Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites: 20 Instructional Strategies That Engage the Brain [Paperback]

Marcia L. (LaVerne) Tate (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0761938818 | ISBN-13: 978-0761938811 | Publication Date: March 5, 2003 | Edition: Tch

Tactile learners, spatial thinkers, and logical minds alike will become eager students as the strategies in this handbook are implemented.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"When teachers in all schools integrate Tate's 20 instructional strategies into classroom instruction, school will become a place where all children can experience success regardless of their learning style." (Linda Aikens-Young, Principal )

"The book is highly readable with practical applications that will appeal to all educators, especially those interested in current brain research and differentiation." (Marilee Sprenger )

"The book's contribution to the field is not that the strategies presented are new, but that they are all found in one book and with ideas across grade levels. It is done concisely and with enough information to help even the novice." (Donna Walker Tileston, President )

"Tate has excellent ideas to get students motivated to learn-and they work! The tactics are fun, simple, and make teaching much easier. I'm anxious to use even more of these strategies with my freshmen and sophomores."
(Kayce Haenisch, High School English Teacher )

About the Author

Marcia L. Tate is the former executive director of professional development for the DeKalb County School System, Decatur, Georgia. During her 30-year career with the district, she has been a classroom teacher, reading specialist, language arts coordinator, and staff development executive director. She received the Distinguished Staff Development Award for the State of Georgia, and her department was chosen to receive the Exemplary Program Award for the state.

Tate is currently an educational consultant and has taught more than 350,000 administrators, teachers, parents, and business and community leaders throughout the world, including Australia, Egypt, Hungary, Singapore, Thailand, and New Zealand. She is the author of the following five bestsellers: Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites: 20 Instructional Strategies that Engage the Brain; “Sit & Get” Won’t Grow Dendrites: 20 Professional Learning Strategies That Engage the Adult Brain; Reading and Language Arts Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites: 20 Literacy Strategies that Engage the Brain; Shouting Won’t Grow Dendrites: 20 Techniques for Managing a Brain-compatible Classroom; and Mathematics Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites: 20 Numeracy Strategies that Engage the Brain, co-written with Warren Phillips, one of the best science teachers in the country. Participants in her workshops refer to them as "some of the best ones they have ever experienced" since Tate uses the 20 strategies outlined in her books to actively engage her audiences.

Tate received her bachelor’s degree in psychology and elementary education from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. She earned her master’s degree in remedial reading from the University of Michigan, her specialist degree in educational leadership from Georgia State University, and her doctorate in educational leadership from Clark Atlanta University. Spelman College awarded her the Apple Award for excellence in the field of education.

Now, Tate is offering an online course, "Growing Dendrites: 20 Strategies That Engage the Brain".



Visit our Professional Learning page for more information!

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Corwin Press; Tch edition (March 5, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761938818
• ISBN-13: 978-0761938811
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #86,817 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Marcia L. Tate is the executive director of professional development for the DeKalb County School System, Decatur, Georgia. During her 28-year career with the district, Tate has been a classroom teacher, reading specialist, language arts coordinator, and staff development director. As an educational consultant, she has presented to over 50,000 administrators, teachers, parents, and business and community leaders throughout the United States.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book for teachers who WANT to learn, February 22, 2004

By 

J. Selke (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites: 20 Instructional Strategies That Engage the Brain (Paperback)

For those great teachers out there, they will find they naturally use many of the strategies in this book. This books puts them all in one place and give you more ideas as well as the research to back them up. I do feel sorry for the rater that is having this approached forced on him or her. I am afraid to say that learner centered education is far from "trendy" nor is a constructivists approach to learning. Just throwing the books at the teachers not modeling the approach for even in teacher education, the adults should also construct meaning in their learning. I do agree with the reader that some teaching methods take more time upfront and there is a lot of pressure on teachers to hit all the standards but if retention is key, spend a little more time on the front end and they will retain it after a test rather than just for the test. This book is great if you want 20 specific ideas for injecting new way to learn in your classroom. It is not an all to nothing approach, just try one new thing while maintaining you own teaching style. Those teachers who are stuck in there own methods and fearful of sharing control of the learning with their students will have a hard time with this book.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Missing Pieces, October 15, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites: 20 Instructional Strategies That Engage the Brain (Paperback)

I have been in early childhood education for 12 years. Within those 12 years, drastic changes have taken place. Year after year students come to my class with less knowledge. Everyday I try to find a new or better way to teach objectives. I have found that students need hands-on activities that help build the missing pieces of their educational foundation.
"Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites" by Dr. Marcia Tate has been extremely helpful to me. I know you can't totally do away with all worksheets, but today's students need more than that. They need movement, music, manipulatives, and visuals in order to retain what they are expected to learn.
Thanks to Dr. Tate's book, I have another resource to use instead of the regular old "paper-pencil" method.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow ~ great ideas, April 2, 2010

By 

spec ed teacher (Little Rock, AR) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites: 20 Instructional Strategies That Engage the Brain (Paperback)

I bought this on Amazon. If hoping to find more verification that worksheets don't work for strictly for pre-school level, don't buy this book. It is more for elementary and older children, who have been in some cases, ruined educationally and bored by handling worksheets. Marcia Tate offers marvelous alternatives.