NAEE Conference/Kansas City Trip - Post #1 - Margaree King Mitchell, author of "Uncle Jed's Barbershop"

The main feature of the first day of the NAEE Conference was a presentation from Margaree King Mitchell, who is a children's author who happens to live in the Kansas City area. The main book teachers might be familiar with is "Uncle Jed's Barbershop", a story of black rural life in the early 20th century (so good connections to African-American history, social changes after Reconstruction, and financial literacy). She has written several other books she went over during her talk (and I will link to her website at the end), but I'll mostly talk about "Uncle Jed" further below because I want to share the lesson plans available for that book.

The picture on the right is from Margaree's website - I tried to take

a few pictures of her speech, but they were way too grainy to

be successful (big room and an older phone, I'm guessing). She was

an interesting speaker, but the main highlight was just listening

to her read 3 or 4 of her books (as children's stories, they didn't

take very long to read in their entirety). We also had a follow-up

session on the lesson plans created by the Federal Reserve right

after her presentation, AND signed copies of "Uncle Jed's Barbershop"

were provided to all the attendees!

If you are not already familiar with "Uncle Jed's Barbershop", I've included the cover of the book above, along with a PBS Reading Rainbow YouTube video of LeVar Burton reading the story online. As usual, I'm including some links below to more information about the "backstory", but the lessons below are focusing specifically on educational topics related to the time period or economics.

Lesson Plans on "Uncle Jed's Barbershop":

Since I just offered the Reading Rainbow video segment above, I wanted to start here with a sampling from the 3-page classroom guide that PBS provided along with that episode. As usual, a link to the PDF is provided below:

Next, Andrew Hill from the Federal Reserve created a great lesson on "Uncle Jed's Barbershop" focusing on financial concepts like savings and opportunity cost, along with the issues of scarcity that result from segregation. A card game is part of the activity - we were told in yesterday's session that the cards are being updated and will be updated in the near future. I also included a screenshot of the parent Q&A that can go with the lesson.

Finally, this is a lesson plan I found from Appalachian State University, focusing on two different ways to approach the book. I am providing a couple of screenshots here as a sample - these are very detailed, but may be more than you need:

Resources presented in this post:

Margaree K. Mitchell: Creating Stories That Inspire (website), https://margareekmitchell.com/ OR https://margareekmitchell.com/childrens-books-3/ (for coverage of her books)

"Uncle Jed's Barbershop" Classroom Guide, PBS's Reading Rainbow, 2023, https://static.pbslearningmedia.org/media/media_files/854982a9-1b6c-461a-96f0-4b324449170b/3bc7c746-b1aa-4d1c-969a-ca94cf69e3d8.pdf

"Uncle Jed's Barbershop" reading by LeVar Burton (video clip), PBS Reading Rainbow, May 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYv86kFnITc

"Uncle Jed's Barbershop" (lesson plan), Federal Reserve Education, 2012, https://www.federalreserveeducation.org/teaching-resources/economics/scarcity/uncle-jeds-barbershop (lesson) AND https://www.federalreserveeducation.org/resources/lessons/lesson--q-and-a-uncle-jeds-barbershop.pdf (parent guide Q&A)

"Uncle Jed's Barbershop" (lesson plan), Appalachian State University, https://ltl.appstate.edu/reading_resources/Uncle_Jed_quiz_social_studies.htm (quiz/background) AND https://ltl.appstate.edu/reading_resources/DRTAUncleJed.htm (model Directed Reading Thinking Activity) AND https://ltl.appstate.edu/reading_resources/Uncle_Jed's_Barbershop_social-studies.htm (ECON/Geography lessons)

Further content related to the time period or story:

"Uncle Jed's Barbershop - The Musical" (Margaree mentioned this had been created during her presentation - it is not being used anywhere currently, but samples of some of the music are on the webpage) - https://www.davidwohlmusic.com/projects/uncle-jeds-barbershop/

Educational unit on the Great Depression (includes first-person interviews with people who lived through it - not unlike the characters in "Uncle Jeb's Barbershop") - https://www.stlouisfed.org/the-great-depression

"Business Ideas from The Great Depression - Businesses made to last for 2024" (video), TRUIC, Mar 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW2qHsrg2wk&t=142s

As a final note . . . I know there is a K-3 study guide (in book and CD form) out there with lesson materials to go with this book. I did not include it above because it is a book to purchase (so I can't share excerpts) - but here is a link if it is something you are interested in - Uncle Jed's Barbershop Study Guide, https://books.crossmap.com/book/uncle-jed-39s-barbershop-progeny-press-study-guide/