Read Across America Day - Changemakers

 A storytime celebrating brave and determined people who have worked to change the status quo....

• Steadfast : Frances Perkins, champion of workers' rights by Jennifer J. Merz.
• Frances Perkins witnessed NYC's Triangle Fire and made it her life's mission to aid workers -- she championed worker safety laws in NY then become FDR's secretary of labor - the 1st woman US Cabinet Member and the force behind the New Deal.

You don't need to be a grownup to make a difference:

I am Ruby Bridges by Ruby Bridges
When Ruby Bridges was aged just six, she became the first African American student to integrate an elementary school in the South. Based on the pivotal events of 1960 and told from her own point of view for the first time, this is a poetic reflection on her experience that changed the face of history and the trajectory of the Civil Rights movement. Also showed pages from The story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles
Received too late to share but a great teacher resource: Dear Ruby, hear our hearts : letters to civil rights activist Ruby Bridges by Ruby Bridges

Booktalked: Sit-in : how four friends stood up by sitting down by Andrea Davis Pinkney and Opening the road : Victor Hugo Green and his Green Book by Keila V. Dawson

Greta Thunberg by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara ; illustrated by Anke Weckmann
The inspiring true story of Greta Thunberg, the environmental activist. When young Greta learned of the climate crisis, she stopped talking. She couldn't understand why people in power were not doing anything to save our Earth. One day she started protesting outside the Swedish Parliament, creating the "School Strike for Climate." Soon, lots more young people joined her in a global movement that shook adults and politicians alike. She had found her voice and uses it to inspire humans to action with her powerful message: "No one is too small to make a difference."  (Didn't discover until afterwards: Greta and the Giants : Inspired by Greta Thunberg's stand to save the world by Zoë Tucker - a fictionalized but tells true story at the end - would make a good readaloud) or consider Our house is on fire : Greta Thunberg's call to save the planet by Jeanette Winter

Sang the inspiring words with the book: 

This little light of mine  illustrated by E.B. Lewis

Through the words of a well-known African-American spiritual dating back to the days of slavery, a little boy finds that through simple, kind acts he has the power to let his light shine and warm the world around him

Finished with the wise advice from: 

• Be a king : Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream and you by Carole Boston Weatherford ; illustrated by James Ransome   "You can be a King. Stamp out hatred. Put your foot down and walk tall. You can be a King. Beat the drum for justice. March to your own conscience. Featuring a dual narrative of the key moments of Dr. King's life alongside a modern class as the students learn about him, Carole Weatherfor's poetic text encapsulates the moments that readers today can reenact in their own lives.

And asked the kids what they could do to make the world better...today & in the future

Bedminster School 2nd Grade 2/28/24