Gail's Boom Cards!

I have started to create Boom Cards, a great learning tool. You may find them of interest to check out.

Gail Hennessey’s Boom Card Store:(See Previews)

US Landmarks: https://wow.boomlearning.com/deck/us-landmarks-what-do-you-know-about-landmarks-of-the-usa20-cards-AGE62MZnEempaZ3gF. (20 Cards in the Deck)

World Landmarks: https://wow.boomlearning.com/deck/world-landmarks-77kyhf5z4JwbsoPcd (20 Cards in the Deck)

Presidential Trivia: https://wow.boomlearning.com/deck/presidential-trivia-what-do-you-know-about-the-presidents-of-the-usa-CyjHQqq39Ce92R37f (30 Cards in the Deck)

Famous Women: https://wow.boomlearning.com/deck/famous-women-boom-cards-b5FSEGizv5quZvKbe (30 Cards)

Maps/Geography: https://wow.boomlearning.com/deck/maps-and-geography-MuGCCDAE24fRsrJrG (30 Cards)

*Coming soon: Famous Women Boom Cards!

NOTES:

To use Boom Cards, you must be connected to the Internet. Boom Cards play on modern browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge). Apps are available for Android, iPads, iPhones, and Kindle Fires. For security and privacy, adults must have a Boom Learning account to use and assign Boom Cards. You will be able to assign the Boom Cards you are buying with "Fast Pins," (play provides instant feedback for self-grading Boom Cards). Fast Play is always a free way for students to engage with Boom Cards decks. For additional assignment options you'll need a premium account. If you are new to Boom Learning, you will be offered a free trial of our premium account. Read here for details: http://bit.ly/BoomTrial.

You may be eligible for a free trial from Boom Learning. Read here for details: http://bit.ly/BoomTrial. If you choose not to stay on a premium account after your free trial, you will still be able to assign all your Boom Cards to as many students as you see fit using Fast Play pins (which give instant feedback for decks that are self-grading).

 Boom Learning and Boom Cards are the trademarks of Boom Learning Inc. Used with permission.

JULY is National Ice Cream Month!

COOL facts about Ice Cream

Did you Know that JULY is National Ice Cream Month  in the USA? It was established by President Ronald Reagan, in 1984. National Ice Cream Day is the 3rd Sunday in July. Learn some fun facts about ice cream!

• One scoop of ice cream needs about 50 licks to finish.

• The Chinese were making a type of ice cream with milk,rice and snow, about 2000 BC.

• The average American eats 48 pints of ice cream each year.

• To make one gallon of ice cream, you need 12 pounds of milk. A dairy cow can produce enough milk for about 9000 gallons of ice cream in its lifetime.

• The USA is the world's leading producer of ice cream.

• Alexander the Great liked nectar and honey flavored snow.

• National Ice Cream Month is in July.

• Yes...vanilla is the most popular ice cream flavor(followed by chocolate and strawberry).

• An ice cream tester for Dreyer's Ice Cream actually insured his tongue for $1 million dollars!

• Dolly Madison served strawberry ice cream at the second inaugural ball of her husband, President James Madison, in 1812.

• Sunday is the day of the week when the most ice cream is sold in the United States.

• Did you know that one of the main ingredients in ice cream is ....AIR.(makes it lighter and gives it  smoothness)

• During WW2, the U.S. Navy(1945) built a floating ice cream parlor   for our sailors fighting in the Pacific.

• More ice cream is sold in the WINTER months in Canada than the summer months.

• Strange ice cream flavors? Jalapeno, dill pickle ice cream, garlic ice cream, bacon ice cream,blue cheese and shallots, squid ink and curry carrot ice cream might be flavors to include in this list.

• The world's largest ice cream cone weighted 2204 pounds. It was 13 feet tall. It was made in Gloucester, UK, in 2012.

• The world's largest ice cream sundae was created in Kingston, NY, in 2014. It  was 1606 ft. tall.

• Ever get a brain freeze from eating ice cream?  The top of the mouth has lots of nerves. When cold ice cream comes into contact with these nerves, it causes blood vessels in the brain to dilate, giving the short headache also known as an ice cream headache.

* During World War 2, Mussolini banned ice cream in the country of Italy. He thought it was too American!

• Thomas Jefferson loved ice cream. See his recipe for Vanilla Ice Cream.

Extension Activities:

* Write a haiku poem on ice cream.

* If you had to describe ice cream to an alien from outer space, what would be 3 descriptives you'd use to explain the treat.  Write a paragraph about your encounter sharing ice cream with an alien.

* Draw/color a picture of an ice cream sundae. Exchange your drawing with 3 others and have them write descriptive words to describe what they see. When your drawing is returned, write a paragraph using the comments about your ice cream sundae.

