Former Contributor to the Huffington Post
Vicki Cobb's Blog
  • Vicki Cobb's Blog
  • About
  • Contact

Reading Aloud to Children

31/1/2019

 
Picture
Here I am at 18 months with a magazine. Obviously, way above my reading level but note that I'm treating the reading material with respect and interest.
Did your parents read aloud to you when you were a little child?  Did you read aloud to your children?  Do you know why it's important to read aloud to children?  I asked this last question to a class of education students and got lots of answers: It stimulates the imagination.  It makes children think. It inspires curiosity.  And on.  Here's what I think.  Hearing someone read to you as a child, before you are literate yourself, awakens the concept that books are a portal to other worlds of stories, information, poetry, art,  knowledge---unending.  

As a child, my parents read to me every day. I must have loved it because they never read to me as much as I wanted them to.  Early on, I figured out that books took me places I wanted to go and if I wanted to access what was in them whenever I wanted, I'd better learn to read myself.  So I started teaching myself to read. I have a memory of a moment when I was four, visiting an eight-year-old girl named Brucia.  We were standing together, looking out a window in New York City, that gave us a view of rooftops below us that were filled with billboards.  I asked Brucia, wistfully,  "Can you read everything you see?" She assured me she could.  My thought, which I never shared was, "If only, if only, I could read everything I saw."  It seemed like an impossible dream. But I was motivated and I achieved that goal early in life.

I became a fluent independent reader.  I found reading was so effortless that I felt as if I inhaled stories with no awareness of the process of reading.  When I was eight, I was in class immersed in a story about a dog carrying messages in a war.  He was wounded but still running.  I could feel his pain and promptly passed out cold, face down in my book.  That year my father, who still enjoyed reading to me, began sharing The Secret Garden.  I so identified with Mary, that I became terrified of what would happen to her if she were discovered trespassing in the secret, locked garden and I made him stop reading the book to me.  When I was ten, I decided I had to face my fears and read the book myself.  So The Secret Garden represented a milestone in my personal development.  Many years later, as an adult and a children's book author, a newly illustrated copy of The Secret Garden arrived at my door.  I had just returned from a trip to Yorkshire and reread the book in one sitting.  It amazed me that Frances Hodgson Burnett had included a Yorkshire dialect in the speech of some of the characters. Some would think a strange dialect would be a stumbling block to an American child. But I have absolutely no recollection of that.  Clearly it didn't stop me from meaning-making of the story because I read the book so many times as a child.  When a new world is opened to a child through a book, she doesn't need to understand every word.   There were some people who felt that American children wouldn't have a problem with the British version of Harry Potter. 

 February 1, is World Read Aloud Day.  All over the world adults and children will be sharing books by reading them aloud.  They are adding the human voice to the voices of authors.  The best children's authors know how to "speak child."  This doesn't mean that they water down the language.  Indeed it is just the opposite-- they use carefully crafted, rich language. When we authors of iNK Think Tank write our Nonfiction Minutes, we create an audio file so you can hear our real voices reading our work aloud.  That way their fascinating content is available to children who are challenged by reading, including children for whom English is a second language.  

February 1 is also the beginning of Black History Month.  So you can listen to Emmy award-winning author,  Janus Adams read aloud her Nonfiction Minute, "Why is February Black History Month?"  Just click on the player.  We are also including her reading and a couple of others in the brand new iNK Nonfiction Minute Podcast. So you have a choice; you can read along with Janus on the Nonfiction Minute or you can download our first Podcast from the iTunes Store.  Both are free for your enjoyment.    



The Stain of Our Founding Father's Original Sin

17/1/2019

 
Picture
The enslavement of human beings was the major sticking point in the formation of the United States of America after the Revolutionary War that freed the colonies from the tyranny of King George.  The economy of the southern colonies depended on it.  Virginian, George Washington, our esteemed general and first president, was a slave owner.  In the introduction to Carla Killough McClafferty's powerful and insightful book for young adults (actually, any adult no matter how old) Buried Lives: The Enslaved People of George Washington's Mount Vernon,  she tells us "At the age of eleven Washington inherited ten human beings, and he would own people his entire life."  So the continental congress agreed to omit the contradiction that enslavement of people was counter to the American ideal of individual freedom; thus tabling the conversation for later generations in our country's painful work towards "a more perfect union."  

