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As his mother and father visit doctor after doctor and try meds after meds, ZJ aches for the time ‘before’ his father’s illness, a time filled with picnics, pick up games, and spontaneous dance parties in the living room. ZJ’s father is a pro football player who is experiencing headaches, mood swings and memory loss. Jacqueline Woodson’s latest novel in verse explores the impact of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) on tight end Zachariah ‘44’ Johnson, through the eyes of his twelve year old son, his namesake.

The post Remembering and Healing with Before the Ever After appeared first on The Classroom Bookshelf.

This Women's History Month may feel like 2020 all over again. As the pandemic interrupted many plans to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment, the National Women's History Museum and National Women's History Alliance have extended their resources, events, and celebration into 2021.

Weatherford and Cooper’s fusion of art and history bring to light a shameful episode a century ago that allows teachers, librarians, young people, and their families to reconsider our present and reaffirm our commitments to anti-racism.

The post Learning from the Unspeakable: Teaching Ideas Centered on the Tulsa Race Massacre appeared first on The Classroom Bookshelf.

Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifer documents the experiences of a summer honeybee from birth to death. The combination of words and images invites readers deep into the hive, providing both an intimate encounter with the bee colony and with the 35-day life of a worker bee, aptly named Apis.

The post The 2021 Sibert Medal Winner, Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera appeared first on The Classroom Bookshelf.

The 41 international books selected this year by the United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY) range from picture books and poetry to nonfiction and novels.

Part magical realism, part folktale, part contemporary realistic fiction, Tae Keller’s Newbery and APALA Award winning novel weaves a coming-of-age tale that is heartrending, haunting, and hopeful.

The post Healing and Hope through Storytelling: The 2021 Newbery and APALA Award Winner When You Trap a Tiger appeared first on The Classroom Bookshelf.

The Pulitzer Center is starting an education network around the 1619 Project, Teaching Tolerance changed its name, Sonja Cherry-Paul created an educator's guide to Carole Boston Weatherford’s Unspeakable and more in this edition of News Bites.

NewsLit Nation, NLP's national educator network, provides teachers with a platform to learn from each other, establish best practices, and help work news literacy into all subjects areas.

In Eyes that Kiss in the Corners, a young Chinese American girl speaks to readers through lyrical language that celebrates the beauty of her eyes and the eyes of her beloved Mama, grandmother Amah, and little sister, Mei-Mei.

The post Encourage Self-Love with Eyes that Kiss in the Corners appeared first on The Classroom Bookshelf.

It's Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action. Resources and a starter kits are available, along with the new contest-winning logo from a South Carolina high schooler.

At The Classroom Bookshelf, we champion the read aloud as an essential and joyful part of one’s literacy life.  With World Read Aloud Day fast approaching on February 3rd, we wanted to spotlight this upcoming global book party as a joyful way to lift up the power of books and children’s voices. Whether students are […]

The post Get Ready for a Global Book Party: World Read Aloud Day is Almost Here appeared first on The Classroom Bookshelf.

Being unchosen isn’t always a bad thing. In fact, being unchosen taught me how to live.

The post On Being Unchosen, a guest post by Katharyn Blair appeared first on Teen Librarian Toolbox.

Ask your students about book preferences, access, and more to create personal goals, plan spring lessons, and motivate for summer reading.

During turbulent times, many of us may find ourselves asking, “What can I do?” The young people featured in this powerful anthology asked this question of themselves, found answers, and took action. Editors Metcalf, Dawson & Bradley have curated a collection of poems, written by accomplished poets, that represent the commitments, the activism and the accomplishments of fourteen tweens and teens.

The post Honor your students’ voices with the poetry collection No Voice Too Small. appeared first on The Classroom Bookshelf.

Flash Facts is a new collection of short comics about science and technology featuring DC superheroes. Here's an exclusive preview of "Home Sweet Space" with Supergirl, written by Cecil Castellucci.

What can educators do? We can offer young people an opportunity to better understand and make sense of this moment through information. Nonfiction books for young people offer us gripping accounts of the past and present in language that engages young people’s hearts and minds. Nonfiction books for young people provide a “container” of information vetted and researched, with evidence documented in bibliographies and chapter notes, acknowledgements and author’s notes. Nonfiction books for young people personalize and problematize history. Nonfiction books for young people can be juxtaposed in the classroom so that students can hear a range of perspectives and make sense across texts. Nonfiction books for young people can model inquiry and informational literacy, while also providing essential information about our past, our present, and the government structures within which we operate.

