International Day of Education

The International Day of Education occurs annually on January 24th. It celebrates the role of education for peace and development and the importance of education as a human right, a public good, and a public responsibility (UNESCO). Use this day as inspiration to explore books and resources about the right to education.

• Inspire students with this video book trailer for Malala's Magic Pencil and hear about the importance of education to Malala Yousafzai, activist for girls’ education, and her story of finding her magic. Ask your students how might a pencil be “magic” and what power does a pencil have, and other questions from this teaching resources kit. Then play one of these memory word match games from the book: Easy, Medium, Hard.

• Listen to this audiobook excerpt for Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family's Fight for Desegregation. Then have students research the Brown vs. Board of Education case in 1954 and compare it to the Mendez vs. Westminster case at the center of this book to learn more about the history of school desegregation.

• Get creative using the drawing and writing activities for If I Built a School after watching the video book trailer. Have students imagine how they would design their dream school.

• Read the first few poems of This Promise of Change using Google Book Preview, and listen to the Meet-the-Author Recording with Jo Ann Allen Boyce and Debbie Levy. Then, have students research school desegregation to learn more about it and write a paragraph about the experiences of students like Jo Ann Allen Boyce they can share with the class.

• Hear Elizabeth Suneby talk about the story behind Razia's Ray of Hope in this Meet-the-Author Recording, then explore teaching ideas in these leveled lesson plans: Grades 1-3, Grades 4-5, Grades 6-8.