Book Description

These easy-to-understand handbooks How to Be School Smart, How to Write Terrific Book Reports, How to Do your Best on Tests, and How to Write Super School Reports have offered students clear, commonsense advice on how to successfully organize and carry out school assignments for over a decade. Now these great guides have been completely revised to reflect the needs of today's technology-savvy kids. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

This is a great book!
This is a great book to read,it gives you great tips on writing book reports.I am homeschoooled and I found this book very helpful.

Very helpful
My son found the entire text helpful in our learning process of book reports. I homeschool and we try to find books to help him learn on his own, this book was perfect for it. He was able to easily follow the directions and apply them to real reports that I require he write for me once each month on a book he has finished. We used this for our fifth grade curriculm writing. ... Read more

Book Description

Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor is a favorite middle-grade novel. This companion gives background on the author, including an interview, questions to guide reading, clues to the themes, plot, characters, and setting of the book, a glossary, writing and other activities, and more. If you loved Shiloh, you need this reading companion. ... Read more

Book Description

Brought to you by McGraw-Hill, the premier educational publisher, grades PreK-12, Spectrum Test Prep offers students essential preparation needed to achieve success on standardized tests.

This workbook offers students:
• Practice for state tests, including proficiency tests
• Actual test questions in reading, language arts, and math
• Strategies and techniques for answering different types of questions such as multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and choosing a picture to answer a question
• tips on identifying testing patterns, time management, and following directions
• A complete answer key

This workbook offers teachers and parents:
• An explanation of what standardized test are and why students may experience test anxiety
• Clear instructions to help use the book effectively
• Content to prepare for the most popular standardized tests

Reviews (1)

Fantastic Guide
A wonderful extension for a wonderful book. This book meets all the present-day standards for education and is cross-curricular in nature. This is not the typical "book report" format found in so many other companion workbooks. Activities range from paper-pencil, to roleplaying, to technology, to current and past newspaper events and on and on. I've examined many such workbooks and this is one of the best I've ever seen. Amy Griffin has done a thorough job here. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Wow - what a disapointment
I'm a college student transferring into another school - I've been through 2.5 years of college math and I needed to brush up on some of the stuff I hadn't used since high school so that I could take the SAT II Math IIC, a requirement for some of the schools I'm trying to go to. College math credits are apparently no match for requirements set forth by admissions boards.

While browsing the book, I saw no less than 10 major errors in the explanitory parts of the book - now, it's one thing to make a mistake on a review question, but when there are HUGE errors in the parts of the book dedicated to trying to help you learn something, there's a problem. Luckily they didn't affect me much, since I know all of the material in the book, but I feel sorry for anyone else who isn't quite on solid ground with this material. For example, there is a part of the book detailing Statistics and Probablility. After adding up 20 fictional test scores, you are then told how to find the Arithmetic Mean, Mode, Median, and Range - too bad they made an error on the most simple part of the whole problem: Adding up the test scores. Their answer was 84 LESS than when you get by simply plugging the numbers in a calculator and hitting enter. This is a no-brainer here, something that "Hardvard Students" should not mess up. My mother never went to college and she knows how to add better than that.

That brings me to my next point. They make it a point to say it was written by _*OMG HARVARD STUDENTS!!*_ - to sell more books - although I'm betting the students were busy getting drunk until the week before their deadline and they made tons of errors just trying to get the book out on time... This isn't worth the money you'll pay for it.

Conclusion: Solid in theory, but disapointingly lacking in the details. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

One of Shakespeare's romantic comedies, this play is set in the seaport town of Messina, in Sicily. The drama concerns "the battle of the sexes" and focuses on the barbed wits and intrigues that two sets of lovers and their friends and family create. Brimming with wit and antagonism, the play has amused and provoked audiences for centuries. ... Read more

Reviews (129)

funny and just plain enjoyable! by a 14 year old
This movie is so, as I said, enjoyable! It's hilarious - it has both physical and oral comedy. The scenes with Benedick and Beatrice are great.

Shakespeare's play is about two romances. One with a young, innocent, beautiful Hero and a naiive guy (I forget his name). The other is with Beatrice and Benedick, a couple who love to hate each other and don't realize their true feelings without a little help from some friends. Unfortunately, all is not completely happy. Someone is trying to put a damper on everyone's fun with lies and false accusations. But don't worry! Much Ado About Nothing isn't a tragedy.

