I Am Albert Einstein -- Ordinary People Change the World Blog Tour & Giveaway -- Multicultural Mathematics

Disclosure: Penguin Random House Books gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Today we are sharing the final book in the Ordinary People Change the World Series. We saved I Am Albert Einstein for last. Hazel absolutely loves this series and we have had a lot of fun sharing all eight books. At the end of this post there is a chance to win the entire series from Penguin Kids! We have shared I Am Abraham Lincoln, I Am Lucille Ball, I Am Martin Luther King, Jr., I Am Helen Keller, I Am Rosa Parks, I Am Amelia Earhart, and I Am Jackie Robinson.Brad Meltzer and Christopher Eliopoulos do an amazing job of making these eight people interesting and fun to children and show that each of us can change the world. 

The Juneteenth Story and Fun Facts about Juneteenth

 

Disclosure: I was given a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Do you know what Juneteenth is? Do you know why it is a holiday? Do you know how it is celebrated or when? Today I am sharing a new book that answers these questions and more. And I'm going to share some fun facts about Juneteenth too. We will start with the fun facts! On June 19, 1865, General Gordon Granger announced in Galveston, Texas that the slaves were free by order of the President of the United States. The next year the first Juneteenth was celebrated.

A Belated Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Snack

So in the book we took out of the library on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, it defined celebrate with the word party in it. That is of course what Hazel took as the meaning. So she wanted to have a party. She called Nonni and asked if they could have a party since Nonni usually has her on Mondays. Nonni planned a pizza party for them. I got to wondering about snack/party ideas. I googled and really only found ideas for classes like have everyone bring a different fruit for a fruit salad or doing an entire multicultural meal. I did not have time to plan this and wanted something fun to do with Hazel. I had been saving a sugar cookie mix from Trader Joe's (they only sell them around Christmas, but we love them). So we pulled out our hand cookie cutter (that I bought for our church's Stewardship campaign last year) and made some sugar cookies. Now with more planning I could have been more creative. Next year I am thinking we will do this but the colors will be frosting using the book The Colors of Us as a guideline. You know start with white frosting and make different skin tone shades by adding food color similar to what we did with paint in this post.

Our first task was to bake the cookies. I had pulled out our hand cookie cutter as well as a dove one. Hazel wanted to make more doves, but luckily I was faster than she was so we got more hands.

While the cookies cooled we organized our decorations which was a task in itself since they were all in one bag. I thought of using M&M's since they are one of Hazel's favorites. In fact I bought a bag or regular and a bag of Valentine's Day so we would have pink, white as well as the brown, yellow and red. But I got to thinking about how the red is so red and they no longer do the tan. Then I thought of the candy store at our big furniture store where you can buy M&M's by the color by the pound as well as jelly beans. Since they did not have skin tone shades of M&M's there, I went with jelly beans. (And yes one of the local furniture stores has crazy attractions in it. The one near us is themed as Bean Town and has a candy store, a local ice cream stand, liquid fireworks, Omni theater and more. The one near where I use to live was themed as New Orleans and had a whole multimedia show of Bourban Street and looked like a theme park.)

Then we got to decorating. We did one hand of each color and then we did some of mixed colors to represent mixed races. Then we decorated one dove in white. The rest I told Hazel she could do what she wanted. While she finished them, I arranged the hands and put the white peace dove in the center.

Then to make her happy we put all the birds in the center.

And a close up of her birds:

So next year we will do something similar but take the time to make the different shades of frosting. I am also going to think of some other fun foods/party foods we could make to celebrate the day. Do you have any ideas? I would love to hear them!

Multicultural Books for Different Ages

Disclosure: I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Today is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday. I have been sharing many of my past posts about Dr. King on my Facebook page this weekend. Be sure to check them all out plus the review I wrote over at Multicultural Kid Blogs this month. 

