Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

The first time I read Number the Stars by Lois Lowry, I kept thinking... I wonder how many students know what happened during World War II? 

How many even know where Germany is or Europe for that matter? 

Before I even introduced the book to my students, I asked them to locate Germany and Europe on our world map. My expert map student was raising his hand, almost leaping out of his chair and making those familiar "Ooo, ooooo" sounds, we teachers know well. He pointed to Germany and the surrounding countries as well as the Atlantic Ocean. Isn't it great to have an expert in class to help introduce lessons? :)

Then, I asked them to raise their hands if they knew one fact about WWII. One boy said his great grandfather fought during WWII. A girl raised her hand and said that WWII was a big war. Those were the only students who volunteered answers. I was shocked, to say the least. 

It was then I decided to write up a packet of student worksheets for Number the Stars that would include an informational piece about World War II. It was a good way to introduce WWII and even though it wouldn't be a detailed history of the War, it would give my students a "taste" of events and the causes of the War. 

I always try to integrate social studies with my ELA classes so this was perfect!

Lois Lowry's book, Number the Stars, has students walk in Annmarie's and Ellen's shoes as the story unfolds. The setting is Copenhagen, Denmark in 1943, the third year of the Nazi occupation of Denmark. Annmarie and Ellen, who is Jewish, are best friends. The story is how Annmarie's family take Ellen into their home to protect her from the Nazis. The story is filled with facts presented in a way students will relate to themes like friendship, trust, honesty, conflict, and hope. 

It's no wonder this historical fiction book won the Newbery Award, in 1990, as the most distinguished contribution to children's literature and remains popular to this day. 

This is my 69 page packet to accompany the book. It has detailed instructions for pre-readinng, reading and post reading activities. Also included is the nonfiction, informational article to provide students with a better understanding of World War II. 

To read the full description of the book, click on the map. There is also a free preview of the packet of my ready to print student worksheets that can be downloaded.

Ruth

After speaking with many of my former students' parents, over time, it's apparent that students aren't receiving a good base of American history throughout their school years. I noticed the changes in textbooks when I was on the social studies curriculum committee for a number of years. The information in textbooks seemed watered down and lacking in good solid information about our history. I began wondering who was writing the text for the publishers and who makes the decisions about what's included in their textbooks.  That remains a mystery, but one we educators should be asking. I hope you are. 

NonFiction Text Four Important Facts

It's not unusual for students to have difficulty identifying the most important facts when they read nonfiction text.

Large group work 

I distribute a one page article or some other nonfiction text  to the large group and have them read it aloud. After each paragraph is read, I stop them and ask if there are any important facts within that particular paragraph. We discuss the answers that volunteers offer and I write them on the board.

Small group work

After they've practiced in the large group, I have them get into small groups and ask each group to work on one particular article or nonfiction text in order to find four most important facts. 

During the time they work in small groups, I ask them to discuss and brainstorm the text. I also tell them they can all use the same facts on their sheets, as long as they all agree about which ones are the most important. (A great tactile strategy is to use highlighters to highlight the most important facts).

Once we're finished the small group work, we get back into the large group.  I have one volunteer from each group summarize the article or text they read and then have others in the group read the facts they chose. As each fact is read,  I have the "audience" do a "thumbs up" if they think the fact is VERY important. 

The more practice the better!

Download this free worksheet by clicking on the cover!

Thanks for stopping by!

                                                 Nonfiction Four Important Facts Worksheet

Author Project Books and Picture Books!

This is a great FREE project to motivate your students to explore new genre and to read more than one book by an author. They start by researching an author and and writing five facts they learned about the author's life.

Have them choose two books by the author and summarize them briefly, and lastly they should rate the books. When they're finished they can discuss their authors and novels in small groups. Laminate the cards and arrange them in a index card box in ABC order so they're available for students to view.

Click on the cover for more information.

Thanks!

Ruth

Close Reading Informational Text Polar Bears

WHO DOESN'T LOVE POLAR BEARS?

I've never known anyone who doesn't love polar bears! Ask your students to state facts about polar bears and they'll most likely tell you they're cute, white and live at the North Pole. 

Wonderful. But definitely not enough information. They may think polar bears are cute because they have polar bear stuffed animals that aren't fierce predators and that have white "fur" unlike real polar bear fur that's translucent. 

Trust me when I tell you I had a friend's young son tell me that Eskimos have polar bears as PETS!!!!  I kid you not!

When our social studies curriculum included Native American cultures, I chose the Inuit (Eskimos) and each year, we did in depth research projects about them, as well as study animals indigenous to the Arctic region.

At that time, I developed several nonfiction packets that gave my students activities that  were both tied to English language arts, social studies and sometimes science.  I love to teach integrated units if possible. 

The information in this packet, describes polar bears lives, how they survive in the frigid temperatures and helps students make important assumptions about the fate of polar bears. 

