This timeless resource has helped thousands of elementary teachers throughout the last decade to create classrooms that are responsive to the needs of children. Written by the founders of NEFC and revised in 1993, A Notebook for Teachers offers detailed information on the behavior characteristics of 5, 6 and 7 year olds and classroom implications. It gives background on developmental theory as well as many practical ideas for creating a developmentally appropriate classroom environment and curriculum. A comprehensive bibliography provides annotated listings of recommended resources. 79 pages, paper, includes many photos of classroom designs and samples of children's work.

Notebook for Teachers: Making Changes in the Elementary Curriculum

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Northeast Foundation for Children, Inc.

Psychology & Counseling

Honest and real, full of stories straight from the classroom, this book will help you: <ul>
<li>Empathize with all the children you teach;</li> <li>Help children problem solve in both academic and social areas;</li> <li>Pose "real questions" that identify and frame essential issues;</li> <li>Decide when to wonder with children and when to direct them.</li>
</ul>
An excerpt from On Their Side: "There are many ways to begin experimenting with these methods. I began in science and then moved on to math. I cut down on using time out. I experimented with the way I talked with individual children about their behavior. I began working with the whole class to figure out possible solutions to problems that came up. Although initially it was hard to change my way of thinking, once I made the switch, it was so satisfying that it soon became a habit."

On Their Side

Education & Teaching

Strachota, Bob

Schools & Teaching

Here are nine of the most frequently requested Responsive Classroom newsletter articles featuring ideas for building a strong and caring learning community. Useful at any time in the school year, this book includes strategies for:
<ul>
<li>Establishing rules</li>
<li>Building a sense of community</li>
<li>Making lunch a positive experience</li>
<li>Introducing and caring for materials</li>
<li>Displaying students' work</li>
<li>Involving parents</li>
</ul>

Off to a Good Start: Launching the School Year (The Responsive Classroom Series, #1)

This book shows how Greenfield Center School, NEFC's K-8 laboratory school, uses traditions like all school meetings, mixed-age games, and partner lunches to create a strong sense of whole-school community. Descriptions of the traditions are accompanied by guidelines for implementing these traditions in other settings. Table of Contents
<ul>
<li>Greetings: Morning Meeting Greetings/Back-to-School</li>
<li>All-School Meeting: Making All-School meeting Work/Fun All-School Contests/Favorite Songs for All-School Meetings</li>
<li>All-School Games: Making All-School Games Safe and Fun/Choosing Games for Mixed-Age Groups</li>
<li>Mountain Day Conferences/First Week Greetings</li>
<li>Magic Penny Ceremony</li>
<li>Graduation: Making it Special</li>
</ul>

Familiar Ground: Traditions That Build School Community

Woodfin, Libby

Chip Wood boldly confronts the epidemic of busy-ness in our nation's K-8 schools. He shows how changing the way we use time will transform our schools from the "fact factories" they have become into the democratic communities of learning which they can and should be, schools in which the pace of the day encourages investigation, contemplation, completion, and community.
Features:
<ul>
<li>Highly practical strategies for creating time in the school day for reflection, deeper dialogue, more rigorous academics, and more meaningful social interactions</li>
<li>Guidelines for making changes in how time is structured and used in the classroom</li>
<li>Guidelines for making changes at the administrative and political level</li>
</ul>

Time to Teach, Time to Learn

Chip Wood

Discover 15 great books to read with kindergarten through second graders to explore social issues central to their lives. Thematic topics include the give and take of friendship; bullies, pests, and teasing; isolation and reaching out across generations; families, and working together.
Written by renowned experts on using children's literature in the classroom, this book features:
<ul>
<li>Comprehensive summaries of the books</li>
<li>A variety of group activities for increasing understanding</li>
<li>Questions and topics for prompting good discussions</li>
<li>Lists of thematically-related stories</li>
</ul>
Also included are general guidelines for using literature in the classroom, facilitating good book discussions, and choosing meaningful related activities. "An extremely useful book! After 15 years in the classroom, I discovered lots of new books plus some great activities and ideas for sparking lively discussions." — Terry Kayne, 1st/2nd Grade Teacher

Friends and Relations K-2 (Responsive Classroom Series, 4)

Politics & Social Sciences

Hurst, Carol Otis

Otis, Rebecca

Sociology

"Kids Taking Action" highlights eighteen community service learning projects from diverse K-8 classrooms across the country. Written in a lively, engaging style, these profiles of hands-on, kid-friendly projects offer teachers great ideas to use or adapt with their own students. In addition, "Kids Taking Action" presents a helpful resource list and practical tips on how to find and implement CSL projects.

Kids Taking Action

Business & Money

Roberts, Pamela

Job Hunting & Careers

Gather practical ideas for creating a positive climate throughout the school. Seventeen articles by experienced teachers, counselors, and principals provide snapshots of various schools' efforts to help children learn self-control and responsible behavior in those areas outside the classroom that are often problematic. Some of the real-life, everyday concerns they cover:
<ul>
<li>Making the bus ride safer and calmer</li>
<li>Teaching friendly, welcoming hallway behavior</li>
<li>Helping children behave responsibly in bathrooms</li>
<li>Promoting a more peaceful climate during lunch and recess</li>
<li>Using the Responsive Classroom approach in special area classrooms</li>
<li>Holding all-school meetings</li>
<li>Creating schoolwide rules</li>
</ul>
A resource list offers books, articles, videos, and websites with more ideas for nurturing a positive climate that helps all children learn.

Creating a Safe & Friendly School: Lunchroom, Hallways, Playground, And More...

Center for Responsive Schools Inc

Need ideas for morning messages? Here's the book for you. These examples will help you write engaging and effective messages to launch a productive day of learning every day. You'll find:180 actual charts collected over the course of a year; approximately 60 each from K-1, third grade and fifth grade classrooms;general guidelines for creating effective charts, from choosing equipment to crafting words;tips on what to notice about each chart;models for connecting the message to skills the class is working on;ideas for interactive questions to include in charts;suggestions for how to use charts during the meeting and later in the day.
Suitable for teachers just learning about morning messages and for experiences practitioners looking for fresh ideas.

Morning Meeting Messages, K-6: 180 Sample Charts from Three Classrooms

Fisher, Rosalea

Henry, Eric

Porter, Deborah

This easy-to-use resource for teachers and school leaders offers a wide variety of practical ideas for building a strong and caring school community. Examples from more than 22 schools—urban, rural, and suburban—show how building community leads to school environments that encourage children to take the risks so essential to learning.
The books also provides examples of: 
<ul>
<li>building common knowledge about values and expectations;</li>
<li>establishing everyday routines; </li>
<li>creating opportunities for cross-age learning;</li>
<li>holding special all-school events;</li>
<li>involving families in all aspects of school life.</li>
</ul>
Whether you're just beginning to thik about building schoolwide community or you are already well along, this book is a resource for inspiration, guidance, and practical, adaptable ideas.

In Our School: Building Community in Elementary Schools

Casto, Karen L.

Audley, Jennifer R.

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Books by Northeast Foundation for Children, Inc.