Let's All Celebrate Our Diversity with Poetry by Azza Said

“Our beautiful America was built by a nation of strangers. From a hundred different places or more they have poured forth into an empty land, joining and blending in one mighty and irresistible tide.The land flourished because it was fed from so many sources―because it was nourished by so many cultures and traditions and peoples.” — President Lyndon B. Johnson, on reforming immigration policy with the Hart-Celler Act, October 3, 1965 (Equity, Diversity, 2022).

asaid8 — 2022-05-07 13:22:05 UTC

Another Definition of Diversity

asaid8 — 2022-05-07 13:26:41 UTC

"Culture diversity refers to the importance of understanding and appreciating the cultural differences between race, ethnic, and gender groups" (Equity, Diversity, 2022).

Definition of Diversity from a Dictionary

asaid8 — 2022-05-07 13:31:18 UTC

Diversity is "the condition of having or being composed of differing elements

especially : the inclusion of people of different races, cultures, etc. in a group or organization" (Definition of Diversity, 2022).

Finding Wonders: Three Girls Who Changed Science by Jeannine Atkins

asaid8 — 2022-05-07 13:51:26 UTC

Three biographies in verse about three girls in three different time periods who grew up to become groundbreaking scientists.

Maria Merian was sure that caterpillars were not wicked things born from mud, as most people of her time believed. Through careful observation she discovered the truth about metamorphosis and documented her findings in gorgeous paintings of the life cycles of insects.

More than a century later, Mary Anning helped her father collect stone sea creatures from the cliffs in southwest England. To him they were merely a source of income, but to Mary they held a stronger fascination. Intrepid and patient, she eventually discovered fossils that would change people’s vision of the past.

Across the ocean, Maria Mitchell helped her mapmaker father in the whaling village of Nantucket. At night they explored the starry sky through his telescope. Maria longed to discover a new comet—and after years of studying the night sky, she finally did.

Told in vibrant, evocative poems, this stunning novel celebrates the joy of discovery and finding wonder in the world around us.
Interest Level: 4-8
Lexile Score: 970L
Text Difficulty: 4-7

Poetry Tools

asaid8 — 2022-05-07 19:02:50 UTC

A fun way to remember the basic poetry tools.

Anything but Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin

asaid8 — 2022-05-07 20:10:14 UTC

Jason, a twelve-year-old autistic boy who wants to become a writer, relates what his life is like as he tries to make sense of his world.

Read more about the book here.

Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon

asaid8 — 2022-05-07 20:16:59 UTC

The story of a teenage girl who's literally allergic to the outside world. When a new family moves in next door, she begins a complicated romance that challenges everything she's ever known. The narrative unfolds via vignettes, diary entries, texts, charts, lists, illustrations, and more.

Interest grade level: Young Adult Follett School Solutions.

Read more about the book here.

Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks by Jason Reynolds

asaid8 — 2022-05-07 20:25:12 UTC

This story was going to begin like all the best stories. With a school bus falling from the sky. But no one saw it happen. They were all too busy—

Talking about boogers.

Stealing pocket change.

Skateboarding.

Wiping out.

Braving up.

Executing complicated handshakes.

Planning an escape.

Making jokes.

Lotioning up.

Finding comfort.

But mostly, too busy walking home.

Jason Reynolds conjures ten tales (one per block) about what happens after the dismissal bell rings, and brilliantly weaves them into one wickedly funny, piercingly poignant look at the detours we face on the walk home, and in life.

Read more about the book here.

Ugly, a Memoir by Robert Hoge

asaid8 — 2022-05-07 20:28:16 UTC

Robert Hoge was born with a tumor the size of a tennis ball in the middle of his face and short, twisted legs, but he refused to let what made him different stand in the way of leading a happy, successful life. This is the true story of how he embraced his circumstances and never let his 'ugly' stop him from focusing on what truly mattered.

Read more about the book here.

Reaching for the Moon The Autobiography of NASA Mathematician Katherine Johnson by Katherine G. Johnson

asaid8 — 2022-05-07 20:33:42 UTC

As a young girl, Katherine Johnson showed an exceptional aptitude for math. In school she quickly skipped ahead several grades and was soon studying complex equations with the support of a professor who saw great promise in her. But ability and opportunity did not always go hand in hand. As an African American and a girl growing up in an era of brutal racism and sexism, Katherine faced daily challenges. Still, she lived her life with her father’s words in mind: “You are no better than anyone else, and nobody else is better than you.”

In the early 1950s, Katherine was thrilled to join the organization that would become NASA. She worked on many of NASA’s biggest projects including the Apollo 11 mission that landed the first men on the moon.

