Celebrate Presidents’ Day Throughout February

Libraries, Websites, and Books Offer Fun Learning Opportunities During Presidents' Month

Presidents’ Day is February 21. How can we share stories of the American presidency with our children?  Check out the following resources for multiple ideas to help you and the young people in your life take a closer look at all our presidents. 

Visit a Presidential Historic Site or Library
More than twenty states boast presidential birthplaces, historic homes, libraries, and museums. The NCBLA's educational website ourwhitehouse.org offers a comprehensive guide to finding these fabulous places, listed by state in "Field Trip Guide! Presidential Birthplaces, Houses, and Libraries."

Check Out Special Activities at Local Museums
Many presidential libraries and museums are offering child-friendly and family-oriented activities to commemorate Presidents’ Day. The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston is hosting a week-long celebration beginning Thursday, February 19, which will include "You Be the President" interactive activity, a live webcast of "The Presidency of JFK: A 50-Year Retrospective," "Tales from African Traditions," and other events. Click here to view the complete calendar.

Read, Research, Question, Learn!
Delve deeper into America's past in the NCBLA's art and literature anthology Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out, available at bookstores and libraries near you!

Check out children's literature expert Maria Salvadore’s extensive list of book and website recommendations online in "Presidents, the President’s House, and More: A Select List of Books (and a Few Web Sources) for Children and Young Adults."

Discover what you might have in common with American presidents and what unusual critters have resided in the White House with them in "Presidents Are People Too!" and "Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My" both by Heather Lang. 

Review classroom activities and resources in "Great Presidents" on Thinkfinity.org.

Play a Game of Presidential Trivia!
Do you know which president was the first to live in the White House? (Hint: It wasn’t George Washington!) Do you know which president served the shortest term? (Hint: He was president for 31 days in 1841.) Do you know which presidents have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?
 
Make up your own presidential trivia game by digging into amazing Presidential Facts. Find the answers to these questions and make up even more questions using the essays about presidential job requirements, campaigns, and PETS—all on the NCBLA's educational website ourwhitehouse.org!

In Case You Missed It!

NYT Commentary Traces History of Thought Regarding Extinction

"Species die. It has become a catastrophic fact of modern life. On our present course, by E.O. Wilson’s estimate, half of all plant and animal species could be extinct by 2100 — that is, within the lifetime of a child born today. Kenya stands to lose its lions within 20 years. India is finishing off its tigers. Deforestation everywhere means that thousands of species too small or obscure to be kept on life support in a zoo simply vanish each year."

So writes Richard Conniff, nature writer and author of The Species Seekers: Heroes, Fools, and the Mad Pursuit of Life on Earth, in the recent article "Lost and Gone Forever" in the New York Times. 

With global warming and other devastating environmental trends making headlines on a daily basis, consider sharing this article with the young people in their lives. Discuss it. Engage them in a conversation. Scientific topics like evolution and extinction touch a broad spectrum of disciplines--religion, philosophy, history, politics, art. Ask young people questions:  Why might we be looking at an earth with no lions and no polar bears? Can kids imagine a time when the concept of extinction was "unthinkable?" Do kids consider evolution and extinction to be controversial or sound scientific concepts? How do kids think extinction affects them now and in the future? What does extinction have to do with religion? Why are--or why aren't--politicians interested in environmental issues? What other scientific concepts are currently deemed controversial? How can literary works (such as Tennyson's quoted poem) help us understand the concepts and consequences of  evolution and extinction?

Help Young People Dig Deeper!

Conniff notes in the article, "Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington puzzled over [unusually large] teeth when they turned up again in the Hudson and Ohio River valleys."

Children's book author Barbara Kerley tells the story of Thomas Jefferson's passionate interest in fossils in "Jefferson's Monstrous Bones," an article in the art and literature anthology Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out. The article begins, "When Thomas Jefferson rode into Philadelphia in March 1797 to be sworn in as vice president, he hauled a strange load in his wagon. Bones. Monstrous bones." 

 

Be sure to read the entire article in Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out. And be sure to check out artist Brian Selznick's accompanying, "Bones on the Floor," pictured above.

 

Our White House is a project of The National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance designed to encourage young people to read more about America’s rich history and culture; to think more about America’s future; to talk more about our nation’s leadership; and to act on their own beliefs and convictions, ensuring this great democratic experiment will survive and thrive. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough introduces this creative tour de force, in which 108 renowned authors and illustrators have donated their poetry, prose, and art to help advance the cause of young people’s literacy and historical literacy. The illustrations, essays, short stories, presidential letters, personal reflections, and historical accounts in Our White House inform and entertain, offering a window on more than 200 years of American history.