The music and scenery is beautiful and the who feel is the movie is sprightly and energetic. I think everyone did a good job. Branagh and Thompson obviously were wonderful. Everybody says Michael Keaten (spelling?) and Keanu Reeves were terrible, but I strongly disagree. Perhaps they were a little prejudiced by former viewings of the actors. Keaten was so funny - I am sure Shakespeare was not always refined - and Reeves was evil. They both were fine!

I recommend this movie to Shakespeare lovers (though it may not be COMPLETELY true to the original text) and to anyone who wants a good laugh.

Scrumptiously Devious
If your mind is longing for a Shakespeare production, this is an excellent adaptation of the highest order. Not only is this one of the best romantic comedies ever written, it is set in the Tuscan sun and reaches its full comic potential in all the lustiness and witty dialogue only Shakespeare could create.

At a sensuous picnic, Beatrice reads:

Sign no more, ladies, sign no more,
Men were deceivers ever,
One foot in sea, and one on shore,
To one thing constant never.
Then sigh not so, but let them go,
And be you blithe and bonny,
Converting all your sounds of woe
Into hey (nonny nonny). (brief translation: what the heck).

Act 2, scene 3, 62-69

In Messina, the governor Leonato, his daughter Hero, and her cousin Beatrice (Antonio's daughter) learn from a messenger that Don Pedro has won victory in a battle and is returning home.

Denzel Washington as the Prince Don Pedro really adds sex appeal to this movie! When he arrives with his soldiers from war there is a moment of excitement when everyone lets their inner child escape and there is a feeling of giddy anticipation and the movie takes on a vigorous life of its own.

This is pure escapism for sure. The Italian villa with lush landscapes, fountains and plenty of shrubs to hide behind for eavesdropping on crucial conversations is just enchanting. It is the perfect place for the story to unfold. Here the prince and his warriors decide to vacation for a month.

The main plot involves two love stories. Hero (Kate Beckinsale) and Claudio (Robert Sean Leonard) are in love and hardly need to be pressured into matrimony.

Benedick (Kenneth Branagh) and Beatrice (Emma Thompson) have a hilarious adversarial type courtship in neither can decide what they really want.

"Thou and I are too wise to woo peaceably."

They have both declared they will never marry. In fact, one assumes it was their desire of their wild hearts all along, but was only revealed in a tortured path of wit and intrigue.

Claudio: [to Hero] Lady, as you are mine, I am yours; I give away myself for you and dote upon the exchange.
Beatrice: Speak, cousin, or (if you cannot) stop his mouth with a kiss, and let not him speak neither.

Don John ("yummy" Keanu Reaves) is of course the evil villan in this story and sets out to destroy the relationship between the beautiful Hero and the handsome Claudio. Like a devil, he manages to create mayhem and then leaves the tortured souls to figure out the details of their salvation. With the sweet Hero slandered and presumed dead, one assumes as sure as there is a thought or a soul, there is no turning back.

There are so many great lines in this play that were included with such flair. This is now my favorite Shakespeare adaptation.

You will laugh with absolute delight
at the antics these characters get up to!

Universal appeal!

Best Movie Ever!! by melmcc13
This movie is one of my favorite movies of all time!! I am a huge fan of of Keneth Branagh and Emma Thompson and think they are both wonderful! I absolutely loved this movie and thought that all the actors did a very good job. There were absolutely no confusing parts, and everything from drama to comedy in this film was perfectly displayed. The directing was excellent, and Kneth Branagh makes the movie seem very real. This movie does an excellent job at making Shakespeare fun and exciting!!

yuck!
I'm no fan of the original play and this film version is even worse. The film adds pointless scenes (nudity, along with others) not in Shakespeare's work and twists others; all aimed at an audience that doesn't care about solid acting--of which this film has none (spoiling the few interesting bits of the play)--to begin with and many of the actors simply shouldn't have even been considered-both Reeves (who can't act at all), and Keaton could never work out in a drama movie.
It should be said that nearly every big-screen Shakespeare translation (apart from Zeffirelli's version of Hamlet and Branagh's Henry V) have stunk. Parker's Othello is just as bad as this piece of trash to say nothing of Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet or Hoffman's A Midsummer Night's Dream. It's my suggestion, that if you really want to see Shakespeare off the stage, then look for BBC material.

