Have you downloaded this FREE Reading, Yet?(Unusual Stories about our Presidents: Calvin Coolidge and the Pennsylvania Ave Zoo)

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Calvin-Coolidge-and-the-Pennsylvania-Avenue-Zoo-A-Reading-Passage-6544021

Part of my Series: Interesting Stories about Presidents, students will learn about Calvin Coolidge and his many animals. Some nicknamed the White House , "Pennsylvania Avenue Zoo". Additionally, students will learn interesting facts about the 30th President of the United States. The reading passage also include a Did You You? Fun facts and comprehension questions.

Did You Know? 1. Calvin Coolidge became president when President Warren G. Harding, died while traveling to Alaska. The yearwas 1923. Coolidge would serve as president, having won the next election, until 1929. 2. Calvin Coolidge is the only President to have been born on July 4th.Three other presidents, Thomas Jefferson,John Adams and James Monroe, died on July 4th. Interestingly Jefferson and Adams died on the same date, July 4, 1826. 3. While president, Coolidge signed the law granting citizenship to Native American. The year was 1924. 4. Coolidge was visiting his family in Vermont when Harding died. Coolidge’s dad, John Calvin Coolidge gave him the oath of office. He is the only president to be sworn into office by his father. 5. The first president to have his inauguration carried on the radio was Calvin Coolidge. 7. The Roaring Twenties, period of prosperity, was during Calvin Coolidge’s presidency. 8. Grace Coolidge was a teacher of the hearing impaired.She encouraged increased awareness for the hearing impaired and Helen Keller was a guest at the White House. Teacher Page: 1. Two Quotes of Calvin Coolidge: A. “It takes a great man to be a good listener.” B. “We cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once.” Have students select one of the quotes and illustrate and write a paragraph on what they think the quote is saying. 2. Write a diary pretending to be Rebecca the Raccoon. Tell a diary in the day of your life. Include 3 facts learned from the reading. 3. What is an unusual animal you would love to see up close? Why? 4. If you were President, what would be 3 issues of importance to you? 5. Select one of the unusual pets of the Coolidges and research 5 facts about them. Draw a picture and write the facts on your drawing.

Other reading resources in the series, Unusual stories about our Presidents: 1. George Washington and the Camel: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/George-Washington-and-the-Camel-1787-A-Reading-Passage-6401974?st=997d14f22e1f5f1aa3916b0a26553ee7

Great for around the holidays!

2.Thomas Jefferson and the Mammoth Cheese: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Thomas-Jefferson-and-the-Mammoth-Cheese-2248634?st=5a6394dd0f5c4900212468847a708ed3

3. John Quincy Adams Goes for a Swim: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/John-Quincy-Adams-A-Reading-Passage-6515586

What do you think of Calvin Coolidge and the Pennsylvania Ave Zoo?

Back to School: Start the year with some of These Geographic Activities!

 

Geographic Activities to Foster Geographic Awareness.

Click here for free download: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Geography-Awareness-WeekNovember-10-192019-4177062

1. A fun way to show our  Globally Interdependent World: Assign a partner and have the students check the labels on their tops to see where they are made.  Do the same for their shoes. Have the students do a safari search with their partner looking for where things in the room were made(ex: crayons, textbook, colored pencils, ruler, etc.). Explain that in a globally interdependent world, we have goods from many parts of the world.  Identify the countries mentioned on a world map. Continue by having students find things in their home and where they are made. For example- their television, computer, dinner dishes, favorite jeans, favorite game or sporting equipment.  Discuss the countries using a world map for reference and tally up the 4 most popular countries mentioned for products in their homes.  

2. Atlas Letter Game:  Give groups of students a list of letters from A-Z and an atlas.  Have the students find a country, a capital city, river or a mountain range which starts with each letter of the alphabet. Return as a class and tell the students to raise their hand if the same response is given for a letter. Start with A. If more than one group has “Austria” for example, cross out the response and no points are given. If groups have different responses, the teams each earn 2 points. If only one team has a response and no other group has any country, capital city, river or mountain range for the same letter, the team earns 3 points. Continue down the alphabet list reviewing what the groups wrote down on their list of letters. The group with the most points wins!

