Five Works of Jacqueline Woodson: A Social-Emotional Learning Journey
Recommended for Grades 6-12
In this resource you’ll:
- Explore video vignettes adapted from five different novels by award-winning author Jacqueline Woodson—with passages read by Ms. Woodson herself!
- Discover new ways of looking at the world through the eyes of Ms. Woodson’s characters, brought to life by award-winning illustrator Nilah Magruder.
- Earn badges for navigating through each experience.
- Take your journey further with reflection and writing of your own.
Begin the Interactive
Students: Click the image below to begin.
Teachers: Scroll down for instructions and Teaching Guides.
Instructions
To use the interactive resource, begin by selecting a book or SEL competency and reviewing the corresponding Teaching Guide. The Teaching Guides below are intended to accompany each of the video vignettes in the interactive. We recommend looking over each one before showing its corresponding vignette to your students.
Introduce students to author Jacqueline Woodson and her featured works—Harbor Me, Before the Ever After, Miracle’s Boys, Brown Girl Dreaming, and Last Summer with Maizon. This context will help students engage more deeply with the material.
Next, review the five SEL competencies explored in the vignettes: Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills, and Responsible Decision-Making.
Finally, share the interactive URL with students in English or Spanish. If needed, demonstrate how to navigate through the interactive and earn badges. Ensure that all students have paper, journals, or digital tools ready to respond to the Reflection Questions.
Teaching Guides
Social Awareness
Harbor Me
Self-Management
Before the Ever After
Responsible Decision-Making
Miracle’s Boys
Learn More About Jacqueline Woodson
The Kennedy Center was proud to have author Jacqueline Woodson, winner of the Newbery Honor, National Book Award, Coretta Scott King Award, Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and MacArthur “Genius” Grant recipient, as an Education Artist-in-Residence. Jacqueline introduced her inspiring characters and passionate storytelling to Kennedy Center stages and beyond.
The Digital Learning team sat down for an inspiring conversation with former Kennedy Center Education Artist-in-Residence Jacqueline Woodson about her inspirations, being a writer, and her goals for her residency.
Explore the Creative Works of the Artists
Curious about the featured artists in this project? This educational resource showcases their creative talents while also highlighting several career paths that can be built in and through the arts.
Credits
Author: Jacqueline Woodson
Illustrator: Nilah Magruder
Curriculum Developers: Dr. Kimberly N. Parker and Dr. Nicholl Montgomery
English Story Voiceover: Jacqueline Woodson
English Narrator: Billie Krishawn
Spanish Story Voiceover and Narrator: Ana López
Interactive Developer: Jonas Beduschi
Audio Recording: Douglass Recording Studio and Kennedy Center Digital Learning
Audio Editor: Phil Wolf
Executive Producer: Eric Friedman
Producer: JoDee Scissors
Senior Editor & Quality Assurance: Tiffany A. Bryant
Special Thanks: CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning)
Kennedy Center Education provides resources and experiences that inspire, excite, and empower students and young artists, plus the tools and connections to help educators incorporate the arts into classrooms and learning spaces of all types.
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Generous support for educational programs at the Kennedy Center is provided by the U.S. Department of Education.
Gifts and grants to educational programs at the Kennedy Center are provided by The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; Bank of America; Capital One; The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; Carnegie Corporation of New York; The Ednah Root Foundation; Genesis Inspiration Foundation; Harman Family Foundation; William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust; the Kimsey Endowment; The Kiplinger Foundation; Laird Norton Family Foundation; Lois and Richard England Family Foundation; Dr. Gary Mather and Ms. Christina Co Mather; The Markow Totevy Foundation; Dr. Gerald and Paula McNichols Foundation; The Morningstar Foundation; Myra and Leura Younker Endowment Fund; The Irene Pollin Audience Development and Community Engagement Initiatives;
Prince Charitable Trusts; Dr. Deborah Rose and Dr. Jan A. J. Stolwijk; Rosemary Kennedy Education Fund; The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates; The Victory Foundation; The Volgenau Foundation; Jackie Washington; GRoW @ Annenberg and Gregory Annenberg Weingarten and Family; and generous contributors to the Abe Fortas Memorial Fund and by a major gift to the fund from the late Carolyn E. Agger, widow of Abe Fortas. Additional support is provided by the National Committee for the Performing Arts..
The content of these programs may have been developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education but does not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education. You should not assume endorsement by the federal government.
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