I Voted: Making a Choice Makes a Difference


Mark Shulman - 2020
    As we approach the 2022 midterm elections, this witty, nonpartisan book will help explain the concept of voting to the youngest readers. I Voted explains the concept of choosing, individually, and as a group, from making a simple choice: Which do you like better, apples or oranges?, to selecting a class pet, to even more complicated decisions, like electing community representatives.You may not always get want you want, but there are strategies to better your odds!Serge Bloch's effortless and charming illustrations paired with Mark Shulman's funny and timely text create a perfect resource for discussing current events with your children.Backmatter includes information about the United States electoral process.Selected for the CBC Champions of Change ShowcaseA Junior Library Guild SelectionA Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year!

The Story of Ruby Bridges


Robert Coles - 1995
    Because even if they say those bad things, They don't know what they're doing."This is the true story of an extraordinary 6-year-old who helped shape history when she became the first African-American sent to first grade in an all white school. This moving book captures the courage of a little girl standing alone in the face of racism.

Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad


Ellen Levine - 2007
    Nobody keeps records of slaves' birthdays. All the time he dreams about freedom, but that dream seems farther away than ever when he is torn from his family and put to work in a warehouse. Henry grows up and marries, but he is again devastated when his family is sold at the slave market. Then one day, as he lifts a crate at the warehouse, he knows exactly what he must do: He will mail himself to the North. After an arduous journey in the crate, Henry finally has a birthday -- his first day of freedom.

Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.


Doreen Rappaport - 2001
    Martin Luther King Jr. An extraordinary picture-book biography, Martin's Big Words consists of Rappaport's own words interwoven with quotes from Dr. King...all powerfully brought to life by Collier's striking, glorious art. Rappaport's spare, gripping text and Collier's distinctive collage-and-watercolor illustrations depict King's life journey with reverence and dignity -- beginning with his childhood experience of seeing "White Only" signs throughout his hometown, presenting his efforts as a civil rights crusader, and ending abruptly with his assassination. The front cover of the book immediately conveys King's power and spiritual strength, consisting entirely of a lifelike portrait of him -- the title and the author's and illustrator's names are relegated to the back cover. As Collier says in his illustrator's note, he "tried to push [the imagery] to an emotional level that allows the reader to bring his or her own experience to it, without actually losing the intensity or the intention of the story." His technique is utterly effective. By using simple, direct language -- much of it King's -- the text offers young readers an accessible yet profound introduction to King's legacy. It explains that as a child, he listened to his minister father's "big words" and vowed to inspire others with such words when he grew up. The book's final sentence: "His big words are alive for us today," testifies to King's success -- and to the timeless importance of this great leader's ideals. As further inspiration for interested readers, Martin's Big Words includes a list of significant dates as well as a bibliography of resources for them to explore. (Jamie Levine)

Connecting with Students Online: Strategies for Remote Teaching & Learning


Jennifer Serravallo - 2020
    Now that you're making the shift to online teaching, it's time to answer your biggest questions about remote, digitally based instruction:How do I build and nurture relationships with students and their at-home adults from afar? How do I adapt my best teaching to an online setting? How do I keep a focus on students and their needs when they aren't in front of me? Jennifer Serravallo's Connecting with Students Online gives you concise, doable answers based on her own experiences and those of the teachers, administrators, and coaches she has communicated with during the pandemic. Focusing on the vital importance of the teacher-student connection, Jen guides you to:effectively prioritize what matters most during remote, online instruction schedule your day and your students' to maximize teaching and learning (and avoid burnout) streamline curricular units and roll them out digitally record highly engaging short lessons that students will enjoy and learn from confer, working with small groups, and drive learning through independent practice partner with the adults in a student's home to support your work with their child. Featuring simplified, commonsense suggestions, 55 step-by-step teaching strategies, and video examples of Jen conferring and working with small groups, Connecting with Students Online helps new teachers, teachers new to technology, or anyone who wants to better understand the essence of effective online instruction. Along the way Jen addresses crucial topics including assessment and progress monitoring, student engagement and accountability, using anchor charts and visuals, getting books into students' hands, teaching subject-area content, and avoiding teacher burnout.During this pandemic crisis turn to one of education's most trusted teaching voices to help you restart or maintain students' progress. Jennifer Serravallo's Connecting with Students Online is of-the-moment, grounded in important research, informed by experience, and designed to get you teaching well-and confidently-as quickly as possible. Jen will be donating a portion of the proceeds from Connecting with Students Online to organizations that help children directly impacted by COVID-19.

My Brother Martin: A Sister Remembers Growing Up with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.


Christine King Farris - 2003
    Martin Luther King Jr., joins with celebrated illustrator Chris Soentpiet to tell this “outstanding” (School Library Journal) and inspirational story of how one boyhood experience inspired a movement that would change the world as we know it.Mother Dear, one day I’m going to turn this world upside down. Long before he became a world-famous dreamer, Martin Luther King Jr. was a little boy who played jokes and practiced the piano and made friends without considering race. But growing up in the segregated south of the 1930s taught young Martin a bitter lesson—little white children and little black children were not to play with one another. Martin decided then and there that something had to be done. And so he began the journey that would change the course of American history.

