2/27/2014 Happy Birthday Marian Anderson!

In one of the last days of Black History Month, we celebrate the birthday of the great singer African-American singer Marian Anderson.  She was born in Philadelphia on February 27th, 1897.  Marian Anderson became the first African-American singer to perform as part of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 1955.  After Anderson was refused the opportunity to sing at Constitution Hall because of racial prejudice, she instead performed an open-air on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939.  She was an activist for Civil Rights in the 1960s, and in 1963 she sang at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom  

You and your class can watch a YouTube video of Marian singing at the Lincoln Memorial by clicking on the image below:

Your class can enjoy learning more about other great African-Americans from history in my collection of original readers Famous African-Americans in U.S. History: Leveled Books for Grades 1 – 3.

2/27/2014 Today in History: Matthew Brady Photographs Abraham Lincoln

Don't Forget- We will be taking 20% off the regular price all of our products on Feb. 27 and 28, and Teachers Pay Teachers will be having a promo of another 10% off.  The new Dr. Seuss reader is already 20% off, and that discount will continue through until the end of the sale!

On this date, February 27th, 1860, the famous Civil War photographer Matthew Brady photographed Abraham Lincoln for the first time.  It was taken the same day that Lincoln gave a noteworthy speech Cooper Union in New York.  This picture was later modified and published on the cover of Harper’s Weekly.  Lincoln credited the buzz from his Cooper Union speech and Brady’s portrait for securing him the Republican nomination for presidency.  Brady would photograph Lincoln many times after he was elected president, and also Lincoln’s wife and sons.  

Performing my original play "They Called Him 'Honest Abe'" is a fun way for your class to learn more about the life of Abraham Lincoln, from his childhood and living in a log cabin to living in the White House.  This play 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.  Although the play is written for students in grades 3-5, it can be adapted for other grades and abilities.

2/27/2014 Dr. Seuss and Helen Keller

Read Across America Day, Dr. Seuss’s Birthday, is less than a week away now!  Are you ready to celebrate with your class?  Because Dr Seuss’s official birthday, March 2nd, is on a Sunday this year it will be celebrated by educators on Monday, March 3rd.  Did you know that the NEA has also  awarded Read Across America events grants to 18 state affiliates for  Read Across America events and activities?  See what celebrations may be happening in your area.  No matter where you may be located, the NEA provides this free Read Across America 2014 Hats Off to Reading Classroom Activity Guide.  

Another fun way for your class to celebrate reading and the birthday of Dr. Seuss is my original biography, Second Grade Level K Reader Dr. Seuss - Best-Selling Children's Author.  

Someone else who knew a lot about the power of language and reading was Helen Keller.  In another of my original biographies, Helen Keller: Spelling W-A-T-E-R your students will learn about the special life of Helen Keller, who overcame being blind, deaf, and mute to reach many accomplishments. This third-grade level O reader comes with five companion worksheets which reinforce literacy skills involving reading, language, spelling, and writing. Specific concepts, skills, and vocabulary targeted in this reader are listed on the first page of the story.

This story is one of the books in the collection "Famous Women in History - Leveled Books for Grades 2 - 4" which features stories about eight women and their contributions to history. These books are a great selection for March, Women's History Month!

2/24/2014 Happy Birthday, W.E.B. DuBois!

“Children learn more from what you are than what you teach.”

― W.E.B. Du Bois

Yesterday, February 23rd, was the birthday of the great Civil Rights activist, scholar, and author William Edward Burghardt, better-known as W.E.B. Du Bois. W.E.B. DuBois was born in 1868 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.  He was the first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard, he went on to become a professor at Atlanta University and a well-known author and intellectual.  He is probably best known as a co-founder of the NAACP and champion of civil rights.

My original reader W.E.B. DuBois - Standing Up for Civil Rights is a great story for his birthday week, and for the last week of Black History Month! This second- grade level M reader is one of the ten books included in the collection called Famous African-Americans in U.S. History: Leveled Books for Grades 1 – 3.

2/24/2014 Read Across America Day is Coming!