* There is a saying, " A picture is worth a 1000 words. Illustrate/color one of the facts about ice cream which conveys the fact.

Additional Link:

1. https://www.almanac.com/content/history-ice-cream Timeline on the history of ice cream.

Gail

The Confederate Issue in 2020

BELL RINGER:

Did you know that a number of our military bases are named for Confederate soldiers? A senate committee has voted to look into changing the names. It is thought that those that wished to fight against our country and flag, do not deserve to be honored. These people lost the war and do not deserve such recognition except in a museum where the history of the Civil War can be studied. Others say that it is history, or heritage, and it is wrong to erase the names of these men from places of honor.

Your Turn:

1. Should the losing side in a war be honored with statues, schools and military bases?

2. How do you think African Americans feel about going into a school or onto a military base named for someone that fought and died to keep their ancestor’s slaves?

3. Who do you think might be specific people to rename such military bases?

4. There are also statues of Confederate men honored in the National Statuary Hall Collection in the Capitol Building. Each state gets to send 2 people to represent their states. Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, says it is time to remove all Confederate statues from the Congress. What do you think? WHO are the two people from your state that are in the The National Statuary Hall Collection?

Photograph from Politico.

World Giraffe Day is June 21st!

World Giraffe Day is June 21st

NOTE: Click here for the free download of this Interactive Notebook Activity: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Giraffe-Possible-Interactive-Notebook-Activity-2924530

The Giraffe

Possible Interactive Notebook Activity

by

Gail Skroback Hennessey

In less than 30 years, the number of giraffe have drastically decreased by almost 40 percent. That makes giraffe in more danger of extinction than the elephant. In 2016, the conservation group, The International Union for Conservation of Nature, listed the giraffe on its Red List of species which are endangered.  Specifically, the giraffe has been moved from “least concern” to “vulnerable”.The main cause for their dwindling population is destruction of their habitat.  Additionally the group says that illegal hunting of giraffe and civil unrest in the areas where giraffes roam are also causes for their declining numbers.  Learn about the giraffe with this web quest!

Did you Know?

1. There are nine subspecies of giraffe.  One is stable, three are actually increasing in number and 5 have dwindling numbers.

2. Did you know that the okapi is the only close relative of the giraffe?

3. The tallest land animals, the giraffe’s legs are about six feet long!

4. Each giraffe’s spots are different. They are like a human fingerprint.

5. People once called the giraffe a “camel-leopard” because of its small hump and leopard spots. That is how it got its the species name of camelopardalis.

6. Hisses, grunts, snorts roars and even moos are some of the sounds made by a giraffe.

7. Giraffes sleep less than 30 minutes a day.

8. Did you know a giraffe can reach speeds of about 35 miles per hour(56 K)?

9. Giraffes don’t drink much water, just a few drinks every few days. In fact they drink less water than a camel! Drinking isn’t easy as their necks can’t reach the ground. A giraffe must spread its front legs when it wants to take a drink of water.

10. Although Giraffes can lie down, they tend to spend most of their lives standing.

11. Did you know that a giraffe can clean its ears with its tongue! That’s an amazing feat that humans can’t do!

12. Weighing up to 24 pounds, a giraffe’s heart is about 2 ft. long.

13. Did you know a giraffe’s tail can be up to 8 feet long? The tail of the giraffe is the longest of any land mammal.

14. You can tell the age of a giraffe from its spots. They get darker as a giraffe ages.

15. You can find giraffes living in the grasslands, woodlands and

savannas of Africa.

16. With bristly hair, the purple-bluish tongue of a giraffe is tough enabling

them to eat thorny Acadia trees(one of their favorite foods).

Your Turn:

1. Pretend you are a giraffe. Write a day in your life. What did you do? What did you see? What did you hear? Include 3 facts learned about the giraffe in your diary entry.
2. Illustrate one of the fun facts about the giraffe.
3. Use each letter of the word, GIRAFFE, and write a poem.
4. Write a persuasive paragraph and explain why you think that humans should try and save the giraffe from extinction.  Give 2 reasons in your persuasive paragraph. 

5.  Write a story on how a giraffe got its long neck, long tail or long legs. 

6. Read the myth, How Giraffes Got Long Necks. Write a summary of the story. http://myths.e2bn.org/mythsandlegends/userstory6430-how-giraffes-got-long-necks.html

Check out my webquest on the Giraffe(it includes these fun facts as well as extension activities and links for the teacher: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/All-About-the-Giraffe-A-Website-2924515

Flag Day is Coming! June 14th

Fun Flag Facts:

1. A vexillologist is someone that studies flags! 

2. Most flags have the colors red and white. 

3. Only Vatican City and the country of Switzerland have square flags.

4. Most world flags are rectangle in shape. The flag of the country of Nepal is the only one which is not rectangular or square in shape.

