Peace Jam

I strongly recommend the 2008 book Peace Jam by Ivan Suvanjieff and Dawn Gifford Engle. This book is written for ages 12 years and up and discusses Peace Jam's global call to action: The Youth Movement. Nobel Peace Laureates work with youth to make social change actually happen around the world. Each chapter describes the work that a specific Nobel Peace Laureate has done with children and adolescents. For example, in chapter 6, titled "Racism Is Against The Law," Rigoberta Menchu Tum and Fernando (an adolescent) discuss the problem of racism that still exists all over the world today. This book provides great information for young teens and adolescents about the social justice issues that exist today. The real life examples of students taking action shows teens that they can get involved and make a difference. This may be a great way to introduce a class community service project.

"How a Seed Grows"

"How a Seed Grows" by Helene J. Jordan

I strongly recommend this book as a great science lesson for ages 3 to 6 years. This book is from the Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science Series and includes a lesson on how a seed grows into a plant in a way that is very accessible for young children. The book goes through the step by step process of what exactly happens to a bean seed once it is planted in the soil, is given water and plenty of sunlight. There are great illustrations of each stage so the students will know exactly what they are looking for as the plant grows each day. It also includes a complete description and instructions for doing this experiment as a class project. This whole series seems great for introductions into specific lessons and class projects!