1/28/2014 Looking Ahead to February: Black History Month, Groundhog's Day, President's Day, and Edison's Birthday

The month of February is fast approaching!  In my previous post I mentioned Groundhog’s Day on February 2nd and “Happy Groundhog's Day - A Play and Game”

Of course, Black History Month is an important focus for every classroom in February.  My set of readers Famous African-Americans in U.S. History is for grades 1-3 and features ten African-Americans and their key contributions to America

Tuesday, February 11th is the birthday of the great American inventor Thomas Alva Edison.  My reader “Thomas Edison: Inventor” is great for teaching English language arts as well as science concepts. Your students will build their vocabulary and improve their reading comprehension as they read the story and answer questions and have fun with a word search.

Monday, February 17th is George Washington’s Birthday celebrated in the U.S. as President’s Day.  My Social Studies Topics - Leveled Books: First Grade Levels H/I are a fun way to explore more about the Founding Fathers and the early history of the United States.

1/27/2014 Happy Birthday Lewis Carroll!

Have you ever “chortled?”

 

Today is the birthday of the mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, who is better known as Lewis Carroll the author of Alice’s Adventure’s in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking Glass.   A “chortle” is a kind of muffled laugh, it is included in Dodgen’s book Through the Looking Glass, and it is one of the many nonsense words he created.  His books are hardly all nonsense though.  A fascinating story from NPR shares

that the first version of the Alice story that he wrote for the real Alice Liddel had no mathematical references, but the books now contain many clever math references.

Your students will be able to study math and vocabulary with my Math Topics readers.  This original series of leveled books is written to incorporate the Fountas and Pinnell leveled vocabulary, Rebecca Sitton spelling words, and general core curriculum standards for grades K-6 in the United States.

1/27/2014 Ready for Groundhog's Day?

2014 is racing by, already it less than a week until Groundhog’s Day, on February 2nd.  Groundhog’s Day began as a tradition in the Pennsylvania Dutch.  Today in Southeastern Pennsylvania g’spiel (plays or skits) are performed as part of the traditional celebrations.  

You can take part in the g’spiel tradition in your own classroom.  

Your students will have fun learning interesting facts about Groundhog's Day and groundhogs when they read my play "Happy Groundhog's Day" and take part in the original card game "I Have, Who Has? – All about Groundhogs", included with the play. This fun, interactive game will have your class ask and answer questions to help reinforce facts and information shared in the play.

Written with 28 parts, the play is set at a school where the students meet the legendary groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, and are excited to learn all about Groundhog’s Day. Information about groundhogs is reviewed with a special game their teacher made for them.

“Happy Groundhog's Day” is an original play written for use as readers’ theater, as a part of balanced literacy (Read-Aloud, Shared and Performance Reading or Guided Reading), or for an actual play production. In readers’ theater or through one of the balanced literacy approaches to teaching reading, children are not expected to memorize their lines, yet the reading encourages strong oral skills. An added benefit is performing the play for other classes or parents while increasing social skills, cooperative learning and creativity. Using plays in literacy-based classrooms promotes active listening for the performers, as well as the audience, and offers an engaging way to teach reading skills.

1/26/2014 Gold Discovered at Sutter's Mill, and Happy Australia Day!

Hello!  This last weekend of the month of January is certainly fact-filled and fascinating!

On January 24th, 1848, gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill in California, launching the California Gold Rush. A gold nugget at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History is believed to be the very first piece of gold discovered by John Marshall, who was supervising the construction of the mill for John Sutter. The news of the discovery of gold brought tens of thousands of settlers to California. America had just gained control of California from Mexico in 1847. You and build vocabulary with your class while learning about more important moments in American history with my collection of Social Studies Readers

Today, January 26th is officially Australia Day. Australia Day commemorates the founding of the first European settlement in Australia, in what is now Sydney. When many kids think of Australia, they think of all of the country’s unique animals, such as koalas and kangaroos. My reader Animals that Live in the Australian Desert is a great way to combine science, social studies, geography, and reading! This sixth-grade Level W reader takes a close look at animals found in the Australian desert and how they have adapted to life in this harsh environment of low rainfall and sweltering heat. Your students will learn about bearded dragons, desert dingoes, marsupial moles, the endangered bilby, and other animals of Australia.

