This year I plan to read all the GA Book Award Nominees and provide a “one stop” resource for teachers who would like to use these books in their classrooms.  I will be posting links to author Web sites, teacher’s guides, and related Web links.  I hope to make this an unbiased resource, so I will not be providing my own review of the books–other than recommending it as a read aloud (or not).

Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson

Summary: When a new, white student nicknamed “The Jesus Boy” joins her sixth grade class in the winter of 1971, Frannie’s growing friendship with him makes her start to see some things in a new light.

Author Web Site:  http://www.jacquelinewoodson.com

Teaching Resources:

Teacher’s Guide:  Not Currently Available

Lesson Plan from National Council of Teachers of English on Similar Books (Does Not Include Feathers, But Could Be Used As Building Block/Includes The Other Side, a Picture Book by Woodson )

Reading Guide of Discussion Questions by Penguin Publishing

Review Suitable for Booktalk from Kidsread.com

Related Links:  Civil Rights

Brown v. Board of Education:  National Archive Documents and Lesson Plans

Learn NC:  Race Relations (Includes Multimedia Resources)

Research Starters from Scholastic:  Civil Rights

Related Links:  Emily Dickinson

Biography of Emily Dickinson from the Academy of American Poets Web Site

Dickinson Electronic Archives

Teaching with Emily Dickinson:  The Classroom Electric (Emily Dickinson Resources)

Text and Slideshow of Entire Poem (TextFlow) from the Academy of American Poets Web Site

Excerpt:

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,
-Emily Dickinson

Related Links:  Hearing Impaired

Resources from the American Society for Deaf Children

Resources from Raising Deaf Kids

Related Links: Multimedia

Slideshow and Reading of Excerpt from Feathers on the Author’s Web Site

Mini Documentary of Woodson on Writing Realistic Fiction, Video of Author Reading from Feathers, & More

Related Links:  Sign Language

First 100 Signs (with Illustrations, Descriptions, and Photos of Person Making Each Sign)

Handspeak.com (including American Sign Language Online Dictionary with Videos Showing Signing of Words)

Read Aloud Recommendation: This is a good book to open dialogue about social issues such as race relations.  It will challenge students to question social injustices such as prejudice and stereotyping.

Tags: Booktalks, children's literature, Deaf, Emily Dickinson, Feathers, Georgia Book Awards, Jacqueline Woodson, Library Media Center Resources, literature, Newbery Honor Book, Online Literary Resources, Race relations-Integration, Sign Language, Teacher resources, Web Resources for Feathers

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 30th, 2009 at 6:39 pm and is filed under GA Book Awards 2010, Meet Authors/Illustrators, Online Literacy Resources, Reading Initiatives, Recommended Books, Sea Turtles, Themes, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.