For Educators

This sec­tion includes:

For starters, please feel free to down­load or copy what­ev­er mate­r­i­al you can use from my site. What you’ll find here are stu­dent writ­ing prompts, rec­om­mend­ed lists of poet­ry for grades K‑12 (one for ele­men­tary schools, and a sec­ond list of YA titles), and ideas for pre­sent­ing poet­ry to your stu­dents. The list will change from time to time as I come across new and excit­ing titles to add, or when exist­ing titles go out of print.

If you’re plan­ning a con­fer­ence for which I’ll be a fea­tured speak­er, please down­load these lists and idea sheets for your conferees.

That’s it. I hope you find some­thing you can use!

Nikki Grimes on tour
Persons of Color Literary Panel for Young Readers Resource List
In response to many requests from con­fer­ence and event orga­niz­ers, as well as pub­lic and pri­vate schools, for a list of authors and illus­tra­tors who are Per­sons of Col­or, we have pulled togeth­er this list which is incom­plete, but it’s a start. We respect your efforts to diver­si­fy your ros­ter of speakers.
 
If you are a trade-pub­lished author or illus­tra­tor who is a Per­son of Col­or, and you would like to be added to this list, please send us an e‑mail. Names will be added every quarter.
 
Click on the image at right to bring up a Google Sheet with names, cat­e­go­ry of books, state, and con­tact infor­ma­tion. You can sort the columns, per­form a search, or print this list.
Persons of Color Literary Panel for Young Readers Resource List
Per­sons of Col­or Lit­er­ary Pan­el for Young Read­ers Resource List
Resources

Chil­dren’s Insti­tute 2023: Nik­ki Grimes and Bri­an Pinkney Col­lab­o­rate in A Walk in the Woods,” Anto­nia Sax­on, Pub­lish­ers Week­ly, 19 May 2023

Nik­ki Grimes’ Wild Ride,” Raven How­ell in Book­bugSto­ry Mon­sters Ink, Feb­ru­ary 2023

Cel­e­brat­ing Poet­ry Month: Nik­ki Grimes,” Aval­on Felice Lee, Diverse Verse, 28 April 2022

Banned Books Resource List from Nik­ki Grimes

What Makes a Book ‘Appro­pri­ate’ for School?” Nik­ki Grimes, Pub­lish­ers Week­ly, 27 Aug 2021

Nik­ki Grimes’ Word Econ­o­my Exer­cise Template

Pop­u­lar Poet­ry Teach­ing Tools

#HFGath­er: A Poet­ry Chat with Nik­ki Grimes and Sarah Aron­son (2020)

50 Black Young Adult Nov­el­ists You Should Read, from Ang­ie Thomas to Wal­ter Dean Myers,” Mary Cad­den, USA Today, 17 Feb 2021

Brief List of K‑6 Poet­ry Titles, rec­om­mend­ed by Nik­ki Grimes

Brief List of Young Adult Poet­ry Titles, rec­om­mend­ed by Nik­ki Grimes

Begin a Poem with a Pic­ture: Poet Nik­ki Grimes shows how you can write a pic­ture poem,” Instruc­tor, Jan/Feb 1995

Have a Heart,” Cre­ative Class­room, Jan/Feb 1999

Side­yard,” orig­i­nal­ly pub­lished in From a Child’s Heart by Nik­ki Grimes, illus­trat­ed by Bren­da Joy­smith, © 1993 by Nik­ki Grimes

ILA Conference
Talk­ing with edu­ca­tors at the ILA Annu­al Conference
Educators’ Guides

Click on any of the titles below. The guides and activ­i­ties can be print­ed direct­ly from the website.