1/21/2014 Happy Birthday, Ethan Allen!

Today is the birthday Ethan Allen, the American Revolutionary War hero and one of the founders of the state of Vermont.  Ethan Allen was born on January 21st, 1738 in Connecticut.  As an adult Ethan Allen moved to the New Hampshire Grants, the area that would later become Vermont, and in 1770 he became commander of a local militia, the "Green Mountain Boys."  Allen and the Green Mountain Boys fought against the British decree that the area of the New Hampshire Grants belong to New York.  Along with Benedict Arnold, Allen commanded the forces that captured Fort Ticonderoga from the British in May 1775.  Later than year Allen was captured by the British during an attack on Montreal.  He was shipped overseas to be held as a British prisoner in Cornwall until 1778.  When he was freed, Allen returned to Vermont, where he spent the rest of his life fighting to have Vermont recognized as an independent state.

You can explore more of early American History and other Founding Fathers with my readers Social Studies Topics - Leveled Books: First Grade Levels H/I and Social Studies Topics – Leveled Books: First Grade Pre-Primer Levels C - E

Each book comes with a companion worksheet which reinforces literacy skills involving reading, language, spelling, and writing. Specific concepts, skills, and vocabulary targeted in each book are listed on the first page of each story.

1/20/2014 Happy MLK Day 2014!

Happy Martin Luther King Jr Day 2014!  

The week Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a wonderful time to teach your students about the life and legacy of the great American Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  Today is also MLK Day of Service.  When you return to the classroom tomorrow or sometime in the following weeks, invite your students to continue to think about the legacy of Dr. King how they can serve others by entering the Scholastic Student Art Contest.  

In honor of the  50th anniversary of the March on Washington, Scholastic is asking students in grades K-12 to “create a  poster that inspires others to serve and answers Dr. King’s question, “What  are you doing for others?”  All contest entries must be postmarked by February 28, 2014.

Scholastic also provides some excellent video resources on their MLK Day website related to the history of the Civil Rights Movement and to public service.  

You can read more about Dr. King in my reader Martin Luther King, Jr. - First Grade Level D Reader.  My original series of leveled books is written to incorporate the Fountas and Pinnell leveled vocabulary, Rebecca Sitton spelling words, and common core curriculum standards for grades K-6 in the United States. They are great for ESL students, too.

I have also created two original plays about Dr. King, I Have A Dream - The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and The Dream - A Play about Martin Luther King, Jr.

These plays are complete with a teaching guide that lists questions before and after reading the play, words to preview, and extension activities, your students will have fun, build self-confidence and increase in reading fluency, comprehension and vocabulary development.

1/15/2014 Joseph Glidden, Inventor

“Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam, and the dear and the antelope play….”

Your students probably know the song "Home on the Range," but they likely have never heard of the inventor Joseph Glidden.  

On January 18, 1831, Joseph Glidden was born in Charlestown, New Hampshire.  Glidden would have an important impact on the American West.  Glidden improved barbed wire with his own design in 1873, he is known by some as the "Father of Barbed Wire.”  This invention would lead to ranchers fencing in their land, the end of the open plains and the long cattle drive, and challenges for Native American tribes and bison (not really buffalo) herds that used to roam freely over the plains.      

According to the  National Park Service “As patents were being issued for the various types of barbed wire and manufacturing companies were springing up to meet the demand, some homesteaders found that it was easier and cheaper to just make the barded wire themselves,

using models they were already familiar with as a guide. This practical approach resulted in more than 2,000 variations on over 500 barbed wire patents.”  The NPS has pictures to show your class some of the many different types of barbed wire used in the Old West.   

My reader “Joseph Glidden - An Improvement to Barbed Wire” is great for reading, language arts, and social studies. This book will help your students build their vocabulary and improve their reading comprehension while learning interesting facts.

1/14/2014 Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King Jr.

