For years financial education experts have asked for our schools help to improve students’ understanding of money matters. Well today is no different! There are so many great books out there with the sole intention of giving kids a leg up on preparing for financial decisions from the everyday to the more complex. Here’s a list of books to help K-12 students with some basic financial skills that are- dare I say- fun as well as empowering.
Is your school celebrating Pi, the famous and beloved number, this week? Many classrooms take a break at 1:59 pm on 3/14 to acknowledge Pi, affectionately known as “3.14159.” Of course, there are those who have memorized decimals beyond that, but here at Tandem Insights we’re content to carry it to the standard five decimals. Math teachers aren’t the only ones with ideas on how to celebrate this special number! Schools are finding many creative ways to commemorate Pi, including Pi poetry, Pi webquests, and Pi trivia games. Looking for books about Pi and other interesting math concepts? Here’s a list of books to help you celebrate Pi Day.
With Leap Year Day last week, we encouraged everyone to get out there and do something. This week, we’re featuring books about do not-ing. We dug around and found some wonderfully amusing and informative titles, all starting with Don’t or Do Not.
How could any list of Don’t books be complete without Mo Willems’s hilarious, perfect-for-reading-aloud Pigeon books: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! and Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!?
On the informative side, Don't Squash That Bug!: The Curious Kid's Guide to Insects by Natalie Rompella introduces insects through colorful photos, spreads, and sidebars, while Do Not Open: An Encyclopedia of the World's Most Intriguing Mysteries from DK is full of enigmas from the Mona Lisa's hidden past to the history of Area 51, from lost worlds to secret codes.
Don't forget to check out thist list of more great Don't books!
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone from Tandem Library Group! In the spirit of the holiday we've put together three title lists to inspire you and your students to celebrate Valentine’s Day all year long.
Politics as usual? We think not. If you followed the Super Tuesday coverage on TV or the Internet last night, you know that today’s voters have rapid access to more information than ever before. This phenomenon is changing the way campaigns are run and how candidates are perceived.
Super Tuesday may be behind us, but the party nominees are far from decided. As we move closer to electing our 44th president, here are some books to help your students understand and get involved in the political process.
And for those fiction lovers, check out these picture books and novels with political themes.
Losing a loved one is a painful experience for both young and old. Finding quality books to share with your students may help them through this tumultuous experience. Titles in this week’s featured list highlight beautiful picture books and stories of strong characters persevering through one of the toughest times in their lives.
The Chinese New Year starts February 7, 2008 and goes through January 25, 2009. First in the cycle of twelve animal signs, the Year of the Rat will be a time of hard work, activity, and renewal. Some may find it a good year to begin a new job, get married or make a fresh start.
The Year of the Rat by Grace Lin is the sequel to The Year of the Dog and Pacy is not happy about the big changes the Rat Year has in store. Students in Grades 3-5 will find it easy to relate to Pacy as throughout the year she finds the courage to face up to one change after another. Near the end of the book Pacy’s attitude towards the Rat Year improves after she chooses to be ‘brave like a tiger’. By reflecting on the changes through the year that had made her uncomfortable or nervous Pacy finds how much she's grown up during the Rat Year. What's more, she finds she has the power to shape her own future and appreciate the differences between fate and destiny as well as wishes and resolutions.
What will the Year of the Rat bring for you?
One great book recommendation deserves another and another. Check out these titles:
Great Picture Book Titles with Asian-American characters
Great Elementary School Titles with Asian-American characters
Great Middle School Titles with Asian-American characters
Great High School Titles with Asian-American characters
First-time authors are getting a lot of press lately with The Class of 2k7 and now The Class of 2k8 ready to roll, as well as the new William C. Morris YA Debut Award. The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) will announce the first recipient in January 2009. With hundreds of debuts by young adult novelists each year and new ways to celebrate and spread the word about these debuts, we’d like to chime in with our favorites from 2007 that are not to be missed:
Linda Urban’s A Crooked Kind of Perfect is a middle grade novel about what happens when reality doesn’t quite match up with your expectations. Both funny and heartwarming, A Crooked Kind of Perfect is a potential pick to win the Newbery.
More intermediate level author debuts from 2007
Skulduggery Pleasant is an ace detective, a snappy dresser, a crackerjack sorcerer with razor-tongued wit, and a skeleton. He also happens to be the Tandem Collection Development Team’s Favorite Hero of 2007. How could he not win an award just for being him? Watch for all of our team’s 2007 Award picks in our upcoming Spring Must-Have Titles catalog, coming January 2008.
More middle school level author debuts from 2007
Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr is a great read-alike for Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight books. This incredibly popular 21st century faery tale is void of vampires, and unlike Bella in Meyers’ books, Aislinn desperately wants to stay human.
Graphic novels and comic books… You want them in your elementary library, but where to start? After all, some of the possible selections out there are definitely more appropriate for older kids. So we’ve compiled a list of graphic novels—and some graphic novel-esque picture books—for your elementary school readers, and maybe you’ll even snag a few of those non-readers too.
Amelia Rules!, Vol. 1: The Whole World's Crazy by Jimmy Gownley features a nine-year-old girl who has just moved from New York City to a small town, and all the troubles that go with being the new kid and trying to make friends. Amelia’s ever evolving relationships with her new friends, (G.A.S.P. or Gathering of Awesome Superpals)--Reggie, a super-hero wannabe; Rhonda, who has a crush on him; and the mysterious Pajamaman—provide the storyline for the next two volumes: Amelia Rules!, Vol. 2: What Makes You Happy and Amelia Rules!, Vol. 3: Superheroes. The comic book Amelia and her friends, with their mixture humor, insecurity, and charming obnoxiousness, seem real.
I mentioned Bone #6: Old Man's Cave as a new release in August. This is a fabulous series for kids from mid-elementary school on up.
Joann Sfar’s Little Vampire Does Kung Fu! is a picture book with panels and dialogue balloons, but the humor makes it an amusing read for all ages. Bully Jeffrey is picking on Little Vampire’s human friend Michael. This cannot continue, so Little Vampire and Michael go in search of the kung fu master so Michael can fight back, but along the way he learns that fighting isn’t always the answer. Gross monsters, some with boogers (talk about kid appeal!) and some with kind hearts, pop up to help or hinder them on their quest.
Check out these fun graphic novels for your elementary school kids
Today I’d like to feature seven of our favorite authors or author-illustrators whose science titles are beyond comparison: Nic Bishop, Vicki Cobb, Gail Gibbons, Steve Jenkins, Sandra Markle, Sy Montgomery, and Seymour Simon.
Each of these authors or author-illustrators has earned a broad-level of recognition from teachers, librarians, students and others. Glancing through the titles on today’s featured list I came up with a few reason’s why each are awarded a place on so many school, library and home bookshelves. Please see if you agree:
knowing and using science A few well-reputed awards to recognize outstanding science books written for a K-12 audience include the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children, National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K–12, Giverny Book Award, American Institute of Physics (AIP) Science Writing Award for Children, and Washington Post-Children's Book Guild Nonfiction Award.
View some of the award winning titles from these favorite science authors.
