In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse

Title: In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse

Author: Joseph Marshall III

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Age: 9-12

Grade Level: 4-8

Lexile Measure: 620

Guided Reading Level: W

Summary: Jimmy McLean is Lakota, but he doesn't look like the other Lakota students at his school. He has light skin and is often teased. His grandfather decides to take him on a journey to discover his roots, by following in the footsteps of Crazy Horse.

Review: This book is a great teaching tool to learn about the life of Crazy Horse, as well as seeing history from the point of view of Native Americans. The author uses the journey of Jimmy and his grandfather to teach this information. The factual and background information is fabulous, and is well supported by the inclusion of the map and glossary, but the story itself sometimes feels strained, as if it is simply a vehicle to provide the information and isn't fully fleshed out. This would be a great book to help support or expand a social studies unit, providing background information that wouldn't be in  a textbook.

Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish You'd Had by Tracy Johnston Zager

The math specialist at my school recommended this book, which I immediately took out of our school library. And then it sat on my shelf and gathered dust while I actually had to teach math to my 4th graders. Now that the summer is in full force, I had the chance to dust it off and give it the time it deserves.

I read a lot of professional books (mostly in the summer!), and they vary quite a bit in categories such as readability, writing style, and most of all - usefulness. This one was great. It was organized clearly and well, and was easy to follow. The writing was clean and interesting, incorporating research, classroom examples (with lots of actual dialogue between students and teachers), and the author's own thoughts. This was time well spent.

I particularly appreciated the emphasis on proof - teaching students the importance of precision in their language, collaboration, and requiring rigorous thought. I think that often, as elementary teachers, we scaffold work too much for our students, in the misguided belief that it will help their self-esteem by allowing them greater success. This book emphasizes the importance of confusion, questioning, noticing, and wondering. I have already been doing a tiny fraction of what is presented in the book, but I always end up feeling guilty, as if I'm not doing the "real math" of the curriculum and just having fun. Turns out, this is what we should be spending more of our time on, not less. Our students need to understand that math is not fast computation. It's thinking, questioning, collaborating, making claims, and proving them. It's finding the joy and beauty in math, not just in the classroom, but in our world, and I can't wait to get started!