Katherine Johnson’s story was made famous in the bestselling book and Oscar-nominated film Hidden Figures. Now in Reaching for the Moon she tells her own story for the first time, in a lively autobiography that will inspire young readers everywhere.
Interest Level: 5-8
Lexile Score: 1040L
Text Difficulty: 6-8

This Book Is Anti-Racist/ 20 Lessons on How to Wake up, Take Action, and Do the Work by Tiffany Jewell

asaid8 — 2022-05-07 20:38:14 UTC

This Book Is Anti-Racist Journal, a guided journal with more than 50 activities to support your anti-racism journey Who are you? What is racism? Where does it come from? Why does it exist? What can you do to disrupt it? Learn about social identities, the history of racism and resistance against it, and how you can use your anti-racist lens and voice to move the world toward equity and liberation.

Interest grade level: 5-8

Fountas and Pinnell: U

Lexile: 900L.

Read more about the book here.

Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga

asaid8 — 2022-05-07 20:40:13 UTC

Jude never thought she'd be leaving her beloved older brother and father behind, all the way across the ocean in Syria. But when things in her hometown start becoming volatile, Jude and her mother are sent to live in Cincinnati with relatives. At first, everything in America seems too fast and too loud. The American movies that Jude has always loved haven't quite prepared her for starting school in the US--and her new label of 'Middle Eastern,' an identity she's never known before. But this life also brings unexpected surprises--there are new friends, a whole new family, and a school musical that Jude just might try out for. Maybe America, too, is a place where Jude can be seen as she really is.

Interest grade level: 5-8

Fountas and Pinnell: W

Lexile Service: 930L.

Read more about the book here.

Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly

asaid8 — 2022-05-07 20:49:09 UTC

Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden were good at math...really good.

They participated in some of NASA's greatest successes, like providing the calculations for America's first journeys into space. And they did so during a time when being black and a woman limited what they could do. But they worked hard. They persisted. And they used their genius minds to change the world.

In this illustrated picture book edition, we explore the story of four female African American mathematicians at NASA, known as "colored computers," and how they overcame gender and racial barriers to succeed in a highly challenging STEM-based career

Forget Me Not by Ellie Terry

asaid8 — 2022-05-07 20:52:23 UTC

A girl with Tourette syndrome starts at a new school and tries to hide her quirks in this debut middle-grade novel in verse.

Astronomy-loving Calliope June has Tourette syndrome, so she sometimes makes faces or noises that she doesn't mean to make. When she and her mother move yet again, she tries to hide her TS. But it isn't long before the kids at her new school realize she's different. Only Calli's neighbor, who is also the popular student body president, sees her as she truly is—an interesting person and a good friend. But is he brave enough to take their friendship public?

As Calli navigates school, she must also face her mother's new relationship and the fact that she might be moving, again, just as she starts to make friends and finally accept her differences.
Interest level: Juvenile
Text Difficulty: 3
Lexile Score: 670L

Thanku: Poems of Gratitude by Miranda Paul

asaid8 — 2022-05-07 20:54:05 UTC

This poetry anthology, edited by Miranda Paul, explores a wide range of ways to be grateful (from gratitude for a puppy to gratitude for family to gratitude for the sky) with poems by a diverse group of contributors, including Joseph Bruchac, Margarita Engle, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Naomi Shihab Nye, Charles Waters, and Jane Yolen.
Interest Level: Juvenile

The Special Child

asaid8 — 2022-05-07 20:57:39 UTC

An inspirational poem

A Very Special Child by Gary Shulman

asaid8 — 2022-05-07 21:04:10 UTC

Please don't cry while reading this poem

Nabaweya Moussa نبويه موسى/ Afkar Ghayaret Al Alam/ Book 12

asaid8 — 2022-05-07 21:24:01 UTC

Tells the story of Nabawiyya Mohamed Musa Badawia, an Egyptian Nationalist and Feminist and is recognized as one of the founding feminists of the 20th century in Egypt.

Read more about the book here.

Nelson Mandela نيلسون مانديلا/ Afkar Ghayaret Al Alam/ Book 3/

asaid8 — 2022-05-07 21:26:13 UTC

An account of Nelson Mandela, the person who fought against racism. Read more about the book here.

How to Turn in Your Work on TurnitIn

asaid8 — 2022-05-08 08:27:31 UTC

How to Cite Your Work on NoodleTools

asaid8 — 2022-05-08 08:29:38 UTC

How to Create a Project on NoodleTools

asaid8 — 2022-05-08 08:30:29 UTC

Criteria for Checking the Reliability of a Source

asaid8 — 2022-05-08 08:31:34 UTC

Say "Yes" or "No" to a Website

asaid8 — 2022-05-08 08:37:16 UTC

How to Search for a Book on Destiny Based on a Reading Level

asaid8 — 2022-05-08 08:38:58 UTC

How to Look for a Book on Destiny

asaid8 — 2022-05-08 08:39:56 UTC

What Features Does Sora Have for You?

asaid8 — 2022-05-08 08:41:33 UTC

Diversity in 5 Minutes

asaid8 — 2024-12-01 06:53:30 UTC

Although this video deals with diversity at work, it could be a great starting point. Did you notice that the lady being interviewed in the video is speaking German? Well!! That is another form of diversity.

Diversity in 5 Minutes

asaid8 — 2025-03-23 12:26:41 UTC