As I have stated before, Differentiating Instruction with Menus is one of my favorite book series. I have found that my students really enjoy the opportunity to have some choice in their work. Giving students ownership in their learning is a great aspect of Education.
What I love about this book, is the fact that it has menus for different types of literature including fiction and nonfiction. Each section has a treasure trove of ideas teachers can use to enhance their language arts classes for their gifted students, and their regular education students. Each section has discusses ways to use menus for genres of literature, and different types of books.
One aspect of this book that I really enjoy is the fact Laurie includes some rubrics. There are all purpose rubrics for students to use, along with rubrics for student taught lessons. I love rubrics just for the fact it gives students the expectations starting off. It allows teachers to quickly grade projects and presentations. There are also scales that can be used by both teachers and students to help rate their performance on projects and presentations.
Overall, this is book that I recommend to teachers, and home school parents to help their students to succeed in language arts. Using this book you can use the ideas in it just as they are written, or you can take the idea and change it to fit your own situation.
Ramblings of a Gifted Teacher 