Using Storia to navigate historical fiction with students
By Guest Blogger on May 16th, 2013
Fourth-grade teacher Laura Murray is here again with some great Storia ideas! Today, she’s talking about historical fiction. And who doesn’t love some good historical fiction? Thanks, Laura!
History was never my favorite nor my best subject when I was in school. I could never remember names, dates, places, and all the important facts of historical events. I still have a hard time with it, which makes it surprising that my favorite genre to read is historical fiction. Although many times I find that the events in these books are extremely disturbing, I am very intrigued by reading about how people lived long ago. And I can use Storia, Scholastic’s free ereading software, to engage my students with it!
I share the love of this genre with my students every year at about this time. It is sometimes a difficult genre for fourth graders since they don’t have a whole lot of historical knowledge and background. However, tying this reading genre to our current social studies unit, or periods of time that we have already studied this year, helps out with this problem. One of the most important aspects of a historical fiction book to pay attention to is the setting. Without the historical knowledge of the time period, readers miss a lot of what is happening in the story. This is definitely something to keep in mind when you see your child reading a historical fiction book. If you find that they are missing major ideas in the book, or are having a hard time understanding what is going on, try having a conversation with them about the time period first. This may clear up any misunderstandings that they are having.
Outstanding Educators Help Struggling Students Become Confident Lifelong Readers
By Alex on May 16th, 2013
There are certain times of year I always look forward to, such as the start of summer, my birthday, and of course selecting the READ 180 and System 44 Outstanding Educators! I was again inspired by the nominations we received this year; we have hadmore… full post
#MathPics Winners: A box of lollipops,area and perimeter and a parabola
By Alex on May 14th, 2013
This is a pic of a fence that’s also a catenary curve! In celebration of the much anticipated launch of MATH 180, we encouraged you to join our #MathPics photo contest for some math-focused fun and a chance to win some prizes! We had so muchmore… full post
#MathPics winners for week 3 AND one more chance to win!
By Alex on May 9th, 2013
A symmetrical vegetable! In celebration of the much anticipated launch of MATH 180, we encouraged you to join our #MathPics photo contest for some math-focused fun and a chance to win some prizes! Here are this week’s winners: 1.) One ofmore… full post
An inside look at Scholastic Reads
By Lia on May 8th, 2013
A 2nd grader draws a response to David Shannon’s book Duck on a Bike. She called it “Two Ducks Falling in Love”. On the first Wednesday of every month, a handful of Scholastic employees — myself included — have the opportunity to visit a Newmore… full post
Parents chat about summer reading success
By Megan on May 8th, 2013
On Monday night, we kicked off the Summer Challenge with a Facebook chat on the Scholastic Parents Facebook page. In short, it was a hit. Thousands of parents tuned in to hear parent bloggers Amy Mascott and Allison McDonald sharemore… full post
Read Every Day (Even in Summertime), Lead a Better Life
By Suzanne on May 7th, 2013
“Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them,” says Lemony Snicket, the harassed—and hilarious—narrator of A Series of Unfortunate Events and Horseradish. We hope that your students will follow Snicket’s advice as they headmore… full post
Merci, Danke schoen, Gracias, THANK YOU, Teachers!
By Megan on May 7th, 2013
Today is National Teacher Day! The special day is a part of the National Education Association’s (NEA) annual Teacher Appreciation Week, which honors the amazing work of teachers in our nation’s classrooms. It’s no surprise this day is ofmore… full post
A Common Core theme: Focus
By Tyler on May 7th, 2013
K-8 Publishers’ Criteria for the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics One of the key goals of the Common Core State Standards is to encourage and push students to go deeper: to develop stronger skills and greater understanding. This ismore… full post
Your librarian questions answered
By Jessica on May 2nd, 2013
Not long ago, we asked people to submit questions that they have always wanted to ask a librarian but never had the chance to. I want to thank everyone for all of their tweets! Today I get to answer some of the questions posed to me. How didmore… full post
