1. Quick Programming Ideas

Make Way For Duckling

After I read the book Make Way For Duckings to the children I would talk about the rhyming words of the ducklings names. Then we would talk about how the duckling came out of the egg and elaborate the stages of the life cycle. The activity with the children would be making a picture of the ducklings with Mr. and Mrs.  Mallard swimming. I found in the party supplies at Hobby Lobby stores on the Baby Shower section they have yellow ducks for cupcake toppers. I cut them in the middle and take out the tooth pick and use booth side to make my picture of the eight ducklings and the adult mallard ducks with the kids hand using tempera paint. Tempera paint does not have to be used if you found it to be very messy it can also be drawn to the paper or traced. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_75swunmSL0

Programming Contest 1

Superhero book reads Challenge

Planning:  On contest the librarian has to make sure to have enough superhero books for the entire school if you want to challenge the student body. It can also be done for only 2^nd - 5^th grade students. This Contest can be done in October. The contest can run for two weeks or for the month. Address to the students to return the books back to the library as soon as they finish thereby there will always be circulating for those who take on the challenge. Make Superhero displays inside and outside the library for encouragement and advertisement. Have a separate Superhero book log for each student who is participating so they can see how many books the student has read throughout the week. The prize can be free Marvel book series with their favorite superhero cape or a free movie ticket and DVD of a Superhero movie. If possible the student for every ten superhero books read they can get a superhero cut out by which they can collect all the superheroes during the contest. 

Promotion: Make posters of superheroes stating the rules and the starting and ending date of the contest. Identify the prize for the student who reads the most Superhero books.  Their picture will be posted on the school website. Stress on the posters that the winner will be the one who reads the most Superhero books ONLY. Make sure it is being announced on the intercom on a daily basis for encouragements and reminder. They can read books found in the public library and bought in the books stores.

Preparations: Have the superhero books set apart from other books on display. Have posters promoting the book challenge posted around the school and flyers taken home for parents to help their son/daughter with the contest. Make sure you stress to each student to return the book as soon as they have finish reading it. Have announcements already made and waiting for the duration of the contest. Have copies of different superheroes cut outs to give as they read ten books. Make sure the librarian keeps up with the circulation of the superhero books that way the student will have a variety to read and not have to waste time waiting for a book because they are still sitting to be put out on shelf. 

Procedures: Students must sign up at the library and must understand the rules before starting reading. The computer must display how many books are read and be logged on a separate paper to verify every milestone reached. At the end of the contest the librarian will announced over the intercom for the entire student body to hear the student who has won and his/ her prize.

Payoff: The winner will receive either a series of Marvel books and their superhero cape or a superhero movie ticket and DVD.

Resources found in Teacher pay teachers and on Pintress.
Capes are found at Amazon.com.

Michael Gurian on How to Get Boys Reading More

Mean girls bully video for my school

Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy by Emily Bazelon

Outstanding Books for the College Bound

Bazelon, E.( 2013).Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy. Random House .New York.

The author starts the book with three school age students who were bullied and one was a bully at different school in America. She gives a picture of how difficult it is to be a teenager growing up in today’s schools. She gives us a glimpse of what happens when adults with well-meaning hearts try to solve a problem as she demonstrates the consequences of each story in the child’s life. : an African-American girl, Monique McClain, who was target by some girls at her school in Connecticut,  switched schools after experiencing depression and found happiness; a gay student from New York, Jacob Lasher, who had to deal with prejudice ; and Phoebe Prince, an Irish girl from Massachusetts, who was bullied appallingly to end up committing suicide. She gives to parents how they can intervene on behave of their child, what schools can make a difference in students and what can turn in as people and social agencies come together for the better of the child’s life. On the life of the girls who committed suicide she gives a clear view of how she had being changed from a school and was taking antidepressants but stayed of it for five weeks before taking her life. But a life like this can be turned around be helped as she has shown from George Sugai who deeply believes that positive rewards for positive social skills can be more effective than punishment for the kids who are the bullies. That has proven to change his school and his students. She also looks into Facebook how they are trying to also bring a stop to this but that some kids are giving up their privacy by being part of Facebook. She explains why she does not believe that violent video games, obscene music, absentee parents, and social media is the true cause of bullying. She does come to understand that it’s not one thing that is causing this negative behavior but an element of different things that contribute it each with its own specific combinations that can bring this to an individual life. 

