Whats The Big Idea

Explores where new ideas come from, how to evaluate which ideas are worth pursuing, and how to customize ideas to suit and organization's unique needs.

Encourages teachers to structure literacy education around clearly stated, essential questions, and describes how this approach can increase a student's abilities for comprehension and retention.

A fun historic tale by Newbery Honor-winning author, Jean Fritz! No matter how busy he was, Ben Franklin always found time to try out new ideas: a remote-control lock (so he could lock his door without getting out of bed), a rocking chair with a fan over it (to keep flies away), and a windmill (to turn his roast meat on its spit). Aside from being a mad of ideas, he was an ambassador to England, a printer, an almanac maker, a politician, and even a vegetarian (for a time, anyway). "This biography is distinguished by its humanizing detail [and] amusing tone." - School Library Journal

Even if you don't realize it, Lois has probably affected your buying habits. From the man who created "I want my MTV", here are inside tips on creating great advertising and marketing techniques. In today's saturated media environment, Lois shows how to get your message heard, noticed, and remembered. Photographs throughout.

Schulz's beloved Peanuts gang is back in a brand-new series. In this title, Snoopy and the rest learn about America's great inventors, introducing a few lesser known inventors who don't often make it into the history books. Full color.

Bean's older sister, Nancy, is going to Girl Power 4-Ever Camp and Bean can't go. So Bean and Ivy make their own camp.

'Walking to the End of the World' keeps us turning its pages--an elegant story woven in the seasoned voice of writer Beth Jusino, who shares great insight into her own strengths and weaknesses, relationships of all sorts, and a world view we'd all do well to consider. -Steven Watkins, author of Pilgrim Strong: Rewriting My Story on the Way of St. James

Science.

What's the Big Idea? is a smart aleck's commentary on the intersection between faith and science told through the lens of the author's own personal journey of belief. It uses both humor and heart to lay out overwhelming evidence for the existence of an Intelligent Designer. This book is aimed at our current short attention span society that is fluent in both cynicism and sarcasm. People who appreciate The Onion and The Babylon Bee will enjoy the satirical approach the author uses when he dissects both science and religion. Readers of The Case for Christ will be drawn to the well-researched information explaining why Christianity is a faith founded on reason and intellect while Christian parents of teens and millennials will appreciate a book they can share with their children that proves theirs is not a mindless faith. Throughout the book, the reader will be stunned by the awe-inspiring amount of precise fine tuning our world and universe demand as well as be amazed at how much information they've totally forgotten since high school.

What is understanding and how does it differ from knowledge? How can we determine the big ideas worth understanding? Why is understanding an important teaching goal, and how do we know when students have attained it? How can we create a rigorous and engaging curriculum that focuses on understanding and leads to improved student performance in today's high-stakes, standards-based environment? Authors Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe answer these and many other questions in this second edition of Understanding by Design. Drawing on feedback from thousands of educators around the world who have used the UbD framework since its introduction in 1998, the authors have greatly revised and expanded their original work to guide educators across the K-16 spectrum in the design of curriculum, assessment, and instruction. With an improved UbD Template at its core, the book explains the rationale of backward design and explores in greater depth the meaning of such key ideas as essential questions and transfer tasks. Readers will learn why the familiar coverage- and activity-based approaches to curriculum design fall short, and how a focus on the six facets of understanding can enrich student learning. With an expanded array of practical strategies, tools, and examples from all subject areas, the book demonstrates how the research-based principles of Understanding by Design apply to district frameworks as well as to individual units of curriculum. Combining provocative ideas, thoughtful analysis, and tested approaches, this new edition of Understanding by Design offers teacher-designers a clear path to the creation of curriculum that ensures better learning and a more stimulating experience for students and teachers alike.