Great Books Club

Reading instruction for children in early elementary has gone a long ways since the days of Dick and Jane. At least Dr. Gray’s books from the early 30s of Dick, Jane, their parents, baby Sally and the crew of pets provided a beginning step for the basal reading instruction movement.

The books that then became a staple institutionalized reader for children were later criticized for their homogenized cultural images. The education institution as a whole was also challenged because this content of large class repetitive reading was not adequate. Later useful tools like phonics were used, and today we see a good assortment of teaching tools like Guided Reading that critically engages young students individually and challenges their reading and thoughts about reading.

The system of Guided Reading was created by doctorate professors Gay Su Pinnell and Irene C. Fountas. They first collaborated and coauthored a book in 1996, which launched the guided practice.

Applying the Guided Process

Guided Reading is only part of the whole process of elementary reading instruction. It’s shown success among many elementary educators. It’s only part of the full spectrum of reading tools but its value is in the intimacy of the structure and teaching. The teaching is intimate because sessions are held in small groups, only 4 to 6 kids at a time.

The real purpose of all reading instruction is not just to get the children to go through the motions or reading, but to actually motivate them to read independently — to realize the value and enjoyment of sponging up information from all kinds of word sources. Guided reading’s aim is the same. The first step is to get them to think about what they are reading. Since they work is close proximity to the teacher the instruction can be portion off more one-on-one time.

When the groups are divided between 4-6 students, they are addressed with the material, one group at a time. Guided Reading prescribes materials on a leveled scale for different grade and skill levels. The teacher will first go through a pre-reading lesson priming the students with a sense of purpose for the sessions. It gives the teacher a little background on the student’s skill and time to prepare the student for the material at hand.

During the reading sessions, the children will read the appropriate reading level material while the teacher observes them. After reading, the teacher asks them questions to bring their brain back into the story or lesson, and engages them in a dialog. Any gaps in the observed reading strategy can help build the mini-lesson to help counter the problems the teacher may have seen.

A variety of “learning centers” are available in the class to help the non-group members stay focused and on task with a learning project that also involves reading and word structure.

Audio books have brought great change in the learning process. It is pleasant to listen to these books as they are much easier to understand. Listening to these books consume less time than reading. They attract listeners as they the content is read in well-pitched and modulated voices. They have opened up new ways of learning together with multi tasking i.e. you can perform different works while listening to the lessons. These new entertaining books are easy to listen to and allow you to do other activities at the same time. With lot of benefits, they are a treat for the avid book readers. These days with the upcoming of several online cheap books store, it is easier for anyone to go for the latest CD & VCD compilation shop.

A wide array of CDs and VCDs are available online to enhance the innovative learning. Compared to traditional methods, it offers a good learning material to the children and youths. It removes the boredom, which one faces while going through the pages of the books.

These compiled CDs have interactive lessons in recognised narrators’ voices. Each subject is explained in an instructive way. The narrators are most of the time renowned personalities. These books are user-friendly and at the same time allow you to listen to them anywhere and everywhere. You can enjoy them while you’re driving, doing daily chores, and even while exercising. You’ll simply love to go for these books, as they ensures absolute freedom by allowing you to tune to your favourite lessons anywhere-be it at home, or while at office. The only thing that you have to is to select the type and style of player that meets your budget.

Today, erotic audio books are quite popular. They are far cheaper compared to textbooks. They can be downloaded easily. Accessibility is also easier and quicker as you don’t have to wait for the book to reach the book store. There are several MP3 audio books which can be downloaded directly from the Internet. The only thing that you have to do is to find the niche online book store and select the book you always wanted to read. There are hundreds of online portals which provide free downloading. It takes hardly few seconds to download the files into your iPod, personal computer or MP3 player. You can easily look for the specific titles, authors and publishers on Internet. You can explore different categories and find hundreds of interesting books in audio format. Once you listen to these books, you’ll be addicted to them.