There are several books that can all so help with the bulling they are found in Amazon and the lesson plans found in Teachers pay Teachers website; 

Bullying can cause hurt feelings, tears, and emotional scars. This pack helps define the many different types of bullying as well as how to handle it in different situations. 

Bullying Definition Posters
• What is Bullying? poster set (includes definitions and examples for: bullying, tattling, telling, reporting, kindness)
• Types of Bully poster set (includes: exclusion, cyber, physical, social, verbal)
• 3 non bullying posters
• 8 inspirational quote posters

Reading Passages and Printables on What Bullying Looks Like and How to Stop It
• What is Bullying? reading comprehension passage and questions
• Is it Bullying? 
• Who's Involved?
• Be More Than a Bystander
• Why Do People Bully?
• Face It!
• How Do You Feel? (using two real pictures)

Role Playing Activities So Students Can Practice What They've Learned
• 12 Buddy and Bully task cards 
• Buddy and Bully response sheet
• 24 bullying role play cards and die

All of the activities in this pack can also be used without the book!

Bullying Activities:
- Friendship Bullying Survey
- Put Ups and Put Downs
- I Spy Friendship Bullying
- My Book of Helpers
- My Bully Busting Book
- 6 Role Plays

Rationale:
Friendship Bullying or relational aggression is defined by the National Association of School Psychologists as “harm within relationships that is caused by covert bullying or manipulation.” 

Relational aggression (RA) can be difficult to spot. Students in grades 2nd-5th tend to view RA as a “friendship problem” rather than as a type of bullying. It is important to teach students the difference between relational aggression and friendship problems. 

Students experiencing RA need to be able to:
Identify when their friends are not acting like a friend.
Know that they do not need to put up with unfriendly behavior.
Execute strategies to combat aggressive behavior.

Empathy, Bullying, Self Esteem Lessons: 4-Weeks of Invaluable Health Lessons!

★This “Empathy, Violence, Self-Esteem, Bullying, Values Unit” is the perfect Health unit to help your students connect as a group, learn to respect differences, learn to get to know people for who they really are, and to realize almost everyone has hardships to overcome!

★Help your students build self-esteem and work on one of the greatest relationship skills-EMPATHY! 

★Help your students see the value of empathy, the power of words for good or bad, and the incredible difference each student can make by supporting the victims of bullying and teasing. 

********************************************************************

***What sets this curriculum apart from others is that***: 

-I-T'-S -N-O-T -J-U-S-T- -A- -U-N-I-T- -O-U-T-L-I-N-E- …

Highly organized, step-by-step teacher directions follow daily PowerPoints and tell you exactly to say!! 

Passenger by Bracken, A.

NYT Bestseller list (chapter books for 10+) from January-May 2016

http://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2016/02/07/young-adult-hardcover/?_r=0

Bracken, A. (January, 2016) .Passenger. Disney Hyperion Bracken Better World Books .Mishawaka, IN, U.S.A.

Etta Spencer a violin prodigy is sent 100 years back to a ship owned by Nicholas Carter who was assigned to get Etta and deliver her to the Ironwoods, a powerful family living in the colonies. They have retrieved her only to send her back to return a stolen object of great fortune, the priceless astrolabe. She's performing in the Metropolitan in New York, where her mother works, when she is suddenly whisked away in time, accompanied by a strange girl. Sophia Ironwood, the girl, is a traveler too just like Etta. Sophia's grandfather, the Grand Master and head of the Ironwood family, has had Etta brought back in time because he wants her to find something that he says her mother stole from him. If she brings it back, he'll let her and her mother go. But Etta - and Nicholas Carter, who hijacked the ship that Etta had to be on to get to Grandfather Ironwood, won't let Ironwood get away with it so easily. Nicholas and Etta will travel between continents and time to find the missing object before anyone else does. Together she and Nicolas will travel on the look for clues left by the mysterious robber in order to save Etta's mother. It comes to be the clues that Etta's mother left her over time. The clues take them too many places, and Nicholas and Etta get to know each other. But as they get closer to the truth of their search, and the deadly game the Ironwoods are playing, treacherous forces threaten to separate Etta not only from Nicholas but from her path home. Nick and Etta is an interracial couple and at first Nick starts to notice his feelings for Etta he immediately puts himself into check because as a white woman, she’s off limits to him. Nick being involved with Etta could put their lives in jeopardy. Etta’s mom tried to kill her but then Sophia shows up and we find out she went against grandfather’s orders and is trying to take over. The reappearance of a character thought dead, more on the ‘wrinkles’ of time and the war between the Thorns and Ironwoods. Etta is going to have to make some tough decisions regarding her mother, Rose Linden, and what she feels for Nicholas.

