Texas History Pathfinder

Texas History Pathfinder

Laura Bush Grant

The local school district’s library is in desperate need of new and updated reference materials and library books, the average dates of the current collection are 1976- 1985.  There circulation of books and library media has fallen by 10% or more each of the last 3 years. I would seek a grant from The Laura Bush Foundation to bring this library collection up to date.  The Laura Bush Foundation has grants available from $7000- $75,000 depending on the criteria they have designated for schools to receive the grants.  The following information was taken directly from the Laura Bush Foundations Website. http://www.laurabushfoundation.com/

 The Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries Grants
The Laura Bush Foundation provides funds to school libraries to add to and update their book and media collections.

Important Dates

Our application process is easy and entirely online. Applications are currently closed and will open in October 2015.

October 2015

Applications Close

December 2015

Awards Announced

May 2016

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for a library grant from the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries, the applying school must meet ALL of the following criteria:

Established School

The school must be in operation for a minimum of one (1) year prior to submitting an application.

Economic Need

During time of application, at least 85% of the school’s student population must qualify for Free/Reduced Lunch (FRL). This information should be available from the school or district’s administration.

Existing Library

The school library must be a uniquely designated space in which books and other materials are systematically classified, arranged by subject, type, etc. and stored in a location and manner that allows access to all students and adults in the school. This does not include: classrooms or classroom sets of books, collections of books stored in closets, or collections of books on rolling carts of any kind.

Staff Librarian

The day-to-day oversight and operation of the school library must be carried out by a paid librarian, designated by the school administration to be responsible for the collection, care, and use of the materials housed in the library.

First Time Recipient

The school must be a first-time recipient of a library grant from the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries. All previous award winners are ineligible to apply.

Scoring

Applications are scored based on the following:

Alignment with our mission

Description of need

Library budget

Evidence of focus on students, professional support, and collaboration

LIS 557 - Digital Immigrant

I’m a Digital Immigrant according to Marc Prensky’s description. I wasn’t born into a digital world and none of my early school experiences included the use of technology. However, I’ve been working with technology for over 20 years, I have  a deeply entrenched belief in social constructivism; the belief that students learn best by connecting new knowledge to previous knowledge as well as by discussion and interaction with teachers  and peers. Knowing my students’ interest and engagement with technology, plus my own interest, made me want to explore using technology as a teaching tool. I have followed the work of digital pioneers like Kathy Schrock  and Jamie McKenzie for several years and that has  allowed me to understand how by using good questioning and inquiry learning strategies , students can develop critical thinking skills while improving both  their skill and ethical use of technology.

 I find that  digital natives  learn better with varied forms of communication, they participate better in groups with self-directed learning, on wiki’s, and they seem to crave interactive environments with multiple forms of feedback. The digital natives have grown up in a world absorbed with technology, they need more hands on, inquiry based teaching, I observe them being bored by standard textbook teaching, they will disengage in a matter of minutes. My 15 year old is a prime example, He was failure to thrive when I adopted him at 10 weeks of age, I have used every technology I could find to help him learn, He had a laptop at age 4 and has had one ever since. When he studies, he has to have the TV on while he reads, and he says it helps him concentrate better, he is also grasping his cellphone texting his friends, and eating his dinner all at the same time. I am amazed when I question him, how much of what he was reading he can actually tell me about.

 The early exposure to technology has just wired their brains differently. They view the internet as a tool for learning, but mainly they use the internet for their social life, I believe as a teacher we have to use social networking in the same way the traditional classroom used a blackboard. As a librarian in today’s education world, we must offer the digital natives many different formats of media to highlight the characteristics of their learning style, by tapping into their online habits we can develop information access that provides focused learning and positive outcomes, after all online searching… is the new reading.