Our White House is available in both hardcover and paperback. The new paperback edition features a NEW poem by Nikki Grimes about President Obama’s inauguration!

Helping Young People Understand Contemporary Events in Egypt

Book Recommendations for Kids About Contemporary Egypt

Topping our daily news cycle are reports of the protests and unrest in Egypt. How can you help the young people in your life make sense of what is happening and dig deeper into Egyptian life and culture? Although books about ancient Egypt abound, books about contemporary Egypt are more difficult to find. Here are a few recommendations from the NCBLA's children's literature expert Barbara Scotto:

The Day of Ahmed's Secret
This picture book was written by Florence Parry Heide and Judith Heide Gilliland and illustrated by Ted Lewin. Kirkus Reviews writes about this book, "As Ahmed delivers bottles of propane gas, he treasures a special secret he can't wait to share with his family. 'Skillfully, the authors use the secret to sustain suspense...and to highlight the significance of Ahmed's poignant joy in his accomplishment....A handsome, affectionate book.'" Published by HarperCollins in 1995.

Grandma Hekmatt Remembers: An Arab-American Family Story

Written by Ann Morris, with photographs and illustrations by Peter Linenthal, this book was published by Millbrook in 2003. Set in the United States, the grandmother, who grew up in Egypt, shares traditional activities with her grandchildren and tells them about growing up in Egypt.

We're Sailing Down the Nile

Written by Laurie Krebs and illustrated by Anne Wilson, this book tells a tale in simple verse about modern children sailing down the Nile and passing the important sites.  Published by Barefoot in 2007.

Egypt: The Land, Egypt: The Culture, and Egypt: The People
This non-fiction series was written by Arlene Moscovitch and published by Crabtree in 2008. School Library Journal recommends this series for students in grades 4 through 6 and further notes, "Each of these books touches on both ancient and modern life, but to different degrees determined by the subject matter. For example, Culture is dominated by ancient times and religious beliefs. A briefer section mentions modern religious practices, art, music, dance, and other forms of popular culture. By contrast, Land concentrates primarily on how the land is used today. It describes the importance of the Nile River in sustaining life and the growth of major cities, such as Cairo and Alexandria. It only briefly mentions some of the monuments left behind by ancient people. People is mostly devoted to the lives of modern Egyptians. It describes different lifestyles in villages, cities, and the desert, as well as the importance of Islam and Egyptian festivals. There are also sections on family customs, sports, schools, and food. Colorful photos on every page illustrate modern life and the relics of the past."

"Sweet" Activities to Share with Young People This Month

Reading Rockets Offers Activities for Valentine's Day and Black History Month

Looking for sugar-free fun for Valentine’s Day? You’re in luck! Reading Rockets, in conjunction with author Laura Malone Elliott (A String of Hearts), is offering a Valentine’s Day treat that celebrates the power of words to tell someone how you feel. Visit www.readingrockets.org/calendar/valentine and you’ll find a series of easy writing prompts that let kids have fun with Valentine poems and sayings. You’ll also find an e-card, booklists featuring stories about families, friendship, what love looks like, and what love means, and a kid-friendly video of Elliott demonstrating how to make a variety of Valentine cards and writing Valentine poems, including one for her dog, Raven!

Reading Rockets also celebrates Black History Month in February with great resources and recommended reading. You can also watch Reading Rockets' interviews with celebrated African American children's book authors and illustrators, and children's literature historian, Leonard Marcus, who talks about the history of multicultural children's books in the U.S. from the 1960s onward.

Looking for Ed Materials on Black History Month? Check Out Thinkfinity.org!

Thinkfinity.org Offers Diverse Teaching and Learning Materials

Timely lesson plans, activities, and resources regarding the following topics are available now on  Thinkfinity.org:

Black History Month

Super Bowl Math

Great Presidents

Chinese New Year 

Thinkfinity.org partners with leading educational organizations to provide educational content for students in grades K through 12. All resources are grade specific and aligned with state standards. The complete list of content partners is listed here.

Also provided are at-home activities (maps, games, reading lists, and homework help) for students, parents, and guardians to work on together, as well as professional development training materials for educators.

Thinkfinity.org is a project of the Verizon Foundation.

NCBLA Great American Citizens: George Washington, Education Champion

READ  

THINK 

DISCUSS 

ACT!

