National Hispanic Heritage Month is September 15-October 15th

National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated each year from September 15-October 15th. It was originally established, in 1969, as Hispanic Heritage Week, by President Lyndon Johnson. In 1988, it became a month long celebration. Some people say we don't really need an Hispanic Heritage Month, A Black History Month, A Women’s History Month, A Native American Heritage Month and other such months to recognize the achievements of groups which have helped to make this nation great.  I believe we do since history books just can’t address all the different accomplishments of all the people that have contributed to making our country what it is today. Here are some interesting facts to share with your students during National Hispanic Heritage Month.

Did You Know?

• Before colonists settled Plymouth Colony, there were people living in St. Augustine, Florida, and Sante Fe, New Mexico.
• Chinese(Mandarin) is spoken by the most people in the world. The second most spoken language is Spanish. A close third is... English.
• The majority of Hispanic people in the United States came from the country of Mexico.
• Pedro Flores was the first to mass-produce the yo yo in the United States.
• in 1989, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen became the first Cuban American to become a member of Congress.
• Learn some Spanish: gracias(Thank you), por favor) (Please)and adios(goodbye)
• Cinco de Mayo(May 5th) is a festive holiday. It celebrates the victory over the French in the Battle of Pueblo(1862). The Mexicans were outnumbered 3-1, yet they won the battle. 
• Have you ever played with a pinata at a birthday party? This is another activity that has its origins in Mexico.  

Check out my webquest, Histanic Heritage Month. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Hispanic-Heritage-Month-A-WebquestExtension-Activities-2095906

It's Pumpkin Time! Possible Interactive Notebook Activity

Learn about Pumpkins! 

Possible Interactive Notebook Activity

1. Pumpkins are thought to have originated in Central America, specifically Mexico. Some seeds found date back to 5500 B.C.

2. Top pumpkin growers are U.S. farmers, growing more than 1.5 billion each year.

3. The word pumpkin comes from the French word for “large melon”,

pompon. The English used “pumpion” and colonists used “pumpkin”.

4. The World’s Largest Pumpkin Pie was made in New Bremen, Ohio, in 2010. 1,212 lbs of canned pumpkin, 109 gallons of evaporated milk, 525
pounds of sugar, 14.5 pounds of cinnamon, 7 pounds of salt and 2796 eggs were used. It weighed 3699 pounds.

5. Did you know that pumpkins are 90 percent water?

6. Some people used to believe that pumpkins could cure snake bites and help remove freckles!

7. In addition to orange, pumpkins can be green, yellow, tan, white,red and blue.

8. The “Pumpkin Capital of the World” and home to Libby’s Pumpkins is Morton, Illinois.

9. The fibrous strands of string and seeds are called the “brains” of the pumpkin.

10. Carving pumpkins originated in Ireland using potatoes,rutabagas and turnips. Irish immigrants to America started using pumpkins as they were easier to carve and hollow!

11. Part of the squash and cucumber family(cucurbita), pumpkins are actually considered fruit!

12. Ohio, Illinois, California and Pennsylvania are the top pumpkin-growing states.

13. In 2013, Keene, NH, kept the record for the most lit pumpkins! 30,581. It holds the record in 2016, too.

14. Crowned the record heaviest pumpkin grown in North America(2017), a  man from Washington state  grew a pumpkin which weighed in at a whopping 2363 pounds.  

15. A pumpkin grown in the country of (2016) Belgium tipped the scale at a whopping 2623.5 pounds!

Pumpkin growers say that a 3000 pound pumpkin is possible in the near future!  It wasn't that many years ago that a 1000 pound pumpkin, now a light weight, would have been news worthy. The problem with growing such jumbos is that gravity often causes them to get smooshed and then they can't qualify for judging.

Need a writing prompt?  The record pumpkin has just arrived in a large truck to your home. What would you do with this pumpkin?  How would you describe it? 