A little ado about not much
I believe that the reading of this book/play shouls be encouraged for students across the country, because it shows a comical yet realistic view of love, and the effects it has on people.
When Shakespeare wrote this play, I believe that his purpose was to show the two differing sides of love. He uses two examples, the first being Hero and Claudio, who embody the spirit of romantic, superficial love. The two of them never seem to talk, and as far as the reader knows, they don't have a whole lot in common. Claudio puts so much stock in his "love" for Hero that he overreacts too easily. For example, at a party where Don Pedro agrees to woo Hero for Claudio, Don Pedro's bastard brother Don John tricks Claudio into believing Pedro wants Hero for his own. WIth this fresh in his mind, Claudio stomps off in a huff, without even checking the facts. This kind of love is based on gazing wistfully at the one's partner across the room, and sunshine, lollipops and rainbows.
The other kind of love that Shakespeare chooses to display in this play is the realistic kind of love that is displayed more often in society around us. This is shown in the couple of Benedick and Beatrice. These two quick wits are constantly bickering and at each other's throats, until they are tricked by their friends into each believing the otehr loves them. At this, all of their criticisms of love and claims to remain unmarried until death go right out the window. Suddenly, they are seized by a desire to be with each other, and their true feelings come out. It shows how love actually works in real lifeI would reccommend this play to anyone who enjoys a good comedy with just a twinge of love intrest in it. ... Read more

Book Description

This literary companion carries you into the lives and poetic lines of 41 of America's most admired poets from the last century. From popular favorites such as Robert Frost and Carl Sandburg to the more esoteric T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound, this handbook also introduces you to living poets, such as Rita Dove, who are still inscribing their places in literary history. The book opens with an approach to analyzing poetry, and each author-specific chapter includes sections devoted to Chief Works, Discussion and Research Topics, and a Selected Bibliography.

Complete list of authors covered in this comprehensive guide: Edgar Lee Masters, Edward Arlington Robinson, Robert Frost, Amy Lowell, Carl Sandburg, Wallace Stevens, William Carlos Williams, Ezra Pound, Hilda Doolittle (H. D.), Robinson Jeffers, Marianne Moore, T. S. Eliot, John Crowe Ransom, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Jean Toomer, Louise Bogan, Hart Crane, Allen Tare, Sterling Brown, Langston Hughes, Countée Cullen, Elizabeth Bishop, John Berryman, Randall Jarrell, Gwendolyn Brooks, Robert Lowell, Richard Wilbur, James Dickey, Denise Levertov, A.R. Ammons, Allen Ginsberg, W. S. Merwin, James Wright, Anne Sexton, Adrienne Rich, Sylvia Plath, Amiri Baraka, Wendy Rose, Joy Harjo, Rita Dove, Cathy Song ... Read more

Book Description

Ideal for reviewing skills over the summer to prepare for Grade 6. This unique series helps children bridge that summer gap by offering activities that review, reinforce, and extend the important skills they need for the coming year. By focusing on key subject areas and essential learning standards, these books will help ensure that children will perform confidently and completely in language arts, math, and reading.

• Provides important bridge activities over the summer months
• Full-color, lively illustrations
• Covers key subject areas and learning standards
• Skills checklist to assess progress
• Recommended summer reading list
• Comprehensive answer key

Book Description

Lessons focus on creative and expository writing using clearly stated objectives and pre-writing exercises. Essential reading skills are applied. Activities include main idea, sequence, comparison, detail, fact and opinion, cause and effect and making a point. 130 pages. Answer key included. ... Read more

Book Description

Words, Words, Words offers teachers a handy and much-needed resource filled with creative and engaging games and activities that will help students in grades 7-12 improve their vocabulary. The book features proven, practical, and accessible methods to encourage your students to increase their vocabularies and have fun while they are doing it. Words, Words, Words is divided into thirty thematic units each containing fifteen interrelated words. Each unit contains four different ready-to-use activities for each group of words. The book is designed to help students understand each word’s meaning, associations, similarities, and differences and includes dynamic classroom-tested activities such as

• Crossword puzzles
• Matching columns
• Magic squares
• Jumbles
• Word finds
• Close reading
• Multiple choice questions
• Concealed quotations
• Riddles

Book Description

Colorful lessons help to strengthen geographical knowledge and map reading skills. Lessons focus on five geographical themes including location, place, human/environmental interaction, movement and regions. Glossary of geographical terms included. ... Read more

Book Description

Specially designed curriculum for challenging gifted and talented children! McGraw-Hill Children's Publishing realizes the importance of providing a solid, challenging program that allows high-achieving, creative children to explore their potential. The Gifted and Talented series was carefully designed by experts in the field to enhance and build children's higher level thinking and reasoning skills.Our goal is to nurture and develop the gifts of each individual child by offering active, independent activities that stimulate children's abilities while allowing them to have fun at the same time.

