* Teaching with "Voices of a People's History of the United States"
By Gayle Olson-Raymer
(Seven Stories Press, 2005)
295 pp. $10 (downloadable for free at www.sevenstories.com/textbook).
This volume can be used with Howard Zinn's classic text, A People's History of the United States, as well as with Zinn's collaboration with Anthony Arnove, Voices of a People's History of the United States, a collection of readings and documents that flesh out Zinn's original narrative. Olson-Raymer suggests discussion questions, essay topics, and other activities to help students engage with key themes in both books. Many of these can be used as-is with students, but they can also help teachers frame their U.S. history curriculum more intelligently.
The Freedom: Shadows and Hallucinations in Occupied Iraq
By Christian Parenti
(The New Press, 2004)
211 pp. $21.95.
The title of this book is drawn from Parenti's translator in Iraq: "Ah, the freedom. Look, we have the gas-line freedom, the looting freedom, the killing freedom, the rape freedom, the hash-smoking freedom. I don't know what to do with all this freedom." Although this is not likely a book that could be used in full with students, there are sections that could be used in high school classes. For example, Chapter 8, on Abu Ghraib prison, is one of these sections, or parts of Chapter 5, "Meeting the Resistance." Definitely not G-rated fare, this is a book that can be excerpted to give students an alternative to the mostly uncritical with-our-troops reporting found in daily papers.
The Norton Anthology of Children's Literature: The Traditions in English
By Jack Zipes, et al.
(Norton, 2005) 2470 pp. $67.50.
A comprehensive collection of work of 170 writers and illustrators, tracing the historical development of genres and traditions over 350 years of children's literature in English. A valuable resource for teachers, librarians, and teacher educators who want to understand the social and cultural context of children's literature and have at their fingertips an amazing compilation of literature.
Poor Workers' Unions: Rebuilding Labor from Below
By Vanessa Tait
(South End Press, 2005) 258 pp. $20.
This book provides a well-documented history of major movements for economic justice. Tait includes labor organizing efforts that grew out of the civil rights, women's, and new left movements; community-based labor organizing; worker centers; the organizing of workfare workers; and organizing within the AFL-CIO. This book should be of interest to social studies teachers interested in teaching working-class history and to teacher union activists who want a deeper understanding of organizing strategy, tactics, and history.
America's "Failing" Schools:
How Parents and Teachers Can Cope with No Child Left Behind
By W. James Popham
(RoutledgeFalmer, 2004)156 pp.
A nationally recognized expert on testing takes the NCLB law to task and encourages parents and teachers to take action. No book on this subject can stay current with the ongoing battles, but America's "Failing" Schools offers some solid arguments around issues of accountability and testing.