Activities:
1. Illustrate a picture of one of the facts learned.
2. Write a poem about a pumpkin.!• Pretend you are a pumpkin and write about your day in the
pumpkin patch, on a porch or waiting to be purchased at a farmer’s stand.
3.Discuss syllables. Find 7 words that have 4 or more syllables.
4. Can you spot 7 ACTION VERBS in the Pumpkin Facts?
5. Write an acrostic poem using each letter in the word, PUMPKINS.

* Try my webquest on Pumpkins: 10 web questions with several comprehension questions(lots of extension activities).
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Pumpkin-Fun-Fun-and-Informative-Webquest-359886                  

Photograph from http://firstwefeast.com

Illustration from wpclipart.com

October is National Bullying Prevention Month!

October is National Bullying Prevention Month! 

Although highlighted in this month, anti-bullying awareness should be practiced every day of the year.  If you SEE bullying taking place, SPEAK UP!   Possible activities to use with students to discuss the topic of bullying.
Click here for a free downloadable version: Interactive Notebook Activity:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Antibullying-FreebieINA-KindnessNation-2971457

1. Check out this short video at the Cartoon Network about joining the "I Speak Up" campaign. http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/promotion_landing_page/stopbullying/index.html

2. Have kids read this short saying: "Sticks and stones may break your bones but names can never hurt you."  Is this a true statement? Explain your answer. Personally, I never thought this saying to be true. Words are very powerful and negative words can and do hurt....a lot!  

3. Discussion Questions to ask Students:

A. What is your definition of a bully?  What are some examples of bullying?

B. Why do you think some people are bullies?

C. If you see someone being bullied, what could YOU do?

D.  If YOU are being bullied, what could YOU do?

E. Have you ever been bullied? How did you feel? What did you do?

F. Have YOU ever bullied someone else? Have you ever been asked by others to join them in bullying someone else? How did you react to this? Take the "Are YOU Bulling Checklist": http://www.pacerkidsagainstbullying.org/kab/do-you-bully/

G. How can you HELP someone that is being bullied. Make a list. Check with this site: http://www.bullying.co.uk/general-advice/how-to-help-someone-being-bullied/

4. A great start to discussing bullying might be to read about Hans Christian Andersen, the author of "The Ugly Duckling". Hans was often teased as a boy. He was very tall and skinny. He was called "scarecrow" by neighborhood children. One day, he actually climbed a tree to get away from bullies who were chasing him. Then, he got tangled and stuck. His father had to come help get Hans out of the tree.  Check out my resource, a play on Hans Christian Andersen: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Hans-Christian-AndersenBiographical-play-To-Tell-the-Truth-Play-348807

5. Have students make anti-bullying posters.

6. Have students make up a skit about bullying to share with the rest of the class.

7. Coloring sheets on the topic of bullying: http://www.pacer.org/bullying/pdf/ColorTheCrew.pdf 

8. Check out this link for lots of great information on Anit-Bullying: http://www.pacerkidsagainstbullying.org/kab/do-you-bully/take-the-quiz/

9. Check out this site for "Bullying Myths and Facts". Have students discuss what they read: http://www.bullying.co.uk/general-advice/bullying-myths-and-facts/

10. Newspapers in Education has an online comic book story about bullying: http://niefresnobee.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/Bullying.pdf

Other suggestions:
Using Literature to discuss the issue of bullying:
Read the story, the Ugly Duckling to start a discussion on bullying. http://www.best-childrens-books.com/the-ugly-duckling.html

Another story to read is Goose Girl by the Brothers Grimm. Find the story
at this link:Best Children's Book(Goose Girl)  http://www.best-childrens-books.com/the-goose-girl.html
Still another story is Cinderella.Find the story online at this link: http://www.togetherweteach.com/TWT%20Reading%20Room/PCIND/PCIND01.HTM

There are also many contemporary books that deal with bullying. Here is a small sampling for elementary and middle school students:
1. Blubber by Judy Blume
2. The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
3. Thank you, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco
4. Bullies Are a Pain in the Brain by Trevor Romain and Elizabeth Vedick.
5. The Bully from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler with Jared Lee.
6. My Secret Bully by Trudy Ludwig
7. Roxie and the Hooligans by Phillis Reynolds Naylor
Find more books on bullying and read summaries at this link:
http://www.story-lovers.com/listsbullyingstories.html

Read and listen to a short story about bullying online at this link:
(Ramone Sticks Up for Himself)  http://myyoungchild.org/stories/ramon-sticks/

ANTI-BULLYING TITLES FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL COUNSELORS: http://www.counselorresources.com/c/product.web?nocache@0+s@1k31xlWwzJUpE+record@TF42867+Title@BULLYING+ISBN@9780807547861

I hope you find this information of value to use with your students!