The post Teaching Ideas for a Democracy Under Assault appeared first on The Classroom Bookshelf.

As the terrorist attack on the Capitol unfolded yesterday, educators took to Twitter, considering how to talk to students about the event and the importance of news literacy and civics education.

Above the Rim: How Elgin Baylor Changed BasketballWritten by Jen BryantIllustrated by Frank MorrisonPublished by Abrams, October 6, 2020ISBN: 978-1419741081 Book ReviewThe end of 2020 and beginning of 2021 heralds the opening of the NBA basketball season. As we enter the new year, we are reminded of the athlete activism that has changed the landscape […]

The post Above the Rim: Peaceful Activism for a New Year appeared first on The Classroom Bookshelf.

From a choose-your-own-path Romeo and Juliet to a Macbeth retelling that channels #MeToo, there's something here for all teen readers and fans of the Bard. 

Some educators abandon teaching the Bard's work, while others update and enhance Shakespeare curricula.

On December 29, 1890, the United States Army killed 146 Sioux at Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. Frank Waln, an award-winning Lakota music artist from the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, discusses the 130th anniversary of the massacre and Native representation in the U.S. education system.

We don't know what next year holds. We don't know where books will take us. But as we do each year, we’ve curated “best of” lists from a range of publications and organizations that review children’s and middle grade books. We hope you find these lists useful. You may be in search of winter holiday hibernation reads. You may be trying to find just the right book for a child or tween in your life, or new books for your classroom collections or school library.

The post Books as Bright Spots in 2020 appeared first on The Classroom Bookshelf.

The CDC recommends teachers and support staff get the coronavirus vaccine in the next round of distribution; the Black Caucus of ALA has put out its Best of the Best 2020 booklist; applications are being accepted for the Library of Congress Librarian in Residence program; and more in this edition of News Bites.

Curricular bazaar Teachers Pay Teachers has never been more popular. But questions about quality, cultural insensitivity, and plagiarism beg expert guidance. Consider your librarian.  

The power of the single word holds center stage in this creative collaboration by renowned children’s poets Irene Latham and Charles Waters. In Dictionary for a Better World, Latham and Waters spotlight words that work to promote understanding, empathy, equity, peace, and social justice.

The post Explore the Power of a Single Word in Dictionary for a Better World appeared first on The Classroom Bookshelf.

Typically, generic worksheets, book report templates, and cookie-cutter projects are assigned to prove that students read. Here are ways for them to truly share their responses to the text. 

If ever there was a time for poetry as a source of hope and healing, the time is now. As 2020 comes to a close, poetry can be a source of comfort for students and teachers as we continue to face challenges while embracing joyful sites of possibility. Naomi Shihab Nye’s, latest book of collected and new poems is a welcome respite and source of inspiration for attending to this moment and contemplating what comes next.

The post Poetry for Hope and Healing with Naomi Shihab Nye’s Everything Comes Next appeared first on The Classroom Bookshelf.

In a stunning picture book biography, author Kelly Starling Lyons and illustrator Laura Freeman celebrate the life and work of Philip Freelon, Architect of Record for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. This not-to-be missed title has broad possibilities for exploring art and design; featuring diverse life stories; and inviting students to consider how they might use their own talents to be dream builders.

The post Building Big Dreams with Dream Builder: The Story of Architect Philip Freelon appeared first on The Classroom Bookshelf.

The Teachers March! captures a powerful moment in U.S. history, celebrates the tenacity and intrepidity of teachers, and has an important role to play in language arts and social studies curriculum.

The post Celebrating Collective Action in The Teachers March appeared first on The Classroom Bookshelf.

On SLJ's Facebook page, readers respond to recent stories. Here's just a sample of what they are saying.

Messner and Sorell contextualize the "first Thanksgiving" myth; Hachette announces new BIPOC imprint; Linda Sue Park creates Korean and Korean diaspora author and illustrator resource; results of the K-12 Scholastic Student Vote.

