Abby is the best speller in the class until a new witch shows up at school and the two of them compete in a spelling bee to see who will win a new broomstick.

Abby is the best speller in the class until a new witch shows up at school and the two of them compete in a spelling bee to see who will win a new broomstick.

This easy-to-read guide to the solar system is an ideal introduction for young skywatchers, with up-to-date information and full-color illustrations.

At long last, a spelling and vocabulary book written by a classroom teacher who's a literacy specialist, too Cindy Marten responds to the demand for "direct, systematic, and explicit phonics and spelling instruction" that goes way beyond what to teach - she addresses the questions of how, when, and why spelling should be taught. More important, she situates spelling within the contexts of real writing and the individual learner's needs. In Word Crafting, Marten offers an approach that is at once playful, intellectual, and artful, engaging students in inquiry and wonder about words. "Word crafting" is analogous to the ways fine woodworkers develop their skills - through collecting the right tools, item by item, until they have a toolbelt full of them. The same is true for teaching spelling and here Marten supplies the tools, each one carefully selected for her students. Dip into her book for tools to: assess and group students for effective instruction engage them from the start in smart word study help students learn high-frequency words, rules, patterns, and spelling demons align your teaching with school, district, state, and national mandates. Use these tools to set up word-crafting contexts that connect the study of words to authentic reading and writing. Craft a word study program that turns your students into more than good spellers - they'll be fine word crafters.

Picky eater Nicky declares that she would rather eat bees and parrots than peas and carrots until her inventive family devises a clever plan to overcome her finicky habits.

Discusses the geographic features at the bottom of the oceans and how people explore them, and includes illustrations of the sea animals that live there.

Follow three young bear cubs as they are born, leave the den and grow up in the wild. Full-color illustrations.