About Bill’s Books

Entertaining an Elephant by Bill McBride

Entertaining an Elephant is the heartwarming story of a burned-out teacher struggling though his fifteen year of teaching. Through a set of unexpected events, this teacher becomes re-inspired with both his profession and his own life. Woven into this short novel are quotes from world-renown spiritual and philosophical writers who suggest ways for us to face the tough challenges of today’s world.

Already in its 16th printing, the book is a favorite among educators and parents. Priced to sell in bulk, administrators and instructors often use the novel as a “book study” with faculties or in schools of education. Half the proceeds of every sale go to charity. Here’s what people are saying about Entertaining an Elephant.

“Powerful! Super! Splendid! Explosive! A thousand thanks!”
- Cora Miles, Principal, White Planes, NY
- “It should be on every educator’s recommended reading list.”
    - Nel Noddings, Ph.d., Dean of the School of Education, Stanford University
“I bought a copy for every teacher at my school. What a wonderful book!”
- Sandra Farmer, Principal, Rocky Mount, NC
“I couldn’t put it down. I loved it!”
- Inga Smith, Ohio Teacher of the Year
“A poignant story about teaching only love that will open up your heart to how important it is to let go, to be open-minded, and to forgive others and ourselves.”
- Gerald Jampolsky, M.D., Author of Love is Letting Go of Fear
“This novel touched me.”
- Peter Elbow, Ph.D., University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
“Entertaining an Elephant is wonderful. I loved it!”
- Carol Jago, Editor, California English, Pacific Palisades, CA

Entertaining an Elephant can be ordered through the charity’s website at www.underoneroof.org.

Carrying a Load of Feathers is the second book in a series featuring Luis, the janitor, from Entertaining an Elephant. Written in the same format as the first book, the novel weaves quotes from world-renown spiritual and philosophical writers throughout the story of Bradford Sparks, an ambitious mortgage broker determined to become rich.

As the story unfolds, Bradford, his wife, and two teenage children begin to learn that a family, like a garden, needs care and tending. Half the proceeds of every sale go to the charity, Under One Roof. Here’s what people are saying about Carrying a Load of Feathers.

“Carrying a Load of Feathers is a tour de force. The story portrays teenager-hood, family, friends and school with such insight that it's sure to invite lots of discussion.”
* Dr. Judith A. Langer, Center on English Learning & Achievement, Albany Inst.

“Carrying a Load of Feathers gives us a chance to examine what is important in life—in learning—in loving. This family’s journey gives us the opportunity to think about our own choices; their journey helps us find words for our fears and hope for a better life.”
* Dr. Janet Allen, Author of Yellow Brick Roads; & Words, Words, Words

“This book resonates with all of us who struggle to find purpose in our lives. The story helps us remember that teaching is not an occupation, but a calling to change peoples’ lives to make a better world.”
* Dr. Ron Klemp, Secondary Literacy Coordinator, Los Angeles USD

Carrying a Load of Feathers can be ordered from the charity’s web site at www.underoneroof.org.

Building Literacy in Social Studies by Bill McBride, Donna Ogle, and Ron Klemp Preparing students to be active, informed, literate citizens is one of the primary functions of public schools. But how can students become engaged citizens if they can’t read, let alone understand, their social studies texts? Building Literacy in Social Studies provides targeted strategies—included teaching models, graphic organizers, and step-by-step instructions to help students do the following:

- Build vocabulary
- Develop textbook literacy skills
- Interpret primary and secondary sources
- Critically examine newspapers and magazines
- Evaluate internet sources

Teachers will also learn how to organize their classrooms into models of democracy by creating learning communities that support literacy instruction, distribute authority, encourage cooperation, and increase student accountability. Building Literacy in Social Studies can be ordered at www.ascd.org.

Power Words by Bill McBride
Many adolescents lack the vocabulary skills to comprehend subject matter texts. To address this issue, Power Words is a three-level vocabulary instruction program designed for secondary students who need instruction in research-based practices to learn and retain new words. The program is especially effective with English as a Second Language students and less-able readers. The following skills are taught in Power Words:

- Affixes (Suffixes and Prefixes)
- Compound Words
- Multiple meaning words
- Greek and Latin Roots
- Context Clues
- Synonyms and Antonyms
- Syllabication through phonics
- Structural Analysis
- Idioms
- Homophones
- Specialized Vocabulary
- Using a Dictionary

Power Words can be ordered through www.mcdougallittell.com.

The Reading Toolkit for Social Studies by Bill McBride and Donna Ogle
The Reading Toolkits are actually five Toolkits designed to help Social Studies teachers use research-based reading strategies to teach every section of McDougal Littell’s Social Studies, Government, and Geography texts. Each toolkit contains the following:

- Articles by experts to explain why students have trouble reading social studies material and how you can help them succeed.
- Clear, concise information on how to teach vocabulary in social studies
- Ten prereading strategies for improving comprehension
- Ten during reading strategies for improving comprehension
- Ten after reading strategies for improving comprehension
- Section-by-section lesson plans in which social studies teachers selected the best pre-, during, and after reading strategy to use with every section of the text and wrote out a script for the teacher explaining how to do the strategy. The Reading Toolkits allow social studies teachers who are not trained in reading to use proven strategies to teach their content. They are part of the McDougal Littell program. More information is available at www.mcdougallittell.com.

If They Can Argue Well, They Can Write Well: Using Debate to Teach
Persuasive Writing, Critical Thinking, and Internet Research by Bill McBride

What teenagers do well is argue, so why not channel an adolescent’s natural desire to argue into the classroom? Part 1 of this book begins by having students analyze a persuasive essay to learn how to support an opinion well. Students are then taught a simplified form of debate, watch a model debate, and choose topics they’d like to debate. In order to debate their topics, students need to do research. Consequently, Part 2 of the book teaches students how to use online resources, use Search Engines, do Boolean searching, how to evaluate web information, how to conduct surveys, and how to analyze basic statistics. Once students find relevant data, they need to know how to think critically about the information. Part 3 of the book teaches students about logical fallacies, propaganda techniques, and how to build both a strong argument and rebuttal. At the end of Part 3, students “rehearse” their writing by having classroom debates. Students are now ready to write their essays. In Part 4 of the book, students learn how to organize and outline their papers, how to vary sentence structure, how to begin with a good opening, how to revise using a rubric, and how to cite their sources.

The book can be ordered at www.incentivepublications.com.