Burke, Jim. Tools for thought; graphic organizers for your classroom.

Heinemann. 184p. illus. index. c2002. 0-325-00464-1.

This is a must-read for middle school and high school teachers. Burke, a high school English teacher, has received numerous awards for his teaching and educational writing. One look at his book--chock-full of graphic organizers and rich with examples of how they could be used in various subject areas to improve reading, thinking, writing--and you will see why. First of all, the book is beautifully laid out with the classroom teacher's needs in mind, from beginning (with an opening section on "How to Use This Book" and a "visual directory" with thumbnail sketches of all 24 graphic organizers for ready reference) to end (where there is an extensive bibliography, a complete index, and--best of all--43 pages of reproducible graphic organizers for classroom use). The absorbing pages in between offer a delightful glimpse into what Burke's classroom is like.

Each chapter begins with a description of the strategy and a helpful bulleted listing of standards, subject areas, and uses. Excellent teacher that he is. Burke then walks his reader through how he introduces the organizer to students and offers several models of student-completed organizers. Among the (over 40) figures and suggestions are sample annotated newspaper articles, conversational round-table notes and literature circle sheets for literature discussion, spreadsheet notes on a world studies reading, specific ideas for how to use decision trees in science classes, and suggestions on how to use "Thinking in Threes" notes to stimulate critical thinking in any discipline.

Simply put, Burke's book is exciting. This reviewer could barely wait to try out some of the strategies in her sixth-grade classroom (with wonderful results) and plans to trumpet Tools for Thought at an upcoming workshop presentation on reading strategies for middle school content area teachers. Gloria Levine Bryant, Teacher, Hoover M.S., Potomac, MD