KRLemmons African American Authors, African American Biography, African American Middle Grades Literature, African American Picture Books, African American Young Adult Literature

365 Black Books Best of the Best (BOTB) Medley Monday

Since 2020, BCALA has published a list of Best of the Best (BOTB) Books for PreK-Grade 12. These books are selected based on criteria, that represents the black experience with authenticity. The 2025 BOTB will be published early next year. In the meantime, I will post a medley of books from the 2024 BOTB list.

Book 1: Bridges Instead of Walls The Story of Mavis Staples by Mavis Staples and Carole Boston Weatherford ; illustrated by Steffi Walthall

Book 2: Moko Magic Carnival Chaos by Tracey Baptiste

Book 3: Love Requires Chocolate by Rayvnn K. Stringfield

KRLemmons African American Literature, African American Young Adult Literature, Book Discussions, Multicultural literature

DSA Bookclub

Before the pandemic, I received a grant from Community Connections, a local grantmaking agency, to host a book club discussion. The goal of this grant was to engage students in book discussions and develop and/or enhance work skills. With this grant, I was able to purchase books for anyone who wanted to read and participate in the discussion. In addition, our DSA multimedia students applied their classroom skills. They recorded, edited, and posted video recorded the bookclub videos to fulfill the grant requirements.

These were the videos we were able to record and post to youtube:

“With the Fire on High” by Elizabeth Ascevedo

“This is my America” by Kim Johnson

“Not so Pure and Simple” by Lamar Giles

“Island Games” by Clint Chico

“Love Radio” by Ebony LaDelle

KRLemmons African American Authors, African American Literature, African American Young Adult Literature, Children's literature, Resources

March 12 Woman of the Day: Virginia Hamilton

March 12 Woman of the Day is Virginia Hamilton, an award winning children’s and young adult’s author, who was born on this day in 1936.  Information about this amazing author can be found by clicking here:

Additional resources:                                                                                                  Biography.com: http://www.biography.com/people/virginia-hamilton-21106647    Scholastic.com: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/contributor/virginia-hamilton Audio from Open Road Media: http://video.openroadmedia.com/UTq3/meet-virginia-hamilton/

TeachingBooks.net: http://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?aid=444&a=1

KRLemmons African American Authors, African American Literature, African American Young Adult Literature, Lesson Plans, Resources

Happy Birthday Ralph Waldo Ellison!

Ralph Waldo Ellison, the author of the classic book Invisible Man was born on March 1.  Information on this author can be found by clicking on the following links:

Library of Congress. Type Ralph Ellison in the search box and view hundreds of primary resources on this author at http://loc.gov

PBS: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/ralph-ellison/an-american-journey/587/

NPR: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9977702

Lesson plans/activities on Invisible Man

Random House: http://www.randomhouse.com/highschool/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780679732761&view=tg

PBS: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/lessons_plans/ralph-ellisons-invisible-man/ 

Ms. Effie’s LifeSavers for Teachers: http://mseffie.com/AP/Invisible%20Man.pdf