Mahalia Jackson -- Black History Month Blog Series and Giveaway

This post is part of the Multicultural Kid Blogs' Black History Month Blog Hop and Giveaway. More details below. 

While reading the books written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s relatives this year I kept seeing mention of Mahalia Jackson. I had read the book Martin & Mahalia by Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney, but did not really see the connection to them besides she was a gospel singer and he was a preacher.

Reading stories about how Martin asked Mahalia to get the people in Washington in the right frame of mind for his speech and her whispering to him to tell them about his dream, made me want to learn more. Of course with any musician one of the first things I do is look for a CD at the library so we can hear the music.

Black Musicians and Entertainers #blacklivesmatter Series

 

How has the world changed in the last six months? The fight is still going on for Black rights. There is so much hate and violence as well as peaceful protests. We are in a Movement and we can decide how we are going to respond. We can sit back quietly and watch or we can take part. There are two sides and depending one where you fall you can take action. Know that sitting back quietly and watching is an action. It is accepting what you are seeing. I know at times this summer I have wondered if my actions, my posts, my discussions are making any difference. I even considered giving them up. But I knew in my heart I had to try to make a difference and help there be change. Today we have come to the end of my list. My short list. A list of names to research and share with you because Black lives are part of everyone's history. Black people matter! Although this will be my last post in this series for now, I know I will continue it again. I know there will be future books that share about Black lives, as well as more people to feature. If you have Black people I should feature please leave their names in the comments or contact me.  But I also know I want to focus on Native Americans for Native American History Month. I know we need to also focus on them as they are suffering with Covid and not making it much into the news. 

Hidden Women -- a Multicultural Children's Book Day Review

Disclosure: Capstone Publishing sent me this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Have you seen Hidden Figures? It is in Hazel's top three favorite movies of all times. Our family went to see it on Martin Luther King Day last year. Last year I wrote about the real women in the story for Black History Month. And before the movie I had done a post about Katherine Johnson for a previous Black History Month. Needless to say this is a topic near and dear to us. I jumped at the chance to review a new book called Hidden Women: The African-American Mathematicians of NASA Who Helped Win the Space Race by Rebecca Rissman. 

Stand Up and Sing! Pete Seeger, Folk Music, and the Path to Justice

Disclosure: I was sent this book to review free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review.

Today I am sharing a fun book that teaches kids about Pete Seeger. Now Pete Seeger is a name I know but I will admit besides the fact that he was a folk musician I did not know much about him. Do you? The book is Stand Up and Sing!: Pete Seeger, Folk Music and the Path to Justice by Susanna Reich and illustrated by Adam Gustavson. I learned so much about Pete Seeger from this picture book.

We Shall Overcome -- How a Song Affected the Civil Rights Movement

Do you know the song We Shall Overcome? Do you know its history with the Civil Rights Movement? I found some books to share it with Hazel. The song itself comes from an old gospel song, I'll Overcome Someday composed by Charles Albert Tindley. In 1945, workers were striking against the American Tobacco Company in Charleston, South Carolina, and the workers sang We'll Overcome (I'll Be All Right) to keep up their spirits. Their melody was closer to I'll Be All Right than to Tindley's version. In 1932 Highlander Folk School opened near Monteagle, Tennessee. Its purpose was to help unions in the South. In 1946 some members of the Charleston union came to Highlander and taught We Will Overcome to Zilphia Horton, Highlander's music director. That same year, Zilphia sang the song to Pete Seeger in New York. Pete Seeger had traveled with Woody Guthrie and later became a part of the folk group called the Weavers. Seeger altered the song to fit his own style of singing and changed the will to shall.



In the 1950s the focus of Highlander shifted from labor rights to civil rights. Many civil rights leaders attended training sessions including Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Reverend Ralph Abernathy.

At an anniversary event for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Pete Seeger sang We Shall Overcome. It was the first time Dr. King heard the song and later found himself humming the tune. We Shall Overcome played a role in many important events of the civil rights movement like the March on Washington in 1963, the Freedom Riders and the Selma to Montgomery marches. At the famous, "I Have a Dream" speech, Joan Baez performed and sang We Shall Overcome.