Annotated Bibliography: Young Adult Literature

Annotated Bibliography: Young Adult  Literature                            

 July 7, 2015

White, E.B. Charlotte’s Web. New York: Harper.1952.
Realistic Fiction, Grade Level 5-8. An affectionate, sometimes bashful pig named Wilbur befriends a spider named Charlotte, who lives in the rafters above his pen. A happy and playful pig, Wilbur is devastated when he learns of his destiny after the county fair. Determined to save her friend, Charlotte spins a web that reads "Some Pig," convincing the farmer and surrounding community that Wilbur is no ordinary animal and should be saved.  A wonderful children’s story about friendship, hardship, and the passing on into time as Charlotte evolves after laying her eggs. This story reminds us to look for the wonder and miracle’s often found in the simplest of things.

Howe, James. The Misfits. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2001.
Realistic Fiction, Grade Level 7-9. This is an energetic and sometimes funny book about junior high school politics.  The story is about a group of four students who labels themselves misfits. The "gang" members are an extremely overweight 7th grader, an extremely tall 8th grader, the Elvis look-alike, and Joe. The student council elections are coming up, and these four students who don’t fit in at their small- town middle school decide to create a third party for the student council elections to represent all students who have ever been teased or made fun of by being called everything from "fat boy" to "fairy" to "greaser" to "loser".

Stead, Rebecca. When You Reach Me. New York: Wendy Lamb Books, 2009.
Fantasy, Grade Level 5-8. Miranda a twelve year old New York City girl receives a series of enigmatic notes that claim to want to save her life; she comes to believe that they are from someone who knows the future. Miranda spends a considerable amount of time trying to find the connection between the notes and her everyday life. The story builds slowly, as Miranda reminisces, the time sequencing is somewhat off, but in an intriguing way. The stores, streets and Miranda's neighborhood act as physical entities and impact the plot. This is a thought-provoking mystery and it will appeal to several types of readers.

Myers, Edward. Storyteller. New York: Clarion Books, 2008.
Fantasy, Grade Level 5–8. Jack is a seventeen year old storyteller who leaves his village to seek his fortune in the Royal City. He is appointed Royal Storyteller, charged with lifting the spirits of King Alphonse, who is grieving his wife's death. Jack makes an enemy of the young and bratty Prince, but falls in love with beautiful but melancholy Princess, who tends to talk in rhyming couplets. When the cruel prince takes the throne, Jack is forced to travel the kingdom; spinning stories that make the new king look good. He faces several trials, including imprisonment and near beheading. The book's message is very clear; we must each live our own life to the fullest.

 Larson, Kirby. Hattie Big Sky. New York: Delacorte Press, 2006.
Historical Fiction, Grade Level 7-12. In 1918, 16-year-old orphan Hattie Brooks leaves Iowa and travels to a Montana homestead inherited from her uncle. Montana is beautiful but harsh, Hattie has less than a year to fence and cultivate the land in order to keep it. Neighbors who welcome Hattie help her to heal from years of feeling unwanted. Hattie's struggles as a young woman with limited options, a homesteader facing terrible odds, and a loyal citizen confused about the war in Europe and the local anti-German attitude that endangers her new friends. The story enlists sounds, smells, and sights of the prairie, and creates memorable characters.

Windthorp, Elizabeth.Counting on Grace. New York: Wendy Lamb Books,2006
Historical Fiction, Grade Level 7-9. The setting is Vermont 1910, Grace and her friend Arthur, both 12 and the best readers in the mill school, are forced to suspend their education.  Miss Lesley, their teacher, helps them write a letter to the National Child Labor Committee about underage kids, as young as eight, working in their mill. If the children don’t work, the families won’t have enough money to survive. Lewis Hine is the answer to the letter. He comes and photographs the mill rats, as the kids are called; no one will believe the conditions without pictures. Grace is asked to be the substitute teacher, leaving students with a sense that she will escape the mill and have a better life.


Heiligman,Deborah. Charles and Emma: The Darwin’s leap of Faith. New York: Henry Holt &
Co., 2009
Historical Fiction, Grade Level 8 Up. Charles Darwin is trying to make a decision, and he is doing so in time-honored fashion: drawing a line down a piece of paper and putting the pros of marriage on one side and the cons on the other. As much as Darwin is interested in wedded life, he is afraid that family life will take him away from the revolutionary work he is doing on the evolution of species. However, the pluses triumph, and he finds the perfect mate in his first-cousin Emma, who becomes his comforter, editor, mother of his 10 children, and sparring partner especially related to the subject of God.

