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Annie Jump Cannon was born today in 1863. Cannon, who was deaf for nearly her entire career, studied astronomy in college and is responsible for developing a system for classifying stars based on decreasing order of surface temperature.
Turn students' attention to the stars by pointing them toward the StarDate Constellation Guide, Enchanted Learning's Constellation page, and Norm McCarter's Constellation Legends. After choosing and constellation and reading about it across multiple sources, students can share their learning by creating a trading card for their constellation using the Trading Card Creator interactive or Trading Cards app.
This website sponsored by the Museum of Flight offers additional information on Cannon’s career and photos of her lab and other related images.
Learn about the American Astronomical Society award honoring Cannon at this website.
Cannon's page on this site is one of many profiles of femals astronmers, both historic and cotemporary.
This website offers students an image of the Google homepage honoring Cannon, as well as a chance to take a Star Quiz.
Known for such realistic fiction such as Out of My Mind, historical fiction such as Copper Sun, as well as adaptations such as Romiette and Julio, author and educator Sharon Draper has won multiple Coretta Scott King Awards for her work. She is the 2011 recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions to the field of adolescent literature by the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the National Council of Teachers of English (ALAN), the 2015 recipient of the Edwards Award for her significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature, and NCTE's 2016 Charlotte Huck Award.
Among Sharon Draper’s most popular books are the Hazelwood Trilogy (Tears of a Tiger, Forged by Fire, Darkness before Dawn) and the Jericho Trilogy (The Battle of Jericho, November Blues, Just Another Hero). Obtain copies of the books and preview each title on a classroom projector (each page contains an overview and summary; some contain audio previews as well).
Give students time to choose a book and then form literature circles around each title. After individual book groups have finished, form new groups that bring the books from each trilogy together to discuss how the books relate to an build on one another.
Draper’s official site contains rich resources on each of her books as well as specific resources for students, teachers, and librarians.
Among a variety of resources on Sharon Draper and her work is a collection of video interviews discussing specific works and teaching and writing more broadly.
This site offers biographical information and profiles of many of Draper’s works.
A conversation with Sharon Draper around #WhyIWrite.
This blog post from YALSA's The Hub recognizes Draper's contributions to the field and shares some student testimonials about favorite titles.
Best known for his collaborations with illustrator Lane Smith (The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Stories, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs), author Jon Scieszka has also written a memoir, Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Almost True Stories of Growing up Scieszka. Scieszka is a champion of reading opportunities for boys, having founded the web-based literacy program Guys Read and served as the first National Ambassador for Young People's Literature.
- Ask students to brainstorm all the ways that their families, school, and community have supported their love for reading—or have squelched their love for it. Ask them to transform this list into a chart of Do’s and Don’ts advising the adults in their lives on how to nurture a love of reading in young people.
- Then share (in language appropriate for your students’ grade level) and discuss the components of Jon Scieszka’s platform as Ambassador for Young People’s Literature to motivate young readers:
- Expand your definition of reading beyond fiction and novels. Lots of kids love to read non-fiction, humor, comic strips, magazines, illustrated stories, audio recordings, and websites. It’s all reading. It’s all a good way to become a reader.
- Let kids choose reading that interests them. It may not be the reading you like, but making the choice is important to kids.
- Be a good reading role model. Talk to your kids about how you choose what you read. Share your reading likes and dislikes. Let kids see you reading.
- Try not to demonize TV, computer games, and new technologies. These media do compete for kids’ time, but they are not the “bad guy.” Help kids become media literate. Show them how different media tell stories in different ways.
- Think global. Act local. There are all kinds of good people and worthy groups working to help kids read. Teachers, librarians, and booksellers are a wonderful resource. Ask them for book recommendations. Join a local literacy group.
(from National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, Library of Congress)
- Then ask students to compare their suggestions to Scieszka’s and to return to their list to make additions or changes.
- Finally, invite students to use the Letter Generator to write a letter to families, school staff, librarians, and community members sharing their ideas on how best to support young readers’ interest in books.
This video shares Sciescka's perspectives on how to make reading fun.
Scieszka's whimsical webpage includes a biography and information about his books and series.
The homepage of Scieszka's project supporting reading choices for boys includes book lists, ideas for book clubs, and more.
This page offers a brief feature on each of the Ambassadors, including Scieszka, Katherine Patterson, and Walter Dean Myers.
This resource from Scholastic provides suggested activities for teaching Squids Will Be Squids by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith. There is a link on the page to similar resources for The True Story of the Three Little Pigs.
In 2009, the United Nations declared July 18 Mandela Day, an international day of honor for former South African President Nelson Mandela. Also his birthday, Mandela Day invites everyone, particularly young people, to take action to promote peace and combat social injustice. According to the official Mandela Day website, Mandela Day "was inspired by a call Nelson Mandela made [in 2008], for the next generation to take on the burden of leadership in addressing the world's social injustices when he said that 'it is in your hands now'."
