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In discussing the persecution of European Jews in the years before and during World War II, my students would often ask, "How could they let this happen?" Meaning, how could the rest of the world stand by and do nothing? For all the answers I can help students to find, I still can't answer this question myself.
The question asked nearly as often, however, is this: "Why didn't the Jews fight back?" But to that question I can readily answer, "They did. They did fight back. But realize that it wasn't just with guns; even children your age found ways to disrupt and defy the Nazis who tried to exterminate them."
In teaching the topic of Jewish resistance, I've found a great resource in an impressive series of six books from Enslow Publishing titled True Stories of Teens in the Holocaust.This seriesexplores, through hundreds of primary documents and photographs, the diverse experiences of Jewish and non-Jewish youth caught up in the Holocaust.
Check out the books below, and then read on for suggested sites for helping students learn history through analyzing primary sources.
Courageous Teen Resisters: Primary Sources from the Holocaust
The popular title Courageous Teen Resisters: Primary Sources from the Holocaust documents both violent and nonviolent defiance of Nazi terrorism, from the increasingly overt persecution of early 1930s Germany to resistance efforts in France to the twenty-seven days of the Warsaw uprising. Readers learn how subtle and secretive efforts by Jews and Gentile sympathizers disrupted and distracted occupying enemy troops in some circumstances, while outright armed resistance and acts of sabotage wreaked chaos and destruction in others.
From Courageous Teen Resisters:
Courageous Teen Resisters is recommended as a stand-alone volume for students seeking to learn more about Jewish Resistance, as well an informational text companion to Heroes of the Holocaust: True Stories of Rescues by Teens (available from Scholastic).
The remaining five titles in the Enslow series are described below with a short publisher's summary or excerpt as well as recommended companion titles. This series is especially useful in text pairings not only to meet demands of the Common Core emphasis on informational texts, but to provide students with the necessary historical and social contexts needed to truly appreciate biography and historical fiction rooted in the Holocaust. (If you're seeking Holocaust texts for lower-level readers, be sure to check out my Annotated List of Holocaust Picture Books).
Youth Destroyed - The Nazi Camps
"Alice Lok was deported to Auschwitz, a Nazi death camp, in 1944. Upon her arrival, she faced a "selection." Alice had to stand in line as a Nazi doctor examined the new camp inmates. If the doctor pointed one direction, it meant hard labor—but labor meant life. If the doctor pointed the other way, that meant immediate death. Alice was lucky. She survived Auschwitz and two other camps. However, millions of Jews were not so lucky." ~ from the publisher
"(M)any Jewish youth living in the ghettos in Europe... faced death, fear, hunger, hard labor, and disease everyday. Millions of Jews were forced into ghettos, where the Nazis kept them until they could be deported to the death camps." ~ from the publisher
For this title I'd recommend Children in the Ghetto, an interactive site which describes itself as
"...A website about children, written for children. It portrays life during the Holocaust from the viewpoint of children who lived in the ghetto, while attempting to make the complex experience of life in the ghetto as accessible as possible to today’s children.
Along with the description of the hardships of ghetto life, it also presents the courage, steadfastness and creativity involved in the children’s lives. One of the most important messages to be learned is that despite the hardships, there were those who struggled to maintain humanitarian and philanthropic values, care for one another, and continue a cultural and spiritual life."
By examining writings, artifacts, and first hand interviews, students gain an understanding of the "anything-to-survive" mentality which the ghetto created, and demanded, of its inhabitants. Students can explore freely, taking advantage of the interactive elements, or respond to prompts in writing using the printable handouts (I downloaded the handouts, available in Word format, and adapted them according to my lesson objectives).
Once students have interacted with this site, they will have a mental bank of sites, sounds, stories, and symbols from which to draw upon, greatly increasing their understanding and appreciation of this nonfiction text as well as any novel with which they're working.
"Thousands of Jews lived on the run during the Holocaust. Some were able to escape Germany before the war started. Others had to move throughout Europe to flee the Nazis. And many more could not escape at all." ~ from the publisher
"(T)housands of Jews went into hiding during the Holocaust. Barns, trapdoors, bunkers, secret attics, forged identity papers, and fake names became tools for survival." ~ from the publisher
The fate of Jews who were hidden is of special interest to students. Even in a classroom that chooses not to embark upon a full Holocaust unit, time can certainly be devoted to learning about Jews who went into hiding rather than face extermination by the Nazis.