McWhorter, Diane. A Dream of Freedom. New York: Scholastic, 2004.
Historical Fiction, Grade Level 6-9.  In 1963 McWhorter was a sixth-grader at a segregated Birmingham school and throughout, this story the details are both factual and personal. She discusses her feelings as a white child in the South, and she focuses in on the many ways in which both white and black children were involved in the movement: the brave young people who desegregated schools throughout the South, the 1,500 Birmingham students who protested and were attacked by dogs and doused by fire hoses, and white students protesting integration. In the most disturbing photograph, two young white children stare as a black man hangs, lynched, in the background.

Nye, Naomi. This Same Sky. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992
Poetry, Grade Level 9-12.  In the preface, Nye says, ``. . . what lovely, larger life becomes ours when we listen to one another?'' This question states the purpose of this book that emphasizes selections from the Middle East, Asia, Africa, India, and South and Central America. The poems are about many things: the nature of poetry (and language itself), the beauty of the natural world, how feelings about childhood are colored by memory and the love of parent for a child (and vice versa). The preface states that the poems have been especially chosen for young people, but many of them will be of marginal interest to them, and several require an adult perspective to be appreciated.

Grandits, John. Blue Lipstick . New York: Clarion Books, 2007.
Poetry, Grade Level 6-10. A 15-year-old girl named Jessie voices both typical and not so typical teenage concerns in this unique, hilarious collection of poems. Her musings about trying out new makeup and hairstyles, playing volleyball and cello, and dealing with her annoying younger brother are never boring or predictable. Who else do you know who designs her own clothes and writes poetry to her cat? Jessie’s a girl with strong opinions. Her funny, sarcastic take on high school life is revealed through concrete poetry.

Erdrich, Louise. The Porcupine Year. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2008.
Multicultural and Intercultural, Grade level 6-9. Omakayas is an  Ojibwe Indian  girl who in 1852 is now 12 winters old. She and her family have been displaced by the United States government and are looking for a new place to live. This gripping story is about pain, joy, sacrifice, and surprise. Omakayas, feels the anguish of displacement as her family, driven from its beloved Madeline Island by white settlers, endures violent raids in the freezing winter and comes close to starvation in its search for a home. Omakaya’s love for her mischievous little brother, as well as jealousy of her sister creates several emotions she is not prepared to deal with.

Curtis, Christopher. Elijah of Buxton. New York Scholastic Press, 2007
Multicultural and Intercultural, Grade Level 6-9. Elijah has the distinction of being the first child born in the Buxton Settlement, which was founded in Ontario in 1849 as a haven for former slaves. Elijah tells a story that builds a broad picture of Buxton's residents, through a child's first-person perspective, readers learn about conditions in slavery at a distance, though the horrors become increasingly apparent.  Elijah meets escaped slaves, those who have made it to Canada and, later, those who have been retaken by slave catchers. Many readers drawn to the book by humor will find themselves at times on the edges of their seats in suspense and, at other moments, moved to tears.

 McLaughlin, Timothy. Walking on Earth & Touching the Sky. New York: Abrams Books, 2012
Multicultural & Intercultural, Grade Level 6-9. This is an exceptional poetry collection written by Lakota students in the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grades at Red Cloud Indian School on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. The historic school was founded in 1888 at the request of Chief Red Cloud of the Oglala Lakota. The poems enable readers to learn about the unique lives and heritage of students growing up in such distinctive circumstances and straddling cultures. The collection was compiled by a teacher at the school, working with school administrators, and contains never-before-published artworks by award-winning artist S. D. Nelson. The Artwork also tells the story.


