Bravo Brava A Night At The Opera

A delightful introduction to opera, Bravo! Brava! A Night at the Opera teaches elementary school children what opera is by showing how it is made. "Who writes the words?", "Who makes an opera happen? "Who is backstage?"--these questions and more are answered with easy-to-understand explanations and are illustrated with whimsical watercolors by the author. From composer, choreographer, and costume designers to the conductor, lighting and special effects crew, and, of course, the singers, the excitement builds as Anne Siberell explains each person's role in producing an opera. Bravo! Brava! A Night at the Opera reveals details of the most famous operas' plots and characters along the way and includes synopses of 27 popular operas, a glossary, suggestions for further reading, and an index.

An illustrated retelling of the plots of fifteen well-known operas.

Capture the excitement of a night at the opera with this stunning collection of eight favorite opera stories, each illustrated by a different artist.The Magic FluteAidaCarmenThe Cunning Little VixenTurandotCinderellaHansel & GretelThe Love for Three Oranges

Providing guidance for parents who want their children to enjoy learning to play a musical instrument, this resource teaches parents the best ways to encourage children's musical talents. Key guidance is provided for the trickiest hurdles of all: helping children learn how to practice and navigating their impulse to quit by encouraging them to take pride in their progress despite the frustrations of the learning process. Commonly taught methods--including Suzuki, Kodaly, Dalcroze training, and the Orff approach--and instrument selection are discussed in detail, as are tips for choosing the right teacher. Up-to-date resources and references for youth orchestras, national and regional organizations, outreach programs, and school advocacy organizations, and supplementary materials for various ages and stages of ability, are provided.

Giuseppe Verdi was born in obscurity in a tiny Italian village in 1813. When he died in 1901, hundreds of thousands of people turned out to pay their respects to the man whom many people consider as the best opera composer of all time. His career spanned more than half a century and included such successes as Rigoletto, La Traviata, Il Trovatore, Otello, Falstaff, and Aida, the most often-performed work at New York s Metropolitan Opera. Yet when he applied at a famous music school in Milan, he was turned down because he was lacking in musical talent. He not only proved the school wrong but became an important figure in Italian politics during the turbulent era when the scattered provinces came together to form a new nation. Along the way, he overcame obstacles such as the death of his first wife and two small children and the humiliation of being booed during the premiere of one of his early operas.

The popularity of The Lord of the Rings echoes a similar work about a ring with magical powers. This work is known as The Ring of the Nibelung, and it consists of four separate operas. Also known as the Ring Cycle, it was the crowning point of the career of the 19th century German composer Richard Wagner. Wagner was somewhat of a late bloomer in music. His first major composition was performed when he was nearly 30, and the Ring Cycle premiered when he was 53. While Richard Wagner was among the world's greatest composers, he was not a particularly good person. He didn't repay borrowed money, he bore grudges against people who had done favors for him, he was unfaithful to his first wife, and he took his second wife away from her husband. He remains fascinating and controversial today. Tens of thousands of books and articles have been written about him.

A comprehensive guide to designing homeschool curriculum, from one of the country’s foremost homeschooling experts—now revised and updated! Homeschooling can be a tremendous gift to your children—a personalized educational experience tailored to each kid’s interests, abilities, and learning styles. But what to teach, and when, and how? Especially for first-time homeschoolers, the prospect of tackling an annual curriculum can be daunting. In Home Learning Year by Year, Rebecca Rupp presents comprehensive plans from preschool through high school, covering integral subjects for each grade, with lists of topics commonly presented at each level, recommended resource and reading lists, and suggestions for creative alternative options and approaches. Included, along with all the educational basics, are techniques and resources for teaching everything from philosophy to engineering, as well as suggestions for dealing with such sensitive topics as sex education. Now revised throughout with all-new updates featuring the most effective and up-to-date methods and reading guides to homeschool your child at all ages, Home Learning Year by Year continues to be the definitive book for the homeschooling parent.

"Invites readers on a meaningful adventure into classrooms where children actively think. Successfully brings comprehension strategy instruction to life through explicit frameworks for literacy instruction, authentic classroom examples, and high-quality instructional resources for K–6 teachers." —From the Foreword by Debra A. Miller "Focused and practical. The authors present a solid instructional model based on years of research. This book provides teaching tactics to help teachers, particularly those new to the profession, imagine how comprehension strategy instruction might actually look and sound in the elementary classroom." —From the Afterword by Ellin Keene "A resource unlike any I have encountered in my career. Both new and experienced teachers will use this book to aid their instruction, maximizing the most effective reading comprehension in their students." —Jonathan Hart, Third-Grade Teacher, Copper Hill School, Ringoes, NJ Enhance your thinking about teaching with these research-based comprehension strategies! Teaching comprehension and insuring that students think about what they read can be a challenging task for educators. In reader-friendly terms, Comprehension Strategies for Your K–6 Literacy Classroom illustrates how teachers can effectively use six critical comprehension strategies to enhance student understanding: activating schema, questioning, visualizing, inferring, determining important ideas, and synthesizing. Divonna M. Stebick and Joy M. Dain present a "before," "during," and "after" instructional framework that provides the three elements necessary for strategic comprehension learning to take place: explicit instruction through teacher modeling, guided practice, and independent application. Combining theory with classroom research, this helpful resource: Offers step-by-step direction, guiding teachers through sample lessons Includes ready-to-use lessons that are easily adaptable and aligned with NCLB and NCTE standards Provides real-life case studies illustrating classroom application Uses hands-on activities and visual aids such as anchor charts, sketches, treasure chests, and builders′ plans to capture students′ attention and promote critical thinking