Books about Simplifying from Amazon.com

What does great writing instruction look like and sound like?
How do successful teachers of writing get great writers who enjoy writing?
Where do they find the time for instruction, assessment, and test prep?

In Writing Essentials Regie Routman demystifies the process of teaching writing well and gives you the knowledge, research, precise instructional language, and confidence you need to succeed. With Regie's help, you'll transform your classroom into an organized, joyful writing environment where students connect reading with writing every day across the curriculum, learn essential skills like grammar and spelling, and achieve higher scores on high-stakes tests through sensible, writing-based test preparation and daily classroom-based assessment.

Writing Essentials specifically and explicitly demonstrates practical, easy-to-do strategies that turn your writing instruction practices into best practices. Follow Routman's path for successfully leading all students-including English language learners, writers who struggle, and students coping with learning disabilities-from first draft to publication. You'll find expert advice and specific demonstrations on a wide variety of techniques, including:

• demonstrating your own writing process for students
• organizing and managing the writing classroom
• conducting effective, efficient writing conferences
• creating meaningful rubrics for better assessment
• teaching various forms of narrative and informational writing-and poetry
• applying shared writing across the grades and across the curriculum
• teaching editing and revision
• mapping out your writing instruction with Regie's own flexible, five-day lesson-planning model.

In addition, Writing Essentials includes a DVD with eight three-to-four-minute video clips from primary and intermediate classrooms that show Regie conferring with writers and celebrating their work as she teaches and assesses. These invaluable clips, and the detailed notes that accompany them, take you inside the writing conference to see its structures and procedures while the sample classroom publications also on the DVD reveal the exciting possibilities of working with student writers.

 

Writing Essentials is conversational, upbeat, practical, eminently readable, illustrated with a wealth of children's writing, and filled with proven techniques for teaching writing well and managing your instructional time more effectively. With Routman in hand, you'll not only have the inspiration to say "I can do that too," but you'll have first-rate resources and strategies to answer your questions and help make great writing instruction happen in your classroom immediately.

For more information on using the DVD, please click here..
Price: $27.25 [Notify me when price goes down.]

A practical, down-to-earth guide for rightsizing: the buzzword for streamlining your possessions and making time for the things that matter most in middle age. Millions of midlife Americans are starting to reevaluate their surroundings as their kids begin to leave the nest and they themselves start to think about retirement. Whether theyre going from the multi-bedroom suburban house to a condo in the city, or downsizing from two homes to one, or making room for grandchildren to visit or an elderly relative to join the family, the trend for people in their 50s and beyond is a shift to well-planned living quarters that suit their age, stage, and situation. And in making this transition, theyll face the daunting task of paring down a lifetime of possessions while furnishing their new lives with things that have meaning. This simplification of surroundings and stuffcalled rightsizingwill liberate people in midlife to pursue their passions and hobbies without the responsibilities of a big house weighing them down. RIGHTSIZING YOUR LIFE will be the first comprehensive, practical guide to this winnowing process, providing a six-step plan to get startedas well as tips on how to deal with the emotional factors (an attachment to your possessions, nostalgic mates, reluctant kids) that can stall the process and sabotage sensible decisionmaking..
Price: $5.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Book Description: From successful breastfeeding mother of twins April Rudat comes a practical, fun, and educational guide to breastfeeding and caring for multiples "Oh Yes You Can Breastfeed Twins!" makes breastfeeding and parenting multiples a simpler feat with its up-to-date research and witty anecdotes. Packed with staple information for pregnant or new moms of multiples, "Oh Yes You Can Breastfeed Twins!" includes photos, charts, logs, illustrations, and troubleshooting tips. Finally, as a Registered Dietitian, April Rudat imparts readers with nutrition tips for each stage from lactation through the toddler years. About the Author: April Rudat is a Registered Dietitian with a Master's Degree in Counseling, and she has successfully breastfed her boy/girl twins for well over a year. She also freelance writes on breastfeeding, breastfeeding multiples, parenting, and nutrition-related topics..
Price: $17.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Clear Instruction from an Award-Winning Artist

*No other book provides such clear instruction for putting people into paintings *Watercolor and people is a can't-miss combo--the most popular medium with the most popular subject matter!

A lot of books teach artists how to draw portraits or figures, but this book takes that concept one step further, showing readers how to put those people into realistic scenes. It's never been easier to capture the essence of people, with:

*11 step-by-step watercolor demonstrations, featuring interiors, landscapes, cityscapes and more *Inspirational quotes to keep artists motivated and encourage them to put people they care about into their paintings *A look at all the basics: shapes, values, composition, color and watercolor techniques.
Price: $15.61 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Your life doesn't have to be hopelessly complex--simplicity is within your grasp. The secret to clarity--spiritual, emotional, physical, and financial--is about more than cleaning out closets, drawers, and boxes of receipts From Clutter to Clarity will help you clean house--both inside and out.

✦ Is your schedule so full you can barely breathe, much less volunteer for a good cause? ✦ Do you spend each day worrying about things you can't control? ✦ Are you tired of facing endless mounds of junk?

Cluttered homes, overbooked schedules, and maxed-out credit cards are only symptoms of what's happening on the inside. As you follow God's directive to clear out the clutter that complicates your life, you'll discover the clarity you desire. Isn't it time?.
Price: $7.52 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The nine habits of highly organized people

Organizing consultant Kathy Waddill demonstrates how the simple act of being organized can improve your quality of life. In The Organizing Sourcebook, she presents nine organizing principles that can easily be applied to any situation, activity, or environment. The book gives you the tools for managing time; decreasing stress; and dealing with cultural, personal, and emotional change. Case histories illustrate how each strategy solved a specific problem.

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Price: $7.20 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Nearly two out of three re-marriages that come with children fail; this book will help your new family succeed! It's essential reading for every woman who is navigating her way through stepfamily life.

Karon Phillips Goodman's new family went through some difficult times, but once she changed her approach to stepmothering, her family began to thrive. Now, mixing compassion and gentle humor, Karon shares those hard-earned lessons. She shows stepmoms that they can simplify their lives by focusing their precious time and energy on the things they can control and letting go of the rest. You'll learn how to:

* Turn unrealistic expectations into achievable ones
* Understand the obligations you have and don't have
* Get your stepchildren to respect your authority
* Use four powers to simplify your relationships
* Set goals for your family, and for yourself
* Communicate effectively with your family
* Use three simple techniques to build a wonderful future

Includes Karon's real-life experiences and "Tales from the Blender¨ by more than two dozen other stepmoms. Plus an extensive resource list and a bibliography. .
Price: $14.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]