3. Teaching Latitude and Longitude: Copy the map at this site: https://www.mapsofindia.com/worldmap/latitude-longitude.html or this link: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/geography/world/cylatlongoutlinemap/  After explaining coordinates of latitude and Longitude, have students use a crayon to mark N(north) and S(south) above and below the equator and E(east) and W(west) on opposite sides of the Prime Meridian.  Explain that Latitude is stated first.  Have students place their one hand on the latitude line and the other hand on the longitude line for the coordinates you state.  For example, Which continent is 40 degrees N of the Equator and 140 degrees W of the Prime Meridian?(Asia). For younger children. Use colored masking tape and make a grid on the playground.  Place  0, 20, 30, 40,50 north and same for south on the latitude lines. Place 0, 15, 30, 45, 60 east and west on the Longitude lines.  Have a student stand on the 20 N and another student stand on 15 W. Have them walk together until they meet.  Another latitude and longitude activity is to make a grid using the coordinates  and having  LETTER where they meet. In groups have students figure out a short message from given coordinates using the letter grid.

4. Geographic IQ Game: Prior to this activity, make a number of pictures of a world map , globe and  red Xs. Divide the students into 4 groups..  Take turns asking a group a geographic question(ex: which is the largest ocean? Name a country on the continent of Europe. What is a peninsula?)  If the group give the correct answer, they get a picture of a world map or globe.  If wrong, they get a picture of an X.  Groups with correct responses can opt to get another world map or globe, or pass an X they may have earned to another team. The team with the most world maps and globes are the geographic IQ game winners! 

5. Create geography puzzlers: Have partners of students  make a geography puzzler with three facts from hardest to easiest about a mystery place in the world. Once done, have the students share their geographic puzzler with the class.  Taking turns, have the other partners try and be the first to raise their hand identifying the mystery location. For example: Clue 1. I am thinking of a place which touches the Pacific Ocean.  Clue 2: This country is an island. Clue 3:  It’s capital city is Manila. (Answer-Philippines)

6. Humpty Dumpty World Mappers: Go to the following website: http://www.jigzone.com/gallery/Mountains Assign groups of students a puzzle on a mountain of the world(such as the Matterhorn). After completing the puzzle, go to a site such as https://www.skyhookadventure.com/blog/famous-mountains-of-the-world

and type in the name of the mountain. On an index card, write three facts about the mountain to share with the rest of the class on completion of the activity. Have the students go up to a world map and show the mountain’s location. Another activity would be to copy some world maps(see this link:http://www.worldatlas.com. Have 2 students cut up the map. Pass the pieces to another group. Allow time for the students to try and piece their puzzle together. Time their first attempt.  Jumble the pieces and solve the puzzle two more times and record the fastest time.

7. Geography Concentration. Have groups make up cards with geographic questions and answers on index cards(ex: Peninsula/ land surrounded by water on three sides  France / capital is Paris ) Have groups share their cards with another group. Students take turns turning over pairs of index cards to find their match.  If they find a pair, they continue their turn as long as they find pairs.

8. Country Cards: Give students a card with the following headings:  Mountain , River, Resource, Continent and Cool geography fact(such as Iran is the world’s leading exporter of pistachio nuts). Have students select a country of the world and find information to fill in the grid card.

