March is......

Most people in education focus on March as reading month. For those who aren't in the know, this is in honor of Theodore Geisel, more commonly know as Dr. Seuss, whose birthday is March 2nd. In high schools across Michigan, the celebration occurs in the middle of MME testing, allowing for little time and attention to celebration! A great opportunity for classroom activities or family discussion is to research Theodore Geisel. He has a very interesting start to his career. As students move into middle school and high school they are ready to consider the meaning behind those delightful rhymes. There are great history and social studies lessons sparkling like little gems. My students in library science were given two activities, using databases instead of web searching, to look at biographical information and to read literary criticism of one of his books. Our county library system pays for Literature Resource Center from Gale which is a great resource for this type of activity. Students were interested to learn of Geisel's career during the war and especially that he was a college drop-out! The Butter Battle criticisms had students thinking differently about children's literature. My recommendation for all social studies teachers is to let the kids bring in the books and then find the connection to history. Who wouldn't love a day spent reading Seuss?

Often over looked in schools during March is the fact that we are also celebrating Women's History Month. As today is the 100th Anniversary of International Women's Day I would like to recommend a great read for high school students and adults. The book is Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.  The Pulitzer Prize winning authors take the reader to Africa and India to meet women struggling to survive under dire, often almost unbelievable, circumstances. While the subject matter can be graphic and the reality difficult to consider, the authors always end with a positive experience and example of how the women are being helped by being given the opportunity to help themselves. The book is a great read not just as a reality check for global citizens, but to consider how we distribute our charitable donations. Be amazed at the resilience of womankind.