The uncertainty of such a choice is reflected in this diary entry from Anne Frank which appears in the book:
"Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party's rise to power in the 1930s changed life dramatically for all people living in Germany. Hitler used propaganda, fear, and brutality as his main weapons. Jewish children faced strong antiSemitism in their schools and on the street, and saw their families ripped apart. Non-Jewish children deemed "undesirable" suffered a similar fate. "Aryan" children were forced to enter Hitler Youth groups or endure humiliation." ~ from the publisher
This book is a real stand-out as it not only chronicles the experience of Jews in Nazi Germany, but also Gentiles who were reluctant to submit to Nazi ideologies.
Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust If you're looking for a single-volume resource for any middle or high school classroom, I recommend Doreen Rappaport's multiple award winning Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust, published by Candlewick Press.
Like all of Candlewick's titles, this text is supported by a number of resources available from the publisher's site, including a full page spread, a teacher's guide, an interview with a survivor, and an audio excerpt. The book itself includes primary source excerpts, maps, a pronunciation guide, timeline, index, and sources.
In speaking of her accomplishment (which took five years to research and write), author Doreen Rappaport says,
"How Jews organized themselves in order to survive and defy their enemy is an important but still neglected piece of history. I present a sampling of actions, efforts, and heroism with the hope that I can play a role in helping to correct the damaging and persistent belief that Jews ‘went like sheep to the slaughter.’"
Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation
A key resource for teaching Jewish resistance, and for discovering a multitude of primary sources, is the web site of the Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation, whose key mission is "to develop and distribute effective educational materials about the Jewish partisans and their life lessons, bringing the celebration of heroic resistance against tyranny into educational and cultural organizations."
Over 30,000 Jewish partisans, or “members of an organized body of fighters who attack or harass an enemy, especially within occupied territory.” joined the hundreds of thousands of non-Jewish resistance fighters who fought the Nazis. Interestingly, however, their assistance was not always welcome, as antisemitism was often common in non-Jewish resistance groups.
This comprehensive and well constructed site offers teachers and students myriad free resources including:
Professional Development modules which can be completed for continuing education credits (CEUs) (I highly recommend that prior to using this site you complete at least the first module, to better understand how to best access the site's videos, articles, lesson plans, student hand-outs, and more);
An extensive film collection, containing 3 to 20 minute films trhough which students can "witness the Jewish partisans' stories of endurance, victory, and struggle;"
A very unique tool called Someone Like Me, where a students enter a combination of characteristics which describe themselves, and the site presents a partisan who matches those characteristics. Students can then explore the life and work of that partisan through any of the resource links above.
Primary Sources
Because the impact of Holocaust education relies heavily upon students learning the true events of this tragedy, primary sources should play a role in every Holocaust unit. The JPEF site described above provides a wonderful collection of sources from which to choose, but below I have compiled a number of additional resources which educators may find useful in planning their instruction. As always, please reach out and let me know what other sites, books, and documents you've found useful.
Primary Document Webinar This hour long recorded webinar present teachers with not only reasons for using primary sources, but also ten really easy-to-implement ideas for starting with primary sources in the classroom.
Making Sense of Evidence This is a highly recommended collection of articles written by experts in the field on how to make sense of films, oral histories, numbers, maps, advertisements, and more. While written by the experts, students will find the language they use to be accessible. From the site:
“Making Sense of Documents” provide strategies for analyzing online primary materials, with interactive exercises and a guide to traditional and online sources. “Scholars in Action” segments show how scholars puzzle out the meaning of different kinds of primary sources, allowing you to try to make sense of a document yourself then providing audio clips in which leading scholars interpret the document and discuss strategies for overall analysis.
Because of the career connections, this site is a valuable tool for achieving College and Workplace Readiness goals.
Where Can I Find Lesson Plans with Primary Sources?
I Witness From the USC Shoah Foundation, this site contains over 1300 video testimonies and other digital resources, as well as assistance for educators seeking to use these tools in Holocaust education.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Offers an ever-changing variety of resources, as well as searchable pages for research. Educators can often request free teaching materials as well.
PBS Resources on the Holocaust The search page of PBS provides a vast number of resources, including excerpts from shows which have appeared on public television.
