Anxiety Disorders and Panic Attacks: Alison Sommer at TEDxCarletonCollege

This is one of the most poignant, real, and frightening representations of panic/anxiety disorders I've seen and it's worth the watch. The first step to mental health progress is awareness and openness, which this girl does well. Well worth the 15 minutes, give it a watch....

Out of the Dust, by Karen Hesse -- #4 Historical Fiction

"This gripping story, written in sparse first-person, free-verse poems, is the compelling tale of Billie Jo's struggle to survive during the dust bowl years of the Depression. 
With stoic courage, she learns to cope with the loss of her mother and her grieving father's slow deterioration. There is hope at the end when Billie Jo's badly burned hands are healed, and she is able to play her beloved piano again. The 1998 Newbery Medal winner." -- Amazon.com 

Even if you don't use this in a lesson, it's really worth you reading before you start teaching. 

#4 -- All

Name: Alyse Hamilton

Title: A Taste of Colored Water

Author: Matt Faulkner

Age of Reader: 1^st- 4^th grade

Why?: I chose this book because it adds a touch of whimsical humor to the serious topic of racial segregation. I thought that this would be a fun book to read to students during black history month or while learning about the civil rights movement.

Plot Summary: This is a book about two children who hear about the “color” water fountain in a nearby town. To their naïve ears, this sounds like a water fountain   full of fruity, colored water. When they are told they aren’t allowed to drink the water, the story goes on to tell about the racial segregation in the town and water the, “colored” water fountain actually is.

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Theme 4: Historical Fiction

Your name:

·      Alexandra Hodge

Title:

·      Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad

Author:

·      Ellen Levine and Kadir Nelson

Age of reader:

·      Grades 3-5

·      Reader level 1.9

Why you chose this book:

·      I bought this book this weekend at the Stillwater Book fair for 25 cents and it just caught my eye and seemed like it would be very interesting.

Plot summary:

·      It’s about a man, named Henry, who was born into slavery and gets sold from his mother. When he gets to his new place of work, he is a good worker and never gets into trouble. While in town once he met a woman who eventually became his wife and mother of his children. His children and wife were sold and he never saw them again, this really upset him and made him want to get out. He asked a white man to help him get out, so he found a box and put himself in it and was shipped to Philadelphia to get out of the slavery ring. Henry “Box” Brown was one of the Underground Railroad’s most famous runaway slaves. 

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Name: Sam Hughes

Title: Dandelions

Author: Eve Bunting

Age of reader: 5-8

Why you chose this book: I decided to choose this book because it is about an important part of history that is told from a young girl’s point of view, making it more appealing to young children. It has religious references that are not specific and are relatable to how people who lived on the prairie spoke. This book is great for teaching concepts about the essential needs to survive. It also gives insight into how families overcome challenging obstacles together in life.

Plot summary: The story begins with a young girl named Zoe explaining about how her family has been traveling to Nebraska for a long time with their oxen, Brownie and Blackie. She explains that they left their grandparent’s which is far away. Her father is happy because of all of the new land they’ve encountered. He promises that they will not be lonely because they have each other and a new baby. The story continues to talk about their journey and traveling through rivers and on ferries in their covered wagon. They sometimes travel up to seventeen miles a day, which is exhausting. Mama is lonely because of all the open land that is empty. They get the well dug and the house made out of sod and it begins to feel like home for everyone except Mama. She feels that their house just disappears into the plains when they walk away from it. Zoe finds dandelions and she plants them on the roof. The house becomes so much more beautiful when they begin to grow and make the roof a beautiful yellow color. Everyone begins to feel like they belong to the land.

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Your name: Jessica Kamp

Name of Book: Dandelions

Author: Eve Bunting

Age of reader: 5-8 years

Plot summary: This book is about a family who moves from their home in Illinois to the prairie in Nebraska. It shows how the family travels by wagon to their new home, which is really just a field of land. Mama, Papa, Rebecca, and Zoe are the main characters, and the story is told from Zoe’s point of view. She describes how Mama is sad about the move and how they have to build their home and dig a well when they arrive at the new place. She and Papa try to cheer Mama up and help her not be sad anymore. When Papa took Zoe to town for supplies, she returned with some dandelions to plant on the top of their sod house. When they didn’t bloom the next morning, she told Mama that they were strong like them and that they would bloom one day. The story ends without showing whether the dandelions bloomed, but the illustrations depict hope that both the family and the dandelions will thrive.

Why I chose this book: I chose this book because it has beautiful illustrations and does a good job depicted life at that time in history. It showed the struggles that many families had to endure when they had to move to the Prairie, and it showed a different style of life than most children have today. It told a fictional story about a real time in history in a way that was hopeful, informative, and interesting. I think my students would like this book.  