Joan Baez 1963, Source: By Scherman, Rowland, U.S. Information Agency. Press and Publications Service. (ca. 1953 - ca. 1978) (NARA - ARC Identifier: 542017) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Throughout the Civil Rights Movement, people joined hands and sang We Shall Overcome. Lines in the song were added at some of the events like "We are not afraid." People reported that singing the song took away their fears even when facing a mob of Ku Klux Klan members.

To share this song with Hazel, I found two books at the library. The first, We Shall Overcome: The Story of a Song by Debbie Levy, is the one I read to Hazel. It is a picture book with much information about the song as well as the lyrics throughout it. It tells how the students at sit-ins sang We Shall Overcome while being abused by the white patrons of the restaurants as well as throughout the movement.

The second book, We Shall Overcome: A Song That Changed the World by Stuart Stotts, is more of a resource book for older children. It gives more history and much less pictures. I used it as a reference for this post. It did come with a CD with Pete Seeger singing We Shall Overcome on it.

The best part of this song is that it traveled the world and was sung in other countries like India, East Germany, South Korea, and the list goes on.

Resources for this post: Wikipedia, We Shall Overcome: A Song That Changed the World by Stuart Stotts, We Shall Overcome: The Story of a Song by Debbie Levy, and YouTube

Like my post last week on Thurgood Marshall, I will be adding this to the Multicultural Kid Blogs Black History Month Blog Hop.  Feel free to add your own posts on the Civil Rights Movement to the hop!

Katherine Johnson -- Multicultural Math Lesson and Black History Month Blog Hop & Giveaway

*Pictures of Katherine Johnson are from NASA.

This year for Black History Month I could not decide what to focus on for my post. Hazel and I read books about Coretta Scott King (Martin Luther King, Jr.'s wife) and inventor Garrett Morgan. I was trying to decide which to focus on and then I discovered Katherine Johnson and knew I found my post subject. First a bit about how I discovered her. Back from my former life as a high school math teacher I have a friend who was a black history teacher (now he is an assistant principal). Every February he posts on his Facebook page about various black people and events. He only posts so his friends can see them so I have not been able to share them. However this year I have been Googling the person or event and pinning them to my Black History Month Board.  Be sure to check it out to learn about even more Black History. Well one of his posts this year was about Katherine Johnson and I knew I had found my post topic and the bonus is she also is a black mathematician!

I am Jackie Robinson -- Ordinary People Change the World Series Blog Tour & Giveaway

Disclosure:  All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Today we are sharing I Am Jackie Robinson by Brad Meltzer and illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos as part of the Ordinary People Change the World Blog Tour. It seems very appropriate to share this fun book about this great man during Black History Month (be sure to enter the MKB Black History Month Giveaway). Penguin Kids is giving away an entire set of the Ordinary People Change the World Series (to enter scroll down). So far there are eight books in the series. We have already shared I Am Abraham Lincoln, I Am Lucille Ball, I Am Martin Luther King, Jr., I Am Helen Keller, I Am Rosa Parks, and I Am Amelia Earhart. Tomorrow we will share the eighth book, and I am very excited to tell you it will be a Multicultural Math post! But today we are focusing on Jackie Robinson!

Women and Voting -- Books to Celebrate Election Year and 100th Anniversary of Women's Right to Vote

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Did you know yesterday was the 100th anniversary of the passing of the 19th Amendment? The 19th Amendment is the one that gives and guarantees women the right to vote. There was a long fight for that vote. Yesterday President Trump pardoned one of the first women who tried to vote and was arrested, Susan B. Anthony. She was released from jail and fined but never paid the fine. Probably not what Ms. Anthony really wanted but it was a nice gesture. Ever since Hazel did a report and had to dress up as Susan B. Anthony in second grade she has had a big interest in the woman's right to vote and the fight that it took to get us there. Today I am going to share a historical fiction novel for middle readers (ages 8-12) that goes back to the Conference at Seneca Falls. I also have an alphabet picture book about voting and rights of United States citizens. Perfect for talking about women's suffrage as well as the big election coming this year. It is suggested for ages 3 to 6. We will start with the picture book.

