Book Review: Freedom over me: Eleven slaves, their lives and dreams brought to life by Ashley Bryan

Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan by Ashley Bryan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Author illustrator Ashley Bryan gives voice to the voiceless in this collection of poems inspired by the 1828 Fairchilds Appraisement of the Estate document in a collection of Bryan's slave-related documents from the 1820s to the 1860s, as he explains in the author's note. Opening with a poem from widowed Mrs. Fairchilds to set the stage, the book tells the story of 11 people in 10 poems detailing their current lives, including how they have made the Fairchilds' estate the success that it is, and the lives they have lost that live on in their dreams and hopes for the future. (Little Dora doesn't get her own poem, but she is referenced in several others.)

The book garnered a Newbery Honor and a Coretta Scott King Honor, and it is brightly illustrated. The large format makes it easy to use as a read-aloud. It would be an interesting work to pair with lesson plans on FreedomontheMove.org. It also would work very well in a poetry unit, to explore voice and perspective. I also like the idea of using it in social studies or history as inspiration for a student writing project where students take names from historical documents and embue them with a life that is absent from the page. So many options to explore. There are also an audiobook version and an engaging movie version by Dreamscape Media that can be paired with the written text.

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Book Review: Agency by William Gibson

Agency by William Gibson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Unlike most Gibson novels, I didn't love this one. It felt ... thin. For me, Gibson has always been a master of dropping you into a strange yet somewhat familiar world and immediately wrapping you up in a plot driven by a well-constructed cast of characters. I loved that many of his earlier works were related in subtle ways, not serial novels but random characters (often minor ones) from earlier novels would pop up in later ones. The unifying factor was the theme: the technology, the cyberpunk world.

This book is more a straight-up sequel to Peripheral (though at least once review refers to it as a sequel and a prequel, which just shows that the reviewer probably didn't really read the book or doesn't understand the underlying alternative timelines device that Gibson uses). As such, it's ok. We get to revisit a number of characters from the Peripheral, but not in any deep or satisfying ways. While there is lots of Gibsonesque action, none of it really relates to the more interesting geo-political plot, the vast majority of which happens off the page. The connections between the personal events and the global ones are never explored.

The issues around AI are never really explored either. Who/what is Eunice? Why does she matter? What is she doing? All issues are explored (excuse the pun) peripherally. And that includes the peripherals, themselves. I was hoping for more ... thought? exploration? ... anything about them. The action was fun but there were so many missed opportunities to make the book more than a thin all-action-no-meaning jaunt.

I hated the wrap-up in the final chapters. Far too tidy and perfunctory. Over all, the book had a sense of being created because Gibson's publishers said "Hey, how about a sequel to The Peripheral? I bet that would sell." and then completed because they said, "All right, Gibson, think this one is long enough. How about you wrap it up here?"

I didn't hate the book - I rather enjoyed reading it thanks to the action-driven plot - but unlike far better Gibson novels, it didn't leave me with anything to think about. Six months from now, I won't think back to some cool issue raised in this novel. I'll still be excited to see what Gibson comes up with next, just hoping it's better than this...

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Book Review: More books on personal finance for kids

 

The Girl and the Bicycle by Mark Pett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am back to reviewing books for a 6th grade social studies unit on personal finance! This lovely picture book without words visually tells the story of a little girl who sees a beautiful green bicycle and begins to save her money to buy it. I would love to pair it with My Rows and Piles of Coins for students to compare the experiences of the the Girl and Saruni as they each save for a bicycle. I'm always looking for visual literacy options to incorporate into learning plans, and this book would be a great option.

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You Can't Buy a Dinosaur With a Dime: Problem-solving in Dollars and Cents by Harriet Ziefert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a cute book on earning money and saving for a goal - in Pete's case, to buy toy dinosaurs! It is a little dated and maybe skews a little too much toward basic money skills for my middle school students, but it has an engaging rhyme scheme and cute illustrations that will definitely appeal to elementary school students. The book effectively covers the concepts of money (and money math), income (via Pete's allowance and earning money for extra chores), savings, and sales tax. There are some great questions for further inquiry at the end as well as some fun facts about money.

