Nonfiction rules! When you walk into a classroom awash in nonfiction, you know it - no quiet kids sitting at desks here. Instead we see them chattering a mile a minute over a photograph of the jaws of a great white shark or brimming with questions while poring over books about the underground railroad. Join Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis, authors of Strategies that work, in Barb Smith's reading workshop as her students begin to explore the wild...

Young children ages 5 to 12 describe how they feel when they hear put-downs of themselves or their families in this video for kids, their educators and parents. Children learn from subtle clues what society thinks about gender roles, same-sex parents and family differences. The children in Sticks & Stones vividly describe how it feels to be teased when their families don't follow traditional gender roles. They talk about why bullies indulge in name-calling,...

A literary biography of a seminal figure of 20th century American literature, Margaret Walker, who established one of the first Black Studies centers in the nation, and mentored the Black Arts movement of the 1960s. For My People: The Life and Writing of Margaret Walker gives the long-overdue recognition to one of the seminal figures of American literature. Margaret Walker has been described by scholar Jerry Ward as "a national treasure" and by Nikki...

When L. Frank Baum published The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in 1900, he was 44 years old and had spent much of his life in restless pursuit of his American dream. He continued to reinvent himself, reflecting a uniquely American brand of confidence, imagination and innovation. AMERICAN OZ tells the remarkable story of the man behind one of the most enduring and classic American tales.

This moving and insightful portrait of the man behind Narnia takes a deep look into his secretive personal life, which was marked by love and loss.

Christa Wolf (1929-2011) was one of (East) Germany’s most important writers. Wolf’s novels, scripts and essays offer rich reflections on her experience in Nazi, divided and reunified Germany. Adapted as films and published abroad, her works often caused controversial public discussions. This documentary is a personal and open conversation between Christa Wolf and her friend, the author Daniela Dahn; it took place in 1990, during and after the...

Cynthia Nixon delivers a triumphant performance as Emily Dickinson as she personifies the wit, intellectual independence and pathos of the poet whose genius only came to be recognized after her death. Acclaimed British director Terence Davies (*House of Mirth, The Deep Blue Sea*) exquisitely evokes Dickinson’s deep attachment to her close knit family along with the manners, mores and spiritual convictions of her time that she struggled with and...