The kids and I are currently learning about the Holocaust in honor of the Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust (DRVH) which is an 8-day period designated by the United States for commemorations and educational programs related to the Holocaust.  The dates of the DRVH change from year to year, as they usually run from the Sunday before through the Sunday following Yom Hashoah (also known as Holocaust Memorial Day/Holocaust Remembrance Day/Holocaust Day).  Yom Hashoah is Israel's designated day for commemorating the Jewish victims of the Holocaust - a day that marks the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Since the date of Yom Hashoah is based on the Hebrew calendar, which is a lunar calendar, the Gregorian date of the observance will change from year to year.  In 2016, Yom Hashoah is observed on Thursday, May 5th, and consequently the Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust in the United States is observed from Sunday, May 1 through Sunday, May 8.  

The Butterfly
by Patricia Polacco
This true story comes from the author's family history.  The protaganist is Polacco's aunt, who in the story is a child named Monique.  Monique's mother was part of the French underground and resistance and hid Jews in her basement during the Nazi occupation of France.  One of the people she hid was a little girl named Sevrine, who befriended Monique.  The events of this friendship are the basis for the story in this book.

Irena's Jar of Secrets
by Marcia Vaughan, illustrated by Ron Mazellan
This book relates the story of Irena Sendler, a Polish Catholic social worker who, at great risk to herself, helped the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto.  She began by smuggling in needed items, but later helped to smuggle nearly 2500 children out.  The children were given new identities and placed with foster families and orphanages.  Hoping to later reunite the children with their families, Sendler buried lists indicating the real and false identities in jars under an apple tree. 

A Picture Book of Anne Frank
by David A. Adler, illustrated by Karen Ritz
This book gives an overview of the short life of Anne Frank, who is well-known from her diary published after her death.

Terrible Things:  An Allegory of the Holocaust
by Eve Bunting
I actually have not had a chance to read this book, as all copies have been in use at our library system.  However, per the description and reviews online, I hope to check it out later and determine if it will be appropriate for my kids.  Per the Amazon description:  "This unique introduction to the Holocaust encourages young children to stand up for what they think is right, without waiting for others to join them."  

The fourth lesson that I covered in an recent A&P unit involved the cardiovascular system.  Previous lessons centered on the skeletal system, the central nervous system and the respiratory system.  

Vocabulary words:
​Cardiovascular, atrium (left and right), ventricle (left and right), valves, arteries, veins, pulse, oxygen, carbon dioxide

Sources:

• KidsHealth website can provide some background information for discussing the circulatory system.
• This aboutkidshealth site has the video mentioned above as well as some other high level information for kids regarding the circulatory system. This page on the site is geared more towards adults, but it briefly explains the blood flow pathway.

February is African American History Month, a time when we celebrate the contributions and achievements of African Americans and their role in U.S history.  The month is not without controversy, and I think it is important to listen to the main points of that controversy and be sensitive to the considerations expressed.  Criticisms, for example, include:  in a racially diverse society, is it appropriate to have one month dedicated to one race's history?  Does having an African American History Month relegate the history and the accomplishments of African Americans to only one month, effectively segregating and minimizing that history, rather than integrating it with American history in general?  I respect those criticisms, and as someone who is not African American, acknowledge that my perspective in regard to this annual observance may be different from some of those who are of African American heritage.    It is my current opinion (yes, current, because I always reserve the right to change my opinion as I gain knowledge and understanding) that when it comes to groups that have historically been oppressed, whose accomplishments have often been overlooked and sidelined - if not entirely credited to someone else - or whose unjust experiences and struggles have frequently been omitted or sanitized in a Euro-centric, male-centric retelling of history, taking time to specifically call out the achievements and acknowledge the historical role of such groups may be necessary.  I recognize that I have room to learn and grow in my racial literacy, and that sometimes I might not always get things just "right" when talking about or trying to educate my children about race or topics associated with race.  Yet since race continues to be an issue in our society, and likely will be for some time, I believe that as bumbling as I may be, I need to talk to my children about race, ensure they are exposed to stories and accomplishments of those of other races or who are not of the predominant race, and acknowledge our unsavory past and present in regard to race (all at an age appropriate level, of course...though people can disagree on what that looks like, too).  I believe that taking a colorblind approach to race and avoiding topics around race will only do a disservice to my and other children, will not help them to be racially literate and will do nothing to create the kind of non-racist, fair and just society I would like us all to live in.   Finally, I often teach my children in theme-based units, and there are often related public activities we can do during African American History Month.  For these reasons, I do want take this month as an opportunity to discuss prominent past and present African American people, African American culture, and places and events that figure prominently in African American history - this includes not only such atrocities as the institution of slavery, but also such positive things as the Harlem Renaissance.  That said, I believe that I and others should be very cognizant that this month not be the only time we talk about the accomplishments or history of African Americans, but that the people and events we could focus on during this month be integrated with all of our teachings and lessons throughout the year.

