Books for February Read-Aloud

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Mommy's Khimar

We are in a period where it is critical that we expose our students to people who may look and live differently than themselves.  I found that the best way to do this is through literature.  I think that the basal has a place in the curriculum and that would be as a supplement (smile). 

Why not use a good picture book that can cover character education and diversity along with the reading strategies you teach?  

I was so excited to find the picture book Mommy’s Khimar written by Jamilah

 Thompkins-Bigelow and illustrated by Ebony Glenn!  It’s about a young 

Muslim girl who loves her mother’s khimar.  She’s full of imagination!  We have 

discussed the character traits Creativity and Appreciation of Beauty with this

 book.  

Students walked around the grounds to write or draw
what they thought was beautiful.

  

We also learned about Ibtihaj Muhammad who was the first woman to compete in the Olympics wearing a hijab.  Many of my students had never heard of the sport fencing and thought it was extremely fascinating.  We read a biography about Ibithaj and the students wrote four facts in their reading journal about her.  They were able to put the little reader inside their personal libraries to read at a later date. 

I think most kids at this age love to draw and color!  They look forward to the directed drawing with each picture book we complete.  I usually have them write what they thought the theme was in the story or a summary.  It’s great practice for writing our response to literature pieces. 

I taught possessive nouns previously, but we needed a refresher.  We did a few activities where they had to identify the possessive noun and use an apostrophe to create a possessive.  They also wrote sentences with possessive nouns.

I LOVE teaching from a diverse picture book!  I can cover a variety of standards when I plan the lesson!  

You can check out the full unit here!

Happy teaching and dive deeper with diverse books!

Books for Black History Month and All Year Long!

I know for some teachers it’s hard to discuss slavery with students no matter what age range they’re in.  However, it is necessary. We can’t just leave something out of history because it’s difficult to discuss.   Slavery had and still has an impact on us as a country.  It starts in the elementary grades with false or fake history.  We can tend to oversimplify it and our students carry this misinformation throughout their K-12 education.  Teaching slavery in the younger grades can be done.  Like most subjects, it can be built on and layered each year of their education. 

Our standards for Social Studies cover historical people like Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Benjamin Franklin.  I have introduced slavery and how Africans were enslaved as part of those units.  There are a few books I like to use as well as some primary sources.  The following titles are a great resource to use in the classroom. 

This book is very poet and is based on Harriet's 'spiritual' journey.  She believed that God told her to free the enslaved Africans.  

A story of how quilts were used as maps for the Underground Railroad.

Dave was an artist, poet, and potter living in South Carolina in the 1800s.

A historical book describes Christmas on a pre-Civil War plantation from the viewpoints of the big house family and the slave quarters.

I like to use a couple of books about each topic when I teach.  I usually have the main or mentor text then I have another book that may complement the main text. 

Ruby Bridges was not part of the first grade Social Studies standards until this year however, I have always taught the history of Ruby because of her age when she integrated Frantz Elementary school.  That history is extremely relatable to my students.  Ruby Bridges is my main text but I like to include Busing Brewster and Separate is Never Equal.

I wish more books were made similar to Dear Mrs. Parks: A Dialogue With Today's Youth.  

My students have so many questions when they learn about African-American heroes who are still alive.  I love the structure of the book in that the actual questions/letters are included.  Biographies and autobiographies are great but I believe this format is awesome! 

No matter who you teach your students about this year, start with a good picture book!  You can Google book lists or check out Pinterest.  I happen to love the blogger 

Hereweeread.  

She gives updated book lists on a variety of topics as it relates to diversity and children. Charnaie has an excellent post on having the discussion about race with your youngest students.  Click the link above to read more. 

Sweetpeagirls offers a subscription box with curated items of books and keepsakes for girls of color.  She also has an IG page with book reviews and information about new releases.  

Teaching Tolerance has a webinar that you can view along with great lessons and resources that relate to teaching hard history.  They have multiple lessons for  K-12  students.

