Before

Why is the book titled Hidden Figures?
What do these four women have in common?
The front cover shows math equations on their clothing. What does that have to do with who they are?

During

What makes Dorothy want to serve her country?
Why do people think it’s impossible for Dorothy to work as a computer?
Do the women find it harder being Black or being female?
When did segregation laws change? How did they change?
Did these women win any awards for their work?

After

What can we learn from these four women to help us today?
How are racism and sexism still present today?

This nonfiction story took place in the 1940s. Understanding the setting, plot, characters, problem/resolution, and theme will help readers gain a full understanding of the story. For example, pages 2 and 3 talk about computers, but in that time computers were people. What does the text tell us about the setting? characters? problem? How does the setting affect these elements?

Airplane – You might spot "air" (like the air we breathe) and "plane" (like the kind that flies). Put them together: air-plane.

Bathroom – This word has "bath" (where you take a bath) and "room" (a place in a house). That makes sense! Bath-room!

Spaceship – Look for "space" (outer space) and "ship" (a thing that travels). Space-ship is a ship that travels in space.

Splashdown – Break it into "splash" (like water splashing) and "down" (going downward). Splash-down is when something lands in the water.

Takeoff – You might see "take" (like to pick up something) and "off" (moving away). Take-off is when something like a plane or rocket lifts off the ground.

Use the quoted text to practice phrasing and prosody. For example, page 20 has an excerpt of a speech from President John F. Kennedy. Read and reread this using punctuation and intonation. Do this with other quoted content in the text as well.

This book contains many words to explore at a deeper level. Possible words are: segregated, impossible, turbulence, orbit, trajectory, and perseverance.