Product Description

Allow students to step back in time to experience the thoughts, feelings, dilemmas, and actions of people from history. For each history topic, Miller suggests two titles-one for use with the entire class and one for use with small reading groups. Summaries of the books, author information, activities, and topics for discussion are supplemented with vocabulary lists and ideas for research topics and further reading. This integrated approach makes history meaningful to students and helps them retain historical details and facts.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #145494 in Books
• Published on: 1997-03-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 229 pages

From School Library Journal

Intended for use by teachers in grades four through eight, this substantial handbook/bibliography offers plentiful, ready-made preparation for using quality fiction and nonfiction trade books to teach U.S. history. Each of the nine chronological units begins with a suggested book for whole-class reading, goes on to suggest books for small groups, and concludes with a lengthy annotated list of additional children's books, teacher resources, computer resources, and videos. The entries on featured books include brief synopses, author information, teaching activities, discussion questions, and vocabulary lists. There are suggested end-of-unit activities, along with occasional recipes, games, and forms for guiding and evaluating children's work. The book's emphasis is on building classroom libraries, with only a brief nod to use by school and public libraries. (Any library containing all the listed material would be quite good.) America As Story: Historical Fiction for Middle and Secondary Schools by Rosemary K. Coffey and Elizabeth F. Howard (ALA, 2nd ed., 1997) overlaps on many titles, and also includes teaching suggestions. But U.S. History Through Children's Literature is far more extensive in scope, making a fine range of books and other materials accessible to teachers and librarians.

Margaret Bush, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Simmons College, Boston, MA

Copyright 1997 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About the Author
WANDA J. MILLER is Reading Specialist, Williamson Central Schools, Williamson, New York. She serves on the New York State Curriculum Committee.

Customer Reviews

U.S History through children's literature
This unit study/theme unit approach to history is really neatand well worth the price.. their site summary of the book is reallynot doing this book any justice.. The program uses wonderful readers like light in the forest, courage of sarah noble, sign of the beaver, I sailed with columbus, phoebe the spy, and so forth (59 different books in all).. there are 9 main chapters/units, with each including 6 or more of the 59 books to read that come with an introduction/author section/acitivities/discusision questions/vocabulary lists..each unit has a 1] Bibliography section that includes loads of other extra books to read with a brief description, 2] theme resources section that inlcudes loads of resources like videos/magazines/thematic units/films/computer/etc, and 3] end of unit celebration section that may include recipes for that time period/research projects susgestions/extra activities to do/etc..

there is a lot of stuff in this 228 page book and it covers from the Colonial Period to World War II.. this unit studies book is geared towards grades 4-8 and can easily be used with all grade levels by simply making the questions easier for the little ones and reading the books with them.. this is like using TRISMS or sonlight but easier to use and a lotttttt cheaper...I doubt anyone that loves unit studies or a literature approach to history will feel they wasted their money at all..

Love it
I just love this approch to teaching history. The books used are great and really make history come alive.

Wonderful for home schoolers!
As a home schooler, it is sometimes difficult to decide which direction to take our study of history. This book has been a great way to tie in Literature and give our kids a better understanding of the time period we're studying. The books that are highlighted are interesting for both child and parent (teacher!). I'd recommend this to everyone looking to liven up their history studies. There are sections labeled for small group reading. We simply used these for our daughter's solo reading time, then read the read-a-loud as a class selections together. I like how they've introduced our kids to classic stories, such as A Light in the Forest.