As the Library & Instructional Technology Teacher at Five Oaks Middle School and Rachel Carson Environmental Middle School, I am working with our Library Media Assistant, Andee Zomerman, to support our humanities teachers this year. They will be facilitating conversations about race around these specially selected books as their classes read them. Andee and I will be here to support teachers as they begin to plan their discussions as well as be a part of class discussions as needed. We will be putting the books into our library collection so that we can manage the resources and be able to use them for years to come.  Teachers also have access to resources through the Office of Equity and Inclusion to help them learn how to facilitate anti-racism and tolerance discussions.  We want to provide a team set of 100 books for each grade.

Support an 8th grader for $15, 7th grader for $12, 6th grader for $8
or all three for just $35!

8th Grade - $15 each
Stamped: Racism, Anti-Racism, and You, by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi identifies the beginnings of race as a construct and explains how racism is used to gain and keep power in society. 8th graders will recognize the timelines mirroring those in their American History Social Studies curriculum. It’s time to learn about historical figures of color as prominent roles in the construction of our nation and democracy.Teachers have access to Stamped a digital readers notebook.

 

7th Grade - $12 each
This Book is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How To Wake Up, Take Action, and Do The Work by Tiffany Jewell will guide students in understanding their own identities, making sense of the world, taking action and responding to racism as well as discovering how to work together in solidarity against racism. The book aligns with the middle school Humanities curriculum leading students in finding their voices. It includes activities and discussion questions for each chapter. 

 

6th Grade - $8
It’s Trevor Noah: Born a Crime Stories from a South African Childhood is the young reader's adaptation to the memoir, Born A Crime by Trevor Noah. Born of a black South African mother and a white European father, Noah was the product of an illegal union. Through stories, comedy, and true-to-the-gut insight, the book helps students learn about growing up in the thick of racism and using wit with intelligence to eventually escape his harsh reality. Growing up with a single mother in poverty, Noah brings tales of drama, comedy, and tragedy; identifiable to many of our students. Determination, education, and laughter are values he teaches in order to stand up for what is right in our world. Teachers will have access to a teaching guide to facilitate conversations as they study Africa as a part of their Social Studies Curriculum.