The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B Dubois
I knew of this book but I was encouraged to read it after listening to Yale Professor David Blight's lecture series on the Civil War. He said that reading the book should be required for citizenship.
I can only say that I agree -- read it.
Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass an American Slave
No matter when you read this book your eyes will be opened.
We all know the Fredrick Douglass that is celebrated in February. But what he went through from birth through about age 20 is incredible. Slavery of course is an evil condition to be in. But Douglass was tormented by his masters. Tormented -- all slaves were tormented. His masters tried to break him and then he was sent to a slave breaker. He survived it all.
There is a heart wrenching story where he is worked to exhaustion by his slave breaker master Covey to the where he collapses in the fields. Covey beats him and Douglass runs away to his former masters the Aulds. They convince him to go back because there is no choice. He hides all day on Sunday and on Monday Covey tries to tie him up and kill him. In a two hour fight Douglass finally bests Covey and is never touched by him again.
Rick Wormeli's Fair Isn't Always Equal is a fantastic book. The second edition builds on the first and has so much more useful information that it could have been its own edition.
When teachers and educators ask me for advice on what to read to learn about fairness, feedback, and grading this is one of the first books I think of. I also remember that the second edition is the orange one and the first edition was blue.
Chapter 19 is particularly useful it includes 13 recommendations for what to look for in a grading system.
