I wanted to share with you a fantastic story. The People Could Fly, written by Virginia Hamilton, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon. This book is also a Coretta Scott King Honor Award. So you know, it has to be good. The People Could Fly is a fantastic depiction of African folklore and African American history. It talks about the mythical feel of when things were hard. There was a slave who had the feeling and notion that people could fly. The story’s hardships would be too much that they wanted to fly away into the heavens and escape the harsh punishments of slavery. I have created an excellent companion lesson plan that goes along with this book.
So if you have this book on your shelves or in your library, or if you don’t, you can order it online and check out my lesson plan that goes along with this book. I recommend this book to be read to students in second grade and up. I feel like primary is not quite there yet when we’re trying to understand the history. I know our history is arduous to share and talk about, but I think it’s appropriate for a second grade and above developmentally.
I use this book when I’m talking about slavery in my classroom because it shows students the harsh reality of what slavery was like in a way for elementary students to comprehend and process. I use this book to showcase the African folktales because, you know, as well as I do, oral tradition is one of the fabrics of African culture. This book is beautifully illustrated and shows black people in the regalia and wings of angels flying in that magic. I also want you to see that you have checked out the words and understand them when reading this book to your students. I want educators to be mindful of how students could react to the story. And this also opens up an excellent discussion. If you’re not quite sure of what discussion questions that you need. I already have that written in my lesson plan for you. Take this book and take all the other multicultural resources that you can find in my shop. I have lots of curriculum guides and lesson plans. I even have available presentations, and you can listen to my podcast Cultural Curriculum Chat with Jebeh Edmunds wherever you listen to podcasts as well.