Teachers pay Teachers website on the subject of time travel lesson plans for the book;

Time Travelers: The Colonial X Factor Grades 9-12

Conjecture, If-Then logic, SWOT analysis, and persuasive writing skills are honed in this unit. Research, analysis, and speculation will be a driving factor in this interesting unit. Students will examine today’s innovations and choose one that could benefit society much earlier as the students time-travel to deliver this information to someone in the colonial period. 8-10 week Project Based Learning Unit.

HISTORY QUESTERS Colonies Trek- a historical time traveling adventure

Time travel — Braxton Morgan had never heard of a secret app for that. But his suspicions, ignited by some pretty weird goings–on in his new history class, were confirmed by a click on Ms. McQuester’s electronic Q–Pad. With little warning, Braxton spirals back in time to the settlement of the 13 English colonies as the newest member of the History Questers Team. It seems that his teacher meant it literally when she said she preferred hands–on history lessons. On their trek through the Colonial Period the team meets some important people from the past, like Pocahontas and Benjamin Franklin, and becomes involved in real historical events—way more involved than they want their teacher to know.

PASSENGER by Alexandra Bracken

Steve Jobs: Insanely Great by Jessie Hartland a graphic book

Great Graphic Novels for Teens (2015-2016)

Hartland, J. (2015) .

Steve Jobs: Insanely Great .Schwartz & Wade Books. New York.

Steve Jobs an American inventor of the revolutionize Apple computer and IPhone. The book starts with him being born from college students and being given away for adoption. His new family lives in Silicon Valley and his parents are very good in showing Steve how to overcome life challenges. He was always so inquisitive and mischievous boy that his fourth grade teacher made him read math books by which it will help in his understanding of computers later on in life. Later he gets to meet Stephen Wozniak, who has a great idea of people owning a small personal computer at a home.  Steve loves the idea and they get together to make it reality. He gets people to invest on the product and calls it Apple computer. He is a difficult person to get along with but his capabilities to see new ideas were great. Someone asked him if he should do some research about an idea he said “if Hendry Ford asked his people of what they needed the people would have told him they need a faster horse.” His idiosyncrasies got him to resign in his company of Apple. Which he left for 12 years but he came back because they were loosening money and going under. He came with his quirks and started cutting a lot of departments and products and just concentrating on a few Apple products. These help the company and even though he had his peculiarities of the way the products should be design his company started to make millions. Then came his diagnose of cancer which he kept private until he died on October 5, 2011 at the age of 56.

On teachers pay teachers website I found several resources on the subject and life of Steve Jobs. 

Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary Worksheet - Steve Jobs

This reading comprehension and vocabulary worksheet is based on an article about Steve Jobs the CEO of Apple Inc. It includes reading, writing and speaking activities.

Expository Text: Steve Job's Speech and Rhetoric Worksheets 

Steve Job's Commencement Speech transcript and analysis. I use this as an Article of the Week (AoW). After watching the the speech on YouTube (which is a MUST!), students analyze Jobs' use of rhetoric in a series of challenging multiple choice, short answer, and extended response questions. 

Steve Jobs Biography Unit

Steve Jobs is the creator of the iPhone, iPad, and iPod...all of which are staples for today's technology. This product contains biography study trifolds for the book Who was Steve Jobs? and a mini book research report on Steve Jobs and is sure to engage today's tech-saavy students. 

