The Read Aloud Project was created by Priscilla Weddle and Marie Benner-Rhoades to provide homeschooling resources in peace and justice during the pandemic. For November, the project highlighted books about Native American culture to celebrate Native American Heritage Month. In December, holiday books will be read for the project. If you are interested in recording a video for the project, please email Priscilla at [email protected]. Here are the books that were read for the project in November:

Today On Election Day by Catherine Stier, Illustrated by David Leonard

Summary: “The school gym is a polling place and Bailey, Ren, David, Meg, Aiden, and Isabella know all about Election Day and voting! Bailey helped her Aunt Julia run for a seat on the city council. Aiden goes with his grandpa to vote. David’s brother Jake will be voting for the first time. Meg talks about how years ago, some citizens were not permitted to vote. A perfect picture book for future voters of America, Today on Election Day will simultaneously entertain and educate.”

Reflective Question: What are some qualities you look for in candidates?

Worksheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JJbgDKqK9U_wEWikEFJMDvNHMvPD9sqYXKI9ypQfIN4/edit?usp=sharing

On November 12th, I attended a webinar hosted by Lee & Low Books about contemporary Native American children’s literature and educational resources. The guest speakers were Traci Sorell, author of Indian No More, and Carla Messinger, author of When the Shadbush Blooms. For the first part of the webinar, Sorell and Messinger talked about the meaning behind their books. Sorell’s book Indian No More is based on a true story about a 10 year old Umpqua girl and her family being forced to relocate to a different reservation after their tribal rights are terminated in the 1950s. Messinger’s book When the Shadbush Blooms discusses the past and present lives of the Lenape people. When discussing the importance of her book, Messinger provided a shocking statistic showing how 40 percent of Americans think that Native Americans do not exist or are extinct. For this very reason, Sorell and Messinger believe it is important to read children’s books that highlight the present lives of Native people.

For this blog series, I have been focusing on the importance of books in developing children’s peace skills. However, movies and tv shows can also play a significant role in teaching children skills. I wanted to create a list of documentaries and docuseries that both children and adults would enjoy watching. The documentaries and docuseries I chose are about peace, courage and justice. Here are my recommendations:

On October 22nd, I attended an Embrace Race webinar called “Using Books to Engage Young Children in Talk about Race and Justice.” Savitha Moorthy, Sara Rizik-Baer, and Aija Simmons of Tandem Bay Area were the guest speakers. Tandem is a nonprofit organization that has a mission of “engaging the whole community to ensure all families have the resources, skills, and confidence they need to support their children’s kindergarten readiness” (Tandem, 2019). Moorthy, Rizik-Baer, and Simmons were invited to speak by Embrace Race to talk about their new StoryCycles program. The StoryCycles program “provides families with the access they need to high-quality children’s books and also provides information to parents and educators on how to make the most of each book-sharing opportunity” (Tandem, 2019). 

In 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. and members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference began their campaign to desegregate Birmingham, Alabama. Birmingham was viewed as one of the most segregated cities in the country and demonstrations were outlawed. King would later be arrested for being involved in a non-violent demonstration, which led him to write “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” The story of King’s arrest and letter is well-known, however, many may not know about the vital role children played in the Birmingham Campaign. Thousands of children joined the Children’s Crusade to protest segregation and were met with force by Birmingham’s police force. Even though they were being attacked, the children continued to march. Many children ended up being arrested and stories of their march made headlines around the country. Their courageous actions pushed officials in Birmingham to meet with civil rights leaders and desegregate the city.  I wanted to create a list of books about the Children's Crusade to show children that they can be actively engaged in social justice and make a difference in the world. Here is the list:

Grades: Kindergarten-5

The Youngest Marcher: The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, A Young Civil Rights Activist  by Cynthia Levinson

Nine-year-old Audrey Faye Hendricks intended to go places and do things like anybody else. So when she heard grown-ups talk about wiping out Birmingham’s segregation laws, she spoke up. As she listened to the preacher’s words, smooth as glass, she sat up tall. And when she heard the plan—picket those white stores! March to protest those unfair laws! Fill the jails!—she stepped right up and said, I’ll do it! She was going to j-a-a-il! Audrey Faye Hendricks was confident and bold and brave as can be, and hers is the remarkable and inspiring story of one child’s role in the Civil Rights Movement.