With young children, stories are a great way to engage them in a topic and teach.  I tend to go a little crazy with books, and check out way too many from our library - I just keep finding more and more titles that seem like they potentially might be a good fit with whatever topic we are covering.  Below, I've listed some of the books that I have read to my children in the past or plan to read this year that could fit in with teaching themes during African American History month.  I can't speak to the accuracy or quality of all of these books (I am neither a historical or literary expert, and some books I have not read yet, but they are sitting on my shelf), nor am I making any recommendations on whether the books are appropriate for all ages of children.  The latter is a determination which caregivers will have to individually make for the children in their care.   Because I have so many titles to list, I won't provide synopses, but clicking on a title will link to the Amazon.com description of the book.  Again, I plan to use these books not just during February but throughout the year, as they are appropriate to other lessons we are having.  For example, in a lesson centered on the Summer Olympics, I can include books on Wilma Rudolph, Jesse Owens and Muhammad Ali; when focusing on inventors, I can find books on George Washington Carver, Madam C.J. Walker, Elijah McCoy and Benjamin Banneker; in lessons on astronomy, we can talk about Neil deGrasse Tyson and Mae Jemison; I can create separate lessons on the U.S. Constitution or civil rights in general and include discussion on the Voting Rights Act of 1965 or the leaders of the African American Civil Rights Movement...and so on.  Furthermore, many of the texts listed can be used to teach children lessons on character-based qualities, such as empathy, courage, determination, perseverance despite hardship, creativity, ingenuity and innovation - these can be great texts for teaching units on those and other characteristics.

28 Days:  Moments in Black History that Changed the World
by Charles R. Smith, illustrated by Shane W. Evans
This is a nice book to have for African American History Month, as there is one event to briefly review for each day in February (excluding February 29th during leap years).  Descriptions are not detailed, but it is good for quickly introducing people and events that can be explored more in depth in other texts or follow-up discussions.

The ABC's of Black History
by Craig Thompson
This book can serve to introduce very young children to African American history in simple language with lots of pictures.  

Heart and Soul:  The Story of American and African Americans
by Kadir Nelson
This book has won several awards, including the 2012 Coretta Scott King Author Award.  It is recommended for ages 6 to 10/grades 1 to 5, so likely won't hold the interest or be appropriate for very young children.  It is not a picture book, but does have nice illustrations to accompany the more wordy text.

Our Children Can Soar
by Michelle Cook
This is a good book for young kids to kick off African American History Month - it offers a glimpse of a few important people in African American history.

A Kid's Guide to African American History:  More Than 70 Activities
by Nancy I. Sanders
I haven't actually seen this book in person since our library system does not carry it.  I'm waiting to receive it via InterLibrary Loan, and am hoping that it has some useful activities.

Light in the Darkness:  A Story About How Slaves Learned in Secret
by Lesa Cline-Ransome, illustrated by James E. Ransome
After reading this book, the kids and I discussed how much many slaves valued education and risked their lives just to learn to read and write; how we often take our access to education for granted; and how and education gives one more power over their own lives, and conversely, how trying to keep others from a good education can be a took in keeping them powerless.

