10/31/2014: Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! I hope that you enjoyed a spooky and spectacular holiday with your students!  As we enter into November, Veteran’s Day, November 11th, is now approaching in a little over a week away!

A Veterans Day 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.

Written with 9 speaking parts, the play also features a band and choir of unlimited members. The band marches in a parade that the family (mother, father and two children) comes to see on Veteran’s Day and the choir sings the national anthem, as well as additional patriotic songs when the play is over. With an announcer, two parade assistants and three narrators, you are all set to put on this play that helps us all learn more about this important holiday of honoring our veterans.

My Teachers Pay Teachers Store also offers my Veteran's Day - First Grade Level E Reader

This first grade Level E reader is a excellent resource for teaching about Veteran's Day. Students will learn about why and when we celebrate Veteran's Day as they encounter new vocabulary and improve their reading comprehension. There is a two-page worksheet which accompanies the two-page story.

10/28/2014: Happy 100th Birthday Jonas Salk!

Happy Birthday to Jonas Salk!  Today’s Google doodle honors the 100th birthday of Salk, the important American scientist who developed the first successful vaccine for polio.   Jonas Salk was born in New York City in 1914. To learn more about this great scientist, my reader Jonas Salk - Famous Medical Researcher is perfect for combining science, history, reading, and writing activities! This third grade Level N reader is an informative text that explores Jonas Salk's discovery of the first vaccine for polio, which saved millions from getting the dreaded disease.

The birthday the great French chemist and biologist Louis Pasteur is approaching in December.  Pasteur was born on December 27th, 1822, in France.   His important contributions to science include proving the germ theory of disease, inventing the process of pasteurisation, and producing the first rabies vaccine.  Pasteurization is used to allow us to keep milk longer, try out this fun plastic milk experiment with your class to celebrate Pasteur and science.

If you looking for a way to combine science, history, reading, and writing activities, my

consider checking out on my book “Louis Pasteur - Exploring Pasteurization and Vaccines” on my Teachers Pay Teachers Site

This third grade Level N reader is a three-page story about some of his greatest discoveries,  accompanied by five pages of worksheets which reinforce literacy skills involving reading, language, spelling, and writing.

Please visit my Pintrest page http://www.pinterest.com/havenhillread/ for more ideas on getting students excited for science!  

10/19/2014: The Star Spangled Banner First Sung, and the First Electric Light Bulb Demonstrated

October 19th is a very significant date in American history. On this day in 1814, our national anthem, the Star-Spangled Banner by Francis Scott Key was first sung.  

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 book set.  

Also on this date in 1879, Thomas Edison demonstrated the first electric light bulb.

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.

10/15/2014: Happy National Fossil Day!

Happy National Fossil Day!

National Fossil Day was begun in 2010 by the U.S. National Parks Service to raise awareness of paleontology.  Visit National Geographic’s website to see some amazing fossil pictures!

Fossils can be a fun  way to engage your students with science.  My Fourth Grade Leveled Books: Level Q - Set 2 consists of 7 books, including “Fossils and Paleontologists”  Each book comes with accompanying worksheets which reinforce 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.

10/13/2014: Happy Columbus Day!

Happy Columbus Day!

Christopher Columbus set sail westward from Spain in 1492 hoping to find a way to the Far East and instead landed on islands off the coast of North America. Your students will enjoy learning more about his voyages in this third grade Level O reader. This book is one of the five stories in my collection "Third Grade Leveled Books: Level O - Set 3".

It is a great book for combining social studies and language arts!

The book will help your students build their vocabulary and improve their reading comprehension while they are learning interesting facts.

10/12/2014: Happy Belated Birthday, Eleanor Roosevelt!

Happy belated birthday, Eleanor Roosevelt!  This dynamic First Lady would have turned 130 on October 11. She was born Anna Eleanor Roosevelt in New York City in 1884.  Among her many accomplishments, Roosevelt was a UN delegate, a longtime newspaper columnist, and once went flying with Amelia Earhart!  

With my reader Eleanor Roosevelt your class will learn a number of interesting facts about Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of President Franklin Roosevelt and a fighter for women's rights and the rights of African-Americans and children. This book is a first-grade level E reader and includes two accompanying worksheets.

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10/10/2014: Almost a month until Veteran's Day

Fall is moving ahead so quickly, it is hard to believe that Veteran’s Day, November 11th, is barely over a month away!

A Veterans Day 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.

Written with 9 speaking parts, the play also features a band and choir of unlimited members. The band marches in a parade that the family (mother, father and two children) comes to see on Veteran’s Day and the choir sings the national anthem, as well as additional patriotic songs when the play is over. With an announcer, two parade assistants and three narrators, you are all set to put on this play that helps us all learn more about this important holiday of honoring our veterans.

Some feedback for this play from other Teachers Pay Teachers users:

On  December 1, 2013,  Deb M. said:

This is a great resource and really added to our unit.

On  August 18, 2014,  Priscilla W. said:

Very nice. Going to use for our whole school.

On  October 5, 2014,  Martha S. said:

This is an excellent play for our Veteran's Day Assembly. I am doing this with our multi-age class for the assembly. The kids are excited about it and I have been able to add ways to make sure everyone in the class has a part in the assembly. By adding a few Patriotic songs with song tracks CD, we have an awesome assembly program that will appeal to people of all ages who will be attending. Thanks, Sue!

10/9/2014: Anniversary of the first telephone conversation

On October 9, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas A. Watson held the first wire conversation when they spoke to each other by telephone over a two-mile wire stretched between Cambridge and Boston.

My first-grade Level F reader Alexander Graham Bell combines reading and social studies activities to provide 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.

10/6/2014: Happy National Hispanic Month!

Happy National Hispanic Month!

September 15 to October 15 is National Hispanic Heritage Month.  This month began as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon Johnson in 1968, and was later expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988.  

According to the official website “The day of September 15 is significant because it is the anniversary of independence for Latin American countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on September 16 and September 18, respectively. Also, Columbus Day or Día de la Raza, which is October 12, falls within this 30 day period.”

Now is a great time to honor Hispanic history and culture in your classroom with some of these offerings from Haven Hill Learning on Teachers Pay Teachers:

San Jacinto Day – 1st grade Level G Level

Cinco de Mayo – 4th grade level R

San Jacinto Memorial –  4th grade Level R

Cesar Chavez – 5th grade level T

10/6/14: Today in History- Thomas Edison Screens his First Motion Picture

On October 6, 1889, Thomas Edison first projected a motion picture in his laboratory.  He received a patent for the "kinetograph"  He would eventually start his own production company “Edison Studios.”

My first-grade Level E reader “Thomas Edison - Inventor” will teach your students interesting facts about the great inventor Thomas Edison. They will build their vocabulary and improve their reading comprehension as they read the story and answer questions and have fun with the word search.