9. How did they get that name? Just why is the NBA basketball team, the LA Lakers, called that name?  There aren’t lots of lakes in Los Angeles! Make a list of some of the major league basketball, football and baseball teams.  This site is really great to give the origin of the team’s names.  http://www.factmonster.com/spot/nameorigins1.html  Seems that the LA Lakers originally came from Minnesota where there are LOTS of lakes. In fact, the state motto of Minnesota is “Land of 10,000 Lakes.” When the team moved, the part about lakes stayed. See if the students can brainstorm the geographic origin of some of the following teams’ names.   NY Knickerbockers(Knicks for short)(Give a hint... who first settled New York?)  Utah Jazz(Give a hint... the team originated in New Orleans) Seattle Supersonics(hint... Boeing airplane manufactures are headquartered in this state) Houston Astros(Hint ...NASA Space Center is in Houston) Indiana Pacers(hint...Indianapolis 500 is here) Denver Nuggets(Hint...What caused people to go west in 1849?)  Baltimore Ravens(Hint... Famous writer, Edgar Allan Poe lived in this city)

Fun sites to help with geography:

1. Make a compass-see this site: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/steering-science-make-a-homemade-compass/

2. http://www.earthcam.com Have students check out a world webcam site such as the Eiffel Tower, Mt. Rushmore, Niagara Falls and more.

3. http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/waffenschmidt.shtml  Where in the World is Mrs. Waffenschmidt? 

4. http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/archives/geography_az.shtml Geography A-Z activities.

5. http://www.worldtimezone.com/  What time is it around the world.

6. Free geographic activities: http://gailhennessey.com/index.shtml?geography.html

More Geographic Resources:

1. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Geography-Geographic-Secret-Messages-709102
2. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Maps-and-Geography-Lets-Map-It-433017
3. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Maps-and-Geography-Test-Your-Knowledge-Challenge-ActivityBack-to-School-9239435 Test your Geography Knowledge Challenge
4. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/World-Capitals-Test-Your-Knowledge-Challenge-Activity-9253008 World Capitals. Test Your Knowledge Challenge
5. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/US-Landmarks-Test-Your-Knowledge-Challenge-Activity-9270184 Test Your Knowledge Challenge Activity-US Landmarks
6. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/World-Landmarks-Webquest-1516428 World Landmarks, A Webquest

 See Purple Annie’s Travels to China: FREE! http://www.gailhennessey.com/index.shtml?purpleanniestravels.html

Illustrations from Wpclipart.com and Pixabay.com

We all See the World in our own Unique Way! Back to School Activity!

                                                      

 We all See the World in our own Unique Way!

This is an activity I used in the beginning of the school year. Give students a shape and have students make something out of it. I have used a straight line with a triangle at the end .You can use any shape. It is amazing the different creations students create from the same shape! Some of my students turned the shape into a stop sign with a car, others created a face, a pyramid scene, mountain view, etc.

Have student color their creation and share the results with the rest of the class. 

You can also use this as a creative writing giving students another student’s drawing and write a paragraph about the drawing.

You could also use this activity to discuss individuality and tolerance.

1. Why do we have different viewpoints on a similar topic?
2. How should you react to someone viewpoint if is isn’t the same as your?
3. Do you have something that you feel makes you unique?

4. Have you ever experienced someone making fun of you? How did you react?

You can expand this as an introduction to cultures to discuss a culture’s uniqueness.

For example, in the United States, we shake hands. How do people greet one another in another culture? Discuss the ways of a group of people are called customs.

Have students share examples of customs of different people of the world. 

Here are some examples of different cultures’ customs:

• Chinese and Japanese people bow to greet one another. Chinese and Japanese people also use chopsticks. Shoes are removed before entering a building in Japan.                                                               •In Indonesian, you point with your thumb.                                     

• In Greece, it is good luck to thrown a child’s tooth onto the roof.            

  • In Morocco, after shaking hands, people in Morocco often place their  right hand on their heart - a sign of friendship.                              

  • In Netherlands, family and friends usually kiss the cheek three times. 

  • In Vietnam, white is the color of death.                                       

• Some people hiss to get someone’s attention in India.

• In Tibet, it is considered respectful to stick your tongue out at someone.

Hope you find this activity of interest. 

Gail 

                           Check out my website for activities for teachers/kids: gailhennessey.com and my TpT Store: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/gail-hennessey (I would be appreciative if you would click to follow my store.)

Illustration from clipart-library.com

Back to School Activity!

Perhaps, teachers may find this activity of interest:

A Back to School Activity.

Why Study History:

Show students that everything has a history, even them!