Aneesa Lee and the Weaver’s Gift

Teacher’s Guide

Mul­ti­ple Intel­li­gence Projects

At Break of Day

Dis­cus­sion and Activ­i­ty Guide for Parochial Schools

Mul­ti­ple Intel­li­gence Projects for Pub­lic Schools

Teacher’s Guide for Pub­lic Schools

At Jerusalem’s Gate

Dis­cus­sion Ques­tions and Projects

Barack Oba­ma: Son of Promise, Child of Hope

Teacher’s Guide

Behttp://Teacher’s Guide­tween the Lines

Between the LinesFos­ter Kids Resource List

Bronx Mas­quer­ade, Between the Lines Teach­ing Guide

Bronx Mas­quer­ade

Coret­ta Scott King Author Award Accep­tance Speech

Bronx Mas­quer­ade: An Insid­er’s Perspective

Your stu­dents are caught up in the excite­ment of Open Mike Fri­day. Poet­ry is their newest pas­sion. Now what?

Bronx Mas­quer­ade, Between the Lines Teach­ing Guide

Com­pre­hen­sion Guide

Match-Up

Mul­ti­ple Intel­li­gence Projects

Pre­dic­tion Guide

C is for City

Pre-read­ing Guide

Mul­ti­ple Intel­li­gence Guide

Chas­ing Freedom

Class­room Guide

Come Sun­day

Teacher’s Guide for Parochial Schools

Teacher’s Guide for Pub­lic Schools

Mul­ti­ple Intel­li­gence Guide

Dan­i­tra Brown, Class Clown

Dis­cus­sion Questions

Mul­ti­ple Intel­li­gence Projects

Dan­i­tra Brown Leaves Town

Com­pre­hen­sion Guide

Mul­ti­ple Intel­li­gence Projects

Dark Sons

Teacher’s Guide

A Dime a Dozen

Com­pre­hen­sion Guide / Quiz Questions

Mul­ti­ple Intel­li­gence Projects

Gar­vey’s Choice

Edu­ca­tor / Dis­cus­sion Guide

Gar­vey in the Dark

Edu­ca­tor / Dis­cus­sion Guide

A Girl Named Mister

Dis­cus­sion Guide

Hop­scotch Love

Com­pre­hen­sion Guide

Mul­ti­ple Intel­li­gence Projects

Jazmin’s Note­book

Teacher’s Guide

Mul­ti­ple Intel­li­gence Projects

Com­pre­hen­sion Guide

Sto­ry Pyramid

My Man Blue

Com­pre­hen­sion Guide

Mul­ti­ple Intel­li­gence Projects

Oh, Broth­er!

Teach­ers’ Guide

One Last Word

Teacher’s Guide

School Library Jour­nal, “A Renais­sance Woman,” Luann Toth, Feb 3, 2017

Plan­et Mid­dle School

Teacher’s Guide

Pock­et­ful of Poems

Teacher’s Guide

Mul­ti­ple Intel­li­gence Projects

Poet­ry Tool­box: Personification

Poems in the Attic

Teacher’s Guide

The Road to Paris

Teacher’s Guide by School Street Media

Shoe Mag­ic

Teacher’s Guide

Mul­ti­ple Intel­li­gence Projects

Shoe Mag­ic Graph

Step­ping Out with Grand­ma Mac

Teacher’s Guide

Mul­ti­ple Intel­li­gence Projects

Tai Chi Morning

Teacher’s Guide

Mul­ti­ple Intel­li­gence Projects

Tak­ing Notes 

Talkin’ About Bessie

Teacher’s Guide

Mul­ti­ple Intel­li­gence Projects

Char­ac­ter Rating

Char­ac­ter Map

Thanks a Million

Teacher’s Guide

Mul­ti­ple Intel­li­gence Projects

Thanks a Mil­lion Graph

What is Goodbye?

When Goril­la Goes Walking

Teacher’s Guide, Across the Curriculum

Words with Wings

Teacher’s Guide

Aneesa Lee and the Weaver's Gift
Aneesa Lee and the Weaver’s Gift
Bronx Masquerade
Bronx Mas­quer­ade
Chasing Freedom
Chas­ing Freedom
Danitra Brown Class Clown
Dan­i­tra Brown, Class Clown
Garvey in the Dark
Gar­vey in the Dark
Jazmin's Notebook
Jazmin’s Note­book
One Last Word
One Last Word
Planet Middle School
Plan­et Mid­dle School
Poems in the Attic
Poems in the Attic
Talkin' about Bessie
Talkin’ about Bessie
Words with Wings
Words with Wings