Set in January 1986 against the countdown to the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger, this coming-of-age novel by Newbery Award-winning author Erin Entrada Kelly tells the story of a family searching for something to bring their orbits into alignment with their dreams and with one another before disaster strikes.

The post Navigating Family, Middle School, and the Universe in We Dream of Space appeared first on The Classroom Bookshelf.

In the latest installment of "Stellar Panels," Brigid Alverson recommends graphic works that use the medium to teach how government works and how to change it.

From the author-illustrator team that brought you the Caldecott Honor- and Newbery Honor-winning Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut, comes another poignant picturebook that celebrates Black joy and Black excellence.

The post Affirming Children’s Worthiness with I Am Every Good Thing appeared first on The Classroom Bookshelf.

Three of the founders of #DisruptTexts spoke about the need and reasons to reimagine the canon and how educators can do it effectively.

With humor, song, and fact-filled history, these audio productions help kids understand the workings of democracy. 

When you see a frog, do you think ‘brilliant beautiful being’? If you don’t already, you will after reading Being Frog by acclaimed picturebook author and photographer April Pulley Sayre. Sayre’s stunning photographs depict the frogs she and her husband observe weekly in a local pond. Backyard scientists of all ages will find Being Frog a call to action - a call to watch, wonder, imagine and inquire.

The post Being Observant with Being Frog appeared first on The Classroom Bookshelf.

n the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic, When We are Kind offers preschool and primary grade children a vision of kindness they can enact in their own lives.

The post Celebrating Kindness with When We are Kind appeared first on The Classroom Bookshelf.

Holden Caulfield would probably think getting nearly 70 years in the spotlight makes him a phony and a sellout. We can recognize Catcher as a touchstone while handing teenagers additional titles that speak to them today.

The co-founders of Twitter's #THEBOOKCHAT talk about Dante, James Baldwin, and what students should know when they leave high school.

A beautiful commentary on what “home” is, Phoebe Wahl's The Blue House offers much for your students to discuss and discover.

The post Connecting Home and Heart with The Blue House appeared first on The Classroom Bookshelf.

Overview  It’s Banned Books Week 2020! As described on the official Banned Books Week (BBW) website, this week “brings together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.”  […]

The post Banned Book Week: Skirting Skippyjon for Latinx Kid Lit appeared first on The Classroom Bookshelf.

The worlds of Huxley, Lowry, Atwood, and Orwell have parallels to today, but largely leave out the racism, xenophobia, and intergenerational wounds that persist.

Remote learning—and finding a new book—is more fun as educators get creative and add a personal flair with their Bitmoji libraries and classrooms.

Sixth grader, Stephen, lives in Brooklyn, is into sci-fi, and is a mixed race tween who has started to painfully experience the ways that white people in his neighborhood treat him differently than his white friends. If you are wondering how to begin confronting Anti-Black racism in your classroom, start with What Lane?

The post Confronting Anti-Black Racism with the Middle Grade Novel What Lane? appeared first on The Classroom Bookshelf.

It's Constitution Day. We've pulled together some recent books on the subject for those who want to learn more about the U.S. document.

“I’m not coming back ever again.” A young girl stomps out her anger and frustration as she walks with Momma at the end of the first day of school. The source of her distress? No one could pronounce her name. “Not even the teacher?” queries Momma? As they pass by a street musician, Momma offers some advice: “Tell her your name is a song.”

The post Hearing the Melodies of Classmates with Your Name is a Song appeared first on The Classroom Bookshelf.

Titles to inspire young and future voters at all grade levels.

“School is not the only place to find a teacher.” This first line of Sy Montgomery and Rebecca Green’s picturebook adaptation of their 2018 adult book How to Be a Good Creature may ring true for many students and their families right now.

The post Reading the World with Becoming a Good Creature appeared first on The Classroom Bookshelf.

Revising curricula and using resources from Black Lives Matter at School, the 1619 Project, and more is a key element of addressing systemic racism in education.

Educators greet returning students and ease their anxieties while addressing the COVID slide. 

While considering research material, students need to talk about whose voices are not at the table and think critically about how sources came to be.

Help smooth the path from in-person to online making.

