8/19/2014 August 20th Teachers Pay Teachers Sale

Haven Hill Learning is participating in Teachers Pay Teachers one day sale on August 20th! Please check out the sales at our store! 

8/18/2014 New Book Set from Haven Hill Learning!

The final weeks of summer are here!  Just in time for the new school year, you can find a new set of leveled books, Third Grade Leveled Books: Level O - Set 2

This set of third grade leveled readers contains six biographies about famous Americans and covers science, social studies, and language arts topics. The books will help your students build their vocabulary and improve their reading comprehension while learning interesting facts.

Third grade level O is divided into three sets of readers. This set of leveled readers (O - Set 2) includes books about:

• Bill Martin, Jr. - America’s Favorite Children’s Author;

• Cyrus McCormick – A New Way to Cut Crops;

• Helen Keller: Spelling W-A-T-E-R;

• Mary Kay of Mary Kay Cosmetics;

• Famous Amos Cookies; and

• Bill Gates, Riches beyond Money.

Each book comes with two to five 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.

8/4/2014 Commemorating Nelson Mandela

On August 5, 1962 anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela was arrested by South African police. In October of that year he tried and sentenced to five years in prison. While Mandela was still serving this prison sentence, in 1964, he was placed on trial for sabotage, high treason and conspiracy to overthrow the government and sentenced to life in prison.

Mandela was released on February 11, 1990, at age 71 after 27 years in prison. In 1993, Mandela received the Nobel Peace Prize along with South Africa's President F.W. de Klerk for their efforts to peacefully end apartheid in South Africa. Nelson Mandela was elected the president of South Africa in 1994.  He is held in deep respect throughout South Africa where he is often referred to as “the father of the nation”. He is also honored throughout the world for his lessons of patience, love, and tolerance.  Learn more about this remarkable activist and politician with my original readers Nelson Mandela's Dream of Freedom (for 1st- 4th grades) and Nelson Mandela: Father of South Africa (for 3rd-6th grades)

8/3/2014 Hooray for LEGOS, Girls, and STEM!

 In January, seven-year-old Charlotte wrote a letter to LEGO criticizing their lack of interesting females figures:

"All the girls did was sit at home, go to the beach, and shop, and they had no jobs, but the boys went on adventures, worked, saved people, and had jobs, even swam with sharks.”

This June, LEGO announced a new set, the Research Institute which features women in various STEM jobs: a paleontologist, a chemist, and an astronomer, which is now officially available.  This set was submitted to LEGO by geoscientist Ellen Kooijman as a part of the LEGO Ideas series. “The motto of these Scientists is clear: explore the world and beyond! The Astronomer discovers new stars and planets with the telescope, the Paleontologist studies the origin of the dinosaurs and the Chemist does experiments in the laboratory.”

Study more accomplished women with your class at any time of year with my leveled book set Famous Women in History: Leveled Books for Grades 2 - 4. This collection of leveled readers for second through fourth grade features stories about eight women and their contributions to history.

Encourage an interest in STEM subjects in ALL of your students, boys and girls, with my Nature & Science books, including Leveled Book set Kindergarten Levels A/B, Louis Pasteur - Exploring Pasteurization and Vaccines, and The Legend of the Unicorn: The Narwhal, and my original play, Trees – A Joy Forever.  My second-grade level L reader reader Cubes - Alike or Different is a great option to combine reading, language, and math skills.  

8/1/2014: TpT Sale, and Happy Birthday Francis Scott Key!

Happy August 1st!

It is hard to believe that it is already August and that summer will soon be coming to an end.  Haven Hill Learning will be participating in the Teachers Pay Teachers “Blast Off Back to School Sale” August 4-5.   Please visit our store and prepare for the exciting school year ahead!

Today is also the birthday of Francis Scott Key.  The Star-Spangled Banner author  was born in Frederick County, Maryland in 1779.  During the War of 1812, on September 13–14, 1814 he 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 First Grade Level I – Set 2

6/24/2014 Getting Ready For the 4th of July!

Summer is now officially in full swing!  June 21st marked the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year and the official beginning of the season.  It is hard to believe that Flag Day, Juneteenth, have already past, but Fourth of July is soon approaching and many Americans are already embracing the celebration of our national heritage.   

As I recently wrote about, this year the Smithsonian National Museum of American History is also leading celebration of the 200th anniversary of our national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.”  

During the War of 1812, on September 13–14, 1814, Francis Scott Key http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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.  

My  five-page Level O reader The Founding Fathers is a wonderful resource to bring information about life in the American colonies about the founders of the United States into your classroom.  The book comes with three accompanying worksheets to help reinforce literacy skills involving reading comprehension, language, spelling, and writing.   

Your class can learn more about some of America’s other important Founding Fathers in my third grade level O reader Ben Franklin - A Man with an Electric Personality

my first-grade Level G reader Ben Franklin, my second grade Level L reader John Hancock and a Study of Pronouns.  Your students will learn more about The Liberty Bell, and The United States Flag in my set of leveled books Social Studies Topics - Leveled Books: First Grade Levels H/I

6/14/2014 Happy Flag Day!

The Smithsonian has special plans for Flag Day celebrations this year, as it also the 200th anniversary of our national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner by Francis Scott Key.  From the website of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History “the museum is organizing a grand singalong of the anthem on the Mall, but extending, we hope, much farther. Taking part in “Raise it Up! Anthem for America,” in Washington, D.C., will be a celebrity singer, hundreds of members of American choruses, and, well, anyone else who wants to join in the party. What’s more, organizers have approached the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts, and the State Department, about encouraging singalongs across the nation and the globe. We’ve got our eye on setting a new Guinness World Record for largest collective national-anthem performance. (Check in at anthemforamerica.si.edu for updates and multimedia features.)”  

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 included in my First Grade Level I – Set 2 set of leveled books.