- Pre-reading activity: Teacher asks class, “Boys
and girls, what is a leader? What do you think of
when someone says that person is a leader?”
Read either: A Picture Book
of Eleanor Roosevelt by
David A. Adler (ISBN: 0-8234-0856-6 Holiday House
Books, 1991) $6.95 OR
Eleanor Everywhere: The Life
of Eleanor Roosevelt
by Monica Krulling (ISBN: 0-679-88996-5 Random
House, 1999 $3.99)
(Both of these books are in wide circulation. If they are not available in
your own library system, please use interlibrary loan.)
Suggestion: If you use the strategy of questions,
while you read aloud, it would be helpful if throughout
the book you ask questions that draw attention
to Eleanor Roosevelt’s leadership.
- After reading the books, the teacher could ask the following questions:
- Who was a famous leader in Eleanor’s family?
- [Her uncle was President Theodore Roosevelt] (Picture, p.7)
- How did Eleanor help her husband, Franklin, become a leader
when he struggled with polio?
- [She went to meetings, traveled for him and helped him run for president.] (Picture, pp. 15-18)
- When Franklin became president, what did Eleanor become?
- [First Lady] (Picture, pp. 17-18)
- As First Lady, how did Eleanor show she was a leader?
- [She visited people, she spoke on the radio, she wrote a newspaper column, she
traveled all over the country, she used her money to help poor people.]
- How did Eleanor help Marian Anderson?
- [She found another place for her sing when people would let her sing because
she was African American.]
- What did Eleanor do after World War II started?
- [She traveled all over the world to visit American soldiers, brought home messages
to their families, and helped people be less scared.]
- When Franklin died, what did Eleanor do?
- [She went to work at the United Nations, where she helped leaders of the world
work for peace.].
- You might say to your class, “we learned lots of way that Eleanor
Roosevelt was a leader. Many times she showed she was a leader by helping people. ” And then ask them some of these questions:
- What did Eleanor Roosevelt do to help people?
- [She visited people, she spoke on the radio, she wrote a newspaper column, she traveled all over the country, she used her money to help poor people.]
- What are ways today that people try to help other people?
- [They cook meals for homeless people; They visit sick people; they help people learn to read; they teach English to people who come from other places; they stop fights; they share; and many more examples.]
-
- There’s a special term for people who help other people. It’s our big word of the day—humanitarian. A humanitarian is a person who helps other people. What can you do to become a humanitarian?
- [Share my toys; help my teacher clean up the classroom; help
my parents put away the groceries after we go to the store; help a friend find
a lost toy; collect canned food for the homeless; visit senior citizens; do
not get into fights.]
Activities
- We could write a poem about Eleanor Roosevelt as a
leader.
- We could write a song about Eleanor Roosevelt as
a leader.
- We could make a classroom mural about Eleanor Roosevelt
as a leader.
- We could write a letter telling our families what
we learned about Eleanor Roosevelt as a leader.
- We could write to the Eleanor Roosevelt Papers
and tell the what we learned about Eleanor Roosevelt
and ask any questions we still have.
Now that Eleanor has entered your classroom, here are other books to keep her there:
David A. Adler. A Picture Book of Eleanor Roosevelt. New York: Holiday
House, 1991.
Lynne Cheney. America: A Patriotic Primer. New York: Simon & Schuster
Books for Young Readers, 2002.
Dennis Denenberg and Lorraine Roscoe. 50 American Heroes Every Kid Should
Meet! Brookfield, CT: The Millbrook Press, 2001.
Ian Falconer. Olivia Saves the Circus. New York: Atheneum Books Books for
Young Readers, 2001.
Rachel A. Koestler-Grack. The Story of Eleanor Roosevelt. Phildaelphia:
Chelsea Clubhouse, 2004.
Monica Kulling. Eleanor Everywhere: The Life of Eleanor Roosevelt. New York:
Random House, 1999.
Mary Winget. Eleanor Roosevelt. New York: Backpack Books, 2003.