The Avid Reading Mom

Independent Dames: What You Never Knew About the Women and Girls of the American Revolution was written by Laurie Halse Anderson and illustrated by Matt Faulkner.  We have all heard about the amazing men who made a difference in our country during the American Revolution, but, what about the women?  What role did the women play during that time?  Who were these remarkable women?  This book tells about women who played an integral part of the lives of the men during the Revolutionary War.

Independent Dames: What You Never Knew About the Women and Girls of the American Revolution tells the story of real women who were an integral part of the Revolutionary War.  The book begins with a who’s who which gives definitions for words such as parliament, patriots, loyalists, etc.  From that point forward, there is a timeline that runs along the bottom of the pages that begins in 1763 and runs through 1920.  The timeline chronicles the details of our American history and also includes the lives of the women within the pages of this book.  As you can tell from the pictures above, the book is written like a cartoon.  Each page includes a text box with information on the women being discussed then there is a cartoon drawing with word bubbles that put that text box information into simpler terms.  This is a great example of a non-fiction biography and includes a large number of text features that make the book fun to read and engaging.   According to the textbook, Literature and the Child, on page 18, it explains that nonfiction books are informational sources that explain a subject.  It also further explains that biography tells about a real person’s life.  The book concludes with a few additional pages of information on more important women who were part of the war.  It just gives facts about them in regular text writing.

This book is recommended for ages 6 and up.  I think this is a good age to introduce this book to students.  I think it would be an important book to include in a unit study on the Revolutionary War or a unit study on Women Who Made a Difference in our United States.  There are so many things you could do with this book within the classroom.  There are so many different unit ideas that this book would be perfect for.

Some activity ideas I would include when using this book within the classroom would be:

1.  Have students create riddles of the women within the pages of this book.  Have them write their riddles on index cards.  Students will then have the opportunity to share their riddle and see if other students can guess who they wrote their riddle about.

2.  Create a brief introduction about themselves as one of the women discussed. They will give information about a their lives with a focus on their actions during the Revolutionary War. They will also be asked to comment on the feelings they had during this difficult time.

READER RESPONSE QUESTIONS:
1.  How did the contributions of women during the revolution differ from the men?

2.  What kinds of daily jobs or chores did women have then?

3.  How do women support wars today?

4.  How did women affect the economy during the war?

5.  How did women protest and oppose British taxes and actions?

REFERENCES:
Anderson, L. H. (2008). Independent dames: What you never knew about the women and girls of the american revolution.
     New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books.

Galda, L., Cullinan, B. E., & Sipe, L. R. (2011). Literature and the child. (7th ed. ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth Pub Co.

Teaching American History lesson plan.  Retrieved from http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CEcQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mrpk.k12.ca.us%2FLinkClick.aspx%3Ffileticket%3DxohCLc_wxSs%253D%26tabid%3D1288%26mid%3D5583&ei=fm8hUYDwJZDa8wSNioCYBA&usg=AFQjCNEWbnIHBiVPjg0vaK3EsHJlJKaK5Q&bvm=bv.42553238,d.eWU&cad=rja

You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer was written by Shana Corey and illustrated by Chesley McLaren.  Would you DARE to bare YOUR underwear?  If you like CLOTHES and people with the courage to SKIRT conventions and adDRESS injustice then Amelia Bloomer and her unFITTING ideas will charm the PANTS off you! (This description is taken directly from the inside cover of the book because I love how it was written).  Amelia Bloomer was a rebellious reformer and early women's rights activist who invented bloomers (baggy pantaloons worn with a short skirt over them) and liberated women from the dangerous and oppressive clothing of the mid-nineteenth century.

You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer has a style all it’s own.  It is a non-fiction biography.  According to the textbook, Literature and the Child, on page 18, it explains that nonfiction books are informational sources that explain a subject.  It also further explains that biography tells about a real person’s life.  This book is a very good example of a non-fiction biography in that it explains a person’s life by giving information. The book has very colorful and whimsical illustrations that flow throughout the entire story.  The font style uses large and small font sizes to make various points throughout the book. 

This book is recommended for students ages 4 and up.  I am not sure that I would include children that young into this recommendation.  While the writing is simple and there are pages with few words on them, the story line may be hard for children that age to understand.  I would recommend students in 2nd grade and up for this book.  I think, with some background information, they would be able to understand the history behind this story and can learn a lot from it.

When presenting this book to your students, I would include the following activities:

1.  If you are in a school where your students wear uniforms, have the students write letters, or create an article for a newspaper (just like Amelia Bloomer did) to spread their opinions about the dress code. It could also be used if the students were not required to wear school uniforms, it could be a hypothetical situation such as "How would you feel if...?"

2.  In the 1800s, women wore clothing that weighed between 20 and 40 pounds. Let your students experience how difficult it was to move carrying all that weight. Place a large book-bag on a bathroom scale. Let students take turns adding books, one at a time, until the scale reads 20 pounds. Give each child an opportunity to lift the bag and walk around the classroom. Repeat by adding more books to weigh 40 pounds and have students life that bag.  Ask them to imagine wearing all that weight every day! Ask: How much do you think pants and a shirt weigh? Take out a child’s shirt and pants (bring them to school in advance), and place them on the scale. Compare the weight of the pants and shirt to the weight of women’s clothing in the 1800s.

READER RESPONSE QUESTIONS:
1. How and why did Bloomer change women’s dress and how did people react to these
changes?

