War Books For 7th Graders

[Gaetan Boren]

The first thing I tried was to demonstrate a variety of simple book structures, and then allowed students the freedom to independently create a book of their own choosing. I can confidently say that this was a terrible decision. I quickly changed my agenda. What worked best for these children was for me to work step by step, creating each structure with them, beginning to end, and then let them choose which structure they wanted to develop. Together we made a book with a rubber band binding, a modified-for-second-graders pamphlet stitched book, a french-fold accordion book, an origami pamphlet, some pop-ups, paper springs, and origami pockets. We used regular sized copy paper for all projects.

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
This classic takes place during the French Revolution with the mysterious Scarlet Pimpernel who rescues innocent people from death by guillotine. Naturally there is a French agent who is determined to discover who this mysterious man is and take him down.

What Ella has to say: Half Magic is one of my all time favorite books for a younger audience. My mom has read this series to me and my sisters multiple times and it is so delightful each time. I love the characters and the creativity of the plot, and each book is such a fun, light read.

It's easy to write off graphic novels as a medium, but they're great. My kids love that they can follow more complex plot lines with more sophisticated vocabulary, but without long paragraphs of text to follow. The imagery helps visual learners follow along and stay engaged, and topics range from reimagined classics to cute animals to futuristic science fiction.

A friend asked in a Facebook group for some ideas for her 3rd grader, and after offering up a few suggestions, I followed along for more. There were so many new-to-me books that I made a list, and then thought I'd make a post for you to benefit, too.

To break them up, I sorted them by topic, and some appear multiple times if they fit in more than one category. They range from a suggested 1st grade level up to 9th grade, so note the publisher's listing and choose what's best for your kid.

A common worry that I see is parents who don't want books that are "too easy" for their kids, but I'd be less concerned about that. Plenty of adults love young adult novels (I just finished reading one!) and read tons of books that aren't "challenging."

America's child care system is broken. Safe, reliable child care has largely been inaccessible and unaffordable for too many Americans. Disparities between who can and can't afford child care reflect long-standing structural inequities in the United States. Shift workers, single parents, student parents and families of color are particularly affected by the failings of the child care system. Children are deprived of nurturing care, and caregivers are prevented from earning money to meet basic needs.

The child care system's inadequacies hinder family economic mobility and perpetuate generational wealth gaps. Affordability impacts accessibility, and the cost of child care has tripled since the publication of the first KIDS COUNT Data Book in 1990. The inability to access care can force caregivers to have to leave work early, be late for work or miss days entirely. Even more troubling: Almost a quarter of parents report being fired because of difficulties accessing child care. It's a cycle: Child care is inaccessible, the parent loses their job, which makes affording child care to secure a new job even more difficult.

While families face rising costs and unreliable access, child care providers confront precarious operating conditions and low wages. Labor costs account for the bulk of child care providers' expenses. With caregiver-to-child ratios mandated by law and safety best practices, operating a child care business is expensive. Though the associated costs get passed on to families, these businesses typically survive on profit margins of less than 1%. Wages are astonishingly low, with child care workers making less than 98% of the nation's other workers.

In terms of overall child well-being, the top-performing states have shifted slightly last year's Data Book was published. New Hampshire now holds the top spot. Utah rose to second, and Massachusetts has slightly fallen, rounding out the top three. The lowest-ranked states remained the same: Mississippi (48), Louisiana (49) and New Mexico (50).

The Foundation calculates a composite index of overall child well-being for each state by combining data across four domains: (1) Economic Well-Being, (2) Education, (3) Health and (4) Family and Community. These scores are then translated into state rankings. Explore overall child well-being in the interactive KIDS COUNT Data Book.

Growing up in poverty is one of the greatest threats to healthy child development. It increases the likelihood that a child will be exposed to factors that can impair brain development and lead to poor academic, cognitive and health outcomes. It also can result in higher rates of risky health-related behaviors among adolescents.

The poverty rate among Black and American Indian children (31% and 28%, respectively) was well over twice the rate for white and Asian and Pacific Islander children (11% for both). The poverty rate for Latino kids (23%) was also high. The official poverty level in 2021 was $27,479 for a family of two adults and two children. Nationally, 17% of children (12.2 million) lived in families below the poverty line. The child poverty rate remained unchanged since 2019. The child poverty rate for 2021 ranged from a low of 8% in Utah to a high of 28% in Mississippi. In Puerto Rico, 55% of children lived in poverty.

Housing typically is one of the largest family expenses. Paying too much for housing limits the resources families have for other necessities, such as child care, food, health care and transportation, as well as their ability to save and achieve financial stability.

Sixty-eight percent of fourth-graders in public schools were not proficient readers in 2022, an increase from 2019, when 66% were not proficient. All states have more than half of their fourth-graders struggling to read on grade level. In 2022, 84% of Black, 82% of American Indian, 80% of Latino and 63% of multiracial fourth-graders were not proficient in reading, compared with 59% of white and 45% of Asian and Pacific Islander students.

As technology continues to transform the economy, the demand grows for a workforce with aligned math and science skills and training that can keep pace with technological advancement. Students with strong math and science skills are more likely to graduate from high school, attend and complete college, earn higher incomes and take advantage of the future opportunities available to them.

Children with health insurance are more likely to have a regular source of health care they can access for preventive care services and developmental screenings, to treat acute and chronic conditions or to address injuries when they occur. Having health insurance can protect families from financial crisis when a child experiences a serious or chronic illness and can help kids remain active, healthy and in school.

The child and teen death rate (deaths per 100,000 children ages 1 to 19) reflects a broad array of factors. Accidents, primarily those involving motor vehicles, were the leading cause of death for children and youth. As children move further into their teenage years, they encounter new risks. In 2021, accidents, homicides and suicides accounted for 76% of deaths for teens ages 15 to 19. For the second year in a row, firearm-related deaths were the leading cause of death among teens.

More than 23,000 children and youth ages 1 to 19 died in the United States, which translates into a morality rate of 30 deaths per 100,000 children and teens in 2021. The mortality rate among children and youth increased by 20% since 2019. The sizable increase in the mortality rate can largely be explained by the increase in homicides, drug overdoses and motor vehicle accidents among 15- to 19-year-olds.

Children who live in nurturing families and supportive communities have stronger personal connections and realize higher academic achievements. Explore family and community data in the interactive KIDS COUNT Data Book.

Even with the best efforts of parents, children growing up in single-parent families typically have access to fewer economic resources and valuable time with adults than children in two-parent families in which child-raising responsibilities can be shared. For example, in 2021, 29% of single-parent families had incomes below the poverty line, compared with 6% of married couples with children.

Teenage childbearing can have long-term negative effects for mother and child. Babies born to teens are far more likely to be born preterm and at a low birth weight and into families with limited educational attainment and economic resources, which undermines their future success. Although the teen birth rate is currently at a historic low, the teen birth rate in the United States remains the highest among affluent countries.

I have written extensively about the use of picture books within our classroom and yet there are still questions that keep coming up. No worries as I realized that I had yet to make a central blog post about picture books and how I use them with older students and so while this post may be long, I hope it is helpful. Note that really everything I write here about using picture books with older students also goes for using them with younger kids because as we all know there no is no too old for picture books.

I have written before of why I use picture books with my middle school students, the changes it has created for us as we build our community of readers. I have shared lists upon lists of our favorite books as well, hoping to help others find the very best value in the books they bring in, hoping to inspire others to make them an integral part of their classroom.

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