Banned Books Week, September 22−28

Banned Books Week is the national book community’s annual celebration of the freedom to read and battle censorship. The National Council of Teachers of English provides resources for teachers facing challenges to works used in their classrooms. They’ve also compiled a list of titles that have been challenged between 2004 and 2013. We’ve highlighted just a few of those that are popular classroom reads:

Diary of a Young Girl
Anne Frank

The Giver
Lois Lowry

Fahrenheit 451
Ray Bradbury

Brave New World
Aldous Huxley

Beloved
Toni Morrison

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Mark Twain

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Sherman Alexie

The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald

The House on Mango Street
Sandra Cisneros

Hamlet
William Shakespeare

Things Fall Apart
Chinua Achebe

The Things They Carried
Tim O’Brien

Fig. 1. This graph shows the number of book challenges from 2000-2005 and the most popular reasons for the challenges. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Get Started with Tablets in Your Classroom

A Tablet is Not a Computer

This is the most helpful premise to have when integrating a tablet into a classroom and one that often gets ignored. The purpose of a tablet is best thought of as a consumption and creation device, not a small computer. They are meant as a compliment to the computer, not a replacement.  Seeking to make one’s tablet a computer may lead to frustration as well as discount the strengths of the tablet. Start by considering what the tablet can do and how it can compliment your curriculum to engender active learning.

Reading Tracker Printable – Students and Teachers Editions!

We’ve produced a reading tracker worksheet for students to use to document their daily readings and for teachers to track progress. This serves to hold students accountable for their reading and gives them a tool to share with peers.

We’ve also produced a tracker for teachers to use to evaluate student progress. It contains several  rubrics with space to add your own.

Back-to-School Goal Sheet

Here’s our second FREE printable worksheet. It’s a goal sheet for middle and high school students to identify their academic goals and steps to reaching them.

The goal sheet asks students to:

• State an academic goal
• Identify actions and steps to complete that goal
• Describe what reaching that goal will look like
• Timeline for reaching that goal
• Anticipate challenges

Character Map Printable Worksheet

The new school year approaches and we’re creating our own sets of FREE printable worksheets for middle and high school teachers to use in classrooms. First up: Character Map. Stay tuned to this blog and our Pinterest page over the coming weeks for more free printables. Next week: a worksheet for analyzing symbolism.

Election 2012: Lesson Plans and Tools

November 6th is almost here.  The following are a list of election-related teaching resources. Discover more resources here.

The Newseum Digital Classroom’s interactive timeline for the 2012 Presidential Election traces the major media moments of “Decision 2012.” Newseum’s site also houses lesson plans as well as a glossary of relevant terms.

PBS Learning Media aggregates, curates, and contextualizes election-related resources for K-12 classrooms. Available resources encompass both current events for the 2012 Presidential Election and in-depth learning opportunities that can be used in any study of the U.S. government and election processes.

ReadWriteThink’s Election Day lesson plan provides framework for students in grades 3-12 to engage with the election through mock campaigning and essay-writing.

The Office of the Federal Register’s site has many resources on the election, with a particular emphasis onexplaining the electoral college.

The Library of Congress’ online repository is a source for many photos and historical data on Election Day throughout the years.

The New York Times’ The Learning Network collects teaching ideas and resources, providing excellent opportunities for using primary sources in the classroom.

Explore more resources on our Elections and Politics Pinterest board.

Social Justice Books

We’ve compiled and curated a list of well-regarded books useful as a tool for teaching students to draw direct connections to real world issues and encouraging them to become active global citizens.

Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak
Deborah Ellis
Grades 7-12

The Giver
Lois Lowry
Grades 7 and up

Why We Can’t Wait
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Grades 9 and up

Nickel and Dimed
Barbara Ehrenreich
Grades 11 and up

The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963
Christopher Paul Curtis
Grades 6-8

Between Shades of Gray
Ruta Sepetys
Grades 11 and Up

Arab Spring Dreams
Edited by Nassar Wadday and Sohrab Ahmari
Grades 11 and Up

Amazing Grace
Jonathan Kozol
Grades 11 and Up

Ninth Ward
Jewell Parker Rhodes
Grades 4-8

The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins
Grades 7 and up

Free? Stories About Human Rights
Amnesty International
Grades 7 and up

To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee
Grades 9 and Up

A Long Walk to Water
Linda Sue Park
Grades 5-8

Persepolis
Marjane Satrapi
Grades 9 and Up

Monster
Walter Dean Myers
Grades 7 and Up

The Essential Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
Grades 9 and Up

The above is just a small sampling of the new paperback titles that we’ve curated on our dedicated Social Justice Pinterest board. Check it out for more ideas for titles to integrate into your curriculum.

SAVE 35% off paperbacks when purchasing 10 or more copies. Explore titles and discounts now at Adams Book Company’s main site.

Spotlight on Nonfiction: Books and Curriculum Resources

Mark Twain famously stated, “Truth is stranger than fiction.” This month we’re embracing the strange by spotlighting nonfiction books and teaching tools. We’ve curated a list of new releases, established nonfiction favorites, and curriculum resources on our dedicated Pinterest board. Peruse below for a teaser and then visit our board and website to explore further.

New Nonfiction Book Releases

	The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot $10.40 for 10+ copies	Breaking Night Homeless to Harvard by Liz Murray $9.74 for 10+ copies	Almost Astronauts  by Tanya Lee Stone $11.69 for 10+ copies	The Warmth of  Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson $11.02 for 10+ copies

View more>

Established Nonfiction Favorites

	Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi $9.07 for 10+ copies	The Color of Water by James McBride $10.40 for 10+ copies	The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan $14.45 for 10+ copies	Night by Elie Wiesel $6.47 for 10+ copies

 View more>

SAVE 35% off paperbacks when purchasing 10 or more copies. Explore more titles at www.adamsbook.com.

Lesson Plans & Tools

Introducing the Essay: Twain, Douglass, and American Non-Fiction
This lesson plan serves as an intro to American literary nonfiction writing and focuses on persuasive effect in essays and non-fiction. Grades 9-12. View the Lesson Plan >

Edith Wharton: War Correspondent
Using Edith Wharton’s book, Fighting France, From Dunkerque to Belfort, students will explore an American correspondent’s experiences during World War I. Grades 9-12. View the Lesson Plan >

Using THIEVES to Preview Nonfiction Texts
Using a strategy called THIEVES, which is an acronym for title, headings, introduction, every first sentence in a paragraph, visuals and vocabulary, end-of-chapter questions, and summary, students are guided through a preview of a nonfiction text. Grades 6-8. View the Lesson Plan >

Can You Convince Me? Developing Persuasive Writing
This lesson explores techniques used in oral and written arguments. Students then apply them to persuasive writing activities and analyze the work of others. Grades 3-5. View the Lesson Plan >

Anne Frank: One of Hundreds of Thousands
This lesson supplements your students’ reading of The Diary of a Young Girl by connecting the diary to the study of history and inspiring students to use writing to deepen their insights into their own experiences and the experiences of others. View the Lesson Plan >

The Library of Congress has some great lesson plans for amplifying students’ experience of historical fiction through exploring related primary sources. View the Lesson Plans >

Book Lists for Further Exploration

International Reading Association (IRA) Children’s and Young Adult’s Book Awards >

National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children >

American Librarian Association (ALA) Robert F. Sibert Information Book Medal >

School Library Journal’s List of Best Nonfiction Books of 2011 >

The Library of Congress organizes booklists by historical figures and topics >

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