Case study in fake news

I find the story about Orson Welles’ 1938 radio production of the War of the Worlds and its impact on many Americans who had tuned into their favourite radio program, utterly fascinating.

On October 30^th, 1938 (Halloween Eve or Mischief Night) the American public were about to get punked big time.  The story goes, that Orson Welles and the players of the Mercury Theater had adapted the novel by H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, into a radio play.  The play was presented as if it was taking place in ‘real time’ with credible sounding newscasters describing the unfolding invasion of aliens in Grovers Mill, New Jersey. Many of the listening audience thought the story was true and panicked, thinking they were about to be captured or killed by Martians.  Police were called, hospitals were overrun, switchboards at CBS and other media were swamped with calls, and people were running amok in the streets. The story goes viral.  Fascinating, right?

Spooked!: How a Radio Broadcast and The War of the World Sparked the1938 Invasion of America by Gail Jarrow presents an absorbing account of how this all came to be, played out in reality and the aftermath.  It is a well-researched book that frames the context of the radio play in terms of the mindset of the American people at this time (post-Depression era, increasing unease over the rise of Nazism in Europe, increasing interest in Mars) and why it was seemingly, possible to dupe the public.

Fake news, anyone?

That’s right.  Fake news.

But the book goes beyond looking at the radio play and its unintended consequences. It also explores the characters involved in the production, the public’s response and it looks at the media’s coverage of the aftermath, presenting another angle of fake news.  The mass hysteria that supposedly gripped the nation after the play’s broadcast was greatly exaggerated. The studies done at the time are shown to be inaccurate and then wrongly reported.

This book presents a terrific historical case study to bring into the classroom to look at fake news today, understanding how the media can slant a story and the importance of critical thinking.

The book includes sections of the radio broadcast, descriptions of how the play was read, the pacing, the music, the characters, as well as excerpts from letters, telegrams and editorials sent to CBS, Orson Welles, newspapers describing the impact it had on listeners. The breakdown of the myth of mass hysteria shows how to work through information and fact check.

Additional material such as a timeline, a list of web resources, an author’s note, source notes, a selected bibliography and an index provides substantial support for students to follow up and explore the story on their own. You’ll be happy to know that there is a link to a site that has the original radio play for you to listen to.

Gail Jarrow does an amazing job with all her books.  As already mentioned, they are well-researched.  She picks stories that allow us to connect on an emotional level to the people involved and then gets us thinking.

I highly recommend this book for middle grades and up.

Reviews for other books by Gail Jarrow: 

Bubonic Panic: when plague invaded America

Fatal Fever: tracking down Typhoid Mary

Red Madness how a medical mystery change what we eat

100 Years Ago Today

Today is November 11^th, 2018 one hundred years-to-the-day that World War I ended with the signing of the armistice.

The Vimy Oaks: a Journey to Peace by Linda Granfield tells the true story of a young Canadian soldier, Leslie Miller, who fought in France during World War I.  Based on his field journals, Granfield extracts snippets of text that describe his observations and experiences as he goes about doing his job as a member of the Signals Corps.  Many of the excerpts are descriptions of the landscape noting the beautiful woods and large trees or the terrible devastation wrecked on the countryside by the constant bombardment from both sides.  On April 9, 1917 the battle for Vimy Ridge began and while fighting in this area, Leslie Miller collected a number of acorns that had been blasted from oak trees, mailing them home to Canada.

After returning to Ontario, he started life again as a farmer. Miller planted the acorns he had sent home during the war. This becomes significant in 2004 when Monty McDonald, a family friend to the Millers, traveled to France and Belgium to see the battlefields of both wars. He noticed, while visiting the National Vimy Memorial, that the landscape, though green and forested again, was missing oak trees. He wondered if the trees that grew in Canada from the acorns collected by Leslie Miller could be used to re-establish the oaks at Vimy Ridge.

The Vimy Oaks Repatriation Project was launched with the intention of having oak trees once again growing at Vimy Ridge in time for the 100^th anniversary of the end of World War I, November 11^th, 2018. The book describes the process by which the Canadian oaks are being propagated and then taken to France or planted across Canada.