On exploring the Internet, you will be surprised to see numerous pod cast audio books. There are lots of materials which are both educational and entertaining. The books help in strengthening the imagination. With the coming of audio books online, you can choose varied array of books in a matter of minutes. They are excellent learning tools that enhances the listening skills. If the children doesn’t like reading, then they can go for these books. They are ideal in increasing vocabulary skills. They can also be enjoyed as bedtime books-where the children are listening instead of reading. If parents are looking for children audio compilations, they should listen to them before purchasing as it will help them to decide whether the chosen one is suitable for their children. Same as television and video games, they are best educational alternative.

The best thing is that you can buy or download books from the comfort of your home. You can copy it on CD and listen while you’re driving. Compact Disk players are the impressive medium for listening to wide collection of book CDs. There are several other high-end devices which support newer audio formats that ensure great listening experience. After the arrival of MP3 player, there is a steep rise in the audio book listeners. You can find different MP3 players in varied price range. You can select these players from various brands, models, and sizes, depending upon your requirements and enjoy the experience of these books. You can find topics like humanities, science and technology, medicine, etc.

These latest CD and VCD compilations remove the boredom of reading and at the same time allow multi-tasking. This new concept has enhanced the listening skills

Entertaining small children on rainy days can be a real challenge. A great way to keep them happily occupied can be to give them a coloring book. In this day and age, some parents choose to plug their children in: they turn on the television, a video or even a video game. Choosing a coloring book engages more of their mind.

There are so many different types of coloring books you can choose for your little one. There are coloring books with animals, people, buildings, cars/trucks and even fantastic imaginary creatures from space. Perhaps your child loves teddy bears, then you can easily get them a coloring book featuring these cuddly toys. Or if your child loves the ocean, you can get them a coloring book full of the beauty of the sea.

Coloring books can also be an easy teaching tool to use with your children. Most children learn by being exposed to images of things. They see a picture of something and they learn the word for it. Giving your child a coloring book of anything you would like to teach them would be ideal. It can be a fun way to build their vocabulary and encourage them to learn more about the world around them.

Stress tests have discovered that simple coloring of pictures actually relieves stress. It is easy to understand that this activity when given to children would most likely put them in a calm and tranquil mood. Giving a child a coloring book for twenty minutes could be a great way to get them to settle down. Some children have such a challenging time setting down during the day.

Coloring pictures together is also a great way to spend time with your child. This is a low-cost activity to do with your child and it is also something that most children enjoy. Your child will have fun drawing pictures and then sharing them with you. You can even color in pictures together, having fun selecting the colors and selecting the colors as you go.

An inexpensive way to make a coloring book for your child is to enlarge images from clip art and print them from your computer. Most clip art can be created in black and white and then is available for your child to color. This is a great way to create your own coloring book if you don’t have time to run out to get another.

Holiday coloring books are a fun way to celebrate the holidays. This is also a great way for your child to learn more about the traditions and celebrations that surround that specific holiday. Holiday coloring books can be used during quiet time before or even after the holiday. A Christmas coloring book can be fun to prepare for this popular holiday. Most children have heard of Santa and they would have fun coloring in pictures of his jolly red suit and white beard.

Coloring books have been used by children for years. Your parents colored in coloring books and it is certain that your children will color in coloring books. Coloring books are an ideal activity that just about every child will enjoy!

