Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day With Mrs. Park’s Class
Celebra el Día de Martin Luther King, Jr. con la clase de la Sra. Park
BOOK DESCRIPTION
Story:
The students in Mrs. Park’s class prepare to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and plan to create a mural in his honor. As they reflect on the values he taught, the students come up with terrific idea for their Martin Luther King Day celebration.
Non-fiction:
An overview of the Civil Rights Movement and the efforts of Martin Luther King, Jr. to attain a socially just and equitable society in the United States.
SERIES DESCRIPTION
Each of the twenty four books in this collection dedicated to some of the most important holidays and festivities celebrated in the United States is the combination of two books in one. The first part is an engaging realistic fiction story beautifully illustrated by a diversity of illustrators. The second part is a non-fiction piece that explains the history and significance of the holiday or celebration. This second part is illustrated with bright and unique photographs that will allow children to witness the celebration.
The festivities addressed include:
- Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- Celebrate PowWow
- Celebrate Chinese New Year
- Celebrate Halloween & Day of the Dead
- Celebrate Mardi Gras
- Celebrate Thanksgiving
- Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day
- Celebrate Hannukah
- Celebrate Cinco de Mayo
- Celebrate Kwanzaa
- Celebrate Fourth of July
- Celebrate Christmas & Three Kings Day
For more details in the series and the values it presents see the series description: Series Stories to Celebrate / Cuentos para celebrar. There is also an individual page, like this, for each of the books in the series.
Lesson plans and questions to guide the Creative Reading Dialogue can be found on the SantillanaUSA website: www.santillanausa.com/cuentosparacelebrar.htm
CDS DESCRIPTION
There are two CDs with the readings of the twelve stories in English and two CDs with the readings of the twelve stories in Spanish.
The CDs will allow children to follow a professional reading aloud individually or in groups.
They can be beneficial to children learning a second language, whether English or Spanish, since they will be able to read the book in their stronger language and then listen to the recording in the second language, or vice versa.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Both Isabel Campoy and I have always had great admiration for Martin Luther King, Jr. as well as everyone else who struggled with determination and authenticity on behalf of human rights. We particularly appreciate the leaders, who inspired by Mahatma Ghandi were able to adhere to a code of non-violence. And just as we wanted to honor Dr. King with this book we have also written the biography of César Chávez, who also led a non-violent struggle on behalf of the farm workers. You can find it in Paths or Caminos. Read together these books can allow children to see the commonalities between the dreams and efforts of these two great men.
Much has been written about the topic of diversity. For me personally the most definite lesson of diversity is given to us daily by nature. I have been saying for a long time, that if a visitor from another galaxy were to observe Esrth and needed one word to define it the word would have to be diversity. Because no matter what species were to be observe they are all characterized by such diversity: there is no one tree, but so many, poplars, birches, pines, palms, oaks, which one could be called the tree? And the same is true of flowers: roses, gardenias, jazmín, tulips, which is the flower? Or birds, or fish, or insects… We live in a planet of diversity and that diversity is enriching and deserves to be admired and celebrated.
We have presented this message to the young readers hoping they will indeed be able to embrace both their own uniqueness and the diversity around them.
Since I am one of the two authors of this book, I can only share my side of the story. You can visit www.isabelcampoy.com to read what my co-author has to say.
Many readers are intrigued about how two authors collaborate to write a book. If you share this curiosity you may enjoy reading how Isabel Campoy explains this experience in the chapter authored by her “Writing in Collaboration: One plus One is One or Two” in the book Alma Flor Ada and You, volume II published by Libraries Unlimited.
CONNECTIONS
This reading of this book can be complemented with the poem from Días y días de poesía:
Dándonos la mano
Alma Flor Ada
Dame, tú, tu mano blanco
toma, tú, mi negra mano,
al querernos y ayudarnos
nos volveremos hermanos.
READERS’ RESPONSES
If you have enjoyed reading or sharing this book, I would very much like to hear from you. Please click here to send your comments.
