Harmony School Curriculum


Social Action Day

Social Action Day of 2001 | Tentative Calendar | Schedule for the Day
Literature Suggestions for First Multi-Aged Study Group Meeting
Social Action Day of 2002

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Literature Suggestions for First Multi-Aged Study Group Meeting
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African American History, Issues and Concerns

The Rise and Fall of “Jim Crow” by Frank B. Latham - the Negro’s long struggle to win “the equal protection of the laws”

Ida B. Wells - Mother of the Civil Rights Movement by Dennis Brindell and Judith Bloom Fradin - Ida carried out a campaign against the practice of lynching. By the time she died in 1931 lynching in the US had disappeared almost entirely, largely due to her efforts.

student discussionA Picture Book of Sojourner Truth by David Adler - Sojourner traveled and preached about the evils of slavery, religious issues and the rights of women.

Oh, Freedom! by Casey King and Linda Barrett Osborne- 31 interviews conducted by children with family members, friends, and civil rights activists; also three historical essays

The National Civil Rights Museum Celebrates Everyday People by Alice Faye Duncan

A Picture book of Rosa Parks by David Adler

If You Lived at the Time of Martin Luther King by Ellen Levine

Dear Mrs. Parks - A Dialogue with Today’s Youth by Rosa Parks and Gregory Reed - collection of letters between Rosa Parks and children over the last 40 years“
The Case for Reparations - Why, How Much, When” from Ebony, August, 2000

Richard Wright and the Library Lady

Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco - a Civil War story passed from great-grandfather to grandmother, to son, and finally to the author herself

The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles - As the first black child to attend an all-white elementary school, six-year-old Ruby Bridges finds herself in the center of a storm of hatred and prejudice.

The Environment

The Lorax
by Dr. Seuss

Come Back, Salmon by Molly Cone - How a group of dedicated kids adopted Pigeon Creek and brought it back to life

Just a Dream by Chris Van Allsburg - Walter is a litterbug who thinks sorting trash is a big waste of time until he has a dream about the future.

Talking About Our Environment by Malcolm Penny - suggestions of things kids can do
River by Debby Atwell - traces the history of a river

The Paper Bag Prince by Colin Thompson - an old man lives in a landfill which used to be his farm

Taking Care of the Earth - Kids in Action by Laurence Pringle -stories about what kids have done

Michael Bird-Boy by Tomie dePaola - Michael bird-Boy gets concerned when his beautiful country is spoiled by a big black cloud of pollution

50 Simple things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth by the Earthworks Group

A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold - “There are some who can live without wild things, and some who cannot. These essays are the delights and dilemmas of one who cannot.”

Kids with Courage - True Stories about Young People Making a Difference by Barbara Lewis -
Protecting Endangered Species by Usborne - several copies of this picture book

Tammy Turtle - A Tale of Saving Sea Turtles by Suzanne Tate

Aani and the Tree Huggers by Jeannine Atkins - based on an event that took place in northern India in the 70’s

Earth Education by Steve van Matre - Earth education aims to help people improve upon their cognitive and affective relationship with the earth’s natural communities and life support systems

Keepers of the Animals by Michael Caduto and Joseph Bruchac - helps children understand their interdependence with all living beings and life forms, to respect the learning stories and lifeways of our Native people, and to confront their own significance in the circle of life
Acting for Nature - What Young People Around the World Have Done to Protect the Environment by Sneed B. Collard III and Action for Nature

The View from the Oak by Judith and Herbert Kohl - explores the strange but marvelous ways in which a variety of living creatures experience space, sense time, and communicate with others of their kind

Ethical Strategies for Social Action

Rules for Radicals: A Practical Primer for Realistic Radicals by Saul Alinsky - Reviewer: “Alinsky accomplished much for many downtrodden people. This book explains his methods. Some of his methods are controversial. His analysis of how the have-nots can get power is must reading for anyone who would buck the status quo.”

Pearl Moscowitz’s Last Stand by Arthur A. Levine - The very last tree on the block is facing the bulldozer, and Pearl has had enough.

Kids at Work by Russell Freedman - The last chapter tells how Lewis Hine made a difference in child labor laws through the use of his photography.

The Peace Seekers - the Nobel Peace Prize by Nathan Aaseng - Chapter 5 is about Andrei Sakharov who used press conferences to spread the word about the lack of human rights in the Soviet Union during the 70’s.

Mother Jones and the March of the Mill Children by Penny Colman - Mary Jones led a twenty-day protest march against child labor in the mines to see the president of the US.

Tinker v Des Moines - Student Protest by Leah Farish - students wore armbands to school to protest the Vietnam war

Dorothea Lange - Life through the Camera by Milton Meltzer - She traveled across the country documenting the struggles of the hungry and the homeless of the Great Depression.

Restless Spirit - The Life and Work of Dorothea Lange by Elizabeth Partridge - She captured some of the most desperate and beautiful faces America has seen.

Kids with Courage - True Stories about Young People Making a Difference by Barbara Lewis -
The Christmas Menorahs - How a Town Fought Hate by Janice Cohn - a community resolves to stand together against bigotry, based on real events that happened in Billings in 1993

Poverty
Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting - father and son live in the airport

Article - “How the Poor Are Ripped Off”

What You Can Do To Help the Homeless - The National Alliance To End Homelessness
The Table Where Rich People Sit by Byrd Baylor - Mountain Girl knows that her family isn’t rich. In fact, that’s why she has called a family meeting around the homemade table. The subject is money, and she thinks they don’t have enough of it.

Voices in the Park by Anthony Brown

Just Juice by Karen Hesse

Tomas and the Library Lady by Pat Mora

The Circuit by Francisco Jimeniz

Run for Your Life by Marilyn Levy

Something Beautiful by Sharon Dennis Wyeth

Legal Issues

A Kids’ Guide to America’s Bill of Rights by Kathleen Krull
Curfews, Censorship, and the 100-pound giant

Shiver, Gobble and Snore by Marie Winn - A Story About Why People Need Laws

The Berenstain Bears and the Dress Code by Stan and Jan Berenstain

You Can’t Eat Peanuts In Church and Other Little-Known Laws by Barbara Seuling - introduction that suggests origin of some of the laws and then page after page of “little-known” laws

Other

Human Rights by Susan Dudley Gold - includes the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Kid’s Guide to Service Projects by Barbara Lewis

 



 

 


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