Most Loved in All the World
by Tonya Cherie Hegamin, illustrated by Cozbi A. Cabrera
This fictional account about a daughter of a secret agent on the Underground Railroad was a book that my younger son picked off of the shelf at the library and wanted to check out.  This book also provides an opportunity to discuss how quilts were sometimes used to provide secret messages that helped slaves escape on the Underground Railroad.

Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt
by Deborah Hopkinson
​Another book dealing with the Underground Railroad and the use of quilts to contain messages or maps.

Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad
by Ellen Levine, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
Though it has been a year since I read this book to my kids, my sons on occasion talk about the story where the boy shipped himself out of slavery.

Follow the Drinking Gourd
Jeannette Winter
Another story about the Underground Railroad.

Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom
by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
This is a poetically written book with wonderful illustrations.

A Picture Book of Harriet Tubman
by David A. Adler, illustrated by Samuel Byrd
This book is more of a factual account of Harriet Tubman's life, rather than the poetic portrait of Tubman presented in the above title.

When Harriet Met Sojourner
by Catherine Clinton, illustrated by Shane W. Evans
This is a telling of the lives of Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth, each great in their own way.

A Picture Book of Frederick Douglass
by David A. Adler, illustrated by Samuel Byrd

Ben and the Emancipation Proclamation
by Pat Sherman, illustrated by Floyd Cooper
I got this book as a way of introducing my kids to the term "Emancipation Proclamation" and what that document meant at a high level.  This is based on the true story of Benjamin Holmes, a slave who taught himself to read and write. 

I Lay My Stitches Down: Poems of American Slavery
by Cynthia Grady, illustrated by Michele Wood
This book is geared more towards the middle school to junior high school age group, but some of the poems can be read to younger children and the illustrations inspired by traditional American quilt block patterns are interesting to look at.

Seven Miles to Freedom:  The Robert Smalls Story
by Janet Halfman and Duane Smith
This story is for a bit of an older child, recommended for grades 3-7.  I haven't read this particular book, but read another story about Robert Smalls written by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. - this latter story took a lot of explanation for my kids, but Robert Smalls' story is so engaging that I'd like to read Seven Miles to Freedom, hoping it might be more understandable to my kids.

March On!: The Day My Brother Martin Changed the World
by Christine King Farris, illustrated by London Ladd
This book about the March on Washington, told by Martin Luther King, Jr.'s sister, is a bit wordy for young kids.  My kids will listen to it, particularly my oldest, especially if I use an animated voice.

I Have a Dream
by Martin Luther King, Jr., illustrated by Kathleen A. Wilson
This book is essentially Martin Luther King, Jr.'s entire "I Have a Dream" speech from the March on Washington, with illustrations from various artists.  This might be a bit too much of a read for young children, but is a nice way to review and discuss one of the most famous speeches in United States' history that remains relevant today.  My kids will listen to parts of the speech but not the entire speech, so until they are older and can stay engaged for a longer time, I just highlight certain parts.  They are at least able to reference the speech and are able to (kind of) quote it, which can be amusing given their inaccuracy.  (Sometimes, when they wake up in the morning they tell me they had a dream like Martin Luther King, Jr....they don't quite get the difference between dreams at night and dreams as hopes and ideals just yet.)

Child of the Civil Rights Movement
by Paula Young Shelton, illustrated by Raul Colon
A child's perspective on the African American Civil Rights Movement, told by the daughter of an activist in the movement.

Freedom on the Menu:  The Greensboro Sit-ins
​by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Jerome Lagarrigue
This book can be used to talk about the African-American Civil Rights Movement, discrimination and racism, and using non-violent means of protesting injustice.