Gail Hennessey

http://gailhennessey.com/index.shtml?bullyingresources.html

World Rhino Day is September 22nd

World Rhino Day is September 22nd 

Possible Interactive Notebook Activity:

FUN FACTS about RHINOS!

A crash is what you call a group of rhino

A Black rhino can run up to 40 mph...on its toes!

About 50 pounds of manure is produced by an adult white rhino EVERY day.

A white rhino isn't really WHITE. It's name comes from an Afrikaans word meaning wide(for its mouth). The word is wyd. White rhinos are really grey.

A black rhino isn't really BLACK. Also a grey/brownish color, it got its name for the dark wet mud that they often have covering their bodies.

Did you know that a rhino is a relative of the zebra, tapirs and horse?

The word, rhinoceros comes from the Greek words-rhino(nose and ceros(horn)

After the elephant, the white rhino is the largest land mammal. A white rhino can weigh up to 5000 pounds. 

Eating only plants, a rhino is a HERBIVORE.

The horn of a rhino is not ivory but keratin, a material found in fingernails.

Rhinos have VERY bad eyesight! They do have great hearing and a great sense of smell.

Rhino have wandered the earth for over 50 million years(and haven't changed much in their appearance)

Did you know that there are 5 species of rhino? (White, Black, Javan, Sumatran, Indian)

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES:

Ask students why the rhino is endangered. Have students make a list of 10 endangered species. If you can only save 3 on the list, which  would you work to save and why? Make a list of 3 factors that might go into why some creatures might be preferred to be saved over others. Possible answers: "cuteness", reputation, national symbol, if there are other similar species, impact on the environment, etc.

Use a world map and have students locate the areas of the world where rhinos live in the wild. (Rhino can be found in Africa countries including South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Tanzania,Kenya and Uganda. They can be found in  India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Burma, Nepal and Vietnam. Rhinos are found on the island of Java. There may still be rhino in  Sumatra and Borneo.

Write a Day in the Life of a rhino. What did you do? What did you see? Feel? Smell? 

Read a story about a rhino  http://www.planetozkids.com/oban/legends/rhinoceros-horn.htm

Read an interview with a Rhino ranger/keeper: http://www.animalanswers.co.uk/blog/interview-with-a-rhino-ranger/  Pretend you work with rhinos and write a diary, including 3 facts learned about rhino.

Illustrate one of the Rhino Facts.

Try my webquest on the Rhino: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Rhinosaurus-Rotund-Rhinos-A-Webquest-698938

Gail

Photograph from Wpclipart.com 

International Day of Peace is September 21st

Perhaps, you will find this helpful to use on the International Day of Peace:

Click here for free downloadable version: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/International-Peace-Day-September-21st-3379110

The International Day of Peace is held every year on  September 21st. Also called Peace Day, the first celebration was adopted by the United Nations in 1982. It would be in 2001, that nations of the world established September 21st as International Day of Peace. In 2017, the theme for the  International Day of Peace is “Together for Peace: Respect, Safety and Dignity for All.”  At the United Nations, in New York City, the Japanese Peace Bell is rung to start the day. Made from coins collected by children from sixty countries,  the Peace Bell has the following words engraved on the bell, “Long live absolute world peace”.  There is a minute of silence at noon(at all time zones around the world).

Possible Activities for the International Day of Peace:

1. The dove is the international symbol of peace. Draw/ color a picture of a dove. Write a statement about the International Day of Peace.

2. Write an acrostic poem using the words PEACE.

3. Have students list some of the places in the world where there is conflict. Locate these places on a world map. Ask the students if they have any prior knowledge about the areas .