"Throughout his life, Washington regarded his education as defective. He consciously made up for some of what he did not learn in school through reading and study on his own. Over the years he amassed a large and diverse library, and in his later years he subscribed to several newspapers. He became a skilled and prolific writer. Perhaps as a result of his lack of formal education he strongly believed in the value of a good education and left money in his will for establishing a school in Alexandria, Virginia, as well as for establishing a national university.” 
http://www.mountvernon.org/learn/meet_george/index.cfm/ss/21/

From George Washington’s Letter to School Teacher George Chapman:

Sir: Not until within a few days have I been honor'd with your favor of the 27th. of Septr. 1783,accompanying your treatise on Education.

My sentiments are perfectly in unison with yours sir, that the best means of forming a manly, virtuous and happy people, will be found in the right education of youth. Without this foundation, every other means, in my opinion, must fail; and it gives me pleasure to find that Gentlemen of your abilities are devoting their time and attention in pointing out the way. For your lucubrations on this subject which you have been so obliging as to send me, I pray you to accept my thanks, and an expression of the pleasure I felt at the declaration of your intention to devote a further portion of your time in so useful a study.

Of the importance of education our Assemblies, happily, seem fully impressed; they establishing new, and giving further endowments to the old Seminaries of learning, and I persuade myself will leave nothing unessayed to cultivate literature and useful knowledge, for the purpose of qualifying the rising generation for patrons of good government, virtue and happiness.”

	From George Washington’s First Annual Message to Congress, January 8, 1790

Nor am I less persuaded, that you will agree with me in opinion, that there is nothing which can better deserve your patronage, than the promotion of science and literature. Knowledge is, in every country, the surest basis of public happiness. In one in which the measures of government receive their impression so immediately from the sense of the community as in ours, it is proportionably essential. To the security of a free constitution it contributes in various ways: by convincing those who are entrusted with the public administration, that every valuable end of government is best answered by the enlightened confidence of the people; and by teaching the people themselves to know and to value their own rights; to discern and provide against invasions of them; to distinguish between oppression and the necessary exercise of lawful authority; between burthens proceeding from a disregard to their convenience, and those resulting from the inevitable exigences of society; to discriminate the spirit of liberty from that of licentiousness—cherishing the first, avoiding the last; and uniting a speedy but temperate vigilance against encroachments, with an inviolable respect to the laws.

Whether this desirable object will be best promoted by affording aids to seminaries of learning already established; by the institution of a national university; or by any other expedients, will be well worthy of a place in the deliberations of the Legislature.
 

 

     READ    THINK   DISCUSS   ACT

Current articles and essays of interest to read, contemplate, see if you agree--or not, share, discuss, and then act! Write a letter to the editor of the publication or website, go to you local city, town, and state meetings and find out what is going on in your schools and libraries, see what you can do to help all of our kids! We all need to fight for our kids' future, because it is our future, too!

From George Will's Column in the Washington Post:

Too many American parents, Duncan says, have "cognitive dissonance" concerning primary and secondary schools: They think their children's schools are fine, and that schools that are not fine are irredeemable. This, Duncan says, is a recipe for "stasis" and "insidious paralysis." He attempts to impart motion by puncturing complacency and picturing the payoff from excellence. 

He notes that 75 percent of young Americans would be unable to enlist in the military for reasons physical (usually obesity), moral (criminal records) or academic (no high school diploma). A quarter of all ninth-graders will not graduate in four years. Among the 34 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development nations, only four (Mexico, Spain, Turkey and New Zealand) have dropout rates higher than America's, whose 15-year-olds ranked 23rd in math and 25th in science in 2006. Canadians that age were more than a school year ahead of their American counterparts; Koreans and Finns were up to two years ahead. Within America, the achievement gaps separating white students from blacks and Hispanics portend (according to a McKinsey & Co. study) "the economic equivalent of a permanent national recession."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/26/AR2011012605580.html?nav=hcmoduletmv

From the Political Education of Michelle Rhee by  Ben Smith and Byron Tau on Politico

The group intends, she said, to engage in policy battles around the country and to give allies of a policy platform that involves higher standards and more flexibility for teachers the kind of backup that unions have long provided their foes: money and organization.The first battle is a particularly ugly one. With governments around the country facing deep budget deficits, many will lay off teachers. Rhee would like them to fight union-backed “last in, first out” policies and to fire bad teachers, not new ones. 

