Heart and Soul: The story of America and African Americans

Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans

Written and Illustrated By Kadir Nelson

Copyright 2011

Harper Collins

Reading Level: Lexile- 1050

2012 Nominee of Jane Addams Children’s Book Award for Older Children

2012 Winner of Audie Award for Children’s Titles Ages 8-12

2012 Winner of Coretta Scott King Award for Author (and Illustrator Honor)

“history, African American, inspiration, discrimination, triumphs”

Plot:

Told through the unique point of view and intimate voice of a one-hundred-year-old African-American female narrator, this inspiring book demonstrates that in gaining their freedom and equal rights, African Americans helped our country achieve its promise of liberty and justice—the true heart and soul of our nation.

Suggested delivery: Whole group read aloud, a good resource to use in social studies/history lessons

Electronic Resources:

1.  PBS: Slavery and the Making of America

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/

This site provides multiple resources for students to use to learn about the History of Slavery in the United States and the slave experience. The site provides resources such as videos, articles, and first hand accounts of the time period.

2.  The Great Migration: The African- American Exodus North

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129827444

This site offers an interview with Author Isabel Wilkerson about the The Great Migration of African Americans to the north in radio broadcast form and written form. The site also offers great historical picture from the time period and an excerpt from Wilkerson’s book.

Teaching Suggestions:

1.  Vocabulary:

• Complexion: the color or appearance of skin
• Rotunda: a large, round room, sometimes covered by a dome
• Laborers: a person who does hard physical work
• Abolish: to officially end or stop something (such as law)
• Union: The states that were opposed to slavery and never recognized the confederate states’ succession from the country
• Confederacy: The states that supported slavery and succeeded from the Nation
• Emancipation Proclamation: a technical document that granted freedom to all slaves in all areas of the Confederacy
• Sharecropper: a farmer especially in the Southern U.S. who raises crops for the owner of a piece of land and is paid a portion of the money from the sale of the crops

2. Before, During and After Reading Strategies:

Before Reading:

To introduce the book and initiate the lesson, begin by reading the prologue of the text aloud to the class. The entire book is written from the unique point of view of it’s 100 year old female narrator who introduces herself in the prologue.  In order to help students better understand the narrators tone and point of view, use the following comprehension questions to facilitate a whole-class discussion.

1.     Who is speaking, in the prologue? Who is “Honey”?

2.     Who is she addressing?

3.     Why do you think the author chose to tell this story through the voice of a narrator telling the story to someone she cares about?

2. During Reading:

The illustrations Nelson uses in this text are very powerful and help to visually tell the overall story. project some of the illustrations from the text on a screen for the class to see closely while the teacher reads a passage. After completing a passage ask the students questions that relate the art to the literature. Students will use the “Think Pair Share” strategy to discuss their ideas with one another before sharing with the teacher/ class. Have students respond to:

1. What do you see in this picture?

2. Think about what the author described in the passage we just read. What do you think is happening in this picture?

3. What are some major themes you see in Nelson's paintings?

4. How can you use the paintings to help you better understand the story?

3. After Reading:

Have students select a specific person or topic that they would like to learn more about from the book and further research their topic of choice. Students will present the information they’ve learned on their topic to the class in any form they want. For example, students who choose to research a significant person can present their information through a mock interview, by writing a biography, or by creating a mini-movie of the person’s life. A student who chooses to research a specific event can write a play, create a timeline of events, or write about the significance of the event.

Writing Activity:

Ask students to choose a specific event/ time period that was discussed in the book and write a letter from the point of view of an African American boy or girl who took part in the event. The letter should describe what is happening, and require the student to demonstrate inferential comprehension by describing how the event impacts them and how they are feeling.

Redwoods by Jason Chin

Redwoods

By Jason Chin

Copyright 2009

Roaring Brook Press

Reading Level: Lexile- 1100L, grade level- 3

“redwoods, imagination, nature, discovery, habitat”

Plot

When a boy riding the subway finds a book about the redwood forests, strange things begin to happen. As he emerges from the subway still reading the book, he finds himself right in the middle of the forest described in the book he holds in his very hands…

Suggested Delivery

Read aloud in support of geography lesson.

Electronic Resources

http://jasonchin.net/books/

This is the author, Jason Chin’s, website containing information and reviews of all his books and illustrations. Chin is a very accomplished author/ illustrator and would make an interesting subject for students to complete an author/ book study on.

http://www.nps.gov/redw/index.htm

            This is the National Parks Services website which includes many informational articles on the redwoods forests for additional support for the book. The website also provides many photographs and vocabulary pertaining to the Redwoods to help give students a better understanding of what the redwoods look like.

