Covering such turning points as the little-known Celtic and Welsh influences on English, the impact of the Viking raids and the Norman Conquest, and the Germanic invasions that started it all during the fifth century ad, John McWhorter narrates this colorful evolution with vigor. Drawing on revolutionary genetic and linguistic research as well as a cache of remarkable trivia about the origins of English words and syntax patterns, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue ultimately demonstrates the arbitrary, maddening nature of English--and its ironic simplicity due to its role as a streamlined lingua franca during the early formation of Britain. This is the book that language aficionados worldwide have been waiting for (and no, it's not a sin to end a sentence with a preposition).

    Throughout history, the timely use of the apt word has held enormous sway, in literature, speeches, and texts. How is it that some words hold such power? One thing we know: great words often engage the senses. Thesaurus of the Senses expands your possibilities to see, hear, touch, taste, and smell to describe the world around you. It collects some of the best English sensory words in one place to enliven your writing and help you build persuasive description. It's an indispensable tool for writers, poets, bloggers, editors, storytellers, students, teachers, communicators, and word lovers alike — anyone wanting to add more spark to his or her writing.

    and Canadian universities for English proficiency. It includes real TOEFL questions for practice, as well as explanations of every section of the test and information on what is expected for every speaking and writing task. You will learn how to construct a good answer and how to integrate speaking, listening, and writing skills to demonstrate college-level English proficiency. Inside you'll find: 600 real TOEFL questions from the test-makers Online access to authentic TOEFL iBT practice tests Strategies for success

    In this new edition, new studies have been incorporated and the evaluation sections in each chapter have been expanded, ensuring that the book remains as fresh, engaging and useful as the day it was first published.

    This new edition gives expanded attention to the important symbolic roles of school leaders, including practical suggestions on how leaders can balance cultural goals and values against accountability demands, and features new and powerful case examples throughout. Most important, the authors show how school leaders can transform negative and toxic cultures so that trust, commitment, and sense of unity can prevail. Praise for Shaping School Culture "For those seeking enduring change that is measured in generations rather than months, and to create a legacy rather than a headline, then Shaping School Culture is your guide." —Dr. Douglas B. Reeves, founder, The Leadership and Learning Center, Englewood, CO "Deal and Peterson combine exquisite language, vibrant stories, and sage advice to support school leaders in embracing the paradoxical nature of their work. A 'must read' for all school leaders." —Pam Robbins, educational consultant and author "Once again, the authors have presented practitioners, researchers, professional developers, school coaches, and others with a tremendous resource for renovating and reinvigorating schools." —Karen M. Dyer, Ed.D., group director, Education and Nonprofit Sector Office, Center for CreativeLeadership, Greensboro, NC

    From students with disabilities, culturally diverse students, and students with limited English proficiency to economically disadvantaged students this text provides teachers with the tools they need in their diverse classrooms. Revised to reflect the most current research, terminology and teaching practices, the strength of this text continues to be its numerous learning activities and sample lessons addressing both elementary and secondary classrooms. This edition continues its very popular multi- chapter unit on curriculum adaptations with specific strategies and activities for teaching reading, writing, and mathematics. With a new chapter on Response to Intervention and Progress Monitoring and full integration of the RTI framework, and the increase emphasis on middle and secondary students, this text continues its reign as an outstanding resource for all general education teachers. 0131381253 / 9780131381254 Teaching Students Who are Exceptional, Diverse, and at Risk in the General Education Classroom (with MyEducationLab) Package consists of 0135140870 / 9780135140871 MyEducationLab -- Access Card 0137151799 / 9780137151790 Teaching Students Who are Exceptional, Diverse, and at Risk in the General Education Classroom

    Rarely is there a response from experts in the fields of language and language development. In this book Laurie Bauer and Peter Trudgill have invited nineteen respected linguists from all over the world to address these "language myths"--showing that they vary from the misconceived to the downright wrong. With essays ranging from "Women Talk Too Much" and "In the Appalachians They Speak Like Shakespeare" to "Italian Is Beautiful, German Is Ugly" and "They Speak Really Bad English Down South and in New York City," Language Myths is a collection that is wide-ranging, entertaining, and authoritative.