Maybe you'll say to yourself, "Yes, yes, slavery was bad.  I need this book like I need another book about the Holocaust."  I say, yes, you need to read this book. I needed to read this book.  The word "slave" has the pejorative connotation of anonymity.  The term "enslaved person or people" used throughout this book brings in humanity.  Make no mistake--enslavement means that human beings were victimized and pressed into a lifetime of servitude.  Carla McClafferty's meticulous research brings a few of such people to life.

Fifteen-year-old William Lee was purchased by Washington and became his valet or "body servant."  He lived by his master's side, attending his every need at home in Mount Vernon and  throughout the 8 years of warfare.  Many historians believe he is standing dressed in his fine livery behind Washington in the painting by John Trumbull on the  cover of this book.  Even after Washington died and his will freed all his "chattel," William Lee stayed on at Mount Vernon with a pension.

 George and Martha Washington believed that they treated their enslaved people well.  They got them medical attention when they were sick.  They gave some of the house workers days off to attend theatrical entertainment.  They did not break up families if they could help it.  Oney Maria Judge, was a "mulatto," (from the word "mule," a sterile hybrid bred from a horse and a donkey)  who belonged to Martha Washington as part of her inheritance from her first husband when she was widowed, called her "dower" estate.  The inheritance laws stipulated that Martha was not allowed to sell or free her enslaved people.  Oney became Martha Washington's "lady's maid" and traveled with her to the various residences in New York and then Philadelphia after Washington became our first president.  

In Pennsylvania, there was a law called the "Gradual Abolition Act" which allowed enslaved men and women to apply for freedom after living in the state for six months.  Martha Washington was apprised of this law by a friend of her husband so that they could "game" the system by sending an enslaved servant to visit Mount Vernon or another southern state as the six month time limit approached thus resetting the clock back to zero when they returned. Despite being well-dressed and an intimate part of the Washington family, Oney got wind of a plan for her to go to Martha's granddaughter's estate when Martha Washington died.  So one night, as the family sat down to dinner, Oney slipped out the door and disappeared into the busy streets of Philadelphia and onto a ship bound for New Hampshire.   Martha Washington was hurt; couldn't understand why she had been abandoned by a girl she had sheltered.  Despite attempts to catch her and bring her back, Oney Judge established a life and a family as a free woman.  Freedom trumped the security of enslavement.

Ultimately, George Washington came to understand the evils of enslavement.  And McClafferty tells of the outcomes of some of the lives she so beautifully chronicles in this book.  She spent time interviewing some of their descendants, who are proudly reclaiming their family history. 
Enslaved people were buried in unmarked graves at Mount Vernon.  A new project by archaeologists is underway to reveal the site of each grave shaft. They systematically sift the top soil above the identified graves leaving them undisturbed so each occupant can continue to rest in piece as flowers are placed in recognition of a buried life.  

Tears ran down my cheeks as I read of the care and love brought to this space of eternal rest. (Can you believe I'm crying over the work of archaeologists and their volunteers?) The power behind Carla Killough McClafferty's  Buried Lives: The Enslaved People of George Washington's Mount Vernon comes from her dispassionate, sensitive, and respectful rendering of a story of people whose names we know as merchandise on a bill of sale.
​







The Woman Behind the Man, Who Knew?

12/1/2019

 
Picture
Although I'm not a history buff,  I've heard of César Chávez and his fight for decent pay and working conditions for migrant, farm workers, who are mostly Spanish-speaking.  But I did not know that his union had a female vice-president, who worked alongside him, named Dolores Heurta.  Marlene Targ Brill has written a compelling biography for young adult readers, Delores Heruta Stands Strong,  a fighter for justice and equality for both men and women.  In the first chapter of her book, Brill describes the ceremony where Heurta received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her life's work by President Barack Obama in 2012-- the highest civilian honor of the United States, shared by only thirteen others.