Dr. Seuss Went to War Theodore Geisel was a radical political cartoonist who urged America to join "Europe's war," in large part due to the oppressive policies of Hitler's Nazi. But are Geisel's cartoons themselves a type of propaganda? See an earlier post here on Propaganda and Persuasion.
What Strategies or Tools are Available to Assist Students in Analyzing Sources?
SOAPS Primary Document Strategy This pdf provides information about the SOAPS acrostic, which students can easily recall for use in analyzing primary sources of information.
Illustration by Maria Bogade Maria was featured last week on Illustrator Saturday. Here is the link: http://wp.me/pss2W-68h
Amazon Launches Two Lions and Skyscape YA Imprints
Roughly a year after the Amazon Children’s Publishing division launched, it has announced two new imprints. Two Lions will be home to picture books, chapter books and middle-grade fiction, and Skyscape will be devoted to titles for young adults, encompassing works from both established authors and new voices. Margery Cuyler is editorial manager for Two Lions, and Tim Ditlow is editorial manager for Skyscape. Amazon Children’s Publishing’s general manager is Amy Hosford; Larry Kirshbaum, publisher for Amazon Publishing, oversees the editorial leadership for the company’s Seattle and New York adult imprints, as well as Amazon Children’s Publishing.
Amazon wants to take advantage of one of the hottest segments in the publishing world with these two new youth imprints, which is a great thing for all of us. They will publish established and new authors for these books.
In the next four months there will be a number of launch titles being issued. According to Publishers Weekly, Two Lions is slatted to release Gandhi: A March to the Sea by Alice B. McGinty, a biography written in free-verse; and Poco Loco, a debut picture book about a mouse inventor by J.R. Krause. Titles under the Skyscape umbrella include You Know What You Have to Do by Bonnie Shimko, about a 15-year-old girl who hears voices in her head telling her to kill people; and Reason to Breathe, the first book in the Breathing Series trilogy by Rebecca Donovan, an initially self-published title that has already earned a dedicated readership.
These new imprints will play into the new Kindle Freetime Unlimited program that allows parents to subscribe to the new Amazon service, and get as many kids books they want a month. It is very likely that a number of these titles will appear between Freetime and Amazon Prime. Have you taken advantage of this new program? Don’t miss out.
Nobrow Press to Launch Children’s Imprint in 2013
U.K.-based indie graphic novel publisher Nobrow Press is launching Flying Eye Books, a children’s book imprint that will debut in the U.K. in February and in March in the U.S. Flying Eye Books will release 12 titles in the first year including comics, picture books, activity books, fiction, and nonfiction for kids aged 4-11 years old.
Speeding Star is a new trade imprint from Enslow Publishers, Inc., esteemed for its high-quality nonfiction and fiction materials for the educational market. Beginning in the Fall 2013, Speeding Star will release easy-to-read fiction and informational titles. This content will be suitable for boys and young men from third grade to high school. Each title will be either 48, 64 or 96 pages, on topics ranging from zombie mysteries to profiles of today’s greatest sports stars. Available in both hardcover trade and paperback bindings, as well as through all major e-book outlets, our titles will keep boys reading!
Capstone Publishing Group, which has been aggressively expanding beyond the school and library markets with the launch six months ago of its Capstone Young Readers trade imprint, is adding picture books to the list this spring. Thirteen picture books in print format will be released initially under the CYR imprint; after the first list, the imprint will release four to six picture books each year.
Capstone Publishing Group has previously published picture books for the educational and trade markets under its Picture Window imprint and will continue to do so; this is the first time the company is publishing picture books under the CYR imprint. Thus far, board books, chapter books, and hobbies and crafts books have been published under the CYR imprint, which is overseen by senior product manager John Rahm and editorial directors Michael Dahl and Nick Healy.
In May Capstone will launch a Web site to promote its new CYR line, www.capstoneyoungreaders.com. CYR titles will be available in digital formats as well as in print. While only select Capstone Publishing titles for the educational market are available in digital formats, beginning in fall 2012, all of Capstone’s trade titles will be available in both print and e-book formats.