Jessie Hartland author "Steve Jobs Insanely Great" on "Book Talk" radio

Jane Goodall: A Birthday Tribute

Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall. National Geographic. Washington, D.C.

2016 Nonfiction Award Nominations

Silvey, A.( 2015).Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall. National Geographic. Washington, D.C.  

“Together we can make this world a better place for all living things.” It is an unforgettable book with a timeline of Jane Goodall’s life and legacy. It starts with her as a child and her fascination with animals in her farm. From her chickens’’ eggs to her stuffed monkey she liked to carry around. Then it moves to her living in Africa to do research on chimpanzees and her work to preserve the animal’s habitat. The author effectively captures the essence of Goodall life journey with color pictures, maps, illustrations, and fun nature facts. Goodall’s has one of the longest field studies of wild animals ever conducted where she observe the elusive chimpanzees in the Gombe National Park in Tanzania which takes as long as 55-years of research. The book mentions of her mentor, Louis Leakey, which helped her on her journey of learning more about the animals of Africa. She needed a job and he needs a secretary so Jane steps up to take on the job of studying the chimpanzee of Gombe. An opportunity of a lifetime all thought she had not experience that did not stop her to take the challenge. Soon she started to educate the public and speak around the world on wildlife conservation, something so dear to her heart. Silvey concludes with Goodall at 80 every bit inspiring and a passionate advocate for animals and the environment which she has come to devout her life into. 

Other books written by Jane Goodall that are similar in information are the following;

This books can be use to teach on the subject of helping our planet and conserving our resources to preserve life. 

On Teacher pay Teachers website I found several lessons to teach with Jane Goodall's book. 

Out of Darkness (Ashley Hope Perez) BookTrailer

Out of Darkness by A.H. Perez

                Pérez, A. H. (2015). Out of Darkness.Carolrhoda Lab T. Menneapolis. 

Two teenagers of different race find love on a segregated community. It is East Texas, oil country in 1937 an all there is around them is signs that read 'No Negroes, Mexicans, or dogs.' One is a Mexican and the other is black just trying to live their lives as any American teenagers. Noami has gone to live with her half-brothers to help them  live and unfamiliar father. To make things worse she is very pretty and none of the white girls at school like her. Then there are her brothers who can read better than any seniors in their high school. The story is wrapped around the New London School explosion occurred on March 18, 1937, when a natural gas leak caused an explosion, destroying the London School of New London, Texas, more than killed more than 295 students and teachers in the U.S. history. The school board canceled their natural gas contract and had plumbers install a tap into Parade Gasoline Company's residue gas line to save money. Students had been complaining of headaches for some time, but little attention had been paid to the issue. The story leads back to the explosion and then its aftermath which brings you to the climax. Noami has an over domineering and salacious father on her constant move and her aloof brothers and he is the only Mexican-American girl living in the city. This all leads to her falling in love to the only man who shows her protection and love, which would be a black boy name Wash. This book deals with sexual abuse, rape, violence against women, violence against everyone, racism, sexism, murder, dead bodies, guns, child abuse, it is a difficult book but a must read. Naomi is sexually abused by her stepfather. It's Henry, the twins' father and first husband to Naomi's mother.

Another book dealing with racism is Brown girl dreaming and The Watsons go to Birmingham- 1963.

Teachers pay Teachers website several lessons that contain the following--• A Brown Girl Dreaming Mentor Text Mini-unit on The Poetry of Place, a detailed, 1 to 2-week lesson plan for an in-depth mentor author study. This lesson plan includes introductions to each day’s reading, discussion and/or writing session, excerpts of the mentor texts under consideration, questions to guide discussions, and prompts and graphic organizers to get students started writing poetry of their own. Along with poems from Brown Girl Dreaming, this mini-unit also includes the poetry of several student authors, comparing their initial drafts and final versions side-by-side in an exercise in revision strategies.