The book has been illustrated by Brian Deines but also contains numerous photos of people, places and things from that time period. I especially love the photo of Leslie Miller’s field journal that shows a couple of sketches he did of the trees he admired and his beautiful cursive penmanship. It provides lots of context that will help readers understand what was happening and some of the significance of those events. The connection between the past and the present is perfectly encapsulated here. 

Also included are a glossary and index.

I recommend this book for the middle grades when doing units about trees, Remembrance Day, Canadian history, World War I but also looking at topics of peace. The planting of these oak trees is such a wonderful symbol of healing, peace and remembrance.

“They will call upon us to remember the past – and a Canadian soldier who once held hope and rebirth in the palm of his hand.” (p.33)

Perfection

Town is by the Sea by Canadian author, Joanne Schwartz and illustrated by Sdyney Smith, is perfect.

It perfectly captures a time and place with its simple, evocative writing. The illustrations also perfectly convey a sense of tranquility in this small community at this time.

The story tells of, what feels to me, to be an average day in the life of a boy living in a 1950s small town in Maritime Canada located close to the sea. We learn that his father is a coal miner who works deep underground, under the sea. It becomes a refrain throughout the story that the boy remembers, time and again that his father works deep below the surface away from the light, the town and the sea.

There’s a rhythm of life that is palpable whether it’s depicted with everyday activities such as waking up, eating or playing on beat-up swings in the playground and going to bed; through nature's sun rising and setting; and work that will connect generations of family. The boy visits his grandfather’s seaside grave and at the end of the book remarks that he too will likely become a coal miner as the other men in this family and community have become.

The illustrations perfectly capture the calmness of this life (maybe there's an element of small town sameness that might be part of what I'm feeling) that I think reflects life for this time period. Subtle earth tones colour the illustrations giving them a sepia wash that contributes to that sense of a time in the past.  I especially love the picture which shows sunlight reflected off the sea water which is almost too bright to look at. This picture was perfectly realized.  The illustrations of life on the topside contrast with the illustrations depicting his father at work in the dark of the coal mine.  I can feel the density of the land and water that bear down on the miners and feel claustrophobic seeing the men bent over in the cramped dark space.

I highly recommend this book for elementary grades. It is especially relevant when studying curriculum about community, family, and Canada.

At the Mercy of Mother Nature

Volcanoes have been making the news lately with the Big Island of Hawaii and Guatemala reeling from the devastation caused by recent eruptions and a skeleton found underneath a large rock in Pompeii that had been jarred loose when Mount Vesuvius let loose in 79 A.D. Geology rocks! (Pun intended.)

Because erupting volcanoes can be such a dramatic and, sometimes, traumatic event, it can capture the imagination especially for young readers.  There are a number of books that I recommend to support this interest and learning for a budding geologist.

Here are a few of my top picks:

An Island Grows by Lola M Schaefer

A picture book for the primary grades that shows how an underwater volcanic eruption can be the starting block of new land mass being created. Over a long period of time, this mass of rock will result in new land being formed that will eventually allow life to take hold and begin to flourish. Told in rhyme with very few words it captures the dynamic nature of Earth and that things are changing all the time.  The concept of ‘geological time’ may be difficult grasp from this book as this process is not a quick process.

The next two books I recommend are from the Scientists in the Field series.  I love this series. It is fantastic and I highly recommend it.

The first one is Life on Surtsey: Iceland’s Upstart Island by Loree Griffins Burn. It is perfect for middle grades to see how new land off the coast of Iceland is being ‘colonized’ by plants and animals.  This has become an opportunity for scientists to observe this process as it happens in front of them.

The second book is Eruption!: Volcanoes and the Science of Saving Lives by Elizabeth Rusch.  This books looks at how scientists are able to prevent loss of life for populations living near active volcanoes around the world. Science is a critical tool for predicting when a volcano will erupt to give people enough notice to evacuate regions that will be hit with ash, lava, gases and related earthquakes.

