Product Description

Dozens of graphic organizers and a hundred ways to use them! Jim's prepared a workbook that's a real workhorse, providing tools to spark student thinking that are both intriguing and precise-and applicable to grades 6 to 12 in all subject areas. These tools range from annotations and literature circle notes to Venn diagrams and vocabulary squares. Each comes as a reproducible accompanied by:

• background information and theoretical foundations
• different ways to use each tool to help students read, write, speak, and think better
• a range of note-taking strategies to help students succeed in all academic classes
• student samples, including many from Jim's ACCESS (Academic Success) program for struggling students who want to succeed.

In addition, three documents help you choose "the right tool for the job." Use Jim's suggestions to help students take better notes and improve their critical thinking. Or use his visual directory to quickly evaluate what you need for an assignment. Tools for Thought works across the spectrum-helping students with learning differences, assisting struggling readers and writers, challenging students in advanced classes.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #276614 in Books
• Published on: 2002-08
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 1.09 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

About the Author
Jim Burke is the author of the Heinemann title What's the Big Idea? The question he's always tried to answer is "How can we teach our students better?" He began this search in his own classroom at Burlingame High School in California, where he still teaches. He shares his experiences there in bestselling professional titles with Heinemann such as The English Teacher's Companion; Reading Reminders; and Writing Reminders as well as through Heinemann Professional Development Services. Looking to his peers for still more answers, he founded the English Companion Ning, described by Education Week as "the world's largest English department." Jim continues to find and support best practices in many other ways, including serving on national commissions related to adolescent literacy and standards, such as the Advanced Placement English Literature and Language Course and Exam Review Commission with the College Board, and by being a senior author on the Holt McDougal Harcourt Literature series. Jim has received numerous awards, including the NCTE Intellectual Freedom Award, the NCTE Conference on English Leadership Award, and the California Reading Association Hall of Fame Award. He served on the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Committee on Adolescence and Young Adulthood English Language Arts Standards and recently worked with ACT on their high school English Language Arts standards. In 2007, he participated in the national Adolescent Literacy Coalition roundtable and worked with the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Visit his website (www.englishcompanion.com) for more information.