Herman, Manna Lachecki. Teaching Kids to Love the Earth: Sharing a Sense of Wonder... 186 Outdoor Activities for Parents and Other Teachers.
his book was developed to teach children about nature by encouraging their curiosity about the natural world through outdoor activities. The book describes 186 learning activities that encourage children to experience and appreciate the earth. The learning activities are arranged and presented in theme sections to illustrate "the Sense of Wonder Circle," a notion that feelings about nature are more important than knowledge of it for teaching and learning. Theme sections include curiosity, exploration, discovery, sharing, and passion. Each of the 17 chapters contains a story to illustrate the main learning activity. Descriptions of learning activities include the purpose and rationale of the activity; the appropriate age and number of children for the activity; the setting; needed materials; and suggestions for carrying out the learning activity. Also included in each chapter are sections entitled "Did You Know,""Resources," and "Other Ideas" that provide additional resources and ideas for planning learning activities.

Hill, Julia Butterfly. One Makes the Difference: Inspiring Actions that Change Our World
Environmental activist and writer Hill, whose The Legacy of Luna recorded her attempt to save a redwood forest by living in a tree for two years, now offers practical tips for environmentally sound living. In short, punchy chapters, she suggests steps that readers of all ages can take to reduce waste and pollution. Using nontoxic household products for cleaning, organizing recycling programs and buying locally grown produce are just a few of the measures Hill recommends in this accessible guide. She also gives a crash course in nonviolent protesting and other forms of political action.

Logan, Judy. Teaching Stories
Judy Logan taught middle school at inner-city public schools in San Francisco for more than 30 years (which automatically makes her a hero), and in this collection of short essays, she tells about her experiences. Logan uses an inclusive curriculum that incorporates life elements that her students bring in. She believes in saying "yes" to her students as often as possible, and in balancing the "have-tos" and the "get-tos" of assignments. In "The Story of Two Quilts," each student makes a quilting patch: "Can I do Cyndi Lauper?" "Yes." "Can I sew on buttons, ribbons, sparkles?" "Yes." "Can I stuff cotton underneath to make it three dimensional?" "Yes." Logan's students, who have been encouraged and taught to think for themselves, win awards, achieve in high school, and achieve in life. We should all be so lucky as to have Logan, or teachers like her, in our children's lives.
 
Maine Women's Health Campaign--Girls Will Be Girls? Aggression, Sexuality, and Body Image: A Guide for Planning Change.

Petovello, Laura R. The Spirit That Moves Us
This book is a guide to teaching kindergarten through fourth graders about diversity, prejudice, human rights, and the Holocaust.

Plourde, Cathy, Meghan Brodie, Sophia Glass, Micah Malenfant and Emmy Raviv. Out and Allied: An Anthology of Performance Pieces Written by LGBTQ Youth and Allies
It is not enough to just raise awareness. We have to do something, and we need others around us to join in. Featuring short plays, poems, spoken word, and monologues written primarily by youth, the anthology explores identity, sexuality, questions about life, love and acceptance. Using performance to communicate about the challenges, this anthology compels all of us to be better allies. Contributions are from Maine, all over the US, and Canada, and were developed specifically for performance. The pieces have been performed on college stages, for assemblies in high school gymnasiums, for intimate performances in classes, in response to hate crimes, at fundraisers, and can be used for any other opportunity to start a conversation. We hope that by reading and performing these pieces you find yourself to be a stronger ally, and even be moved to write and perform your own. This is only the beginning...

Quenk, Rachel. The Spirit That Moves Us
This book places an emphasis on the broader issues of identity and prejudice. Moving from general to more specific themes to place prejudice and the Holocaust in the context of an ongoing social problem. Each chapter contains lesson plans based on fictional or autobiographical children’s books appropriate for grades five through eight.

Sadker, Myra & David. Failing at Fairness: How America's Schools Cheat Girls
Failing at Fairness is a powerful indictment of sexism in America’s classrooms. The findings from twenty years of research by two of America’s most distinguished social scientists show that gender bias in our schools makes it possible for girls to receive an education equal to boys’. Girls are systematically denied opportunities in areas where boys are encouraged to excel, often by well-meaning teachers who are unaware that they are transmitting sexist values. Professors Myra and David Sadker have produced a comprehensive, compelling, essential resource, “ a truly optimistic book, testament to the resilience of the human psyche and the power of education to create space for personal and intellectual growth.”

Sapon-Shevin, Mara. Because We Can Change the World: A Practical Guide to Building Cooperative, Inclusive Classroom Communities
With the increase of diverse students in all classrooms, pre-service and in-service teachers often find themselves overwhelmed with how to provide a quality learning community that is inclusive of all students. This book delivers hope, promise, and practical goals for teachers who wish to create a warm, respectful, and nurturing learning environment for their students, that will, in turn, inspire students to make a difference in their classroom community and the world beyond.
 
Sheffer, Susannah. A Sense of Self: Listening to Homeschooled Adolescent Girls.
Research has documented that the self-esteem of girls plunges at adolescence. Whether this is true for girls educated outside the school system was studied through interviews with 20 homeschooled girls, a questionnaire completed by 20 more, and tape-recorded responses of 5 others. Subjects were asked to describe themselves and their interests, family relationships, friendships, and educations. Many of these girls chose to act in ways that resisted society's expectations, and many were very self-reflective about the paths their families had chosen for them, or the paths they were working out for themselves. Most of the girls talked about trusting themselves, pursuing their own goals, and maintaining friendships even when they and their friends were not in agreement. Looking at the attitudes and successes of homeschooled girls provides an oblique look at schools and their effects on girls and young women. The eight chapters in the book are entitled: (1) "'They cannot understand the freedom'"; (2) "Family Context"; (3) "'We don't have to agree'"; (4) "'I like who I am'"; (5) "Acts of Resistance"; (6) "'A whole different person'"; (7) "'More aware of my femaleness'"; and "Brining Resistance into School." (Contains 37 references.)
 
Teaching Tolerance Project. Starting Small: Teaching Tolerance in Preschool and Early Grades.
This book profiles seven classrooms in which teachers are helping young children build inclusive, equitable, caring communities across differences that too often divide. Their approaches are varied, yet they share three crucial habits: reflecting continually on their own assumptions, goals and behavior; talking with their peers about how these factors conflict as well as coincide; and practicing social skills as diligently as mental or physical ones. The book has seven chapters each centered on an in-depth classroom narrative. Topics addressed include the following: family diversity, practical and ethnic awareness, fairness, nurturing justice, building friendship skills, discovering diversity, facing prejudice, heroes, responding to special needs, encouraging self-discipline, and coping with loss. Two kinds of sidebars supplement the main stories. "Reflections" is research-based essays addressing specific themes or developmental aspects of teaching tolerance, such as racial awareness, gender equity, or friendship. "Applications" offers practical ideas for incorporating these concepts into classroom activities. Annotated resource lists focusing on diversity education in early childhood settings are provided.
 
Virginia Tech Service-Learning Center. Empowering Women and Girls: Supporting Educational Equity Through School-University Collaboration.
 
The Women’s Studies Department of The Ohio State University. Reading Women’s Lives
Reading Women’s Lives is a custom program designed and developed to cover the core curriculum of Women’s Studies. The guide comes with a CD-ROM disk with the full text of all selections for previewing purposes.