People all over the United States, and all around the world, are preparing to honor the great civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr on January 15th, on what would have been his 85th birthday

This recent piece in the New York Times gives examples of some wonderful picture books about Martin Luther King Jr that you could use in your classroom to celebrate his birthday.  

Performing my play "The Dream - A Play about Martin Luther King, Jr." with your class is a fun, interactive way to celebrate Dr. King.  Your students will enjoy learning about the life of one of our most famous African-Americans as they perform this play or read it as readers' theater.

“The Dream - A Play about Martin Luther King, Jr.” is an original play written for use as readers’ theater, as a part of balanced literacy (Read-Aloud, Shared and Performance Reading or Guided Reading), or for an actual play production. In readers’ theater or through one of the balanced literacy approaches to teaching reading, children are not expected to memorize their lines, yet the reading encourages strong oral skills. An added benefit is performing the play for other classes or parents while increasing social skills, cooperative learning and creativity. Using plays in literacy-based classrooms promotes active listening for the performers, as well as the audience, and offers an engaging way to teach reading skills.

“Martin Luther King, Jr. - First Grade Level D Reader” and “I Have A Dream - The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” are other great resources to teach your class more about this great American activist and leader. 

1/14/2014 George Washington Carver

"There is a use for almost everything."-George Washington Carver 

January is also the time to say "Happy Birthday!" to George Washington Carver, even if we do not not exactly what day he was born on. George Washington Carver was born as a slave on a small farm in Diamond Grove, Missouri, sometime in January 1864.  By the time he died on January 5, 1943 in Tuskegee, Alabama he was a world-famous scientist, inventor, teacher, and agricultural innovator.  Carver was actually the first African American, and the first person who was not a president, to have a national monument dedicated to them.  

Carver is best known today for promoting crop rotation, and for his work with peanuts.  He is said to have discovered three hundred uses for peanuts, he also developed hundreds more for  soybeans, pecans and sweet potatoes.

You can also learn more about his life with my reader 'George Washington Carver: Farmer and Scientist'


This story is one of the books contained in the collection entitled "Famous African-Americans in U.S. History, Leveled Books for Grades 1 – 3". This book is a second-grade level M reader and has two pages of accompanying worksheets. It is available as a FREE download on my Teachers Pay Teachers site

You can round out a lesson plan on Carver with a hands-on science experiment for you class using one of the many crops that Carter worked with, the sweet potato. It is simple to make a battery that can power a clock using sweet potatoes, or regular potatoes. Your class may also enjoy watching this fun video about Carver's life and work.  

1/8/2014 George Washington, President's Day 2014, and the First State of the Union Address

Besides being notable for the cold, today is also the anniversary of the first State of the Union Address. President George Washington delivered the first State of the Union address in 1790 in New York City, which was then the temporary seat of the U.S. government .  Now is also a great time to start thinking ahead to Washington’s Birthday, which we celebrate on February 17th this year as President’s Day.  

Smithsonian’s History Explorer has some wonderful free activities for exploring American History with your class, including this online interactive on the Presidential seal and the many roles of the American president.  

You and your class can read more about our George Washington and President’s Day with my Social Studies Topics – Leveled Books

1/8/2014 Winter Science Experiments

Hello!  For many teachers, school is now back in swing after the winter break.  I hope that you and your students have been staying warm!  I know that schools in many parts of the country have been grappling with unusual cold from the Polar Vortex this week as well.  This extreme cold may be causing cabin fever in your students.  If it is too cold in your area to safely let them burn off energy outdoors, you can take this opportunity to explore some winter science experiments!  

First, you can first view some of these neat videos with your class of the cold weather experiments being done:

If it seems like temperatures will allow you to take your class outside briefly, this link shows how you can easily do these experiments yourself.  You can also check out my series of Science readers as a great way to bring more science into your classroom while incorporating Fountas and Pinnell leveled vocabulary, Rebecca Sitton spelling words, and general curriculum standards.

1/7/2013 Galileo and the Moons of Jupiter

Around this this time of year in 1610 the Italian scientist Galileo Galilei made his first observation of the four Galilean moons through his telescope.  These moons were named Ganymede, Callisto, Io and Europa, after characters in Greek mythology.    On this day, January 7, of that year Galileo wrote a letter in which Jupiter’s moons are mentioned for the first time. However, Galileo was not able to distinguish all four individual moons right away.

