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Home > Librarians@Random > A Word from Pat Scales

November 2008

Dear Fellow Book Lovers:

CELEBRATE TEACHERS

The first observance of American Education Week was in December, 1921. Now, celebrated in November, this special week is tended to spotlight education in communities throughout the nation. Schools celebrate this week in a variety of ways: teacher appreciation days, exhibits and bulletin boards, book fairs, musical programs, newspaper articles and features, etc. School and public libraries might celebrate American Education Week by displaying books that are set in schools. Here are a few suggestions for celebrating education:

Favorite and Outstanding Teachers

Ask readers to write a letter nominating a fictional teacher for Teacher of the Year. Instruct them to include in the letter the qualities that make this teacher worthy of the award. These teachers from Random House are good examples:

Gary Paulsen’s Sarny or Nightjohn (Ages 10-12)
Mrs. Goodwin in The Flunking of Joshua T. Bates by Susan Shreve (Ages 7-11)
Mrs. Jacks in A Thousand Never Evers by Shana Burg (Ages 10 up)
Miss Lesley in Counting on Grace by Elizabeth Winthrop (Ages 8-12)
Ms. Shepherd in Me, Evolution, and Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande (Ages 12 up)

Meanest Teachers

Almost everyone can name a really “mean” teacher both in real life and in fiction. Have readers identify such a teacher in a book that they have read. Have them discuss how the “mean” teacher advances the story in the following books from Random House:

Ms. Starch in Scat by Carl Hiaasen (Ages 9-12)
Sister Basil in The Loud Silence of Francine Green by Karen Cushman (Ages 9-12)
Miss Payne, the English teacher, in The Crimes and Punishment of Miss Payne by Barry Jonsberg (Ages 12-up)
Mr. Griffin in Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan (Ages 12 up)
Ms. Amerita Spraggins in Miami Jackson Sees It Through by Patricia C. and Fredrick McKissack & illus. by Michael Chesworth (Ages 7-9)
Brother Leon in The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier (Ages 12 up)

Most Unusual Teachers

School stories that have unusual teachers can make a book very funny. Encourage readers to identify novels where the unusual teachers contribute to the humor of the story. Consider these titles from Random House:

Mr. Jupiter in The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School by Candace Fleming (Ages 6-10)
Mr. Ditzwinkle in Fourth-Grade Weirdo by Martha Freeman (Ages 9-12)

Possible Teachers

Choose a favorite character and ask them to complete an application to teach in your school. List the subjects they would teach. Take references from other characters in the novel.

Rosie the Riveter: Women Working on the Homefront in World War II by Penny Colman (Ages 12 up)
Any character from 33 Things Every Girl Should Know About Women’s History: From Suffragettes to Skirt Lengths to the E.R.A. edited by Tonya Bolden (Ages 12 up)

Other Teacher Stories

Marvin Redpost: Alone in His Teacher’s House by Louis Sachar & illus. by Barbara Sullivan (Ages 5-8)
How to Get Suspended and Influence People by Adam Selzer (Ages 12-up)

Best Class Assignment

Newspapers often feature outstanding school projects. Ask readers to write a news story for American Education Week about one of the following school assignments:

A science fair project in Arthur’s Science Fair Trouble by Marc Brown (Ages 5-8)
Writing a letter to a famous person like eleven-year-old Margo Bandini in A Letter to Mrs. Roosevelt by C. Coco De Young (Ages 8-12)
Making an “About Me” box in All About Stacy by Patricia Reilly Giff & illus. by Blanche Sims (Ages 5-8)
Working on the stage crew of a school play as Jacob Freisten does in The Boy Who Owned the School by Gary Paulsen (Ages 9-12)
A local history project like 15-year-old Macey in Burning Up by Caroline B. Cooney (Ages 12 up)
Finally, have readers write a special tribute to the teachers in Children of the Dust Bowl: The True Story of the School at Weedpatch Camp by Jerry Stanley (Ages 12 up)