Into the Volcano: a Volcano Researcher at Work by Donna O’Meara conveys the passion that volcanoes can ignite (no pun intended, here) in people.  O’Meara’s life work is tracking volcanos around the world to study and understand them better and to help people who live in the vicinity of active volcanoes.  As she describes her adventures, studying volcanoes, we learn a lot about all facets of volcanoes along the way. Student in middle grades will find this book appealing.

Another series that explores many different fields of science is the Max Axiom, Super Scientist Graphic Science series.  Using a comic book format, The Explosive World of Volcanoes with Max Axiom by Christopher Harbo, illustrated by Tod Smith will appeal to elementary level students for a basic introduction to the different kinds of volcanoes and their characteristics.

Some of the interest about volcanoes has come from scientists looking at historical eruptions and the impact they had on people.  The book, Bodies From the Ash: Life and Death in Ancient Pompeii by James M. Deem shows us what Pompeii the city looked like before 79 A.D., the eruption and then lots of pictures of the casts that were made of the people who died there. There is a morbid fascination with these images as we see who died and we are left to wonder about them as well. I recommend this for grades 7 & up.

My last recommendation is The Day the World Exploded: the Earthshaking Catastrophe at Krakatoa by Simon Winchester. This book is an adaptation of Winchester’s adult book, Krakatoa. This renown explosion took place in 1883 in the Sunda Strait, between the islands of Java and Sumatra. This volcanic eruption and the after effects were felt around the world, killing thousands of people. I would recommend this fascinating book for students, grade 7 and up.

Inspirational Photos Instilling Wonder While Teaching

In looking closely at the three books I’m blogging about today, I realized that there was a connection between them going beyond the fact that these are all coffee table books filled with beautiful photographs. The connection is that these beautiful books engage our imaginations, opening up the worlds they present to us, provoking questions, instilling wonder and informing us, along the way.

First up is a book published by National Geographic, Stunning Photographs compiled by Annie Griffiths. As soon as I mention National Geographic, you’re assured that this book will not disappoint. Divided into six sections, Mystery, Harmony, Wit, Discovery, Energy and Intimacy, the photos in each embody some sense of the section’s title. I especially enjoyed the section, Wit as there was a great deal of humour and playful tweaking of our perceptions in these pictures. Really lots of fun. There are hundreds of pictures in this book, created from every corner of the world, I’m sure, and that will amaze viewers of any age.

My next recommendation is, Microsculpture: Portraits of Insects by Levon Biss.  I adore macro photography and this book is fantastic. Using preserved insect specimens from the Oxford University Museum of Natural History collection, Biss takes thousands of pictures of each insect and its parts and then reconstitutes them to give the viewer an amazing close-up. We get to see every pockmark, scale, whisker, hair, and ridge, plus an array of beautiful colours and shapes of 36 insects from various parts of the world. Each insect is given a short descriptive paragraph often discussing some weird feature and the importance of this particular adaptation. There are some amazingly bizarre looking creatures out there. When thinking about the number of science fiction and fantasy movies  that incorporate ‘out-of-this-world’ looking creatures, designers need go no further than Earth’s own insect population for inspiration.

My last selection is Through Darkness to Light: Photographs Along the Underground Railroad by Jeanine Michna-Bales. This photographer recreated a 1400-mile journey, from Louisiana to Ontario that slaves may have taken when trying to escape to freedom. Based on her research, she went looking to document some of the areas that slaves and sometimes, those helping slaves escape, would have passed through but also convey the sense of what it might have been like traveling, mostly at night, through unknown landscapes, living in fear of being recaptured.  The photographs are not necessarily the most interesting as they’re often murky and show deeply shadowed forests, meadows, and wetlands. But taken in context of a fugitive running for their life, the book does convey the danger, fear, and beauty that might have been experienced. The accompanying essays also provide a lot of interesting information about the Underground Railroad. This book will be most effective in the classroom that is already studying American slavery and the Underground Railroad and would be an interesting companion book to novels such as Underground to Canada by Barbara Smucker, Crossing to Freedom by Virginia Frances Schwartz, and A Desperate Road to Freedom by Karleen Bradford.