Valentine’s Illustration by Barbara Eveleth Barbara was featured on Illustrator Saturday, Nove. 11th, 2010. Here’s the link: http://wp.me/pss2W-1ZX
This Valentine’s Day illustration was sent in by Michelle Kogan. Michelle is a Chicago illustrator, instructor, painter and writer. She’s working on a picture book called Through A Sunflower. You can view some of the illustrations for this book and read more about Michelle in the article: Journey with an Illustrator, Painter and Writer, in the January 2013 The Prairie Wind, the Newsletter of the Illinois Chapter of the SCBWI, where Michelle is the Illustrator in the Spotlight, http://www.scbwi-illinois.org/pdf/PrairieWind-Winter2013.pdf
I recently read about Two Lions, Skyscape and Capstone. All good news!
Tracy Campbell said, on 2/14/2013 9:09:00 AM
Hi Kathy,
It’s a good thing you provide such informative posts, like today’s. I wasn’t aware of all the Imprints.
As an artist, I love reading about and viewing other artist’s work.
Very talented bunch.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Tracy
Michelle Kogan Illustration, Painting & Writin said, on 2/14/2013 9:53:00 AM
Hi Kathy, Thanks for including my Young Valentine illustration and for your info on Imprints!
Michelle
The Locket: Surviving the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire is a historical novel written for ages 9 to 12. It tells the story of Galena, an eleven-year-old Russian-Jewish immigrant who lives in New York City in 1911 with her family and works at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory with her older sister, Anya. The factory pays low wages, has horrendous working conditions and employs underage children like Galena.
In the early 1900s, joining the union is a dangerous thing to do, but Anya longs to improve working conditions for abused workers. Soon a horrible fire erupts and destroys the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory and shatters a young girl’s dream.
Author Suzanne Lieurance weaves together the fictional and non-fictional aspects of this historical story with ease. By blending dramatic factual accounts of a historical event with realistic fictional characters, Lieurance brings the reader inside the ill-fated factory. Lieurance’s account is truly a step back in time to understand how a young Jewish immigrant girl uses the support of her Jewish traditions, family and friends for inspiration to fight for workers’ rights.
The Locket also has an educator’s guide available for teachers and parents. This guide is a fantastic supplement with additional reading suggestions, discussion questions and other activities.
Title:The Locket, Surviving the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Author: Suzanne Lieurance Hardcover: 160 pages Cover Illustration: Original Painting by Corey Wolfe Ages: 9 – 12 Publisher: Enslow Publishers, Inc. ISBN 13: 978-0-7660-2928-6 ISBN-10: 0-7660-2928-X
0 Comments on The Locket – Surviving the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire by Suzanne Lieurance as of 1/1/1900
Title: Super Ben’s Dirty Hands Author: Shelley Marshall Illustrator: Ben Mahan Publisher: Enslow Publishers, Inc. ISBN: 13: 978-0-7660-3513-3 Reviewed by: Karen Cioffi
What child doesn’t get his or her hands dirty? Well, Super Ben’s Dirty Hands addresses just this issue. Aimed at ages 5-8, and only 24 pages, this wonderfully colorful illustrated picture book will help make children aware of the importance of washing their hands, especially before eating. It also touches on the importance of sneezing into your arm, to help avoid spreading germs.
With colds, viruses and the flu making their rounds regularly, Super Ben’s Dirty Hands is a must have book to help introduce the topic of cleanliness, considerateness, and staying healthy to young children . . . young children who are constantly touching toys, along with anything, and everything else in their path.
In a fun and engaging story, the little bear Ben, and his friend Molly, have an adventurous outing at the park. When it’s time to eat, Ben’s ready to dig in. But, sensible Molly reminds him of all the things they touched throughout the day. Ben readily agrees, “Let’s wash our hands. We do not want to be super sick heroes.”
With the knowledge that one of the best preventive strategies children and adults can take to prevent the passing of germs is washing your hands, it’s a good idea to instill this practice in little ones as soon as possible. Super Ben’s Dirty Hands will be a useful tool to accomplish this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Check out these other book reviews:
And, please, if you do take my advice and join one or both of Suzanne's groups, please mention my name--I am an affiliate of hers. But, also know that I only recommend these programs because I belong to them and I know their value if you're serious about writing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you haven’t yet, be sure to sign up for our FREE monthly newsletter and get a FREE eBook! Scroll down on the right sidebar--there are two free e-books just for stopping by!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AND, if you haven't heard yet, DKV Writing for you is have a Sizzling HOT July Writing Services Special. Do you want to get that idea turned into a book? Do you want to write your memoirs? Do you need editing, proofreading, or a professional critique? Do you need an e-book to offer as a Freebie on your site? We cover a number of writing services, so please stop by and check it out. Go to: http://dkvwriting4u.com/blog/
This sounds like a really cute book for young children. This would be a great book for all preschools and elementary schools to have in their classrooms. Teachers are having to talk to the kids about clean hands and cold and flu season on top of all the other things they teach.