Are you and your class excited for Read Across America Day?  It is coming up in about a week now.  Officially the holiday is on Sunday, March 2nd, the birthday of beloved children’s author Dr. Seuss.  However, because the 2nd falls on a Sunday, this year it will be celebrated by the NEA on Monday, March 3rd.  Read Across America Day is a celebration of reading that takes place

nationwide every year to celebrate Theodor Seuss Geisel’s, also known as Dr Seuss’s, birthday.

Seusville, the official website of Dr. Seuss and his books offers some fun online games and activities that your students can play to interact with some of their favorite Dr Seuss characters, such as the Grinch, or the Cat in the Hat.  Another great way to celebrate Read Across America Day is to build your students reading skills by learning more about the author himself.  My original Second Grade Level K Reader Dr. Seuss - Best-Selling Children's Author is a biography that tells the story of Dr. Seuss.

This second grade level K guided reading book comes with four companion worksheets which reinforce literacy skills involving reading, language, spelling, and writing. Specific concepts, skills, and vocabulary targeted in this reader are listed on the first page of the story.

Please check out my Pintrest Read Across America Day board for more engaging ideas for your classroom.

We will be taking 20% off the regular price all of our products on Feb. 27 and 28, and Teachers Pay Teachers will be having a promo of another 10% off.  The new Dr. Seuss reader is already 20% off, and that discount will continue through until the end of the sale.

2/23/2014 Happy Birthday, Barbara Jordan!

A belated Happy Birthday to Barbara Jordan, American politician and Civil Rights leader!    Barbara Jordan was the first female African American elected to the House of Representatives in a southern state, among her many other accomplishments.  She was elected to the Texas State Senate in 1966, and to Congress in 1972.  Jordan became instead the first African-American woman to deliver the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in 1976.  In 1994, she was received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  There are so many inspiring African American figures from history that you could talk about with your class during Black History Month.  

This last week of February brings us to the last week of Black History Month, next week brings March, and Women's’ History Month along with it.  Build your students literacy skills while learning about other fascinating, notable African Americans and women from my original reader sets Famous African-Americans in U.S. History For Grades 1-3 and Famous Women in History: Leveled Books for Grades 2 - 4.  These books can also be used in social studies or language arts units year-round. 

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2/20/2014 John Glenn and Space

John Glenn, center, after his historic Friendship 7 mission

On February 20, 1962 John Glenn made history by becoming the first American to orbit the Earth.  Glenn flew the Friendship 7 mission as part of Project Mercury, NASA’s first human spaceflight program.  John Glenn would embark on his last space mission in 1995 aboard the space shuttle Discovery, at age 77 he was the oldest person to fly in space. You can see original video footage from the Friendship 7 below:

Kids (and many adults) are fascinated by astronauts and outer space.  My third grade Level N reader Our Planets is a great way to harness this enthusiasm for space, and combine facts about the planets in our solar system with reading, and writing activities in your classroom The book comes with five accompanying worksheets which reinforce literacy skills involving reading, language, spelling, and writing.

2/19/2014 Women's History Month and The Amelia Bloomer Project 2014 Book List

As we get closer to March, and Women’s History Month, you may looking for some new girl-focused titles for your classroom.  

The American Library Association’s Social Responsibilities Round Table Feminist Task Force, or FTF, has some great suggestions. The Amelia Bloomer Project is an annual booklist the FTF puts out of the best feminist books from the previous year, for readers from infants to 18 year-olds.  

Here is the full  2014 Amelia Bloomer Project Top Ten List:  

Cummins, Julie. Flying Solo: How Ruth Elder Soared into America’s Heart. Illus. by Malene R. Laugesen. 2013. Unpaged. Roaring Brook Press  K-Gr.2

Gevinson, Tavi (Ed.). Rookie Yearbook Two. 2013. Drawn & Quarterly Gr.7-up.

Global Fund for Children. Global Baby Girls. 2013. Unpaged. Charlesbridge Publishing, PreS.

Markel, Michelle. Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909. Illus. by Melissa Sweet. 2013. Unpaged. Balzer + Bray K-Gr.4.

Molloy, Aimee. However Long the Night: Molly Melching’s Journey to Help Millions of African Women and Girls Triumph. 2013.  Gr.10-up.

