AP ART HISTORY by JOHN NICI

AP Art History is the best handbook in print for beginning and experienced AP teachers looking for practical help and high-quality classroom materials. John Nici’s publication includes syllabi, a pacing guide, daily lesson plans, class notes, assessments (with keys), a student activities workbook, state standards, and excellent practical advice … this book is the best handbook on which to build an AP Art History course that I have ever read, and I have read most of those published. There is no other such handbook in any medium currently in print that can be described as even remotely competitive with Advanced Art History. – Joy Sperling, Chief Reader-designate for AP Art History for the College Board. Read Full Review Here.

INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALISM by DIANNE SMITH

This thorough curriculum could guide even someone totally unfamiliar with journalism to plan, teach and evaluate a worthwhile course; evaluate students fairly and significantly; and learn from the experience. The amount of material is overwhelming but any teacher working with the material could choose what to use, what to adapt to local circumstances and what could realistically be taken on by both teacher and students. The book does what it promises to do. It could prove vital to preserving journalism in secondary schools as they go wanting for experienced teachers in the field. The writing is clear, the information is current, I’m not aware of any book as exhaustive. –Wayne Brasler, Journalism Department Chair, University of Chicago Lab School; Author of The Newspaper Guide Book, published by the National Scholastic Press Association.

AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE by CAROL MATTHEWS and KATHRYN WEATHERHEAD

AP Environmental Science won National 2010 TEXTY Award from Text & Academic Authors Association and has been updated each year to the most current AP curriculum requirements since then. This text is one of only 7 awarded nationally in any subject area for that year and the only one for the Physical Sciences.
Judge’s comment: “Excellent work and certainly relevant! The student manual gives students the opportunity to see concepts in practice. This is probably the best material that I have seen on environmental science.”
Note: Both Matthews and Weatherhead have been multiyear AP workshop leaders and examiners. APES Co-Author Kathryn Weatherhead was 2012 South Carolina Teacher of the Year
Also authored by Carol Matthews are:
Marine Biology and Oceanography (click title for link)
Freshwater (Aquatic) Science (click for link)
Environmental Science (Regular or Honors version, click for link)
Text and Academic Authors Association Textbook Excellence (“Texty”) Award: Recognizing Current Textbooks and Learning Materials for Excellence
This AP Environmental Science text was awarded a “Textbook Excellence Award” from the Text and Academic Authors Association (TAA) the only association devoted solely to serving textbook and academic authors since 1987 (www.TAAonline.net). The “Textbook Excellence Award” recognizes works for their excellence in the areas of content, presentation, appeal, and teachability. These awards are given each year in several academic disciplines for both elementary and high school works and college titles. TAA’s panel of judges are all noted textbook authors in these disciplines.

SCHOLASTIC NEWSPAPER PRODUCTION BY DIANNE SMITH

Having edited my first newspaper in 1953, worked on my own high school newspaper since 1957 and advised a high school paper since 1964, I know what is involved. I worked in the start from a personal vision (still do) and enormous ambition and chewed by way through every source of help available. Nothing of this scope was available. Any beginner today would have a tremendous advantage with this feast spread before him or her to work from. Everything is presented clearly, at a down-to-earth level and with a realistic view of what can and cannot be achieved depending on local circumstances. This is the book many new advisers doubtlessly have hoped and prayed for. It is hefty but almost anything any newcomer would wonder about is here. It is crisp and current. I would have liked more illustrations of pages from top-rated publications, particularly those which wander successfully from the beaten track. I can’t think of a book like this, or one so logically organized and presented. —
Wayne Brasler, Journalism Department Chair, University of Chicago Lab School; Author of The Newspaper Guide Book, published by the National Scholastic Press Association.

MARINE BIOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY by CAROL MATTHEWS

Reviewed by Joel Teret, President, New York State Marine Education Association
Reprint from Ripples NYSMEA Newsletter

“Carol Matthews has written an excellent laboratory manual for secondary school and early college level marine science classes that will complement all marine biology texts written for these levels.

The exercises within this manual augment the disciplines of Marine Biology and Oceanography. Each investigation is written in a concise, clearly elucidated procedural format. Student observations are depicted through several means of expression: tables are available for students to record data; grids are provided for graph construction; and space is afforded for illustrations. Each experience also requires students to answer questions and/or complete statements in a “Conclusion” and a “Discussion” section. Clearly drawn and precise illustrations by Douglas L. Matthews serve as illuminating aids to student perceptions.

Some of the titles in the 46 diversified exercises are: Oceanic Model and Profile Map, Oceanic Contour Mapping, Tide Frequency and Range, Comparative Study of Water, Oceanographic Field Techniques, Classification of Marine Organisms, Phytoplankton and Marine Algae, Comparative Study of Mollusks, Marine Ecological Relationships, Classification of Beach Sediment, Sea Urchin Embryology, and Bioluminescence. These laboratory investigations will enrich the student’s classroom recitations and textbook assignments.”

BRITISH LITERATURE by CHRISTOPHER SWANN

Dear Teachers:  The members of the National Association of Laboratory Schools Academic Review Board for High School English, named below, have reviewed the material presented in Christopher C. Swann’s British Literature curriculum and have agreed that it meets the standards and incorporates best practices for the subject area. In addition, it is certain that any student who takes the course as Mr. Swann has structured it will emerge more highly educated. Swann offers a wealth of information that will undoubtedly be of great value as a resource to experienced, new, and out-of-field teachers alike. Specific comments from the review process are posted nearby.

Sincerely, Laboratory School Assn. Academic Review Board

Renée M. LaTulippe,
Review Board Coordinator
Hunter College Campus Schools
Hunter College New York, NY 10128

Stephen Delacroix
University Laboratory School
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA 70803

Vicki Dunlop
Greenwood Laboratory School
Southwest Missouri State University Springfield, MO 65804

Excerpts from the review process
"The overall structure of the course is excellent in several regards. The chronological, new historicism approach conceptualizes the literature in an intelligible way for students who have little knowledge or interest in Britain or British lit. The repeated cycling from prose to poetry in short units maximizes student interest without losing the continuity that allows lessons to be built one upon the other. Plenty of historical information and analysis is given to guide the new teacher."

"The reading and viewing selections are, for the most part, excellent. They are high in student interest inventories, while at the same time being representative of the eras being studied. Hamlet and Heart of Darkness are so rich that they reward the students’ stretch to understand them. Both Hamlet and Heart of Darkness, while difficult, are vital components of the curriculum as a whole. Swann also avoids an overly scrupulous adherence to the work of a single era when broadening the study would be profitable. In this regard, Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is a wonderful choice."
"Swann gives excellent background information, particularly historical, along with numerous "nuggets" that are designed to stimulate student interest. His use of other media, particularly film, is exemplary."
"Swann’s teaching emphasis, as reflected in his comments to the teacher and by exploring works from various eras as representative of a changing set of cultural values set against larger issues of continuing humanity, reveal him to be focused on the "right stuff". Above all else, this admirable focus on the humanist elements in the literature makes this a course worth taking for his students and this study guide one worth reading for teachers."

Click here for Getting to the Teaching Point.