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Name: Casey Rollins

Title: September 12: We knew Everything Would Be Okay

Author: Masterson Elementary Students

Age of Reader: Any School Age

Why you chose this book: I chose this book because September 11^th is such a recent event that the horror and effects are still fresh on the minds of many Americans. I feel that since it is such a recent event that everyone is expected to know about it. It is crazy to think that 6^th graders today were not born when September 11^th happened. I wanted to find a book that talked about the events so that children would be informed. This book stood out to me because of the positive spin that it puts on the event. The students of Masterson Elementary used a tragic event to illustrate the idea that there is always a new day.

Plot Summary: While the book September 12^th lightly touches on the events of September 11^th, it focuses more on September 12^th and that the world kept going. It talks about things in their lives that are constant from one day to the next; for example: recess, homework, sunshine, and that 2+2 still equals 4. I love this theme. It is so applicable to children’s lives today. No matter what happened today, there is still a new day tomorrow. The children are informed about the tragic day with the comfort of knowing that the world did keep going, and always will.

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Children’s Literature Review 4: Historical Fiction

Katelyn Smith

Title: Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad

Author: Ellen Levine

Age of Reader: 3^rd graders (7-9 year olds)

Why I chose this book: This historical fiction book would be amazing to read when students learn about slavery and the Underground Railroad. This story has a very powerful message and places the readers into Henry’s shoes.

Plot Summary: This story is based on the story of a slave named Henry “Box” Brown. Henry decides to escape when he is separated from his family by climbing into a box and mailing himself north, to freedom.

Activities: Create with the Class a K-W-L Chart on slavery and the Underground Railroad.

Students can create their own “freedom box”:  Ask students what place represents freedom for them. Teacher asks questions such as “Why is this the place where they feel most free?” or “Were would you ship yourself to find freedom?” Have children choose a place that represents freedom and then write the name of the location on a sheet of paper. Then have them explain why they would go there on the note. When finished, the students can place their finished work in a box that the teacher provides.

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Heather Stott

Children’s Literature Review: Theme 4- Historical Fiction

Title: Dust for Dinner
Author: Ann Turner
Age: Reading Level: 2^nd or 3^rd grade
Interest Level: Kindergarten through 3^rd grade

Dust for dinner is about the time period of the dust bowl and the Great Depression. This book is a simple chapter book. The first chapter sets the story up by talking about how the rain stopped coming and the dust started to blow. The second chapter talks about how the family has to sell their farm and move to California like their neighbors. The mother tells the children to hide the radio so they don't have to sell it. The young girl is upset because they have to sell her sheep. The third chapter is about the family moving. The papa finds work some days along the way, but some days he doesn't. In the fourth chapter, the papa gets a real job on a farm. Shortly after being there, the son's dog kills one of the farmer's chickens. This caused the papa to lose his job and forced the family to move once again. In the final chapter, the papa finds a great job and the family gets a house of their own again. The family sits around together and listens to their radio as a family.

The reason I chose this book for the theme of historical fiction is because it is an interesting topic, especially for Oklahoma since it is a story that is close to home. I think this book is easy to understand the basics of the dust bowl.

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Name: Cheyenne Taylor

Title: Number the Stars

Author: Lois Lowry

Age of Reader: 3^rd-6^th grade

Why you chose this book: I remember my 4^th grade teacher reading this book to us every day after we came in from recess. I looked forward to it almost more than actual recess, because I was so enthralled in the lives of Annamarie and Ellen and how she is on a mission to save her best friend and how she got by in World War II. 

Plot Summary: The story is told by Annamarie, a 10 year old girl who is living in Nazi-occupied Denmark. Word gets out that the Nazi’s are relocating Jews and eventually sending them to death camps, and Annamarie’s family goes into action to hide her best friend’s family from being taken. Annamarie’s best friend Ellen’s family is Jewish, so her family went into hiding, while Ellen stayed with Annamarie’s family and pretended to be Annamarie’s sister. The story tells about the young girls’ triumphs, fears, and their life of hiding and sneaking around trying to avoid the sharp eyes of the Nazi’s.

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Childrens Literature review #4

Title: Ben Franklin and the Magic Square

Author: Frank Murphy

Illustrator: Richard Walz

Detailed summary of the book, characters and defining characteristic: This book introduced Benjamin Franklin as a person rather than just an inventor. This book went through the years of Ben’s life starting when he was 11 years old. The book continues through the years leading up the writing of the declaration. The second part of the book focuses on one invention in particular the “magic square” and it explains how to make it.

Why I chose the book: I choose this book because it focuses on a historical figure and it was one of the few books in the historical fiction section of the library that had a kindergarten interest level. A five year old could not read this on their own but a teacher could read this book to a class to introduce inventions, presidents or Benjamin Franklin. Theme 4: Historical Fiction – can include any children’s book where the main character is or knows someone involved in the making of history, a war, protest, revolution, civil rights, fighting for an issue they believe in, or helps teach a particular lesson in history.Theme 4: Historical Fiction – can include any children’s book where the main character is or knows someone involved in the making of history, a war, protest, revolution, civil rights, fighting for an issue they believe in, or helps teach a particular lesson in history.