    But it’s a lot easier if you know the hidden skills and techniques that experts know -- and use -- to learn any foreign language. In this little handbook, language expert Graham E. Fuller -- whose career has required him to learn more than a dozen languages -- shows how to take the steps that will make it easier for anyone struggling to learn any new language.That’s why How to Learn a Foreign Language is used by schools, universities, and independent language-learners throughout the world. Acclaim for How to Learn a Foreign Language:“Useful and entertaining.” -- The New York Times“It’s astonishing that no one has ever thought of a book like this before -- designed to prepare students for beginning the study of any language. This book is indispensable to anyone learning a first foreign language.” -- Dr. L. Michael Bell Professor of English and Foreign Languages, University of Colorado“This book could save a beginning student hours of confusion, and might provide some confidence that learning a language is normal and possible, even for someone like him or her!...Fuller has codified what many successful language learners have found out for themselves by learning languages...The knowledge that Fuller is writing from such vast experience can only inspire confidence on the part of the reluctant language learner.” -- Carol L. McKay, Modern Language JournalExcerpts from the Book:This book is for those of you who have never studied a foreign language before. And it is for those of you who have already had one painful experience with a foreign language and who hope to do better at it this time...This book isn’t just for people who like languages. It’s for those of you who have to learn a language for one reason or another...

    D. Hirsch, Jr. offers a masterful analysis of how American ideas about education have veered off course, what we must do to right them, and most importantly why. He argues that the core problem with American education is that educational theorists, especially in the early grades, have for the past sixty years rejected academic content in favor of “child-centered” and “how-to” learning theories that are at odds with how children really learn.  The result is failing schools and widening inequality, as only children from content-rich (usually better-off) homes can take advantage of the schools’ educational methods.Hirsch unabashedly confronts the education establishment, arguing that a content-based curriculum is essential to addressing social and economic inequality. A nationwide, specific, grade-by-grade curriculum established in the early school grades can help fulfill one of America’s oldest and most compelling dreams: to give all children, regardless of language, religion, or origins, the opportunity to participate as equals and become competent citizens. Hirsch not only reminds us of these inspiring ideals, he offers an ambitious and specific plan for achieving them.

    The new edition of this leading gives students an understanding and appreciation of different cultures and helps them develop practical skills for improving their communication with people from other cultures. It's renowned for being the only text on the market to consistently emphasize religion and history as key variables in intercultural communication. Packed with the latest research and filled with numerous, compelling examples that force students to examine their own assumptions and cultural biases, this book helps students understand the subtle and profound ways culture affects communication. The book is divided into four interrelated parts: Part I introduces the study of communication and culture; Part II focuses on the ability of culture to shape and modify our view of reality; Part III puts the theory of intercultural communication into practice; and Part IV converts knowledge into action.

    Do you dream about increased student engagement and more effective classroom management? How about reducing teacher stress and overwhelm? Or leaving campus at a reasonable hour without dragging a cart full of lesson planning and papers to grade in tow?If the answer to these questions is “Yes!”  then this book is for YOU!Based on current research in positive psychology and more than 15 years “real world” experience in the classroom, this book provides a practical roadmap to reduce stress, improve student behavior and be happier in your classroom and your life.These 10 simple positive mindset habits train you to flex your “happy muscle” and easily: Eliminate teacher overwhelm and stress Leave school every day energized and fulfilled Connect with students in a way that turns every group of kinds into a “dream class” Rediscover the passion and excitement that made you want to become a teacher A quick read in a conversational tone, this book will put a smile back on your face and laughter back in your classroom – two critical elements for teacher fulfillment and student success.*** For a LIMITED TIME your purchase INCLUDES a free download of the 30 page Companion Workbook and a six-week version of the Positive Mindset Journal for Teachers ***

    Now, in Leading with Focus, he shows administrators, principals, and other education leaders how to apply his model to the work of running schools and districts. In this companion to his previous book, Schmoker offers* An overview of the case for simple, focused school and district leadership--demonstrating its power for vastly improving the work of teachers and leaders.* Examples of real schools and districts that have embraced focused leadership--and the incredible results for student learning.* A practical, flexible, and easy-to-follow implementation guide for ensuring focused leadership in schools and districts.All students deserve to learn in schools where educators eschew distractions and superfluous activities to concentrate on what's most important. To that end, this book is an essential resource for leaders ready to streamline their practice and focus their efforts on radically improving student learning.

