Shhh...someone's outside looking at the Blazer

This could be it - the lucky couple who buys our Blazer may be standing outside my garage as I type. I think they're going on a test drive. Let's hope they love it (we love it - why shouldn't they?). Anyway, the real purpose for this post is to tell you about the Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People. It's a list of historical fiction books for grades 1 - 8 that have been reviewed by a panel of professors/smart people and deemed worthy of use in teaching history and social studies. You have to join the National Council for the Social Studies to get this year's list, but 2000 - 2008 lists are available online for free: http://www.socialstudies.org/resources/notable. This is my new strategy for teaching history to Isaac...I'm going to start by reading the books to him, then transition to him reading them by himself. I loved historical fiction when I was his age, although I was completely unlike Isaac in nearly every way when I was a kid. But maybe we'll have this in common.