Dr.Seuss 'Read Across America' Week Learning Center Activities

The Cat in the Hat doffs his cap on March 2, to honor the birthday of his creator Dr. Seuss's birthday. The NEA (National Education Association) celebrates 'Read Across America' on March 1- March 5. Celebrate Dr. Seuss with your students. Here are ways to get Dr. Seuss into your preschool- grade one learning centers. Dr.Seuss 'Read Across America' Week Preschool to Grade 1 Learning Center Activities: March 1-5

Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, Russian History

The XXII Winter Olympics 2014 in Sochi, Russia is unique in many ways. It's the first time the games have been played in that huge country since 1980. So February 7-23 is going to be an exciting time! As a teacher, mom and former homeschooler, I always look for ways to teach any world event in the classroom. Here are free printable winter Olympics lessons plans. Games, crafts, coloring pages, puzzles, sports-themed worksheets--all you need to explore. There are activities about Russia and the city of Sochi, too. Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics XXII Printables, Lessons on Russia - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com

Black History Month From Rosa Parks' Bus Seat

So you think we don't need Black History Month? Then you clearly don't get American history period. The revisionists aren't the ones teaching black history, they're the ones who wrote it out in the first place. Slavery, segregation, Jim Crow stole an entire peoples' past. Black History Month can't replace that. But might help heal wounds and renew the future. It revives traditions, restores voices and reinvests in the heritage that was denied. I've always felt intense solidarity with oppressed and marginalized, particularly black American brothers and sisters. But recently, I experienced it in a new way. I sat in Rosa Parks' bus seat.  For Black History Month, Learn Jim Crow Lessons From Rosa Parks' Bus Seat

Free Printable Martin Luther King Jr Worksheets, Lessons

 Martin Luther King Jr. Day is celebrated on the third Monday in January. The great civil rights leader MLK, Jr., was born on January 15, 1929. King was shot by an assassin's bullet on April 4, 1968. Here are free printable lesson plans to help you explore this legendary hero. Use these lessons in classroom, homeschool, scout troops and social groups.
Nobel Prize.org as the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Martin Luther King Jr. is featured on this website with a comprehensive bibliography of resources. I recommend that teachers use this website as a reference for instruction about MLK. Free Printable Martin Luther King Jr. Lesson Plans and Activities 

Jewish lessons and activities for Hanukkah

This article was written about Passover (pesach) activities. But each applies to Chanukah and other Jewish holidays as well. Websites listed offer activities for all the Hebrew holy days. Jewish Passover lessons and activities for families

Occupy Wall Street Apes Guy Fawkes or Mardi Gras Lord of Misrule

I've got a weird mash-up of history details floating in my head. My husband shares this savant-ish trait. And we passed it on to our kids. No wonder we all get a kick out of "Drunk History." When my daughter's AP History teacher made it homework to figure out "Remember, Remember the 5th of November" she was the only one to know already it was Guy Fawkes Day. Which might not sound like much, but in my insular, ethnocentric US town, it nothing short of genius.   Guy Fawkes, Occupy Wall Street or Mardi Gras Lord of Misrule?

Victorian Pre-Raphaelite Ghost Halloween Costume Guide for Gothic Horror

Zombies are not a new invention. They've walked the pages of horror fiction for centuries. The undead have plagued generations of Devil's night, Samhain and Walpurgis revelers. Looking to recreate some of those vintage creeps of yore? Here's a DIY guide to make Gothic Revival Victorian costumes for women--dead bride, jilted lover, Lady of Shalot, Ophelia all the darkly repressed ladies.Gothic Victorian Pre-Raphaelite Ghost Halloween Costume DIY Guide

Labor Day, Unions and the Rebel Girls

Labor Day isn't about BBQs and parties. It's about union workers who sacrificed, sometimes in the ultimate way, to get better working conditions. The real world Labor Day isn't even in September. It's May 1--May Day. And it's thanks to the Rebel Girls in large part, that we celebrate Labor Day at all. Rebel girls don't drive pink jeeps. They organize! Happy Labor Day from an IWW Rebel Girl 

Vintage Text Message (in a Bottle) Surfaces Almost 100 Years Later

And now for your daily dose of feel-good. Fellow historatis, you're going to love this story I wrote for Yahoo! Growing up near one of Michigan's Great Lakes, a favorite summer pastime was sending messages via bottle. I was weaned on lake lore. My grampa Kinney took me to the beach almost every day in summer. We were the original beachcombers. My best friend and I heard of olden-days kids bottle-messaging and made our own. Grampa helped us write messages, stuff and seal our bottles. We'd toss them into Lake Michigan, wondering where they'd wash up and who would find them. Two other Michigan girls had the same idea. Their message in a bottle turned up recently in Detroit -- 97 years after it had been sent.   Vintage Text Message (in a Bottle) Surfaces Almost 100 Years Later

Free Printable May Day, Labor History, Union Organizing Lesson Plans

Spring is poignant for labor. March 25, 1911 lost 146 workers in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. April 28 is Workers Memorial Day, honoring fallen in workplace accidents or in organizing struggles. May 1 is May Day, International Worker's Day. May 4 commemorates casualties at Chicago's Haymarket riot in a 1886 labor rally. On May 19, 1920 saw the Matewan massacre of coal miners. On May 26, 1937 union organizers were beaten at Ford's River Rouge plant "Battle of the Overpass." Labor history is American (and world) history: it impacts every industry, occupation and person. Teachers and homeschoolers, why not educate students about unions with these free printable labor history lesson plans? I've listed websites, activities, worksheets, movies and books.Free Printable May Day, Labor History, Union Organizing Lesson Plans