Teaching Suggestions

1. Vocabulary:

• Ancestor: a person who was in someone's family in past times
• Diameter: the distance through the center of an object from one side to the other
• Fungal: relating to or caused by a fungus
• Infestation: to be in or over (a place, an animal, etc.) in large numbers
• Resistant: not affected or harmed by something
• Penetrate: to go through or into something
• Evaporation: to change from a liquid into a gas
• Ingenious: very smart or clever
• Condense: to remove water from (something) to make it thicker
• Crevasses: a deep, narrow opening or crack in an area of thick ice or rock
• Endangered: a type of animal or plant that has become very rare and that could die out completely

2.  Before, During, and After Reading Strategies

Before reading:

Show students a picture of a redwood tree in proportion to other objects such as people or cars so students can see how tall and wide the tree grows. Ask students what they know about the trees, or what they notice about the appearance of the trees. Briefly explain that the tree shown in the picture is a redwood tree that grows in forests in the west. Use google earth to show the location of the redwood forests in the U.S and how big they are.

During Reading:

While reading the story to the class, complete with student input a note-taking activity to highlight main ideas from the text. divide a large piece of paper in half and fill out one side with questions for reading and label the opposite side as the "answers” column. Engage in a dialogic reading with the class, making sure to pause and point out sentences or pages that answer the questions. Students should also be encouraged to listen for answers to the questions and to raise their hand to respond.

Questions for Reading	Answers
How long can Redwoods live?	More than 2,000 years
How tall can Redwood trees grow to?	More than 200 feet tall
What kinds of animals/ insects live in Redwoods	Eagles, ospreys, woodpeckers, flying squirrels, beetles, slugs etc
Where are the Redwood forests located?	California

After Reading

Since the book “Redwoods” contains aspects of both fiction and non-fiction. Have the students create a graphic organizer of their choice (venn diagram, compare contrast chart, t-chart, etc.) that they will use to identify and contrast the fiction and non-fiction elements in the story.

Writing Activity

After reading, ask student to write a poem about Redwood trees. Student poems can mention the trees’ history, habitat, purpose, or simply their beauty. Students should use specific facts and details from the book but can also be encouraged to research the trees further. When finished students can illustrate and publish their poems to share with the class.

Separate is Never Equal by Duncan Tonatiuh

  

Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez & Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation

By Duncan Tonatiuh

Copyright 2014

Abrams Books for Young Readers

Reading Level: Lexile- 870 L, Grade Level- K-3

2015 Sibert Honor Book

2015 Tomas Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award

2015 Pura Belpre Award

“segregation, civil rights, education, Hispanic, community”

Plot

            Almost ten years before Brown vs. Board of Education, Sylvia Mendez and her parents helped put and end to school segregation in California. Being an American citizen of Mexican and Puerto Rican descent, Sylvia was denied enrollment to a “whites only” school and sent to a small and poorly equipped school. Sylvia’s family took action by organizing the local Hispanic community and eventually filing a lawsuit in the federal district court, which eventually brings an end to segregated education in California.

Suggested Delivery

            Read Aloud

Electronic Resources

1.  http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2011/02/16/2010-presidential-medal-freedom-recipient-sylvia-mendez

This video displays Sylvia Mendez’s acceptance speech for winning the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011. Watching this video before or after reading will give students a chance to understand the importance of  the story explained in the book

2. http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/5views/5views5.htm

This site discusses the history of Mexican Americans in California, giving students information that will help them better understand the history of racism and segregation surrounding Mexican Americans especially in the time period during which the Mendez vs. Board of Education case took place

Teaching Suggestions

1.  Vocabulary

• Appeal: a request after a trial is complete for a higher court to review the outcome
• Citizen: a person who pledges allegiance to the government and is entitled to civil rights and duties
• Degrading: loss of self respect
• Inferior: of lesser quality
• Integrate: to open to memners of all races, ethnicities, and groups
• Petition: a formal document reqesting a right or benefit from a person or group
• Segregate: to separate people based on race, ethnicity, class or other factors

2. Before, During and After reading strategies

Before Reading: 

A great way to introduce this story is to link it with a lesson on the Civil Rights Movement. Students learning about key figures in the movement such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr., and events such as Brown vs. Board of Education will give students the essential background knowledge they need to understand this story. Activate student’s schema by asking questions such as: “What do you know about the Civil Rights movement?” “What is segregation?” and “Why was Brown vs. Board of Education so important to the civil rights movement?” introduce the book as a story about segregation in schools against Hispanics and encourage students to notice similarities and differences in how Sylvia Mendez and her family are treated and the African Americans involved in the civil rights movement.

During Reading: 

Read the story aloud to students using dialogic reading strategies. Take the time to pause at vocabulary words and ask students what they think the definitions of the words are and work towards building correct definitions. Pause at specific events and key details to point out the importance of the event and ask students literal and inferential questions about the story as well as questions that prompt students to make connections between the story and the civil rights movement. 

After Reading:

After reading, students will identify the major plot events that led to the integration of California schools in the story. As students provide events, create a chart or timeline of the plot for a visual reference for students to refer back to

 Writing Activity:

Students will work as a class to write a script and perform a Reader’s Theatre reenacting the Mendez vs. Westminster court case. Names will be pulled out of a hat to assign roles to students to act as Sylvia, her parents, the principal, the judge etc. (if need be large roles can be split between two students). Students will gain a better comprehension of the story by acting out the court case scene since it is likely many students have little understanding of court proceedings. Also, students will be able to better understand he importance of each character and the scenario Sylvia and her family were in.