Halea Stairs

1. I am George Washington by Brad Meltzer

This book is a non-fiction book about the United States first president
George Washington. It is a picture book, and students this young enjoy
picture books rather than ones without pictures. They can use the pictures to
connect information to the text. This book is written in first-person point of
view so it keeps the story interesting for children. This book shows
Washingtons life from being young, to being in the Army, and then
president. It shows all of the accomplishments that Washington has made
throughout his lifetime. At the end of the book it shows a quote from George
Washington, photos, and a timeline.

This book will fit my unit because my unit is on national and local
figures. George Washington is a very important historical figure that 2nd
grade students should be learning about. It shows important details of
George Washingtons life, and explains why he is such an important figure.

2. I am Jackie Robinson by Brad Meltzer

This book is a non-fiction book about the first African American Major League
Baseball player. It shows how Jackie was a wonderful athlete, but because of
the color of his skin he was not welcome to play on the best teams. This book
is a picture book, which will help students relate the text to the pictures, just
like I am George Washington. This book depicts the difficulties that Jackie
had throughout his life because of his skin color, but it also shows how he
never gave up.

This book relates to my unit because it is about Jackie Robinson, which is a

very important historical figure. He is the first ever African American Major
League Baseball player. Jackie Robinson changed the way that people
pictured baseball. This book will show students that no matter how you look
you should be treated equal. If you are not treated equal, you should never
give up because you could also become an important role that changes
history forever.

3. I am Rosa Parks by Brad Meltzer

This book is a non-fiction book about Rosa Parks who would not give up her
seat on the bus. This book is an age appropriate book that depicts the
situation on why Rosa Parks would not give up her seat to a white man on
the bus, and what happen to her because of it. It also shows how Rosa Parks
was one of the most important figures in starting equal rights for everyone.
This book is also a picture book, so it lets the students understand the texts
with the pictures.

This book ties to my unit because Rosa Parks is a very important national
figure. Rosa Parks changed the way that African Americans were looked
upon. This book will especially help students realize that things used to be a
lot different, and their peers were not always treated equal by everyone just
because of the color of their skin.

4. I am Martin Luther King Jr. by Brad Meltzer

This non-fiction book talks about the very difficult subject of segregation and
how MLK changed the way that people thought about segregation. It shows
different ways that the whites and blacks were separated from each other in
school, restaurants, sports, and more. It gives great kid friendly examples of
what segregation is, and how MLK changed segregation. This book also
shows how MLK did not change segregation without a fight.

This book goes well with my unit because MLK is very important figure in
national history. He was one of the important figures that changed
segregation all together. Without MLK and Rosa Parks segregation would
have still been around many years later. This book is a wonderful book for
students to understand this difficult situation at a young age with age
appropriate pictures, text, and examples.

5. I am Abraham Lincoln by Brad Meltzer

This book is a fun, non-fiction, comic-like book that shows President Abraham
Lincolns life. It shows what happened through Abes life that helped him
become a good president, and what he did while he was president. This book
is in first-person point of view, and is a very fun book to help student
understand important things that Abe thought. It also shows how slavery was
not right, how Abe wanted justice for all, and how he changed that.
This book goes well with my unit because Abraham Lincoln is one of the well-
known presidents of the United States. This book shows the ways that Abe
changed the United States, and my class will be able to talk about what
would have happened if he never thought that way. It is a very easy and fun
read, so that 2nd grade students would understand quite easily with some
explanation on historical terminology.

6. I am Amelia Earhart by Brad Meltzer

This book is about Amelia Earhart, the first woman pilot to fly across
the Atlantic Ocean. This book is a non-fiction, comic-like book, just like
the others of Brad Meltzer. It shows the details about Amelias life
whenever she was young, up until she flew across the Atlantic Ocean.
It shows her love of flying and all of the failures Amelia has had before
she ended up flying across the Atlantic. All of Meltzers books have
actual pictures in the back of that person. This book is a great age
appropriate book, and it will keep the students interested with its fun
comic-like, easy to read, pages.

This book goes well with my unit because Amelia is a very important
historical figure. She is one of the well-known female historical figures
that you hear about the most. This book is great because it depicts
that females can do whatever a male can, even if people do not think
so.

7. If I was the Mayor by Lauren Howell

 This book is a fun book for students to dream about being a mayor. It
shows how one person has so many jobs to do in the community, but it
tells about it in a fun way. It helps students think of questions about
what a mayor does and what they would do if they were mayor. This
book is a picture book, so students will get to have fun with it, but also
learn from it. This book is a fiction book because it shows silly things
that children would do if they would become mayor for a day.

This book ties into my curriculum because my students are learning

about national and local historical figures. Even though there are not
many books about local historical figures it does not stop the student
from learning about some of the important things that a mayor may
do. Even though this book is fictional it will spark conversation between
student for me to answer questions like what jobs the mayor actually
has and who are mayor is.

8. The Very Silly Mayor by Tom Tomorrow

This book is a fiction book about mayors. This book is a funny and
entertaining book that students will be able to enjoy. This book gives silly
examples of what the mayor suggests that his people does, and then shows
what the results of these silly suggestions. This book will let students
imaginations fly, but also learn what important role the mayor plays in the
town.

This book ties to my curriculum because my students are learning about

national and local figures. This book also is about mayors, and will have
students posing questions about what a mayor actually does. Although, it
may be a silly book it will spark the students imagination and they will want
to pretend to be a mayor and pose silly rules that their classmates will have
to do.

9. If I Were President by Catherine Stier

This book is a fiction book about the duties of the

president of the United States, and what this
particular child would do if she was president. It
discusses topics such as campaigning, vetoing, laws,
congress, and other important items the president
must know about. This book actually talks about the
real duties of the president and what they have to
do, rather than a silly book about not real ideas that
a president really wouldnt do.

This book would be a good book in my unit because it addresses the topics
that a president would do on a daily basis. This book provides actual
vocabulary words that we would be talking about whenever mentioning the
different presidents of the United States. I believe this book would be a
wonderful book to read to the classroom together because it is fun, but it
also shows actual details about the presidents life.

10. Duck for President by Doreen Cronin

This book is a fun, entertaining, fiction book that students can read while
they are learning about national figures. This book is about a duck who is
running for president. It shows how this duck is tired of doing his chores on
the farm, so he decides to run for president. After he wins the presidency
Duck soon realizes that being president is much more work than working on
the farm, and eventually returns to the farm.

This book is good book for my unit because it is a fiction book about how
much work a president must do, and even if it doesnt seem like they do
much work Duck soon realizes that it is way more work than anticipated. This
book will show students to never underestimate the power of a job until you
are their shoes and understand how much actually goes into it.