Asha Loves Science: Over in the Meadow by Najla Ahmad

When I was a child, I loved listening to the original Over in the Meadow poem. My kindergarten teacher had a felt storyboard set for the poem and I remember feeling giddy whenever she brought it out. In today's guest post, Najla Ahmad talks about her children's book Asha Loves Science: Over in the Meadow... a fun, multicultural twist of that old poem. In Najla Ahmad's version of Over in the Meadow, children learn fun facts about animals and a little bit of Urdu... the national language of Pakistan and 22 states in India. Keep reading to learn more!

This is a guest post by Najla Ahmad that first appeared on my blog in 2016.

To learn more about guest posts, please visit the Authors, Publishers, and Sponsors page.

Disclosure: Affiliate links to Amazon are included in this post.

How My Parents Learned to Eat by Ina R. Friedman

When I first starting teaching many years ago, studying Japan was a major component of the second-grade social studies curriculum I needed to teach. We would spend roughly a month learning about Japanese history, geography, and culture. At the end of the unit, my students and I would read How My Parents Learned to Eat by Ina R. Friedman together, go to the Japanese restaurant nearby, and learn how to eat with chopsticks. Good times!

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Talking to Children About Race

It’s normal and natural for children to observe and point out differences. It’s our responsibility to help them celebrate these differences and understand how they may affect our lives.

-Alanna Ekua Nzoma, M.D., University of Michigan Health

Aditi Wardhan Singh is an avid writer and has written several books for children and adults.  She is known for writing the Sparkling Me series of books for children and Raising the Global Mindset and Strong Roots Have No Fear for parents and teachers.  Aditi Wardhan Singh is passionate about multicultural education and promoting mindfulness, empathy, and community.  In today's guest post, Aditi Wardhan Singh writes about strategies parents and teachers can use when talking to children about race.  She also gives us a quick peek at her children's book How Our Skin Sparkles.  Enjoy!

Disclosure: Affiliate links to Amazon are included in this post.

The following is a guest post written by Aditi Wardhan Singh. To learn more about guest posts, please visit the Authors, Publishers, and Sponsors page.

 

The Bridge of the Golden Wood by Karl Beckstrand

Karl Beckstrand is a prolific author of 30+ multicultural children's stories.  He has written stories that take place in a variety of countries around the world and has written stories in multiple languages.  Four of Karl Beckstrand's books have been featured on Kelly's Classroom Online so far:

🍎 Anna's Prayer (Sweden, United States)

🍎 Ida's Witness (Sweden, United States)

🍎 It Came from Under the High Chair (English, Spanish)

🍎 Great Cape O' Colors (English, Spanish)

Today's blog post is the fifth one about one of Karl Beckstrand's books... The Bridge of the Golden Wood.  The Bridge of the Golden Wood is a modern-day folktale/parable that takes place in China and teaches children about the importance of helping others and saving money.  Keep reading to learn about this book and for some language arts and economics minilessons inspired by the book!

If you are looking for the building bridges STEM activity, it has been moved to its own blog post. Disclosure: Affiliate links to Amazon are included in this post.

Raja's Pet Camel: The Magic of Hope by Anita Nahta Amin

If you are a classroom teacher and were to ask your students what kind of pets they have at home, your students would probably say... cat, dog, fish, bird, turtle, snake, lizard, gerbil, hamster, bunny, guinea pig, horse, hermit crab, iguana, or even tarantula.  But how many of them would say... camel?  Some?  None?  That would totally depend on which part of the world you and your students live in, wouldn't it?

In Raja's Pet Camel: The Magic of Hope by Anita Nahta Amin, a little boy named Raja finds a baby camel and wants to keep him as a pet.  When he takes the camel home and asks his father if he could keep it, his father responded the way most parents would... No!  Will Raja be able to convince his father to let him keep the camel?  If so, how will he do it?  Is Raja's Pet Camel a work of fiction or nonfiction?  Reality or fantasy?  Keep reading to learn more about Raja's Pet Camel and the answers to these questions.

Disclosure: Affiliate links to Amazon are included in this post.

Brandon Goes to Beijing (北京) by Eugenia Chu

Children's author Eugenia Chu has a multilingual series of children's books written in English, Pinyin, and Chinese. The first two titles... Brandon Goes to Beijing (北京) and Brandon Makes Jiǎo Zi (餃子)... have already been released. The third book... Brandon Goes to Hong Kong (香港)... will be released in March 2021.

 

Brandon Goes to Beijing (北京)... the second book in the Brandon series... is a short novel with six chapters, 64 pages in all.  In this book, Brandon and his family fly to China and spend time with their family.  They visit local and historical sites, taste traditional foods, and have a mystery to solve.  Fun times!  To learn more about Brandon Goes to Beijing (北京) and how you can integrate it with a quick geography lesson, keep reading and leave a comment below!

Disclosure: Affiliate links to Amazon are included in this post.