Default image for pages

by Linda Bevilacqua, President, Core Knowledge Foundation

In the wake of recent events across America, the Core Knowledge Foundation has received a number of inquiries from educators asking for guidance as to how they can ensure that their students become familiar with the history and experiences of all Americans. While the resources suggested below, many of which are available for free download on the Core Knowledge website, are by no means exhaustive, we offer them as a place to start.

If you are not familiar with the Core Knowledge History and Geography (CKHG) program for Kindergarten-Grade 6,  please do take a look at this comprehensive set of instructional materials in world and American history and geography, integrating topics in civics and the arts.  The CKHG materials, based on the topics from the Core Knowledge Sequence, are available for free download from our website, as well as for purchase.

For example, the history, experiences, and contributions of Black Americans are interwoven throughout the CKHG materials. See:

CKHG Grade 1 Early Explorers and Settlers

CKHG Grade 2 Civil War

CKHG Grade 2 Civil Rights Leaders

CKHG Grade 3 Thirteen Colonies

CKHG Grade 4 The American Revolution

CKHG Grade 4 The Constitution

CKHG Grade 4 American Reformers

CKHG Grade 5 The Civil War

CKHG Grade 6 Reform in Industrial America

The following CKLA instructional materials are also available for free download:

CKLA Grade 4 Brown Girl Dreaming

In this title, the author, Jacqueline Woodson, describes in emotionally charged and evocative language the life of an African American girl growing up in the South and in New York in the 1960s and 1970s during a pivotal period of American history. The book has received numerous awards.

_

CKLA Grace Abounding

Core Knowledge also offers another publication, Grace Abounding: The Core Knowledge Anthology of African-American Literature, Music and Art, which schools and/or libraries may be interested in purchasing.

_

Other cultures, such as those of Native and Hispanic Americans, as well as the cultures and experiences of the many immigrants to the United States, are also represented in various Core Knowledge Foundation resources. See, for example:

CKHG K Native Americans

CKHG Grade 1 Early Civilizations of the Americas

CKHG Grade 1 The Culture of Mexico

CKHG Grade 2 Americans Move West

CKHG Grade 3 The Earliest Americans

CKHG Grade 5 Maya, Aztec, and Inca Civilizations

CKHG Grade 5 Westward Expansion Before the Civil War

CKHG Grade 5 Native Americans and Westward Expansion: Cultures and Conflicts

CKHG Grade 6 Independence for Latin America

The following CKLA instructional materials are also available for free download:

CKLA Grade 5 They Call Me Guero

The author of this book, David Bowles, grew up as a “border kid” in Texas. His poetry describes what it is like to grow up on the border of two places, as well as some of the experiences and challenges faced by the American Hispanic community.

_

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.

Core Classic, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Core Knowledge also offers a Core Classic, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, which schools and/or libraries may also be interested in purchasing. A free teacher’s guide is available for free download.

.

.

_

Grades 3-5 CKSci

Also check out the biographies of African American scientists included in several units of Grades 3-5 CKSci.

See the biographies of George Washington Carver, Lewis Latimer, Katherine Johnson and Rufus Stokes.

.

_

There are also many wonderful trade books, i.e. books by other writers and publishers, available from various booksellers; here are some titles that we have read and encourage you to review and consider for inclusion in your classroom or school library:

Primary Grades:

  • Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909 by Michelle Markel
  • Bravo! Poems About Amazing Hispanics by Margarita Engle
  • Buzzing with Questions: The Inquisitive Mind of Charles Henry Turner by Janice N.Harrington
  • Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13 by Helaine Becker
  • Dancing Hands: How Teresa Carreno Played the Piano for President Lincoln by Marguerita Engle
  • Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson
  • Emma’s Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty by Linda Glaser
  • Frida Kahlo and her Animalitos by Monica Brown
  • Fry Bread: A Native American Story by Kevin Noble Maillard (could also be used with older students)
  • Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers (could also be used with older students)
  • Hidden Figures:The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly with Winifred Conkling
  • I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsberg Makes Her Mark by Debbie Levy
  • Just Ask! By Sonia Sotomayer
  • Let the Children March by Monica Clark-Robinson (could also be used with older students)
  • Mae Among the Stars by Roda Ahmed
  • Max and the Tag-Along Moon by Floyd Cooper
  • My Hands Sing the Blues: Romare Bearden’s Childhood Journey by Jeanne Walker Harvey
  • Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpre by Anika Aldamuy Denise
  • Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat by Javaka Steptoe
  • Ruby Head High: Ruby Bridges First Day of School by Irene Cohen-Janca (could also be used with older students)
  • Schomberg: The Man Who Built a Library by Carole Boston Weatherford
  • She Persisted: Thirteen American Women Who Changed the World by Chelsea Clinton
  • That is My Dream by Langston Hughes and Daniel Miyares (could also be used with older students)
  • The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi (could also be used with older students)
  • The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson
  • The Power of Her Pen: The Story of Groundbreaking Journalist Ethyl L. Payne by Lesa Cline-Ransome
  • The Paper Son: The Inspiring Story of Tyrus Wong, Immigrant and Artist by Julie Leung
  • The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander (could also be used with older students)
  • The Youngest Marcher: TheStory of Audrey Faye Hendricks, a Young Civil Rights Activist by Cynthia Levinson
  • Thurgood by Jonah Winter
  • Turning Pages – My Life Story by Sonia Sotomayer
  • Where Are You From?  by Jaime Kim

Upper Elementary Grades

  • 90 Miles to Havana by Enrique Flores-Galbis
  • Adventurous Women: Eight True Stories About Women Who Made A Difference by Penny Colman
  • Dark Sky Rising: Reconstruction and the Dawn of Jim Crow by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
  • Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan
  • Hidden Figures: Young Readers’ Edition by Margot Lee Shetterly
  • Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate
  • I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai
  • Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai
  • Just Mercy (Adapted for Young Adults): A True Story of the Fight for Justice by Bryan Stevenson
  • One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance by Nikki Grimes
  • Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga
  • Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets by Kwame Alexander with Chris Colderley and Marjory Wentworth
  • Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson
  • Reaching for the Moon: The Autobiography of NASA Mathematician Katherine Johnson by Katherine Johnson
  • Shaking Things Up: Fourteen Young Women Who Changed the World by Susan Hood
  • The Beloved World Of Sonia Sotomayer by Sonia Sotomayer
  • The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich
  • The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis
  • We Fed America: The True Story of Rebuilding Puerto Rico, One Meal at a Time by Jose Andres
  • We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices edited by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson
  • We’ve Got A Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March by Cynthia Levison

For Additional Resources, we suggest that you also visit the following websites:

Embrace Race – The Embrace Race website provides free resources, including video clips, blog posts, and tip sheets for talking with students about race, racism, and how to make changes.

Facing History and Ourselves – The Facing History and Ourselves website provides free resources for teachers and students to address racism, antisemitism, and prejudice at pivotal moments in history.

Teaching Tolerance – The mission of Teaching Tolerance is to help teachers and schools educate children and youth to be active participants in a diverse democracy.

Finally, it is worth noting that the Core Knowledge Foundation is in the process of updating the Core Knowledge Sequence. While there are already references to the history, experiences, and contributions of many Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Hispanic Americans, we anticipate including others who have contributed in various ways to the story of America. If you have suggestions as to other individuals that we ought to include in the revised Sequence, please let us know by completing this survey.