Coretta Scott


Ntozake Shange - 2008
    Walking many miles to school in the dusty road, young Coretta knew, too well, the unfairness of life in the segregated south.A yearning for equality began to grow.Together with Martin Luther King, Jr., she gave birth to a vision and a journey—with dreams of freedom for all.This extraordinary union of poetic text by Ntozake Shange and monumental artwork by Kadir Nelson captures the movement for civil rights in the United States and honors its most elegant inspiration, Coretta Scott.

Let the Children March


Monica Clark-Robinson - 2018
    Martin Luther King Jr. speak. They protested the laws that kept black people separate from white people. Facing fear, hate, and danger, these children used their voices to change the world.

Ruby Bridges Goes To School: My True Story


Ruby Bridges - 2009
    This is the true story of an extraordinary little girl who helped shape our country when she became the first African-American to attend an all-white school in New Orleans. With simple text and historical photographs, this easy reader explores an amazing moment in history and the courage of a young girl who stayed strong in the face of racism.Scholastic Reader Level 2

Assessment and Student Success in a Differentiated Classroom


Carol Ann Tomlinson - 2013
    Moon take an in-depth look at assessment and show how differentiation can improve the process in all grade levels and subject areas. After discussing differentiation in general, the authors focus on how differentiation applies to various forms of assessment--pre-assessment, formative assessment, and summative assessment--and to grading and report cards. Readers learn how differentiation can* Capture student interest and increase motivation* Clarify teachers' understanding about what is most important to teach* Enhance students' and teachers' belief in student learning capacity; and* Help teachers understand their students' individual similarities and differences so they can reach more students, more effectivelyThroughout, Tomlinson and Moon emphasize the importance of maintaining a consistent focus on the essential knowledge, understandings, and skills that all students must acquire, no matter what their starting point.Detailed scenarios illustrate how assessment differentiation can occur in three realms (student readiness, interest, and learning style or preference) and how it can improve assessment validity and reliability and decrease errors and teacher bias.Grounded in research and the authors' teaching experience, Assessment and Student Success in a Differentiated Classroom outlines a common-sense approach that is both thoughtful and practical, and that empowers teachers and students to discover, strive for, and achieve their true potential.

All Different Now: Juneteenth, the First Day of Freedom


Angela Johnson - 2013
    Lewis.Through the eyes of one little girl, All Different Now tells the story of the first Juneteenth, the day freedom finally came to the last of the slaves in the South. Since then, the observance of June 19 as African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond. This stunning picture book includes notes from the author and illustrator, a timeline of important dates, and a glossary of relevant terms. Told in Angela Johnson’s signature melodic style and brought to life by E.B. Lewis’s striking paintings, All Different Now is a joyous portrait of the dawn breaking on the darkest time in our nation’s history.

The Case for Loving: The Fight for Interracial Marriage


Selina Alko - 2015
    That was the year that the Supreme Court issued its decision in Loving v. Virginia.This is the story of one brave family: Mildred Loving, Richard Perry Loving, and their three children. It is the story of how Mildred and Richard fell in love, and got married in Washington, D.C. But when they moved back to their hometown in Virginia, they were arrested (in dramatic fashion) for violating that state's laws against interracial marriage. The Lovings refused to allow their children to get the message that their parents' love was wrong and so they fought the unfair law, taking their case all the way to the Supreme Court - and won!

Pink and Say


Patricia Polacco - 1994
    This story, about how a young black soldier rescues a white soldier, opens young readers' eyes to the injustices of slavery and the senselessness of war. Highly charged emotionally, this masterful retelling of a true story is seen through the white soldier's eyes.

Nelson Mandela


Kadir Nelson - 2012
    In Johannesburg, Mandela saw fellow Africans who were poor and powerless. He decided then that he would work to protect them. When the government began to keep people apart based on the color of their skin, Mandela spoke out against the law and vowed to fight hard in order to make his country a place that belonged to all South Africans.Kadir Nelson tells the story of Mandela, a global icon, in poignant verse and glorious illustrations. It is the story of a young boy's determination to change South Africa and of the struggles of a man who eventually became the president of his country by believing in equality for people of all colors. Readers will be inspired by Mandela's triumph and his lifelong quest to create a more just world.

Malcolm Little: The Boy Who Grew Up To Become Malcolm X


Ilyasah Shabazz - 2014
    But first, he was a boy named Malcolm Little. Written by his daughter, this inspiring picture book biography celebrates a vision of freedom and justice.Bolstered by the love and wisdom of his large, warm family, young Malcolm Little was a natural born leader. But when confronted with intolerance and a series of tragedies, Malcolm’s optimism and faith were threatened. He had to learn how to be strong and how to hold on to his individuality. He had to learn self-reliance. Together with acclaimed illustrator AG Ford, Ilyasah Shabazz gives us a unique glimpse into the childhood of her father, Malcolm X, with a lyrical story that carries a message that resonates still today—that we must all strive to live to our highest potential.