I started the activity by bringing in my childhood toy. It is rather sad looking after all these years. I shared memories about the stuffed animal, a dog, and how I remember dropping it in a street, when I was a little girl. My dad had to go back and retrieve it. It had gotten run over a few times! Pinky is no longer pink and my mom had to place new eyes on it several times.

1. What was your favorite toy as a younger child?
2. Why was it important to you?
3. Describe what it looked like?
4. What happened to your favorite childhood toy?

Write a paragraph with an opening sentence. Expand on your responses in your paragraph. Make sure to have a closing or wrap up sentence.

Ask the students to share their favorite childhood toys with the rest of the class.

Share this reading on Why Study History and how what we have in our lives today came to us from many different cultures when people came and exchanged their culture with others.  https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Why-Study-HistoryBack-to-SchoolSharing-CulturesReading-Passage-3164074

Constitution Day is Coming!

      

 

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. If Constitutional Day falls on a Sunday, as it did in 2017, the official observation is the following day. 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

2.  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.

3. 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

Photograph of US Constitution from Constitution Center.org

Back to School Highlighted Resources

 

 https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/gail-hennessey

                    Here are some of my highlighted Resources for BACK to SCHOOL

Gail

1. FAKE NEWS. FAKE NEWS: The term FAKE News seems to be used a lot these days! A recent survey found that many young people(and adults for that matter) can't seem to determine which is a real news story from a fake news story. We need to develop digital critical literacy with our students. This Interactive Notebook activity also has extension activities: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/FAKE-NEWS-Developing-Digital-Critical-Literacy-with-Kids-INA-3074653

 

2.  Need information to use with your students on map skills? Included are notes, lots of activities to use with your students(4-8th grade) and website resources. Also included, a 10 question web quest, comprehension questions(and writing in the content area), and some fun facts on the topic of maps and geography of the world. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Maps-and-Geography-Lets-Map-It-433017

 

3. Geographic Secret Messages: Need a geography activity? Try my geographic secret messages. Students find the answers to geographic questions and then use the first letter of the answer to arrive at a secret message. When the questions are answered, the "secret" term(a geography term) will be revealed!  

There are 5 geographic messages to solve. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Geography-Geographic-Secret-Messages-709102   and https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Geography-Geographic-Secret-Messages-Continuepart-2-709110

 

4.Mesopotamia, called the cradle of civilization, is where archaeologists have found the remains of the oldest historic people.People called the Sumerians, Babylonians, Chaldeans, Akkadians and Assyrians, all called the area home. These people left behind many ideas which we still have today. This unit of study includes notes, map work, a webquest, activities and resources. http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Mesopotamia-First-Historic-PeopleUnit-with-notesactivites-and-resources-349937 Have students learn aboutHammurabi, the important lawmaker of ancient times with this biographical reading passage. Additional, there are several Did You Know? facts and comprehension questions. The teacher page gives additional links and the key.  https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Hammurabi-King-of-Babylon-A-Reading-Passage-2728405. I also have a bundle of resources on this topic: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Ancient-Mesopotamia-A-Bundle-of-Resources-2808475. A reading on Enheduanna, First Known Poet in History(Mesopotamia): https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Womens-History-Mesopotamias-Enheduanna-First-Known-Poet-in-History-4039105

 

5. This product covers an introduction to the Phoenicians and their contributions to the world(Alphabet, color purple, first sea traders).Notes, extension activities and links and several comprehension questions, too. http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Lets-Learn-about-the-Phoenicians-366696. Learn about Hannibal with this reading resource: This resource is part of my new series, "Let's Meet..." famous people in ancient history. With this biographical reading passage, students will learn about Hannibal, the famous general of ancient times. There is a Did You Know? section, comprehension questions, map activity and a teacher page with extensions and links and the key.  https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Hannibal-Famous-General-of-Ancient-TimesReading-Activity-3978956. I also have a bundle on this topic: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Phoenicians-A-Bundle-of-Resources-4028719

