Books In Schools
Discover how my books enrich curriculum and engage students in history and historical thinking.
Looking for school visits?
Annette's Snipesville Chronicles Books are Used in Schools as
- Read-Alouds
- Class Reads
- Classroom Libraries
- Book Club Selections
My Snipesville Chronicles novels are written to be entertaining and thought-provoking, and to connect the past to my readers' lives in the present. I don't talk down to my audience, and I don't shy away from dealing with tough topics like race, class, and gender, while avoiding telling my readers what to think. Teachers use them successfully in a variety of ways, for example:
A 4th grade read-aloud that led to a great discussion of racism in Tonya Janicke's class in Rock Hill, SC
A text for Brian Markwald's 7th grade economics class at University School of Milwaukee, immersing readers in the 19th century Industrial Revolution they were studying.
A whole-class read in Jessica Johnson's 5th grade classroom in rural South Carolina. Even kids reading below grade level enjoyed Don't Know Where, Don't Know When so much, they kept reading!
Media Specialist Kristi Craven's 5th grade book club at Liberty Elementary in Georgia: They loved Don't Know Where, Don't Know When and voted to read A Different Day, A Different Destiny
For the past four years, field trip fees have purchased signed copies of my books for each of 100 sixth graders at Thomas County Middle School. Parents seldom buy books for author visits after elementary school, so this is a great idea to keep students engaged in books and reading.
I have used both Don’t Know Where, Don’t Know When and A Different Day, A Different Destiny in my 7th grade classroom for several years now. What I like most about Dr. Laing’s books is her ability to make history real and relevant for my students. The characters are around the same age as my students, so they are learning about history through their eyes and experiences. The book A Different Day, A Different Destiny is the best I’ve come across in my twenty-three years as a social studies teacher, which makes the Industrial Revolution and the experiences of ordinary people come alive during that extraordinary period of history!
Brian Markwald
7th Grade Social Studies Teacher & Dean of Students / University School of Milwaukee, WI
Learn About The Snipesville Chronicles - A Time-Travel, Historical Fiction Series for Now
Resources for Using The Snipesville Chronicles
in Your Classroom
Teacher Resource Packs (including primary source artifacts such as stamps, coins, and documents, some of them the real thing!) are available to help you and your students learn together.
Discounted Classroom Sets of the Complete Series (Awaiting store link) (four books) help teachers to make the books available to their students.
Discounted Class Sets of Each Book for Schools (30 books plus complimentary instructor copy) for class reading projects.
Dusty Books: Free signed books at Annette's visits for avid readers who might not otherwise get them. Supported by donations, this program brings free books to dozens of kids each year.
FREE Skype/Video Conference Visits for any class or book club that has read any of Annette's books. Just contact us to arrange.
London Calling South Carolina!
Annette Skyped West Pelzer Elementary, SC from her hotel in England (Free!) to chat with Jessica Johnson's 5th grade students after they read Don't Know Where, Don't Know When.
I accompanied my project-based learning unit on WWII with Don’t Know Where, Don’t Know When or my 5th graders. The book was a DELIGHTFUL addition to the unit and included a much-needed child perspective of this major event in history. My class cannot wait to read the next book!
Jessica Johnson
5th Grade Teacher / West Pelzer Elementary, South Carolina
Surprise at Liberty Elementary!
See what happened when Annette sprung a surprise appearance on students at media specialist Kristi Craven's Liberty Elementary Lunch Bunch Book Club. They had read A Different Day, A Different Destiny and were expecting a Skype visit!
5th grade students at Liberty Elementary thoroughly enjoyed reading Annette Laing’s books during Lunch Bunch Book Club! After reading Don’t Know Where, Don’t Know When (The Snipesville Chronicles Book 1), the students immediately voted to read A Different Day, A Different Destiny, the second book in the series. Dr. Laing Skyped with us after we read Book 1, and we got a surprise “in person” author visit after reading Book 2. Students were engaged and delighted throughout the whole experience! Learning and reading was a joy. Thanks, Annette!
Kristi Craven
Media Specialist / Liberty Elementary, Georgia
Atlanta Middle Schoolers with Special Educational Needs Take Snipesville to Their Hearts
Annette chatting with Lauren Pinto's sixth-graders at The Cottage School, Atlanta, who had read Don't Know Where, Don't Know When. Many kids with special educational needs identify strongly with the diverse lead characters in these books, who deal with challenges in their present-day lives, and find an unexpected therapy in their adventures in the past. These kids find Annette's writing doesn't talk down to them, and treats them, as she does, as engaged and intelligent readers.
Don’t Know Where, Don’t Know When pulls in readers and emotionally connects them with her dynamic characters. I teach 6th grade students for whom reading is normally a struggle, not a delight. My students were quickly engaged in the book, many identifying with one of the three main characters within the first two chapters. The twists and turns of the time-travel story hooked them. I witnessed my students' faces light up with excitement, surprise, and heartbreak. They were finding the internal joy that reading can offer. When they met Annette, she made the book come even more alive, regaling them with stories of her creative process, brainstorming the complicated plots and characters. The best testament came when more than half of my students purchased signed copies of the next novels in the Snipesville Chronicles series. The next day, many of the students were seen reading the next book between classes, at lunch, and even in other classes! Students bragged to each other about how many pages they had read, and encouraged others to keep reading to the next exciting plot twist.
Lauren Pinto
6th Grade Teacher/Assistant Principal / The Cottage School, Atlanta, GA
[Don’t Know Where, Don’t Know When] has a great storyline that children will find engaging. At the same time, it gives them amazing historical information in a manner that is meaningful and therefore memorable. [Annette] does not shy away from dealing with controversial issues associated with the past. They are handled well and can lead to important discussions with children about them. I can't wait to start the next one."
Jessica Zoeller
5th Grade Teacher / Goodreads
6th grader reading A Different Day, A Different Destiny . The Cottage School, Atlanta
4th grader, India Hook Elementary, Rock Hill, South Carolina
With Ethan, a longtime fan of The Snipesville Chronicles, in Atlanta
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