Familiarize students with Mandela's life and legacy by reading aloud Kadir Nelson's Coretta Scott King Honor book, Nelson Mandela. Share the illustrations and stop frequently for questions and discussion of Mandela's early life, determination to change social conditions in apartheid-era South Africa, and eventual presidency. Fill in any gaps with resources from the biographical websites below.
Then explain the purpose and mission of Mandela Day before inspiring students to brainstorm their call to social action by sharing the Take Action page from the Mandela Day website. There, students will see examples of service projecs around the key themes of awareness building, food security, literacy and education, service and volunteerism, and shelter and infrastructure.
Invite students, as a class or in small groups, to determine a project they can undertake, using resources such as the Letter Generator, Printing Press, and Persuasion Map to plan and publicize their contribution to a more just world.
This site provides a gallery of past and current Mandela Day projects as well as resources for teachers to support students' participation in the Day.
From Mandela's official site, this biography contains text, images, video, sound files and primary source documents to tell the story of his life.
This BBC resource features a timeline with key events, photographs, and videos.
Resouces on this Biography.com on this page are categorized into "In the News" and "History & Culture."
This three-minute video from Time.com further develops Mandela's biography.
Slate.com offers this collection of annotated photographs of Mandela's life.
Since it became a national observance in 2004, Constitution Day has commemorated the date of the 1787 signing of the U.S. Constitution. Constitution Day offers students a chance to learn about this important document, from the Preamble to the seven articles to the twenty-seven amendments.
Help students deepen their understanding of one aspect of The U.S. Constitution by asking them to explore The Interactive Constitution. From the section on the articles, students can choose from among the Preamble, the branches of government, and more. Alternately, they can explore each of the twenty-seven Amendments (currently the first fifteen amendments are fully developed). Each section provides a common interpretation followed by Constitutional scholars’ discussion of a debatable issue.
Let pairs or small groups choose what they will learn about. After they read and discuss the entry, direct them to the Trading Card Creator, where they will select the Abstract Concept template. After they complete their Card, have groups present informally to share what they have learned.
The online presence of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, this site offers background about the Constitution as well as lesson plans, activities, and resources.
More appropriate for older students, this collection of official government documents and journal articles can enhance inquiry into the nature and function of the Constitution.
This site of the National Archives offers activities designed around artifacts from their collection, as well as a link to their document-based workshop on teaching the Constitution.
Novelist, essayist, and social critic James Baldwin was born on August 2, 1924, in Harlem. At 14, he was in training to become a Pentecostal preacher, but by 17 he had become disillusioned with Christianity. Troubled by the racism he encountered in America, he moved to France when he was 24 where he wrote his first book, the semi-autobiographical Go Tell It on the Mountain. Later works include Giovanni's Room, known for its frank depiction of homosexuality, and a collection of essays, The Fire Next Time. Eventually known as a key voice in the Civil Rights Movement, Baldwin died in France in 1987.
Preview and share with students all or parts of Baldwin's 1963 essay A Talk to Teachers. Ask students to identify Baldwin's main contentions about race relations in America and think critically about connections they see to other texts (such as poems, books, or films) and to contemporary social issues.
Then invite students to use the Letter Generator to write a letter to Baldwin responding to his ideas and how they see them resonating with the present.
From the PBS American Masters program James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket, this "about the author" site shares biographical information and links to several video clips of Baldwin in conversation.
This New York Times article reports on the acquisition of Baldwin's personal writing by the Schomburg Center for Black Culture in Harlem. It includes images of several pages of Baldwin's hand- or typewritten manuscripts.
Baldwin's entry at the Poetry Foundation features an extensive biography and links to poems and other works.
Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Picture. I Am Not Your Negro is Raoul Peck's 2016 adaptation of Baldwin's unfinished manuscript Remember This House. The site offers video excerpts and background information.
April 12 is known as D.E.A.R Day! D.E.A.R. stands for "Drop Everything and Read," a national month-long celebration of reading designed to remind folks of all ages to make reading a priority activity in their lives. It is also Beverly Cleary’s birthday! D.E.A.R. programs have been held nationwide on April 12th in honor of Beverly Cleary’s birthday, since she first wrote about D.E.A.R. in Ramona Quimby, Age 8.
Today is the birthday of author Beverly Cleary, who brought to life the characters of Ramona and older sister Beezus. On this day, D.E.A.R Day, families are encouraged to take at least 30 minutes to put aside all distractions and enjoy books together. Get together with other readers, find someone to read to, or even just read alone. Here are some additional ideas:
Family Read Aloud
With this tip, learn a few simple read-aloud strategies that can sharpen a child's emerging reading skills and help you have fun together with a good book.
Journaling
This lesson encourages children to explore authentic reasons for writing by writing messages to their family in a family message journal.
Retell Stories
Tell me about it in your own words! If students can paraphrase the information they have read, then you—and they—can be confident that they understand it.
Drop Everything!
Don’t think that means that the celebration is only allowed during this month, though. It’s encouraged all year long!
This website has reading lists, activity ideas, digital assets, and other resources on D.E.A.R.
Reading Rockets shares resources about Beverly Cleary and D.E.A.R.
Drop Everything and Read suggestions from the International Literacy Association