As an SAT Tutor and College Coach, I make it my business to read every relevant piece of literature on the subject of SAT Test Prep. I must admit that I have been in the test prep business for some time and as a result I am jaded and skeptical when reading anything that promotes “new ideas”. Surprisingly, “Hack The SAT” (Penquin Books) by Eliot Schrefer brings some fresh ideas to the stodgy world of standardized test preparation. The book was recommended to me with much hype. The author is a multi faceted fiction writer, non-fiction writer, and tutor to Manhattan’s elite children.

Written in a semi sarcastic tone a la “Up Your Score” (a favorite study guide of mine) the book has many smart and sometimes funny approaches to the reading, writing and math sections of the SAT. The author gives the student what he calls, several “tricks of the trade”–time saving, problem solving methods as well as techniques to avoid the silly traps the testmakers often set. Schrefer’s writing style attempts to communicate in the language of a High School Junior or Senior. Whether he succeeds is anybody’s guess. I haven’t been in High School for over 30 years.

The book gives some solid advice on how to properly attack a critical reading passage. A running vocabulary list appears at the bottom of each page. There are some basic but necessary rules of grammar designed to help with the writing multiple choice part of the SAT. The essay section is excellent and a must read. The Math tutorial is fresh and it introduces many time saving tricks with the use of a calculator. There are some errors in the Math section which the author promises will be corrected with the next printing. A sharp student who can spot these errors will know he or she is paying attention!

In the final chapter, there is a comprehensive mini quiz which the author calls an SAT Drill. The answer key refers the student to the particular page where the question’s concept is reinforced. A special bonus section on college applications is very informative.

I recommend “Hack The SAT” to students who have taken the exam at least once and have already read “Up Your Score”. Schrefer’s book boldly contends that his secret strategies can raise your score hundreds of points. The operative word here is can. He and I both agree that all the slick shortcuts in the world will not improve a student’s score unless that student is committed to sitting down and taking as many practice exams as possible. The same way major league baseball players take batting practice every day before the game, the student must practice, practice, practice.

Whether it’s you, your spouse or one of your kids, there is a bookworm in every family. Someone who loves to draw into a corner, curl up on a cushion, bed or couch and read for hours on end. There are so many delights one associates with books – cups of hot steaming cocoa or coffee, pretty book ends, book marks, coffee tables to display good books, and a myriad of other objects. A book themed party should focus on these joys of reading and create the cozy feeling related with books.

Atmosphere is one of the most important elements of a good party. Of course, make sure there are lots and lots of books around; on coffee tables, on desks, on shelves. Create a large cardboard cut out of a book by putting together two big pieces of cardboard and spray painting them a dark color. In between these two pieces add a curved piece to join them on one side and on the inside paste pieces of cardboard painted white to look like the pages. Use gold paint to make the book look like a leather or hard bound edition. Put this at the entrance to the living room or garden, wherever your party is.

Make the atmosphere cozy and comfortable, with coffee, cocoa and marshmallows on the menu. For entertainment’s sake, encourage guests to turn up dressed as their favorite book character and adjust games to match the book theme.

A book party is just as much an opportunity to relax as to celebrate an occasion. It really doesn’t take much to organize, with simple ideas like those above being the key to a good party.

For decades the demise of the text book has been easily predicted by advocates of each of the new panaceas of educational problems. First television then teaching machines like record players projectors and now computers all were expected to revolutionize education and free students and teachers from reliance on text books, but each of the new media has settled into its niche in the educational arsenal without dislodging the textbook. In fact, the greatest revolution in the field of education is not an out come of technology rather an achievement of text books and other printed materials made available for masses.

The introduction to open stack libraries, paper back books, inexpensive reprints and the photocopier has given the college teacher the opportunity to choose from sources varying in style, level and point of views. Many teachers are substituting graded knowledge by articles from journals and other materials which can disturb the structure of learners at school and college levels. The purpose of this proved fruitful at higher levels but in most undergraduate programs there is little hope that bits and pieces will be integrated by students into a meaningful whole. With input from the field of experience discussions, books, reprints articles and other source of reading students need some frame of reference within which to assimilate the confusion of additional points of higher reading level.

Ideally, the course book can provide such a structure. That structure need not be dogmatic, and it need not be gutless it need not be presented as an irrevocable truth rather it should present solid fact and figures to establish the foundations of the primary, secondary and undergraduate learner. Inevitably certain parts of curriculum information becomes outdated. If the teacher fails to recognize information which is obsolete and insists on its memorization, the students education is harmed rather than aided. However, out dated information if properly identified can be referred to as an old phenomenon.

The importance of text books can further be highlighted by their capability to build concepts from lower to higher level or we can say easy to difficult concepts build in an organized way. For any age level a well structured text book with correct concepts and vocabulary helps in memorizing and retaining concepts. Schools have to be equipped with experienced and qualified teachers to help management in the selection of good text books fulfilling the examination requirements. Printing of text books is also an important issue in enhancing learning as a book with clear diagrams and easy to read font keeps the learner motivated to learn and remember. Thus visual perception of a good learner lasts him a life time.

The whole idea of a book report is for you to tell others all about the story, and express your views about it. You should have a brief outline of the story, including the title, author, characters, setting and plot. Describe what you liked about the story, and why. Then say whether you would recommend the book to others.

First (One paragraph)

Introduction: In the first paragraph, include the author, title, and a one or two-sentence description of the idea of the book. What is it about?