Help students approach critical reading and character inferences in a way that doesn't center the reader's experiences and interpretations.

The play about the Salem witch trials presents a moral dilemma, but it's another canonical work centering the white, Christian, male perspective. Here are suggestions for discussion and alternate works.

The News Literacy Project senior vice president for education and SLJTeen Live! lunchtime speaker answers your queries.

Use these instructional suggestions while reading these titles by Native authors about tribal nations.

Effective teaching of nonfiction texts requires a keen understanding of the differences in formats and writing styles. Award-winning nonfiction author Melissa Stewart offers a deep dive into the differences between two types of nonfiction, expository and narrative, offering educators comparative texts, specific examples, and tips on teaching and connecting with young readers. 

Lively action-adventure tales that typically feature large casts of memorable characters, shonen manga is the best-selling manga in the United States. Brigid Alverson names her top picks in shonen manga, most for grades 7 and up.

The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art has produced a remarkable virtual exhibit that affords viewers an intimate view of the studios and creative processes of 21 picture book artists. This blog entry provides teaching ideas to take the exhibit experience a step further, using the paintings, prints, and drawings, as a launch points for art making experiences.

The post Studio Spaces: Art as a Way of Seeing, Feeling, and Sense-Making: Teaching Ideas for the Virtual Exhibit at the Eric Carle Museum appeared first on The Classroom Bookshelf.

Juneteenth isn't taught in most schools, but this year's attention could help push it into the curriculum.

History, science, current events, and social sciences are explored in these highly engaging narrative and expository nonfiction texts for middle grade readers. 

We commit to doing more to bring the realities of the present day into our text selections, to center books that directly address systemic inequities, and to identify books that encourage student action and activism. We can do more in our work to become anti-racist educators and we invite you to join us.

The post Taking Stock and Taking Action to Educate Ourselves and Design Anti-Racist Curriculum appeared first on The Classroom Bookshelf.

The most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress results, showing that only 37 percent of fourth graders read proficiently, renewed debates over how to teach reading.

SLJ's reporting takes stock of the pandemic's impact on school and public libraries and the kid lit community.

When headlines scream out our political dysfunction, and a global pandemic keeps us uncertain at home, we can all feel powerless. But with a book like this, that offers both information and action, young people, their teachers, and their families can feel empowered.

The post Preparing for the 2020 Election Cycle appeared first on The Classroom Bookshelf.

The annual event celebrates, elevates, and affirms the excellence of educators of color, while forcing readers to think and act for a more equitable, informed school and community.

Spring research season is here. Adjust your practice to ensure students have a rich and meaningful immersion while working on year-end projects.

A panel of experts shared the best digital resources for better remote learning on SLJ's recent webcast Digital Resources for K-12: Learning in the Age of COVID.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shuttered schools. With libraries, bookstores, and comic shops mostly off-limits as well, readers are going online, and publishers and creators have responded with free comics and related resources. Here’s a look at those offerings.
 

The graphic format can effectively tell complex stories and engage young readers. Encompassing first-person accounts of historical events and guides that address gender and identity, these titles meet the highest standards for nonfiction and are "inclusive, respectful, accurate, and informative."

For educators, a lot has changed amid a global pandemic—and at the same time, much hasn’t. 
 

2020 is turning out to be a bumper year for cat stories of all kinds. Here’s a look at some of this year’s cat tales.

Four strategies to decode messaging and motive in meme design.

Journaling and how-to books by Angie Thomas, Elizabeth Acevedo, Paul Fleischman, and Ally Carter can help students find their voice during challenging times.

Teachers don't usually ask their students what they should teach. A middle school English teacher gained important insights when she spoke with her students about the kinds of books they want to read in class.

Perfect the lighting, display song lyrics, introduce your pet, and other ways to get little ones engaged and singing along to from home.

April is National Financial Literacy Month. Libraries are doing their part to educate young people about concepts from budgeting to interest to help them be more economically resilient. 

Launching today: A wizarding respite for the coronavirus-weary. Through Harry Potter at Home, readers can access HP-related activities and downloads, including free audiobook and ebook versions of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, available through April.

Navigating bookstore and school closures, publishers innovate while helping those in need. The Internet Archive's National Emergency LIbrary draws backlash.