Resources 22.3

Curriculum Resources

Great Peacemakers: 
True Stories from Around the World

By Ken Beller and Heather Chase
(LTS Press, 2008) 
195 pp. $21.95
This collection of life stories of 20 “peacemakers” from around the world is a welcome addition to any middle or high school classroom. The short biographical essays cover the childhood and the social/ecological justice activities of the individuals. Each also has a photo and a page of quotations from every peacemaker. Those profiled include Wangari Maathai from Kenya, Bruno Hussar the creator of the “Oasis of Peace” village in Israel, and Rachel Carson.

*500 Years of Chicana Women’s History/500 Años de la Mujer Chicana 

Edited by Elizabeth “Betita” Martínez 
(Rutgers University Press, 2007) 
288 pp., 899 illustrations, $23.95
A bilingual picture book for grown-ups (and high school students) that you just can’t put down. So many inspiring stories and photos of Mexican American/Chicana women in politics, labor, art, health, and more. Organized thematically and geographically.

On the Road to Freedom: A Guided Tour of the Civil Rights Trail 

By Charles E. Cobb, Jr.
(Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2008) 
388 pp. $18.95
Author Charlie Cobb played a major role in the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi and has spent many years since as a journalist. His knowledge of the Movement and his skills as a writer combine to make this a valuable book for courses on U.S. history and local history.

Policy Matters

*The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

By Naomi Klein
(Metropolitan Books, 2007)
558 pp. $28
There are a handful of books — Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States comes to mind — that should be read by every teacher and teacher educator. Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine is one of these. From the 1973 Chilean coup — the other September 11 — through today, Klein demonstrates how shock has been used by global elites to push through a radical agenda of privatization and “free trade.” This disaster capitalism, as she calls it, is the global context that frames our conditions of teaching and learning, our students’ lives, and everything from the wars we wage to the food we eat. Will our future be one of social and ecological responsibility or increasing inequality and selfishness? For those of us who would prefer the former, Klein’s book will help us chart the course.

Picture Books

ABeCedarios: 
Mexican Folk Art ABCs in English and Spanish

By Cynthia Weill and K.B. Basseches
(Cinco Puntos Press, 2007)
32 pp. $14.95
This beautiful little bilingual book uses vibrantly painted wood sculptures of animals from Oaxaca, Mexico, to bring the alphabet alive.

George Washington Carver

By Tonya Bolden
(Harry N Abrams, 2008)
40 pp. $18.95
Published in association with the Field Museum of Chicago to accompany a traveling exhibition, this beautifully designed book describes the life of the African American scientist and educator. Perhaps best known for his work with peanuts, this biography shows the depth of Carver’s interest in conservation and respect for the land and nature.

*Keep Your Ear on the Ball 

By Genevieve Petrillo 
(Tilbury House, 2007) 
32 pp. $16.95 
Based on a true story about how a student who is blind, and his classmates who are not, learn how to work and play together. The story challenges stereotypes about being blind and provides a great example of how students use problem-solving strategies to overcome obstacles to full participation.

No English

By Jacqueline Jules 
(Ann Arbor Media Group, 2007) 
32 pp. $17.95 
Two 2nd graders, one Spanish-speaker who is new to the school and a non-Spanish-speaking classmate, face challenges and misunderstandings as they try to communicate. When they finally figure out they can share stories by drawing, they end up in the principal’s office. The author is a school librarian and knows how to interest children in a story. The book shares good examples of how schools should support new students and ends with the 2nd graders jumping rope and counting in Spanish.

*That’s Not Fair!/No Es Justo!: Emma Tenayuca’s Struggle for Justice/La lucha de Emma Tenayuca por la justicia

By Carmen Tafolla and Sharyll Teneyuca 
(Wings Press, 2008) 
40 pp. $17.95
This bilingual book tells the true story of the labor organizer Emma Tenayuca, beginning with her childhood in Texas in the 1920s. At the age of 21, she led 12,000 workers in the historic pecan workers strike. The authors are poet Carmen Tafolla and Sharyll Teneyuca, a social justice lawyer and the niece of Emma Tenayuca.

*Those Shoes 

By Maribeth Boelts, illustrated by Noah Z. Jones 
(Candlewick, 2007) 
40 pp. $15.99
A story every child can relate to about a boy named Jeremy who wants a pair of the popular black high-tops. But Jeremy’s grandmother explains that they can’t afford them. He tries various options, including wearing a thrift-store pair that are so small they hurt his feet. Although designed to focus on the value of family and friends over material possessions, the book also allows a parent or teacher to discuss the influence of marketing and peer pressure. The book is beautifully illustrated and written to engage young readers.

*We Are One: The Story of Bayard Rustin 

By Larry Dane Brimmer 
(Calkins Creek, 2007) 
48 pp. $17.95 hardback
In an easy-to-read format, this picture book for ages 8 and above tells the story of Bayard Rustin, who played a critical role in the Civil Rights Movement. Through his life story students learn about: the activists and intellectuals of the early 20th century who often visited his home, A. Phillip Randolph and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the lunch counter and bus protests that began long before 1954, the philosophy of nonviolence, and how the 1963 March on Washington was organized.

DVDs

*Made in L.A. 

Directed by Almudena Carracedo
(California Newsreel, 2007)
70 min. $50
This is the moving story of immigrant women’s participation in a three-year strike and boycott against the apparel retailer Forever 21. It’s an intimate film that focuses on three women to reveal how their involvement in strike activities transforms their lives. As is the case in so many industries, Forever 21 pressured suppliers to provide products at low prices but then professed ignorance when it was revealed that their suppliers kept workers in sweatshop conditions. This is a rich film, full of insights about immigration, conditions in the apparel industry, labor organizing, women’s lives — and the intersection of the personal and the political.

Websites

Pretends to Be Free Imagining Runaway Slaves

www.hudsonvalley.org/runaway
In their Winter 2006 Rethinking Schools article, “Reaching Between the Lines,” Thom Thacker and Michael Lord describe an art project to get students to imagine the lives of enslaved African Americans who had run away. Historic Hudson Valley has just posted the 2007 winning artwork at its website. These student pieces, as well as those from 2006, could be used as classroom prompts to inspire other student work. Thacker and Lord’s original article is at http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/21_02/reac212.shtml.

Resources compiled by Bill Bigelow, Deborah Menkart, and Bob Peterson. An asterisk indicates that the book is available from Teaching for Change (http://teachingforchange.org).