I also have a reading on Hanno, Phoenician explorer: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Hanno-Phoenician-Sea-Explorer-4028002

 

6.  Learn all about mummies of the world. Included: Bog Mummies, Otzi, Chinchorro Mummies, Taklamakan Desert Mummies, Egyptian Mummies and more. 12 informative text questions/comprehension questions/extension activities, key, fun facts: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/MUMMIES-A-WebquestExtension-Activities-1915946King Tut: Learn lots of fun facts about mummies and specifically the discovery of King Tut's tomb with this play based on the To Tell the Truth Game Show Format(currently on ABC Television during the summer months). Directions and a suggested YouTube Clip to show the idea of the game, comprehension questions, discussion questions and extension activities(and resources) are included. The biographical play meets several common core standards in social studies and language arts.

I really think your students will have fun with this play on King Tut!https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/King-Tut-Wrapping-with-a-Mummy-Biographical-PlayTo-Tell-the-Truth-Play-338665

 

7. With this biographical reading passage, students will learn about Hatshepsut,the first female Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. There is a Did You Know? section, comprehension questions and a teacher page with extensions and links. This resource is part of my new series, "Let's Meet..." famous people in ancient history. More titles are being added in the coming weeks. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Hatshepsut-First-Female-PHARAOH-of-Ancient-EgyptReading-Passage-2733259. I also have a similar resource on Ramses: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Ramses-the-Great-Pharaoh-of-Ancient-Egypt-A-Reading-Passage-2763573. I have a bundle on all things Egyptians: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Ancient-Egyptians-A-Bundle-of-ResourcesAncient-Egyptians-2808551

 

8. This mini-unit on Early Humans/Prehistoric Cultures will assist the classroom teacher in presenting this topic of history to students.In addition to an overview and notes, lots of additional resources, websites and activities are also included. This resource also includes a web quest with 12 web questions. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Prehistoric-Man-Earliest-Cultures-Early-Humans--342418

 

9. Show kids that pretzels, shoes, chewing gum, peanuts, tulips and candy all have a history with my Everything Has a History series ! For the beginning of the school year, show kids that even pencils, pens and paper have a history! https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Pencils-Pens-Paper-Webquest-Back-to-School-Activity-737576 I also have a bundle on this topic: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/History-Everything-has-a-History-A-Bundle-of-Resource-4448553

 

11. Learn about the U.S. Constitution(Constitution Day is September 18th). Part of my Ms. Bie Ografee series of plays, this Reader's Theater Script is on the "Father of the Constitution", James Madison(1751-1836). With 13 audience questioners, a Did You Know Section, comprehension questions, a Teacher Page with extension activities, key and additional links, students will learn about the writing of our important government document, the Constitution. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/ConstitutionReaders-Theater-Script-James-MadisonFather-of-the-Constitution-3337971

 

12. Countries in Focus: Great for a Friday Activity, a substitute or if you are covering the areas in your units of study: TEN countries are in the bundle: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Countries-of-the-WorldA-Bundle-of-Webquests-on-Different-Countries-4725632

FREEBIES!

 

1. FREEBIE ON APPLE FACTS: This interactive notebook on Apples has several activities and 17 interesting fun facts about apples. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/APPLE-FACTS-Interactive-Notebook-Activity-3259122.

 

2. FREEBIE: CONSTITUTION Fun Facts!Learn some fun facts on the Constitution. Activity for Constitution Day! Each year, Constitution Day is celebrated on September 17th. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/CONSTITUTION-DAY-FREEBIE-FUN-FACTS-3338019

 

3. Mummy Facts:https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Amazing-Mummy-Facts-Possible-Interactive-Notebook-Activity-906580

 

4. Antibullying: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Antibullying-FreebieINA-2971457

 

5. International  Peace Day: September 21st. The International Day of Peace is held every year on September 21st.  https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/International-Peace-Day-September-21st-3379110

 

6.  World Rhino Day( 9/22)  Freebie: http://www.gailhennessey.com/index.shtml?rhinofacts.html

 

Images from Pixabay and WPClipart