4. Alfred Nobel established the Nobel Peace Prize. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/  

Learn about some of the people that have been award recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize. The youngest was teenager, Malala Yousafzai.

was teenager, Malala Yousafzai.

5. Make a Peace Pole(“May Peace Prevail on Earth) and place in the lobby of your school.

6. Read Sadako Sasaki and her One Thousand Paper Cranes. Free online book: http://www.storyjumper.com/book/index/15882492/sadako-and-the-thousand-paper-cranes#   Make an origami paper crane.  http://www.origami-fun.com/origami-crane.html

7. Make a pinwheel for peace: http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/dailylp/dailylp/dailylp006.shtml

8.Share with kids how to say "PEACE" in many different languages: Write Peace In Different Languages

9. Check out my Purple Turtle story, Purple Meets Dovey, the Dove: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Purple-Turtle-Stories-Purple-Meets-Dovey-849071

10. Illustrate one of these quotes: Write a short paragraph explaining what they think the quote means.

A. “ Peace begins with a smile. “ Mother Teresa

B. "You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.“ Indira Gandhi

C.  "If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.”  Nelson Mandela

D.  "An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”  Mahatma Gandhi

E.  “It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it." Eleanor Roosevelt

F.  "While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart.”  Francis of Assisi

G.  “If you want peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.”  Archbishop Tutu

Gail Hennessey

Note: Illustration from wpclipart.com

Constitution Day

by

Gail Skroback Hennessey

Click here for a free downloadable version: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/CONSTITUTION-DAY-FREEBIE-FUN-FACTS-3338019

Each year, Constitution Day is celebrated on September 17th. This is the date, in 1787, when delegates to the Constitutional Convention, signed the Constitution. They had met for 116 days, at the State House(now called Independence Hall), in Philadelphia, PA.

In 2017, Constitutional Day will be observed on Monday,September 18th, since September 17, 2017, falls on a Sunday. Constitution Day is also called Citizenship Day.  It’s a day to celebrate this important document of our nation!

   

Did You Know?

1. Did you know that Ben Franklin arrived at the Grand Convention in Philadelphia on a sedan chair? Four prisoners from the local Philadelphia jail carried Franklin on the chair.

2. Before deciding on Mr. President, names for George Washington, the first leader of the United States, included “His Most Benign Highness” and “His Highness, the President of the United States of America and Protector of their Liberties.”

3. Philadelphia, the largest and most modern of cities at the time of the Convention, had a population of 40,000.  Gravel was used to cover the cobblestone streets to make it less noisy for the meetings.

4. It took 116 days to complete the draft of the document called the Constitution.

5. To date, only ONE amendment to the constitution has been removed(repealed). The 18th Amendment(1918) which abolished the making, sale and transportation of alcohol, was repealed in 1933.

6. Each night, the Constitution is lowered into a specially made vault for its protection.

7. George Washington announced the first national “Thanksgiving Day”, November 26, 1789, to “give thanks” for the creating of the Constitution.

8. The words “democracy” and “God” do not appear in the document of the Constitution.

9. Eighty-one year old Ben Franklin cried as he signed the Constitution.

10. James Madison, who would become the 4th President of the United States, was called the “Father of the Constitution”. 

Teacher Page:

Things to do:

1. Have students pretend they are the Constitution on display at the National Archives. Tell a day in your life as people come to see you. What do you hear? See? feel? https://www.archives.gov/publications/general-info-leaflets/1-about-archives.html

1. Enter the Constitution Day Poster Contest:Postmarked by Oct. 2, 2017: https://www.constitutionday.cc/2017_EntryForm_110315.pdf

3.  This link explains the Bill of Rights  for kids: http://kids.laws.com/bill-of-rights  Groups of students could be assigned one of the rights and make a poster.  Have students write a paragraph explaining which right they feel is most important and why.

4. Have students create posters or greeting cards for Constitution Day.

Website of Interest:

http://www.constitutionday.com

*Check out my Ms. Bie Ografee Play on James Madison, Father of the Constitution: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/ConstitutionReaders-Theater-Script-James-MadisonFather-of-the-Constitution-3337971