I recommend all three of these books for all ages.

Food for thought

A couple of recent additions to the Doucette Library’s collection made me realize the number of books that are in the library relating food to social issues and current events.  What a great way to explore contemporary issues and something we can all relate to in an interdisciplinary way, if we wanted to.

Below I’ve created a list and grouped books according to what they focus on.  Click on the titles of the books to go to the library’s catalogue to read a short summary about the exact content.

  

Global Food Issues (such as access, international trade, etc.)

-Chocolate: Sweet Science and Dark Secrets of the World’s Favorite Treat by Kay Frydenborg (Gr.6-10)

 -Down to Earth: How Kids Help Feed the World by Nutritional Issues (Gr.3-6)

Sugar Changed the World: a Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom and Science by Marc Aronson (Gr.4-7)

Growing Food (eg. where does it come from)

-Before We Eat: From Farm to Table by Pat Brisson (Gr.K-2)

-Eat Up!: an Infographic Exploration of Food by Antonia Banyard (Gr. 4-7)

-The Children's Garden: Growing Food in the City by Carole Schaefer (Gr.K-2)

-Potatoes on Roof tops: Farming in the City by Hadley Dyer (Gr.4-8)

History and Culture

-Fifty Foods that Changed the Course of History by Bill Price (Gr.10 and up)

-Footprints: the Story of What We Eat by Paula Ayer (Gr. 6 and up)

-Man Eating Bugs: the Art and Science of Eating Insects by Peter Menzel (Gr.8 and up)

 -What's for Lunch?: How Schoolchildren Eat Around the World by Andrea Curtis (Gr.3-6)

-What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets by Peter Menzel (Gr.8 and up)

Issues and Events we hear about in the news (organic foods, eating locally produced food)

-Eating Local by Laura Perdew (Gr.4-7)

 -Meatless?: a Fresh Look at What We Eat by Sarah Elton (Gr.3-7)

-Hijacked: How Your Brain is Fooled by Food by David Kessler (Gr.7 and up)

-The Dorito Effect: the Surprising New Truth About Food and Flavor by Mark Schatzker (Gr.10 and up)

These books become an interesting way to discuss health issues, current events, science, history. Tie these books to some of the kits also available in the Doucette Library like the "How Much Fat?" kits that looks at the quantity of fat found in common foods, "How Much Sugar?" kit, also showing us in a very visual way how much sugar we consume. There's great potential for developing an interdisciplinary unit about a subject that is relevant and important for all of us.

We are all treaty people - Classroom resources

Today’s post is focused on three new books in the Doucette Library. I know these books will be useful for classroom teaching in the primary grades. But I have some concerns about recommending them, too.

Let me explain…

The three books are The Handshake and the Pipe, TheFriendship, and We Are All Treaty People by Betty Lynxleg, illustrated by Scott B. Henderson and Amber Green and make up the trilogy, Treaty Tales.

From western Manitoba’s First Nation of Tootinaowaziibeeng Treaty Reserve, Betty Lynxleg presents information about symbols of respect between peoples, early contact with settlers in Canada, and the establishment and intentions behind treaties. They are well-written, explaining the importance of shaking hands and sharing a pipe as symbols of respect. It clearly explains how Indigenous peoples in Canada helped Europeans survive in North America by showing them what to eat, harvest, how to navigate and live with the land. The third book conveys the importance of treaties and the significance they have (or should have) for all Canadians.

 One of the real strengths of the series, is the way the story is laid out. It is a conversation between a grandmother and her granddaughter, emphasizing oral storytelling as a way of teaching between the generations. I think trying to convey the values of First Nations peoples and their connection to the land is valuable and important for all children to learn and these books do that.

I know these will be used in classrooms as they give easily understood explanations about the basic relationship between Indigenous and non-indigenous peoples in Canada.

And that may be where my concerns arise from.

Because the books are an introduction for grades 1 to 3, the complexities of the history and current events of today between First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples and the Canadian government are glossed over.  These stories do not reflect the circumstances that drove Indigenous peoples to live on reserves or the realities of living there. The brutality, harsh living conditions and breaking of treaty promises is not addressed in any way.