    The handbook includes profiles of fifty creative writing programs, guidance through the application process, advice from current students and professors including George Saunders, Aimee Bender, Tracy K. Smith, and Geoffrey Wolff, and the most comprehensive listings of graduate writing programs in and outside the United States. The handbook also includes special sections about Low-Residency writing programs, Ph.D. programs, publishing in literary journals, and workshop and teaching advice.In a remarkably concise, user-friendly fashion, The Creative Writing MFA Handbook answers as many questions as possible, and is packed with information, advice, and experience.

    Stephen D. Krashen, PhD, is an advocate for free voluntary reading in schools and has published many journal articles on the subject. Free Voluntary Reading: Power 2010 collects the last ten years of his extensive work and reconsiders all aspects of this important debate in light of the latest findings.The book provides an accessible examination of topics, such as free voluntary reading's value in language and literary acquisition domestically and worldwide, recent developments in support of free voluntary reading, whether rewards-based programs benefit the development of lifelong reading, the value of phonics in reading instruction, and trends in literacy in the United States.

    By then, she had been the close companion and lover of the writer and philosopher, Voltaire, for thirteen years. For her time - and by today's standards - she was a woman of exceptional talents, abilities, and qualities. Tutored in maths, sciences, and the arts from a young age, she pursued these passions as an adult. At her château at Cirey, near Lorraine, she shared a deep love and passion with Voltaire, as well as a taste for the arts and sciences. Together, they conducted experiments in science and optics, and both submitted essays on the nature of fire to a competition held by the French Royal Academy of Sciences. Neither won a prize but both essays were subsequently published. She was just as fascinated by the complexity of human emotions, and in these reflections on happiness she applies her incisive, analytical mind to such passions as sexual desire, the pursuit of glory, and ambition. She has many interesting and insightful things to say. However, she is no detached or aloof intellectual but writes openly from her own experiences, sharing with us her joys, pleasures and miseries. Her human weaknesses are revealed for all to see, making her all the more endearing and sympathetic. Although not written for publication but as private musings, this essay seems, nevertheless, intended for would-be readers. She alludes frequently to those who are younger and less experienced, and who might 'save time' by listening to what she has to say. She is less than positive about what the future might hold for her, or any woman, after forty, speaking of study as compensation rather than the great voyage of discovery that she, herself, had known. She writes in a state of dejection, having no inkling that within two years she would have a passionate affair with the poet, Saint-Lambert, twelve years her junior, and that she would give birth to his child. This great passion was to be her last as, already in poor health, she would die within weeks of the birth, the child out-living her by a year and a half. In her final year, while pregnant, she completed her greatest work, a translation from Latin into French of Isaac Newton's Principia Mathematica, complete with her commentary and a few hypotheses of her own about light, inspired by Newton's great work and subsequently validated. Her translation of Newton's work was published within ten years of her death and remains, today, the standard French translation. Though writing during the French Enlightenment, and clearly influenced by such near-contemporaries as the English philosopher, John Locke, she has much to say about happiness and its attainment to interest the modern reader, of whatever age, sex, or culture. Some, of course, will be shocked by her unashamed commendation of sensual pleasures, always tempered by her rationality and her emphasis on maximizing the sum total of human happiness. She was fully aware that the rules by which women, in French and other societies, are expected to live are not the same as those applied to men. Some of her advice is thus directed specifically at women. Whether or not this advice to women remains valid and helpful today is for the individual reader to decide.