From
the Introduction--
Jane and Toni
About the Book
We can remember exactly when 35
Best Books for Teaching U.S. Regions
sprouted in our minds. We were part of a fiction writers' retreat at
Popham Beach, Maine, when we were joined at breakfast by a principal
from a New England school. After she was introduced to the writers from
Maine, North Dakota, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Illinois, she
said, "Do you know what schools really need? They need a resource for
novels set in different geographic regions all across the United
States." We looked at each and nodded.
For each of the seven U.S. regions featured in this book, we recommend
fifteen books and include background, resources, and activities for
five of those books, all of which are available in paperback. In all
the bibliographic information, we provide the paperback publisher (when
available) and the original copyright date. We also note when a book is
available as an audiobook.
It was important to us that the books reflect the interesting mosaic of
the North American experience,
so we included many cultures, time periods, and perspectives.
Occasionally a book's settings span several regions. (Take, for
example, The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963,
in which the characters travel from Flint, Michigan to Birmingham,
Alabama, and back again.) Such books muddy the waters a bit, but they
can also be a rich resource for comparisons.
While we encourage you to use them wherever they fit best for you, we
placed them in the region where most of the activities were centered..
How to Use the Book
We've designed the book for maximum flexibility.; If you group states
into regions different from ours, use the state designations to set up
your own regions.; Explore all the books in all seven regions if you
have time, work with one or two books from each region, or concentrate
on only one region‹whatever fits your needs.
We recommend that you consider three possibilities for using the five
focus novels: reading them aloud to the whole class, buying a classroom
set so every student can read the novel individually, or dividing the
five novels among literature discussion groups.
We encourage you to support students' reading opportunities across each
U.S. region by stocking your classroom library with the additional
titles, book pairings, and suggested resource books. In addition, you
will want to alert your school library media specialist (and perhaps
your public librarian) to the titles in the regional bibliographies as
well as in the book pairings.
Teacher resource pages:
To help you create a rich reading experience for students, we've provided
summary, background, and resource information about each featured book--including
online and in-print author information and background information on the
time period, culture, or setting. The "Hands-On Activities" section
offers creative ways to help students process the information they've learned
and use additional resources to explore themes and topics introduced in
the book. The activities emphasize the following skills and concepts:
-
Geographic concepts and skills
-
Learning from literature through
reading and writing
-
Critical thinking skills in different content areas
-
Internet research skills
Student activity pages: Most
sets of resource pages are followed by a student activity page that invites
students to think critically about the featured book and make important
connections to literature. Copy and use this activity page with students
during or after they read the feature book.
About Jane Kurtz
Jane Kurtz, children's author and storyteller, has written numerous books including, Fire on the Mountain (Simon & Schuster, 1994), The Storyteller's Beads(Harcourt, 1998), I'm Sorry, Almira Ann (Holt, 1999), River Friendly, River Wild (Simon & Schuster, 2000) and Faraway Home(Harcourt,
2000). She also teaches adolescent literature and composition for the
English Department, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks.
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