Teachers who work with English as a Second Language learners will find ESL/ESOL/ELL/EFL reading/writing skill-building children's books, stories, activities, ideas, strategies to help PreK-3, 4-8, and 9-12 students learn to read.
Biographies: Tales of Courage
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Learn about the remarkable lives of the individuals portrayed in the following selections. Some, like Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, you probably have heard of. Others, like Annie Dodge Wauneka, Walking Coyote, and the New York City Skywalkers, may be new to you and your students. Yet all of them, in their own way showed courage — to lead, to follow a dream, or to simply be themselves.
A Boy Called Slow
Like most Lakota Sioux boys, Slow yearns for the special vision or manly deed that will inspire his permanent, adult name. Encouraged by splendid stories of his father's bravery, wisdom and leadership, Slow focuses his energy on becoming a warrior. Friends gradually begin to associate his name with careful deliberation. When the moment of his manhood arrives, Slow rides heroically against Crow warriors, earning the name Tatan'ka Iyota'ke (translated, on the final page, as Sitting Bull). — Publishers Weekly
Buffalo Song
For thousands of years, massive herds of buffalo roamed across much of North America, but by the 1870s, fewer than fifteen hundred animals remained. With reverent care, Walking Coyote and his family endeavored to bring back the buffalo herds, one magnificent creature at a time. Here is the inspiring story of the first efforts to save the buffalo, an animal sacred to Native Americans and a powerful symbol of the American West.
Crazy Horse's Vision
Product Description: Joseph Bruchac tells the compelling story of how a young boy named Curly seeks a vision in the hope of saving his people — and grows into the brave and fierce warrior Crazy Horse. Sioux artist S. D. Nelson's paintings, in the traditional ledger style of the Plains Indians, evokes the drama and the tragedy of this important American figure.
Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains
This collection provides biographical sketches of 15 great Indian leaders, most Sioux; tracing their historical importance to both white and Native peoples. While students may turn to this for supplemental reading, many an adult will find this a fine refresher course on key Native leaders. — Midwest Book Review
Keeping the Rope Straight: Annie Dodge Wauneka's Life of Service to the Navajo
Annie Wauneka devoted her life to helping her people. Inspired by the example of her father, Annie immersed herself in tribal politics and became a leader in the battle against tuberculosis. Annie melded traditional Navajo culture with the modern world and brought about unprecedented improvements in the healthcare and education available to her people. Her years of service earned her the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the title "Our Legendary Mother" from the Navajo Nation.
Louis Sockalexis: Native American Baseball Pioneer
On a Maine summer day in 1884, twelve-year-old Penobscot Indian Louis Sockalexis first fell in love with baseball. As he grew up, Louis honed his skills and dreamed of one day joining a major league team. Louis encountered opposition at every turn, from the jeers of teammates and the taunts of spectators to the disapproval of his father. With determination, courage, and quiet dignity, Louis Sockalexis smashed racial barriers and home runs, leaving an indelible mark on America's favorite sport.
Quiet Hero: The Ira Hayes Story
Ira Hayes, a member of the Pima tribe, was one of the Marines who raised the flag on Iwo Jima, catapulting him to celebrity status. His life became a struggle against fame and then alcoholism, ending when he was only 32 years old. This picture book biography features evocative paintings and concluding with additional factual information and photographs.
Remember Me: Tomah Joseph's Gift to Franklin Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt joyfully spent his boyhood summers on Campobello Island. It was there that he met Tomah Joseph, a Passamaquoddy elder and former chief who made his living as a guide, birchbark canoe builder, and basketmaker. Authors Soctomah and Flahive imagine the relationship that developed between these two as Tomah Joseph taught young Franklin how to canoe and shared some of the stories and culture of his people.
Sequoyah: The Cherokee Man Who Gave His People Writing
The story of Sequoyah is the tale of an ordinary man with an extraordinary idea — to create a writing system for the Cherokee Indians and turn his people into a nation of readers and writers. Sequoyah knew no English and had no idea how to capture speech on paper. But slowly and painstakingly, ignoring the scorn of his neighbors and friends, he worked out a system that surprised the Cherokee Nation — and the world of the 1820s — with its beauty and simplicity.
Sky Dancers
"In her first work of fiction for children, Kirk introduces the generations-old connection between the Mohawk people and steelworking. John Cloud, who lives on a reservation, misses his father and uncle during their weeks working construction sites in Manhattan. John's first visit to the city brings both strange sights ('There were traffic lights where John thought trees should be') and deepening pride when he witnesses his father's agile figure high atop the incomplete Empire State Building." — Booklist
Tallchief: America's Prima Ballerina
Maria Tallchief shares the story of her childhood and path to becoming America's first prima ballerina. Growing up on the Osage Indian reservation, Maria was a gifted pianist and dancer, but at the age of twelve, her father told her that she must choose between dance and music. Maria chose ballet, changing the course of her life and the face of classical ballet in America.
The Unbreakable Code
John, a young Navajo, is frightened to leave his lifelong home on the reservation and move to Minnesota with his mother and new stepfather. The boy's grandfather assures him he'll be all right since he has an "unbreakable code," the Navajo language. The man goes on to tell the story of how he and other Navajos were recruited by the Marines and developed a message code based on their native language that helped the U.S. in the Pacific during World War II. — School Library Journal
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