Black Hoops: The History of African Americans in Basketball
Publication Information
Author:  McKissack, Frederick, Jr.	Illustrator:
Title:  Black Hoops: The History of African Americans in Basketball	Date:  1999
Publisher:  Scholastic	City:  New York
ISBN, paperback:  0-590-48712-4	ISBN, hardback:
Recommended audience:
ABE/ABLE:   Yes	ESOL:
Family:	Young Adult:   Yes
Picture:
General Information:
Book Type(s):    nonfiction
HSE Descriptor(s):    social studies
Summary:
This book provides a history of basketball and African Americans in basketball. To help readers understand these issues, the author provides historical backdrops that address racism, segregation, the struggle to desegregate sports, and the civil rights movement. Short biographies of key players, past and present, are provided. The final chapter chronicles African American women in basketball. A glossary and index conclude the book.
Teaching Ideas:
The book would be a wonderful addition to the study of the civil rights movement. Learners might conduct individual or group inquiry about certain groups (such as basketball players) and the role they played or the effects they felt. Learners might conduct a timeline of events described here in relation to other events during the Civil Rights movement. Sports lovers will enjoy the book as well; those unfamiliar with basketball may find the infrequent reference to particular plays or positions (setting a pick, low post) a good vocabulary development opportunity. Toward the end of the book are good writing/ discussion opportunities surrounding the issue of collegiate sports stars and education. This could easily be supplemented with newspaper or magazine articles. The glossary, bibliography, and index are user-friendly and so would be good tools for teaching about these text features. Related WWW sites include "Breaking the Barriers" http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/sports/special/barriers/, "Black Athletes Quiz" http://kids.infoplease.lycos.com/spot/quiz-bhm3.html, and information about the NBA http://sports.yahoo.com/nba or sports in general-- www.yahooligans.com, then search for 'basketball.'
Keywords: select any link below for a list of resources which also have that keyword
Ethnic Groups > African-American History > region > U.S. history > Civil Rights Social Studies > sociology > social issues > racism Social Studies > sociology > social issues > racism > integration Social Studies > sociology > social issues > racism > segregation Sports/Recreation Sports/Recreation > athletes Sports/Recreation > basketball

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