Ryan, Pam Munoz. Esperanza Rising. New York: Scholastic, 2000
Multicultural & Intercultural, Grade Level 5-9. Esperanza thought she'd always live with her family on their ranch in Mexico--she'd always have fancy dresses, a beautiful home, and servants. But a sudden tragedy forces Esperanza and Mama to flee to California during the Great Depression, and to settle in a camp for Mexican farm workers. Esperanza isn't ready for the hard labor, financial struggles, or lack of acceptance she now faces. When their new life is threatened, Esperanza must find a way to rise above her difficult circumstances, immigration and assimilation, not only to a new country but also into a different social class.

Ryan, Pam Munoz. The Dreamer. New York: Scholastic Press, 2010.
Multicultural & Intercultural. Grade Level 5-9. From the time he is a young boy, Neftali a shy Chilean boy whose spirit develops and thrives despite his father's relentless negativity. Young Neftalí spends most of his time either dreamily pondering the world or cowering from his domineering father.  In the beginning of the book the boy wanders rapt in a forest or spends a formative summer by the seashore, experiencing the world as someone who gets lost in the intricate surprises of nature\. As Neftalí grows into a teen, he becomes increasingly aware of the plight of the indigenous Mapuche in his Chilean homeland, and Ryan does a remarkable job of integrating these themes of social injustice, neither overwhelming nor becoming secondary to Neftalí’s story.

Fantasy Book Analysis: The Giver

The Giver

July 2,2015

 Fantasy. Short (2013) states” The power of fantasy is that it is a safe place to explore an alternative world as a metaphor for life in their own world”
     
 Considering “what if” is the heart and the power of fantasy. The Giver is just such a book. The setting is a world in which there exist no pain, no war, and very little if any emotions. In today’s world our most treasured resources are family and our home. In Jonas’s world, a family is always the same; the homes are all the same. The furniture is sturdy and the function is clearly defined, there is a bed for sleeping, a table for eating and a desk for studying. In the desk there are only 3 books, a dictionary, the community book and the Book of Rules. In our world we have freedom of choice, but what if we didn’t? In this book your life was decided for you by the committee of elders. In the setting of “The Giver” the world is very different than our world; birthmothers give birth to “newchildren” and never see them again. These newchildren are moved to a Nurturing Center, then to a family unit, and then together with other childless adults. When the children become too old to infirm, they are released; those who are released are actually killed.
   
     The main character of this fantasy novel is Jonas, a boy age 11, anxious about his assignment, or job, that he will spend the rest of his life doing. In this utopia world, everything is pleasant and all things are possible. Everyone in the community is provided for; each family unit looks the same, a father, a mother, one female and one male child. Each community member has their profession carefully chosen for them by the committee of elders, and the elders never make a mistake. Jonas is nervous about the ceremony of twelve where he will learn how he will forever serve his community. Jonas sometimes perceives flashes when he looks at something. He doesn’t realize he is seeing color because color disappeared when the community went over to “Sameness.” The Elders have decided, Jonas will become the new Receiver, an honored assignment that consists of keeping all of the old memories of the community from before they changed to “Sameness.” The Giver transmits all the memories of fear, joy, happiness and despair to Jonas. The memories are spectacular, filled with colors and lots of emotions, both of which Jonas has never seen in his world of “Sameness.” As Jonas becomes very close to The Giver he began to tell Jonas about the last Receiver, his daughter Gabriel, who became overwhelmed by the flood of colors and emotions from all the memories, she begged to be released from all the emotions, but in order for that to happen, all the memories she had were sent to all the other community members. When the Giver suggest to Jonas that he run away to Elsewhere, Jonas is concerned, if he finds Elsewhere then all the memories will disappear from him and go back to the community, and the giver will have to teach them how to handle emotions.

     When Jonas realizes that “being released”, is the same as being killed, he jumps on his father’s bicycle and finds Gabriel, they runaway seeking to find Elsewhere. The farther they ride the landscape becomes more brilliant and colorful, but they both grow hungry and tired. Finally he discovers a sled at the top of the hill, he and Gabriel ride on the sled headed toward twinkling lights and a happy music. Jonas is intelligent, determined and very passionate although these are not common traits in his community; this makes Jonas a perfect Receiver. As this story progresses, Jonas wishes he could feel closer to other people, he cares about his friends and family, this is a concept unknown to others in his community. The Giver is the ultimate teacher; he is patient, kind, calm and very wise.  He is able to absorb all of the community’s memories and emotions and still go on living. Because he is so nurturing he will be ready to help the entire community as they absorb the memories when Jonas escapes to Elsewhere.

