Books for the Elementary Social Studies Classroom
Hannah’s Journal: The Story of an Immigrant Girl
Written By Marissa Moss
Overview:
America! Hannah's small European village buzzes with tales of life in a faraway land free from persecution. Cousin Esther has passage for two aboard a ship bound for New York, and Hannah convinces Mama and Papashka to let her use the extra ticket. Will America really be everything they've dreamed of?
Reviews:
"Children will be fascinated by Hannah's tale."--Kirkus Reviews
"A vivid introduction to the period and a chance to vicariously experience the times through a most appealing character."--Booklist
Reading Level: grade 4.7
Standards Met:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.1 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
HIST 4.1 Explain connections among historical contexts and people’s perspectives at the time.
CIV 4.1 Illustrate historical and contemporary means of changing society.
Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her
Family’s Fight for Desegregation
Written and Illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh
Overview:
Almost 10 years before Brown vs. Board of Education, Sylvia Mendez and her parents helped end school segregation in California. An American citizen of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage who spoke and wrote perfect English, Mendez was denied enrollment to a “Whites only” school. Her parents took action by organizing the Hispanic community and filing a lawsuit in federal district court. Their success eventually brought an end to the era of segregated education in California.
Reviews:
"Tonatiuh (Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote) offers an illuminating account of a family’s hard-fought legal battle to desegregate California schools in the years before Brown v. Board of Education." - Publisher's Weekly
"A little-known yet important story of the fight to end school discrimination against Mexican-American children is told with lively text and expressive art." - Kirkus Reviews
Reading Level: grades 5.1
Standards Met:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.3 Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.
HIST 3.2 Compare life in specific historical time periods to life today.
HIST 3.5 Describe how people’s perspectives shaped the historical sources they created.
Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African
Americans
Written and Illustrated by Kadir Nelson
Overview:
The story of America and African Americans is a story of hope and inspiration and unwavering courage. This is the story of the men, women, and children who toiled in the hot sun picking cotton for their masters; it's about the America ripped in two by Jim Crow laws; it's about the brothers and sisters of all colors who rallied against those who would dare bar a child from an education. It's a story of discrimination and broken promises, determination, and triumphs. Told through the unique point of view and intimate voice of a one-hundred-year-old African-American female narrator, this inspiring book demonstrates that in gaining their freedom and equal rights, African Americans helped our country achieve its promise of liberty and justice—the true heart and soul of our nation.
Reviews:
"Nelson…adds to his notable titles with this powerful view of African American history. Illustrated with 44 full-page paintings, this handsome volume is told in the fictionalized, informal voice of an African American senior looking back on her life and remembering what her elders told her." - Book List
"Nelson effectively creates a voice that is at once singular and representative. A tour de force in the career of an author/artist who continues to outdo himself." - Horn Book
Reading level: grade 6.8
Standards Met:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.3 Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text.
It’s Your World: Get Informed, Get inspired
& Get Going!
Written by Chelsea Clinton
Overview:
In a book that tackles the biggest challenges facing us today, Chelsea Clinton combines facts, charts, photographs and stories to give readers a deep understanding of the world around them—and how anyone can make a difference. With stories about children and teens who have made real changes big and small—in their families, their communities, in our country and across the world—this book will inspire readers of all ages to do their part to make our world a better place.
Reviews:
"Clinton clearly paid attention to her parents' discussions at the dinner table, and she capably shares the lessons they imparted about the future impact of what we do in the present."—Publishers Weekly
"[A] terrific resource for junior activists."—Booklist
"This book is a resource for children and teens who also want to make a difference and may not know where to begin or may have an idea for ways they can make a difference."—VOYA
Reading Level: grades K-2
Standards Met:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.1.5 With guidance and support from adults, focus on a topic, respond to questions and suggestions from peers, and add details to strengthen writing as needed.
INQ K–2.15 Identify and explain a range of local, regional, and global problems, and some ways in which people
are trying to address these problems.
CIV 1.9 Describe how people have tried to improve their communities over time.
Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious
Inventions by Women
Written by Katherine Thimmesh
Overview:
In kitchens and living rooms, in garages and labs and basements, even in converted chicken coops, women and girls have invented ingenious innovations that have made our lives simpler and better. Their creations are some of the most enduring (the windshield wiper) and best loved (the chocolate chip cookie). What inspired these women, and just how did they turn their ideas into realities?
Reviews:
"An outstanding collective biography of women and girls who changed the world with their inventions." —School Library Journal (4/00) School Library Journal
"This book is an inspired ode to women inventors." —Publishers Weekly Publishers Weekly
Reading level: 7.4
Standards Met:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.8 Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text, identifying which reasons and evidence support which point(s).
HIST 5.5 Explain connections among historical contexts and people’s perspectives at the time.
What Was the Underground Railroad?
Written by Yona Zeldis McDonough
Overview:
No one knows where the term Underground Railroad came from—there were no trains or tracks, only "conductors" who helped escaping slaves to freedom. Including real stories about "passengers" on the "Railroad," this book chronicles slaves' close calls with bounty hunters, exhausting struggles on the road, and what they sacrificed for freedom. With 80 black-and-white illustrations throughout and a sixteen-page black-and-white photo insert, the Underground Railroad comes alive!
