Nonfiction Wednesday

I'm excited that Alyson Beecher, at Kid Lit Frenzy, is continuing her Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge for the third year in a row.

 

     A couple weeks ago, I wrote a Nonfiction Wednesday post about what nonfiction my fifth graders were reading in order to explore their theme topic, EMPATHY.  This week, I'd like to share some of the nonfiction my 6th graders are reading around the theme topic SOCIAL INJUSTICE.  We're reading A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park in order to gear up for our #ReadWalkWater initiative and fundraiser.  Our Walk for Water is scheduled for November 7th.  We're excited to get started on raising funds for a well in Southern Sudan.  Meanwhile, we're looking at other global issues, human rights issues, and social injustice.  My sixth graders are ready for longer picture books and other longer nonfiction works, so these are not all exactly picture books.

 

 

I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

 

I have several girls reading this book this month.  There is also a younger readers' version.  We read an article in Scope Magazine about her, and several of my sixth graders were interested in learning more about her.  What a brave young woman she is!

 

 

 

Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott by Russell Freedman

 

This is the third year I've taught my current sixth graders.  We studied the civil rights unit in 4th grade together, so many of them are revisiting that topic with a more sophisticated eye this year.

 

 

Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust by Doreen Rappaport

 

In sixth grade, kids become fascinated with the Holocaust.  Many of them ask questions about why social injustices happen.  They want to ask, why didn't they resist?  This book answers some of those questions.  Some of them did!!  We will be exploring what kind of people stand up against social injustices.  This book highlights those amazing resisters. 

 

 

 

The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson

 

I LOVED this book when I listened to it on audio not too long ago.  I'm so pleased that the kids who chose to read this book are devouring it and telling me how good it is. 

 

 

 

 

Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickles by Tanya Lee Stone

 

This book fascinated me when I first read it.  Discrimination was alive and well in the military, but these men dared to show their courage and abilities during World War II.  Another wonderful book by Tanya Lee Stone that shows injustices, this time against women, is Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared To Dream.

 

What are some nonfiction books you direct your students toward when thinking about social injustices?