Rhee has brushed off concerns about job security, because “seniority layoffs” can mean that good, young teachers are fired; that low-performing schools — with high rates of turnover — lose more teachers; and that districts that could save money by firing a few higher-paid teachers are instead forced to fire more lower-paid ones. “Doing layoffs based on seniority is not helpful to kids — it’s not in the best interest of children,” she said, and she’s been making that case nationally, notably in an op-ed Wednesday with former New York City Department of Education Chancellor Joel Klein that described the policy as an “outrage.”

http://www.politico.com/

The above painting of George Washington is from an illustration by Bagram Ibatoulline in the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance's award winning publication on American presidents, Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out-- available at your local library or bookstore.

Read more about the book and George Washington at: 

http://www.ourwhitehouse.org

http://www.ourwhitehouse.org/owh+foundation.html

http://www.ourwhitehouse.org/educators-usingOWH.html

State of the Union Address Scheduled for Tomorrow Night

Use the President's Address to Help Young People Connect with Contemporary Events

Tomorrow night President Obama will make his state of the union address to Congress. What policies and legislative goals will the president be promoting? Is the state of the union address important? Need we watch? Need our kids watch?

Among the topics President Obama discussed in last year's speech were job creation, deficit reduction, encouraging American innovation, investing in education, immigration reform, and the need to repeal the military's policy of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. You can watch the president's 2010 state of the union address on WhiteHouse.gov.

You can read the text of previous state of the union addresses (back to 1982) on the website of the government printing office.

What might President Obama be proposing for Americans in tomorrow's speech?
Events such as the state of the union address provide a perfect opportunity to continue our dialog about American history and politics with our young people. Encourage young people to watch the president's address. Watch it with them! When the speech is over, turn off the TV pundits and discuss the speech. What did they think about it? Do they agree with the president's proposals? Why or why not? Take the time to help young people make the connection to their own lives.

Learn more about the constitutional requirements for the state of the union address, plus additional information regarding guests and opposition responses, in the article "State of the Union Addresses and Messages" on the American Presidency Project website.

Help Young People Make Connections with Our White House

An excellent resource to consult regarding the presidency, politics, and American history is the NCBLA’s art and literature anthology Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out. Our White House seeks to build on the logical links between literacy, historical literacy, and civic engagement. Coordinating activities and discussion suggestions, as well as additional articles, are available on the book's supplemental website: OurWhiteHouse.org.

On OurWhiteHouse.org, learn from a political speech writer how a state of the union address differs from an inaugural address in "Writing Political Speeches: An Interview with Thomas LaFauci." 

Also on OurWhiteHouse.org, discover research tips to help adults guide young people in their quest for knowledge, Presidential facts, tips on visiting the White House, and an extensive guide of additional history websites you can share with young people. 

You can find Our White House at your local library. Our White House is also available in both hardcover and paperback at a bookstore near you!

Discover the World at Your Library This Winter

Libraries across the nation are sponsoring a treasure trove of events this winter. From history lectures to job hunting workshops, from pajama time storytelling hour to language classes, you are bound to discover a class or event--or even a book--to spark the imagination of all members of your family this winter! 

Read below for a sample of library happenings across the country. For ideas about how to make the most out of a library visit with your family, check out the NCBLA's article, "An Affordable Family Night Out: Visit Your Neighborhood Public Library."

Boston

Starting this month the Boston Public Library initiates its Local and Family History Lecture Series, which will continue through May. In this lecture series speakers will shed light on topics such as Boston’s metamorphosis into an intellectual and cultural hub, uncovering family connections to the Civil War, and what drove Bostonians to dump tons of tea into the harbor on a cold December night in 1773. The series alternates between topics of local historical interest and instruction for those interested in genealogical research. A particular focus of the 2011 series is the men and women of the Civil War Era, as the nation marks the 150^th anniversary of the start of the conflict. 

Chicago

The Chicago Public Library is offering a lecture series titled Law at the Library, to be presented by the Library and the Chicago Bar Association. The weekly lectures begin January 24 and continue through April. January's lecture is titled "Cleaning Up Your Credit." 

Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Public Library is sponsoring the ALOUD series, featuring lectures, readings, performances, and discussions. Tomorrow's program features V. S. Ramachandran, author of The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human. Also at the Los Angeles Public Library is the exhibit "Forty Years of Sesame Street Illustration: Selections from the Publishing Archive of Sesame Workshop," which explores the history of the popular children’s educational television show Sesame Street, through April 30, 2011. 

What's happening at YOUR local library?!