Black History Month: Learning about Thurgood Marshall

Congratulations to Rebecca, Natalie and Michele for winning the Baker's Passports Little Bites!

February is Black History Month! Carter G. Woodson, an American historian, started Black History Week in 1926. He chose a week in February to honor the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. To me Black History Month really starts with Martin Luther King, Jr,'s birthday. Multicultural Kid Blogs is hosting a blog hop which I am participating in, and I wrote the introduction post for the MKB blog. This year is the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. To celebrate this, the theme of Black History Month this year is Civil Rights in America. (Source) However MKB has decided to extend this to Worldwide Civil Rights. Throughout February I will look at different people, events and more of the Civil Rights Movement and some ways I am introducing it to Hazel. Today we are going to look at Thurgood Marshall.

NAACP Leaders (Source: By New York World-Telegram and the Sun staff photographer:
Al Ravenna [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)

Now I knew Thurgood Marshall was the first African American Supreme Court Justice, but I did not know his role in the Civil Rights Movement. I happened to take a book out of the library on Thurgood Marshall and read it to Hazel. The book, A Picture Book of Thurgood Marshall, by David A. Adler is a wonderful book to introduce younger children to Thurgood. Marshall.

Thurgood Marshall was born on July 2, 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland. He was named after his grandfather, Thoroughgood Marshall. His grandfather was a freed slave who served in the Union army during the Civil War. Thurgood shortened his name in the second grade because he did not like writing the long name, Thoroughgood. As a child, Thurgood was a trouble maker. He often was punished in school. The principal punished him by sending him to the basement of the school with a copy of the United States Constitution. He was not allowed to come back to class without having a portion of it memorized. Before he graduated, Thurgood said he made it through every paragraph.

His father, William, worked as a waiter. He enjoyed reading about trials and went to watch them in the visitors gallery whenever he could. William Marshall was the first African American to serve on a Baltimore grand jury. William taught his sons to debate and to prove whatever they said. He also taught his sons to be proud of themselves and their race. Thurgood's mother, Norma, was an elementary school teacher. She believed in hard work and a good education. She sold her wedding and engagement rings to help pay for Thurgood's law school expenses.

In 1925 Thurgood went to Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. He joined some African American friends who did silent protests against segregation while in college. He also met Vivian Burey who was a student at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1929 Thurgood and Vivian married. In 1930 Thurgood graduated from Lincoln University with honors. He wanted to go to law school and in particular he wanted to go law school at the University of Maryland. The University of Maryland was an all white school and did not admit him. He went to law school at Howard University in Washington D.C.

At law school, Thurgood discovered that law was what he always wanted to do with his life and devoted himself to his studies. One teacher he had was Charles Hamilton Houston. Houston worked at the NAACP and was the first African American to win a case before the United States Supreme Court. He taught Thurgood and all his students to use the law to fight segregation and discrimination. Thurgood graduated law school in 1933 and opened a law office in Baltimore. Then he began working for Houston and the NAACP.

Source: Thomas J. O'Halloran, U.S. News & World Report Magazine
[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

In 1935, Thurgood Marshall one his first case against segregation. He and Houston argued for the right of Donald Murray to be admitted to University of Maryland Law School. They won the case and Donald Murray became the first African American to be admitted to the law school that Thurgood Marshall had once been denied access. In 1938 Thurgood Marshall became chief lawyer for the NAACP. In 1940 he argued and won his first case before the United States Supreme Court. He won twenty-nine of the thirty-two cases he tried before the Supreme Court. His most famous victory was in Brown versus Board of Education of Topeka in 1954. This was the court case decision the made all the schools desegregated.

