Monday, December 13, 2010

STORYTELLING IN LEARNING

This is a 'must have' addition to any library, classroom, resource center, or private collection. The quality and scope fill a much needed gap in resources for integrating storytelling effectiveling in the learning setting.


"Character traits for three grade levels are promoted in a collection of world folktales, legends, myths, and personal stories, with corresponding questions and activities.

Research affirms that storytelling enhances analytical and organizational skills, as well as all aspects of language arts development—happy news for teachers and librarians for whom reading comprehension is always a top priority. By involving students in the process of Question-Answer Relationships (QAR), you can enlist powerful stories to shift their imaginations into high gear.

Storytelling and QAR Strategies offers a clear, detailed explanation of this research-based, reading comprehension framework, providing teachers, school librarians, and storytellers with the tools they need to incorporate the deep learning of QAR into storytelling events and classroom work. The authors furnish traditional tales, fables, and myths related to the 12 pillars of character education, underscoring the traits of caring, citizenship, fairness, honesty, respect, and responsibility. Each story is supported by QAR questions and includes activities for pre- and post-reading, as well as complete documentation and source information.

Bundling together character education, storytelling, and QAR, the book puts all of the necessary materials at the fingertips of teachers and librarians. It is also a valuable tool for storytellers, with guidance on developing the QAR strategies around a multitude of stories. Research proves that teaching QAR strategies results in deepened student comprehension as well as higher test scores. Thanks to this book, implementing the technique has never been easier.

Features
• Stories for grades 3-8, separated by grade level
• Questions for each QAR strategy for each story
• Worksheets, organizers, and activities

Highlights
• Provides a wide range of stories for grades 3-8 that teach good character traits and also a taxonomy with which to help students uncover deeper meanings
• Defines QAR as a reading comprehension strategy
• Enables the teaching of higher-order thinking skills through QAR
• Reviews the reading research connected with QAR as a successful builder of student reading, listening, and comprehension skills
Phyllis Hostmeyer, a consultant for Educational Resources Group, Inc., works internationally conducting professional development for educators. She offers workshops on all aspects of reading, writing, and language arts. She also works as a storyteller who shares personal narratives, Bible stories, and her original versions of fairy tales and fables.

Marilyn Adele Kinsella of Fairview Heights, IL, has told stories professionally as a teacher and children's librarian since 1981. She graduated with honors from Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, IL, in 1974, with a BS in elementary education. She currently works exclusively as a freelance storyteller, workshop presenter, and writer. Although this is her first book, many of her stories and articles have appeared in books and magazines including Libraries Unlimited's The Storytelling Classroom: Applications across the Curriculum. "

Book link: http://www.abc-clio.com/product.aspx?id=2147483807

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

BOOK DECODES JEREMIAH


The Man who Knew God decodes the complexities of the book of Jeremiah and argues that this prophet is the key figure in shaping Western civilization. Author Mordecai Schreiber posits that Jeremiah is not only the one who eradicated paganism amongst the Hebrew people, but he can also be considered the founder of the post-biblical Jewish faith and the one who served as a spiritual model for Jesus of Nazareth. Offering intriguing insights into Jeremiah’s role in the founding of Western monotheism and the eradication of paganism amongst the Hebrew people, this book should be read by all those interested in Biblical studies and religion.

Rabbi Mordecai Schreiber is the author of over 50 books on Judaic and linguistic topics. He is the author of Ask the Bible and Light to the Nations: From Biblical Promise to World Peace.


Praise for the book by leading Bible scholars:

“The Book of Jeremiah continues to sound its assurances and its demands in challenging, contemporary ways. Rabbi Schreiber here provides an accessible entry into this remarkable prophetic person, voice, and tradition that live in the extremities of faith. Accenting the key issues in this prophetic articulation, Schreiber shows the bold way in which Jeremiah moves in revolutionary leaps beyond the closed tribalism of his antecedents. This wise book merits careful and sustained attention. It will evoke conversation that will continue to vex and nourish responsible faith, just the vexation and nourishment the prophet himself intended. The move toward an inclusive openness voiced by the prophet continues to be a demanding agenda for his present-day readers.” —Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary

“Rabbi Schreiber’s central idea, that Jeremiah was the model upon which the author of the famous Suffering Servant songs in the book of Isaiah based these poems and hich, in turn, served as a significant inspiration for Jesus’ ministry, is both elegantly simple and profoundly important for Jews and Christians. It is high time that we celebrate what we have in common rather than fighting over our differences. Rabbi Schreiber helps us to do that.”Alice Ogden Bellis, Howard University School of Divinity

"Highly recommending this work, I likewise express my hope that the author should consider follow-up volumes on the other major prophets." Fr. Peter Stravinskas, editor, The Catholic Response

"Books like Mordecai Schreiber's The Man Who Knew God: Decoding Jeremiah are important because they clue us in on what we are missing....the author does an admirable job of elucidating the remarkable historical significance of the prophet for Jews and Christians."
—Tikkun Magazine

Earlier praise for the author’s essay on the suffering servant in Isaiah, which forms the book’s central idea:

I read your essay with avid interest. I will assign it in one of my courses. It is beautifully written.” — Michael Cook, Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion

“Regarding Jeremiah as the suffering servant. . . my reaction to your treatment is positive.”Richard Elliott Friedman, author, Who Wrote the Bible?

