Powerful photographs helped change the tide of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s. Some of these very photos moved author Elizabeth Partridge (goddaughter of the influential photographer Dorothea Lange) when she saw them 40 years later. Consider the role that photographs, books, and interviews play in historical research as Partridge discusses her process of selecting viable sources for Marching for Freedom: Walk Together Children and Don't You Grow Weary (Penguin, 2009).
I encourage you to find poetry in unexpected places—in places beyond books. For example, 80-year-old poet and author Eloise Greenfield reminded me that poetry can be found in rap music. In fact, Eloise found inspiration for her book Nathaniel Talking…
I love how poetry can aid in revealing human nature. We learn more about the poet, or more about ourselves, or more about what it means to be human. In Carole Boston Weatherford’s book of poetry, Becoming Billie Holiday (Wordsong,…
Beginning today, we’ll participate in Poetry Friday every week on the TeachingBooks.net Blog.
Poetry Friday is a blogging community dedicated to sharing poets, poems, and poetry resources online. We are excited to feature special resources from TeachingBooks.net’s extensive collection of…
Engage students with technology as you explore best practices in writing. By integrating the online resource listed in this issue into your curriculum, students can have award-winning authors model the application of specific writing tips and techniques.
I went to Ghana several years ago and was overwhelmed by the beauty of the land and people, as well as the history of the place that hovered just out of reach. When I visited the slave castles, where millions of Africans were housed like cattle before being shipped as cargo and sold as slaves, I felt their spirits crying out to me. Crawling on my hands and knees through the Door of No Return, which led from the darkness of the prison to the incomprehensible vastness of a beach, I knew I must tell the story of someone who had passed that way.