Next (One or two paragraphs)

Plot summary: Describe the plot in one or two additional paragraphs. What is the story about? Who are the main characters? What is the setting? What do they do? What is the problem? How do they solve the problem?

Next (Two or three paragraphs)

Analysis: This is the most important part of your book report and your chance to give your own opinion and review of the book in two or three substantial paragraphs. What did you think of the book? Why did you like it? What was your favourite part of the book, and why? What did you learn?

Last (One paragraph)

Conclusion: Finish up with short paragraph summarizing your review. Would you recommend this book to others? Why? What was your whole view of this book?

Things to remember:

Each paragraph is about one topic. Make sure you indent each new paragraph.

Write in clear, complete sentences. Make sure you use capital letters and periods.

If you join two sentences together, make sure you use a joining word, and, but, so, because….

Use adjectives to make your sentences more interesting.

Enjoy it, and have FUN!!!

The 7 day e-book is known as one of the top e-book marketing education guides.

One of the co authors is a gentleman called Joe Vitale.

Mr Vitale has been the author of over 47 books published in physical form, paper back etc, and just one of these books sold over 250,000 copies.

So to be to the point, this guy knows what he is talking about.

Mr Vitale was also one of the first big believers of the e-book format as an avenue of self publishing.

He has since decided to put some of his knowledge and experience into the form of an e-book writing and publishing guide to help others fulfill their dreams of becoming a self published author.

The result is the 7 day ebook.

This very informative guide literally leads the reader step by step through the process of planning, writing, publishing, and marketing their own e-book.

It also aims to enable the writer to do this in 7 days as the title suggests.

So what exactly do you get with the 7 day ebook?

Well, firstly you learn what an ebook actually is and how to convert them into a PDF file.

You also get how to find profitable topics to write about and how to monetize those topics.

A section is of course dedicated to actually writing the book and managing your time effectively.

The 7 day ebook even goes further than most guides, by actually telling you how to market your book to try and maximise sales and therefore profit.

The 7 day ebook is the guide of choice for most budding self publishing authors and is classed by many as the premier guide to writing and selling profitable ebooks.

Students everywhere are left standing at the campus bookstore counter, shocked and feeling sick at the cost of books for one semester of courses. $500, $600, $700 or more, gone just like that – for a set of books that they will use once, maybe twice if they are lucky enough to take another course that requires the same material. This is not to say that education is not worth the investment or that these books are not valuable. Indeed, they are – however it does not lessen the pain of forking over several hundred dollars for books.

With the advancement of online schools, distance learning and more, another development is making life easier for students. Ebooks allow a student to purchase a registration and have access to textbook materials for an allotted amount of time. Ebooks are idea for many reasons. First of all, they cost significantly less than printed and bound books. The savings is more than enough reason to motivate students to leave behind their traditional books and buy all their learning materials via ebook subscriptions.

Second, ebooks weigh, well, nothing. There is no heavy load of carrying around 500 pages of Algebra books when all the information is neatly saved in a weightless file on your computer or stored online for you. When taking a full load of classes, 15 or 17 hours of classes can really start to add up when it comes to the weight of all those books. No student likes lugging around a heavy bag of books from one end of campus to another, especially when one has a limited amount of time to get between classes. The weightlessness of online books is a wonderful perk of saving money and buying online book access.

Another advantage of ebooks is that you will not have to stand in line – ever. As your classmates rush and wait in endless lines, hoping to get in the bookstore in time to find a few nice used books to buy and then repeat the process at the end of the semester to sell books back and recoup a little bit of the cost, you can get out a lounge chair and relax. When you register for ebooks, you don’t have to wait in line, don’t have to wait on shipping and will not have to go through the hassle of trying to sell them back.

Are there disadvantages to ebooks? Well, it depends on your learning style. Some people just prefer to have the physical book in front of them and are accustomed to learning this way. It may help your photographic memory techniques if you are looking at a traditional book versus an electronic book. We are all somewhat numb to online web designs and only notice when something really stands out – so if you find it hard to retain knowledge you read online, then ebooks may not be for you.

Another con may be that if you wanted to keep the book for reference later in other courses or even in your career, then ebooks do not typically offer that opportunity. Of course, bound books can often become outdated or irrelevant, so the risk of missing out on having the right information in front of you at a later date is very slim. After all, you can find the information again online later.

If you are new to bird watching, having a few good identification books and guides to help you identify birds can be a huge help. There are many different types of guides, with some based on diet, while others are based on photography, habitat, or description. Although there are many choices, here is a look at some of the best options out there for people new to this hobby.

Field Guide to Birds of North America

This guide, which is by Roger Tory Peterson, is an excellent bird identification book to purchase. The author is well known as an ornithologist and an incredible bird illustrator. Since his illustrations are so wonderful, his book can be very helpful as you try to identify markings that will help you figure out which bird you are looking at.

The Sibley Guide to Birds

Another great bird identification book and guide is by David Sibley. His illustrations are wonderful, and this book shows every bird in a variety of different poses. This makes it easier than every to identify various bird species quickly. Variations of birds based on location, season, and age are also shown for every type of bird, which can be very helpful.

Birds of North America

This book is from the National Geographic Society and it is a great bird identification book. You’ll find just about every bird that is common within the United States and there are many rare birds featured in this book as well. You’ll find great pictures of every bird and pictures of various phases and variations as well. There are many great detailed ranges shown which can help you identify birds without a problem.

These are just a few of the great identification books and guides to consider if you are new to the world of bird watching. All of them provide helpful information that will make bird watching more exciting.