Overview and Outcomes:

This is a 15-session Literary Leaf for Hidden Figures Young Readers' Edition: The Untold True Story of Four African-American Women Who Helped Launch Our Nation Into Space by Margot Lee Shetterly. This Literary Leaf covers all aspects of the Key Stage 2 content domain. This book covers many iconic points in modern American history, including: World War 2, the Space Race and the Civil Rights Movement. Children will learn about the incredible lives, struggles and successes of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson and Christine Darden.  This Literary Leaf will give children opportunities to build up their inference skills in particular, as well as summarising key biographical events in these inspiring women’s lives.

Synopsis of Text:

Before John Glenn orbited the earth, or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as "human computers" used pencils, slide rules, and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets, and astronauts, into space.

This book brings to life the stories of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden, who lived through the Civil Rights era, the Space Race, the Cold War, and the movement for gender equality, and whose work forever changed the face of NASA and the country.

Links to Curriculum areas, other Literary Leaves and Planning Sequences:

This works perfectly in conjunction with our planning sequence for the picture book version of 'Hidden Figures' in Y5.