In 1954 Thurgood Marshall stopped working to stay home to care for his sick wife, Vivian. She had cancer and died in February 1955. Later that year Thurgood Marshall met Cecilia Suyat. They married and had two sons.

Source: See page for author [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Thurgood Marshall continued to fight segregation and became known as Mr. Civil Rights. In 1961 President Kennedy nominated Thurgood Marshall to be a judge on the United States Court of Appeals. It took almost a year for the Senate to approve his nomination. Four years later President Johnson appointed him United States Solicitor General, the government's top lawyer. His nomination was approved in just one day. Then on June 13, 1967, President Johnson nominated him to be a justice on the Supreme Court. He became the first African American Supreme Court judge. He remained a Supreme Court judge for twenty-four years. He retired in 1991 because of poor health. Justice Thurgood Marshall died on January 24, 1993. He was eighty-four years-old. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Source: By Okamoto, Yoichi R. (Yoichi Robert) Photographer
[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

 Sources: Wikipedia and A Picture Book of Thurgood Marshall by David A. Alder

 Some other books to check out (some I have looked at and some I have not):

 Civil Rights Movement Books that have Thurgood Marshall in them:

Justice Thurgood Marshall played a significant role in the Civil Rights Movement in America. Some say his victory in Brown versus the Board of Education Topeka, was what many African Americans needed to truly start fighting for equal rights. He is just one of many who played significant roles in fighting for equality. I hope you will join us as we explore others as well and check out all the great posts shared here to learn more about Civil Rights Movements worldwide. 

We have not done any activities or lessons, however here are some around the web you can try:

• Coloring Page from Enchanted Learning
• Lesson Plans from Read Write Think (mostly for older students)
• Thurgood Marshall Makes a Difference Lesson/Craft from Crayola
• Many lesson plans, activities, power point presentation on Teachers Pay Teachers and some are free!

Multicultural Kid Blogs is sponsoring a blog hop in honor of Black History Month. Please visit the participating blogs below to learn a bit more about the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement worldwide. Join the discussion in our Google+ community, and follow our Black History board on Pinterest! You can also share your own posts about Black History below. 
 

Participating Blogs

Crafty Moms Share

Multicultural Kid Blogs

Africa to America

Discovering the World Through My Son's Eyes

Kid World Citizen

Sugarfoots

All Done Monkey

The Lesser Known Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement--Black History Month

In honor of Black History Month, we are looking at different Civil Rights Movement Leaders. We are joining other blogs and sharing all of these wonderful stories at Multicultural Kid Blogs Black History Month Blog Hop. The theme of Black History Month is the Civil Rights Movement in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. So far we have explored Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, and the song: We Shall Overcome. Today I am going to share a fictional book based on the author's father's life. It tells the story of a lesser-known hero from the Civil Rights Movement. I am sure there were many like this that were probably only heard of in their area of the country. Luckily Pamela Tuck took her father's story and changed it a bit to tell us a tale of that time in As Fast As Words Could Fly.

