Poverty and Education

This morning The Middletown Eye (http://middletowneyenews.blogspot.com/) posted a story on teen groups from ten Middlesex County churches who spent Saturday night outdoors in frigid temperatures to help them understand and empathize with the plight of the homeless. In Middletown, CT, youth groups set up tents on the corner of Main and Union streets to spend the night in solidarity with those community members who are forced to spend harsh nights without a home. Sue LaTourette, a church director from First Church, explained that the effort is an attempt to keep the plight of the homeless in the public eye after the generosity of the holidays has passed. This event has already motivated donors to drop off food & clothing for distributions to St. Vincent de Paul soup kitchen & the Eddy Shelter in Middletown.

According to the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness (www.cceh.org), 4,154 people were homeless in Connecticut on the night of January 28, 2009. Of these 430 were families and 801 were children in families. It is estimated that in our state over 33,000 people, including 13,000 children, experience homelessness over the course of the year. That equates to a lot of children, families, and schools that must continually cope with this tragic situation.

In the SERC Library we have over 150 resources that address poverty and education. A small sampling includes:

Invisible Children in the Society and its Schools - (2003) edited by Sue Books, this 258-page book offers a series of reports by some of the most passionate and insightful scholars writing in the field of education today on groups of children whose complexity, strengths, and vulnerabilities are largely unseen in society and its schools. Topics include homelessness, domestic violence, gay youth, children with social disabilities, teenage mothers, poverty, and much more.

Increasing Language Skills with Students from Low Income Backgrounds - (2008) by Celeste Roseberry-McKibbin.

Educating the Other America: Top Experts Tackle Poverty, Literacy, and Achievement in Our Schools - (2008) edited by Susan B. Neuman.

America Beyond the Color Line, DVD - (2003) with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. In this 225-minute DVD, Henry Louis Gates travels to 4 very different parts of America to illustrate the splitting of African-American society into 2 distinct communities - the privileged and the disenfranchised. He examines the opportunities and obstacles still being faced and speaks to how a fifth of all black Americans are living below the poverty line and how many feel excluded from mainstream American life.

Keys to Success for Urban School Principals - (2007) by Gwendolyn J. Cooke.

A Framework for Understanding Poverty - (2005) by Ruby K. Payne.

The Kids Left Behind: Catching Up the Underachieving Children of Poverty - (2007) by Robert D. Barr.

Armando & The Blue Tarp School - (2007) by Edith Hope Fine. In this 32-page children's book for ages 4-8, Armando and his father are trash-pickers in Tijuana, Mexico. When Senor David brings his "school" - a blue tarp set down near the garbage dump - to their neighborhood, Armando's father decides that he must attend classes and learn. Based on a true story.

Closing the Poverty and Culture Gap: Strategies to Reach Every Student - (2009) by Donna Walker Tielston & Sandra K. Darling.

Please visit the SERC Library either online or in person to explore more resources on this subject. Stay warm and be safe.

(With thanks to Pablo Picasso for Poverty, 1903.)

Teaching math to people with Down syndrome and other hands-on learners by DeAnna Horstmeier. (IM 510.71 HOR)

Come take a look at this wonderful kit! The 400 page guide is full of lesson plans and practical suggestions and was developed to help students with intellectual and developmental disabilities of all ages in the area of math instruction. Each kit also includes a CD-ROM and a set of manipulatives. The SERC Library has the kits for both the Basic and the Advanced Survival Skills.

Award-Winnning Films At The SERC Library

With the winter break approaching and cold, wintery weather ahead, why not drop by and check out a few good movies to wile away the time and educate the mind. Here is just a small sampling of some of the wonderful movies at the SERC Library.

Accidental Hero - Room 408: 2001 winner of "Best Documentary" of the Ashland Independent Film Festival & 2002 Gold Eagle Award - CINE, this powerful film tells the story of an extaordinary public high school teacher who is changing lives by introducing his students to a little known academic sport called "forensics". This documentary has important messages about the tremendous potential that young people from diverse backgrounds can realize when they are given the support of good teachers and ample educational tools.