Technology isn’t all bad despite what some people might think.
Who would have ever believed that not only would we cut down on the way we use up our vegetation for making everyday books, but that we would also be able to “listen” to books instead of “reading” them.
Ironic? Not with the introduction of audio books.
With audio books, we now have the unique advantage of doing other things that occupy our hands, but not our minds. We can now do other things like household chores, exercise, etc while still having the book read to us.
More people are embracing the wonders of audio books and are buying their favorite books in the audio version.
If you are considering buying an audio book, listed below are 6 of the great places you can enjoy it:
1–In bed - There are certain days when we just don’t want to do anything but lie down in bed and relax. Or maybe you just want to lie down in the dark until you fall asleep.
This is a great time to listen to an audio book. You don’t have to bother with putting on the lights, holding the book, flipping through the pages or physically reading the book itself.
With an audio book, the entire volume will be read to you while you lye comfortably in bed.
2–In the kitchen while doing household chores such as washing the dishes or cooking. For some people it can be very boring being in the kitchen, especially washing the dishes or other such chores.
This is a great time to enjoy an audio book because your hands are busy but your mind is free.
Instead of feeding your mind with negative thoughts, an audio book would be a wonderful alternative.
3–In the garden while gardening - You can also listen to audio books while gardening. The audio book can make the gardening fun because you would be concentrating on the beauty of the audio book and not on the difficulty of gardening.
4–While exercising such as jogging - Exercising such as jogging leaves your mind open but your hands, legs and even your entire body busy. This is a great time to enjoy an audio book.
Most people perform exercises for many minutes or even hours while their minds do nothing. But listening to an audio book during this time ensures you don’t waste those times that you exercise.
Talk about killing 2 birds with one stone - exercising your body and mind at the same time!
5–On the road commuting - This could either be in your car or a bus or train while going to work. You see, many people lose a great deal of time doing nothing while commuting to and from their jobs.
Why not use that time to listen to an audio book, especially one that develops your mind and/or improves your professional and business skills?
For example, listening to an audio book that improves your skills daily can do a lot of good to your career, instead of listening to a pop song which wouldn’t help you much in the area of skill acquisition.
6–In the air while traveling - You wouldn’t believe it, but there are many people who spend more time in the air than on road. There are professional assignments that involve traveling from one state to the next, or even from one country to another.
If you are in such a situation, consider the enormous benefits you would get listening to audio books, especially those that can improve your professional skills.

A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without any fear. They allow a man’s mind to get both provocation and privacy. There is also a great difference between an eager man who wants to read a book and a tired man who wants a book to read. One should have the natural penchant for reading books as this healthy habit would enhance his vocabulary power and expressions skills also to a great extent.

Books are generally categorised into several genres among which the science fiction forms a distinct and most appreciable position. If you have inclination towards unearthly objects and adventurous mysteries then these genre of books would comfortably satiate all your fantastic thoughts.

Science Fiction Books have inspired many well known directors to make films such as Terminator, Matrix etc. These books deal with a wide variety of fantastic imagination which readily incite the curiosity of the readers to know more.

These books are specially written to appease the desire and the curiosity of the readers. Moreover, the depiction of aliens, fast forward time zone etc excite the reader to explore the unlimited boundaries of the creativity. You get to known a great many things of the galaxies, meteors and also twisted concepts of time and fortune etc.

These books comfortably transfer the reader to certain imaginative islands where both the evil and the go characters are extraordinary beings with whom you can also relate yourself. However, with these extraordinary characters one can easily depict the type of society or people that will be in future.

The science fiction books are rapidly gaining momentum due to their varied typical characteristics. Almost every year, you can find a new collection of these genres of books. As they mesmerise the readers with amazing storyline and plots, they comfortably enhance their imagination power and extravagant skills.

You would never get tired of reading such books because every page has something new and astounding to reveal. Some of the famous books of this genre are ” The Time Machine” and “Gravity”, which are still popular among the masses. These books amazingly suck the reader into the story. One would find it difficult to leave the book without turning the pages and discovering the mysteries.

Books are the quietest and the most constant friends of the people. They are the most accessible and the wisest counsellors, and the most patient teachers. One should always try to read something that would make him or her look and feel good. To sit alone in the lamplight with a book spread out before you, and hold intimate conversation with men of unseen generations- such is a pleasure which one gets while reading books. In fact, books help us to enhance our language skills and expression capabilities too. Best friends, good books and an awakened conscience can be the ideal lifestyle of any literate person. The art of reading can be described as the art of acquiring a better understanding of the life. The fiction books actually comprise those literary works which include imaginative narration.

Several genres of books are available these days which would suit people of different reading habits. A huge percentage of people like encountering fantasy characters with amazing powers and imaginative islands with extraordinary features. The fiction books form a distinct genre which is a class apart from the rest. Though this genre of books rarely depict anything which can be related to the reality, these literary works have huge number of readers. Such literary works are not appreciated only by the grown ups but also by the kids.

