“All The Way To The Top” book lesson plan

Sharon Pennock
Wed, 15 Sep 2021 15:12:00 +0000
Kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade

In this lesson students will learn new vocabulary words and explore
important civil rights themes by reading the book “All the Way to the Top”
by Annette Bay Pimentel. “All the Way to the Top” tells the childhood story
of Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins, who climbed all the way to the top of the
stairs of the US capitol in 1990 to encourage congress to pass the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Jennifer has cerebral palsy and
became famous for the photos taken of her while climbing the stairs without
a wheelchair at just 8 years old. The book tells the story from her
perspective and covers how she felt she was not treated equally in her
community and how she and other activist worked to get the ADA passed.

Image description: Cover artwork for “All the Way to the Top”

“All The Way To The Top” Lesson Plan PDF

Lesson summary:

In this lesson students will learn new vocabulary words and explore important civil rights themes by reading the book “All the Way to the Top” by Annette Bay Pimentel. “All the Way to the Top” tells the childhood story of Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins, who climbed all the way to the top of the stairs of the US capitol in 1990 to encourage congress to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Jennifer has cerebral palsy and became famous for the photos taken of her while climbing the stairs without a wheelchair at just 8 years old. The book tells the story from her perspective and covers how she felt she was not treated equally in her community and how she and other activist worked to get the ADA passed.

Subject and topic:

ELA

Grade level:

K-5

Duration:

One class period