Curriculum Connections
Tell It In Words and Pictures: Outstanding New Biographies of African Americans
Trouble viewing this email? Click here.
To ensure our emails reach your inbox, add CurriculumConnections@email.schoollibraryjournal.com to your address book. Click here to learn how.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com

October 20, 2009

Ntozake Shange’s We Troubled the Waters, Marilyn Nelson’s  Sweethearts of Rhythm, Walter Dean Myers’s Riot, and Elizabeth Partridge’s Marching for Freedom are just a few of the exciting new titles featured in this special issue of Curriculum Connections highlighting African-American history and culture. Other articles discuss picture-book biographies, Zora Neale Hurston, the arts, and a presidential year, while Nick Glass and TeachingBooks.net roll out the free, online Coretta Scott King Award Curriculum Resource Center featuring hundreds of recordings and lesson plans.

Sincerely,

Daryl Grabarek,
Editor, Curriculum Connections
dgrabarek@reedbusiness.com

What's New

  • Tell It In Words and Pictures: Outstanding New Biographies of African Americans
    Librarians and educators will want to have these recently published biographies on their shelves in time for Black History Month and for use throughout the year. These first-rate picture-book offerings will grab readers' interest and satisfy their curiosity with a dynamic balance of engaging narrative, striking artwork, and storytelling flair. The depictions soar beyond straightforward biographical summation to convey an intimate sense of time and place and underscore the enormity of challenges faced and achievements accomplished.

    Read these books aloud with students to introduce courageous and committed men and women, to enrich discussion of the African-American experience, and to ignite interest in American history. more » » » 

Nick's Picks

Interview

  • The Poetry of Music: An Interview with Marilyn Nelson
    Marilyn Nelson has authored several books of poetry for youth including A Wreath for Emmett Till (Houghton, 2005); Fortune's Bones (Front St., 2004); The Freedom Business (Boyds Mills, 2008); and the National Book Award nominee Carver: A Life in Poems (Front St., 2001). In her latest work, Sweethearts of Rhythm (Dial, 2009), illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, the poet and artist vividly capture the tempo and texture of a celebrated all-female swing band that toured the United States during the late 1930s and 1940s. In the book, the band's instruments speak to readers from a New Orleans pawn shop where, gathering dust, they remember the excitement of the road. Despite the good will the band engendered, there was no escape from the realities of Jim Crow.more » » » 

Make These Curriculum Connections

  • Troubled Waters Run Deep
    While recent years have witnessed the publication of a wealth of outstanding picture books on African-American history, this season's offerings include some of the best choices for elementary and middle school students. In original, and heartfelt, beautifully illustrated selections, authors and poets explore topics related to the Underground Railroad, Harper's Ferry, Jim Crow, and the Civil Rights Movement. more » » » 
  • The Freedom Road
    Three complementary resources—Linda Barrett Osborne's superbly illustrated Traveling the Freedom Road, the haunting PBS film Unchained Memories, and Walter Dean Myers's novel Riot offer secondary school teachers a variety of quality materials to invigorate units on 19th-century American history. more » » » 

Literature

  • Eyes on Zora Neale Hurston
    All eyes are on the life and legacy of author Zora Neale Hurston, as January 2010 marks the 50th anniversary of her death. While most curriculum studies focus on her groundbreaking novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, and her influence during the Harlem Renaissance, Hurston is also widely recognized for a larger body of work including studies of African-American folklore gathered in the turpentine factories and sawmills, mines, and bars near her hometown of Eatonville, FL. more » » » 

In the News

The Arts

  • Center Stage: A Trio of Titles on the Arts  
    Vibrant illustrations and exuberant text fill the color-drenched pages of three new titles depicting children and adults engaged in the arts.

    Valerie Gladstone's A Young Dancer: The Life of an Ailey Student (Holt, 2009) follows Iman Bright, 13, through her busy life as a dance student at the famed Alvin Ailey School in New York City. Iman tells of working with artistic director Judith Jamison, stressing the importance of foundational exercises and discipline as she takes classes in ballet, jazz, modern, and West African dance. Jóse Ivey's color photographs of the long-limbed dancer rehearsing at Ailey, laughing with school friends in the Bronx, and taking Saturday violin lessons capture her joy and self-confidence in dance and life, in a sparkling treatment sure to inspire middle grade readers. more » » » 

Take Note

Marching for Freedom
In 1963, in many towns and cities across the South, it was nearly impossible for African-American citizens to register to vote. Despite the efforts of voters' leagues and political activists, men and women encountered registrar offices with limited hours, doors posting "Out to Lunch" signs, exams, requests for vouchers attesting to their personal conduct, and sometimes, arrest.

Selma, AL, was one of those places and in Marching for Freedom: Walk Together, Children, and Don't You Grow Weary (Viking, Oct., 2009) Elizabeth Partridge explores the role played by the young civil rights demonstrators in this city. Through moving text, stirring quotes, and archival photos the author documents their bravery and the violence they witnessed and endured. Read a brief excerpt from her book. more » » » 


Jazz History: in print, film, and online

What well-known author was born Marguerite Johnson? Listen to her tell the story of her name


Reed Business Information

You are receiving this email because you have requested either a newsletter or a magazine from Reed Business Information.

You are currently registered to receive School Library Journal’ enewsletters at #EmailAddr#.
Unsubscribe from this eNewsletter |Manage Your eNewsletters | Privacy policy

If this eNewsletter was forwarded to you, please go to our eNewsletter subscription page to sign up for your own copy.

Begin or renew your School Library Journal magazine subscription


Send editorial questions about this enewsletter to: dgrabarek@reedbusiness.com
Send advertising questions about this enewsletter to: onlineads@reedbusiness.com

For additional assistance, contact us by email or at the address below:
School Library Journal, Customer Service, 8878 Barrons Blvd, Highlands Ranch, CO 80129-2345 USA.

© Copyright 2009, Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.
Advertisements