Fiction books actually form a wide genre as various sub genres are also included under them. One can find romantic fiction novels which depict love story of imaginative people. Then there are science fiction novels which depict the combats of the evil and the good in an extravagant manner. These books also have mesmerising characters such as aliens, meteors etc to cuddle the imaginations of the readers.

However, the fiction books at times also deal with real life incidents. But, those real life situations are described in an awe inspiring manner as they contain certain fantasy elements and astounding plots too. However, certain books of this genre also have good social messages which can be appropriately used to teach the right values of life to the readers. Certain well known books of this genre are God’s Spy, The Jules Verne Collection, Glasses & Garters, and Hot! Autumn etc. All these books have been liked by the readers due to their various fantastic plots and subjects. The thrill, adventure and the excitement can be felt by the readers till the last chapter, as these books carefully sustains the tempo till the last word.

One of the most common ways of gaining knowledge is reading books. In fact, the books provide many benefits to the customers. The readers can keep themselves updated about the latest happenings around the world and they can enrich their language proficiency also. Several kinds of books are available in the markets which are loved by the readers. These are fiction, non-fiction, fantasy, comedy, horror, crime, mystery, science fiction, etc. Everyone has his or her choices to read.

A number of options are available to the readers these days. One can purchase books from many places like book stores, supermarkets and shopping malls. The choices of online shopping portals are also available to the readers. These portals provide various benefits to the buyers in order to attract more and more customers. Readers can find many cheap books on these sites. Since the cost of goods sold is less here, so the retailers on these websites provide books at relatively lower prices.

To get the cheap books, online portals are the best places since they provide many attractive benefits to the customers. Apart from the unlimited choices and cheaper prices, one also gets a huge collection of books. Searching one’s favourite items is also easy here since all the books are synchronised by authors’ names, titles, publishers and prices. The online book stores also provide the books that are not available in the markets or are out of stock.

In this age of modernisation, people have less time to visit the shopping places physically. Therefore, online book stores are preferred by the book lovers since they can purchase their favourite novels online. They just need to visit relevant websites and place their order there. The time taken for delivering the ordered items is very less; therefore the shoppers do not have to wait longer.

The specific book stores on internet offer various lucrative schemes and deals also. These schemes make the customers delighted and give them enriching shopping experience. Free gifts, huge discounts and sometimes even the books are given free of cost to the customers. Hence, the readers can find the cheap books on the online shopping portals and enhance their knowledge by reading them.

The book Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… And Others Don’t by Jim Collins has sold 2.5 million hardcover copies since its publication and has been translated into 32 languages. It’s a product of 15 years of case study, 11 good-to-great companies, 84 interviews with senior managers and board members of the companies, case studies, and comparison of the good-to-great companies with a company with similar attributes that could have made the leap, but didn’t.

According to the study, there are nine critical points which were followed by the good-to-great companies’ people through out the transition.

1. The people of good-to-great companies are disciplined – in thought and in action.

2. The leader’s goal of good-to-great companies is to build their companies for the next generation.

3. There are only the right people in the bus during the ride from being a good-to-great company; all the wrong people are left behind.

4. The people of good-to-great companies face the facts and solve the problems, no matter how painful they are. There are no cowardly exits.

5. The people of good-to-great companies exert efforts to bring their company on top and to retain their position.

6. The people of good-to-great companies learn the ropes so that they will be great on things where they are not great in doing. Good-to-great companies’ people also know how to be great in a not-so-great industry.

7. The people of good-to-great companies do not make technology the determining factor of their existence. People from good-to-great companies know that technology alone won’t make them a great company.

8. The people of good-to-great companies work hard with consistent effort. They adhere to the manner of driving the company in just one direction building momentum until they reach their target, eventually staying where they are with little or no effort at all.

9. The people of good-to-great companies work towards building their company to last a lifetime.

A good company has a chance of being a great company as long as its people don’t lose sight of its company’s goal.