Mullenbach, Cheryl.  Double Victory: How African American Women Broke Race and Gender Barriers to Help Win World War II.  2013. Chicago Review Press  Gr.9-up.

Povich, Lynn. The Good Girls Revolt: How the Women of Newsweek Sued Their Bosses and Changed the Workplace. 2012.  PublicAffairs  Gr.10-up.

Schnall, Marianne. What Will It Take to Make a Woman President? 2013. Seal Press, Gr.10-12.

Wishinsky, Frieda. Profiles: Freedom Heroines. 2012. Scholastic, Gr.4-6.

Yousafzai, Malala with Christina Lamb. I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban. 2013. Little, Brown and Company, Gr.8-12.

Two of the book selections,  “Double Victory: How African American Women Broke Race and Gender Barriers to Help Win World War II,” “However Long the Night: Molly Melching’s Journey to Help Millions of African Women and Girls Triumph” focus on the experiences and achievements of African American girls and women.  They would be great for the classroom at anytime, but particularly appropriate to check out now as part of African American History Month

My collection of leveled readers, "Famous Women in History" is also an excellent way to build literacy skills while learning more about Women’s History.  This collection of leveled readers for second through fourth grade features stories about eight women and their contributions to history:

Amelia Earhart -- Airplane Pilot (level L)

Abigail Adams -- First Lady & Crusader for People’s Rights (level L)

Clara Barton -- Founder of the American Red Cross (level N)

Maria Mitchell -- Astronomer (level N)

Helen Keller -- Inspirational Speaker (level O)

Ellen Ochoa -- Astronaut (level P)

Laura Ingalls Wilder -- Pioneer and Author (level P)

Millie Hughes-Fulford -- Scientist in Space (level R)  

2/17/2014 Happy Washington's Birthday, or Happy Presidents' Day, and Learn About Benjamin Banneker

I hope that you enjoyed your holiday today, whether your school is in an area that celebrates the day in honor of George Washington's Birthday on February 22nd, Washington and Lincoln's birthdays, or all of the U.S. Presidents

If you are looking for new ways to engage your class with learning more about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln around this time check out my President's Day reader, and original reader's play about Lincoln

Learning more about Benjamin Banneker is a great way to tie in the study of American Presidents with Black History month.  Benjamin Banneker was a notable African-American author, scientist, and surveyor.  Among his other accomplishments, he helped to survey the borders of  Washington D.C.  Your students will enjoy learning about Benjamin Banneker and his many accomplishments in my level P reader A Design for the Capitol - Benjamin Banneker. This book is one of the ten books included in the collection "Famous African-Americans in U.S. History: Leveled Books for Grades 1 – 3".

Specific concepts, skills, and vocabulary targeted in this book are listed on the first page of the story. And to help reinforce literacy skills involving reading, language, spelling, and writing, the book comes with two accompanying worksheets.

2/14/2014 Happy Valentine's Day, and Looking Ahead to Women's History

Happy Valentine's Day!  I hope that you enjoyed a fun day of activities with your class.  February 14 is also the day that the League of Women Voters was founded in Chicago, in 1920.

We still have half of February left to continue to celebrate Black History Month, but soon March, and Women's History Month will be upon us!  

My collection of leveled readers, "Famous Women in History" is an excellent way to build literacy skills while learning more about Women’s History.  This collection of leveled readers for second through fourth grade features stories about eight women and their contributions to history:

Amelia Earhart -- Airplane Pilot (level L)

Abigail Adams -- First Lady & Crusader for People’s Rights (level L)

Clara Barton -- Founder of the American Red Cross (level N)

Maria Mitchell -- Astronomer (level N)

Helen Keller -- Inspirational Speaker (level O)

Ellen Ochoa -- Astronaut (level P)

Laura Ingalls Wilder -- Pioneer and Author (level P)

Millie Hughes-Fulford -- Scientist in Space (level R)

Enjoy the President’s Day long weekend!

2/10/2014 The 2014 Winter Olympics and Learning About Directions

Has your class been following the 2014 Winter Olympics at Sochi?  It is exciting to see elite athletes come together from all over the world to compete.  

