Celebrating the Voting Rights Act of 1965

            While I am not a strong advocate of the “holiday” or “anniversary” curriculum, I must admit that the anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 has resulted in a fine crop of books—old and new—for teaching and learning. You can see an excellent list on the School Library Journal website at http://www.slj.com/2015/08/collection-development/a-voting-rights-bookshelf/.

            I want to focus on one particular book, Lillian’s Right to Vote by Jonah Winter and Shane W. Evans. This book is based on the life of Lillian Allen, an African American woman who at the age of 100 was able to vote for the first African American president.

            This book can be used to introduce Common Core standards:

·      Key Ideas and Details: What did the Voting Rights Act of 1965 guarantee? How did it come about?

·      Craft and Structure: In his author’s note, Jonah Winter states that Lillian’s uphill climb in order to vote is a metaphor for the uphill climb faced by African Americans pursuing their right to vote. In what ways has it been an uphill climb? What obstacles did Lillian Allen face? How do the words and illustrations work together to show this?

·      Integration of Information: Listen to an NPR interview with Lillian Allen at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97770913. What new information did you learn?

            There are also important civic issues to discuss. First, as the author mentions, current attempts to implement photo ID requirements have had the effect of denying people their right to vote. There is still work to be done to protect this right. How can this be done? Second, the Voting Rights Act has been a long time coming. What were the steps along the way?

            I am happy to see a well-written and well-illustrated book that introduces this compelling information to young readers and celebrates people like Lillian Allen who pursue their rights as Americans. 

What If Mind-Gripping Books Were the Center of Curriculum?

            I just finished reading M. T. Anderson’s Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad. This is truly a mind-gripping book for YAs and adults. Sure, I knew some of the details before I started reading—the German invasion of Russia, the unspeakable acts of Stalin and Hitler, the impact of history on everyday life, and the enormous power of music. Yet there was still so much that I didn’t know about—the life of Dmitri Shostakovich during the siege of Leningrad, the efforts to copy the symphony on microfilm in order to send it to the U.S., the terrible human suffering and loss of life, and the persistence of the human spirit in even the worst of times.

            I found this complex book totally engaging.  I found myself thinking about it during the day and stealing time from my schedule to read just a bit more. I talked about to everyone who crossed my path.  That’s because there is so much in this book to think about: questions of freedom and control, the power of art and music to change our lives, the moral decisions we make about war and peace, the quality of our personal relationships, the nature of heroes and villains, and more.

            Some of the events described were so painful that I had to stop reading and do something else for a while. Other times, I simply had to read on to see what would happen next. Not only did I learn a great deal about Shostakovich and his family, I learned about the incredibly difficult circumstances in which he lived. In addition, there was the author’s presence in the book, reminding me that this history was difficult to construct. Not only was a massive amount of research necessary, but also it was hard to tell if certain sources were even credible. To learn more about this book, see Betsy Bird’s informative interview with M. T. Anderson at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSVt1UfagQM

            Reading this book prompted me to think about this important question: What if complex, mind-gripping books drove our curriculum, at least part of the time? What if pacing calendars mandating the topics teachers must cover during specific months were replaced every so often with time given over to mind-gripping books? What if we focused some attention on reader response—how books make us feel? The passion for reading just might return. And, surprisingly enough, those Common Core and subject matter standards would still be embedded in the experience of reading a responding. We could, in effect, bring back “feelings” while still teaching “facts.” We could have both.

Paul Fleischman has been making some very interesting use of digital media to extend and expand the ideas in his book Eyes Wide Open. Most recently, he created this Youtube video using the current drought in California as a larger lesson in how we relate to the environment: Youtube. As you'll see, he can use the most current headlines, fights, debates, issues while also, well, opening our eyes to large issues.

I see real potential in this -- in a book, using a headline involves permissions (thus time, perhaps cost, the chance of being refused on political or some such grounds) -- but in a video you take information ripped, as it were, from the headlines and turn it directly into ideas, questions, lessons that can be used, even as that news is current. 

A book spells out and explores ideas. But then, as life relates to those ideas, an author can create little video lessons linked to the book. I like this idea a lot. 

Transforming Transportation: Past/Present Parallels

            I am so glad to see a new book by Martin W. Sandler. He is a well-established writer of history books for intermediate and middle school readers and with good reason: His books are clearly written, with an abundance of historical photographs, and lots of background information. His new book, Iron Rails, Iron Men, and the Race to Link the Nation: The Story of the Transcontinental Railroad upholds these standards.

            As Sandler tells us, this is a story of visionary thinkers and hard workers, but also of greedy, corrupt men and violence. Above all, it is a story of transformation, since the Transcontinental Railroad changed our country in many ways, some good and others not so good. There have been other accounts of building the Transcontinental Railroad. There is Rhoda Blumberg’s Full Steam Ahead: The Race to Build a Transcontinental Railroad and Milton Meltzer’s Hear that Train Whistle Blow! How the Railroad Changed the World, but these excellent books are both out of print. They are, however, well worth seeking out.

            As I was reading Iron Rails I kept thinking about the connections I could make to today’s transportation situation. We in New York are facing our own challenges with outdated and faulty rail lines and tunnels and frustrated commuters in the Northeast Corridor. Our own LaGuardia Airport is scheduled to be torn down and rebuilt because it is so out of date. The New York Times has been running articles about this that make for interesting reading, especially while reading Iron Rails.

            So, while this is a fine book to use to discuss Common Core standards such as key ideas and details or integrating photographs and written text or the many nonfiction craft features included in the book, it is also the opportunity to look for ways in which this story resonates with our lives today. Past/present parallels are worth knowing and thinking about. They help us discover the significance of the past.