5. When Sir Edmond Hillary and his Sherpa guide, Tenzing Norgay, summited Mt. Everest, the Union Jack, the flag of Great Britain, was placed.

6.The idea of a National Flag Day,a day to honor our flag, was started by Bernard J. Cigrand, in 1885.  

7. There are currently 6 American flags on the moon.  

8. The country of Bhutan has a white dragon on its flag.

9. “From Old Saxon," Fflaken" , meaning “to fly or to float in the air”, is where the word FLAG originated.

10.The largest American Flag is called the Superflag. It weighs 3000 pounds and is the size of 2.8 football fields.

11. A WHITE flag is the symbol of a truce or ceasefire.

12.The last of the 50 stars represents the state of Hawaii.

Extension Activities:

1. https://www.factmonster.com/take-quiz/usflag
Take this Flag quiz

2. Pretend you are an American flag on the moon or in a town, or on a mountain top. What do you hear, see, feel, etc. as you wave in the air? Remember...on the moon, there is no atmosphere so the flag wouldn’t wave!

3. Write a haiku to describe the American flag. A haiku has 3 lines(5-7-5 syllables per line). Use descriptive words. Sentence structure isn’t necessary. To check syllables, place your hand under your chin. Each time the chin drops is a syllable. For example: elephant. Three drops = 3 syllables.

4. Illustrate one of the factoids. Write a sentence to go with your drawing.

5. Read about the history of Flag Day: https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/flag-day. Write a paragraph explaining the history of Flag Day, including 3 facts learned from the reading.

Check out my Flag Webquest!  

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Our-American-Flag-A-Webquest-Extension-Activities-726295

Learn about the History of the Star Spangled Banner and Francis Scott Key:  https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Francis-Scott-KeyThe-Star-Spangled-BannerA-Webquest-1401231

Gail

JUNE is BRAIN AWARENESS MONTH.

JUNE IS BRAIN AWARENESS MONTH

COOL BRAIN FACTOIDS!

by

Gail SKroback Hennessey

The brain is made up of five main parts: the brain stem, pituitary gland, hypothalamus, cerebellum, and the cerebrum.  Learn some cool facts about your brain! Share these facts with students.

• Did you know that the brain is about 3 pounds in weight?

• The largest part of the brain, or 85%, is called the cerebrum.

• Did you know that 75% of the brain is made up of water?

• The brain feels no pain as there aren’t any pain receptors in the brain.

• If you lined up all the neurons in your brain, they’d stretch about 600 miles!  That’s because there are about one hundred BILLION neurons in the brain. They are very tiny. About 50 neurons could be lined up side by side across a dot. What’s a neuron?  It’s a nerve cell.

• You can’t tickle yourself! That’s because the brain can tell the difference between your own touch and an external one.

• Did you know that there is a BRAIN BANK at Harvard? It’s the largest such “bank” in the world. About 7,000 brains are stored at the bank for research.

• Mummies of ancient Egyptians have been found with drilled holes suggesting people had some sorts of brain surgery in ancient times.

• You could use  a butter knife to cut the brain. It is THAT soft.

• Your brain creates about 25 watts of energy while you are awake, enough to light up a light bulb.

• Ancient Egyptians didn’t see any value in the human brain. It was removed via the nostrils and thrown away in the mummy-making process.

• Wow…it is estimated that we have 70,000 thoughts each and every day! That’s a lot of thoughts…hopefully they are positive ones.

• 170 mph is the speed in which nerve impulses travel to the brain and back.

• Scientists say we blink about 20,000 times each day. The brain keeps the world from going dark each time we blink.

• The hypothalamus is your brain’s thermostat. It monitors your body temperature. If it is too high, you sweat to help cool down. If your body temperature gets cold, you shiver to warm up.

• Have you had a “brain freeze”? The correct term is sphenopalatine Ganglioneuralgia.

• Often nicknamed, the “grey matter”, the brain is actually a pink-beige color.

• It is estimated that the brain has about 100,000 miles of blood vessels!

• Eating eagle hearts and crushed lizards was thought, in the middle Ages, to be brain food!

• Our brain’s very short term memory(working memory) can remember up to about seven digits at a time before it is forgotten. Hmmm, no wonder telephone numbers are no longer than seven digits!

TRY SOME FUN BRAIN ACTIVITIES AT THIS LINK: http://www.gailhennessey.com/index.shtml?brainfryer.html

Check out these Brain links:

http://kidshealth.org/kid/htbw/brain.html

http://www.ducksters.com/science/brain.php

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/anatomy/brain/index.shtml

NOTE: Illustration from wpclipart.com

YOU CAN ALSO DOWNLOAD THIS RESOURCE AT THIS LINK: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Brain-Factoids-1900973