Think Tank Library
Brain-Based Learning Plans for New Standards, Grades K–5
by Paige Jaeger and Mary Boyd Ratzer
December 2014, 138pp, 8 1/2x11
1 volume, Libraries Unlimited

Paperback: 978-1-61069-990-7
$50, £39, 44€, A69
eBook Available: 978-1-61069-991-4
Please contact your preferred eBook vendor for pricing.

A blueprint for crafting exciting lessons developed from content area standards that will inspire teachers and encourage students to think critically.

Transform your library into a "think tank" by helping teachers create an active learning environment in which students question, investigate, synthesize, conclude, and present information based on Common Core standards.

The rigors of today’s mandated academic standards can repurpose your library’s role as a steward of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) at your school. This guide will help you help teachers present exciting, field-tested lessons for elementary grades K through 5, addressing developmental steps and individual differences in key competencies in the CCSS. Authors and educators Mary Ratzer and Paige Jaeger illustrate how brain-based learning helps students become deep, critical thinkers and provide the lesson plans to coax the best thinking out of each child.

This tool book presents strategies to help learners progress from novice to expert thinker; challenge younger students with questions that lead to inquiry; incorporate “rigor” into lessons; and use model lesson plans to change instruction. Beginning chapters introduce the basics of instruction and provide ideas for expert cognitive growth of the brain. Sample lessons are aligned with key curriculum areas, including science, social studies, music, art, and physical education.

Features

  • Includes relevant, rigorous, fun, and field-tested lesson plans for multiple disciplines
  • Provides reproducible pages to allow librarians and teachers to easily use a lesson
  • Offers a K–5 scaffolding approach to teaching information literacy skills
  • Features graphical illustrations and practical schemas that explain, illustrate, and model how brain-based learning works
Paige Jaeger delivers professional development at the local, state and national levels and is currently serving on the AASL Task Force for the Common Core. Previously, she was a library administrator serving 84 school libraries in New York. Her published works include Libraries Unlimited's Rx for the Common Core: Toolkit for Implementing Inquiry Learning and articles in School Library Journal, School Library Monthly, Library Media Connection, and AASL's Knowledge Quest on the C3 Frameworks for Social Studies State Standards. She holds a certificate of advanced study and a master's degree in library science.

Mary Boyd Ratzer is a professional development consultant who fosters inquiry-based learning and real-world strategies for the Common Core. Formerly she served as a teacher and school librarian at the Shenendehowa Central Schools in New York, and taught curriculum as an adjunct faculty at UAlbany's Graduate School Of Information Studies. Her published works include Libraries Unlimited's Rx for the Common Core: Toolkit for Implementing Inquiry Learning and the American Association of School Librarians' (AASL) Knowledge Quest on the C3 Frameworks for Social Studies State Standards. Ratzer holds a master's degree in library science and a master's degree in the arts.

Reviews

"What Jaeger and Ratzer offer is timely and strives to bridge the gap between theory and practice in a unique way."—VOYA, March 23, 2015
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