refines this earlier work by painting a portrait of the ways in which Tim's second and third graders learn literacy through inquiry. While Tim has been engaged in careful kidwatching, Heidi and Louise have been teacherwatching. Their combined perspectives illuminate the relationship between literacy and inquiry and demonstrate the power of a balanced literacy curriculum in an inquiry-based classroom. The authors take us through a typical day in Tim's classroom, describing the curricular structures and instructional strategies that make a difference as Tim supports his readers and writers through exploration, morning meetings, reading and writing workshops, read-alouds, math workshop, focused study, and end-of-day activities. Because Tim teaches the same students for two full years, the authors take the opportunity to track the paths of literacy learning across the lives of two students. They also explore the role of state standards in Tim's teaching and provide clear demonstrations of the strategies he uses to promote democracy and community in his classroom. Additionally, the authors use a letter written by Tim directly to his fellow teachers to explicate the assessment, reporting, and parent communication strategies Tim employs. Tim is never willing to settle for what is typical in education, so this journey through his classroom, rich with stories, vignettes, and classroom examples, illustrates "what is possible when teachers, parents, university partners, and children inquire together." Looking Closely and Listening Carefully is both a theoretically sound and a practically relevant book.

A simple, fully-illustrated introduction to insects comes packaged with a magnifier jar to encourage kids to explore and better understand the natural world around them. The clear, easy-to-follow reference is designed for a young audience with large pictures and minimal text highlighting the most interesting things to notice about the most common insects in North America--butterflies, beetles, and other fascinating critters easily spotted in backyards or parks. Packaged with a magnifier jar, the book also highlights features and behaviors children can look for if they have the chance to observe an insect up-close. A portable checklist (to help explorers identify the common insects they'll encounter on a walk outside), and an interactive poster complete the package. An exciting resource for budding naturalists, this kit will get children (ages 4 and up) excited about experiencing nature up-close.

See the world around you with fresh perspective. Learn about critical thinking and reaching a sustainable future more cost-effectively than ever imagined. “Great insights and incredible drawings!” Bill Slover - Real Estate Developer and Commissioner of the District of Columbia Housing Authority The two-decade combination of drawings and observations sheds new light on critical thinking for young and old minds, high return on investment (ROI) for business opportunities, springboards for groundbreaking future innovations, and a sustainable triple bottom line that supports people, the planet, and profit.

Look, Listen, Learn, LEAD: A District-Wide Systems Approach to Teaching and Learning in PreK-12 lays out the transformational journey of Hampton City Schools (HCS), an urban school division of 30 schools in southeastern Virginia. Our school district faces numerous challenges, such as 62% of students receiving free and reduced-price lunch and 14% of students holding an IEP, and in 2015-2016, Hampton City Schools’ state accreditation rate was approximately half the statewide rate and on a downward trend. In only three years, that was turned around and HCS exceeded the statewide accreditation rate, a more than 100% improvement with 100% of our schools accredited without conditions. We attribute this in large part to our dedicated educators and their implementation of district-wide systems for curriculum, instruction, checking for student understanding, climate, and culture. The goal of this book is to break down the process of what it takes to bring about large-scale educational change that is sustainable. We describe a process for developing a strong mission and vision to undergird the work around a variety of district-wide systems. This book provides insights into how to improve climate and culture, create a guaranteed and viable written curriculum, establish a process for evaluating its implementation, and create a balanced assessment framework to measure student success. Complete with example templates, action plans, and lessons learned, this book is a true example of theory-into-practice to bring about sustained improvement for all learners.

Brief text and illustrations teach facts about bugs.

Look and Learn--that's what scientists do when they use microscopes and other tools that make small things look bigger or faraway things look closer.

An introduction to the world of bears, including different kinds of bears, their physical characteristics and behaviors, with simple text and color photographs.