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A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In the almost 40 years since it was published, A Chair for My Mother has become a classic of children's literature. The book shares the story of a little girl, her Mama, and her Grandma, who are all saving their coins to buy a chair for hard-working Mama because they have lost all of their furniture in a fire. The story treats the loss matter-of-factly, and shows the community coming together to support the family and frankly discusses the family working together to save money. As I reviewed it for possible use in a 6th grade social studies unit on personal finance, I appreciate the opportunities it offers to introduce concepts like the minimum wage, income, and savings, and why it might take a long time for a family to save for a chair. The illustrations are colorful and engaging, and I find this a strong contender as a read-aloud for the personal finance unit. Even though it is older, the story feels timeless and fresh.

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Quick thoughts on formative assessments

In a guest lecture I watched for one of my MLIS classes this week, Susan Grigsby reminds us that good assessment informs our instruction, can be integrated into school improvement plans, and aids us in advocacy.  In the realm of formative assessments, I appreciate the NCTE’s (2013) reminder that “formative assessment is the lived, daily embodiment of a teacher’s desire to refine practice based on a keener understanding of current levels of student performance, undergirded by the teacher’s knowledge of possible paths of student development within the discipline and of pedagogies that support such develop” (p. 2).  That “lived, daily” portion really struck me! 

Thankfully, I have learned many great tools over the past couple of years!  Here are a few of my favorites:

1. 
   Word cloud – I just love a good word cloud because it is both an image and text.  I’ve used AnswerGarden and Mentimeter to create word clouds.  My favorite way to use it at the beginning of instruction, just to get a sense of what students think about a topic and what they may already know (triggering that prior knowledge), and then again at the end of instruction to see how ideas may have changed.  For example, I realized when I beta tested the News Literacy Project’s Checkology program on the First Amendment that a word cloud is a great way to gauge what students think about the First Amendment before we do the unit and then see their evolution in thinking after the unit.  Some words get larger, some get smaller, some appear, and some vanish!
   
   
   
2. Thumbs Up/Down – How about a super simple tool?  During virtual learning, having students indicate a thumbs up for “I get it,” a thumbs down for “I don’t get it,” or a horizontal thumb for “eh, I’m getting there” has been a great way to do a quick check-in and determine whether to move on or try another instructional tactic!
   
   
   
   
   
3. 
   Kahoot! And Quizzizz – Students rarely complain about formative assessments that feel like a game, and I can always tell when my own 5^th grader is doing a Kahoot! with his class because I hear the engagement from the back room.  Try gamifying your assessments!
   

 

References

Grigsby, S. K. S. (2018, October 5). Recording #3 [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/es7MCSNGlNw

National Council of Teachers of English. (2013). Formative assessment that truly informs instruction [PDF]. https://cdn.ncte.org/nctefiles/resources/positions/formative-assessment_single.pdf

 

 

Book Review: Writers & Lovers by Lily King

Writers & Lovers by Lily King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really loved this book. At one point, in the middle of a chapter about nothing particularly emotional, I found myself tearing up because the feeling in it was just so ... real. It's a love letter to reading, to loss and grief, to love itself, to the passion of writing, to the passion of just doing what you're good at. I loved all the people who populate the book and how King made them flawed and yet perfect. (Except the brunch chef. He's awful, and I can't stand him, which is, I think, intentional.) I would absolutely sit down and read it again cover to cover except for the fact that it is now 4 days overdue and 44 other people are lined up for their chance to read it...

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Book Review: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What can I say? It's the Hobbit. It's still wonderful. I read it aloud with my 11-year-old and enjoyed every minute. Can we now finish the complete Lord of the Rings trilogy by the end of the year????

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Book Review: Books on personal finance for kids

 

Lemonade in Winter: A Book About Two Kids Counting Money by Emily Jenkins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am screening books to use in a 6th grade social studies unit on personal finance. I really like that this book shows the value of budgeting in a humorous way. Siblings Pauline and John-John decide to open a lemonade stand in the middle of winter, selling lemonade, limeade, and lemon-limeade. In spite of their parents' warning about the difficulties of selling cold drinks in winter, they collect their money and purchase supplies! For younger students and readers, the book has a nice explanation of money at the end. For purposes of my older students, I like that the book shows what happens if you don't do some budgeting to make sure income covers expenses and can be a conversation starter for how "older, wiser" students might go about this. It does have a sweet ending even though there's a lesson to be learned!