Hi, Susanne, and ?, thanks for stopping by. I read it to my grandson and he liked it - we read it twice, so I think it is a useful tool to teach kids about cleanliness.
Hi, hope it's OK to drop you a line here. I'm with a new giveaway search engine: Giveaway Scout (http://www.giveawayscout.com) and would like to offer you to have your blog included. Have a look and if interested, use our online form to add your blog (http://www.giveawayscout.com/addblog/ ). thanks, Jill
Title: What Is Electricity and Magnetism? Authors: Richard and Louise Spilsbury Publisher: Enslow Publishers, Inc. ISBN: 13: 978-0-7660-3096-1 ISBN: 10: 0-7660-3096-2 Reviewer: Karen Cioffi
I love books that teach children about the world around us, and Enslow Publishers’, What Is Electricity and Magnetism? by Richard and Louise Spilsbury, is one such book.
The topics: What is Electricity; Making and Storing Electricity; What is Magnetism; Electromagnetism; and Motors and Generators are explained in easy to understand text. And, each topic has color illustrations that will certainly help with a child’s comprehension.
What is especially useful in What is Electricity and Magnetism? is the Close-Up section in each topic. This section describes in detailed, yet simple language exactly how a particular subject, such as a battery, actually works:
“All batteries have three parts: an electrolyte, a negative electrode, and a positive electrode. The electrolyte includes chemicals that can make electricity. The negative electrode is a metal case that surrounds the electrolyte. The negative electrode reacts with the electrolyte to make electrons flow.”
The explanation goes on to further enlighten the child. And, along with the text, illustrations provide a visual of what is actually going on. The combination of thorough explanations along with explicit illustrations make for a powerful learning tool.
Along with this, What Is Electricity and Magnetism features an extensive “hands on” section that provides fascinating and doable experiments. All children within the intended age group will love to explore science by working on projects such as building an electromagnet, building batteries, and creating a lemon cell.
I highly recommend What is Electricity and Magnetism? by Richard and Louise Spilsbury.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You may find these reviews of interest also:
Please, if you do take my advice and join one or both of Suzanne's groups, please mention my name--I am an affiliate of hers. But, also know that I only recommend these programs because I belong to them and I know their value if you're serious about writing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you haven’t yet, be sure to sign up for our FREE monthly newsletter and get a FREE eBook! Scroll down on the right sidebar--there are two free e-books just for stopping by!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AND, if you haven't heard yet, DKV Writing for you is have a Sizzling HOT July Writing Services Special. Do you want to get that idea turned into a book? Do you want to write your memoirs? Do you need editing, proofreading, or a professional critique? Do you need an e-book to offer as a Freebie on your site? We cover a number of writing services, so please stop by and check it out. Go to: http://dkvwriting4u.com/blog/
2 Comments on What Is Electricity and Magnetism?, last added: 7/2/2010
Title: Poetry Rocks! Early American Poetry Author: Stephanie Buckwalter Publisher: Enslow Publishers, Inc. ISBN: 13: 978-0-7660-3277-4 ISBN: 10: 0-7660-3277-9
Poetry Rocks! Early American Poetry “Beauty in Words” explores poetry in America from colonial days to the end of the nineteenth century. It is a wonderful stepping stone for children to journey into the world of verse. Illustrations and pictures of the authors lend an air of informality to the book while the poems, facts, information, and descriptions enlighten the child to poets such as Anne Bradstreet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Edgar Allan Poe, Emily Dickenson, and Walt Whitman to name a few.
In a complete package, Buckwalter includes the elements of poetry, such as stanzas and poetic meter. She also includes explanations of words and terminology featured in the poems and the corresponding time periods. Along with this, there are very interesting, yet brief, biographies of the poets, along with details of their writings, bringing to light the hows and whys of the poems. In addition, Buckwalter sheds light on romanticism, reality, and poetic license and technique. This detailed analysis is provided in easy to read content.
As an added feature, at the end of each poets section, Buckwalter provides further reading resources. This is a valuable tool for the child who is sparked by a particular poet and wants to learn more.