King Gimp: Winner of the 1999-2000 Academy Award for Short Documentary, this film follows Dan Keplinger (who has cerebral palsy) for 13 years as he moves from a special education school to the mainstream. Unable to communicate easily with words, Dan's emotional life explodes on to canvas when he discovers art.

Autism Is A World: Nominated for an Academy Award, this is a personal look at autism through the eyes of a young woman, Sue Rubin. It offers a rare and compelling voyage into Sue's mind, her daily world, and her struggles with autism. With the help of a new assistive technology technique, a letterboard, Sue was able to connect with the world. Now a junior in college with a top IQ, she is a tireless disability-rights activist.

Educating Peter: Down Syndrome In The Inclusive Classroom: Filmed over the course of the third grade year, this 1992 Academy Award-winning documentary vividly captures the achievements & frustrations of Peter (a child with Down syndrome) as he makes a place for himself among his peers.

Snowbound? Not to worry. The SERC Library has a generous 3-week loan period.

One child, two languages in action: A guide for early childhood educators by Patton O. Tabors IE 372.6521

Is your early childhood classroom linguistically and culturally diverse? Are you working with young children learning English as a second language? This 253 page book written for early childhood educators provides tools for working with the increasing number of young children learning English as a second language. Topics include assessment techniques for first and second languages, internationally adopted children, responding to linguistic and cultural diversity, working with parents and incorporating literacy practices that help all children.

Mastermind behind Wikipedia launches education video website

Larry Sanger, who co-founded Wikipedia, has started a new online community aimed at educators and students. The website, www.watchknow.org, features an extensive library of education-related videos for children from ages 3 to 18. It also offers indispensable advice to teachers through the video format. For example, a simple search on geometry, filtered for ages 17-18+, returns such results as: "Helpful Ways to Teach Geometry", "Quadrilateral Song" and "How to Solve Geometry Proofs". Users can create accounts that allow them to add videos and edit descriptions. Because of this reliance on users to both expand and organize the collection, Sanger himself has described WatchKnow as "YouTube meets Wikipedia". Though still in in its infancy, WatchKnow already has 11,762 videos (and counting!). Considering the scope of material available on sites like YouTube and Wikipedia, it is not unlikely to think that one day WatchKnow's collection could be truly powerful in its ability to harness the power of the internet by bringing together people and ideas on a global level. So bookmark WatchKnow, spread the word to your fellow educators, direct your children there, and most importantly, contribute your own unique talent and voice. And for now, check out these videos found by browsing the poetry section....

Shel Silverstein narrating his poem "Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too":



T.S. Eliot narrating his poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock":



Langston Hughes narrating his poem "I, Too":

Connecticut Children's Book Fair - November 14-15th, 2009

The 18th Annual Connecticut Children's Book Fair will be held on November 14th and 15th at the UCONN campus in Storrs. The fair provides an opportunity for fans of children's literature to meet prominent authors and illustrators in a fun, family-friendly atmosphere. In addition to presentations and book signings, the event will also feature storytelling sessions, crafts, and even an opportunity to have breakfast with Clifford the Big Red Dog! Lots of other popular characters will be present as well. On Saturday visitors will also be able to visit the Northeast Children's Literature Collection, housed at UCONN's Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, which features an extensive collection of original work by such noted authors as Richard Scarry and Tomie dePaola. For information on the collection go here, and for information on attending the fair go here.

And of course be sure to check out two of the newest additions to our very own Young People's book collection:

The Red Beast: Controlling Anger in Children with Asperger's Syndrome, by K.I. Al-Ghani (YP 618.92 ALG)
The picture book offers both an engaging story that children will enjoy and helpful anger management techniques for adults to employ when working with children prone to anger and temper tantrums. From foot massages to popping bubble wrap, these suggestions are sure to appeal to even the most stressed out child.


All Dogs Have ADHD, by Kathy Hoopmann (YP 362.196 HOO)
This book uses vivid full color photographs of dogs to illustrate many of the most common traits held by those with ADHD. This delightful and humorous book is great for helping to boost the self-esteem of kids who may be having a hard time and feeling different from their peers.