Gifted and Talented reading workbooks for grades 1–3stimulate further development of critical and creative thinking skills by offering reading enrichment activities involving comprehension, deduction, analysis, and creative thinking. The workbooks challenge and extend the reading concepts already introduced at school or at home.

Book Description

Holes by Louis Sachar is a favorite middle-grade novel. This companion gives backgound on the author, including an interview, questions to guide reading, clues to themes, plot, characters, and setting of the book, a glossary, writing and other activities, and more. If you loved holes, you need this reading companion. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Excellent
Holes by Louis Sachar is a marvelous, wonderful book with laugh out loud moments. Use this reading guide to help you introduce the book to your students. ... Read more

Book Description

Do your students fail to even finish a timed test? Do they read word by word? Do they simply move their eyes over the page, never remembering what they read?

If you suspect that students' test scores are being confounded by any of these traits, or if you have students who need to process greater amounts of information, the Timed Readings books can help.

For over thirty years, Jamestown has been helping students increase their reading rate and fluency while maintaining comprehension.

Timed Readings Plus in Social Studies features 400-word nonfiction timed passages on current social studies topics, similar to those found on state and national tests.

Book Description

Colorful lessons help to strengthen geographical knowledge and map reading skills. Lessons focus on five geographical themes including location, place, human/environmental interaction, movement and regions. Glossary of geographical terms included. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Infomative and Eyecatching
Whether used at school or home this book is a wonderful resource and aid for all students! (Not just 5th graders). McGraw-Hill has given the reader 18 lessons based on the history of the United States. In each lesson you will find information and explanations, graphs, maps and tables, and reviewing with questions that help students recall what they already know and what they just learned.

I teach 6th graders and I find that there is lots of information about the country they live in that they just do not know. At the beginning of the year I use these lessons as a beginning review. Through out the rest of the year students work independently on the lessons.

I plan on getting the 6th grade level! This book is wonderful and I would recommend it to anyone looking to brush up on their history! ... Read more

Book Description

Specifically tailored to California's standardized testing program for success in grades 3 through 6!As a result of the No Child Left Behind law, students and parents need to rely on expertly prepared practice to ensure success on California's required proficiency exam. Spectrum California Test Practice offers essential practice that is custom-designed to California's standardized reading, writing, and math tests for grades 3 through 6. Written in the actual language of California's standardized testing program, Spectrum California Test Practice features:-An easy-to-understand description of California's reading, writing, and math expectations for grades 3 through 6. -A complete explanation of California's Standardized Test of Achievement and Reporting (STAR). -Hundreds of practice questions modeled after the test. -On-the-spot strategies for tackling different types of questions. -Three practice tests and a final test for measuring success in each subject. -A self-scoring section to determine each student's mastery of skills.Today's testing stakes are high. Provide students and parents the cutting edge for California testing success with Spectrum California Test Practice! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

excellent
This book did an outstanding job of preparing my child for the state test. It gives clear, concise reviews for the test scope and provides drills for each topic. The problem items are very similar to those in the real test. Many test taking tips are given and demonstrated. I wish it had more pages. For additional practice, I found Beestar very helpful, too (a nice Houston community web site http://www.beestar.org). My child scored fairly high thanks to such like-real standard test drills. ... Read more

Book Description

Practice and gain confidence by working with actual test questions and answer sheets.

This workbook offers students:

• Skill lessons with test-taking clues and sample questions to help students become familiar with test formats and content
• Preliminary sample tests with guided instructions, followed by comprehensive practice tests.
• Confidence-building practice in reading, language arts, writing, basic skills, science, social studies, and math.
• An answer sheet that simulates the actual testing experience.

This workbook offers teachers:

• Correlations to state standards and standardized tests including TerraNova CAT™ and CTBS®.
• A comprehensive practice test for each subtopic.
• Skill lessons to use as independent work in centers, for homework, or as seatwork.