“Your mastery of the sources and of scholarship is very impressive, and you write like a very effective teacher.”Bradley Shavit Artson, American Jewish University


Order from www.amazon.com
To learn more about this book, visit the author’s website at:
http://www.MordecaiSchreiber.com

Monday, September 27, 2010

SHERLYN POWELL ANNOUNCES NEW BOOK


"Captured Hearts", shares the captivating romance of Sylvia Masters ,a hot fifty-two year old widow and CEO of The Masters Investment Group. After her husband passed her focus turned to raising their three children making sure the company started by her late husband made to the Fortune 500.

Lieutenant Julian Reynolds is on the scene to inform her that her former fiancee, Addison Lockwood has been murdered. When Lieutenant Reynolds goes to the Masters' home to question Sylvia he is blown away by her beauty.

Sylvia's looks and strong personality inspire Lieutenant Reynolds to solve the case and pursue the woman of his dreams. When Sylvia offers the Lieutenant a cup of coffee their hands touch and their eyes lock. After a tulmutious beginning, he summons the courage to ask Sylvia to dinner.
Problem: Julian is ten years younger and Sylvia isn't interested in being labeled a Cougar! Refusing the Lieutenants invitation, Sylvia is flattered that this much younger man finds her attractive. What would her family say? Can Sylvia have a future with Julian?

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Exciting New Book



"Hannah and Sam Pine, are forced to move when their mother dies. Hannah’s grief for the loss of her mother nearly pushes her into deaths waiting arms, until she becomes enveloped in the life of her handsome savior, Ethan Sun. Hannah fall’s desperately in love with Ethan, whom she deems perfect. It doesn’t take her long to realize that she isn’t too far off of her assumption, once she is exposed to his mysterious world. The stronger her love becomes for Ethan, the more extreme his deadly secrets get. Hannah is forced to push beyond human reason and confront the evil that lurks everywhere. She is faced with the battle of losing her beloved brother Sam, losing her eternal love Ethan, and most importantly, losing her soul. She will be forced to choose between right and wrong and realize that the spiritual realm of good and evil really does exist..."





$12.95 / Perfectbound / ISBN: 9781608445813 /248 pages

Monday, August 2, 2010

SCHOLAR ADDRESSES EARLY PENTECOSTAL WOMEN PREACHERS

Women of the Good News: The Rhetorical Heritage of Pentecostal Holiness Women Preachers, CMT Press. Available via Amazon.com

Description: The first book to share interviews with women preachers of the International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC), Dr. Welch explores rhetoric, gender, and religion in the biographies, autobiographies, and histories that detail what it means to be a Pentecostal woman preacher in Oklahoma. Archival materials provide a picture of Pentecostalism years before Oklahoma became a state in 1907, and a transcribed interview with the former Presiding Bishop of the IPHC, James Leggett, gives a contemporary view of what it means to be Pentecostal in the 21st century. A Christian scholar who grew up in the IPHC, Dr. Welch draws upon the field of rhetoric to use Jim Corder’s theory of generative ethos to illuminate the way identity is constructed on individual, collective, and spiritual levels. She shows the role place plays in the development of faith and character in her chapter “We are of this Place: Oklahoma and Ethos.” She concludes the book with an honest look at the administrative levels of the IPHC and ends with a note of hope for the future.

Kristen Dayle Welch (PhD, University of Arizona) is Assistant Professor of English and Director of the Writing Center at Longwood University, Farmville, Virginia, USA.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

NEW BOOK CELEBRATES FAITH, LOVE, AND FAMILY


In Her Own Words: The Life and Inspirational Poems of Velma Dora Terry (1915-1999). Velma Terry; compiled and edited by Marilyn A. Hudson. Whorl Books via CreateSpace. Order: Amazon.com

A child of the windy wheat plains of central Kansas, Velma Dora Terry, lived a simple life of no great renown, yet she possessed a poet's vision and a prophet's faith. Velma lived in simple homes in Kansas, rude houses in the Ozarks, and small homes on the frosty Nebraska hills. She gave birth to ten children over thirty years and lost three as infants. She fell, she stumbled, and in every time reached out to the God of her faith and tried to point others in that saving way. Velma's work originally appeared in several small collections, sold throughout southwestern Missouri and printed in newspapers in the region. Now, for the firstime, a majority of her work is being presented in its chronological order, along with a biographical and faith sketch of this woman who, in her poems, continues to speak In Her Own Words.

Endorsement:

"What a grace gift from the Lord that He made us such creatures of innovative communication! He certainly bestowed this trait upon Velma Dora Cochren Terry. "In Her Own Words" is the treasured reflections and responses from this pioneer woman of 20th century Kansas. Through her poetic pen readers can resonate with her passion as she composed the nuances of this life, and contemplated the one to come. "-- Dr. Terry Tramel, Southwestern Christian University, Bethany, Oklahoma.

Release Date: Available at Amazon.com July 20th (link will be added then).

FIND A LIBRARY NEAR YOU

FIND A LIBRARY NEAR YOU