Esperanza Rising Book Summary

           July 2,2015

Esperanza Rising, by Pam Munoz Ryan, invites you into the world of the Mexican migrant workers, providing insight into the cultural details of their daily life, how they develop relationships and human emotions. In this story this young Mexican Girl goes from, being born with a silver spoon in her mouth to having nothing and how she overcame such a life changing experience. 

Esperanza Ortega is living on a big ranch in Aguascalientes, Mexico with her Papa, her Mama, Abuelita. Esperanza spends her time going to school, learning to love the ranch and being spoiled by “Papi”, living very well, as a wealthy rancher’s daughter, her only worry was picking out a fancy dress for their next big party. Suddenly, her perfect life is turned upside down by a series of tragic events. First, Papi dies the day before her 13th birthday, he was killed by bandits, then her house and all the grape vineyards were burned by her Uncles who wanted to take over their ranch land. Esperanza and her mother find themselves without a home or a way to make money in Mexico. They decide to move to the United States and with the help of their servants she and her mother escaped to California. In the beginning of their journey to California, Esperanza looks down on the other migrants. She has never seen such people in her 13 years on the ranch. She is shocked by the living conditions in the migrant camps and believes that the other workers are not as intelligent as she is. Migrants often come to the United States because they have been poor all their lives, but that is not the case with Esperanza.

Esperanza and her mother are forced to work as migrant farm labors during Great Depression. Esperanza now faces the same problems that all the other Mexican immigrants do. She has to learn to do chores, take care of babies that she’s never done and doesn’t know how to do in her previous life.  She learns that immigrants have to deal with poverty, prejudice, and bosses who cheat them. Still, like other immigrants, she hopes that in America she will never run out of chances. She soon realizes that dignity and honor come from the way someone lives life, not from family status. Esperanza’s problems soon get worse instead of better. As life in California became more difficult by the strike for better working conditions and her mother gets very sick with Valley Fever. Esperanza becomes responsible for her mother’s bills and must work extra hours in the fields to pay her mother’s hospital bill but she struggles with being so alone so she creates a plan to restore her family. Esperanza takes on extra jobs, saving money to bring her grandmother to the United States. Esperanza has to get help, she cannot leave her mother, but she must get her grandmother over here to help her, she contacts her old friend Miguel in Mexico, he agrees to help her get her grandmother to the United States. When her grandmother arrives Esperanza tells her of her trials since the tragedy of her father’s death, the grandmother gives her strength by sharing stories of her family’s struggles in the past.  Esperanza changes because she has been able to feel the earth’s true meaning. Esperanza became a giving and helpful person; she helped other immigrant children, she began teaching Isabela how to crochet and do chores around the house. As migrant workers Esperanza’s family went through many struggles. They began to heal after her mother came back from the hospital and recovered from Valley Fever, they all worked diligently to rebuild their family.  Esperanza and her family became great at what they did, and even without Esperanza’s Papi her family was still able to prosper. Esperanza means hope in English, and through all the difficulties she learns to appreciate what is truly valuable in life. It is the value of family, sharing happiness and kindness, being happy without having to be rich, and never giving up. 

Lesson Plan: Esperanza Rising

Esperanza Rising Lesson Plan

July 6,2015

Students will explore the challenges the main character faced in this story by Pam Muñoz Ryan.