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My Rows and Piles of Coins by Tololwa M. Mollel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am screening books to use in a 6th grade social studies unit on personal finance. This book nicely introduces the concept of income, as Saruni earns coins by helping his mother, and savings, the titular rows and piles of coins that Saruni counts as he saves up for a bicycle. While I am focused on the financial aspects, the book also has nice lessons on the value of hard work, persistence, and kindness. I think this title will spark some interesting conversations among my students.

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If You Made a Million by David M. Schwartz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am screening books to use in a 6th grade social studies unit on personal finance. I just love the Steven Kellogg illustrations in this book, as they have so much fun activity going on. The book covers the key topics of savings, interest, checks and checking accounts, loans, and tax and couples these practical facts with fun facts like how high a stack of $100 in pennies would be. Because the illustrations are so engaging, I'm more inclined to use this as a reading for students rather than as a read-aloud, though the text is perfectly suitable to read aloud as an introduction to the topic. I really appreciate that the book ends with a question that can spur inquiry among students. There is also a helpful note at the end that discusses the concepts covered in the book in more detail.

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Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday by Judith Viorst
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am screening books to use in a 6th grade social studies unit on personal finance. Though the amounts of money are dated, the story of making bad financial decisions is so, so relatable! This fun tale provides a great, cautionary introduction to the value of budgeting and can be used to introduce the concept of income and expenses. What would students do differently to buy a set of walkie-talkies (or updated: a new phone)??

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#2021BookChallenge: White Kids: Growing Up with Privilege in a Racially Divided America by Margaret A. Hagerman

White Kids: Growing Up with Privilege in a Racially Divided America by Margaret A. Hagerman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A few months back, a friend shared this article about Margaret Hagerman's book: https://getpocket.com/explore/item/ho.... After reading the article, I decided I needed to check it out. Hagerman takes a critical look at how white children growing up in affluent households develop their ideas about race and racism. In particular, Hagerman considers how the messages that parents overtly convey to their children influence (and do not) their children's views and the role of the "bundled choices" that parents make about their children's lives.

This book struck me on two levels: as a white, affluent parent raising two children in a progressive household and as an MLIS student currently looking at the research process. As a parent, I certainly recognized myself, my decisions, my children, my peers, both in ways that were reassuring and in ways that were uncomfortable. I appreciate Hagerman's efforts to clarify how parents can play a role in both reducing personal prejudice and also eliminating structural inequities. As a grad student, I appreciated Hagerman's clear information about her research process, theory, methodology, assumptions, and goals. In a way, the book is like a very long ethnographic research article, and reading it helped me understand how better to structure a research proposal.

I recommend this book to parents interested in expanding their understanding of racism, anti-racist work, and how we raise our children. If you appreciated the podcast, Nice White Parents, this book touches on similar themes. I also recommend it to graduate students looking for a better understanding of how qualitative research (and specifically ethnographic research) is conducted.

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Book Review: Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz

Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I enjoyed the mystery within a mystery format of this novel. I'm a sucker for a good mystery/thriller so this was a good pick for a rainy series of days on which I wanted to distract myself from the real world. I hope there's more Susan Ryeland to come!

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Book Review: White Water by Michael S. Bandy & Eric Stein, Shadra Strickland, illust.

 

White Water by Michael S. Bandy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a great read-aloud option to initiate discussion during Black History Month or a history/social studies unit. Michael is a curious boy who wants to know whether the "Whites only" fountain has the fresh, cool water that he imagines (and really wants after his long, hot bus ride). What he discovers - separate water fountains spurting the same hot, bad-tasting water from the same pipe - can serve as a lead-in for thinking about differences, whether what our society tells is true is actually true, why we allocate resources differently, even the legal concept of separate but equal that was challenged in Brown vs. Board of Ed. It has a nice large format with imaginative illustrations showing Michael's thoughts that makes it great for reading to a class or group. The illustrator grew up in Georgia, and the scenes she depicts were immediately familiar to me, especially the field covered in kudzu.

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Book Review: Some Places More than Others by Renee Watson

 

Some Places More Than Others by Renée Watson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was reading not too long back about the need for more books that celebrate and elevate Black Joy and the concept that while Black people's lives in America have certainly been irrevocably shaped by racism, slavery, and White Supremacy, their lives are not only that and not defined by suffering. While we need books that acknowledge our country's painful past and the fight for civil rights, we also need books that show the great joy and love in Black people's lives, that celebrate Blackness.

Renee Watson is a masterful conveyor of Black Joy.