Not that teachers are going to want books that really go into all the severity and ruthlessness that the past and the present encompasses. But when I think of books like Stolen Words by Melanie Florence, When I Was Eight by Kristy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton or When We Were Alone by David A. Robertson, all relating aspects of life in residential schools, these stories convey the deprivation without the horrific details which is appropriate for young readers.

All of these books require additional instruction for young students to begin to understand what Indigenous peoples have endured and continue to struggle with today. It will take a sensitive approach to tackle tough issues but these books will be helpful in initiating these kinds of conversations.

Another curriculum area that these books tie into nicely is social studies grades 1 and 2 about community.

Innovative thinking

Right now I’m in the middle of teaching workshops about Design Thinking to second year student-teachers. This is a thinking process that promotes creative and innovative thinking as well as collaborative practices. It’s being taken up by some of the school boards in the Calgary area so it’s a hot topic, as you might imagine, and on my mind.

(Today’s posting isn’t really about design thinking so if you’re keen to learning more about Design Thinking and education you might like to visit a library guide, developed by the Doucette Library, called, funnily enough, Design Thinking.)

So, maybe it’s my frame-of-mind right now, immersed in teaching design thinking, that a book like Dazzle Ships: World War I and the Art ofConfusion by Chris Barton made a strong impression.

It’s 1917 and Britain is at risk of being cut off from crucial supplies of food brought in by ships. German U-boats were very skilled at targeting ships that supported the United Kingdom.  As the book states, “desperate times call for desperate measures” and innovative thinking was essential to overcoming these devastating loses.

Norman Wilkinson, a Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve lieutenant-commander, had a seemingly bizarre idea – camouflaging the ships. By painting ships with an array of dazzling patterns and colours, it would break up the ship’s form on the ocean’s waters, presenting an image so confusing that it would be difficult to track.

“Dazzle was meant to make the Germans think a ship was, for example, turning toward the west when it was actually headed to the southeast.”

A small workforce (of mostly women) was organized to come up with patterns which were tested out to determine which were the most effective at tricking the eye. Thousands of British and American ships had be ‘dazzled’ by the end of the war.  Though, determining whether the dazzling really did save ships from being torpedoed is debatable, it did booster the morale of the sailors on those ships.

I love the sentiment that is summed up in the book :

 “a willingness to tackle problems by trying the unlikely, the improbable, the seemingly bonkers will always be needed.”

The material at the back of the book, author’s and illustrator’s notes, a timeline and reference list provide additional information for research purposes. I thought that the author’s notes about researching and writing about this book of special interest and would be instructive to students about this process.

I recommend this book for grades 4-7 for social studies, art, and science. Because it’s so interdisciplinary it’s perfect for STEAM classrooms.

Top Ten for Ten – Indigenous children’s literature

I love this event. #pb10for10 is such a great way to see what teachers, librarians and others who use children’s literature are reading and teaching with. I always collect a large number of titles from these lists and sometimes, new ideas about using the books, too. 

The premise is to list your 10 best picture books. These can be the 10 picture books you love most in the world. Or the 10 best picture books connected to a specific topic. Or it might be the top 10 authors of picture books. Or any other top 10 theme you might want to create.

I encourage everyone to visit and browse through these lists.

Last year I created four Pinterest boards that support a course in the education undergraduate program focusing on First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples. One of the assignments has students evaluating children’s literature. The Pinterest boards lists books for different grade levels for both fiction and nonfiction.

And, so here’s my list for this year’s Top Ten on the Tenth Event.

A Coyote Columbus Story by Thomas King, illustrated by William Kent Monkman

This is not your typical Christopher Columbus story. It presents a native perspective about the arrival of Chris with Trickster Coyote responsible for the whole terrible mess. She only wants to have some people to play baseball and instead creates a group of greedy, ill-mannered thieves. Very interesting illustrations. The book can be used with younger grades but I think older students will have a rich opportunity for deconstructing it.