It’s difficult to explain our history but we are charged to help students understand how the present relates to the past.

Reflections

Black History Month

 Reflections
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Using Ruby Bridges to teach about Empathy

I remember taking an African-American studies class in college.  You know you have to take one multicultural class and I believe they offered three at the time.  I remember my instructor was a young, bi-racial woman and I vaguely remember her name, but I remember everything she ‘taught’ me with great certainty.  She gave us background knowledge, but the class was all about “Why”. 

  I always saw my mother reading and my uncle had an intensive collection of Afrocentric literature. However, it was this adjunct professor who introduced me to Lisa Delpit, Henry Louis, Gates, bell hooks, Nikki Giovanni, Angela Davis, Michael Eric Dyson, and so many others. 

It was like a light turned on in my mind! I was inspired, engaged, but also enraged that I had not known this feeling in my youth.  Why didn’t my K-12 teachers share this material?

I thought that I missed out on this information because I went to a predominantly white, Christian high school; however, many of my friends were also without this knowledge.  So, it didn’t matter if you went to a private or public school, certain things simply weren’t being taught.

 I think about the education of my own children and I’m disheartened when I remember what books were required readings or just the lack of diversity throughout the curriculum.  I didn’t need to ask why this lack of information existed. I knew why and, in a way, I just accepted it.  You start to internalize the things that you hear so often. 

As an African American, there is a sense of pride when you learn about where you are from and what you are capable of doing. Especially, when all you see is negativity concerning the color of your skin.  Eventually, you will begin to believe the lies that are shown to you in your lifetime. They will become embedded in your psyche and imprinted as truth.  All disenfranchised groups need to know that they count, they matter, and they are important to society as a whole!

I hope that during Black History Month, you were able to dig deeper with your students.  Yes, teaching about the first black____ is good, but that’s just the beginning.  I hope you were able to explore a truth or a falsehood that has permeated society as it relates to African-Americans. I hope that you built a strong foundation of background knowledge so that our children can understand why certain ideals were accepted.   Did you ask WHY is it important that we celebrate the Firsts…what’s the significance? 

You may have gotten responses that made you squirm and feel uncomfortable, but there is growth in that feeling. 

Embrace it and learn.   

Black History Month

Build the house on a strong foundation…

Carter G. Woodson is known as the father of Black History month with the initial event being held in February 1926 and was called Negro History Week. The week in February included the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809) and Frederick Douglass (born in February 1818).  In 1976, President Gerald R. Ford asked Americans to "…honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”  

It’s a beautiful thing to learn about the many different contributions that African Americans gave to our country and the world.  However, it’s time to take that learning up a level and really delve into more complex issues that are addressing our nation.  I know it can difficult to do this with younger students but it can be done.  It helps if black history is incorporated throughout the year and not just one month.  This helps students realize that Black History is American History and it’s important to more than one group of people.

 Make sure to teach leaders as they relate to the time period in which they struggled.  It’s great to teach who Ruby Bridges is but you must also address the issue of Jim Crow and the era of segregation in which she lived.  It’s getting away from the “holidays and heroes” teaching.  Absorb students in seeing people along with concepts, issues, and themes.

Black history is not all about oppression and the fight for rights.   We don’t want to focus solely on racism and discrimination during Black History Month, however, these are important aspects of the black experience and it is critical to address.  It is an opportunity to celebrate those moments in which we overcame obstacles in order to succeed. 

So where do you start….

It starts with a good book! 

 Fill your classroom with a variety of African American literature that you have access to throughout the school year.   Books are excellent teaching tools that embrace our students’ diversity.  Make sure your selection doesn’t reinforce negative stereotypes.  Students want and need to see themselves in the literature we present in class.  It is a celebration of our culture and heritage. 

I hope you agree that black history should be taught throughout the curriculum, year round.  It’s how we can build racial and cultural understanding and that’s necessary if we are to survive and thrive as a nation. 

How do you teach Black History?

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