Who was she?  How come I'd never heard of her?  I'm telling you the truth because I am ashamed of my lack of knowledge after all she has done for so many people.  One answer to my second question is that she was a woman and the spotlight for justice for farm workers naturally  was focused on the man, César Chávez.  But that didn't bother her. Her mission in life was to help other poor agricultural workers who picked the fruits and vegetables for the American appetite.  
She organized, protested, went to jail, was beaten, yet still kept speaking and negotiating and yes, calling for worker's to strike against the growers.  She won many battles and dismissed her losses as part of the process. She became a feminist late in her career after meeting Gloria Steinem and realizing that female farmworkers were not paid equally to men.  The image on the cover of Dolores Herta Stands Strong shows her holding up a sign that says "heulga," which means "strike."  Another of her slogans is "Si, se peude," "Yes, we can." in English, which Barack Obama borrowed with her permission for his presidential campaign.

Amazingly, she did all this while raising 11 children, sometimes as a single mother.  And her kids grew up just fine.  Americans need to know what it takes to fulfill the promise of "liberty and justice for all."  Dolores Huerta contributed her life to this promise and Marlene Targ Brill does justice to her story.  


     Vicki Cobb

    *Award-winning author of more than 90 nonfiction books for children, mostly in science.
    *Former Contributor to the Huffington Post
    *Founder/President of iNK Think Tank, Inc.
    *Passionate advocate for the joy of learning for every child and teacher.


    Disclaimer: All opinions, typos, and grammatical errors are my own,  especially small word omissions which I often don't notice in my fervor.  

    RSS Feed

    ​​​​Archives

    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018

    ​Categories

    All
    Abuse
    Achievement Gap
    Adkins Jan
    Albee Sarah
    Anti Bullying
    Anti-bullying
    Art
    Author Driven Nonfiction
    Author-driven Nonfiction
    Authors On Call
    Biology
    Birds
    Black History
    BLC2018
    Book Review
    Child Abuse
    Children As Political Pawns
    Children's Nonfiction
    Citizenship
    Civics
    Civil Rights
    Class ACTS
    Climate Change
    Clinton Chelsea
    Collard III Sneed B.
    Common Core State Standards
    Conversation
    Coronavirus
    Costaldo Nancy F.
    Covid-19
    Critical Thinking
    Data-driven
    Definition
    Democracy
    Dewey John
    Dogs
    Dunphy Madeleine
    Ecology
    Education
    Educational Standards
    Electron Microscope
    Empowerment For Children
    Endangered Species
    Excellence
    Extinction
    Fact-checking
    Fleming Candace
    "flow"
    Galileo
    Girls' Education
    Global Warming
    Greenberg Jan
    Grit
    Gun Violence
    History
    History Of "school Reform"
    Home Libraries
    Hurricanes
    INK Database
    INK Database Of Books
    Insects
    Interactive Video Conferencing
    Isaac Sally
    Jeopardy Winner
    Learning
    Lesser Carolyn
    Leveled Reading
    Levinson Cynthia
    Lexiles
    Listening
    Literacy
    Literature
    Liu Eric
    March For Our Lives
    McClafferty Carla
    Mentor Texts
    Montgomery Heather L.
    Montgomery Sy
    Motivated Reasoning
    Motivation
    Munro Roxie
    Nathan Amy
    Nonfiction
    Nonfiction Minute
    Nonprofit And Education
    Opening Schools
    Patent Dorothy Hinshaw
    Pedagogy
    Picture Books
    Podcasts
    Primary Source
    Pringle Laurence
    Pundits Of The Pandemic
    Rap Music
    Reading
    Rules
    Rusch Elizabeth
    School Choice
    SchoolTube
    School Visits
    Science Experiments You Can Eat
    Science Teaching
    Semple Heidi E.Y.
    Social Skills
    Socrates
    Speaking
    Spring Fling
    Standardized Testing
    STEM
    Studies On Education
    Swanson Jennifer
    Teaching
    Technology And Children
    Thomas Peggy
    Trump
    Truth
    Voting
    Warren Andrea
    Washington George
    Weatherford Carole Boston
    Webinars
    Work With Us
    World War II
    Writing

    RSS Feed

Links

The Nonfiction Minute
​

​iNK Think Tank website

​Vicki Cobb's Kids' Fun Page

We Dare You Videos


Company

iNK Think Tank, Inc. is a nonprofit with the mission of using nonfiction children's literature in classrooms

Contact

vicki@inkthinktank.org
​

© 2019


© COPYRIGHT 2019. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.