Halloween is right around the corner! Even though it is going to be different this year without trick or treating, there are still several things you can do to make Halloween fun for kids including reading a book. I decided to create a list of Halloween books that were not too scary so any kid would enjoy reading or listening to them. Also, I chose books with themes about friendship and courage. Here is the list:

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams

This book is about facing your fears. A little old lady leaves her house for a walk in the forest, finding herself far from home as night falls. She encounters articles of clothing who start following her, but she refuses to let them frighten her. When the little old lady runs into a Jack-O-Lantern, she hurries home. The articles of clothing and Jack-O-Lantern show up at her home and the little old lady has a bright idea.

I recently attended a webinar about climate change and how the pandemic has impacted relief efforts. In the webinar, the wildfires happening on the West Coast were discussed and I learned how damaging they have been. So, I decided to make a list of children’s books about climate change to introduce children to the topic and provide information on what they can do to help. Here is the list of books:

The Trouble with Dragons by Debi Gliori

“The world is populated by some beastly dragons who care nothing for how much they mess up the oceans, chop down the trees, gobble up all the food and use everything up without stopping to think. Those dragons need to wake up to what they are doing to their world before it is too late. A delightful and energy-filled picture book that addresses concerns about the environment in the most child-centric and delightful way possible.”

The Read Aloud Project was created by Priscilla Weddle and Marie Benner-Rhoades to provide homeschooling resources in peace and justice during the pandemic. For September, the project highlighted books about peace skills and Hispanic culture. We will continue to read children’s books about these topics through October. In November, the project will highlight books about Native American culture to celebrate Native American Heritage Month as well as books about voting and elections. If you are interested in recording a video for the project, please email Priscilla at [email protected]. Here are the books that were read for the project in September:

Elephant & Piggie: Should I Share My Ice Cream? By Mo Willems

Summary: Gerald buys ice cream one day and wonders if he should share it with his best friend Piggie. He goes back and forth on whether he should share his ice cream until he decides to share with Piggie. But, by the time Gerald comes to this decision, the ice cream has melted. He is very sad. Piggie shows up with ice cream and shares it with Gerald to make him feel better.

Reflective Question: How does sharing with your friends make you feel?

Worksheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nG5z0Hhd6IZIFrynw-wBtPfQDpUDnP-ByBa9gPoXifw/edit.

With the 2020 presidential election coming up, I wanted to create a list of children’s books about voting and elections to help answer questions children might have about it. I picked out books that highlighted the election process and addressed the history of voting rights in the U.S. Here is the list of books:

Lillian’s Right to Vote: A Celebration of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by Jonah Winter, Illustrated by Shane W. Evans

As Lillian, a one-hundred-year-old African American woman, makes a “long haul up a steep hill” to her polling place, she sees more than trees and sky—she sees her family’s history. She sees the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment and her great-grandfather voting for the first time. She sees her parents trying to register to vote. And she sees herself marching in a protest from Selma to Montgomery. 

With the school year starting, I was curious about what books teachers were planning on using in their classrooms. So, I reached out to my sister Brittany and asked her to talk about her favorite children’s books to read in the classroom and why. It should be noted that the books she recommended are for grades 5 and 6. Here is a list of books she mentioned along with why she enjoys them:

Grace for President by Kelly DiPucchio

“This book is one of my favorites because it displays a young African American female as the main character. It places her in a position of power that she worked hard for. This is not always the norm in children’s books, so it felt good to see a positive story with a minority as the lead.”