If you are interested in History and Religion, then collecting Biblical Coins might be a great and surprisingly inexpensive hobby to consider. If you are unfamiliar with collecting coins, you might be surprised to hear that you can buy a widows mite, as mentioned in the Christian Bible for around the same price as a CD or DVD.

Widows Mites are quite small bronze coins, usually green or brown in appearance with an anchor on one side and a wheel with ray like spokes on the other, together with Hebrew inscription ‘Yehonatan the King’. They were made by the ruthless king of Judea, Alexander Jannaeus around 2100 years ago, in such large quantities that many survive to this day.

Our knowledge of these and many other Biblical coins has developed over time, and gradually the study of such coins resulted in the publication of books specifically dealing with Biblical coins. One of the first and still one of the best, although a little outdated and inaccurate in places is:

The History of Jewish Coinage and of Money in the Old and New Testaments, Frederick W Madden (1864)

This Contains lots of line drawings and much historical information on each coin. Original copies are expensive ($200+), but a reprint from Pegasus Publishing, dated 1967, is readily available for about $20 and is highly recommended.

Getting up to date, two names stand out in terms of popular books on Biblical Coins, Ya’akov Meshorer and David Hendin

The Guide to Biblical Coins 4th Edition, David Hendin, 2001 at approx $90 is the default standard, and if you only buy one book on the subject, make it this one. It is a well-presented richly illustrated catalogue of just over 550 coins, all with a unique and widely quoted reference number.

Ya’akov Meshorer wrote many books and papers on the subject of Biblical coins, the last one before he died becoming an award-winning book is:

A Treasury of Jewish Coins, 2001 approx $90

These two excellent books are very different in style and format, but richly illustrate life and the money that was used in Biblical times.

There are many other books on the subject, often selling for around the $20 range, by people like Rev Edgar Rogers, Florence Aiken Banks, Kenneth Jacob and RS Yeoman. While these are worth a look, and all have value, they do not represent that rounded catalogues of the above books.

There are many new books promised too that you should look out for, an updated book from David Hendin, and a new publication from Richard Plant, provisionally titled ‘A numismatic journey through the Bible’.

Obviously, the value of a book depends on the opinions of the person valuing it. One person can love a book that another person hates. Nonetheless, some books have stood out as generally beloved and almost universally considered great. Let me list four of my favorite classic books that I think you need to read if you have not already.

“The Catcher in the Rye” by J. D. Salinger - Despite its excessive use of profanity and its sexual parts, even many high-schools have “The Catcher in the Rye” on their reading list. And one can see why. This novel by Salinger tells a disturbingly realistic tale that highlights adolescence and teenage angst. I love most of all its underlying commentary on the resistance of growing up by teens who have already lost their innocence.

“Nineteen Eighty-Four” by George Orwell - This famous dystopian novel by George Orwell has influenced modern society and political thought greatly. For example, the phrase “Big Brother,” comes from this novel. It tells the story of a futuristic society that lives under a totalitarian government. The government controls the flow of information and engages in intrusive surveillance. People may feel frightened reading it as they realize that our society still seems to be heading in that direction, even if at a slower rate than Orwell predicted.

“Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck - This novella won the Nobel Prize. It tragically tells the story of two migrant ranch workers in California during the Great Depression. Because of the book’s short length, you can read “Of Mice and Men” very quickly. I usually read it in one night. The title appropriately comes from a line in the poem To A Mouse: “The best-laid plans of mice and men go oft awry.”

“Fahrenheit 451″ by Ray Bradbury - As another famous dystopian novel, “Fahrenheit 451″ tells a futuristic story in which fireman burn books rather than put out fires. Ray Bradbury used the book to criticize the path of society, which unfortunately does not seem to have changed. The mostly implicit criticism of television stands out as most true, considering how “Fahrenheit 451″ predicted how much television would integrate with society and the negative social impact from that.

One could make a much longer list of need-to-read books. Nonetheless, if you have not read those four books, then I highly suggest that you read them. If you have read them, then I suggest that you read them again.

Whatever you do, good luck and have fun!