Diversity Activity: Frederick Douglass

Earlier this week I participated in a group project based around Frederick Douglass’ Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. My group presented a brief history of Douglass’ life and a fun vocabulary game. The game was a very successful and fun activity that captivated all of the students’ interest. Students are divided into two teams and line up on opposite sides of the room. The vocabulary words are presented to the students who try to use context from the book to define the words. Each team has one team member compete against a team member from the opposing team per word. Despite the fact that we ran out of time, students still wanted to continue this game. It is a very useful and fun activity to increase student motivation to learn their vocabulary words. I have included a list of some vocabulary words from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave after the jump.

Celebrate Dr. Seuss' Birthday

Monday, March 2, would have been the 111th birthday for Theodore Seuss Geisel, also known as Dr. Seuss. He published more than 40 children's books, and another one was recently discovered. What Pet Should I Get? will be released on July 28.

Pinterest has so many wonderful Dr. Seuss activities. Check them out here.

Shel Silverstein: A Boy Named Sue and The Giving Tree

I did not realize that poet Shel Silverstein wrote Johnny Cash's classic tune "A Boy Named Sue."  Watch this clip from The Johnny Cash Show in the late 1960's:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e5ZVIpB4sw.

Some animations of his poems can be found here:  http://www.shelsilverstein.com/books/#animations
In addition, his site has some excellent resources for educators.

One of his most famous poems is called "The Giving Tree."  You can hear him read his poem from a 1973 film:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TZCP6OqRlE.  There are many opinions about how to interpret the relationship between the tree and the boy.  Some believe it represents a parent-child relationship while others see religious significance to the relationship.  What do you think?

How Children Learn To Read

Click here to read a fascinating article about why some people learn to read more easily than others. In the past “genetic risk, environmental factors, pre-literate language ability, and over-all cognitive capacity” were the usual explanations for discrepancies in reading ability; however, the one cause found consistently was the growth of white matter in one specific location of the brain, the left temporoparietal region. The time period between kindergarten and third grade was found to be very critical.

Bullying Issue Books

A 2013 report by the National Center for Educational Statistics revealed that more than one in four students report being bullied during the school year. I have compiled a list of four excellent books on the topic of bullying. What are some of your favorite books on this topic?

Tagxedo Lesson Idea

I used Tagxedo to create this graphic containing vocabulary words from The Giver. Tagxedo converts any text into word clouds in the shape of your choice. My lesson idea involves instructing students to use Tagxedo to create appealing word cloud graphics that represent some aspect of the story. The world in The Giver is free of hunger or suffering of any form; however, it also is devoid of color or music. Thus, I used a G clef note for my graphic representation of The Giver. 

101 Ways to Use Tagxedo includes many creative ideas for using Tagxedo.

Currently Reading

I am currently reading Rebecca Stead’s When You Reach Me. The 2010 Newbery Medal winner, When You Reach Me is a good read so far. It is a science fiction and mystery novel. Have you read this one?

Newbery Medal Winner Announced

Kwame Alexander’s The Crossover has won the Newbery Medal. The verse novel is about twin, basketball star brothers. A verse novel is a novel-length narrative that is told through poetry. A sample of the poetry in The Crossover is displayed above.

The award committee also named two Honor Books – Cece Bell’s graphic novel El Deafo and Jacqueline Woodson ’s poetic Brown Girl Dreaming. More information about the winners can be found at the Newbery Medal home page.