You may think it is too early to prepare for the Great American Eclipse of 2024. Deb Skapik of Friends’ Central School (FCS) begs to differ. A total eclipse will darken the North American sky, passing over the United States on April 8, 2024. Suppose we are to be completely prepared for this glorious event. In that case, we need to start yesterday learning about how eclipses were once misunderstood as bad omens, prepping materials for eclipse activities, and calculating the eclipse time for their particular geographic location. If you don’t have time to prepare properly, consider checking in with an eclipse expert like Deb Skapik.
Deb says, “In the weeks leading up to the Great American Eclipse, teachers will need a reliable source they can access quickly to provide their students with a firm foundation in eclipse history. They will need a book that offers background material on eclipses not only as natural world phenomena, but as historical and cultural events.”
On a personal note, apt to make any event into a learning experience or teachable moment, my parents would have celebrated this book had it been available during our encounter with the solar eclipse in 1979. I was in the 7th grade, and Jim O’Brien prompted families to take in the magnificent sight of the total eclipse, albeit cautiously. “Don’t look directly at the eclipse,” he warned. So, there we were, my entire family, standing in frigid February weather with our mittens shielding our eyes and waiting with bated breath for the moon to pass between the earth and the sun. Of course, in my usual dramatic fashion, I burst into tears when the sky darkened. Frankly, I was frightened.
Each month “The Reading Quilt” provides a short review of a book that a teacher may use to spark conversations about culture and race, along with a learning activity that may help students understand human behavior. Using the acronym Q.U.I.L.T., Slaughter offers readers information about the Quality of writing, Universal theme, and Imaginative plot, a mini Lesson plan, and Talking points that stem from the book’s premise. This month, a book that includes “ready-to-go activity pages that teachers can duplicate and enjoy with their classes” is featured. Look Up, Below by Deb Skapik “aims to get as many earthlings as possible outside on April 8, 2024, looking up.”
Deb Skapik
Deborah Skapik holds an Honors degree from Swarthmore College, where she majored in Physics and minored in Astrophysics. Deb earned her Master of Science in Astronomy from the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Hawai’i in 1994 and did doctoral studies of colliding galaxies in intermediate to high redshift clusters between the University of Hawai’i and the University of Pennsylvania. Deb teaches physics and astronomy at Friends’ Central School in Wynnewood, PA and is an adjunct astronomy instructor at both Delaware County Community College and St. Joseph’s University.
Purchase Look Up, Below! here: tinyurl.com/debseclipsebook
QUALITY: An educator’s guide to April 8, 2024, total eclipse of the sun; the cover featuring the 2017 FCS Moonshadow Team gives an educator a hint that this book is full of cool and fun learning activities to which students will gravitate. Divided into three sections, the book offers information, learning activities, and references. In addition to tips on how to view an eclipse safely and the timeline of a solar eclipse, educators will find the “historical and cultural importance of eclipses along with science experiments that dovetail with the upcoming eclipse event.”
UNIVERSAL THEME: Author Deb Skapik expresses this book’s theme in her Acknowledgements. In many ways, this activity book represents how teachers can “work alongside students, and not above them.” In creating a text that breaks down the miracle and mystery of a total eclipse exclaiming the event is a “mind-boggling experience to add to your bucket list,” Deb has, with this book, made the phenomenon accessible.
IMAGINATIVE STORY: Several of Deb’s beta readers exclaim that this book ignites the imagination. Lecturer and Planetarium Director of Towson University, Christian Ready, says, “Deb’s guide is brimming with excitement, anticipation, and joy of discovery. It’s a must-read, must-teach guide to prepare your students for a truly cosmic experience.” Educator and Astronomy enthusiast Bonnie Schulkin agrees. Schulkin says, ‘The workbook has it all! Filled with precise, engaging language, the Information pages provide scientific, historical, and cultural context for eclipses. The Activity Pages are a trove of experiential learning–from coloring for the little ones all the way to diffraction patterns for high school students. You’ll have everything you need on the big day, including a Personal Timeline Worksheet. All in all, the carefully curated resources are worth 100 hours of browsing on the internet…”
LESSON PLAN: Tiffany Borsch, Friends’ Central Lower School Science Teacher, guarantees that Deb’s book is overflowing with lesson plans that make preparations for the eclipse as fun as the big day. “This book is an invaluable resource! I’ve been teaching science for over 20 years and learned new ways to teach solar eclipses and more. The activities are easy to follow and are accessible to new and veteran teachers.”
TALKING POINTS: The April 8, 2024, total eclipse will be a memorable event for people of all ages. April 8, 2024, will be the last time an eclipse will occur until 2045. In that year, a total eclipse will be visible in the southern states. To create an eclipse memory book, spend time with family members transcribing their experiences with an eclipse. Here are a few questions students can ask older family members:
● Has anyone in your family ever experienced a total eclipse?
● What traditions, stories, or memories can you share about the eclipse phenomenon?
● Did you ever learn about how to experience an eclipse?
● What precautions or directions did you learn from an elder that you discovered was erroneous?
Visit this link to purchase Look Up, Below! tinyurl.com/debseclipsebook
Dr. R. A. Slaughter’s (Doc) textbooks Turning the Page: The Ultimate Guide for Teachers to Multicultural Literature, and Turning the Page: A Guide to Securing Multicultural Literature for Schools, both published by Rowman & Littlefield and available in all bookstores, have brought Doc global recognition. For more information, log onto DrRachelSlaughter.info or check out “The Reading Quilt” talk show on Mondays at 3:30pm on PhillyCam beginning in April.
