"Thanks again for the great stories and characters in the "Joe Joe in the City" series. They are now a staple in every class I teach."

Nichelle Boyd, Ph.D.
Asst. Professor of Curriculum & Instruction
University of Mississppi

"…Elster blends personal, local, and national histories into a well-told narrative for readers of all ages. In addition to being a "great read," (Who’s Jim Hines?) is an excellent resource for teaching about the city of Detroit during the 1930s."

Kristy Brugar
Lecturer, Teacher Education, Social Studies
College of Education
Wayne State University

Lessons that Examine Family and Community Life within Who’s Jim Hines?— Language Arts Activities by Jean Ford Fuqua, BS, MEd
Click Here
These language arts activities were crafted by a twenty-five year veteran of the Detroit Public Schools, elementary school teacher Jean Ford Fuqua, who was also an educator-director of teacher interns for the Wayne State University College of Education (currently retired from both positions). The lessons provide educators with the means to create language arts activities via an examination of the portrayal of family and community life in the middle grade novel Who’s Jim Hines?

“The Joe Joe Series: A Culturally Responsive Resource” by Nichelle C. Boyd and Kantaylieniere Hill-Clarke, Social Studies and the Young Learner 17 (2), pp. 23-27 (Copyright 2004 National Council for the Social Studies) Click Here. To find this article in a library near you, visit ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) at www.eric.ed.gov and search article #EJ720480. For members of the National Council for the Social Studies, read the article at http://members.ncss.org/yl/1702/170223.pdf . This article offers educators a means with which to use children’s literature—through an examination of the “Joe Joe in the City” series—to great advantage in the social studies curriculum.

“Build the Knowledge and They Will Understand: Making Social Studies Relevant to the Under-Resourced Child” by Nichelle C. Boyd, Ed.D., All Children Can Learn: Effectively Educating the Under-Resourced Child by Williams-Black, Boyd, Key and Jones (Kendall Hunt Publishing Company 2009). For social studies-, reading/language arts-, science- and math-related classroom activities that embrace morals/values/character education utilizing the “Joe Joe in the City” series, see Appendix A: Lesson Plans that Bring Social Studies Topics to Life for Students,” pp. 33 – 36. ISBN 978-0-7575-6593-9 http://www.kendallhunt.com/

Sponsored by the Verizon Foundation, Thinkfinity offers a wealth of free educational resources for teachers, librarians/media specialists, students, and parents. See the link to the Thinkfinity Literacy Network.
http://www.thinkfinity.org

The website for The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) offers a wide range of reading and literacy resources not only for educators but for parents and students as well.
http://www.ncte.org

This link on the website for The National Council of Teachers of English offers a wealth of classroom-tested lesson plans for grades elementary through high school. http://www.ncte.org/lessons