I fondly remember as a youth reading a couple of the poems Buckwalter dissects in Poetry Rocks! Early American Poetry “Beauty in Words.” Without this type of children’s book, our youth would miss out on learning about a beautiful form of writing and a certain perspective of the world around us.
In the introduction, Buckwalter explains: “Poets often see the world differently from most people. Some can see things hidden in the mundane; others scale lofty heights of philosophy. They all take words that capture ideas, feelings, and truth, and arrange them in ways that illuminate those realities.” I love this explanation; it’s simple, yet profound.
I highly recommend this book for children in the grade levels recommended.
*************** Karen Cioffi is an author and freelance writer. You can learn more about Karen at: karencioffi.com/media-page. Join her mailing list at DKV Writing 4 U and receive a special gift: Writing, Publishing, and Marketing – You Can Do It! Please note: The gift offered at the site changes periodically.
0 Comments on Poetry Rocks! by Stephanie Buckwalter as of 2/3/2010 9:41:00 AM
Long time reader Melissa emailed me: "Keith, you're killing me. You get me so excited about picture books, but you haven't had a giveaway since December! When's the next one?"
First of all, it's good to hear that I can still get anyone excited, and secondly, Melissa's right. It's time to give away some books.
In the past I've always asked for an email to enter, but a fellow blogger gave me a hard time about this. She said I was making it way too easy, and making everyone else (other book bloggers) look bad. Sorry; that wasn't my intention. I was instead taking a jab at the corporate sites that require a TON of info for access to read one article.
So, to enter for any of the books below, please join this site as a follower (see the link in the sidebar to the right). I won't spam you, friend you on Facebook, or email you chain letters. Those who are already following: thanks for the support, and you're grandfathered in. (I also have a secret hope that publishers will send more books for giveaway if they see that the site has a large number of followers; if that's true, we all win!).
So here are some of the terrific titles, as well as the posts in which they appeared. (If you really have a preference for a certain title, email me after following. Otherwise, in the words of that great preschool mantra, you get what you get and you don't get upset):
I'm a follower, and would love any one of these books! The Quirkles books caught my attention because I'm putting together a preschool science program of sorts...
Thanks everyone for the comments! I love sharing great books, and it's good to see people get as excited as I do about the terrific titles available now.
I'm hoping to offer many more in my second year hosting this site.
Wow! It's great to see so many new folks, as well as old friends. I appreciate you "jumping through the hoops" required to do the Google friend follow.
Dinosaurs seem to fascinate many children, so here are some lesson plans and other dinosaur-themed activities I found on the web if you want to teach your child more about dinosaurs.
Dinosaur Lesson Plans: A big list of activities and lesson plans for kids, including "How To Write a Funny Dinosaur Poem," and "Make a Sock-A-Saurus."
Dinosaur Mini-Unit for Kindergartners: Contents of this mini-unit include an introduction to fossils, palentologists, and dinosaurs; some really fun art activities; and more.
Dinosaur Prints: An art project where children can make and paint their own print of a dinosaur using a picture from a book or magazine.
Dinosaur Art Activities: A teacher shares three dinosaur-themed art activities she's completed with her students.
Dinosaur Bodies: A lesson from National Geographic for grades K-2 that encourages kids to think about and learn how animals used their bodies and how dinosaurs might have used theirs.
Dinosaur Detectives: A comprehensive lesson for children in grades 6-8 that helps them learn more about palentologists.
Note that I found TONS of information, so what I'm listing now is just a small sample of what's out there.
0 Comments on Dinosaur Lesson Plans and Activities as of 1/1/1900
Ever since I was a child, I was fascinated with dinosaurs and paleontology. I often wondered what it would feel like to be the scientist who discovered a dinosaur after grueling work. Well, The Discovery and Mystery of a Dinosaur Named Jane finally gives me some insight.
The book begins with paleontologists and volunteers from the Burpee Museum of Natural History in Rockford, Illinois discovering a toe bone while digging in Montana. It was unfortunately, the end of their season, so they covered up the site where they were digging, hoping that no one else found the rest of the dinosaur until they could come back the NEXT YEAR!
Luckily, the site was untouched, and they were able to dig up the bones of a magnificent dinosaur who they named Jane. But what kind of Dinosaur is Jane? They believe she’s a tyrannosaur, but is she a nanotyrannus or an infamous T-Rex? Or is she a new species altogether? One thing is clear—this is an amazing discovery and the biggest one yet for the small museum.
