An encyclopedia designed especially to meet the needs of elementary, junior high, and senior high school students.

This book provides teachers, librarians, and education methods professors with strategies, lesson plans, and activities that enable them to use literature as a springboard to social studies thematic instruction. With the amount of time and resources allocated to teaching social studies being significantly reduced, social studies lessons need to be incorporated into other subjects. Notable Books, Notable Lessons: Putting Social Studies Back in the K–8 Curriculum offers the tools to teach students social studies concepts that are increasingly relevant and essential in today's diverse, globalized world—lessons that are vital in order to prepare students to think critically and participate in our multicultural democracy. Providing information that elementary and middle school teachers and librarians, district-level curriculum directors and principals, staff developers, and social studies and literacy methods professors will find extremely useful, this book uses the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS)/Children's Book Council (CBC)'s current and past lists of Notable Books at the elementary and middle school levels to offer easy-to-follow lesson plans that integrate social studies instruction with reading and language arts. The lesson plans pose compelling questions to facilitate discussion and critical thinking and suggest engaging activities that are connected to the social studies concepts. The book also includes sample student handouts for the selected pieces of literature.

Most teachers enter the field of education to make a difference in children's lives. But many end up, as author Dr. Lisa Lucas puts it, "tired, wired, and running in circles." This leads to many new teachers abandoning the profession or to burnout among veteran teachers. In Practicing Presence: Simple Self-Care Strategies for Teachers, Dr. Lucas invites the reader to learn how to fully inhabit the present moment. Written in an informal and conversational tone, Practicing Presence is filled with ideas, exercises, checklists, personal anecdotes, and practices you can use to reframe and establish a mindset that will enhance your focus and engagement in the classroom. With approximately 50% of new teachers leaving the education field before the 5-year mark, it is more important than ever for educators to prioritize self-care. Each chapter of Practicing Presence includes self-care strategies that explore how to self-regulate, nurture self-acceptance, and promote compassion. Inside you'll find: Quotes and affirmations throughout the texts Scientific research and reflections on how these theories and practices can apply to your own life Paths to Mindful Teaching and how to integrate into your daily life Additional resources and online content to further support your practice When teachers care for themselves deeply and deliberately, they are better able to care for the people that matter most in their lives--their students, friends, and families. Practicing Presence focuses not on doing, but rather on being present in the life of the classroom.