2.  Are there any styles today that your parents disapprove of? Do you agree?

3.  Would you wear styles that your parents disapprove of? Would you object to other people wearing them?

4.  Does the school have a dress code? What is it?

5.  Do you own any clothes that you can’t wear to school because of the code?

6.  Do you think it is fair for schools to have dress codes?

REFERENCES
Brooklyn Public Library women’s unit.  Retrieved from http://www.bklynpubliclibrary.org/civilwar/lesson_plans/cw_lesson3_1.pdf

Corey, S. (2000). You forgot your skirt, amelia bloomer. New York, NY: Scholastic Press.

Galda, L., Cullinan, B. E., & Sipe, L. R. (2011). Literature and the child. (7th ed. ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth Pub Co.

You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer blog post. Retrieved from http://6elementssje.blogspot.com/2011/10/you-forgot-your-skirt-amelia-bloomer.html

You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer extended activity.  Retrieved from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/you-forgot-your-skirt-amelia-bloomer-extension-activity

Rachel: The Story of Rachel Carson was compiled by Amy Ehrlich and illustrated by Wendell Minor.  The story is about Rachel Carson.  She was a very curious girl who loved being outside, taking walks with her mother, and naming the insects and birds. Rachel had a lifelong dream of protecting the nature that she loved so much.  After years of research, Rachel wrote a book titled Silent Spring which changed the world.  The book warned about the dangers of poisons that were everywhere.  

Rachel: The Story of Rachel Carson is a great example of a non-fiction biography.  According to the textbook, Literature and the Child, on page 18, it explains that nonfiction books are informational sources that explain a subject.  It also further explains that biography tells about a real person’s life.  This book is a very good example of a non-fiction biography in that it explains a person’s life by giving information. The illustrations in this book are absolutely beautiful watercolor paintings of places Rachel visited or loved to visit.  They are very vividly painted and include great detail.

The book is recommended for ages 5 and up.  I think a child at the age of 5 would not really understand this book.  I think it really would be better for children 7-8 and up. 

If you were going to be presenting this book in a classroom setting, I would suggest including these activities to really bring the book to life:

1.  Design a diorama for either an eco park or an eco system and display them in the classroom.

2.  Have the students write a biography but include what they would do to change the world they live in today.  This might include things like inventing or saving something, not a super hero or something of that nature.

READER RESPONSE QUESTIONS:

1.  If you had access to all the resources how would you deal with the problem of poisons in the world?
2.  How would you feel if you were Rachel Carson but no one listened to you when you wrote a book about poisons on the earth?
3.  What do you think about Rachel Carson and her discovery?

REFERENCES:
Ehrlich, A. (2003). Rachel: The story of rachel carson. New York, NY: Harcourt, Inc.

Galda, L., Cullinan, B. E., & Sipe, L. R. (2011). Literature and the child. (7th ed. ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth Pub Co.

Rachel: The Story of Rachel Carson book club guide.  Retrieved from www.lywam.org/education/WendellMinorGuide.pdf

Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom was written by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Kadir Nelson.  Harriet Tubman was a woman born into slavery.  One night she hears a word from God telling her she will be free.  Taking only her faith with her, Harriet sets on into the night on her first of 19 trips to carry herself, her family and as many as three hundred other slaves to freedom.  This book chronicles, in lyrical format, the epic first journey of Harriet Tubman as she traveled with God to freedom.

Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom has a style all it’s own.  It is a non-fiction biography.  According to the textbook, Literature and the Child, on page 18, it explains that nonfiction books are informational sources that explain a subject.  It also further explains that biography tells about a real person’s life.  This book is a very good example of a non-fiction biography in that it explains a person’s life by giving information. The illustrations in this book enhance the setting, characterization, and the plot.  The text throughout the book is written in various fonts, sizes and shapes depending on who is speaking.  As seen in the picture below, the words of God are circling Harriet as she is sitting on the ground.  I love how the illustrator used the circular words to symbolize that she feels the words of God flow all around her as a protection to her. 

This book is listed as appropriate reading for 5-7 year olds.  While I agree with this age grouping as far as the difficulty of the passage, I definitely think that some background information needs to be shared with the classroom prior to reading.  The story really doesn’t explain who Harriet Tubman is.  It just assumes that you already know.  I could see this being included in a Black History Month unit with several activities leading up to this reading and some after.  I would suggest the following activities to be included within the unit:

1.  Do some additional research on Harriet Tubman, including her 19 trips back to free her family and other slaves.  Create a timeline, with possible dates/number of people, of Harriet’s various trips. 

2.  Map out the route Harriet Tubman took on her initial journey.  Add to this map, in different colors, the various other journeys that Harriet Tubman took during her other 19 trips.

READER RESPONSE QUESTIONS:
1) Why do you think Harriet Tubman, and others forced into slavery, wanted to
run away?

2) Freedom for all people is one of the ideals our country is founded on. How do
we experience freedom in our daily lives?

3) Harriet Tubman showed great courage by standing up for something she
believed in. Have you ever stood up for something you knew was right, even
though others may have been against you? How did this make you feel?

4) Do you think Harriet Tubman was right to lead slaves to freedom, even
though it was against the law at the time? Why or why not?

REFERENCES:
Galda, L., Cullinan, B. E., & Sipe, L. R. (2011). Literature and the child. (7th ed. ed.).
     Belmont: Wadsworth Pub Co.

Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad study guide.  Retrieved from
     https://www.peacecenter.org/images/files/HarrietTubmanStudyGuide.pdf

Weatherford, C. B., & Nelson, K. (2006). Moses, when harriet tubman led her people to freedom.
     New York, NY: Jump At The Sun.