Topic outline

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  General

   Teaching Resources for The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963

   

  

  Visit any Birmingham Public Library location and pick up a free copy of The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis (while supplies last)

  How do you participate in Read It, Share It, Live It?

  1. Read the Book.

  2. Log onto the library's web site at www.bplonline.org enter the book's tracking identification number and leave a comment.

  3. Pass the book forward for someone else to read.

  4. Log onto the library's web site often to track your book as it travels from reader to reader. See what others have to say about this book.

  Check out additional resources for teaching The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 at this BPL website.

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  Click Play below to listen to a reading from  The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963

  Author: Christopher Paul Curtis

  Narrator: LeVar Burton   

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  Christopher Paul Curtis--Author Study Resource from Random House

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  Click the PDF file below for a Study Guide from the Birmingham Children's Theatre

  • BCT Study Guide for The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 File

    Study guide for grades 2-high school.

  • Random House --The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 Educator Guide URL

    This educators' guide has Common Core State Standard correlations.

  • Educators' Guide to The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 URL

    This educator guide is created by Walden Media along with the Hallmark movie of The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963.

  • The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 File

    A listening library study guide.

  • Chapter Summaries of The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 URL
  • Nobody but Curtis URL

    Christopher Paul Curtis official website

  • News forum
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  Topic 1

  • Teaching Multicultural Literature Workshop for the Middle Grades URL

    Workshop:  Historical and Cultural Content

    This set of resources and video focus on the book The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963.  Author Christopher Paul Curtis visits the classroom to discuss writing with the 6th grade students.

     "When you teach multicultural literature, it's important to use a variety of activities to scaffold the learning for students, giving them the opportunity to contextualize the story and internalize the characters' struggles," explains University of Alabama Birmingham teacher educator Dr.Tonya Perry. "It's essential that readers understand the context of The Watsons Go to Birmingham, or else they won't understand the obstacles the family faces."

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  Topic 2

  • The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 A Literature Focus Unit File

    The unit contains the following content:

    1)List of themes in the novel 2)List of goals and objectives 3)Background Knowledge 4)Vocabulary Words 5)Vocabulary Strategies 6)Comprehension Strategies 7)Graphic Organizers 8)Discussion Questions 9)Reading and Writing Activities 10)Poetry 11)Differentiated Instruction 12)Assessments

     

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  Topic 3

  • An Author Study: Christopher Paul Curtis and his novel “The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963” ALEX Lesson Plan URL

    This five-day lesson will introduce the students to the author of the novel as the beginning of a unit. The students will conduct research to obtain biographical information about the author and read/analyze summaries and critiques of the author's writing. Finally, the students will create brochures or flyers to highlight the author as a guest at a mock author's conference.

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  Topic 4

  • Scholastic Book Files: A Guide to The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 URL

    This 62-page PDF file has activities on a writing and a reading guide including plot, setting, themes, characters analysis, and activities for the literature. Includes an author interview, bibliography, related reading, and more.

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  Topic 5

  • Bringing The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963 to the Middle School Classroom URL

    Two middle school teachers, talked about how they would teach The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963, it struck them that it is an excellent novel to build an interdisciplinary unit around. This site contains some ideas that may be used to incorporate this book into various content areas in grades five through eight.

     

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  Topic 6

  • ReadWriteThink Graphing Plot and Character in a Novel The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 URL

    In this lesson plan, students learn how to use symbols to represent events and characters from The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 using a graphical map.

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  Topic 7

  • Newspaper In Education (NIE) Teachers’ Guide to The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 URL

    This guide is designed as a teaching tool to support the reading and understanding of, “The Watsons Go to Birmingham – 1963” by award-winning author Christopher Paul Curtis. It offers teachers several activities called “Newspaper Tie-ins.” These activities are suggestions on how to bring the lessons of these literary characters and the issues they faced into the present and make them relevant to our lives today.

     

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  Topic 8

  • Planet Book Club The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 URL

    The Book Club Novel Guide outlines a complete theme-based unit with Book Club lesson plans focusing on The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963.

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  Topic 9

  • Predict-O-Gram Pre-reading Strategy for The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 URL

    This page has pre-reading activity that uses prediction strategy to help students be familiar with the book.

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  Topic 10

  • TeachingBooks.net The Watsons Go to Birmingham — 1963 URL

    A list of resources for teaching The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 including video and audio interviews with the author Christopher Paul Curtis.

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  Topic 11

  • Teach21 Unit Plan The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 URL

    English Language Arts Unit for 8th Grade   Includes 14 lesson plans

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  Topic 12

  • Teachers @ Random A Teaching Guide for The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 URL

    This is a teaching guide from Random House.

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  Topic 13

  

  • 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing Page

    Bombing of Birmingham church kills 4 little girls.

  • Primary Documents related to the 16th Street Church bombing URL

    This is a collection of photos, news articles, and documents from the Birmingham Public Library.

  • A Time to Speak: A Speech by Charles Morgan URL

    A Teaching Tolerance lesson plan to use with the study of the 16th Street church bombing.

  • Interviews with author Christopher Paul Curtis from Reading Rockets URL

    A collection of video clip interviews with the author of The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963.

  • Poem The Ballad of Birmingham URL

    Poem that the author Christopher Paul Curtis read before writing The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963.

  • Birmingham Church Bombing URL

    Bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church September 15, 1963

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  Topic 14

  • NPR's Backseat Book Club The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 URL

    Listen to an audio program about The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963  "A Family Tale in the Civil Rights Era"

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  Topic 15

  • The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 Complete Guide to the novel URL

    This guide contains the following hyperlinked sections: 1)Intro 2) Summary 3) Themes  4)Quotes 5)Characters 6) Analysis 7) Questions 8)Quizzes 9)Flashcards  10)Best of the Web  11)Write Essay