Social Studies

Hello, America! by Martha Zschock

What makes America such a great country? What do you love about America? In the book, Hello, America!,  an Eagle and her child take a journey throughout the history of the United States they really see all the wonderful things that have made the United States of America. On their journey you will learn about all the wonderful things that maybe you have heard of and maybe you have not heard of. Keep an open mind and get ready for this fun, and exciting ride! 

I think this is a good selection because we can read this to little kids to start a social studies lesson about America. This book is more for ages 2-5 but I think it would be a good one to read in an elementary class to get the year started. This book not only has the Eagle which is symbolic to America the main characters but it also dives into many things that makes America. I think kids would love this, and afterwards I would probably do an activity where they would make a flag. 

Nonfiction

I Am Martin Luther King, Jr.: Ordinary People Change the World By Brad Meltzer Illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos 

When we think of heros what comes to your mind? Superman? Spiderman? As those are some great heroes this hero is a hero that has made the United States such a better place. Martin Luther King Jr. changed the way that many people throughout this country thought, as well as giving hope for many Americans. Don't you want to know what Martin Luther King Jr. an ordinary person did to change the word? Read this selection to dive into many facts and truths about what this brave man did to change the world that we live in today! You do not have to be a superhero to be a hero, you can be just like you and I to make a big impact in life.

I really like this selection because we can really make this a life lesson in our classroom about how people may look different but they are still a person. This would be a good book to read for maybe a history piece of the class and then have them talk about what MLKJ did.  We can really talk about some little things, and hopefully get them thinking about how they are all different. We can say that it is okay to be different and that everyone is unique in all ways which means we should treat all people with the same respect. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yBrQASaMik 

Traditional Literature

The Boy Who Cried Wolf Retold by B.G. Hennessy
Illustrated by Boris Kulikov


The Boy Who Cried Wolf:
We have all heard about The Boy Who Cried Wolf, it is a great traditional Literacy book that I feel generations after generations have been telling. But do you remember what happened? Or Have you never heard of this at all?...We all love to have a good time and hear some stories or just play jokes on people to see their reactions. I think that we have all done this at some point in your life. Or maybe we just get bored and think "I need some excitement". The Boy got really bored just watching the sheep so he got a great idea.The boy in this story loves to play jokes on people to get them in a panic so he can see them all running and wanting to help him.. Boredom is REALLLLL! .But How many times can a person trick you into believing something before you finally just stop listening to them? One time? Two times? Three Times? For me it seems to take a while... What about for you? Read the story and see what you would do or not do!

I really like this story because though kids and even us as adults like to joke or not fully think through things there has to be a time where you have to really critically think is this the time for this. There might be a time where it is not a joke. We have to know when it is time to stop with jokes because then people will not believe what we are saying at all. I think this is a good selection for kids K-3 because they tend to not take things serious sometimes so maybe this will show that in all instances we need to be telling the truth. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFD4KoyXuu8 

Poetry Blog

The Dentist and the Crocodile by Roald Dahl

The crocodile, with cunning smile, sat in the dentist's chair.

He said, "Right here and everywhere my teeth require repair."

The dentist's face was turning white. He quivered, quaked and shook.

He muttered, "I suppose I'm going to have to take a look.""I want you," Crocodile declared, "to do the back ones first.

The molars at the very back are easily the worst."

What is going to happen to the crocodile? Or is anything going to happen to the Crocodile? Maybe something will happen to the Dentist....We know that Crocodiles have a lot of teeth but we do not know what that will lead to. Read this book to find out what is going to happen!

In this poem it is consider such because there is some rhyming in the poem as well as some rhythm so I feel like the kids will love to read this. Hopefully it will be a little more suspenseful for them but funny at the same time. This also has to deal with a animal that is going to the dentist so it is supposed to be funny for them.