Freedom Summer
by Deborah Wiles, illustrated by Jerome Lagarrigue
Sometimes after talking to my kids about race, discrimination, the Civil Rights Movement, et cetera, I get the sense that they have the past and present mixed up in their minds (which is understandable given their young minds), and I have to be clear that we no longer have legally segregated restaurants and pools and buses and so on.  However, I also feel it necessary to discuss that we continue to see inequalities and discrimination, albeit in often less obvious ways.  I feel this book is at least one way to address how the abolition of a discriminatory law doesn't mean that people's hearts and they way they view and treat others have changed much...there is still more work to do.

The Story of Ruby Bridges
​by Robert Coles, illustrated by George Ford
This is the story of the first African American child to integrate a New Orleans school.

A Sweet Smell of Roses
by Angela Johnson, illustrated by Eric Velasquez
We have this one on order from the library, so haven't read it yet.  My hope is that the book's depiction of children's role in the African American Civil Rights Movement can serve as an example of how children, though small, can take a stand to make our world a better place too.

The Other Side
by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by E. B. Lewis
A story of friendship across a racial divide.

Harlem's Little Blackbird:  The Story of Florence Mills
by Renée Watson, illustrated by Christian Robinson
A performer during the Harlem Renaissance, Florence Mills shattered many racial barriers, and her song "I'm a Little Blackbird" was a plea for racial equality.  

Little Melba and Her Big Trombone
by Katheryn Russell-Brown, illustrated by Frank Morrison
A story about Melba Liston, a world-class trombone player, composer and arranger.

I, Matthew Henson:  Polar Explorer
by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Eric Velasquez
A story of the first African American Arctic explorer, and one of the first people to (disputedly) reach the Geographic North Pole.

Fly High!:  The Story of Bessie Coleman​
by Louise Borden and Mary Kay Kroeger, illustrated Teresa Flavin
A story of the first African American female pilot.

Muhammad Ali:  Champion of the World
by Jonah Winter, illustrated by Francois Roca
My kids love this book - I think they like the idea of boxing since they get into trouble if they hit each other at home.  They remember the book and (somewhat) quote it even a year later:  "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee; you can't hit what you can't see."  The book talks not only about Ali's boxing greatness, but also about how he stood up against racism and war.

Teammates
by Peter Golenbock, illustrated by Paul Bacon
Centered around Jackie Robinson, this story was another that my kids really enjoyed.  I like the example it provided of Pee Wee Reese, a white baseball player, showing public support for Jackie.  However, I also hope to find a good book solely about Jackie, as he displayed great courage and dignity as the first black baseball player in the American major leagues.

Wilma Umlimited:  How Wilma Rudolph Became the World's Fastest Woman
by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by David Diaz
My kids and I have previously read a children's biography book about Wilma Rudolph (Wilma Rudolph by Victoria Sherrow) that we found inspiring, but it was geared towards children a bit older than mine.  I'm hoping this picture book will be a bit better suited for the age of my kids.  This will also be a good book to use when we learn about the Summer Olympics later this year.

Major Taylor:  Champion Cyclist
by Lesa Cline-Ransome, illustrated by James. E. Ransome
A story about the first African American world champion cyclist, who overcame racial discrimination to achieve great success as a cyclist in the late 1800's and early 1900's.

Dancing in the Wings
by Debbie Allen, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
We haven't yet read this book since all copies have been checked out from our library system, but I plan to check it out when it is available.  My understanding is that this book doesn't specifically deal with the main character being of color, but centers on the ballet world and has themes such as being confident despite teasing from others.  I think it is important that I read general books to my children with diverse main characters, but unfortunately such books are not all that easy to find.  To tie this book in specifically with African American history month, it could be followed by talking about Misty Copeland, the first female African American principal dancer in American Ballet Theatre history.

Her Stories:  African American Folktales, Fairy Tales, and True Tales
​by Virginia Hamilton
The tales in this book focus on strong female characters.

Seven Spools of Thread:  A Kwanzaa Story
by Angela Shelf Medearis, illustrated by Daniel Minter
This book can be followed by a discussion of Kwanzaa, the first specifically African American holiday.  I usually read this or other Kwanzaa-related books or stories to my kids in December, since that is when Kwanzaa begins.  