The article is set up with columns on the right hand sides so you students can take notes about vocabulary words, concepts they may not understand or to write opinions about the article.

I love designing pages and used scenic photos of the Arctic with less opacity, so they wouldn't interfere with the text, then laid photos of the bears over the scenery. The pages print out beautifully and students love the realistic photos. 

This is my most recent informational text resource. Stay tuned for more! :)

Enjoy! 

Ruth

You may also like another informational text article about the CHEETAH

Click on this link...

Common Core ELA Informational Text Article 

Examples of two of the pages

Teachers Comments :

~ Great work- kids very interested in topics! Thanks!

~Thank you for this wonderful product.

~ Love this!

~Thank you! Such good practice:)

~ Awesome!

~ Love this! Thank you!

~Great Common Core questions!

BONUS SALE MONDAY AUGUST 22, 2016

Teachers Pay Teachers is having a BONUS back to school site wide sale!

It's only ONE day and my entire store is ON SALE!

It starts August 22, 2016 EST

Use promo code OneDay when you check out and you'll receive another discount!

Browse through my store where you'll find many free and priced resources.

Click on the cover to visit my store. 

These are just a few of the many products in my store. 

All of my resources are ready to print to save you time!

Number the Stars 71 page literature guide This is my VERY popular literature guide for Number the Stars.  It includes an article about World War II with questions and answers, as well as maps of Denmark and Europe to give students a historical perspective before they read the story.

Book or Story Response Task Cards - Use with any book or story. 122 activities on 22 cards.

Figurative Language Chart and Student Worksheets - Students use my handy figurative language chart that has terms and examples. They keep them in their writing folders to use, as they work on writing assignments in class.

NonFiction Bingo - Students LOVE playing my Nonfiction Bingo game and teachers love how well their students learn nonfiction terms and definitions!

Bloom Ball Reports - My Bloom Ball reports resource is based on Bloom's Taxonomy. Students create a fiction and biographical report based on the latest verbiage of the Taxonomy. A unique hands on approach that students and teachers LOVE!

Trifold Book Report - Use my trifold book report ready to print templates, with any book or story. This book report includes templates for reading strategies and letters to parents about the reports as well as student rubrics. 

Fantasy Essential Elements - Students LOVE fantasy stories. My 69 page fantasy essential elements literature guide contains everything you need when you read a fantasy story in class with your students.

If you follow me on Teachers Pay Teachers, you will be notified about new resources I post as well as updates of any resources you've purchased. Updates are free of charge! :)

Have a fantastic new school year!

Ruth

Back to School "What are YOUR Favorites"?

I can remember one of my elementary teachers asking us what our favorite ice cream was the first week of fifth grade. Hands went up! Most yelled Chocolate! Many said Vanilla! Two who said strawberry were almost run out of the classroom.  "Ewwwww, how can you like strawberry ice cream?" one classmate whispered.

When I was growing up we didn't have fancy dancy ice cream. No Ben and Jerry's. Only chocolate, vanilla and strawberry, oh! and chocolate mint and chocolate fudge.

When I walk into ice cream stores today, the choices are mind boggling and I really WANT to try a new flavor, but always end up with a chocolate ice cream cone, dipped in chocolate piled to the ceiling on a sugary wafer cone. YUM!!

This is why I created my "What's Your Favorite" activity. I guess I really created it to see if kids still love plain ol' chocolate or vanilla ice cream. But honestly, I really like to get to know what other things my students really like.

Another sheet asks them to list adjectives to describe some of their favorite things. It's a great way to introduce adjectives the first week of school.

Click on my free Favorites pages but before you do, tell me... what's YOUR favorite ice cream??

Have fun!

Ruth

Vocabulary Detective Cards 3

This is the third set of my FREE Vocabulary Detective Cards that I created when teachers told me how excited they were about my first two sets. Using these cards is a great way to motivate students to learn new vocabulary words and to identify nouns, verbs and adjectives when they read books in class. 

Here's how I do it.. 

Make a Detective Jar. A Mason jar with a wide opening is the best to use.  Print a label for it on a large piece of white paper that says "Detective Jar". Wrap it around the jar and tape or glue the ends.

Make copies of the cards for your students. Explain that you'll be running a weekly contest and that you'll pull three cards from the jar at the end of the week. Winners will receive a prize if they've entered the correct answers on them.  Be sure to have prizes for the winners. I order them online in bulk from the Oriental Trading Company. 

Tell your students they shouldn't cut the cards until they've entered the information on them. When they're finished, they can cut the cards,  fold them in half, then put them in the jar. 

Hope you and your students enjoy these contests! Thanks for stopping by!

         

Have fun!

Ruth

SEE MORE OF MY VOCABULARY DETECTIVE CARDS AND TASK CARDS

VOCABULARY DETECTIVE CARDS AND TASK CARDS