February 2021 GCBC: Black History Month: Books and Language Arts

February 2021 Global Children’s Book Club Schedule

Chapter Book Schedule

I will discuss One Crazy Summer on Instagram on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month (February 11th and February 25th) for the chapter book of our black History Month Books.

To participate in a virtual live discussion, I’d love to have you join in on Patreon! You’ll also receive a monthly newsletter with additional discussion questions, a recap of my Instagram discussions, and occasional chapter book and picture book author visits.

Picture Books Schedule

I have provided free YouTube read alouds below for each of the weekly picture books. I’ll integrate the picture books into the monthly live discussion, and you’ll also have access to additional discussion questions, a recap of my Instagram discussions, and occasional chapter book and picture book author visits by joining in on in on Patreon.

Week of 1/4: The Undefeated

Week of 1/11: Jabari Jumps

Week of 1/18: Mae Among the Stars

Week of 1/25: Moses

Featured Black History Month Books: Black History Month Chapter Book

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

Find it on Amazon (on sale for under $5!), Bookshop.org, Abebooks, Target, Walmart, Barnes & Noble, Kindle (free with a Kindle Unlimited free trial)

Available on Audible (free with an Audible Plus free trial)

Here are additional resources to learn through reading the book:

Here’s a discussion guide from the publisher

One Crazy Summer Discussion Questions

Featured Black History Month Picture Books: Black History Month Books for Kids

Week 1 (Week of 2/1) Picture Book Read Aloud: The Undefeated

Available on Amazon, Bookshop, Target, Walmart, Barnes & Noble, Abebooks

Other Resources & Activities:

Here’s a fantastic interview with Kwame Alexander and Kadir Nelson
Take the book page by page to learn about the people and the references. There is a fantastic guide in the back of the book that has mini biographies on all the people featured.
Alexander has taken some words and phrases from other Black leaders (for instance, “promised land” that was popularized by Martin Luther King, Jr.) and used them to create his own rich and vivid poem. Take a phrase from Alexander’s poem and write your own poem.
- Here’s the poem titled “We Real Cool” that Alexander references!
Read the poem out loud. Decide if you will have one person read the whole thing, if some should interpret it in another way, or if you’ll take turns or say words simultaneously.
Discussion Questions:
- When do the illustrations connect to the text? When are they different?
- Who are some of the people Alexander and Nelson remembering in their work?
- There are times of both tragedy and triumph in the book. Draw a curve that goes up for Black joy and down for Black sadness.
- Repetition can be powerful. What words does Alexander repeat? Are there any illustrations that are repeated? Why?