Galileo’s telescope not only allowed him to see these moons, it also allowed him to see our Earth’s  moon, different phases of the planet Venus, and sun spots. Galileo is also famous for demonstrating that all of the planets and our whole solar system revolved around the Sun, not the Earth.  Kids love learning about about the planets and outer space, you can all explore with Galileo in your classroom.

The Cornell University Department of Astronomy shares a number of resources for learning more about Galileo and his work, including this fun lunar observation activity from  “Galileo for Kids: His Life and Ideas” by Richard Panchyk (Chicago Review

Press, 2005.)  You can prepare your students to make their own observations at home, and then discuss their observations together as a class.  

You can also explore the planets with my book “Our Planets”  This third grade Level N reader explores many interesting facts about the planets in our solar system.  Visit my Pintrest page for more creative and exciting way to explore astronomy with your class!

1/5/2013 Francis Scott Key

I recently wrote about the birthday of the Betsy Ross. Betsy Ross is famous for making the first American flag, but historians are unsure how accurate that really is.  
Probably the most famous individual American flag, the Star-Spangled Banner, was definitely made by another American woman, Mary Pickersgill of Baltimore. According to the Smithsonian  “Helping Pickersgill make the flags were her thirteen-year-old daughter Caroline; nieces Eliza Young (thirteen) and Margaret Young (fifteen); and a thirteen-year-old African American indentured servant, Grace Wisher. Pickersgill’s elderly mother, Rebecca Young, from whom she had learned flagmaking, may have helped as well.”  

During the War of 1812, on September 13–14, 1814, Francis Scott Key watched Fort McHenry being bombed by the British forces in the Battle of Baltimore.  In the morning, Key could see that the American flag was still flown over Fort McHenry, showing that the Americans had not lost possession of it. The inspired Key’s to write a poem, which became “The Star-Spangled Banner”   

Learn more about Francis Scott Key with your class with my book  Francis Scott Key and The Star-Spangled Banner: First Grade - Level I Reader. This first grade Level I reader gives students the interesting background of the United States national anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner".   Francis Scott Key and the American Flag are also featured in my First Grade Level I – Set 2

Your students will be able to build their vocabulary and improve their reading comprehension as they read the story and answer questions.  Each reader comes with companion worksheets which reinforce literacy skills involving reading, language, spelling, and writing. Specific concepts, skills, and vocabulary targeted in the reader are listed on the first page of the story.

1/2/2014 100th Anniversary of the Crossword Puzzle

This time of year is certainly filled with all sorts of fun holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries. The crossword puzzle recently turned 100!


According to The Smithsonian’s Past Imperfect blog historians “generally date its first U.S. appearance to December 21, 1913”


Crossword puzzles can be great learning tools. You can create themed crossword puzzle to use as part of your lesson plans, or guide your students through creating puzzles of their own, with this useful puzzle-maker page from Discovery Education. You can also find crossword puzzles included alongside other activities in some of my books, including “DoYour Part to Save the Earth.” This third-grade level N reader combines reading activities and science concepts. It is accompanied by six pages of worksheets which reinforce literacy skills involving reading, language, spelling, and writing as well as science concepts.

1/1/2014 Happy Birthday, Betsy Ross!

Happy New Year 2014!  January 1st is not only the first day of a whole new year, it is also the birthday of one of the most famous women in American history.  

Betsy Ross was the seamstress who made the first American flag, according to legend.  The woman we know as Betsy Ross was born in Philadelphia on January1, 1752, as Elizabeth Griscom. Ross operated an upholstery business along with her first husband, John Ross. Most historians today identify Ross as just one of a large group of women who made flags in Philadelphia around the time of America’s Revolutionary War.  Ross and all of these other women still made an important contribution to our country by sewing flags and repairing soldiers uniforms, it can be fun to explore more about who this famous historical figure really was with your students.  

You can explore the stories of other famous women from history with my collection of leveled readers "Famous Women in History: Leveled Books for Grades 2 - 4"