The story is about a 14-year-old African American boy whose father is part of the a group fighting for Civil Rights. The boy, Mason, helped the group by taking notes from his father and transforming them into a business letter. The group is so appreciative they buy Mason a typewriter. In the summer Mason and his brothers picked tobacco on a nearby farm with the white farmer's sons. In the evenings Mason taught himself to type on his typewriter. At the end of that summer the boys' father announces that they will no longer take the school bus to the further school for black children, but will get on the bus for the white children. The first couple of days the white children's bus slowed down but did not stop for the boys. When there father made a call, the next day it stopped. Mason stopped to say hi to the boys they worked with over the summer, and did not get much back in return. Mason was very excited to take typing at the school even if the school was not welcoming and no one really talked to him. The typing teacher did not talk to him, but he paid attention to her teachings and how she helped other students. One day there was a Neighborhood Youth Corps sponsoring after school jobs. He got one in the school library. The librarian asked what he could do and he said type. She was surprised at how fast he could type--even faster than the typing teacher. The typing teacher became a bit more friendly with Mason since he took away her library work. One day there was a typing contest and the winner at the school's contest would go on to a county tournament. Mason won the school's contest. Since they already had several issues with the Board of Education due to the treatment of Mason and his brothers the school felt they had to let him represent them.  The principal and typing teacher took Mason to the contest, but did not speak to him. At the contest he was the only black contestant. He was allowed to pick a typewriter to work on either electric or manual. He chose the manual one like his at home. All the other kids chose the new electric ones. Mason won this contest. When his name was announced no one cheered and no one applauded when the principal accepted the plaque for the school. When the principal asked on the way home why Mason picked the manual typewriter, he replied, "It reminds me of where I come from." 

I was fascinated by this tale since segregation was already declared illegal, but was still being practiced. When Mason's father pushed the issue his boys got to go to the school but dealt with much prejudice. Yet it is a wonderful story of success. Plus it brings a history of the typewriter, which so many children will not know anything about. I am sure there are stories like this throughout the country of the families who forced the schools to desegregate and the children who dealt with the issues of that. So to all those people, we honor you today. I hope each and every one of you passes your story on so more people will know it.

The ABCs of Black History--Upcoming book to teach young children about Black History!

 

Disclosure: I was sent a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Last week I did our last Black Lives Matter Series post and said I was going to focus on Native Americans but this book passed my way and I have to share it with you. This book is coming out in December 8, 2020. The book is The ABCs of Black History by Rio Cortez and illustrated by Lauren Semmer. 

Sharing Saturday 15-2

Have you entered my current giveaway for a wooden watch?

 Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week! There were some amazing ideas as always!! And a very special thank you to everyone who visited the posts shared!! For features this week we have penguins & more and Valentine's Day and more.

Multicultural Books for Multicultural Monday

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in exchange for honest reviews. All opinions are my own.

January is upon us. Wow, time has been flying. Now that the holidays are over we turn back and look at our lives. Did you make resolutions? I always find January to be bitter sweet. I enjoy the holidays and seeing everyone and they are over. We take our Christmas decorations down and the house seems empty. However as someone who loves diversity there are always more things to look forward to. Multicultural Children's Book Day is January 31st and I am co-hosting again this year. Stay tune for my official posts starting this week. The lunar new year is also approaching. I will be participating in Multicultural Kid Blogs annual blog series on January 20th to share books about China and Korea and their lunar new year celebrations. And of course Martin Luther King Day is this month. So much great stuff. Then February hits with Black History Month. Lots to look forward to. Today I thought I would share four multicultural books with you to start off our January. 

Virtual Book Club for Kids: Sherman Crunchley

Today we get to share a Laura Numeroff book as part of the Virtual Book Club for Kids. For those that do not know, Virtual Book Club for Kids is a monthly blog hop where an author is picked for the month and a group of amazing blogs shares one of the books by the author with an activity or craft to go with it. Anyone who has an activity or craft to go with a book by the selected author is welcome to share it at the blog hop.  The bloggers presenting the blog hop are:

Black History Month: Learning about Huntsville, Alabama and Civil Rights Movement

Disclosure: Candlewick Press gave me a copy of this book free of charge to review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Have you heard of Huntsville, Alabama? You may know it as the "Space Center of the Universe" or "Rocket City." After all the Marshall Space Flight Center is just on the outskirts of Huntsville. 

3 Multicultural Picture Books

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I have gathered a group of three new multicultural picture books to share with you. Each are multicultural in different ways and share about different important lessons. We will start with one that is good for teaching young children a bit of Civil Rights Movement history. It is A Ride to Remember by Sharon Langley and Amy Nathan and illustrated by Floyd Cooper.