In exploring family (the one we are born into and the one we choose), union and reunion, and reconciliation and forgiveness, Watson crafts a story of warmth and joy. We follow almost-twelve-year-old Amara and her father on their visit to New York City from their home in Beaverton, Oregon where her dad works for Nike and her mom designs clothing that she sells in a boutique. Amara is exploring her New York roots for the first time - meeting her grandfather and cousins in person - and learning about the world of her father's childhood. As Amara makes connections with her East Coast family, she learns more about herself.

The book has a interest subplot with the suitcase project that Amara completes for school, which requires her to share her family story through decorating a suitcase. I love that Watson includes information on how to do this great project, including interview questions to ask family members, writing prompts, and ideas for items to include in the suitcase. I would love to do a book club with students and include the project.

I actually read this book as part of a ProjectLIT Middle Grades book club, and I cannot wait to discuss it with the other participants.

Want to read more about Black Joy? Check out these links:

https://kleavercruz.com/the-black-joy...
https://bookriot.com/books-celebratin...
https://www.blackjoyparade.org/
http://blackyouthproject.com/black-jo...





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#2021BookChallenge: Light for the World to See by Kwame Alexander

 

Light for the World to See: A Thousand Words on Race and Hope by Kwame Alexander
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Many will be familiar with one of the poems in this small collection, The Undefeated, which was also published separately with illustrations by (my favorite illustrator) Kadir Nelson and won the Caldecott Medal, a Newbery Honor, and a Coretta Scott King award. The other two poems in this collection are no less worthy of notice. The one that moved me most was Take a Knee, with its mantra-like quality. Alexander's introduction sets the stage beautifully for the poems.

All of the poems are effectively laid out on the page and simply, graphically illustrated with a limited palette of grey, black, white, and yellow. It's a visually engaging read, even without traditional illustrations.

As a school librarian, I could see this book being used so many ways - to support social studies inquiry in units on U.S. history or social justice, to explore poetry in ELA, as a read-aloud during Poetry Month, in art class as textual inspiration for visual creation. It's a lot of possibility for a book you can almost fit in your pocket.

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The research process

I have been thinking a lot about research models this week as I work on a collaborative unit plan with my sixth grade social studies team.  Over the course of my 21-year career as a lawyer and during my 20 years of education leading up to that career, I have done a fair bit of research!

But how did I learn to do research?  When I think back on my education, I do not recall ever learning a specific, named process for engaging in research and inquiry.  I do recall learning the SQ3R method (survey, question, read, recite, review) for reading comprehension and, of course, the scientific method in obtaining my biology degree, but I cannot think of a single generalized/generalizable mnemonic device or system of research that I learned!  Even in my compulsory research and writing course in law school, we went through the legal research process without naming it.

Over my years of schooling and preparing book reports, term papers, and science projects, I essentially absorbed a fairly linear process:  pick a topic, research it, narrow it, research it some more, prepare to explain it to someone else, present the final product, reflect on how it went and how it could go in the future!  Rinse and repeat.  As I became more skilled in research through college, law school, and career, I realized that the process is more recursive and circular than linear.

What I absorbed almost by osmosis has been distilled into various models: Stripling’s Model of Inquiry, the Big 6, the Super 3, Kulthau’s Information Search Process.  Each of these methods (and the many, many more helpfully outlined by Eduscapes) represents an attempt to create a structure through which students can learn how to conduct research, and I view them as largely interchangeable.  They key for librarians and teachers is to pick the one (or a few) that will most resonate with learners. 

The Big 6 and Super 3 - with their catchy titles – do provide a hook for helping students remember that there is a process to be followed, but I really like Stripling’s model.  Fontichiaro (2009) makes clear how the Stripling model can work very well in the K-12 context in which I work.  I also like Kulthau’s (Jewell, 2015; Maniotes, 2017) focus on the emotional aspects of research.  I may end up using Big 6 as a tool for students while informing my instruction with the Stripling and Kuhlthau models.

 

References

Fontichiaro, K. (2009). Nudging toward inquiry (AASL 2009) [Video]. Vimeo.com. https://vimeo.com/7715376

Jewell, A. (2015, October 13). Carol Kuhlthau’s information search process model [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/bhthgqqXuXA

Maniotes, L. (2017, July 17). Dr. Carol Kuhlthau distinguished professor emerita talks of her research on the ISP [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/gytquheF7Aw