SCHOOL SPECIALTY’S SEEDS OF SCIENCE/ROOTS OF READING™ RECEIVES TEACHERS’ CHOICE AWARD
The Company’s Delta Education Product Combines Science and Reading Instruction
Nashua, NH, February 8, 2008 — Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading™ student books received a 5th Annual Teachers’ Choice Award for Children’s Books. The books, part of a new, fully integrated elementary science and literacy program from School Specialty Science, were evaluated by a team of teachers who applied stringent standards, including quality, instructional value, ease of use and innovation.
“We’re thrilled that the instructional quality and engaging design of these new books were recognized,” said Joe Elliott, President of School Specialty Science. “The books are part of our Delta Education product line and were developed in partnership with educators at the University of California at Berkeley. The program offers a multi-disciplinary approach to learning, which is especially helpful to educators in today’s time-constrained classrooms. Combining science and reading instruction is the hallmark of this innovative new program.”
The UC-Berkeley literacy team is led by P. David Pearson and Gina Cervetti from the Graduate School of Education; the science team is led by Jacqueline Barber from the Lawrence Hall of Science.
The award-winning books are part of the Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading™ program created by a partnership of science and literacy educators under a grant from the National Science Foundation. The 23 student books represent three units, serving grades 2-3: Soil Habitats, Shoreline Science, and Designing Mixtures. The units, a combination of firsthand and secondhand investigations, teach students valuable science skills such as making observations, conducting experiments, searching for evidence, and making sense of data on their own and through conversations with peers. The hands-on model is extended to include reading and writing, thus employing a multimodal model called “Do-it, Talk-it, Read-it, Write-it.” Extensive field-testing is yielding compelling results that support the effectiveness of this approach.
School Specialty Science, through its Delta Education product line, offers PreK through 12 educators an inspiring variety of core science curriculum and supplemental materials, including FOSS®, Delta Science Modules™, Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading™ and the best in hands-on classroom resources. All products and programs are carefully designed to engage students, reinforce content, and meet national and state standards.
The Teachers’ Choice Awards are sponsored by Learning Magazine. Since 1994, the program has grown to become one of the most recognized and prestigious awards in the educational market. For the 2008 annual program, 18 Children’s Book winners were chosen based on their scores from evaluations conducted by a panel of teachers across the country.
About School Specialty, Inc.
School Specialty is a leading education company that provides innovative and proprietary products, programs and services to help educators engage and inspire students of all ages and abilities to learn. The company designs, develops, and provides preK-12 educators with the latest and very best curriculum, supplemental learning resources, and school supplies. Working in collaboration with educators, School Specialty reaches beyond the scope of textbooks to help teachers, guidance counselors and school administrators ensure that every student reaches his or her full potential. For more information about School Specialty, visit www.schoolspecialty.com.