Judith Williams gives a detailed description of the laborious work the paleontologists performed to successfully dig up the dinosaur bones. Readers even get a glimpse of the common tools paleontologists use. Once the bones are removed and transported back to the museum, readers learn all of the work that was involved with cleaning, repairing, and putting the bones together and all of the research required to determine what type of dinosaur Jane is.
What’s refreshing about this book is that it’s different than the typical kid’s book that features glorious images of dinosaurs and awe-inspiring facts. Instead, it’s a book that really focuses on the discovery of a dinosaur and gives readers insight into the hard work that’s involved in getting a magnificent dinosaur on display in a museum. Children will learn to respect this work along with the creature that one roamed the earth.
With interesting pictures and photographs of the dig site and of the work in progress, this is a great find for a kid who is interested in dinosaurs and paleontology. Heavier on text than pictures, it’s more suitable for a proficient reader.
What People Are Saying About the Recent SCBWI New York Conference... In my recent newsletter (click here to subscribe), I asked to hear from writers and illustrators who attended the SCBWI Mid-Winter Conference which took place in New York February 8-10. I was not able to attend so this was my way to live vicariously through those of you would did.
I'm keeping me fingers crossed that I'll get to attend the SCBWI Conference in LA this summer. If I do, I'll be blogging like mad, just as I have the past two years. (See my August 2007 and August 2006 archives if you're interested. I just now relived the last conference as I read through my old post. It was lovely to think about being in sunny Los Angeles, abuzz with children's book people, instead of here in cold, snowy, icy Cincinnati.)
This was fun! I've read several times about the "Shrunken Manuscript" technique darcypattison recommends at her novel revision workshops. cynthialord blogged about trying it on her latest manuscript at the NE SCBWI Conference, so I decided to give it a try with my contemporary MG to check some issues with minor characters and story arc. I shrunk my 35,000-word, 120-page manuscript down to 29 pages of 8-point font so I could lay out the whole thing in my sun room. Here's what it looked like.
The pink post-it notes are major plot points. The green are hints of my MC's crush. The blue ones show where a minor friend character shows up. The orange are funny bits with the little brother. The yellow are opportunities for a new little thread I want to introduce. I went through and marked all the things that already exist and learned a lot. (I also found a gaping black hole with no pink post-its for almost four pages -- yikes!). Then I went through and added more color-coded post-its for things I want to add in my next revision pass.
I loved this technique. I'm a visual person, so seeing it all laid out like this helped me visualize the story arc in a much more tangible way and helped me see how I need to fix it. (Plus, I have a fixation with Post-It notes anyway, and this was a good excuse to use large quantities of them. )
By examining writings, artifacts, and first hand interviews, students gain an understanding of the "anything-to-survive" mentality which the ghetto created, and demanded, of its inhabitants. Students can explore freely, taking advantage of the interactive elements, or respond to prompts in writing using the printable handouts (I downloaded the handouts, available in Word format, and adapted them according to my lesson objectives). 
Roughly a year after the Amazon Children’s Publishing division launched, it has announced two new imprints. Two Lions will be home to picture books, chapter books and middle-grade fiction, and Skyscape will be devoted to titles for young adults, encompassing works from both established authors and new voices. Margery Cuyler is editorial manager for Two Lions, and Tim Ditlow is editorial manager for Skyscape. Amazon Children’s Publishing’s general manager is Amy Hosford; Larry Kirshbaum, publisher for Amazon Publishing, oversees the editorial leadership for the company’s Seattle and New York adult imprints, as well as Amazon Children’s Publishing.
Nobrow Press to Launch Children’s Imprint in 2013
Capstone Publishing Group, which has been aggressively expanding beyond the school and library markets with the launch six months ago of its 
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Karen Cioffi is an author and freelance writer. You can learn more about Karen at: .jpeg?picon=3220)
by Judith Williams
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I recently read about Two Lions, Skyscape and Capstone. All good news!
Hi Kathy,
It’s a good thing you provide such informative posts, like today’s. I wasn’t aware of all the Imprints.
As an artist, I love reading about and viewing other artist’s work.
Very talented bunch.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Tracy
Hi Kathy, Thanks for including my Young Valentine illustration and for your info on Imprints!
Michelle