Nikki Grimes is an author of fiction and poetry who has received five Coretta Scott King Book Award recognitions. In this column she discusses her writing process. Whether it’s her focus on character development, the story behind Bronx Masquerade (Penguin, 2001), or her personal experiences that influence her research and writing, Grimes’s insights reveal the […]
Tag Archives | 1st to 12th grade
Phil Hoose on history in the making
Claudette Colvin, in 1955, was a 15-year-old African American girl growing up in Alabama. She refused to surrender her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama a full nine months before Rosa Parks later became famous by doing the same thing.
Authors in Social Studies Classrooms
In this post, I encourage you to bring authors into your classroom to add a personal dimension to social studies lessons. Autobiographical accounts, for example, can offer first-person perspectives on events under discussion. And authors who research and write about historical and cultural topics often present their interpretations and sources while revealing their methods and […]
Familial inspiration
As Father’s Day approaches, I love to think about all the fathers in the world who have had a positive influence on the children in their lives. In particular, I’m cognizant of several authors/illustrators with adult offspring who are now in the book-making business. Take, for example, Walter Dean Myers. Walter is well-known for writing […]
Nick’s Picks: Series fiction
In this post, I invite you to introduce a multimedia dimension to your students’ series reading. Children love series fiction. They enjoy the familiarity of the storylines, become comfortable with the formulas, and delight in the characters’ idiosyncrasies. Educators appreciate that these titles are accessible to all children—from the voracious readers who never put a […]