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Did you know that Johnny Appleseed was a nickname given to John Chapman? There are many nice folktales written about him, but we have no proof that these things really happened. One thing that is true about John Chapman is that he planted apple trees!
As you share the details of John Chapman's life and his travels, use the Timeline Tool to organize the details that you find in the books and websites that you check. As you work through the details, ask students to look for details that are fact and those that are exaggeration. If desired, use the Venn Diagram tool or Mobile App to organize the information (especially if you are using the stories of Johnny Appleseed as part of a tall tales unit). As extensions, you might track Chapman's journeys on your classroom map or have students use the Theme Poems Interactive to create poems about apples or about Johnny Appleseed. For additional help, see the more tips about Theme Poems and the more tips on the Timeline Tool.
From the Library of Congress America's Story from America's Library, this site provides a short biography of John Chapman in the context of other historical events.
This University of Illinois Extension site includes links to apple facts, recipes, history and legend, and educational material.
Second graders from Austin, Texas contributed the writings and drawings about Johnny Appleseed found on this webpage.
Thurgood Marshall was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Lyndon Johnson in 1967. Marshall was the first African American Supreme Court Justice. Marshall was instrumental in numerous civil rights cases. In 1954, he argued and won the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case, in which the Supreme Court declared segregation of public schools illegal.
Discuss the following statement by Thurgood Marshall with your students: "If the First Amendment means anything, it means that a state has no business telling a man, sitting alone in his house, what books he may read or what films he may watch." Invite students to think about Marshall's statement by considering each piece of the comment. For instance, begin by reading the First Amendment and talking about the civil rights that the amendment guarantees. After exploring the quotation fully, use K-W-L Creator to complete a K-W-L chart with your students and have them use the resources listed below to begin an investigation.
This site includes biographical and background information on Marshall, as well as details on court decisions he was involved in.
From the US Postal Service, this printable resource includes information about Marshall, a few lessons plans, and a word puzzle.
From the Library of Congress, this page includes a biography of Marshall with links to information on important cases he played a role in, such as Brown v. Board of Education.
Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids provides grade-appropriate information about the Supreme Court and how it works.
Edward Stratemeyer was a series book author who began the Stratemeyer Literary Syndicate in 1905. He advertised for and hired authors who wrote from his outlines and signed an oath of secrecy. The Syndicate remained secret for many years. Using syndicate authors, Stratemeyer created the Hardy Boys and the Nancy Drew mysteries, among other series.
Have students select several books from the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, or another series to read. Students can use the Series Books resource from KidsReads.com to find an age-appropriate series that interests them.
Lead a discussion about the shared elements in the books. Have students use the 3-Circle Venn Diagram to compare character, plot, and setting in three books. How do these elements change across the series? In what ways do they remain the same?
Students can also outline their own series, as Stratemeyer did for his syndicate. Have students use the interactive Literary Elements Map to create the characters, settings, and plots for their series. Students can also plan how their characters will change and grow across the series using the Interactive Timeline. Have them select "other" as the unit of measure and type in "book." They can then note ways their characters will change and grow in each book of the series.
Information about Stratemeyer's life and writing can be found on this webpage.
This website contains an overview of the authors and the books in the Nancy Drew series. It also discusses Stratemeyer's syndicate and the roles of Stratemeyer's daughters in making the Nancy Drew series a success.
This site contains information about the characters, history, locations, and more from the Hardy Boys series. It also includes a map recording the Hardy Boys' many travels.
This site allows students to search for book series by name. Included for each series is a general overview of the series, related games and activities, and information about the author, titles, and characters.
In the United States, Halloween is celebrated on October 31. The holiday has its roots in the pre-Christian Celtic festival of Samhain. It was Christianized in the 9th century as "All Hallows' Eve," which precedes the Roman Catholic celebration of All Saints' Day on November 1.
- If you have Internet access in your class or school, assign one common aspect of Halloween (e.g., costumes, pumpkins, witches) to a group of students and ask them to search for information about how that aspect came to be a part of Halloween tradition.
- Have students make a list of the characters from a text that they are currently reading (or from texts read earlier in the year). Ask students to create masks or costumes that represent one of the characters from the text. Each student could then be asked to deliver a short monologue as that character to a small group.
- Ask students to write a narrative describing their best Halloween ever, an expository essay that tells how to plan a Halloween celebration, or a spooky Halloween mystery story. They can plan the last one using the interactive Mystery Cube tool. Helpful information can be found on the Mystery Cube page.
This online magazine is a great place to research the history of Halloween and includes a link for teachers to find a few classroom activities.
Elementary students in the United States and Canada share their language arts activities in this collaborative Internet project about autumn. Students can view the work and use it as a model for their own projects. Don't miss the Haunted House showcased in Mrs. Silverman and Miss Sowa's class.
