Young scholars work cooperatively in order to identify specific situations in which an almanac is the best choice for locating information. They answer specific questions, record the page on which the answer was found, and the key words...

Candace Fleming's award winning Ben Franklin's Almanac is the anchor text for a classroom guide that provides teachers with a cache of pre, during, and post-reading activities.

Connect the geography and history of Illinois using an art-centered lesson on the railroads. The railroad connected once-distant places, particularly in the Midwest. Using research, class members create postcards of fictional cross-state...

Students explain the meaning of "use value" of nature's resources by researching and writing studenT books personifying an aspect of nature. They produce public service announcements regarding use value for their local community.

Students gather geographic information about their community. They work together to create a community almanac.

Students practice using a World Almanac by completing the provided worksheet on animals.

Middle schoolers review library skills by rotating through teacher-created learning stations covering various topics. They discuss plagiarism, work on Almanac practice as a team, complete practice using indexes, and an abstracts handout...

After a class discussion where kids share how they find answers to their questions, learners explore the world of reference materials such as, an atlas, an almanac, and an encyclopedia. The Internet is also discussed as a way to access...

According to the Farmers' Almanac, the weather will be nice today. Class members examine how weather forecasting plays a part in their lives with a resource that provides information on the history of forecasting, from using cloud...

How many birthdays do leap year babies have in a lifetime? Learners explore the question among others in a lesson focused on different calendar systems. Given explanations of the Julian, Gregorian, and Martian calendars, individuals use...

A virtual field trip takes enthusiastic travelers to the pyramids of Giza. Using Google, scholars explore the grounds of the ancient pyramids found in Egypt then complete three worksheets: a photo analysis page, a reflection sheet, and a...

Learners explore a variety of reference resources while seeking information. atlases, almanacs, dictionaries, encyclopedias, thesauri, and online search engines as well as library card catalogs are utilized in this lesson.

Students use maps and other geographic resources to learn about their world while problem solving. They read clues each day and use classroom resources to narrow down where the prize is located.

Many phenomena in life are periodic in nature. A task-based lesson asks scholars to explore one of these phenomena. They collect data showing the sunrise time of a specific location over the period of a year. Using the data, they create...

Eighth graders examine, brainstorm, cluster, and skim how to use a variety of information resources to assist them in projects or reports. In addition, places to find those information resources as well as the parts of a book is covered...

What information would you find in an almanac that you would not find in an atlas? What is the difference between a dictionary and a thesaurus? Using a Cite Your Sites worksheet on which they record their observations, groups participate...

Benjamin Franklin famously had an aphorism for every situation—most of which we still use in modern vernacular. Introduce class members to Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack with a presentation that details the characteristics of aphorisms.

Maria Mitchell discovered a comet, became the first female astronomer in the United States, and even has a crater on the moon named after her! Learn more about her passion for the stars with an informative reading passage, followed by...

Students engage in a study of the states as part of the United States while conducting research using a variety of resources. The focus of the study is the states that were part of the Union by 1890. Students create an almanac about...

Students particpate in a simulation as hosts for a visiting family of aliens. They work in small groups deciding what 10 pages of information from an Almanac the aliens need before they arrive.

Students visit appropriate websites to discover quotes from Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac. Working in pairs, they choose three quotes on which to elaborate and then write two original quotes.

Students research countries participating in the Olympic Games. They create a database which includes graphs for comparing population density, the number of athletes, per capita income, etc. for each country. This project is completed...

Celebrate inventions such as lightning rods, bifocals, and stoves with a Ben Franklin Day. Young historians conduct research and write a paragraph about an accomplishment of Benjamin Franklin including an illustration...