Reading Level: 5
Standards Met:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.5 Describe the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in a text or part of a text.
INQ 3–5.5 Determine the kinds of sources that will be helpful in answering compelling questions and supporting
questions, taking into consideration the different opinions people have about how to answer the questions.
World War II for Kids: A History with 21 Activities
Written By Richard Panchyk
Overview:
Now more than ever, kids want to know about our country's great struggles during World War II. This book is packed with information that kids will find fascinating, from Hitler's rise to power in 1933 to the surrender of the Japanese in 1945. Much more than an ordinary history book, it is filled with excerpts from actual wartime letters written to and by American and German troops, personal anecdotes from people who lived through the war in the United States, Germany, Britain, Russia, Hungary, and Japan, and gripping stories from Holocaust survivors—all add a humanizing global perspective to the war. This collection of 21 activities shows kids how it felt to live through this monumental period in history. They will play a rationing game or try the butter extender recipe to understand the everyday sacrifices made by wartime families. They will try their hands at military strategy in coastal defense, break a code, and play a latitude and longitude tracking game. Whether growing a victory garden or staging an adventure radio program, kids will appreciate the hardships and joys experienced on the home front.
Reviews:
“It is my hope that the history of World War II, rendered accessible to younger students in Richard Panchyk's readable account, will inspire another generation of Americans as we wage a new struggle against the enemies of freedom.” —Senator John McCain
“This well-written, well-researched book belongs on every reference bookshelf in American schools and libraries. It is a must-read book for kids and adults.” —Children's Literature
Reading Level: 8.3
Standards Met:
HIST 4.2 Explain probable causes and effects of events and developments.
CIV 4.1 Illustrate historical and contemporary means of changing society.
Ruby Bridges Goes to School: My True Story
Written By Ruby Bridges
Overview:
The extraordinary true story of Ruby Bridges, the first African-American child to integrate a New Orleans school--now with simple text for young readers! In 1960, six-year-old Ruby Bridges walked through an angry crowd and into a school where she changed history. This is the true story of an extraordinary little girl who helped shape our country when she became the first African-American to attend an all-white school in New Orleans. With simple text and historical photographs, this easy reader explores an amazing moment in history and the courage of a young girl who stayed strong in the face of racism.
Reviews:
"Ruby Bridges tells her story in this "Scholastic Reader Level 2" intended for developing readers in grades one and two. The text is simple, but does not shy away from the hardships that accompanied this brave act." - Children's Literature
Reading Level: 2.5
Standards Met:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.3 Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text.
HIST 2.3 Generate questions about individuals and groups who have shaped a significant historical change
CIV 2.7 Describe how people have tried to improve their communities over time.
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote
Peace...One School at a Time
Written By Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
Overview:
Anyone who despairs of the individual’s power to change lives has to read the story of Greg Mortenson, a homeless mountaineer who, following a 1993 climb of Pakistan’s treacherous K2, was inspired by a chance encounter with impoverished mountain villagers and promised to build them a school. Over the next decade he built fifty-five schools—especially for girls—that offer a balanced education in one of the most isolated and dangerous regions on earth. As it chronicles Mortenson’s quest, which has brought him into conflict with both enraged Islamists and uncomprehending Americans, Three Cups of Tea combines adventure with a celebration of the humanitarian spirit.
Reviews:
"Greg Mortenson’s dangerous and difficult quest . . . is not only a thrilling read, it’s proof that one ordinary person, with the right combination of character and determination, really can change the world."-Tom Brokaw
"An inspiring chronicle . . . this is one protagonist who clearly deserves to be called a hero."-People
"Mortenson’s mission is admirable, his conviction unassailable, his territory exotic."-The Washington Post
Reading Level: 6.1
Standards Met:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.
INQ 6–8.16 Assess their individual and collective capacities to take action to address local, regional, and global
problems, taking into account a range of possible levels of power, strategies, and potential outcomes.
Who Says Women Can't Be Doctors?: The Story of
Elizabeth Blackwell
By Tanya Lee Stone
Overview:
In the 1830s, when a brave and curious girl named Elizabeth Blackwell was growing up, women were supposed to be wives and mothers. Some women could be teachers or seamstresses, but career options were few. Certainly no women were doctors. But Elizabeth refused to accept the common beliefs that women weren't smart enough to be doctors, or that they were too weak for such hard work. And she would not take no for an answer. Although she faced much opposition, she worked hard and finally—when she graduated from medical school and went on to have a brilliant career—proved her detractors wrong. This inspiring story of the first female doctor shows how one strong-willed woman opened the doors for all the female doctors to come.
Reviews:
“Here's a refreshing introduction to a regularly but often dryly cited female 'first'.” —The Horn Book
“Stone presents the highly readable and detailed story of a girl who is sure to inspire aspiring young doctors.” —School Library Journal
“Staccato text, short and snappy, easy to read yet full of information about both Blackwell and her times.” —Booklist
Reading Level: 4.1
Standards Met:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3 Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions).
INQ 3–5.9 Use evidence to develop claims in response to compelling questions.
HIST 4.3 Use evidence to develop a claim about the past.