I am Not a Number by Jenny Kay Dupuis and Kathy Kacer, illustrated by Gillian Newland 

This picture book is based on the author’s grandmother’s experiences in a residential school where she endured many horrific hardships. Recommended for upper elementary grades.

Jingle Dancer by Cynthia Leitich Smith, illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu

This book demonstrates a wonderful sense of community of support as a little girl from the Muscogee Nation looks to create a dress to wear for a jingle dance. Family and friends all contribute jingles from their own dresses to help Jenna. Recommended for early elementary grades.

Mwakwa Talks to the Loon by Dale Auger 

Mwakwa is a skilled hunter who provides many essential supplies for his village. But he becomes conceited after receiving much praise from the other villagers and loses his ability to talk to the animals he has always hunted. This traditional story speaks to the importance of being humble about one’s abilities and respectful of the sacrifices others make for the greater good. Recommended for elementary grades

Orca Chief by Roy Henry Vickers 

I am a big fan of this illustrator’s work. In this traditional story, we learn about respecting nature. When a group of men are careless about how they treat the ocean the chief of the orca whales teaches them how to sustainably harvest food from the ocean. It's about being respectful and thankful for what the earth provides us. Stunning illustrations with Northwest Coast aboriginal motifs.  Recommended for elementary grades.

Saltypie: a Choctaw Journey from Darkness into Light by Tim Tingle 

Based on the author’s grandmother’s experiences facing adversity and racism, this picture book shares a unique perspective about resiliency. Recommended for elementary grades.

Secret of the Dance by Andrea Spalding 

A boy sneaks out one night to watch a potlach, a ceremony forbidden by the Canadian government. Those involved risk arrest, confiscation of artifacts and even their children by participating. Recommended for elementary grades.

Thunder Boy by Sherman Alexie 

This one is all about identity, individuality and wanting to be recognized for one’s own abilities. Little Thunder is named after his father which he finds frustrating. He wants a name for himself that acknowledges who he is. Yet, at the same time, he worries about hurting his dad’s feelings. Recommended for primary grades.

What’s the Most Beautiful Thing You Know About Horses?By Richard Van Camp, illustrated by George Littlechild 

When you live in a small village where horses are not all that prevalent, how would you describe one? One cold day when there is nothing better to do, a young boy asks different family and friends what they think about horses. The illustrations are a really strong element in this picture book. Recommended for primary grades.

Wild Berries by Julie Flett 

What could be better than being outdoors picking wild blueberries with your grandmother? For this boy, exploring the forest and observing wildlife, it’s an enjoyable and educational experience. Swampy Cree words are included identifying the various things that the pair see.  Recommended for primary grades.

Peace Bridge

Today’s recommended title will be of particular interest to Calgarians, Albertans and Canadians.

Bridges: an Introduction to Ten Great Bridges and Their Designers by Didier Cornille introduces us to 10 bridges from various countries spanning the globe providing a brief entry about the architects who designed them and sometimes a little about the construction process.  Each bridge has a something distinct about it, whether it was for a new construction process, a new design, extraordinary length, or a design feature.

Among the selected few is Calgary’s own Peace Bridge designed by Santiago Calatrava (2012).

The other bridges include:

Iron Bridge designed by Thomas Farnolls Pritchard (England, 1779)

Brooklyn Bridge designed by John Roebling, Washington Roebling and Emily Warren (United States, 1883)

Forth Bridge designed by Sir John Fowler and Sir Benjamin Baker (Scotland, 1890)

Plougastel Bridge designed by Eugene Freyssinet (France, 1930)

Sydney Harbour Bridge designed by John Jacob Crew Bradfield (Australia, 1932)

Golden Gate Bridge designed by Joseph Baermann Strauss (United States, 1937)

Rio-Niteroi Bridge designed by Jean Muller (Brasil, 1974)

Millau Viaduct designed by Norman Foster and Michel Virlogeux (France, 2004)

Mucem Footbridge designed by Rudy Ricciotti (France, 2013)

Each entry is very brief. I love the format of the book, which is oversized and read turned on its side so we are flipping the pages up. This is great for giving the reader a sense of length, giving the illustrations of each bridge lots of room to span the page. The details usually include a little information about the designer including other projects they’ve been involved in and most often specifics about the construction process.  The illustrations are simple, uncluttered and placed on pages with lots of white space.

