You gotta have tunes while you work, and if the subject matter of the song happens to match the topic, all the better! Join me in listening to my STATE PLAYLIST, which at the moment is really a New York City Playlist, to cheer me while researching New York City for 50 STATES, coming to you in Fall 2017.
For each city I always list a few good children's books that either take place in that city or are written in authors from that city. There are so many good choices for New York that I've had to start a pinterest board. For NYC, I listed a few of my favorite New York songs, "Spanish Harlem Incident" by Bob Dylan, for Aaron, and "Manhattan" by Cat Power, for me. They kick off the playlist.
My mom got me TAR BEACH by Faith Ringgold when Is tarted college at Barnard, on New York's upper west side. It kicks off the pinterest board.
50 States Resources
Here are some of the resources I found especially helpful when researching The 50 States
- AUTHOR VISIT TIPS
www.gabriellebalkan.com/events - SOCIAL STUDIES BOOKS
www.socialstudies.org/notable - AMERICAN INDIANS IN CHILDREN'S LITERATURE http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/
- https://www.pinterest.com/dreesenambe/american-indians-in-childrens-literature/
- BOOKS BY STATE PINTEREST
www.gabriellebalkan.com/the50states - MAPS
- NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBES, NPR piece: http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/06/24/323665644/the-map-of-native-american-tribes-youve-never-seen-before
- MONSTER MAP
Students often ask me where they can find this map of monsters in the U.S. (sometimes after a tentative "Are those REAL?!")
Hog Island Press has done a lovely job and you can see and buy it here:
www.hogislandpress.com/product/monster-map - GREAT AMERICAN NOVELS MAP
This is more for the grown-ups than kids, but VERY fun to review:
www.hogislandpress.com/product/great-american-novel-map
World's First Computer Mouse
Douglas Carl Engelbart (January 30, 1925 – July 2, 2013)
Under Engelbart's guidance, the Augmentation Research Center developed the NLS computer system to demonstrate numerous technologies, most of which are now in widespread use; this included the computer mouse, bitmapped screens, hypertext; all of which were displayed at The Mother of All Demos in 1968.
Portland, Oregon
We're 15 cities into 50 CITIES (June 2017 pub) and here are the books we've mentioned so far...
https://www.pinterest.com/gabriellebalkan/50-cities-featured-authors-books/
Books in 50 Cities (June 2017)
Books in The 50 States
I've started a pinterest board with all the authors and books mentioned in #the50states. It'll be good for something someday, I am just certain.
https://www.pinterest.com/gabriellebalkan/authors-books-in-the-50-states/
camel-leopard
"Giraffes have a small hump on their back and have a spotted pattern similar to that of a leopard. For a long time people called the giraffe a “camel-leopard,” because they believed that it was a combination of a camel and a leopard. That's where the giraffe's species name camelopardalis comes from." - Sandiego Zoo
Mosaic by Grace Blowers
Bones by Steve Jenkins
Steve Jenkins does a marvelous job of taking a potentially unwieldy and endless subject, such as BONES, and collects the information into a perfectly reasonable, utterly beautiful, thoroughly enjoyable book. #thebookofbones
It's Notable
The 50 States was selected as a 2016 Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People. Find a preview of the entire selection online at the National Council for the Social Studies-Children's Book Council. The May-June 2016 issue of Social Education will feature a 16-page annotated, illustrated, and National Standards for Social Studies-connected pullout reference of all K-8 books, including 28 Days: Moments in Black History that Changed the World by Charles R. Smith and Illustrated by Shane W. Evans (Roaring Brook Press), Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan (Scholastic Press), Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña and Illustrated by Christian Robinson (G.P. Putnam's Sons), and many other wonderful choices.