2/23/2015: Happy Birthday W.E.B. Dubois!

Today, February 23rd, iss the birthday of the great Civil Rights activist, scholar, and author William Edward Burghardt, better-known as W.E.B. Du Bois. W.E.B. DuBois was born in 1868 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.  He was the first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard, he went on to become a professor at Atlanta University and a well-known author and intellectual.  He is probably best known as a co-founder of the NAACP and champion of civil rights.

My original reader W.E.B. DuBois - Standing Up for Civil Rights is a great story for his birthday week, and for the last week of Black History Month! This second- grade level M reader is one of the ten books included in the collection called Famous African-Americans in U.S. History: Leveled Books for Grades 1 – 3.

2/9/2015: Happy Black History Month 2015!

We are now well into the month of February.  I hope that you were able to enjoy some fun Groundhog’s Day activities in your classroom.  

Of course February also means Black History Month. This past week has been particularly important as we celebrate the great contributions of African Americans in the history of our country. On February 4th, civil rights activitst Rosa Parks was born as Rosa Louise McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama.  In 1955 she famously refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus.  

My leveled books  Famous African-Americans in U.S. History are a great way to bring more Black History into your classroom this month, or as part of other social studies or language arts units. Each book highlights specific grade-level concepts and vocabulary.  The series is for grades 1-3 and features ten African-Americans and their contributions:

Martin Luther King, Jr. - preacher; civil rights leader (level D)

Garrett Morgan - inventor (level F)

Richard Allen - builder and legislator (level H)

Sojourner Truth - women's rights; freedom activist (level L)

W.E.B. DuBois - educator; founder of NAACP (level M)

George Washington Carver - farmer and scientist (level M)

Thurgood Marshall - lawyer; Supreme Court Justice (level M)

Ruby Bridges - six-year-old student (level P)

Benjamin Banneker - architect of Capitol (level P)

Harriet Tubman - freedom fighter (level P)

Older students will enjoy learning more about the  Tuskegee Airmen.  This level U reader is aimed at students at the fifth-grade level. Specific concepts, skills, and vocabulary targeted in the story listed on the first page of the reader.  You can try out my work with this free Black History month download George Washington Carver: Farmer and Scientist and see my Black History Month board on Pintrest for more ways to celebrate in your classroom!

Happy Black History month!

2/27/2014 Happy Birthday Marian Anderson!

In one of the last days of Black History Month, we celebrate the birthday of the great singer African-American singer Marian Anderson.  She was born in Philadelphia on February 27th, 1897.  Marian Anderson became the first African-American singer to perform as part of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 1955.  After Anderson was refused the opportunity to sing at Constitution Hall because of racial prejudice, she instead performed an open-air on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939.  She was an activist for Civil Rights in the 1960s, and in 1963 she sang at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom  

You and your class can watch a YouTube video of Marian singing at the Lincoln Memorial by clicking on the image below:

Your class can enjoy learning more about other great African-Americans from history in my collection of original readers Famous African-Americans in U.S. History: Leveled Books for Grades 1 – 3.

2/24/2014 Happy Birthday, W.E.B. DuBois!

“Children learn more from what you are than what you teach.”

― W.E.B. Du Bois

Yesterday, February 23rd, was the birthday of the great Civil Rights activist, scholar, and author William Edward Burghardt, better-known as W.E.B. Du Bois. W.E.B. DuBois was born in 1868 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.  He was the first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard, he went on to become a professor at Atlanta University and a well-known author and intellectual.  He is probably best known as a co-founder of the NAACP and champion of civil rights.

My original reader W.E.B. DuBois - Standing Up for Civil Rights is a great story for his birthday week, and for the last week of Black History Month! This second- grade level M reader is one of the ten books included in the collection called Famous African-Americans in U.S. History: Leveled Books for Grades 1 – 3.

2/23/2014 Happy Birthday, Barbara Jordan!

A belated Happy Birthday to Barbara Jordan, American politician and Civil Rights leader!    Barbara Jordan was the first female African American elected to the House of Representatives in a southern state, among her many other accomplishments.  She was elected to the Texas State Senate in 1966, and to Congress in 1972.  Jordan became instead the first African-American woman to deliver the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in 1976.  In 1994, she was received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  There are so many inspiring African American figures from history that you could talk about with your class during Black History Month.  

This last week of February brings us to the last week of Black History Month, next week brings March, and Women's’ History Month along with it.  Build your students literacy skills while learning about other fascinating, notable African Americans and women from my original reader sets Famous African-Americans in U.S. History For Grades 1-3 and Famous Women in History: Leveled Books for Grades 2 - 4.  These books can also be used in social studies or language arts units year-round. 

