Author Thomas Hébert recommends K-12 books he believes can help gifted students develop SEL skills. Vignettes from six classrooms demonstrate ways to use text selections effectively. Reviewer Amy Estersohn found the book’s appendix of 160+ suggested texts most valuable.
Bright Complex Kids by Jean Sunde Peterson and Daniel B. Peters is highly readable and highly evidentially rigorous in helping educators, families and health professionals identify and work with gifted children of all socio-economic backgrounds, writes educator Amy Estersohn.
In The Power of Teaching Vulnerably David Rockower explains how personal, relational, and dialogic vulnerability can help educators build healthy classroom dialogue. Amy Estersohn would have liked more guidance for teachers facing job loss if they discuss sensitive topics.
Mental health counselor Emily Kircher-Morris provides parents of twice-exceptional children with keys to help their neurodivergent gifted kids develop lifelong skills with a focus on affirmation and self-acceptance. Amy Estersohn finds the book clear and easy to browse.
In 180 Days Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle encourage teachers to meet “hidden standards” focusing on engagement in reading and writing via standards accessed through choice, relevance, and classroom culture. Educator Amy Estersohn finds some elements missing.
The second edition of Rosalind Wiseman’s Owning Up validates the thoughts and feelings of adolescents in a non-judgmental way, invites students to understand why some are motivated to use social cruelty, and gives them tools to respond, writes teacher Amy Estersohn.
In Renew! Become a Better—and More Authentic—Writing Teacher, Shawna Coppola challenges us to reconsider three long-standing traditions of classroom writing instruction: a step-by-step writing process, graphic organizers, and the prioritization of words over images.
Each student Amy Estersohn shared the book “Which One Doesn’t Belong” with spent time lost deep in thought among the geometric images and was able to articulate a reasonable explanation for why a shape didn’t belong. The teacher’s guide can help build math discussion.
Book Reviews / Race, Class and School
by MiddleWeb · Published 08/03/2017 · Last modified 11/18/2019
After building a theoretical groundwork for social justice education, Caldwell and Frame organize their book around the constructs of gender, race, and class. Each section includes a bank of relevant lesson plans, activities, and videos, says teacher Amy Estersohn.
Those eager to share “pristine” nonfiction text with students may appreciate the Kilgallon’s mentor sentence choices, which cross genres, topics, and cultures. But ELA teacher Amy Estersohn finds their workbook approach at odds with her workshop vision of teaching.