The Olympics can be a good starting point to use to discuss the basics of geography with your students.  You might try finding some of the home countries for different athletes together on a map or globe, and see which direction you would travel in if you wanted to plan a visit there from your town.   My First Grade Level I Reader, Directions, is a good way to practice literacy skills with your class while learning about directions, maps, globes, and more.

TIME for Kids offers free Olympic Printables to educators on their website for grades 2-6.  They are a good resource if you want to bring other subjects, such as math, into your Olympics lesson plan.  Check out my Pintrest board Winter Wonderland for more  Winter Olympics activity ideas for your classroom!

2/8/2014 The Arts, and Prepping for President's Day: They Called Him "Honest Abe"

Where time, and funding, may be found to allow the arts to be included in the classroom is a familiar question for educators.  What is not in question are the numerous benefits arts in the classroom may provide.  According to a blog post from Edutopia.com on arts education “Years of research show that it's closely linked to almost everything that we as a nation say we want for our children and demand from our schools: academic achievement, social and emotional development, civic engagement, and equitable opportunity. . . Involvement in the arts is associated with gains in math, reading, cognitive ability, critical thinking, and verbal skill. Arts learning can also improve motivation, concentration, confidence, and teamwork.”  

A nice way to make sure that the arts are included while not stressing out your schedule is to integrate art activities into your existing lesson plans.  The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts offers some great free resources for teachers, including Five Easy Drama Games for the Early Elementary Classroom- “Drama games tap into students’ imagination and can be conducted in any classroom for a variety of purposes—in warm-ups or closures, team-building activities, or to accompany and enhance a lesson plan.”

Performing my original play “They Called Him "Honest Abe"  for an audience or as readers' theater is a fun way for your students to celebrate President's Day, or combine it with other social studies activities. The play tells your class about the life of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the US, from his childhood and living in a log cabin to living in the White House.

This play 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.  Complete with a teaching guide that lists questions before and after performing 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.

2/7/2014 Creativity and Inventors

What makes a person creative?  It is a trait that we are born with, or can it be taught and learned?  According to a recent story in the New York Times “Once considered the product of genius or divine inspiration, creativity — the ability to spot problems and devise smart solutions — is being recast as a prized and teachable skill. Pin it on pushback against standardized tests and standardized thinking, or on the need for ingenuity in a fluid landscape….Traditional academic disciplines still matter, but as content knowledge evolves at lightning speed, educators are talking more and more about “process skills,” strategies to reframe challenges and extrapolate and transform information, and to accept and deal with ambiguity.”  Creative Studies is becoming increasingly popular as a course and field of study at colleges and universities across the country.  

It is never too early to begin to encourage students to develop their of creative potential.    

February is a particularly great time to bring inventors into your lessons to inspire your students to explore their own innovative ideas for inventions.  Do you plan on including Garrett Morgan in your lessons for Black History month?  My first-grade level F reader Garrett Morgan: Inventor, will describe to your students the important inventions this great African-American inventor made, including the traffic signal light. This is one of the books contained in the collection of leveled readers entitled "Famous African-Americans in U.S. History, Leveled Books for Grades 1 – 3."

February 11th is the birthday of birthday of Thomas Edison.  My first-grade level E reader “Thomas Edison: Inventor” will teach your students interesting facts while they will build their vocabulary and improve their reading comprehension.  Benjamin Franklin recently had a birthday, on January 17th.  In Benjamin Franklin, my first-grade Level G reader, students will learn about this famous American  statesman, writer, printer, scientist, and inventor. 

Combining reading and social studies activities, this first-grade Level F reader provides interesting facts about Alexander Graham Bell- Inventor of the Telephone. Your students will build their vocabulary and improve their reading comprehension as they read the story, answer questions, and have fun with the criss cross puzzle.  My second-grade leveled reader "Robert Fulton - Steamboat Inventor" provides a brief history of Robert Fulton's life and his love for invention. Steamboats, a submarine, and canal systems were some of the projects he worked on during his lifetime. I hope that you enjoy exploring inventions and inspiring creativity in your own classroom.