The entry for the Peace Bridge in Calgary features several of Calatrava’s other structures giving only two short pages dedicated to the Peace Bridge itself. However cool looking this bridge there is not a lot of information about it in terms of construction.

Another thing I noticed is that with the exception of Emily Warren, who stepped in when her husband died building the Brooklyn Bridge there are no women featured here. There have to be some noteworthy bridges designed by women, right?

This book will be of interest to teachers for science (building things, designing), STEM, and social studies (Alberta, Canada, local politics). I would recommend this for middle grades.

Handful of books

I’ve had a soft spot for this book, Hands by Boris Cyrulnik, photographs by Tiziana and Gianni Baldizzone for a really long time. I often try to find reasons to bring it into my various workshops. It’s a beautiful coffee table book with loads of photographs showing close-ups of activities that hands do every day. Listen to the how the chapters have been organized: Hands of Pleasure, Hands of Beauty, Hands at Work, Hands of the Heart, Hands of Ritual, and finally By Hand… There are many beautiful images here that I think have lots of classroom potential.

Beautiful Hands by Kathryn Otoshi and Bret Baumgarten is a recent picture book that does the same thing; it asks what things will your hands do today? Will they plant seeds? Or maybe plant ideas? Or touch hearts? Will they lift spirits? Or stretch imaginations? Will they reach for love? Or peace, truth, dreams? 

The illustrations are unique using brightly coloured handprints to create images of birds, flowers and butterflies.

Using these two books together in a classroom would provide opportunities to explore the concepts the books embody as well as the actions that these hands engage in. At the youngest grades in social studies in Alberta where the focus is on identity, family, school and community, self, uniqueness and belonging, these books will start conversations. They could also be mentor texts that model work that students can engage in. Having students photograph the activities that they, their friends and family members do every day allows them to develop an understanding about what people do.  Hands, also speak to an individual’s identity and uniqueness.

I love the idea of how we use the word "hand" and the images that come to mind: hands up, hands off, hands on, hand out, hand-me-downs, a hand up, hands on, handful, handy, helping hands, heavy handed, show of hands, ‘talk to the hand’, shaking hands with the devil. What others come to your mind? There is both play and power with these words and the images they create. Hands create but they also destroy. Hands can be loving but also hurtful. Exploring binary opposites is a great way to introduce a kind of tension in a unit that will engage students.

Other books that would tie-in beautifully with these book titles would be:

These Hands by Margaret H. Mason is a history lesson embedded in a warm story about an African American grandfather telling his grandson all the things he could (tie shoe laces, play the piano) and could not do (not touch the dough at the Wonder Bread factory). It’s a gentle story about the civil rights African Americans had to organize and fight for.

Nadia’s Hands by Karen English is about a little girl worried about what her classmates with think of her and maybe tease her about having mehndi designs on her hands in preparation for an aunt’s traditional Pakistani wedding. This story speaks to culture and identity, about being one's self and belonging.

Sister Anne’s Hands by Marybeth Lorbiecki is a favourite of mine. Again its set during the civil rights movement in the United States and shows how a beloved teacher (an African American nun) makes a teachable moment out of a cruel, thoughtless act by one of her students to show how small acts of hate can lead to the big acts of societal discrimination.

Hands & Hearts by Donna Jo Napoli is about a mother and daughter who have a fun-filled day at the beach. They enjoy playing in the waves and sand, building castles and swimming.  They also happen to use their hands to speak with each other. There are 15 words introduced in American Sign Language.

Hands by Lois Ehlert is brilliantly designed with a hand glove shaped book. It speaks to all the activities that the busy hands in this household get up to: Dad is busy making a bird house and Mom is busy sewing. The narrator is given his or her own work space and is taught some the skills that Mom and Dad use in their activities. This book connects with the maker mind set that is now being promoted in schools here in Calgary.

These are only a few that would work well at the elementary level.