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2/19/2014 Women's History Month and The Amelia Bloomer Project 2014 Book List

As we get closer to March, and Women’s History Month, you may looking for some new girl-focused titles for your classroom.  

The American Library Association’s Social Responsibilities Round Table Feminist Task Force, or FTF, has some great suggestions. The Amelia Bloomer Project is an annual booklist the FTF puts out of the best feminist books from the previous year, for readers from infants to 18 year-olds.  

Here is the full  2014 Amelia Bloomer Project Top Ten List:  

Cummins, Julie. Flying Solo: How Ruth Elder Soared into America’s Heart. Illus. by Malene R. Laugesen. 2013. Unpaged. Roaring Brook Press  K-Gr.2

Gevinson, Tavi (Ed.). Rookie Yearbook Two. 2013. Drawn & Quarterly Gr.7-up.

Global Fund for Children. Global Baby Girls. 2013. Unpaged. Charlesbridge Publishing, PreS.

Markel, Michelle. Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909. Illus. by Melissa Sweet. 2013. Unpaged. Balzer + Bray K-Gr.4.

Molloy, Aimee. However Long the Night: Molly Melching’s Journey to Help Millions of African Women and Girls Triumph. 2013.  Gr.10-up.

Mullenbach, Cheryl.  Double Victory: How African American Women Broke Race and Gender Barriers to Help Win World War II.  2013. Chicago Review Press  Gr.9-up.

Povich, Lynn. The Good Girls Revolt: How the Women of Newsweek Sued Their Bosses and Changed the Workplace. 2012.  PublicAffairs  Gr.10-up.

Schnall, Marianne. What Will It Take to Make a Woman President? 2013. Seal Press, Gr.10-12.

Wishinsky, Frieda. Profiles: Freedom Heroines. 2012. Scholastic, Gr.4-6.

Yousafzai, Malala with Christina Lamb. I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban. 2013. Little, Brown and Company, Gr.8-12.

Two of the book selections,  “Double Victory: How African American Women Broke Race and Gender Barriers to Help Win World War II,” “However Long the Night: Molly Melching’s Journey to Help Millions of African Women and Girls Triumph” focus on the experiences and achievements of African American girls and women.  They would be great for the classroom at anytime, but particularly appropriate to check out now as part of African American History Month

My collection of leveled readers, "Famous Women in History" is also an excellent way to build literacy skills while learning more about Women’s History.  This collection of leveled readers for second through fourth grade features stories about eight women and their contributions to history:

Amelia Earhart -- Airplane Pilot (level L)

Abigail Adams -- First Lady & Crusader for People’s Rights (level L)

Clara Barton -- Founder of the American Red Cross (level N)

Maria Mitchell -- Astronomer (level N)

Helen Keller -- Inspirational Speaker (level O)

Ellen Ochoa -- Astronaut (level P)

Laura Ingalls Wilder -- Pioneer and Author (level P)

Millie Hughes-Fulford -- Scientist in Space (level R)  

2/17/2014 Happy Washington's Birthday, or Happy Presidents' Day, and Learn About Benjamin Banneker

I hope that you enjoyed your holiday today, whether your school is in an area that celebrates the day in honor of George Washington's Birthday on February 22nd, Washington and Lincoln's birthdays, or all of the U.S. Presidents

If you are looking for new ways to engage your class with learning more about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln around this time check out my President's Day reader, and original reader's play about Lincoln

Learning more about Benjamin Banneker is a great way to tie in the study of American Presidents with Black History month.  Benjamin Banneker was a notable African-American author, scientist, and surveyor.  Among his other accomplishments, he helped to survey the borders of  Washington D.C.  Your students will enjoy learning about Benjamin Banneker and his many accomplishments in my level P reader A Design for the Capitol - Benjamin Banneker. This book is one of the ten books included in the collection "Famous African-Americans in U.S. History: Leveled Books for Grades 1 – 3".

Specific concepts, skills, and vocabulary targeted in this book are listed on the first page of the story. And to help reinforce literacy skills involving reading, language, spelling, and writing, the book comes with two accompanying worksheets.

2/14/2014 Happy Valentine's Day, and Looking Ahead to Women's History

Happy Valentine's Day!  I hope that you enjoyed a fun day of activities with your class.  February 14 is also the day that the League of Women Voters was founded in Chicago, in 1920.

We still have half of February left to continue to celebrate Black History Month, but soon March, and Women's History Month will be upon us!  