Esperanza Rising
By Pam Muñoz Ryan
Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction
Grade Level: 6-8
Subject: Hispanic/Latino American Immigrants, The Great Depression, Farm and Ranch Life, Courage and Honor, Equality, Justice, social Issues and Conditions.
Setting: Mexico, California farm labor camp
Characters: Esparanza, Ramona(Mama), Miguel, Abulita (Grandmother),Alfonso, Hortensia

Book Summary
Esperanza's life on the ranch in Mexico is filled with laughter, riches, and the love of her well- to-do family. Shielded from the harshness of the world, her father teaches her respect for the earth and the servants who work on the grounds. A sudden tragedy forces Esperanza from her home in Mexico to a labor camp in California where she must work with other Mexican migrant workers. Esperanza and her mother work hard to fight the financial woes of the Great Depression era. The financial difficulties, awful working conditions and rejection from those around her weigh heavily on Esperanza's soul. Although young and inexperienced, Esperanza must relinquish her hold on the past and learn to embrace the future.

Guiding Questions
• What challenges must Esperanza learn to overcome when she leaves her comfortable home in Mexico to begin a new life in the United States?
• What is the source of Esperanza's "hope" for happiness?
Learning Objectives
At the end of this lesson, students will be able to
• Analyze and identify the structural elements of the novel
• Describe Esperanza's growth in maturity and understanding
• Recognize the social distances that separate Esperanza and her family from their farm workers and peasants in Mexico and the migrants from other citizens in the United States
• Understand some of the reasons for Mexican immigration to the United States after the Mexican Revolution and during the Great Depression
• Appreciate why some of the farm laborers want to strike, while others do not, even when they are sympathetic to the strikers and their goals
• Describe the working conditions for farm laborers in the 1930s and explain why the farmers and growers do not pay more or provide better living accommodations
• Understand the competition for work among the various groups of farm laborers
• Explore the attitudes in the United States toward the farm laborers and especially toward those from Mexico
• Analyze the role of the Great Depression and the internal migration of farm laborers in the development of the U.S. Government policy of repatriating Mexican Workers during the Great Depression

Warm-up Activity
I plan to begin this unit with a brief conversation about immigration, and what it means to be an immigrant. Through this conversation, the students and I will complete a t-chart that will list emotions, and why they might occur.

For Example: Emotion/ Reason
                        Sadness/ They are leaving their home, family and belongings behind.

I believe there will be some students who can identify with these emotions first hand, and some students will only have their imagination skills to discover these emotions. Although not all students are immigrants, many of them will have moved from other states, towns or neighborhoods. The emotions of these moves will be discussed and added to the t-chart as well. They are relevant to the discussion and are applicable to the families who move from place to place. This is a wonderful opportunity for students to share their stories and learn about their peers.
Map of Mexico
Students will find and mark Aguacalientes and the route to Mexicali
Map of California
Students will find Los Angeles and Alvin which is not named, but near Bakersfield and mark their locations

Vocabulary
As they read Esperanza Rising, students will make a list of all the Spanish words they encounter along with the English equivalents. Encourage students to look up the definitions in a Spanish-English dictionary or online. When they have finished their reading, ask them to compare their lists. If there are Spanish-speaking students in the class, ask them to comment on the Spanish words and discuss the similarities and differences between the Spanish and English equivalents that Pam Muñoz Ryan provides.

Evaluation and Reflection
1. Students will explain the quotation "There is no rose without thorns."(Page 14) this is one of the messages, of the book. Students will identify the thorns (challenges) in Esperanza's life.
2. Students should find at least three to four challenges that Esperanza must face and explain how she meets these challenges.
3. Finally, they should explain how meeting these challenges changes Esperanza for the better.

Teacher Evaluation of Student Understanding Activity

Materials
• Red construction paper
• Scissors
• Glue

 Have students work in groups of six to create giant roses. Using red construction paper cut out large red petals. On each petal, a student in the group will write down a challenge that Esperanza met and how it changed her. Students will glue each of their petals together forming a rose.
Follow up discussions
 1.  Students will create a personal rose for themselves in which they write about the challenges they face in their own lives and how they meet these challenges.
2. For even further discussion, students could interview immigrants or read biographies about immigrants. Compare and contrast the hardships Esperanza had to face to those of other immigrants. How is her story similar to other immigrants? What is unique about her experience?