Our 4th and 5th-grade book club recently wrapped up a meeting on Talkin’ About Bessie: The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman, an illustrated children’s book that the publisher lists for ages 4-8. I do think younger kids would enjoy the story if an adult read it aloud, but it also hit the spot for our older independent readers. I picked something short because they were reading over a holiday break when many may be traveling, but I especially wanted a stellar story that we could dig into.
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I may earn commissions from qualifying purchases using these links, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.
There’s no way to go wrong when reading a book by Nikki Grimes, but she outdid herself with the creative approach to this book. It’s a fictional account of the real-life Bessie Coleman, the world’s first licensed Black female pilot. Told in twenty poetic eulogies with dramatized perspectives based on real people, the story is presented as if they’re speaking at her funeral after she died in a plane crash in 1934. Through soft, realistic paintings of events from Bessie’s life and miniature portraits of each “speaker,” uber-talented illustrator E.B. Lewis conveys warmth and emotion on each page.
The very first thing I did was ask the kids if they liked the book (thumbs up, thumbs down, thumbs sideways for so-so), and the people with the strongest feelings shared why the book moved them. I then asked them to share as much as they could about who Bessie Coleman was and why we continue to study her life. They knew quite a bit which was encouraging, but they understood even more after we watched this PBS video: Bessie Coleman Unladylike2020.
I had a hard time selecting just one video because I found several that told her story well. Depending on the ages and interests of your group, you may want to share one of these from The History Channel and The Smithsonian instead:
After the icebreaker and intro video, we moved right into our discussion, and I kicked things off with these questions:
- Which poem is your favorite and why? A couple of kids volunteered to read their favorite poem aloud, and we talked about what we could learn about Bessie based on that character’s description.
- Bessie was passionate about flying. What are you most passionate about?
- What are some of the obstacles Bessie faced, and how did she respond to them? Have any of you faced setbacks or had struggles while trying to pursue a goal? How did you feel, and what helped you move forward?
- Most of the books we read don’t have pictures in them. What did you think of the illustrations in this book?
- Have you ever seen a Black female pilot? How do you think things have changed for them today? (Read this article ahead of time so you can share the ideas and information with the kids.)
- If you could meet Bessie in person, what would you ask her? (Several said they’d ask her why she didn’t have on a seatbelt. Smart kiddos!)
- What do you think about how Nikki Grimes wrote this book? Would you want to read more books in this format?
From there, I switched to a Reading Rockets video interview with Nikki Grimes and played a few interesting clips. Since then, the video below was posted, and it includes her reading a poem aloud at timestamp 4:35, so I’d swap or add a clip from this one if I ever lead a discussion on this book again.
After the video, we wrapped up by passing out book charms for them to add to their chains, and I introduced the next book: Nic Blake and the Remarkables.
Bonus: I didn’t get a chance to use it, but here’s a teacher’s guide from the author that I think would work well for writing prompts.
More Book Club Lesson Guides
Find me on Instagram at @heritagemomblog. See you there!
0 Comments