March 8: Knock-Out Nonfiction Award and Women's History Month
Watch
The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read by Rita Lorraine Hubbard and Oge Mora
Did you know? March is Women's History Month, a time to celebrate the amazing accomplishments of women throughout history. We are continuing our nonfiction unit with a biography of one accomplished woman, Mary Hardway Walker. Mary Walker was born a slave in 1848 and was not allowed to learn to read. However, she dreamed of learning to read, and the freedom it would give her, all her life. She lived to be over 100 years old and finally achieved her dream when she was 116! Find out more about her story in this biography:
marywalkerbio.mov
You Be the Judge!
Use the form below to rate the book The Oldest Student.
Make
Learning To Read
You have probably had a lot of reading lessons in your life, and you have had teachers and other grown ups read books to you. Learning to read can be really hard! The words can swirl around in your head, just like they did for Mary Walker. But, learning to read can also be fun, and it can make you feel free, just like how Mary Walker felt in the story. How do you feel when you try to read, or when someone reads to you? What is it like when you learn new words, or try to read a new story? Is it fun? Difficult? Does it make your head hurt or make you feel happy? Draw and write about your experience. Also, for extra fun, try using collage to make your drawing (see more at the bottom of the page)!
Wonder
Unfortunately, there is not much information available online or in our library databases about Mary Walker. However, you can find out about more amazing women in the PebbleGo database. Check out this page, which has information on lots of different women, from inventors to musicians. Pick someone who interests you and see what you can learn!
Username: brookline / Password: brookline
Bonus
Make your own collage:
Oge Mora, the illustrator of this book, uses collage to make her pictures. Collage is when an artist puts different materials together to make a picture. For example, in this book, you can see that Oge Mora put pieces of newspaper and brightly colored paper together to make a picture. Try making your own collage to celebrate Mary Walker and reading. You could use old newspapers, just like Oge Mora, or construction paper, if you have it. For more inspiration, check out this great video for kids from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
