Thematic Educator Guide: Teaching Civic Engagement

Book bans have increased more than 1100% between 2020 and 2022.  The American Library Association (ALA) has reported an unprecedented number of book bans and “documented 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources in 2022, the highest number of attempted book bans since ALA began compiling data about censorship in libraries more than 20 years ago.” PEN

The Penguin Random House Education Elementary School Collection features outstanding fiction, nonfiction, and picture books from the Penguin Young Reader’s, Random House Children’s, and DK publishing divisions, as well as children’s publishers distributed by Penguin Random House. Explore online or download this valuable resource to discover great books in specific topic areas such as: Leveled

Catch a Crayfish, Count the Stars by Steven Rinella is a hands-on, gloves-off, muddy-boots activity book for young adventurers ages eight and up, offering fun projects and adventures to build lifelong skills and knowledge about the natural world, including identifying constellations, collecting fossils, learning about, weather patterns, making art projects,  and more. Read on for

Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. It commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to announce the freedom of the more than 250,000 enslaved Black people in Texas. The newly freed Black Americans observed Juneteenth as a celebration of freedom and

In her 2021 TED-Ed student talk, poet Amanda Gorman said, “Poetry has never been the language of barriers. It’s always been the language of bridges.” With the current emphasis on culturally responsive, student-centered education and social emotional learning in schools, the bridge-building power of poetry is especially important. Poetry plays a significant role in teaching