Partnerships for Classroom Learning

Jo-Anne Naslund is an education librarian at the University of British
Columbia Library.

In this book, the authors of Learning Together (1990), Library/Classroom
Connection (1991), and Sign Out Science (1993) describe how to build
partnerships for students (through buddy activities, pen-pal projects,
and community and interschool programs) in order to prepare them for
participation in the global community.

Though it is well written, the book offers little concrete advice. The
teacher information

sheets, time line planners, project webs, and communiqués for parents
that appear in each chapter are too basic, while the teacher journal
entries engage the reader but offer few insights on how to implement the
strategies. The book’s discussion of pen-pal and cyber-pal
partnerships is supplemented by useful sample handouts (“Things We
Could Tell/Ask Our Pen Pals,” “Copy Guideline Sheets,” and
“Exchange Visit Checklist”), but information about setting up a
listserv or managing e-mail exchanges with a class of 30 is noticeably
lacking. Similarly, twinning partnerships are outlined, but no practical
assistance in locating twinning-project contacts and organizations is
provided. Finally, the appended list of professional sources is
incomplete and should include more journal articles, research
literature, and current monographs.

All in all, this book is a less-than-satisfying resource for teachers.