Volume:31
Num:4
In the first article in this spring issue, “Reflective Discussion Circles: A Method for Promoting Civic Engagement,” Mary McGriff and Shalise Clemons describe an activity that “brings together best-practice research related to oral discourse in reading, assessment, and civic engagement to provide a process for analytic, self- reflective student dialogue.”
Jesse A. Haight and Vanessa C. Boryenace met with preK and K girls to read and discuss books about woman who worked to improve society. In their article, “Inspriring Young Girls’ Civic Engagement with Biographies of Women,” they describe how young learners began thinking about what it means, even at their age, to act as agents of social change.
The third article, “Reading and Analyzing, and Creating Informational Graphics in the Elementary Classroom,” provides an overview of some commonly used graphic forms, and then suggests a way to approach an upper elementary les- son that incorporates the use of a graphical analysis strategy aligned with the C3 Framework. The authors—Emma S. Thacker, Jeremy D. Stoddard, and Stephanie van Hover—also provide the Pullout for this issue, handouts that includes a set of sample graphics with explanatory captions for students to consider.
Donald R. McClure and Kecia I. Robinson’s article, “’Even If She Fell Down, She Kept Getting Up!’ Teaching Women’s History through the Olympics,” introduces students to athletic pioneers and innovators, from one of the first woman Olympians in modern times (golfer Margaret Abbott), to today’s multi-medal-winning gymnast Simone Biles.
Continuing the athletic theme, Alyssa J. Whitford offers “Sports Reporter Mary Garber: Expanding the Trailblazer Approach to Women’s History.” Garber overcame professional barriers and biases against women reporters to win an enthusiastic national readership.
In “Behind the Lens: Sourcing Historical Photos with KidCitizen,” Bretton A. Varga, Ilene R. Berson, Michael J. Berson, and Bert Snow describe “sourcing” as “exploring who produced a document to better understand that person’s motivations for choosing an even to focus on and how to represent it,” and they suggest resources and related activities for the classroom.