Emmett Till: Civil Rights, segregation, Jim Crow, etc. (PREZI)
On Teachers pay Teachers website you can find this lesson:
This prezi tells the story of Emmett Till, a young black boy who was viciously murdered in the Jim Crow south and whose confessed murderers were freed by an all-white jury. I use it as part of my introduction to To Kill a Mockingbird, but it would be great for any novel that deals with social justice, a history class, or a discussion of what sorts of things inspired the Civil Rights Movement (Rosa Parks cited Emmett Till as a reason that she refused to give up her seat on the bus!). Finally, there is information about the reopening of the Emmett Till case just in the last decade - great for discussion about whether justice really can be served at this late date. The video files are attached to the prezi, so no worries about streaming from YouTube.

Segregation and the Jim Crow Laws

This lesson will have students critically explore the period of the Jim Crow era. This highly engaging, interactive, primary based power-point, will have students analyze and understand the implications of the Jim Crow laws, along with the monumental Supreme Court decisions of 'Plessy v. Ferguson', and 'Brown V. Board of Education'. Students will be introduced to the different levels at which discrimination & various forms of oppression existed during the Jim Crow years; individual, institutional, and societal. Students are to determine at which level these measures of control apply. Complete with colorful imagery, student analysis of political cartoons, and a comprehension primary based reading activity, this lesson will engage students and provide a critical context from which to understand this era of time. This Civil Rights unit can be downloaded in its entirety, or as individual lessons.

Epic Reads Explains | Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson | Book Trailer

Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2015/12/the-best-ya-books-of-2015-1.html?p=2

Rae Carson, C. (September, 2015 ).Walk on Earth a Stranger. Greenwillow Books.

This book is a fast read and will leave you hanging because it is one of the first books of a trilogy. A young 15 year old girl names Leah, has a secret that she can detect when there is gold around. Something that has help her to sustain her family who live in an isolated part of Dahlonega, GA, but soon her relative suspect something extraordinary about her and kill her parents. Then her money hungry uncle comes to claim her parents’ property and use her for his money ambitions. This leads her and her best friend a half Cherokee Indian boy to escape and travel to California during the Gold Rush. In her journey she decides its best to dress like a boy so she will have more facility to move around across the United States. But most people suspected Lee was a girl because of her feminine features. In a time when women were nothing without a man to support them and Men had bias believes about God provision. Lee could support and defend herself among life’s obstacles as she went on the long wagon trail to California. She encounters many sickness and death as well as hardship. And on top all that she is still grieving for her parents.  Jefferson is her friend from Georgia, who leaves for the West before she does, just after her parents are murdered. They don’t meet up until Lee reaches Independence, Missouri. Jefferson is used to people treating him terribly. He keeps Lee's secret about being a girl from everyone. When we see Leah eventually find Jefferson she also finds people that she comes to care for and care for her.

Depending on the audience, this book could be an excellent resource for a homeschooling unit, as well as just a great a fascinating history lesson on women hardships during this period of time.

This the next book to the trilogy where know she has settle in California and just when things were going smoothly she encounters her Uncle who kidnapped her and forces her to find some gold for him.

On TEachers pay Teachers website you can find several lessons for this book example is the following:

The 1849 California Gold Rush: A Student Exploration on the Gold Rush!

Students learn about the creation of the Gold Rush, who was involved, how people traveled, the struggles they faced, the laws of supply and demand, the cultures that thrived (and those that didn't), and how the population of the region surged! 

Students are guided through this exploration with primary source documents, secondary source texts, a variety of images, graphs, and charts! Too, each section of this exploration concludes with a page (4-8 questions) of very focused common-core aligned questions that force students to go back into their text to justify their answers.

The sections of this activity are as follows:

- Introduction
- Catching the Fever
- Traveling to "Gold Country"
- Life in "Gold Country"
- Too Late? Too Bad!
- An Equal Gold Rush for All?
- The Birth of San Francisco
- San Francisco and California Population Growth

California Gold Rush Lesson Plan Collection

This great lesson plan collection includes five lesson plans covering the California Gold Rush. One webquests, two primary source worksheets, a journal activity, and a miner role-playing game are included in this collection. My students really enjoy these lesson plans!

The following lesson plans are included in this collection:
California Gold Rush Webquest
California Gold Rush Webquest: What did it really cost?
California Gold Rush 1849 Primary Source Worksheet
California Gold Rush Vigilante Justice 1851 Primary Source Worksheet
Gold Rush Journal (Not Independently Posted on TPT)
Gold Rush Activity/Simulation (Not Independently Posted on TPT)

GIRL IN THE BLUE COAT | Book Review

Girl in the Blue Coat

.Girl in the Blue Coat.