With the recent holidays, colds and sicknesses, et cetera, it has been a couple months since I have managed to post any articles.  I am far behind on finishing up my postings for the human anatomy and physiology unit we did this past fall, but I still intend to eventually get all of our lessons posted. The third lesson that I did in our A&P unit covered the respiratory system.  Previous lessons centered on the skeletal system and the central nervous system.  

Activities:

• Breathing awareness and deep breathing exercises - We started our lesson with a semi-meditation and deep breathing exercise.  I have tried to do mindfulness and mediation exercises with my kids previously, and have found it difficult to catch them in a mental space where they are willing to cooperate and remain still long enough to do a typical meditation.  So I settle for what I would call a semi-meditation - they are kind of still, and kind of quiet, and kind of following the guided meditation.  For this exercise as part of our respiratory system lesson, I basically just had the kids sit or lay on the floor, suggested closing their eyes (to which one was amenable, and the other was not), and then prompted them to breath in and out while paying attention to their breath.  I tried to get them to think about where they felt their breath (stomach or chest), to try to breathe more quickly or slowly, to try to breathe in through their nose and out through their mouth, and so on.  With my kids, this exercise only lasted a couple minutes at most before they were ready to do something more active.  
• Looked at pictures of lungs, discussed the function of lungs and the parts of the respiratory system.  An online search for images of lungs or of the respiratory system produced many results to choose from.  I like images such as this one from WebMD that show the lungs, the alveoli and bronchioles within the lungs, and other parts of the respiratory system outside of the lungs, thus providing a visual of the entire pathway involved in breathing.
• Discussed how to take care of our lungs and possible diseases of the lungs.  I showed the kids some pictures I found online of smokers' lungs to highlight how choices we make can affect the health of our lungs.  The kids have a friend who has cystic fibrosis, so we also talked about how cystic fibrosis affects the lungs and watched a couple videos that explain CF: this one and this one, both posted to YouTube by CFFightersUtah.  The videos helped the kids understand why they they aren't allowed to play with their friend when they are sick or are recovering from a cough or cold, as the consequences for a person with CF catching some "bugs" can be more dire than for the average person.
• Cut out a printout of lungs, cut bubble wrap in the same size to glue on top of the printout (the bubble wrap simulates the spongy nature of the lungs), and glued the lungs onto our body maps.  I like this lung printout from LearnCreateLove.  We did not, however, color our lungs as my kids are not big on coloring, and I could tell that they were ready to move on.  I think the lungs would look nice if they were colored, but I've learned not to force unnecessary aspects of a lesson as it can end up defeating the entire lesson.

Discussion points:

