Marlene H. Kennedy
"Jewels of Endurance" contains the elements necessary to meet all 10 English Language Arts standards listed in Connecticut's Common Core of Teaching, including: composing, responding, and interpreting literature through reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, and acting; engaging in a writing process in which students experience many writing elements; allowing children to respond to literature through discourse and writing; reading for information; understanding the conventions of English language; being introduced to a variety of materials for instruction; being exposed to several teaching strategies to strengthen literacy, critical thinking, and problem-solving abilities;allowing students to develop concepts and skills that enable them to respond, interpret, and compose through exposure to literature; and providing opportunities for children to work together as a community of learners, thus building experiences similar to those they may encounter in working together outside of the classroom.
"Jewels of Endurance" is also integrated with the local social studies curriculum, which requires these particular sixth grade students to learn and experience American history from after the Civil War to the present day. World War II and the Great Depression are two chapters studied in the curriculum.
Linking historical novels to the social studies curriculum enables students to meet several state of Connecticut social studies performance standards, including: allowing students to develop the historical thinking skills of chronological order and recognizing change over time; contextualizing, comprehending, and analyzing historical literature; researching historical sources; understanding the concept of how events take place in history and identifying the causes; understanding and constructing narratives and interpretation; using historical thinking skills to develop an understanding of the major historical periods, issues, and trends in United States history; applying their understanding of historical periods, issues, and trends to examine the historical themes of ideals, beliefs, and institutions, as well as human movement and interaction; andrecognizing the importance of historical thinking and historical knowledge in their own lives and in the world around them.