Hesse, M. (2016).Girl in the Blue Coat. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.New York.N.Y.

In order for Hanneke to survive War War II  in Amsterdam she would go sell in the black market to help her family survive. Hanneke is rebelling against the Nazi régime by supplying black market goods throughout her city. Hanneke likes to think of it as a small act against the regime after her boyfriends was killed in the Dutch front lines when the German army invaded the city. Hanneke carries the burden of guilt because she had convinced Sebastian to enlist. Because of the death of Sebastian, they plan to get married once he returns from the front lines, his death left her with a great emptiness. In one of her deliveries she is asked to look for a Jewish teenager, Mirjam, which an older woman, Mrs. Janssen was hiding went missing. She thinks it dangerous to do such thing to help a Jewish girl after what she and her family are going through but eventually she gives in. As she becomes part of the Resistance in looking for the girl in the blue coat she becomes obsessed to find out just what happened. In her discovery she goes from a child trying to survive such horrendous times to a young adult caring for the people around her. Germans initiated a Jewish Council, an organizational committee created to warrant that their demands were carried out among the Jewish people. While Dutch Jews believed this council would help ease relations between the Jews and the Nazi's, it actually made it easier for Nazi' to track them down for extradition. This is the context which Mirjam, Girl in the Blue Coat, goes missing.

This is a great novel to teach young adults of deep guilt that comes with choices and regret. War makes people go through struggles that forces us to do things we never thought we had the strength to do or be heroes to those who need us most.  

Two other book you might like is the following with similarities but all so great big differences. 

On Teachers pay Teachers website you can find the following lesson plans;

World War II Worksheets and Word Wall Bundle

Vocabulary, historical events, and concepts, can be a challenge for many students. Help them to remember, understand context, and use correct terminology, by posting this vibrant word wall during the unit. This attractive and visually appealing 28-page set, combines colorful graphics with photographs that I have carefully researched in historical archives. Print in color and laminate, and you will have a collection that provides a stunning display for your classroom that can be used for years. 

World War II: Predicting German Foreign Policy 1933-1939

World War II: Predicting German Foreign Policy 1933-1939

This is one of my favorite activities when teaching the causes of World War II. Students will pretend they are advisors to the German leaders prior to World War II. First, the teacher will review the goals of Nazi Germany in the 1930’s and then the students will be given different scenarios where they will have to guess what the best choice would be to keep in align with German goals. In the end, the correct answers are revealed. The students compare their answers with what actually happened. The events that are discussed include the German occupation of the Rhineland, Austria, the Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia and Poland. Your students will love this activity! Teacher created, student approved!

If you are interested in seeing my other products related to World War II follow the link: World War II

Origami Yoda Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue Video Book Review

Princess labelmaker to the rescue! by Tom Angleberger

Angelberger, T. (March, 2014).  Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue! . Harry N. Abrams. New York, N.Y.

Middle school is hard as it is but now they are taking away recess to replace FunTime with useless test prep programs promise by Principal Rabbski. So they need to come up with a plan. Princess Labelmaker who steals the rebels’ secret case file and gives it to the principal that can bring bad consequences on the "Rebel Alliance".  The team convinces the principal to help them and get their fun activity back. With team work they get to work out their problems and come to a resolution that they all enjoy. When before they would quickly go to Yoda for advice but since Yoda is not around they had to come up with their own ideas and relay that it will turn out fine. But who is this Princess and where did she come from? Questions that will be answered later on the book.  It turns out Princess is one of their own who wants to come out. At first they don’t know how to handle it. They are shocked and confused but soon they come to accept their friend for who he is. This book message it to teens that even though they are young they can make a difference in what they strongly believe in if they don’t give up on themselves. 

Tom Angleberger
    Instructional Materials

https://www.teachingbooks.net/authoridsearch.cgi?id=12448 here is where you can find lesson plans for teacher on the books. 

 

This are several other books by the same author with his unusual humor on each book. As well as message to our teenagers in middle school.