• ​All the parts of our bodies need oxygen to create energy for us to survive.  Our blood is what takes the oxygen to everywhere in our bodies and then picks up the carbon dioxide that our bodies make and need to dispose of; carbon dioxide is one of the waste materials produced by our bodies.  Our bodies need a way to get the oxygen into our blood and take carbon dioxide out of our blood.    The respiratory system is our body's solution to that need.  When we breath, we breath oxygen in (inspiration) and carbon dioxide out (expiration) - this entire process is called respiration.  This is, by the way, the opposite of plants, which take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen.  The respiratory system does perform other functions for the body, but for my children's kindergarten and preschool age levels, I chose to focus primarily on the gas exchange function.
• The respiratory system includes the nose, mouth, trachea, lungs and diaphragm.  
• The respiratory system, along with the circulatory system which moves our blood around our body, can be likened to an international package delivery system.  Packages containing a necessary resource are brought into a country by land, air or by sea from afar (in this case, essential-to-life oxygen comes in through the nose or the mouth from the outside atmosphere).  It travels along big roadways to two main delivery hubs within the country (the oxygen goes into the left and right lungs via the trachea and bronchus).   Delivery people (the blood, or more accurately, red blood cells) deliver packages (oxygen) all over the country (our entire body) while picking up other packages (carbon dioxide) to bring back to the main hubs (the lungs) and ship out to the rest of the world (exhale into the outer atmosphere).
• The tubes that carry air into and out of the lungs look similar to an upside-down tree.  The trachea branches into two other "branches," the bronchus, one of which goes into the left lung while the other goes into the right lung.  Inside the lungs, the bronchus branches into smaller and yet smaller "branches," the bronchi and bronchioles.  At the end of the smallest "branches," the bronchioles, there are clusters of small air sacs, called alveoli, which look like a bunch of grapes.  There are millions of these grape-like clusters, the alveoli, in each lung.  It is in these alveoli, surrounded by blood vessels, where the hand off of oxygen and carbon dioxide occurs.
• The diaphragm is a flat muscle underneath the lungs that is critical to breathing.  The flattening of this muscle when it contracts is what causes air to come into the lungs from the outside environment (inspiration).  The relaxation of the diaphragm results in air being pushed out of the lungs (expiration).
• We take care of our lungs and respiratory system by exercising and doing deep-breathing exercises (which maintain and can somewhat improve lung capacity, which is, simply put, the amount of air you can breathe in); eating healthy (eating high anti-oxidant foods like broccoli, cabbage, kale and cauliflower have been shown to have a potential protective effect on the lungs); not smoking anything; avoiding breathing contaminated air, such as vehicle exhaust, paint fumes, some chemical cleaner fumes, and dust, as much as possible; doing our part to decrease air pollution; and using good hygiene to decrease our risk of catching contagious illnesses that affect the lungs.

Vocabulary words: respiration, inspiration, expiration, trachea, bronchus, bronchi, bronchioles, alveoli, diaphragm, oxygen, carbon dioxide

Resources:

• This KidsHealth unit on the lungs can help provide information on the respiratory system, and can be used either directly with kids or can help refresh the adult memory before teaching a unit that involves the lungs.
• The American Lung Association website has information on how the lungs work, on how to protect the lungs, and on various lung diseases.
• For background understanding for the teaching adult, I like this video on the mechanism of breathing.  This is much too technical for viewing by the average young child and may even be too technical to hold the interest of the average adult; however, since I have an interest in and some background in human biology, I enjoyed the more detailed review.

Over the last month, I have been walking my two older kids to school when weather allows and everyone is healthy.  The walk to school is a little over a mile, and we have to leave plenty early to make it to school in time given that my kids' pace is much slower than mine would be were I walking by myself.  Initially, my kids were complaining some as we were walking:  their legs were too tired, it's too far, we were going to fast, et cetera.  I know that they are capable of walking the mile to school.  We have done several 1-3 mile hikes with them, and they enjoy these hikes when they are busy exploring and having fun.  Unfortunately, we don't have time in the morning for them to stop and explore on the way to school, and furthermore, driveways, private yards and sidewalks don't tend to be conducive to exploring anyhow.  So I decided to try to come up with something to incentivize not only the morning walk to school, but other physical activity as well, and make it all a little more fun.  

​Since visiting Colorado this past summer and seeing the mountains, my kids have talked about being mountain climbers.  I decided to base this project on that interest.  I painted a mountain on some scrap cardboard, printed out some little hiker images to represent my kids, and had their hiker/climber representations "hike/climb" to the top of the mountain as my kids completed walking miles or other physical activity that I deemed worthy of moving a "mile" up the mountain.  We agreed that the kids would receive a certificate for reaching mid-way ("base camp") on the mountain, and a medal for reaching the top.  The project has been a hit with the kids, and they have even been asking me to take them out walking and biking so they can move up the mountain.  Here's more detail on what we did with this project:

All in all, I'm very pleased with this project.  The kids had fun with it, I had fun creating it, and it fulfilled its purpose of encouraging more movement and making the process enjoyable.   Now, Hopper 1 is telling me he wants me to create a bug mound for our next exercise incentive project...hmmm, the mental wheels are turning....