My collection of leveled readers, "Famous Women in History" is an excellent way to build literacy skills while learning more about Women’s History.  This collection of leveled readers for second through fourth grade features stories about eight women and their contributions to history:

Amelia Earhart -- Airplane Pilot (level L)

Abigail Adams -- First Lady & Crusader for People’s Rights (level L)

Clara Barton -- Founder of the American Red Cross (level N)

Maria Mitchell -- Astronomer (level N)

Helen Keller -- Inspirational Speaker (level O)

Ellen Ochoa -- Astronaut (level P)

Laura Ingalls Wilder -- Pioneer and Author (level P)

Millie Hughes-Fulford -- Scientist in Space (level R)

Enjoy the President’s Day long weekend!

2/7/2014 Creativity and Inventors

What makes a person creative?  It is a trait that we are born with, or can it be taught and learned?  According to a recent story in the New York Times “Once considered the product of genius or divine inspiration, creativity — the ability to spot problems and devise smart solutions — is being recast as a prized and teachable skill. Pin it on pushback against standardized tests and standardized thinking, or on the need for ingenuity in a fluid landscape….Traditional academic disciplines still matter, but as content knowledge evolves at lightning speed, educators are talking more and more about “process skills,” strategies to reframe challenges and extrapolate and transform information, and to accept and deal with ambiguity.”  Creative Studies is becoming increasingly popular as a course and field of study at colleges and universities across the country.  

It is never too early to begin to encourage students to develop their of creative potential.    

February is a particularly great time to bring inventors into your lessons to inspire your students to explore their own innovative ideas for inventions.  Do you plan on including Garrett Morgan in your lessons for Black History month?  My first-grade level F reader Garrett Morgan: Inventor, will describe to your students the important inventions this great African-American inventor made, including the traffic signal light. This is one of the books contained in the collection of leveled readers entitled "Famous African-Americans in U.S. History, Leveled Books for Grades 1 – 3."

February 11th is the birthday of birthday of Thomas Edison.  My first-grade level E reader “Thomas Edison: Inventor” will teach your students interesting facts while they will build their vocabulary and improve their reading comprehension.  Benjamin Franklin recently had a birthday, on January 17th.  In Benjamin Franklin, my first-grade Level G reader, students will learn about this famous American  statesman, writer, printer, scientist, and inventor. 

Combining reading and social studies activities, this first-grade Level F reader provides interesting facts about Alexander Graham Bell- Inventor of the Telephone. Your students will build their vocabulary and improve their reading comprehension as they read the story, answer questions, and have fun with the criss cross puzzle.  My second-grade leveled reader "Robert Fulton - Steamboat Inventor" provides a brief history of Robert Fulton's life and his love for invention. Steamboats, a submarine, and canal systems were some of the projects he worked on during his lifetime. I hope that you enjoy exploring inventions and inspiring creativity in your own classroom.

2/4/2014 Happy Black History Month, and Happy Birthday, Rosa Parks!

February is officially here!  I hope that you were able to enjoy some fun Groundhog’s Day activities in your classroom, before or after the weekend.  You can find my prior post about the background of Groundhog’s Day here.  

February also means Black History Month. Today is an especially important date to honor as we celebrate the great contributions of African Americans in the history of our country. On February 4th, civil rights activitst Rosa Parks was born as Rosa Louise McCauley in Tuskegee, Alabama.  In 1955 she famously refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus.  

My leveled books  Famous African-Americans in U.S. History are a great way to bring more Black History into your classroom this month, or as part of other social studies or language arts units. Each book highlights specific grade-level concepts and vocabulary.  The series is for grades 1-3 and features ten African-Americans and their contributions:

Martin Luther King, Jr. - preacher; civil rights leader (level D)

Garrett Morgan - inventor (level F)

Richard Allen - builder and legislator (level H)

Sojourner Truth - women's rights; freedom activist (level L)

W.E.B. DuBois - educator; founder of NAACP (level M)

George Washington Carver - farmer and scientist (level M)

Thurgood Marshall - lawyer; Supreme Court Justice (level M)

Ruby Bridges - six-year-old student (level P)

Benjamin Banneker - architect of Capitol (level P)

Harriet Tubman - freedom fighter (level P)

Older students will enjoy learning more about the  Tuskegee Airmen.  This level U reader is aimed at students at the fifth-grade level. Specific concepts, skills, and vocabulary targeted in the story listed on the first page of the reader.  You can try out my work with this free Black History month download George Washington Carver: Farmer and Scientist and see my Black History Month board on Pintrest for more ways to celebrate in your classroom!

Happy Black History month!