This page from KidsReads.com provides an annotated list of books about Halloween.
This page from the Library of Congress American Memory website features primary documents related to Halloween, including interviews, folk tales, and audio files. Some highlights include images of magician Harry Houdini, first-hand accounts of Halloween tricks of the past, and spooky songs.
Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula, was born on this date in 1847. Dracula, originally published in 1897, has become the basis for many films, TV shows, and other novels over the more than 100 years since its publication.
In this novel, Bram Stoker depicted many of the superstitions about vampires that were prevalent in his era. Today, we have superstitions about many things besides vampires. Brainstorm with students the superstitions they know. Begin by offering some that will be familiar to many students, such as bad luck symbols (e.g., black cats, breaking a mirror, walking under a ladder) or good luck symbols (e.g., finding a penny, four-leaf clovers) and ask students to discuss how these superstitions might have had a basis in reality (for instance, it is good sense NOT to walk under a ladder, for safety's sake). Break students up into small groups and have them research one of the superstitions to determine its country of origin and its original meaning or purpose. Then, students can use the interactive Mystery Cube to write a mystery story featuring their superstition. More tips are available on how to use the Mystery Cube.
This site provides information on Bram Stoker and brief essays on his sources and influences. The site also includes resources on vampires, Vlad the Impaler, and Van Helsing.
This page provides biographical information on Stoker, links to other sources on the author, and a collection of e-texts of his writings.
This page, from author S.E. Schlosser's American Folklore site, features a collection of folk tales focused on the supernatural. The stories are part of a large collection of folk tales from throughout the United States.
This site lists versions of Dracula from the original in 1897 through editions printed in the 1990s. Thumbnail images of the cover of each edition show how the depiction of Dracula has changed.
World Hello Day began in 1973 to promote peace between Egypt and Israel. There are now 180 countries involved in the attempt to foster peace throughout the world, and letters supporting the effort have been written by people such as John Glenn, Colin Powell, Kofi Annan, and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Throughout history, important leaders and institutions have used letters to make their beliefs known and to convince others of the importance of peace and unity. Invite your students to study one of the letters below for its message promoting peace in some way:
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail
- An Open Letter from American Jews to Our Government
- Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus
Have students examine one of the letters to determine the author's purpose in writing, and to identify words and phrases that were used to make the letters more meaningful to the reader. Then, have them use the ReadWriteThink Letter Generator to write a letter of their own promoting peace. More tips are available about using the Letter Generator. Students may choose to write about world conflict, or they may choose to write about issues closer to home, such as bullying or peer conflicts.
This site provides a wide range of materials for students at all grade levels. Resources include information about the Nobel Peace Prize laureates, a timeline, and a series of informational articles.
The Jane Addams Peace Association furthers the cause of peace by selecting and awarding children's literature that promotes the cause of peace, social justice, world community, and equality.
The material in this website will enhance social studies and literature lessons in all primary grades. Your students will want to revisit this site throughout the school year.
This site lists eight easy activities designed to celebrate world language. The activities are perfect for ESL and bilingual classes and are beneficial to all primary school students.
William Blake was born on November 28, 1757, in London, England. While best known for his poetry, including The Songs of Innocence and The Songs of Experience, Blake was also an accomplished artist and engraver who illustrated many of his own poetic works. As a believer in the power of human imagination, Blake influenced those poets and writers who would later be called the Romantics. He died on August 12, 1827, with no money and little recognition.
In his artwork, Blake invented names, faces, and actions that personified abstract concepts. His character, Urizen, for example, represented law and order, and Blake often drew him as a bearded old man.
As a class, brainstorm a list of grade-appropriate abstract concepts, such as "freedom," "anger," "peer pressure," "frustration," etc. Then, have students choose one and write down all the words that they associate with that concept. Finally, students should personify that concept either through a drawing or through a story told about the character who personifies that concept. See "Poetstanding" the Poem for examples of Blake's personification.
Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience also work well to develop students' skills at comparing and contrasting. Have students read and complete a Venn Diagram for The Tyger and The Lamb. Elementary students can identify words and phrases that are similar and different in the poems, while older students should be able to identify differences in tone and theme.
This hypermedia project is sponsored by the Library of Congress and the NEH; it contains everything that you might want to know about Blake, including biographies, written work, visual art, and criticism.
This site has 10 full-color images of Blake's paintings and engravings. Show them to students to introduce a discussion on tone; they are extremely powerful pieces.
This resource for high school students reviews the various characters in William Blake's personal mythology using images and text.
The New York Public Library Digital Gallery offers images of the original versions of three books by Blake, for which he created the text and illustrations and printed the books.
Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women and other novels, was born on this date in 1832. Alcott wrote several novels under her real name and also penned works under a pseudonym. Her very first novel, The Inheritance-written when she was 17-wasn't published until 150 years after she wrote it, when two researchers discovered it in a library in 1997.
Little Women is partly autobiographical. Alcott used many of the events of her own life as fodder for her writing of this and her other novels. In fact, most scholars believe that the character of Jo March closely resembles Louisa May Alcott. It is not unusual for authors to take incidents from their own lives and use them in their fiction.
Ask students to brainstorm and write in their journals important events and names of people from their lives that might serve as the beginning point for an interesting story, poem, or longer work. Students can then use the interactive Bio-Cube to plan their story. There are more tips available to learn more about the Bio-Cube. An alternative might be to ask students to write about a memorable person in a nonfiction essay format. (This could be submitted to Readers' Digest, which has a feature of this type in each issue). Another alternative would be to have students research the life of Alcott and then read some of her novels to develop a list of those people and incidents from her own life that appear in her fiction.
Information about Alcott's life and work is found at this site. Links provide information about various aspects of her life. The site also includes a virtual tour of the house where Louisa May Alcott grew up.
From the textbook site for the Heath Anthology of American Literature, this site provides complete biographical information, critical material, and links to related resources.
This site for the American Masters film biography of Louisa May Alcott offers extensive information about Alcott's life and work, including historical photos and a multimedia timeline.
The Library of Congress offers this resource with information about Alcott's life, images, and excerpts from the writings of Alcott's father regarding her birth and early childhood.
In 1941, the United States forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, were taken by surprise when Japanese warplanes began to drop bombs on the city and naval base. Hundreds of soldiers and civilians were killed during the raid, and the Navy suffered the loss of a great number of ships and other military hardware. This event marked the American entrance into World War II.
On December 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy" in the words of President Franklin Roosevelt, many Americans were called upon to act as heroes. Countless Americans gave their lives in defense of our country and its citizens in Pearl Harbor. Similarly, the surprise attacks on America on September 11, 2001, called for heroic acts of selflessness from ordinary citizens, as well as firemen, police, military personnel, and other government workers. Ask students to compare these two events using the interactive Venn Diagram. How are they alike? How are they different?
How did each event change American citizens' perspectives on war and the need for war? How did the two different Presidents of the United States react? What was different about the media coverage?
The class could be divided into groups to brainstorm various aspects of this discussion and then report back to the class as a whole.
This resource from the National Archives includes the typed first draft of President Roosevelt's War Address to Congress with his handwritten edits. An audio excerpt of the speech is also available.
This page by the Naval Historical Center features a historic overview of the Pearl Harbor raid and its aftermath.
This Teacher Tool Kit contains a variety of primary and secondary sources that can be used to supplement your curriculum instruction and offer the most direct explanation of the events surrounding the attack on December 7, 1941.
This page from the Library of Congress includes a copy of the U.S.S. Ranger's Naval dispatch from Commander in Chief Pacific announcing the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Joel Chandler Harris is best known for his Uncle Remus stories. Harris collected the Uncle Remus tales from the stories shared by slaves. His use of phonetic dialogue in his stories allowed later authors to use vernacular in their renditions of regional tales. Harris's stories remain a good example of regional folk literature from the American South.
One striking aspect of Harris' stories is that in conveying the regional dialect the dialogue is written phonetically, which lends itself to oral reading of the stories. This vividly evokes the stories' original cultural milieu. Select a short segment of Uncle Remus with prominent dialogue and read it aloud to your students. Then read a segment from another book that features a different type of phonetic dialogue, such as The Witches by Roald Dahl, and listen to a Gullah Tale. After reading the three different examples of phonetic dialogue, have students use the interactive Venn diagram to compare them.
One thing all three examples have in common is that they render dialogue that has a vivid sound and feel. Challenge students to write a brief dialogue that might occur between themselves and a friend or parent. Encourage them to pay attention to phrasing and vocabulary, so that the dialogue sounds realistic. Next, have them exchange papers with a partner and read each other's dialogue aloud. Did the dialogue sound the same aloud as they imagined it when they wrote it? They should then revise any parts of the dialogue that did not sound realistic. They can repeat this process until they have a realistic dialogue.
This site provides information about the life of author Joel Chandler Harris, as well as links to the books that made him famous.
Links from this site take readers to songs and sayings by Harris.
In this Scholastic workshop, students hone their storytelling skills. There are online activities, examples, and practice opportunities included in this resource.
This resource offers examples of folk tales in both English and Gullah, a phonetically written language. Students can hear folk tales read aloud in both languages.